Airports in multiple U.S. cities have reportedly been impacted by staffing shortages of air traffic controllers. Denver, Phoenix, and Newark are among the cities impacted by ATC facilities experiencing staffing issues. The staffing shortages caused flight delays and cancellations across the country. A week into the government shutdown, air traffic controller sick calls are beginning to cause delays and cancellations, as a number of airport towers and control facilities lack the staff to properly handle flights. https://t.co/i2wnNzoEBA — World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) October 7, 2025 More from ABC News: Controllers are considered essential workers and are exempt from being furloughed during a shutdown. An estimated 13,294 controllers will continue to work without pay during the shutdown, according to the Department of Transportation’s shutdown plan. California’s Burbank Airport was hit hardest Monday and was forced to close its tower from 4:15 p.m. through 10 p.m. PDT because it had no air traffic controllers, according to FAA documents. The airport remained open but flights were delayed on average more than 2.5 hours. Controllers from a San Diego facility handled traffic into and out of Burbank during the tower closure. “Clearance is closed. Ground’s closed. Local’s closed. The tower is closed due to staffing. You just contact SoCal on the 1-800 number in the green book for your clearance,” a controller can be heard informing pilots on air traffic control recordings, referring to a published listing of airport information. Several other ATC facilities also experienced staffing issues on Monday. The Philadelphia TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control), Denver Center, Detroit TRACON, Indianapolis Center, Phoenix Airport, and the Phoenix TRACON also had staffing advisories from the Federal Aviation Administration. More than 600 flights Monday were delayed in and out of the Denver Airport and over 200 at Phoenix Airport. “US airspace as of 17:30 local (21:30 UTC) — multiple air traffic control facilities have staffing shortfalls this evening, including Chicago, Nashville, and multiple facilities in Texas and the northeast,” Flightradar24 stated. US airspace as of 17:30 local (21:30 UTC) — multiple air traffic control facilities have staffing shortfalls this evening, including Chicago, Nashville, and multiple facilities in Texas and the northeast. pic.twitter.com/oRdE4r3e8V — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) October 7, 2025 “There have been increased staffing shortages across the system. When that happens, the FAA slows traffic into some airports to ensure safe operations,” the FAA said in a statement to ABC News. “Air traffic controllers, who are already working 6 days a week, are now telling me they may have to find a second job to pay their mortgage because of the shutdown,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy commented. “All because @SenSchumer and @RepJeffries want to play politics,” he added. Air traffic controllers, who are already working 6 days a week, are now telling me they may have to find a second job to pay their mortgage because of the shutdown. All because @SenSchumer and @RepJeffries want to play politics. pic.twitter.com/YZ85p0od6q — Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) October 7, 2025 CBS News provided further info: On Monday, a total of almost 6,000 flights were delayed in the U.S., including 42% of flights leaving from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and 23% of those from Hollywood Burbank according to tracking site FlightAware. Weather issues also caused some flight delays on Monday. As of Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. EDT, more than 600 flights within the U.S. had been delayed, FlightAware data shows. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the union representing the nation’s air traffic controllers, on Monday instructed its members to keep working during the government shutdown. Because air traffic controllers are classified as essential workers, they’re expected to continue working without pay, although they would receive back pay once the shutdown ends. “It is normal for a few air traffic controllers to call in sick on any given day, and this is the latest example of how fragile our aviation system is in the midst of a national shortage of these critical safety professionals,” NATCA said in statement. It added, “NATCA has consistently warned that the controller staffing shortage leaves the system vulnerable, and today’s events underscore the urgent need to accelerate training and hiring.” The TSA has seen a slight increase in air traffic controllers calling in sick since the shutdown began last week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday at a news conference at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.

Yungblud reacts to Justin Hawkins' reaction to his brother's reaction to Yungblud

A CNN poll conducted by SSRS reveals that 52% of Americans believe President Donald Trump is delivering on his 2024 campaign pledges, with his favorability rating steady at 43% nearly a year into his second term. CNN just admitted the majority of Americans say President Trump is doing exactly what he promised in 2024. 52% […] The post Most Americans Holds Favorable Ratings of the President in Almost Every Area appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Jack Smith needs to go to prison, which could take some time if it happens at all. In the meantime, one of his victims, Sen. Marsha Blackburn will move to have him disbarred. Spying on the Republican senators during the J6 witch hunt is illegal, and extremely unethical. “We do know it’s illegal. We do […] The post Garland’s Culpability & Calls for Jack Smith’s Disbarment appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) says he will still support Jay Jones — the Democratic nominee for state attorney general — in spite of several vile text messages he sent to a Republican colleague in 2022. CNN congressional reporter Manu Raju caught up with Kaine on Tuesday to ask him whether he’d withdraw his support for Jones after the old texts surfaced — texts in which Jones had advocated for the assassination of then state House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican, and had said Gilbert would never change his political positions unless he and his wife were forced to watch one of their young children die. WATCH: Democrat Virginia Senator Tim Kaine STILL backs Jay Jones, who fantasized about killing a Republican official and his children, and also supports killing cops. KAINE: “I’m still supporting Jay Jones.” pic.twitter.com/3EXIFaGDXa — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 7, 2025 At first, it appeared as though Kaine was going to walk away without giving any answers to the questions being shouted after him — “Senator, do you still support Jay Jones? Do you think he should drop out of this race after those comments? Do you have concerns about what you saw?” — but he eventually stopped and turned around to speak with Raju directly. Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout “The comments are completely indefensible,” Kaine declared. “But I’ve know Jay Jones for 25 years, and those comments are very much out of character for him. So if I put the comments, which are clearly beyond the pale, against knowing this guy for 25 years, I’m still supporting Jay Jones.” With that, Kaine turned on his heel and walked away, adding himself to the rapidly growing list of Democrats who were willing to condemn calls for the assassination of political rivals, but not willing to say that people making such calls were declaring themselves unqualified to hold public office. It should be noted that Kaine, the Democrats’ 2016 vice presidential nominee, stood by twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton after she wrote off half of the American population as a “basket of deplorables.”

In the wake of a still-unfolding text scandal involving his Democratic opponent, state Attorney General Jason Miyares (R-VA) laid out what is really at stake in the coming election: what will happen to the “Virginia Way”? Miyares spoke with The Daily Wire by phone on Tuesday, four days after a series of 2022 texts — sent by Democratic nominee Jay Jones to a Republican colleague — went viral, and he questioned whether the traditional collegial relationship between Virginia politicians, regardless of party, could survive the mindset behind them. In the texts in question, sent to Republican Delegate Carrie Coyner, Jones had fantasized about the assassination of then state-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican, and declared that Gilbert would never change his political positions unless he and his wife were forced to watch one of their children die. He also said he’d like to “piss on the graves” of his political opponents. “The ‘Virginia Way’ has always been the idea that even though Washington might not be civil at times, [members of both parties in] Richmond will be civil with each other,” Miyares said. “That’s part of why what Jay Jones has done is so troubling.” “He knows Jennifer Gilbert, that’s not a stranger. Todd would bring his children to the assembly, so when he sent those text messages, they were only two and five years old at the time,” Miyares explained. “So this is not some type of hypothetical; this is someone that he worked with, this was a colleague. Then to say that he wanted to see two bullets in his head and then imagine saying that the children would die in their mother’s arms — this was not a stranger. He’s met the mother, he’s met the children, and in his mind, pain is the only way that change happens. That is a — I don’t know how to get my arms around that.” Miyares said several times that it was difficult for him to fathom the mindset behind the texts Jones sent — the idea that violence was a reasonable reaction to political opposition. “I think this election now is really a referendum on the Virginia Way,” he observed. “Is it now dead? Because I could tell you ten years ago, it would have been unquestioned, not in a million years would anybody even consider — but there seems to be this mindset that power is more important than decency.” He went on to remark that it wasn’t just Jones — there seemed to be an abundance of Democrats who were willing to say that what Jones texted had been bad, unconscionable even, but those same people were unwilling to say that such comments should disqualify Jones from holding public office. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), for example, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, called for former Governor Ralph Northam (D-VA) to resign over a 20-year-old blackface photo in a college yearbook — but she couldn’t bring herself to call for the resignation of a current candidate who’d called for the assassination of a colleague over political differences. “Don’t forget the context of this,” Miyares added. “Jay was upset that Republicans had done a eulogy and said nice words in remembrance of a Democratic colleague and his reaction was that he wanted to ‘piss on the graves’ of his political opponents.” Miyares, who is of Cuban descent, said that was the reason he found Jones’ mindset so abhorrent – because he came from a “society where they would use violence to silence opinions.” “Ideas were seen as so dangerous that it was morally excused to use violence to silence them. We said a long time ago in this country that we’re going to settle our debates at the ballot box and not with bullets,” he said. “The idea that somebody is seeking to be the top prosecutor — he’s never prosecuted a case in his life and would advocate violence against somebody he disagrees with and would want to piss on the graves of his opponents — I can’t imagine anybody in polite society thinking that’s acceptable.” “My uncle Angel Miyares was arrested during the Bay of Pigs invasion,” Miyares recalled. “Castro arrested anybody that he thought could rise up against him on the island, and he was taken to an empty baseball stadium and he went through the humiliation of a mock execution. What was his crime? Ideas. His crime was simply — he was handing out anti-Castro leaflets in Havana. And he got put on Castro’s secret police radar, and they arrested him. When you suddenly take away someone’s individual dignity, their humanity, and you think that politics trumps their individual dignity, I can’t help that. I can’t – it is so outside of my worldview.” Miyares brought the conversation back around to the “Virginia Way” and the idea that politics should not ever be an excuse to resort to violence. “I view it as it’s not just me on the ballot this year, I view it as the ‘Virginia Way’ and the idea that we are going to — yes, we will have a basic standard of decency in politics today, and I think that’s on the ballot,” he said. His final thought on Jones was a question about whether or not he was suited to the office of attorney general. “Crime does not know partisanship. Being the people’s protector means I protect everyone,” Miyares explained, adding that he wasn’t sure how someone who openly called for a political opponent’s assassination could approach the job in a way that did not reflect that. “I think it’s safe to say that where he is is a very different mindset.”

Dolly Parton recently missed the reveal of a new Dollywood attraction due to kidney stones. Then, the 79-year-old Jolene singer postponed her upcoming Las Vegas residency due to health challenges. I am not going to be able to rehearse and put together the show that I want you to see, and the show that you deserve to see,” Dolly shared on Instagram. “You pay good money to see me perform, and I want to be at my best for you,” Dolly added. But it seems things aren’t OK following a request from Dolly Parton’s sister for prayers amid her health struggles. Freida Parton Shared An Update On Dolly Parton’s Health On Facebook While Freida didn’t give exact details, she alluded to Dolly Parton’s health in a Facebook request for prayers. “Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly. Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately. I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been lead to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me,” Freida Parton wrote. “She’s strong, she’s loved, and with all the prayers being lifted for her, I know in my heart she’s going to be just fine. Godspeed, my sissy Dolly. We all love you!” Fans immediately joined Freida in praying for Dolly Parton’s health. “Heavenly Father ,In the name of Jesus, I pray, sending many prayers to all yall,” a fan prayed. “Praying for complete healing for Dolly! We serve an awesome God,” another person wrote. “Stay strong, Dolly, you’re not alone,” a comment reads. Many fans prayed for Dolly Parton’s health and the strength of her family during this difficult time. “Love you Dolly and will be in my prayers,” a fan shared. “Love you to Freida will also have you in my prayers.” We’re all praying for you, Dolly, and hoping for your fast and complete healing. This story’s featured image is by DFree via Shutterstock. The post Dolly Parton’s Family Requests Prayers As Singer Continues To Experience Health Challenges appeared first on InspireMore.

Hurricane Priscilla is currently a high-tier Category 2