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ASHEVILLE, NC - A local ABC affiliate reported Sunday that the death toll in western North Carolina has reached 95, with the majority being caused by drowning and landslides. The total Helene death toll is nearly 250.
Gov. Roy Cooper (R) called the hurricane “the deadliest and most devastating storm” in the history of the state.
As the region fights to recover, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has launched a “new initiative” to hire community liaisons to give people opportunities to work, administrator Deanne Criswell said Monday.
“We know that so many people have temporarily lost their jobs. We know that others just want to be able to give back, and we want to help keep people in these communities while they recover,” Criswell said, according to ABC News. “So these new community liaisons are going to work alongside us at FEMA to make sure that they are the local voice, the trusted voice in their community, and that they can share with us the local considerations and the concerns, so we can include them as part of this recovery.” Click here to read more.
DETROIT, Mich - The campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday it "regrets" a Muslim Democrat was kicked out of a rally featuring the Democratic nominee Monday evening in Royal Oak and said "he is welcome at future events."
Ahmed Ghanim of Ferndale, an activist who ran for U.S. House in the 11th District that covers parts of Oakland County, said he had RSVP'd, cleared security and was sitting in the auditorium at the Royal Oak Musical Theatre responding to emails on his phone when a staffer with the venue approached him and asked him to follow her.
At the theater's door, the staffer closed it behind him, and he was asked to leave or told he'd be put in the back of a police car. Ghanim said he questioned a Secret Service officer about why he was being removed, and the response was: "It's not us. It's the venue."
A day later, Ghanim said he still had not been provided an explanation for what happened and had heard from no one at the Harris campaign or with the Michigan Democratic Party. He felt targeted because he is Muslim, he said.
"They kicked me out without ― providing zero reasons provided to me. I didn't have anything. There is no provocation. I didn't even have any like a Palestinian kaffiyeh, any signs or a banner, nothing. None of that is allowed inside," Ghanim said.
LANSING, Mich - Michigan employers would have to provide suitable seats for employees or face a $250 fine under a new bill introduced in Lansing.
House Bill 5983, introduced by Dylan Wegela, D-Garden City, would require “employers to provide suitable seats for employees under certain circumstances.”
The Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity could impose a $250 fine for each aggrieved employee covered by the law every two weeks.
The bill specifies ergonomic seating is required “at a location that is owned, leased, or operated by or under the control of the employer.” The bill introduced in September does not stipulate that proper seating would be required for people working at home for a business.
”If you've ever worked a job where you stand for hours on end for no reason, you know how common sense reasonable seating is,” Wegela told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email. He asked why cashiers, for example, must stand when they could do the job seated.
“In an era of stock buy-backs and record corporate profits, I find it hard to believe there are businesses that can’t afford a chair or two for workers who generate their wealth in the first place,” Wegela wrote. Click here to read more.
LOGANSPORT, Indiana — Thousands of migrants from Haiti and dozens of other countries have arrived in this isolated Indiana city of 18,000 in just a few years.
Furious residents say they no longer feel safe in the once-sleepy downtown, and their kids are being muscled out of the schools by new students who don’t know English and need a lot of help.
They blame Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden.
“Do something. Our community cannot withstand this many people being here,” Candice Espinoza, 32, a local photographer, told The Post when asked what her message would be to the Democratic presidential candidate.
Nancy Baker, 44, a mother of two, was more blunt about what she would tell Harris: “Get off my property.”
“I don’t see how she can stand behind Biden the whole time and she keeps deflecting anytime they ask questions.”
It’s not entirely clear how many migrants have arrived in Logansport — but Cass County Health Department Administrator Serenity Alter told The Post that the surrounding area’s population has surged nearly 30%. Click here to read more.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The population at the Chattanooga Zoo has now grown by 2, and now zoo officials need your help giving this endangered pied tamarin pair a name.
The zoo announced Tuesday that 2 endangered pied tamarins were born back on September 19th, to parents Daphne and Dudley.
Pied tamarins are a critically endangered species native to a small area of the Brazilian rainforest. The zoo says pied tamarins face severe threats from habitat destruction and urban expansion around the port city of Manaus.
The species is also endangered by the exotic pet trade, with experts warning they could face extinction within decades.
Chattanooga Zoo has been home to pied tamarins since 2009, and the zoo's breeding program has seen several successes, including the births of Dudley and Dobby in 2016 and Crash and Eddy in 2021. Click here to read more.
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