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U.S. warns about possible al Qaeda attacks in Virginia, Texas, NY

The rising sun lights One World Trade as it stands over the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S.,

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. intelligence officials have warned local authorities in New York, Texas and Virginia about possible attacks by al Qaeda on Monday, a day before the U.S. presidential election, CBS News reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources.

No specific locations were mentioned, but U.S. intelligence officials alerted joint terrorism task forces about the possible threat, CBS reported.

The FBI did not comment specifically on the report. “The counterterrorism and homeland security communities remain vigilant and well-postured to defend against attacks here in the United States,” it said in a statement on Friday.

The bureau was working closely with federal, state and local law enforcement to identify and disrupt any potential threats, it said.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report, and officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The potential for violent clashes is darkening an already rancorous presidential race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, on top of the threat of computer hacking and fears that Russia or other state actors could spread political misinformation online or tamper with voting.

And while federal and state authorities are beefing up cyber defenses against potential electronic attacks on voting systems ahead of Election Day, others are taking additional steps to guard against possible civil unrest or violence.

Local authorities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wisconsin and Florida told Reuters they were not boosting election-related law enforcement personnel or resources above 2012 levels.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu in Washington and Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Officials in Florida, Virginia file voter fraud charges against three people

An election volunteer holds a box outside Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City,

By Scott Malone

(Reuters) – Officials in Florida and Virginia filed voter fraud charges against three people in apparently unrelated cases on Friday, just 11 days before American voters cast ballots in the hotly contested presidential race.

The charges targeted a Florida woman and a Virginia man accused of filing bogus voter registration forms and a Florida woman alleged to have tampered with absentee ballots she was opening at the Miami-Dade Elections Department.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has charged in recent weeks that the election will be rigged in favor of Democrat Hillary Clinton, though he has shown no proof for these claims and many Republicans have called them unfounded.

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle in Florida said that 74-year-old Gladys Coego, had been working as an absentee ballot opener when a supervisor allegedly saw her changing ballots that had been left blank to support a mayoral candidate. Prosecutors said that Coego admitted to marking the ballots, and was charged with two felony counts of marking or designating the ballot of another.

“The integrity of the electoral process is intact because our procedures work,” said Christina White, the county’s election supervisor, in a statement.

Separately, 33-year-old Tomika Curgil was charged with five felony counts of submitting false voter registration information for allegedly handing in forms filled out by fictitious voters while working on a voter-registration drive for a medical marijuana advocacy group.

A Virginia man was also charged with submitting falsified forms while working for a voter-registration campaign, state prosecutors said.

Vafalay Massaquoi, 30, was arraigned on two felony counts of forging a public record and two counts of voter registration fraud.

“There is no allegation that any illegal vote was actually cast in this case,” said Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter. “Furthermore, since the fraudulent applications involved fictitious people, had the fraud not been uncovered, the risk of actual fraudulent votes being cast was low.”

Neither Coego, Curgil nor Massaquoi could be reached for immediate comment.

A man in Texas, where early voting started on Monday, was arrested on Monday on charges of electioneering and loitering near a polling place, public records show.

The man, Brett Mauthe, had been charged for showing up to vote in a Trump had and T-shirt with the phrase “basket of deplorables,” a reference to a comment Clinton made disparaging her rivals’ supporters, election officials told local media.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Herskovitz in Austin, Texas, and Letitia Stein in Tampa, Florida; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Focus shifts to recovery and flooding as Matthew heads out to sea

A Baptist church is surrounded by flood waters after Hurricane Matthew hit Lumberton, North Carolina

By Judy Royal

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. (Reuters) – Residents of the southeastern United States ravaged by Hurricane Matthew turned their focus on Monday toward recovery and clean-up, but officials in several states warned that deadly flooding could continue as swollen rivers crest in the coming days.

Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007, was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Sunday after its rampage through the Caribbean killed 1,000 people in Haiti.

In the United States, the death toll rose to at least 19 people.

While power was being restored in some areas, 1.6 million people were without power in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Virginia, down from Sunday’s peak of 2.2 million. Officials were working to clear streets of fallen trees and abandoned vehicles.

With five people reported missing and rivers rising, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory said he expected the death toll to rise. Eight people in the state were known to have died so far.

People look around the debris of the pier damaged by Hurricane Matthew in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, U.S. October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Randall Hill

McCrory said several swelling rivers were expected to hit record levels and would not crest for days.

“Hurricane Matthew is off the map, but it is still with us and it is still deadly,” he said.

The National Weather Service said “life-threatening flooding” would continue on Monday over eastern portions of the state.

Many coastal and inland communities remained under water, either from coastal storm surge or overrun rivers and creeks.

All 2,000 residents of Princeville, were told on Sunday to evacuate due to flash flood risks. The town lies on the Tar River about 25 miles (40 km) north of Greenville.

Several dams have breached in the area around Cumberland County, south of Raleigh, Michael Martin, fire marshal for the city of Fayetteville, said by phone.

Swiftwater rescue teams are still on alert and there have been 255 water rescue calls and 701 people rescued.

In neighboring South Carolina, a vehicle trying to cross a flooded roadway in Florence County was swept away by flood waters, killing one person, Governor Nikki Haley said.

Jake Williams, a resident of Florence, said on early Monday that his power had been out since Saturday morning.

“Trees are down in every neighborhood on almost every road,” he said, adding “I am no weather man, but would guess that the gusts of wind were near 100 mph (160 km), and with soggy ground a lot trees couldn’t stand up to it.”

In Virginia Beach, the city said it had received over 13 inches (33 cm) of rain and 55,000 people remained without power on Sunday night. The city said that some 200 vehicles were abandoned and many roads remained impassable.

Norfolk, which declared a state of emergency, said efforts were under way to clear streets of debris and abandoned vehicles with city offices, libraries and recreational centers set to re-open Monday.

ROOFTOP RESCUE

The storm center was about 200 miles (320 km) off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and heading away from land, according to the National Hurricane Center’s Sunday 5 p.m. (2100 GMT) report. It discontinued all tropical storm warnings.

The storm still packed hurricane force winds as far as 90 miles (150 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds 240 miles (390 km) away.

U.S. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Georgia and Florida, freeing up federal money to help the states repair damaged infrastructure and remove debris.

McCrory said 334 rescue workers risked their lives carrying out 877 rescues overnight.

In one of the dramatic rescues in North Carolina, out-of-state firefighters helped save three people from the roof of an SUV in inland Cumberland County, where more than 500 rescues took place.

Flash flooding turned a creek into a “roaring, raging river” that swept the vehicle off the roadway on Saturday night, said Battalion Chief Joe Downey of the Fire Department of New York. He was part of a team from three states that carried out 64 rescues on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

“Water was almost up to the roof of the SUV,” Downey said in a telephone interview. “It was bad. They had nowhere to go.”

Anthony Branch carries belongings from his home as flood waters rise after Hurricane Matthew in Lumberton, North Carolina October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Keane

Though Hurricane Matthew has moved out to sea, the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs until Nov. 30, remains active.

The National Hurricane Center said on Monday morning that tropical storm Nicole was expected to strengthen into Tuesday. The storm is around 500 miles (800 km) south of Bermuda and moving northward towards the island.

(Additional reporting by Harriet McLeod in Charleston, S.C., Eric Johnson in Seattle, and Frank McGurty, Chris Michaud and Gina Cherlus in New York, Writing by Timothy Mclaughlin; Editing by Alison Williams)

Fourth worker in a year dies at Virginia Goodyear plant

(Reuters) – A worker died at a Goodyear Tire and Rubber plant at Danville, Virginia, on Friday, the fourth fatality in a year at the site, state officials said.

Goodyear said it had reported the death to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and would cooperate with it.

“Our hearts go out to the family, friends and co-workers of the employee during this very difficult time,” the statement said.

The employee’s identity and the circumstances of the death at the plant about 250 miles southwest of Washington were not announced.

The death at the plant was the fourth since August 2015, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry said. The department has sent a team to the Goodyear site, she said.

Investigations into the previous three deaths have not been concluded, said Ron Graham, health director of the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Program, which oversees federal workplace rules in the state.

The Virginia agency issued three violations totaling $16,975 in fines in February for the accident last year, according to an inspections report on the OSHA website. Goodyear is contesting the penalties. The other two accidents, prior to Friday, took place this year.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

Suspected gunman, state trooper dead in Virginia shooting

By Gary Robertson

RICHMOND, Va. (Reuters) – A Virginia state trooper and a suspected gunman died in a shooting at a Richmond bus station on Thursday, officials and local media reported.

Six people including the trooper and gunman were injured in the attack, which took place at around 2:45 p.m. ET as state police were conducting a training exercise at the bus station, near a baseball stadium, local media reported.

Reva Trammell, chairwoman of the Richmond City Council’s Public Safety Committee, told WTVR CBS 6 that a state trooper had died in the incident.

“This is one of the saddest days I’ve ever seen in Richmond, Virginia,” Trammell said.

Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said earlier she did not know the nature or severity of the injuries to the two troopers or to a wounded civilian female.

A spokesman for VCU Medical Center in Richmond said the hospital was expecting patients from the shooting, but declined to release further information.

NBC 12 reported on its website and television images showing the area around the bus station cordoned off with large numbers of police presence.

Michael Bickett, who said he works directly across the street from the loading area from the buses said in a direct Twitter message. “A co-worker was eating lunch in his car when he saw Greyhound Workers and customers rushing out the side door. He figured that was a good time to get back inside.”

(Additional reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle and Melissa Fares in New York; Writing by Scott Malone and Eric Beech; Editing by Mohammad Zargham, Diane Craft)

Bibles survive as tornado flattens 145-year-old Virginia church

Tornadoes caused widespread damage throughout the Gulf and Atlantic coasts earlier this week, though some of the most severe destruction was reported in Virginia.

Reports to the National Weather Service indicate tornadoes caused major damage to buildings throughout the state on Wednesday, and the Virginia State Police said four people were killed.

One of those tornadoes destroyed a 145-year-old church in Tappahannock, local television station WTVR reported, but about two dozen Bibles and song books survived the destruction.

The National Weather Service’s storm reports show that an EF3 tornado, a classification that is capable of producing winds from 136 to 165 mph, tore through Tappahannock on Wednesday.

WTVR reported that no one at the church was injured, as a planned bible study had been cancelled ahead of the severe weather, but at least 25 people were injured elsewhere in town.

Tappahannock is located in Essex County, about 95 miles south of Washington.

Elsewhere, local officials said tornadoes killed two people in Louisiana and another in Mississippi on Tuesday, while a falling tree killed a man in South Carolina on Wednesday.

Death toll rises to 8 as tornadoes sweep through Southeast

The death toll from the severe thunderstorms and tornadoes that damaged homes and businesses across the United States over the past two days now stands at eight, officials said.

The National Weather Service received 68 reports of tornadoes in the Gulf Coast and Southeast on Tuesday and Wednesday, along with about 500 reports of wind damage from Florida to Maine. The reports mentioned damages to homes and businesses, indicating some were destroyed, as well as numerous downed trees and power lines throughout the storm area.

Tornadoes were reported in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida on Tuesday, and Florida, Virginia and North Carolina on Wednesday. It’s possible that some of those storm reports reference the same funnel cloud, as there are numerous counties listed multiple times.

Officials said severe weather killed five people Wednesday, four in Virginia and one in South Carolina. They came a day after tornadoes killed two people in Louisiana and one in Mississippi.

The Virginia State Police said three people were killed in Waverly, where a funnel cloud was reportedly spotted, and “significant debris” left two state highways impassible in the area.

Officials in Appomattox County said one person was killed after a reported tornado left a trail of destruction that stretched at least eight miles. In a Facebook post, they said some 100 structures were damaged — 20 severely — and 40 percent of the county’s homes were without power.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency, joining governors in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi who issued similar decrees for the severe weather.

McAuliffe’s office said the governor was heading out to survey the damage on Thursday.

The National Weather Service’s reports indicate multiple houses were destroyed near Richmond, Virginia, and five houses were damaged near Granville, North Carolina, a snippet of the storm’s impact.

The reports also say winds toppled trees and power lines in areas where tornadoes weren’t seen.

In South Carolina, the Darlington County Coroner’s Office said a 58-year-old man was killed by a falling tree as he tried to remove storm debris from a road near his home.

Those downed trees and limbs helped knock out power to tens of thousands of people along the East Coast, some of whom were still without electricity on Thursday morning.

That included about 45,000 customers in Connecticut, local utility company Eversource said.

Virginia Teen Jailed for Attempting to Help ISIS

A Virginia teenager will spend the next eleven years of his life in prison because he attempted to help Islamic terrorist group ISIS.

Ali Shukri Amin, 17, will also have a lifetime of probation and will have all of his online activity monitored for the rest of his life.

Amin had faced 15 years in prison. His lawyer argued that because he had cooperated with federal authorities and didn’t try to radicalize anyone but his friend Reza Niknejad that he should only get six years in prison.

Family members and friends, including two imams, were in the courtroom when Amin received his sentence.

In addition to attempting to radicalize a friend, Amin operated a Twitter account where he had 4,000 followers to his ISIS propaganda. He instructed people on how to make donations to ISIS via the computer currency Bitcoin.

Prosecutors called for the maximum sentence because of the “danger he will continue to pose to society” after his release.

Multitude of Sinkhole Development During Last Two Days

A multitude of sinkholes around the country has struck in the last two days.

A massive Florida sinkhole that opened in February 2013 under the home of Jeff Bush, swallowing the man and his bedroom, reopened on Wednesday. The sinkhole is now part of vacant lots after the government destroyed homes surrounding it and was filled in again for a second time.

“It brings back memories,” the victim’s brother Jeremy Bush told CNN affiliate WFLA with tears in his eyes. “I think about it every day. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it.”

Another sinkhole in Leesburg, Virginia knocked out water to residents and left a 30 foot by 40 foot hole in the middle of a street. The city has been monitoring the hole for further movement.

In Athens, Georgia, a sinkhole opened near a local business and swallowed an ice machine and the end wall of a car wash. Lynn Taylor, a neighbor to the business, said she heard noises beginning around midnight and awoke to find the hole the following morning.

“It sounded like somebody was ruffling my doors,” Taylor said.

Finally, Interstate 93 in Concord, New Hampshire reopened Thursday after a sinkhole closed the road down on Wednesday. The 20-foot sinkhole closed the northbound highway between Exits 13 and 14 around Noon Wednesday.

In a fortunate situation, a staffer for the Department of Transportation was driving over the sinkhole as it began to collapse and they were able to stop traffic before anyone drove into it.

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