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Amid ongoing Helene recovery, early voting set to begin in North Carolina

October 17, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(RALEIGH, N.C.) — As North Carolinians continue to recover from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene, early voting begins Thursday in the critical swing state.

State election officials expect a majority of North Carolina voters to cast their ballot in-person over the next two weeks, with early voting concluding on Nov. 2.

More than 400 early voting sites are in operation across the state’s 100 counties.

“To have almost all early voting sites open after such a devastating storm is an effort all North Carolinians should be proud of,” North Carolina State Board of Elections executive director Karen Brinson Bell said Tuesday.

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris remain neck-and-neck in the critical swing state, with Trump holding a 0.4% lead over Harris in 538’s polling average for the state.

Both candidates have visited North Carolina since the remnants of Hurricane Helene brought deadly floods to the state, where 95 people died and 92 remain missing. Trump has repeatedly made false claims about the federal response to the disaster, claiming that the state would be deprived of emergency aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency because of undocumented immigrants.

“They got hit with a very bad hurricane, especially North Carolina and parts of Georgia. But North Carolina really got hit. I’ll tell you what, those people should never vote for a Democrat, because they held back aid,” Trump said during an interview last week.

While visiting a church in Greenville, North Carolina, on Sunday, Harris stopped short of naming Trump while criticizing the spread of disinformation about the relief efforts in the state.

“Right now, fellow Americans are experiencing some of the most difficult moments in their lives,” Harris said. “Yet instead of offering hope, there are those who are channeling people’s tragedies and sorrows into grievance and hatred, and one may ask why, and I think, sadly, frankly, the motives are quite transparent: to gain some advantage for themselves, to play politics with other people’s heartbreak.”

With recovery efforts ongoing, election officials have expressed optimism about the state’s early voting plans. In the 25 western counties included in the federal disaster declaration, 76 early voting sites have been confirmed — four fewer than originally planned.

“We lost just a few despite the extensive damage, loss of power, water, internet and phone service, and the washing out of roads throughout the region,” said Brinson Bell.

In past presidential elections, the majority of the state’s voters have cast their ballot during early in-person voting, with 65% using that method in 2020 and 62% in 2016. Election officials expect a similar portion of voters to vote early in person, and have enacted a series of measures to improve voting access in the counties hardest hit by Helene.

Voters in the impacted counties can drop off their absentee ballot at any early voting site throughout the state, and the state plans to deploy “multipartisan assistance teams” that can assist with absentee voting at disaster shelters.

This will also be the first presidential election where voters will need to provide photo identification to vote, after lawsuits delayed implementation of the state’s controversial voter ID law following its passage in 2018. Voters can provide a drivers’ license, student ID, or passport to vote, though exceptions are permitted in the case of natural disasters.

The only county to offer fewer early voting sites is hard-hit Buncombe County, whose officials opted to reduce their number of sites from 14 to 10 because of the ongoing emergency response.

“Our office has been preparing for the 2024 election for years, but we certainly didn’t expect this,” said Buncombe County director of election services Corinne Duncan.

Georgia judge invalidates more controversial election rules

October 16, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(GEORGIA) — One day after a Georgia judge invalidated the state’s controversial “hand count” rule, a separate judge Wednesday evening invalidated even more rules that were passed by the Republican-led state election board, declaring them “unlawful and void.”

Fulton County Judge Thomas Cox ruled after an hours-long hearing to invalidate seven rules total, including the hand count rule, finding in part that the board did not have the authority to enact them.

Cox made clear that the State of Georgia and the State Election Board “are hereby DIRECTED TO IMMEDIATELY REMOVE THESE RULES FROM THEIR ROLES AND OFFICIAL REPORTING” and to “IMMEDIATELY INFORM ALL STATE AND LOCAL ELECTION OFFICIALS THAT THESE RULES ARE VOID AND ARE NOT TO BE FOLLOWED,” in his decision.

The rules now invalidated include a rule calling county officials to certify election results after “reasonable inquiry.”

Cox wrote in his order that rule “adds an additional and undefined step into the certification process” and that it is “inconsistent with and unsupported” by state law.

He also invalidated a rule that “requires that a person delivering an absentee ballot provide a signature and photo ID at the time the absentee ballot is delivered.”

The judge said in his ruling that state provisions don’t require that.

“The SEB thus has no authority to require such presentment as a condition of accepting and counting an otherwise properly delivered ballot,” Cox wrote.

Vance says ‘no’ Trump didn’t lose the 2020 election

October 16, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(Williamsport, Pennsylvania) — In his most direct answer yet of this election cycle, GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance said he does not believe former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.

Vance’s response occurred when a reporter asked, “What message do you think it sends to Independent voters when you do not directly answer the question, ‘Did Donald Trump lose in 2020?'”

“On the election of 2020, I’ve answered this question directly a million times. No, I think there are serious problems in 2020 so did Donald Trump lose the election? Not by the words that I would use,” Vance said.

“But look, I really couldn’t care less if you agree or disagree with me on this issue.”

In a recently resurfaced clip from Spectrum News 1 in 2022, Vance said, “Yeah, I do,” when asked if he believed the 2020 election was stolen.

President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election by more than 7 million votes.

Vance’s response comes after weeks of being asked by reporters if the former president lost the 2020 election.

This past Sunday in his interview with ABC’s Martha Raddatz, Vance continued to dodge directly answering if Trump lost the 2020 election.

“Martha, you’ve you asked this question. I’ve been asked this question 10 times in the past couple of weeks. Of course, Donald Trump and I believe there were problems in 2020,” Vance said.

Pressed again by Raddatz, Vance replied, “I’ve said repeatedly I think the 2020 election had problems. You want to say rigged? You want to say he won? Use whatever vocabulary term you want.”

Taking questions from reporters at a campaign event in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, ABC News asked the Ohio Senator if he was concerned about election misinformation could impact this election cycle, Vance said he was concerned.

“I talk to people every now and then who will come up to me and say, ‘Well, you know, there are too many problems out there. We don’t trust the people who are going to count our ballots, and you know, so I’m not going to get out there and vote.’ That’s the exact opposite attitude you should be taking,” Vance said.

Trying to ease those who might have doubts about the election, Vance said that those who will be working the polls on election day are the same people in their community.

“Here’s something else that I think people don’t realize is, if you’re a local voter in a place like Williamsport, the people who are counting your ballots are often your neighbors. And again, it’s the local elections, and especially in our small and rural areas, it’s your neighbors who are counting these votes, it’s your neighbors who are counting these ballots.”

Georgia sees 2nd day of record early voting turnout

October 16, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(GEORGIA) — Gabriel Sterling, the Chief Operations Officer of Georgia’s office of Secretary of State, noted in a statement on X that early votes cast Wednesday set a record for a second day.

“So, with the rest of today and absentees we could get close to 600,000 votes cast in Georgia. We continue on the record-setting pace and we are thankful for our election workers at the counties and our voters,” he said.

On the previous day, 312,206 people cast an early vote, shattering the 136,000 votes cast in the first day of early voting in 2002, according to state election data.

Sterling said earlier in the day that the 500,000 votes cast mark represented 10% of the turnout in the 2020 election.

As of Wednesday night, 33,359 absentee ballots have been returned and 33,150 of those ballots were accepted, according to the secretary of state’s office.

Georgia is seen as a crucial swing state for the presidential race, with both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have been actively campaigning throughout neighborhoods in the state.

Voting rights advocates have been pushing voters to choose the early voting option due to concerns about new rules including one that makes it harder to cast a provisional ballot on Election Day if a voter is sent to the wrong polling place. Georgia voters can choose any early voting election site in their county, according to state law.

Early voting in Georgia will continue until Nov. 1.

Mississippi bridge collapses in deadly accident at demolition site: Officials

October 16, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(SIMPSON COUNTY, Miss.) — A Mississippi bridge set to be demolished collapsed in a deadly accident on Wednesday, officials said.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation confirmed there were fatalities, though it did not specify how many people died.

“[We] extend our deepest condolences to the families who have lost loved ones,” the Mississippi Department of Transportation said in a statement.

An inspector with the Mississippi Department of Transportation who was at the worksite when the bridge collapsed was unharmed, the department said.

The bridge, which spanned the Strong River in Simpson County on State Route 149, collapsed Wednesday afternoon, according to the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

The bridge had been closed to traffic since Sept. 18 and was in the process of being demolished as part of a bridge replacement project, the department said.

The replacement project had been given an estimate of 12 to 18 months to complete, according to previous statements from the department.

Harris paints Trump as threat, draws contrast with Biden in combative Fox News interview

October 16, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday hammered former President Donald Trump as thin-skinned and a threat to U.S. democracy in a combative interview with Fox News.

The interview marked an opportunity for Harris to appear on a network that frequently criticizes her and praises her opponent, a notable moment after Republicans had panned her for only granting interviews with friendly reporters or podcasters. True to form, the interview was testy throughout, including multiple exchanges in which Harris and Fox News anchor Bret Baier repeatedly spoke over each other.

Harris raised Trump’s recent rhetoric about the “enemy within” and threats to use the military to go after political opponents on and supposed chaos on Election Day to suggest that he’s unfit for a second term in office, adding that it is “clear to me” that Trump is “unfit to serve, that he is unstable, that he is dangerous.”

“You and I both know that he has talked about turning the American military on the American people. He has talked about going after people who are engaged in peaceful protest. He has talked about locking people up because they disagree with him,” Harris told Fox News anchor Bret Baier.

“This is a democracy, and in a democracy the president of the United States in the United States of America, should be willing to be able to handle criticism without saying he’d lock people up for doing it,” she said.

The remarks mark an escalation of her rhetoric describing Trump as dangerous for the country as he escalates his rhetoric about internal threats from Americans, including “radical left lunatics,” raising concerns about how he’d use the military in a future administration.

‘Not a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency’: Harris
Harris also attempted to flesh out the differences Americans would see between President Joe Biden’s administration and her theoretical term in the White House, offering several examples after Republicans seized on her answer on ABC’s “The View” last week that “not a thing that comes to mind” when asked what she would have done something differently from Biden over the past four years.

“You’re not Joe Biden, you’re not Donald Trump, but, but nothing comes to mind that you would do differently?” Baier asked.

“My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency, and like every new president that comes into office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences, and fresh and new ideas,” she told Baier.

Harris specifically raised her plans to offer increased housing assistance to first-time home buyers and provide funds to start small businesses.

Still, she added that her administration would mark a turning of the page from what she called the divisiveness of the Trump era in U.S. politics.

Redirecting Her election would mark a change “from the last decade in which we have been burdened with the kind of rhetoric coming from Donald Trump that has been designed and implemented to divide our country and have Americans literally point fingers at each other,” she said.

Pressed on immigration
Baier also pressed Harris on immigration and high levels of border crossings for much of the Biden administration.

Harris did not directly respond to a question about how many undocumented immigrants were released into the country, instead panning Trump for opposing a bipartisan plan that would have beefed up border security. She did, however, express sympathy for families who had loved ones killed by those who crossed the border illegally.

“Those are tragic cases. There’s no question about that. There is no question about that, and I can’t imagine the pain that the families of those victims have experienced for a loss that should not have occurred,” Harris said.

“So that is true. It is also true that if border security had actually been passed nine months ago, it would be nine months that we would have had more border agents at the border, more support for the folks who are working around the clock trying to hold it all together to ensure that no future harm would occur.”

Day care operator’s husband sentenced to 45 years in child’s fentanyl death

October 16, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The husband of the owner of a New York City day care where a 1-year-old child died of fentanyl poisoning was sentenced Wednesday to 45 years in prison.

Felix Herrera Garcia, 35, pleaded guilty in June to federal drug charges for trafficking fentanyl out of the day care center.

In September 2023, a 1-year-old boy attending the day care, Nicholas Dominici, died, and three other children, ranging in age from 8 months to 2 years, were hospitalized and treated with Narcan, police said.

In his sentencing, federal prosecutors said Herrera Garcia was seen fleeing the Bronx day care through a back alley, carrying two heavy shopping bags while children were suffering from the effects of fentanyl.

Herrera Garcia and others stashed more than 11 kilograms of fentanyl and heroin in secret compartments, or traps, located underneath the floor tiles in the playroom where the children played, ate and slept on a daily basis, prosecutors said.

“Felix Herrera Garcia operated a deadly fentanyl trafficking enterprise out of a day care, recklessly putting babies at risk of fentanyl exposure on a daily basis,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement Wednesday.

“This case demonstrates the deadly reach and scope of the fentanyl epidemic, and the tragic collateral damage it inflicts on American lives,” Williams added.

Herrera Garcia fled to Mexico after the death and was arrested after a weeklong manhunt. His wife, Grei Mendez, who worked at the day care has also been charged in relation to the drug trafficking scheme.

Mendez pulled her and Herrera Garcia’s 2-year-old son from attending the day care prior to the incident after she worried he was exhibiting signs of fentanyl exposure, law enforcement sources familiar with the case previously told ABC News.

Mendez never reported the suspected exposure to police and did not allow the boy to return to the facility, according to the sources. However, she kept the day care open for other children.

In September, a federal criminal complaint showed Mendez allegedly deleted more than 20,000 messages between her and her husband sent from March 2021 to the day the 1-year-old boy died from fentanyl exposure at her facility, on Sept. 15, 2023.

Before calling 911 about the unresponsive children, Mendez allegedly made three other phone calls: one to a day care employee and two to her husband, according to the federal court documents.

In addition to the 45-year prison term, Herrera Garcia was sentenced to five years of supervised release, prosecutors said.

‘Shaken baby’ death row inmate Robert Roberson turns to Supreme Court to halt his execution

October 16, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(TEXAS) — Robert Roberson, the first person set to be executed in the U.S. based on the largely discredited “shaken baby syndrome” hypothesis, has filed a request for a stay of execution and a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court.

Roberson argues that his federal due process rights were violated when Texas’ highest court refused to consider his bid to reopen the case based on “substantial new scientific and medical evidence.”

The plea comes after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied his requests to either have his sentence commuted to life in prison or to have his execution delayed.

Roberson was found guilty for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter based on the testimony from a pediatrician who described swelling and hemorrhages in Nikki’s brain to support a “shaken baby syndrome” diagnosis, even though there is limited evidence that this is a credible diagnosis.

The hypothesis has come under serious scrutiny in biomechanical studies, as well as a growing body of medical and legal literature. The medical examiner at the time also suspected that Nikki sustained multiple head injuries and considered the death a homicide in the official autopsy.

Roberson is autistic, according to his legal team, which affects how he expresses emotions — a concern that also arose during the trial.

Since his conviction, newly presented evidence found that Nikki had pneumonia at the time of her death and had been prescribed respiratory-suppressing drugs by doctors in the days leading up to her death.

A medical expert who performed post-mortem toxicology reports and reexamined her lung tissue said they found that chronic interstitial viral pneumonia and acute bacterial pneumonia were damaging her lungs, causing sepsis and then septic shock, likely leading to vital organ failure.

Over 30 medical and scientific experts have written to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, asking it to reconsider Roberson’s sentence because it hinged on the “shaken baby syndrome.”

A bipartisan group of 86 Texas House of Representatives members have also spoken in support of Roberson’s clemency request, arguing that a state law enables reviews of wrongful convictions based on changes in scientific evidence. In Roberson’s case, they believe that the new evidence should have led to a new trial.

FTC adopts ‘click-to-cancel’ rule, aiming to make it easier to cancel memberships

October 16, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Trade Commission finalized a rule Wednesday that seeks to make it easier for American households to cancel their subscriptions and memberships.

The goal is to make it as simple for consumers to opt out of recurring payments — including for gyms, retailers or other businesses — as it is to sign up for them.

“Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement following the announcement.

“The FTC’s rule will end these tricks and traps, saving Americans time and money. Nobody should be stuck paying for a service they no longer want,” Khan said.

Under the so-called “click-to-cancel” rule, if customers decide to enroll in a subscription online or through an app in one step — they should be able to cancel that way, too.

Businesses will be required to provide important information — such as when free trials end — and to obtain consumers’ consent before billing and charging them.

The changes are set to take effect in April 2025. Companies that don’t comply could face civil penalties, according to the agency.

The Biden administration announced in August it was working to adopt the rule as part of a broader effort to cut down the time and money Americans spend wrangling with companies over customer service.

“For a lot of services, it takes one or two clicks on your phone to sign up. It should take one or two clicks on your phone to end the service,” White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden said in August. “Consumers could see the new rule applied to gym memberships or phone and internet companies.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is critical of the initiative, accusing the federal government in a statement of “imposing heavy-handed regulations that micromanage business practices and pricing.”

Tanden said at the time that the efforts were about creating a better functioning market, not targeting any particular company or “shaming corporations writ large.”

“When they want to end one subscription, they can shop for another, but it’s their decision,” she said. “That’s what a free market is really about, empowering individuals to make the decisions they want to make without these practices that get in their way.”

The FTC says it received more than 16,000 comments from consumers, trade associations, watchdog groups, and state and federal agencies since it first floated the proposal in March 2023.

Federal officials sound alarm on anti-Muslim, anti-Arab hate crimes

October 16, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON, D.C) — Federal security agencies are sounding the alarm about alleged hate crimes targeting Muslim Americans and communities perceived to be Muslim, according to a new report obtained by ABC News.

The new joint intelligence bulletin (JIB) – published a week after the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel that precipitated the ongoing Israel-Hamas war – notes that “these communities are more likely to be attacked during periods of heightened sociopolitical tensions and increased anti-immigrant sentiment,” and are “more likely when perceived as retribution after acts of international terrorism in the United States and abroad.”

The report from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center, comes nearly a year to the day after the Oct. 14, 2023 murder of Wadea Al-Fayoume. The 6-year-old Palestinian boy was fatally stabbed in Plainfield Township, Illinois, in an alleged hate crime linked to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. His 71-year-old landlord, Joseph Czuba, has been criminally charged for allegedly stabbing Wadea 26 times, and his mother a dozen times. Czuba has pleaded not guilty.

Czuba allegedly yelled “you Muslims must die!” during the attack, according to the JIB.

The JIB also cites a woman’s alleged attempt last month in Texas to drown a 3-year-old Palestinian American child at a community pool, a middle school teacher in Georgia allegedly threatening last December to slit a seventh-grade Muslim student’s throat, and the shooting of three college students of Palestinian descent in November 2023 while they were walking in Vermont, leaving one paralyzed from the waist down.

Amid ongoing news and debate concerning the Israel-Hamas war, the Jewish community has also seen a rise in hate crimes, as well as other bias incidents, according to reports.

A recent Anti-Defamation League analysis of FBI data found that reported single-bias anti-Jewish hate crime incidents increased 63% in 2023 to 1,832, compared to the year before – the highest number ever recorded by the FBI since it began collecting data on such incidents in 1991.

“Bias incidents surged after the 7 October HAMAS attack on Israel and have since decreased to levels consistent with reporting prior to the conflict, a trend previously observed with other international conflicts or events,” the JIB further noted.

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