Category: Voices

A Pennsylvania coroner has confirmed a second measles death in a child in the state.
The measles deaths are the first reported in the United States this year amid a 35-year high in infections.
“Just today, we received a report of another child who died with measles, and we’re in the process of doing an investigation,” Lancaster County Coroner, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, told WHTM Wednesday.
It is unclear if the second death reported by the coroner is further clarification of two deaths already reported, or if this brings the death toll to three.
There has been unusual friction between the state and the federal government after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked his newly appointed CDC director to remove a reference to two Pennsylvania fatalities from the agency’s online measles tracker after questioning whether the virus contributed to the deaths, according to a new report.
open image in galleryHealth and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in Washington, D.C…

Donald Trump’s administration insists that a compensation fund for pardoned January 6 rioters is dead for good, but the Department of Justice has refused to say whether government lawyers are working on backdoor plans for taxpayer-funded payouts.
The Justice Department has denied several Freedom of Information Act requests filed by a nonprofit watchdog group, according to a newly filed federal lawsuit. The group is now asking a judge to intervene to force the government to answer.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wants to know whether the Justice Department is working on settlement deals with pardoned rioters after hundreds of members of the mob filed lawsuits against the government “seeking millions of dollars for what they claim are injuries incurred during the investigation and prosecution of their federal crimes,” according to the lawsuit.
They’re all suing under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which taps into the government’s permanent Judgment Fund used to pay co..

The House of Representatives abruptly canceled the final two weeks of votes for September, effectively giving the House four days of work before the midterm elections and not being in session during August.
The move comes 60 days before the midterm elections polling shows Democrats poised to win control of the House of Representatives.
But it also comes as Republicans still face major questions about President Donald Trump’s increasingly unpopular war in Iran, the rising cost of living and the president’s plans for overhauling the nation’s capital.
The House passed a continuing resolution earlier this week to keep the government open until December, sending the bill the Senate passed before the recess to the president’s desk. That averted a government shutdown.
House Speaker Mike Johnson continues to face an unruly caucus. Earlier this week, a rule to begin debate on multiple pieces of legislation looked poised to fail after five Republicans defected to vote “no.”
The Republicans i..

A man accused of fighting a police officer in a Florida hospital appears to be covered in blood and bruises in his chilling mugshot.
​Ronald Jeffery Johnson, 51, was arrested Saturday after attacking a Fort Lauderdale Police officer at the Broward Health Medical Center, authorities said.
An arrest report obtained by The Independent revealed that an active warrant was already out for Johnson in Georgia, after he failed to appear on “terroristic threats.”
​In his Florida mugshot, Johnson’s blood-covered face looks heavily bruised, with one mark turning purple underneath his eye. The cheek on that side of his face looks heavily swollen. Blood has dried around his nose and mouth, with even one of his ears was soaked red. ​Some of the blood has splattered down onto his heavily tattooed chest.
A gloved hand also appears to be propping Johnson up.
open image in galleryThe mugshot of a man who allegedly attacked a cop in a Florida healthcare facility has been released (Broward County Sheriff&..

The Bank of America vice president fatally stabbed in Times Square was a new mother on her first week back from maternity leave, according to a report.
​Erin Piacenti, 32, was one of two people randomly attacked a short distance from her firm’s tower block in New York City Monday afternoon.
She had stopped in front of a vendor selling sunglasses while heading home from work she was stabbed, The New York Times reported. NYPD officers shot and killed the attacker, later named as 49 year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens.
Just days before the fatal incident, Piacenti had posted a picture on social media holding her newborn daughter and grinning, according to The Times.
open image in gallery​Erin Piacenti, 32-year-old executive at Bank of America, was fatally stabbed in Times Square on Monday (Facebook)​“As my maternity leave comes to an end,” she wrote, “I could not be more grateful for every day of the last five months spent with this amazing little girl.”
Piacenti and her husband Frank h..

Water rescues are underway in southern Texas as former Tropical Storm Edouard continued to dump heavy rain, flooding streets and trapping people in their homes.
An unidentified woman and her four children were rescued from their Livingston mobile home after a creek overflowed, according to Click 2 Houston.
And people in the area were pulled from their cars stuck in flooded roads, KTRE said.
A flash flood emergency has been declared in Hardin and Tyler Counties, northeast of Houston, with rain expected to continue throughout the day and into tomorrow.
The storm has dropped 30 inches over Texas in the course of just 24 hours, WFLA meteorologist Jeff Berardelli wrote on social media.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Germany has blamed Russia for an attempted explosive drone attack targeted at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month.
The device was discovered near an aircraft from Ukraine on the evening of 4 August and defused.
German interior minister Alexander Dobrindt stated that the event corresponds with a known pattern of “Russian hybrid operations.”
He said the German government “comes to the conclusion that Russia is responsible for the hybrid attack in Leipzig on 4 August.
“We assume that Germany is the target of further hybrid attacks by ‌Russia,” he added.
Germany’s foreign minister, Johann Wadephu, has ordered a series of measures in response, including the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn along with the Russian House, a cultural centre in Berlin.
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said “the evidence was clear” and he welcomed the measures after speaking with German chancellor Friedrich Merz.
He wrote on X: “Nato will continue to strengthen our ability to deter and defend all Allies a..

FBI Director Kash Patel has made it easier for people who've previously engaged in prostitution or bestiality to join the bureau's ranks – a change that one former agent called “beyond disturbing.”
The FBI quietly amended its hiring practices earlier this year and will consider applicants for special agent positions and other bureau roles even if they have paid for sex three times or fewer in the last decade, according to a CBS News report last week.
The rules also do not rule out an applicant if they engaged in bestiality, so long as it happened before they turned 18, according to the report.
Before the change, an FBI applicant who engaged in prostitution or bestiality would have been automatically disqualified, according to Daniel Meyer, a Washington lawyer who specializes in background checks and the security-clearance process.
He told Scripps News that admitting to buying sex during a polygraph was typically a “death knell” for an FBI applicant.
open image in galleryUnd..

A Minnesota mother died after re-entering a burning duplex to save her 3-year-old daughter, shielding the toddler with her own body until firefighters reached them.
Bonnie Pierce, 38, was napping inside the St. Paul home when the fire broke out on August 22. Her 12-year-old daughter, Aurora, escaped by kicking out an air conditioning unit and climbing through a window, according to a GoFundMe campaign set up for the family.
Pierce initially made it outside safely, but returned to the blaze after realizing her youngest child, 3-year-old Grace, was still trapped inside. Her sister, Jenny McGovern, noted that Pierce may have assumed the 12-year-old had the toddler with her before stepping outside.
“She’s a hero,” McGovern said, according to CBS News. “She died a hero. She's my hero forever. I cannot thank her enough for saving that little girl’s life.”
First responders encountered significant fire, extreme heat and near-zero visibility on the first floor of the East Magnolia Avenue ..

Prediction platform Kalshi has handed former U.S. congressman George Santos a lifetime ban and fined him $71,356 over allegations of insider trading.
According to a disciplinary filing released by the firm, its compliance team determined there was reasonable cause to conclude that the former lawmaker participated in unlawful trades.
The decision comes amid a surge in questionable transactions across prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, creating fresh oversight hurdles as law enforcement and regulators step up their focus on the expanding industry.
In June, Kalshi referred Santos to the U.S. Department of Justice following the discovery of unusual account activity, a source previously told Reuters.
Santos was ousted from Congress following charges of identity theft and fraud (AFP via Getty Images)Fresh out of prison for wire fraud and identity theft, Santos allegedly began a new scheme by fixing the odds on a bet of whether he would attend President Donald Trump’s State of the..