Friday, November 8, 2024
It is Friday, November 8, 2024. Here are today’s top stories.
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Armed teen stopped at elementary school
Police in Kenosha, Wisconsin said they arrested a 13-year-old boy who attempted to enter an elementary school with a rifle in his bag but ran away after staff questioned him.
The teenager, who is a middle schooler, went to the Roosevelt Elementary School on Thursday morning. He initially tried to enter the side doors at the school but they were locked, so he entered through the main front doors, which is a secure entrance. When a school staff member talked to the boy, he became nervous and fled.
Police were called and they found the boy and after detaining him, they found he had a rifle in a bag. An investigation showed that the boy posted videos of himself with a rifle and that he did Internet searches on school shootings.
Police said they “narrowly missed a tragedy today.” Police said there were warning signs in the past weeks because the boy did internet searches and made comments towards other students.
I’m sure there is an ongoing investigation on how the boy gained access to a gun.
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Trump announces chief of staff
President-elect Trump announced he’s selected his chief of staff. It is Susie Wiles, who served as his campaign manager.
CBS News said Wiles is the first woman to ever hold the position.
Trump said Wiles was an integral part of both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. Trump called her tough, smart, and innovative.
CBS News said Wiles used to work for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Her father was the late Pat Summerall, a well-known sports broadcaster.
https://abcnews.go.com/538/live-updates/election-results-2024
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/susie-wiles-trump-white-house-chief-of-staff-first-woman/
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Judge says immigration program for spouses of citizens is illegal
CBS News said a federal judge struck down a Biden administration program that would allow undocumented immigrants who are married to American citizens to get legal status and an easy path to U.S. citizenship.
The judge said the program violates U.S. immigration law, siding with a lawsuit filed by Texas and over 12 other Republican-led states.
CBS said immigrants who marry U.S. citizens are already eligible for a green card, but laws require those who entered the U.S. illegally to leave the country and re-enter legally. But if someone was illegally in the U.S. for a while and leave and try to re-enter, they could be barred from entry for 3 or 10 years, so many don’t even try this.
The Biden administration’s program would have given a parole to those who are married to U.S. citizens, but the judge said Biden cannot legally do this.
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California’s Mountain Fire destroys homes
CBS News said a wildfire in Ventura County, California has forced over 10,000 people to flee their homes. The fire, called the “Mountain Fire,” has already destroyed at least 132 structures (homes and buildings) and damaged almost 100.
The fire is 32 square miles in size and is fueled by powerful winds. The FEMA issued funding to provide aid to firefighting efforts.
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Hate spam texts targeting Black Americans
The Columbus Dispatch reported that many Black Americans in Ohio and around the nation were spammed with hateful text messages that said they were selected to go and work like slaves on plantations.
People at Ohio State University and a community college in Columbus said a number of students received the messages.
Local news in Detroit said multiple women said they received similar racist and harmful texts. Fox 2 Detroit showed screenshots of text messages and they were similar to the Ohio messages.
It is not clear who is sending them and how they knew that the texts would go towards Black Americans.
The FBI said it is aware of the text messages and is now discussing it with the Justice Department and other federal agencies.
The Columbus Dispatch said the messages appear to be coming from phone numbers with Ohio area codes and some are landlines, which cannot send text messages — that it could be a part of a “spoofing scam,” which is when people get texts that look like it’s from someone local or from someone they know.
Hopefully authorities can figure out who is sending these messages and see what their motive is. It must have been very disturbing for those who got the messages.
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Update on U.S. House elections
An update on the elections for the U.S. House of Representatives — Republicans are inching forward to gaining control. Republicans have won 211 seats while Democrats have won 200 seats.
There are 14 races that have not been called. The magic number for control of the House is 214. It seems likely that Republicans will get there as they are leading in 8 of the races.
Remember, if Republicans win control of the House, then we will have a fully Republican-controlled government when Donald Trump is inaugurated as the next president because the GOP has already won control of the Senate.
What this means is that Republicans can push through a conservative agenda without much ability from Democrats to block it.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/house-results
https://www.axios.com/2024/11/07/house-election-results-control-count
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That is all the top stories for this week. Have a nice weekend and stay with the light.