Prepared for the Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Editorial Note: The DHS Daily Briefing is a collection of news articles related to Department’s mission. The inclusion of particular stories is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse the political viewpoints or affiliations included in news coverage.

ABC News [4/27/2024 10:52 AM, Nadine El-Bawab and Daniel Amarante, 22K, Negative] reports severe weather left a trail of destruction in the Heartland on Friday with 78 tornado reports across five states. A multi-day tornado outbreak continues Saturday with powerful storms expected from Texas to the Great Lakes. A Moderate Risk -- Level 4 out of 5 -- is in the outlook for parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri Saturday, with storms expected to flare up again in the afternoon and evening across a huge area of the country. All modes of severe weather are likely Saturday. Damaging winds, huge hail, and long-track tornadoes are all in the cards, especially in Kansas, Oklahoma and northeast Texas. Overall, there is a severe weather threat stretching across the central U.S. from Canada to Mexico. The threat for these dangerous storms continues into the overnight hours. In addition to the thunderstorm threat, there is also a flash flood risk with this major storm system. The National Weather Service will be conducting damage surveys this weekend to determine the number of confirmed tornadoes, as well as the intensity ratings and other details. NBC News [4/27/2024 1:05 PM, Minyvonne Burke, Kathryn Prociv and Christine Rapp, 6847K, Negative] reports a preliminary 79 tornadoes were reported Friday across six states, most occurring in Nebraska and Iowa, where homes were leveled and buildings collapsed. Omaha, Nebraska, Mayor Jean Stothert said in a Facebook post early Saturday that no deaths had been reported and there were a few minor injuries after a destructive tornado moved through rural farmland before hitting the suburbs. Omaha police Lt. Neal Bonacci said hundreds of homes were damaged, mostly in the Elkhorn area in the western part of the city. Police and firefighters went door to door to help residents and to search areas where people could be trapped, Omaha Fire Chief Kathy Bossman said. "We’ll be looking throughout properties in debris piles, we’ll be looking in basements, trying to find any victims and make sure everybody is rescued who needs assistance," Bossman said. Pat Woods, who lives in Elkhorn, told The Associated Press, that he and his wife took shelter but could hear the tornado "coming through." Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds declared a disaster emergency for Pottawattamie County after video posted on social media showed parts of Minden, about 30 miles northeast of Omaha, completely flattened. Jeff Theulen, the chief deputy of the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, said at a Friday evening news conference that 40 or 50 homes were "completely destroyed." There have been two reports of injuries, one "fairly severe but not life-threatening," he told reporters. "It’s very dangerous right now. We’ve shut off entrance to the city except for the people that live here," he said, noting that "50% of the town is damaged badly and then there’s light damage everywhere else." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]. CNN [4/27/2024 11:20 PM, Aya Elamroussi, 6098K, Neutral] reports one day after destructive tornadoes plowed through Nebraska and Iowa, millions of people in parts of Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma were under tornado watches Saturday evening. One tornado watch area includes the Kansas City metropolitan area and 2.7 million people in southeastern Kansas and western and central Missouri, according to the National Weather Service. The watch, which means severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are possible in and near the watch area, lasts until midnight CT. Another tornado watch area covering much of Oklahoma and parts of North Texas was extended until 3 a.m. CT. A third watch area was issued for eastern Iowa and parts of northeast Missouri, southwest Wisconsin and northwest Illinois, also effective until midnight CT. And other was issued for eastern and central Missouri and central and western Illinois, including St. Louis, until 4 am CT. In all, some 9 million people are under tornado watches in the late hours of Saturday and early Sunday, stretching more than 800 miles from Texas to southern Wisconsin. FOX News [4/28/2024 2:16 AM, Staff, 8967K, Negative] reports additional rounds of life-threatening severe weather are likely over the Southern Plains, after twisters ripped through the nation’s heartland on Friday. In addition, confidence is increasing for flash flooding in parts of east-central Oklahoma where 5-10 inches of rain may fall through Sunday. Over 50 million people are under threat of severe weather as the atmosphere recharges, stretching more than 1,500 miles from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes. The greatest threat for tornadoes on Saturday stretched from Oklahoma through the Upper Mississippi Valley but is expected to slide eastward on Sunday. Due to the risk, the NWS office in Norman, Oklahoma, launched a special weather balloon on Saturday afternoon to help survey the atmosphere to determine if storms would be able to blossom during the evening. The Storm Prediction Center received over 100 reports of severe weather on Saturday, with most being of large hail, but several tornadoes were spotted in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Reported similarly:
Des Moines Register [4/27/2024 12:17 PM, José Mendiola, Negative]
Yahoo! News [4/27/2024 1:51 PM, Staff, 13914K, Positive]
Yahoo! News [4/27/2024 6:55 PM, José Mendiola and Phillip Sitter, 13914K, Negative]
Yahoo! News [4/27/2024 8:32 PM, Aaron Sanderford, 13914K, Neutral]

CNN [4/28/2024 2:04 AM, Dakin Andone, 6098K, Neutral] reports with tension mounting over an encampment in support of Palestinians at New York’s Columbia University, police strode onto campus this month and arrested more than 100 demonstrators. Soon, dozens more students protesting the monthslong assault on Gaza were arrested at New York and Yale universities. At the University of Texas at Austin, police in riot gear and on horseback moved to disperse a like-minded demonstration, while nearly 100 at the University of Southern California also got arrested. Then at Emory University in Atlanta, law enforcement deployed pepper balls to break up a pro-Palestinian action, arresting 28, including several professors. And at Boston’s Emerson College, another 108 protesters were arrested, with four officers hurt. On the cusp of the close of the academic year, university communities across the nation remain on edge, not only over flares of political action but also what response, if any, it might compel. While the latest run of arrests has commanded outsized attention, US colleges have been using law enforcement – along with academic suspensions and, for at least one school, expulsion – to try to bring to heel student demonstrations since Hamas’ October attack on Israel left more than 1,200 dead and dozens taken hostage. Israel’s devastating counterpunch in Gaza – with more than 34,000 Palestinians killed, according to its health ministry – has further fueled deeply held views of students and faculty on all sides. Amid US students’ broad insistence their tactics are peaceful, administrators often have decried campus protests as disruptive, with some – including at Indiana University, George Washington University and California State Polytechnic University’s Humboldt campus – employing school rules governing use of public spaces to threaten or enact discipline or call for police backup. Reuters [4/28/2024 6:05 AM, Makini Brice and Jonathan Allen, 5239K, Negative] reports in the days since police arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Columbia University on April 18, a protest encampment has been re-established on the New York campus and hundreds of protesters have been arrested at schools from California to Massachusetts. The protests over the conflict between Israel and Palestinians - and the response from administrators, politicians, faculty and students to the demonstrations - have roiled college campuses and divided the American public.

NBC News [4/28/2024 5:00 AM, Peter Nicholas, 3304K, Negative] reports some Jewish leaders and lawmakers from both parties are accusing President Joe Biden’s administration of taking a lax approach toward enforcement of civil rights laws, exposing Jewish students to continued harassment. They point to a surge of complaints filed with the Education Department that have yet to be resolved, creating a backlog that effectively eases pressure on school administrators to take action needed to protect Jewish students amid protests over the Israel-Hamas war. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, sent a letter Thursday to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona objecting to the “speed of these investigations, delayed conclusions, and lack of adequate resources allocated to these investigations.” The congressman asked Cardona for an update on the pending investigations into antisemitism on college campuses, noting that at Columbia University in New York, “the eruption of antisemitism … has created a particularly hostile environment for Jewish students.” Neither Columbia nor the New York Police Department has released data on the number of antisemitic incidents at the school. The tumult spreading through college campuses is especially tricky for Biden as he works to rebuild the voting coalition from the 2020 presidential race. Many of the students protesting the war in Gaza say they are unhappy with him for not bringing about a cease-fire. At the same time, some Jewish students and their defenders are displeased that the Biden administration isn’t showing more resolve in stamping out antisemitic harassment on campus.

Miami Herald [4/27/2024 1:38 PM, Mike Heuer, Negative] reports a total of seven people were shot and one person was killed during a pair of gun violence incidents in or near nightclubs in Washington D.C. late Friday and early Saturday, police said. Four men, one woman and a security guard were shot, although none suffered life-threatening injuries, after an angry patron was kicked out of a nightclub located on Connecticut Ave. N.W. in the nation’s capitol Friday night, D.C. Metropolitan Police assistant chief Ramey Kyle said in a video statement. Kyle said police apprehended the lone suspect and recovered a firearm. "This all started with a dispute that started inside an establishment ... and spilled into the street," he said. The argument occurred inside the Decades nightclub and culminated in the shooting outside it, WTOP-AM reported. The U.S. Secret Service helped local police secure the crime scene and apprehend the suspect. The shooting occurred around 11:30 p.m. Anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to call 202-727-9099 or text 50411 to anonymously report the information. Another shooting at a nearby nightclub occurred hours later in the U Street Corridor and claimed one man’s life, according to WRC-TV. Despite the shootings, reported crime in Washington D.C. violent crime declined by 25% after reaching record highs in 2023, according to the Metropolitan Police Department’s crime data.

Reported similarly:
UPI [4/27/2024 1:24 PM, Mike Heuer, 207K, Neutral, Secondary]
FOX 5 DC [4/27/2024 11:29 AM, Staff, 5429K, Neutral, Secondary]
WUSA 9 [4/27/2024 12:36 PM, Brittney Melton, 54K, Neutral, Secondary]

The Hill [4/27/2024 8:36 AM, Lauren Irwin, Neutral, Secondary] reports the Republican National Committee (RNC) has reportedly sent a letter to the Secret Service asking them to keep protesters further away from the Milwaukee convention venue in July. The three-page letter, reported first by New York Times, objected to a plan that had a specific area where protesters would be able to demonstrate. Todd R. Steggerda, the letter’s author and counsel to the RNC, said people who are attending the convention would have to pass by the protesters on their way into Fiserv Forum, where the event is being held. The Hill has reached out to the RNC for a copy of the letter, but the Times reported that Steggerda referenced the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses. He said that “forced proximity” between the groups that have “differing ideologies” will increase the risk of verbal or physical altercations. The security plan proposed by the Secret Service would place protesters at Pere Marquette Park, a small public park that’s a quarter of a mile from the convention center, according to the letter. “Packing demonstrators into a park essentially boxed in by the two streets that thousands of attendees will be using to enter the convention site will only serve to heighten — rather than prevent and diffuse — any tension,” Steggerda wrote. The Times said it received the letter, addressed to Secret Service Director Kimberly A. Cheatle, “via hand delivery.” The RNC did not propose a different location for protesters to gather, but said the Secret Service should expand its security perimeter to have protesters further away from the arena.

Reported similarly:
CNN [4/27/2024 2:59 PM, Shania Shelton and Daniel Strauss, 6098K, Neutral]
USA Today [4/27/2024 10:23 AM, Alison Dirr, 4261K, Neutral, Primary]
Washington Times [4/27/2024 11:56 AM, Alex Miller, 261K, Neutral, Secondary]

NPR [4/27/2024 8:12 AM, Lionel Ramos, 5347K, Neutral] Audio: HERE reports the Oklahoma Legislature passed a bill that would allow local law enforcement to arrest undocumented immigrants — joining other states attempting to take on what’s been a federal role.

Reported similarly:
Public Radio East [4/27/2024 8:12 AM, Lionel Ramos, Neutral]

The Hill [4/27/2024 3:08 PM, Filip Timotija, 1592K, Neutral] reports National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), along with other federal authorities, is investigating Friday’s freight train derailment on the Arizona-New Mexico border. The BNSF freight train was carrying gasoline and odorless propane when it derailed near Manuelito, New Mexico, according to the NTSB. The derailed train caught fire, causing black smoke to come out of the cars, and resulted in the closure of the nearby interstate. No injuries were reported from the incident. “I-40 EB remains closed at US 191. Expect delays & seek an alternate route. There is no estimated time to reopen the highway,” the Arizona Department of Transportation said on social media platform X. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is in charge of the investigation. NTSB personnel are traveling to the scene, according to NTSB. FRA safety personnel arrived on the scene Friday night and will be working with state, Tribal and local agencies. The Apache County Sheriff’s Office, which was one of the law enforcement units that responded to the incident, said in an update the derailment is being treated as a hazardous materials incident. ABC News [4/27/2024 1:21 PM, Meredith Deliso, 22K, Neutral] reports The Federal Railroad Administration is leading the investigation into the derailment, the agency said Saturday. Investigators with the FRA responded to the derailment on Friday, according to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. A team of NTSB investigators is also en route to the scene and is expected to arrive later Saturday to begin documenting the scene and examining the train and equipment. The train was carrying gasoline and non-odorous propane, according to New Mexico State Police.

Reported similarly:
Miami Herald [4/27/2024 1:50 PM, Simon Druker, Neutral]
Washington Examiner [4/27/2024 5:02 PM, Jenny Goldsberry, 554K, Negative]
Yahoo! News [4/27/2024 1:13 PM, Rebekah Riess and Paradise Afshar, 13914K, Positive]

New York Times [4/28/2024 1:00 AM, David French, 3800K, Neutral] reports I had my head in a law book when I heard the drums. That was the sound of the first campus protest I’d ever experienced. I’d come to Harvard Law School in the fall of 1991 as a graduate of a small, very conservative Christian college in Nashville. Many of my college classmates had passionate religious and political commitments, but street protest was utterly alien to the Christian culture of the school. We were rule followers, and public protest looked a bit too much like anarchy for our tastes. But Harvard was different. The law school was every bit as progressive as my college was conservative, and protest was part of the fabric of student life, especially then. This is the era when a writer for GQ magazine, John Sedgwick, called the law school “Beirut on the Charles” because it was torn apart by disputes over race and sex. There were days when campus protests were festive, almost celebratory. There were other days when the campus was seething with rage and fury. That first protest was in support of faculty diversity, and it was relatively benign. I walked outside and followed the sound of the drums. A group of roughly 100 protesters were marching in front of the law school library, and soon they were joined by an allied group of similar size from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. I watched as they danced, sang and listened to speeches by student activists and sympathetic professors. That first protest had an angry edge, but it was also completely peaceful and endlessly fascinating to a kid from a small town in Kentucky who’d never seen a drum circle before. But things soon got worse, much worse. Protests got more unruly, and student activists got more aggressive. The entire campus was in a state of conflict. In Sedgwick’s words, students were “waging holy war on one another

FOX News [4/27/2024 10:00 AM, Sen. Bill Cassidy, Sen. Michael Bennet, María Elvira Salazar, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, 8967K, Neutral] reports U.S. policymakers have always treated our hemisphere as an afterthought. This neglect has led to incoherent and inconsistent U.S. policies. We cannot afford to ignore the Western Hemisphere any longer. China has taken notice and used our absence to expand its influence and fuel instability in the region. This political instability, coupled with economic insecurity, is a primary driver of migration to the United States. Our Americas Act would usher in real change across the hemisphere. It creates an Americas Partnership to expand U.S. trade and markets in Latin America and the Caribbean. At the same time, it counters the uneven playing field China has built using forced labor, deceptive trade practices, and manipulation of critical supply chains.

New York Daily News [4/27/2024 11:52 AM, Jessica Schladebeck, Negative] reports lawyers for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs are fighting to dismiss claims raised in a sexual assault lawsuit brought against the music mogul, arguing that he can’t be sued under laws that didn’t exist at the time of the alleged incident. In a motion filed in a New York court Friday, Combs’ legal team requested that claims made in a suit brought by Joi Dickerson-Neal, including revenge porn and human trafficking, be dismissed with prejudice. Diddy has denied the claims in the suit, accusing Dickerson-Neal of exploiting the New York law that temporarily extended the statute of limitations. It also came just weeks after Diddy’s ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura, known professionally as singer Cassie, filed a sex trafficking and sexual assault lawsuit against Combs. The next day, her lawyer announced the former couple had reached a settlement, but did not provide further details. But Diddy’s legal trouble has only escalated in the months since. He’s the subject of several other lawsuits, including one filed by music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones Jr. He similarly accused Combs of sexual misconduct, assault and harassment. In March, Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security Investigations agents and other law enforcement officers as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation.

FOX News [4/27/2024 5:00 PM, Charles Creitz, 8967K, Negative] reports Chris Hansen, former host of "To Catch a Predator," investigated a fentanyl fencing operation outside the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in San Francisco and spoke to Fox News about the crisis that previously led the feds to recommend government employees work from home. Hansen, now host of "Takedown" on TruBlu, followed a retired undercover detective named Elmore who told him the trade of the controlled substance abounds in the area of the federal building, but is difficult to detect when it is smuggled across the border. Hansen noted a fence had to be constructed around the federal building because of the drug activity, which is named for the speaker emerita who has represented the city in Congress since 1987. A dealer at the hotspot was caught during Hansen’s investigation, according to "Jesse Watters Primetime" host Jesse Watters, and evaded police by blending in with the homeless population. Hansen said many of those involved in the drug trade there are illegal immigrants from Honduras who remit proceeds back to the Central American nation where the windfall funds mansions and the like. "Now you’ve got a situation here where this is not just a ragtag group of Honduran immigrants. These are merchants of death," he said. "Each one of these, 350 to 400 illegal immigrant fentanyl dealers is making $3- to $400,000 a year, and as we discussed, some of that money — most of that money — is going back to Honduras." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [4/27/2024 9:03 AM, Nicholas Riccardi and Marcos Martínez Chacón, 2565K, Neutral] reports republican activists gathered in a school lunchroom last month to hear political pitches from candidates and agreed on the top issue in the Denver suburbs these days: immigration. The area has been disrupted by the arrival of largely Venezuelan migrants coming north through Mexico, they said. Virtually everyone in the meeting said they were uncomfortable with the new population, which has overwhelmed public services and become a flashpoint in local and national elections. Some 1,200 miles to the south, migrants are also transforming the prosperous industrial city of Monterrey, Mexico. But the new arrivals aren’t even part of Mexico’s political conversation as the country gears up for its presidential vote on June 2. Every 12 years, the coincidence of presidential elections in the U.S. and Mexico provides a valuable comparative snapshot. The different ways migration is resonating in the two countries’ elections this year reflects the neighbors’ very different styles of democracy.

Yahoo! News [4/27/2024 1:13 PM, Luisa Barrios, 13914K, Positive] reports El Paso Fire Department (EPFD) crews assisted in pulling out an individual from the canal along Loop 375 and Fonseca Drive Friday night, April 26 in South-Central El Paso, according to EPFD’s X account. EPFD said the individual and scene were turned over to U.S. Border Patrol (USBP). No injuries were reported, according to EPFD. This is the second water rescue EPFD responded to on Friday in South-Central El Paso. Early Friday morning, two people were rescued and one person died after a water rescue at 1905 Delta Dr.

Univision [4/27/2024 3:16 PM, Staff, 598K, Negative] reports Texas suffered a legal setback in its battle over buoys installed on the Rio Grande River on the southern U.S. border when a federal judge on Friday rejected its request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by President Joe Biden’s administration seeking the barrier’s removal. U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas Judge David Alan Ezra denied Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request to end the lawsuit filed by the White House last July. Texas argued that it was forced to take action on its own to "defend" itself from an "invasion" of migrants, accusing the federal government of failing to defend the southern border. But the judge opined that it does not have the authority to do so. "Texas is a sovereign state, not a sovereign country," the judge wrote in his opinion in which he sided with the federal government’s position that buoys are not allowed under U.S. river and harbor law. The decision represents a victory for President Joe Biden’s administration, which sued the state of Texas for installing the buoys in the Eagle Pass sector last July as part of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star against irregular immigration.

Jefferson Public Radio [4/27/2024 10:14 AM, Julia Shumway, 7K, Neutral] reports sixteen Republican lawmakers and legislative candidates from Oregon plan to visit the Arizona-Mexico border on Monday, arguing that lax security around the southern border exacerbates the drug crisis in Oregon, 1,000 miles north. The group, which includes about one-third of the Republican lawmakers in the Oregon Legislature and three candidates, plans to visit Yuma, Arizona, and meet with Arizona lawmakers in Phoenix.

USA Today [4/28/2024 5:13 AM, Lauren Villagran, 4261K, Neutral] reports it took Ana Elizabeth Melgar four tries to reach the U.S. border. Each time she made her way north, Mexican immigration authorities caught her and bused her south – not to her home country of El Salvador but to a city in southern Mexico. "If you catch me and I am a migrant, send me back to my country," she said, while resting in a Catholic shelter in this Mexican border town across from Eagle Pass, Texas. "I get it: I don’t belong here. But what is this nonsense that you’re sending me south in Mexico? It’s illogical." The Biden administration and Texas are taking credit for an unusual springtime lull in illegal border crossings, with the White House touting its legal pathways and Gov. Greg Abbott championing his troops and concertina wire. But analysts, immigrant advocates and migrants themselves say it’s Mexico blocking the path north. Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s immigration agency has intensified a busing program that aims to hurt migrants’ chances of reaching the U.S. border – or at least delay their arrival – by apprehending them on highways, train routes and airports and shipping them to the southernmost part of his country. Immigrant advocates say the policy drives vulnerable people into the arms of smugglers. Migrants report being extorted on routes north only to be intercepted at checkpoints and returned to southern Mexico to do it all again. "The Mexican government is busing people in circles," said Andrew Selee, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Migration Policy Institute. "The numbers aren’t down because of busing in Texas," he said. "The numbers are down because of busing in Mexico."

Washington Post [4/27/2024 1:23 PM, Matthew Cappucci, 6902K, Negative] reports a tornado outbreak is predicted to occur on Saturday across the nation’s heartland. Violent storms could unleash significant tornadoes, large hail and destructive straight-line winds to much of Kansas, Oklahoma and North Texas. It’s the third day in a four-day onslaught of severe weather that has been targeting the Plains, and more storms are on the way Sunday, too. The anticipated outbreak comes less than a day after swarms of devastating twisters tore through parts of Nebraska and Iowa, with additional tornadoes reported in eastern Kansas and Missouri and near Waco, Tex. Areas between Omaha and Des Moines were hit the hardest. The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center has drawn a red bull’s eye on outlook maps for Saturday, corresponding to a rare Level 4 out of 5 risk of severe weather. As of midday, tornado watches stretched from parts of northern Texas through northern Kansas. Even after Saturday’s anticipated outbreak, more storms may occur from southeast Iowa to East Texas on Sunday.

ABC News [4/27/2024 9:01 AM, Julia Jacobo, 22K, Neutral] reports researchers have been warning for years that the world’s most vulnerable populations will suffer the most dire consequences of climate change. But the disproportionate impacts of climate change on the poorest communities – the members of which contribute the least amount of greenhouse gas emissions – are already affecting pockets of the U.S. as extreme weather events are exacerbated by warming global temperatures, events in recent years have shown. In the U.S., immigrant communities are often on the frontline of increasingly more severe extreme weather events, including wildfire smoke, extreme heat, and flooding, Ahmed Gaya, senior strategist for climate and social justice for the Climate Justice Collaborative, a nonprofit that focuses on providing support to climate-displaced people, told ABC News. A 2021 report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that the most underserved communities are least able to prepare for, and recover from, extreme heat waves, poor air quality, flooding and other climate-related events. At every stage of the weather event recovery process, residents in vulnerable communities face challenges, from the lack of critical infrastructure to the distribution of funds during recovery, Phyllis Cuttino, president and CEO of The Climate Reality Project, a non-profit for climate change education and advocacy, told ABC News.

Yahoo! News [4/27/2024 1:51 PM, Staff, 13914K, Positive] reports the Florida Forest Service is responding to a wildfire on the east side of Garcon Point Road. Around 12:30 p.m., the Forest Service Blackwater Forestry Center reported the blaze was around 1 acre, but that "high winds are spreading the fire rapidly." Currently, two tractor plow units and local firefighters are on scene working to control the wildfire. The cause of the fire is currently unknown. A section of Garcon Point Road from Burlwood Drive to Tidal Bay Drive was briefly closed due to the fire, but has since reopened, according to Santa Rosa County officials. Residents and visitors are asked to use caution when traveling in the surrounding areas.

Yahoo! News [4/27/2024 3:24 PM, Olivia Johnson, 13914K, Neutral] reports the National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a tornado warning for parts of the Kansas City metro viewing area on Saturday. The tornado warnings are for Grundy, Mercer, Putnam and Sullivan counties in northwest Missouri. View the latest Weather Alerts in the Kansas City region on FOX4 If you are in these areas, please head to the basement or seek shelter immediately and avoid windows. If you are in a mobile home or a vehicle or are outdoors, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris. According to the NWS, the areas that could be impacted include Maryville, Stanberry, Ravenwood, Barnard, Conception Junction, Parnell, Guilford, Clyde and Conception. FOX4 and the FOX4 Weather Team will update you on the latest national and local weather coverage. For timely updates, download the FOX4 News app on the Apple and Google stores, and tune in at 4, 5 and 6 p.m. for the live broadcasts at FOX4 News.

New York Times [4/27/2024 7:49 PM, Emmett Lindner and Judson Jones, 19998K, Neutral] reports the threat of tornadoes loomed across parts of the Central U.S. as warnings were posted in parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas amid severe thunderstorms and high winds throughout the Great Plains on Saturday. The severe weather followed a day in which tornadoes tore through parts of Nebraska and Iowa, leveling dozens of homes on Friday. A rare “particularly dangerous situation” tornado watch was issued on Saturday afternoon for western Oklahoma and parts of northern Texas. Watches issued with this language mean forecasters have confidence that a few tornadoes will form and that some could be relatively intense and track a long distance. Watches are issued to remind the public to be aware that tornadoes could form and to be mindful of warnings, which mean to take cover. A notice issued by the Weather Service office in Norman, Okla., on Saturday warned residents that “dangerous supercell thunderstorms” were possible that could produce strong tornadoes. “Many public events are occurring today and with people out of the office/school, there is a high concern in our office of people out on the roads or away from shelters,” it said. The notice also urged residents to remain near shelters, saying that the “environment resembles that of previous historic tornadic outbreaks.”

Dallas Morning News [4/27/2024 5:02 PM, Aria Jones, 5400K, Neutral] reports six tornadoes are believed to have touched down in North and Central Texas as thunderstorms blew through the regions on Friday. The twisters spun up south of Dallas-Fort Worth, in Navarro, McLennan and Hill counties, the National Weather Service in Fort Worth said Saturday afternoon. Estimated wind gusts for the strongest of the tornadoes - rated as an EF2 - fell between 111 to 135 miles per hour, according to the rating. Tornadoes are rated on the Enhanced Fujita scale from EF0 to EF5, measuring wind speed and storm damage. In Navarro County, two EF1 tornadoes and one EF0 also touched down. Two of the twisters had max wind speeds of 110 mph, said Madi Gordon, a meteorologist with the Fort Worth office. There were two twisters in McLennan and Hill counties, an EF1 and one brief EF0, according to the weather service. Officials do not yet have reports on injuries, but Gordon said survey teams have seen scattered tree damage and minor damage to roofs. March through early June is generally a peak season for severe weather, an NWS meteorologist has said. Additional rounds of severe thunderstorms are expected to roll through the region over the weekend, with a flood watch in effect for much of North Texas through Sunday evening. The storms could bring threats of hail, strong winds and a few tornadoes, according to the weather service.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo! News [4/28/2024 2:30 AM, Staff, 13914K, Neutral]
Yahoo! News [4/27/2024 3:28 PM, Shelly Womack, 13914K, Negative]
CBS News [4/28/2024 4:32 AM, Brittany Rainey, 76K, Neutral]
Yahoo! News [4/27/2024 5:23 PM, Nicole Lopez, 13914K, Negative]

SFGate [4/28/2024 3:00 AM, Grace Marion, 1201K, Neutral] reports Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to reduce hazardous fuels on a 16-mile corridor on Skyline Boulevard, located between Black Road in Los Gatos in the south and Page Mill Road in Palo Alto in the north. The plan is part of the Highway 35 Hazardous Fuels Reduction Wildfire Mitigation Project. This portion of Skyline Boulevard serves about 5,000 residents and 2,703 structures, and is a popular commute route between San Mateo County and Santa Clara County, according to a Friday press release. "This stretch of highway has a real risk of wildfire spread because of the grasses, bushes, and overhanging trees along the road right-of-way," said County Supervisor Joe Simitian, whose district includes the entirety of the Central County Fire Protection District territories. "Dead brush and trees increase the risk." The project will be funded, in part, by $542K in federal funding from the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) awarded to Santa Clara County. The grant program requires that the county match 10% of the funds, equalling about $57,046. The match requirement will be met using County Fire staff time, according to the press release.

Univision [4/27/2024 9:28 PM, Gerardo Reyes, 598K, Negative] reports handcuffed and dressed in the khaki uniform of a federal prisoner, Stefan Andres Correa Collins, a U.S. pharmacist involved in a growing sex abuse scandal involving underage girls in Colombia, was arraigned Friday before a federal magistrate in Miami. The Ecuadorian-born South Florida pharmacist faces charges of attempted sex trafficking of minors and attempting to travel for illicit sex. The crude episodes of his interaction with girls between the ages of 9 and 15 described by the criminal indictment filed in Miami federal court have caused a wave of outrage in the United States and Colombia. “This depraved and criminal came to our country and our city to abuse several minors,” Medellin Mayor Federico Gutierrez said at a press conference. “But here the party is over for them,” he added. Correa was arrested on April 18 at Miami International Airport after Homeland Security Investigations agents found cell phones containing videos of sexual acts with the minors in his luggage.

USA Today [4/27/2024 10:49 AM, Michael Collins, David Jackson, Michael Loria, 4261K, Neutral, Primary] reports anti-war protests. A divided Democratic Party. An unpopular candidate hobbled by a foreign military conflict. In many ways, 2024 feels like 1968 all over again. Flashbacks of bloody clashes between police and anti-Vietnam War demonstrators outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago during that chaotic summer are weighing heavily on the minds of Democrats as they prepare to return to the Windy City in August to formally nominate President Joe Biden for a second term. Thousands of Americans angry over Biden’s staunch support of Israel in its war with Hamas are planning to protest outside the sports arena where he is to accept the nomination. Protest organizers already are locked in a court battle with Chicago over their plans to stage marches within blocks of the United Center, where most of the convention activity will take place. Chicago has refused to give them the necessary permits, citing security concerns and arguing the city doesn’t have enough resources to police the protests. The city has offered the groups an alternative protest site four miles away, which would place them in a completely different part of town out of sight from convention-goers. Organizers say that is unacceptable and have sued in federal court. “We are going to be marching outside the United Center, or within sight of the United Center, regardless of whether we get a permit or not,” said Kobi Guillory, co-chairman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

FOX 26 [4/26/2024 8:15 PM, Jade Flury, Neutral, Secondary] reports an accused credit card skimmer appeared in a Harris County courtroom on Friday facing multiple charges of financial theft. Court documents say that 22-year-old Rafael Rafaila is facing charges for credit card skimming in Baytown and out of state in Indiana. His bond is set for $300,000, but prosecutors want a higher bond of $1,000,000 because of a possible flight risk. Romanian national Rafaila is accused of using hidden devices to steal customers’ credit card information at multiple banks in Baytown. "This type of offense is something that targets the hardworking citizens of the United States and of Harris County in particular," said Stephen Driver, the assistant district attorney in Harris County. Rafaila is facing four charges. Two counts of unlawful interception of an electronic communication, one charge of engaging in organized criminal activity, and another charge of unlawful possession of credit card information. "What they basically did is they inserted a device to an atm machine that was kind of hidden," said Driver. "If they insert their card into the device that reads their information off the magnetic strip and saves it off to another place." Police also arrested 25-year-old Prela Miclescu who is accused of placing skimmers on ATMs.

WMMQ-FM 94.9 [4/26/2024 10:16 PM, Nathan Vandenburg, Neutral, Secondary] reports there is a new scam hitting a Michigan city, this time it revolves around fake currency being distributed to people and businesses, scamming many. This kind of scam is horrible as is, especially in a small town with tons of small businesses. Getting currency with no value does not benefit the community or businesses. Fake Money Being Distributed In This Michigan City There have been multiple reports of fake currency being spread in the small Michigan city of Three Rivers. The community took to the Three Rivers Facebook group and pointed out the situation that they have been dealing with over the past few weeks. An owner in the community went to the page and posted the heads-up to the community: "Just a heads up for all business owners who accept cash. Double-check all your bills. I didn’t even notice this until I tried to spend it! Other communities, not too far away from Three Rivers, also noted that they had found some of the fake currency floating around some businesses as well. The fake money being passed around isn’t high in value either, in fact, the bills being passed out are only $20 bills. What To Do If You Find Fake Currency If you come into contact with any counterfeit money, you should contact the authorities immediately. You can also contact the Secret Service, or the U.S. Department of Secretary to report fake money in circulation.

FOX 5 KVVU-TV [4/26/2024 7:07 PM, Lisa Sturgis, 82K, Neutral, Secondary] reports most of us swipe our cards every day without worrying about where our card information is going. Thieves count on that to swipe your data. FOX5 was the first to tell you about scammers targeting local EBT cards – now it appears Las Vegas is not alone. Nationwide ATM and credit card skimming is on the rise. Now Metro is teaming up with U.S. Secret Service agents for a targeted effort to track down and clear out card skimmers. “During our two-and-a-half day operation, our team found 18 illegal skimming devices and in total we checked 11,600 ATMS, gas pumps, and POS terminals with skimmers.” Special Agent in Charge Karen Ransom’s discussing a mission agents and officers conducted earlier in the week. It followed a similar one earlier this month in California specifically targeting EBT fraud. The Secret Service believes some bad actors there are targeting victims here in Nevada and then sending the stolen proceeds overseas. “These are organized crime groups that are doing this to fund their criminal organizations, so there’s always that aspect as well,” says LVMPD Deputy Chief Nick Farese. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Yahoo! News [4/28/2024 12:40 AM, Vivian Chow, 13914K, Negative] reports a San Gabriel Valley woman pleaded guilty to defrauding over $150 million from the U.S. Postal Service. Lijuan “Angela” Chen, 51, of Walnut, carried out the scheme by using counterfeit postage to ship tens of millions of packages, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. From November 2019 to May 2023, Chen and her accomplice, Chuanhua “Hugh” Hu, 51, owned and operated a package shipping business in the City of Industry. The company provided shipping services for China-based logistics businesses. To save money, Hu created fake postage stamps to ship packages by printing duplicate and counterfeit Netstamps, which are stamps purchased online from third-party vendors and printed onto adhesive paper. In November 2019, authorities became aware of the counterfeit operation and Hu fled the country and moved to China where he continued making counterfeit postage, officials said. Chen remained in the U.S. to oversee the warehouses that she and and Hu were using to ship their packages during the scheme.

Yahoo! News [4/28/2024 1:18 AM, Anna Ashcraft, 13914K, Negative] reports a San Diego woman was sentenced in federal court Friday to more than a decade in prison for selling fentanyl that led to the death of a man. Megan Rae Bowman, 25, of San Diego, was sentenced in federal court to nearly 12 years in prison for providing the fentanyl that resulted in the 2022 death of 35-year-old Michael Raymond Kuch, of Ramona, the Office of the United States Attorney Southern District of California announced. Bowman pleaded guilty in November 2023, admitting she sold Kuch a gram of fentanyl, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Yahoo! News [4/27/2024 4:55 PM, Lorraine Mirabella, 13914K, Neutral] reports Jonathan Daniels was just weeks into his new role as head of one of the nation’s busiest ports when his job changed overnight. Since the March 26 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Daniels has instead overseen a nearly closed Port of Baltimore. The executive director of the Maryland Port Administration since Feb. 5, Daniels now spends his days pursuing goals that may seem at odds, steering the port through a calamity while planning for its growth. A 30-year-veteran who has managed ports through hurricanes and a global pandemic, Daniels said Friday he feels confident Baltimore’s port will see a resurgence when the crisis ends. “We’re confident that we’re going to get [cargo business] back,” said Daniels, a 55-year-old native of upstate New York who previously headed Port Everglades in Florida and the Mississippi State Port Authority. “While we’re dealing with this catastrophic event, we have not lost sight of the fact that there’s still a port to run,” he said. “I came here to work with this port team on managing the assets … while setting forth a plan to grow our lines of business.”

AP [4/27/2024 11:01 AM, Richard Estrada, 2565K, Neutral] reports he decision by UnitedHealth to pay a ransom to protect patient data underscores the complex and challenging nature of cybersecurity threats facing organizations, particularly those in the healthcare sector. While each ransomware incident presents unique circumstances and considerations, paying a ransom can have significant implications, both from a financial and ethical standpoint. According to Wired Magazine, the company belatedly conceded that it had paid the cybercriminals extorting it and that patient data nonetheless ended up on the dark web. In summary, while the decision to pay a ransom may sometimes be driven by the urgency of protecting critical data, organizations must carefully weigh the risks and implications of such actions. Investing in proactive cybersecurity measures, fostering a culture of security awareness, and collaborating with industry partners are essential components of a comprehensive strategy for mitigating ransomware attacks and protecting patient data.

Miami Herald [4/27/2024 4:50 PM, Mark Niesse, Neutral] reports the Georgia county where tech experts copied the state’s election software after the 2020 election was hit by a cyberattack this month. The secretary of state’s office confirmed the Coffee County cyberattack late Friday and severed the county’s connection to Georgia’s voter registration system as a precaution. "We took immediate action weeks ago, before Coffee County would acknowledge the issue, and cut them off from all of our systems immediately," said Mike Hassinger, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office. It’s unclear whether the intrusion was a ransomware attack similar to an incident earlier this year in Fulton County, where hackers took information from government computers and demanded a payment. Fulton officials have said they refused to pay the ransom. The incident was first reported by CyberScoop, a cybersecurity publication. The Coffee County Board of Commissioners said in a statement that the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency notified it of "unusual cyber-activity" on April 15. "Upon examination, Coffee County’s IT infrastructure showed no evidence of exfiltration of data/files, but did indicate cyber-activity by an unknown malicious actor," the board said. "Coffee County has informed federal authorities of the incident and is working diligently with these agencies to identify the origin and possible identity of the persons responsible."

VOA News [4/27/2024 2:56 PM, Nike Ching, 761K, Neutral] reports U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Riyadh from Monday through Tuesday to participate in regional talks on humanitarian assistance in Gaza, a post-war roadmap for the Palestinian territories, and stability and security in the Middle East. "The secretary will discuss ongoing efforts to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza that secures the release of hostages and how it is Hamas that is standing between the Palestinian people and a cease-fire," according to the State Department. The Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC, a regional alliance of Arab countries bordering the Persian Gulf, will convene in Riyadh next week. Blinken will participate in a GCC ministerial meeting to advance coordination on regional security. Additionally, Saudi Arabia is hosting a special session of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh on Sunday and Monday. Expected participants include heads of state and top executives from both the public and private sectors. The meeting aims to tackle a broad range of global challenges, including humanitarian issues, climate change, and economic concerns. Michael Hanna, the program director at the International Crisis Group, noted that the current Israeli government has shown a "total rejection of the idea of a two-state solution." Moreover, "the physical reality has changed so dramatically since 1967 that it makes the possibility of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state almost an impossibility."

Washington Post [4/27/2024 6:42 PM, Missy Ryan and Siobhán O’Grady, 6902K, Neutral] reports a long-awaited influx of U.S. weapons will help Ukraine to blunt Russia’s advance in the coming months, Biden administration officials said after Congress passed a major aid package, but an acute troop shortage and Moscow’s firepower advantage mean that Kyiv won’t likely regain major offensive momentum until 2025 at the earliest. Lawmakers’ approval of the foreign aid bill following months of partisan gridlock was a victory for President Biden. The sprawling legislation includes $61 billion to fuel Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invading forces. As initial shipments of arms, including artillery shells, air defense missiles, and armored vehicles, begin to reach Ukraine, U.S. officials said they expect the new weapons will buy time for Kyiv to replenish its military ranks and strengthen battlefield defenses — including trenches and minefields — ahead of an expected Russian offensive. A U.S. defense official, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Western projections, said the aid would give Ukraine the chance to better cope with continued Russian attacks “whether on the front lines or in the skies” and more effectively defend troops and civilians alike. “But time is precious,” the official said. “And time shouldn’t be wasted.” The foreign aid package’s approval, over objections from a cohort of House Republicans, was a desperately needed injection of hope for Ukraine, where exhausted combat units have been outgunned 5 to 1 as they have been forced to ration ammunition in the face of Russian glide bombs and increasingly bold aircraft assaults. As the legislation languished in Congress, Ukrainian officials made urgent pleas for air defense systems, blaming the shortage for Russia’s string of successful attacks on cities and power plants.

The New York Times [4/27/2024 4:45 PM, Isabel Kershner, Raja Abdulrahim, Adam Rasgon and Troy Closson, 19998K, Neutral] reports that, under intense international scrutiny, Israel has expedited the flow of aid into Gaza this month, but humanitarian groups say that more is needed as severe hunger grips the enclave, particularly in the devastated north. Israel’s efforts — which include opening new aid routes — have been acknowledged in the last week by the Biden administration and international aid officials. More aid trucks appear to be reaching Gaza, especially the north, where experts have warned for weeks that famine is imminent. The increased levels of aid are a good sign, but it is too early to say that looming famine is no longer a risk, said Arif Husain, the chief economist at the United Nations World Food Program. “This cannot just happen for a day or a week — it has to happen every single day for the foreseeable future,” Mr. Husain said, adding that the main need was for more food, water and medicine. “If we can do this, then we can ease the pain, we can avert famine.” The aid groups have long complained that only a trickle of aid is entering the enclave, blaming harsh war conditions, strict inspections and limits on the number of crossing points. Israel has maintained that the restrictions are necessary to ensure that neither weapons nor supplies fall into the hands of Hamas. Reuters [4/27/2024 1:30 PM, Staff, 33671K, Neutral] reports a humanitarian aid flotilla destined for Gaza was halted after Guinea Bissau decided to remove its flag from two vessels, activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition said on Saturday. "The Guinea-Bissau International Ships Registry (GBISR), in a blatantly political move, informed the Freedom Flotilla Coalition that it had withdrawn the Guinea Bissau flag from two of the Freedom Flotilla’s ships, one of which is our cargo ship," the activists said. The three-strong flotilla had been due to sail on Friday from ports in Turkey with more than 5,000 tonnes of aid on board, the activists said, and described the inspection and request by Guinea Bissau authorities as unusual and political. GBISR was not immediately available for comment. The Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) is the primary organizer of the civilian Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which is comprised of human rights activists, including lawyers, doctors and nurses who came together to deliver aid directly to Gaza. On Friday, United Nations experts demanded the safe passage of the flotilla and called on Israel to adhere to international law and orders of the International Court of Justice to allow unimpeded access for humanitarian aid.

Reuters [4/27/2024 4:34 PM, Humeyra Pamuk, 5239K, Neutral] reports some senior U.S. officials have advised Secretary of State Antony Blinken that they do not find "credible or reliable" Israel’s assurances that it is using U.S.-supplied weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, according to an internal State Department memo reviewed by Reuters. Other officials upheld support for Israel’s representation. Under a National Security Memorandum (NSM) issued by President Joe Biden in February, Blinken must report to Congress by May 8 whether he finds credible Israel’s assurances that its use of U.S. weapons does not violate U.S. or international law. By March 24, at least seven State Department bureaus had sent in their contributions to an initial "options memo" to Blinken. Parts of the memo, which has not been previously reported, were classified. The submissions to the memo provide the most extensive picture to date of the divisions inside the State Department over whether Israel might be violating international humanitarian law in Gaza. "Some components in the department favored accepting Israel’s assurances, some favored rejecting them and some took no position," a U.S. official said. A joint submission from four bureaus - Democracy Human Rights & Labor; Population, Refugees and Migration; Global Criminal Justice and International Organization Affairs – raised "serious concern over non-compliance" with international humanitarian law during Israel’s prosecution of the Gaza war. The assessment from the four bureaus said Israel’s assurances were "neither credible nor reliable." It cited eight examples of Israeli military actions that the officials said raise "serious questions" about potential violations of international humanitarian law.

Reuters [4/28/2024 6:07 AM, Ali Swafta and Nayera Abdallah, 5239K, Negative] reports Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday only the United States could stop Israel attacking the border city of Rafah in Gaza, adding that the assault, which he expects within days, could force much of the Palestinian population to flee the enclave. "We call on the United States of America to ask Israel to not carry on the Rafah attack. America is the only country able to prevent Israel from committing this crime," Abbas told a special meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Yahoo! News [4/27/2024 8:40 PM, Anna Foster, 13914K, Negative] reports Hamas has published a video showing the first proof of life of two more hostages being held in Gaza. In undated footage filmed under duress, Omri Miran says he has been held for 202 days and Keith Siegel mentions this week’s Passover holiday, indicating the clips were filmed recently. Both were captured when Hamas launched its deadly attacks on 7 October. Responding to the video, their families said they would keep fighting for the men’s return. They also urged the Israeli government to secure a new hostage release deal. The new video comes as Hamas said it was studying Israel’s latest proposal for a truce. Media reports said mediator Egypt had sent a delegation to Israel to give fresh impetus to stalled negotiations. Such a deal that included an agreement to free the remaining hostages could stop Israel’s planned ground assault in the southern city of Rafah, Israel’s foreign minister said on Saturday.

{End of Report} RETURN TO TOP