FAA states it will cut thousands of flights per day starting Friday due to shutdown

Officials announced The Federal Aviation Administration will be reducing flight capacity by 10% at 40 major airports across the county, according to ABC News. 

The restrictions will go into effect Friday morning, and the airports that will be impacted will be announced at an unknown time Thursday.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said, “Our sole role is to make sure that we keep this airspace as safe as possible… This is not based on light airline travel locations. This is about where the pressure is and how to really deviate the pressure.” 

Both Bedford and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stressed the decision to cut flights is a proactive move based on data reviewed by the department and the staffing pressures projected to grow during the shutdown. 

Bedford said the cuts to each airline’s flight schedules will be proportionate, noting the agency recognizes no distribution is convenient. 

Two New Jersey teens arrested in connection with alleged Halloween terror plot

Two New Jersey teenagers were arrested in connection with an alleged ISIS inspired Halloween attack in Michigan that the FBI prevented the prior week, according to ABC News. 

The FBI-Newark and NYPD arrested Tomas Kaan Guzel, 19, before boarding a flight to Istanbul. A second 19-year-old, Milo Sedanet, was arrested at a Montclair home in New Jersey.

Two other men, Mohmed Ali and Majed Mahmoud, were arrested on Friday for their alleged involvement in the plot. 

According to a complaint, they allegedly used “online encrypted communications and social media applications to share extremist and ISIS-related materials,” and allegedly used the term “pumpkin day”. 

This story is still developing and more updates are to come. 

Chicago residents say immigration enforcement has led to children getting tear-gassed

A Chicago mother told NBC News she and her 2-year-old daughter were hit with a wave of tear gas after taking a walk Saturday morning. 

The mother, Sarah Parise, recounted looking down at her daughter when the pain and overpowering smell first began. 

“All of a sudden, my eyes were just burning and I couldn’t breathe,” Parise said. 

After running home with her daughter Leia wailing in a stroller, Parise heard honking and saw a blur of armed men dressed in fatigues.

Multiple reports from that day described how Border Patrol agents conducting immigration enforcement in the neighborhood approached residents, prompting a federal judge to question an official in court over the use of tear gas “without any warning.”

Parise and her daughter join a growing number of residents who report being inadvertently exposed to chemical agents or having witnessed disturbing scenes by immigration agents.

Many Chicago public schools have even moved recess indoors after tear gas was deployed, and teachers have complained of helicopters hovering over their schools, frightening students.

Death toll from UPS plane crash rises to at least 12, officials report

At least 12 are dead and more injured after a UPS flight crashed Tuesday as it was departing Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport for Honolulu, according to NBC News. 

At a news conference Wednesday morning, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed that the death toll stood at nine, but was expected to rise over the next couple days. 

The number of victims to be accounted for is still unknown, as the debris zone is massive and must be searched underneath before a more accurate number can be confirmed by recovery teams. 

Heather Fountaine, a spokesperson for the University of Louisville Health, said the system had received 15 patients from the crash across several facilities.

Earlier in the day Beshear said that 16 families have reported loved ones who are still unaccounted for. 

As search and rescue teams continue to work through the debris and wreckage, authorities expect to release additional information as identification progresses.