TV News LIES

An explosion at a Tennessee military munitions plant left multiple people dead and missing on Friday, authorities said, as secondary blasts forced rescuers to keep their distance from the burning field of debris.

The blast, which people reported hearing and feeling miles away, occurred at Accurate Energetic Systems in rural Tennessee. The company’s website says it makes and tests explosives at an eight-building facility that sprawls across wooded hills near Bucksnort, a town about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Nashville.

“We do have several people at this time unaccounted for. We are trying to be mindful of families and that situation,” Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said at a news conference. “We do have some that are deceased.”

The cause of the explosion, which Davis called “devastating,” was not immediately known, and the investigation could take days, the sheriff said.

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Some 500 National Guard troops were deployed near Chicago on Wednesday on President Donald Trump's orders despite the objections of the Chicago mayor and Illinois governor, who decried the militarization of their city as an unnecessary provocation.

Trump in turn called for the jailing of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, neither of whom has been accused of criminal wrongdoing. Both have emerged as prominent opponents of Trump's immigration crackdown and deployment of National Guard troops in Democratic-leaning cities.

While Trump administration officials have sounded the alarm over what they call lawless and violent protests in cities such as Chicago and Portland, Oregon, demonstrations over Trump's immigration policies have been largely peaceful and limited in size, far from the "war zone" conditions described by Trump.

The National Guard said on Wednesday roughly 200 soldiers from Texas and 300 from Illinois had gathered in the Chicago area, and were ready to protect federal personnel, including ICE agents, and federal property in the city.

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Louisiana public school librarian Amanda Jones loves helping kids find the right book. 

It’s her 25th year working in the Livingston Parish school district, the same one she attended as a kid. In 2022, she spoke at a local public library hearing about a challenge to remove a book about teen puberty, sexuality and consent from the shelves. She showed up with other community members to argue against banning any books from public libraries.

Soon, social media attacks started. She says commenters called her a "groomer" and a pedophile, publishing the name of her school and saying she was giving children pornography and erotica. Jones thought no one would believe them, but they did. She says she didn’t leave her room for four days, crying so hard her eyes swelled shut. She had debilitating panic attacks and was in and out of the hospital for two months. Jones brought a defamation lawsuit against a pair of conservative bloggers – seeking damages of $1 and an apology – that's still ongoing. Whatever happens, she says she’s committed to staying on the job.

Later, Jones would become one of the faces of the fight against book banning. She has since published a book about her experience called “That Librarian” and made it on TIME100 Next (with an appreciation written by actor and avid reader Sarah Jessica Parker).

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Devices were found inside his front pocket and a backpack he was carrying on the scene, in addition to a tent encampment set up in close proximity to the cathedral, the records show.

A man arrested outside the annual Red Mass ceremony held at St. Matthew’s Cathedral had over 200 explosive devices in a tent on the church’s stairs, according to police. 

Louis Geri, 41, touted homemade explosives when officers approached him on the step ahead of the service typically attended by Supreme Court justices to ring in a new term, according to court records reviewed by the Washington Post.

Authorities also found vials of nitromethane, a colorless, organic compound used in explosive devices, the court records showed.

Geri said he had a background in explosives and told officers at the scene that the vials were intended to be used as grenades with rubber bands to secure the fuse, according to court records, per the Post.

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Multiple gunmen opened fire in a large crowd in downtown Montgomery, Alabama, leaving at least two people dead, including a teenage boy, and wounding a dozen others, authorities said.

Montgomery Police Chief James Graboys said gunfire erupted around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, in the city's nightlife district. Police believe one of the victims was targeted but that several people began firing in the densely crowded area after initial shots rang out.

"One individual got targeted and then an exchange of gunfire took place,” he said. “When that exchange erupted, multiple people in the crowd ... pulled their own weapons and started discharging.”

Authorities identified the two dead victims as Jeremiah Morris, 17, and Shalanda Williams, 43. "In total, three victims remain in life-threatening condition, and nine sustained non-life-threatening injuries," said Montgomery Police Department Lt. Tina McGriff.

Seven of the victims are under 20 years of age, and the youngest is 16, Graboys said.

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More than 800,000 ride-hailing drivers in California will soon be able to join a union and negotiate for higher wages and better benefits under a measure signed Friday by the governor, Gavin Newsom.

Supporters said the new law will open a path for the largest expansion of private-sector collective bargaining rights in the state’s history. The legislation is a significant compromise in the years-long battle between labor unions and tech companies.

California is the second state where Uber and Lyft drivers can unionize as independent contractors; Massachusetts voters passed a ballot referendum in November allowing unionization, while drivers in Illinois and Minnesota are pushing for similar rights.

“Donald Trump is holding the government hostage and stripping away worker protections,” Newsom said in a statement, referring to the estimated 750,000 federal employees who are furloughed as a result of the first federal government shutdown since 2018, with the administration planning to implement another sweeping wave of cuts.

“In California, we’re doing the opposite: proving government can deliver – giving drivers the power to unionize while we continue our work to lower costs for families. That’s the difference between chaos and competence,” he added.

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