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Kentucky Highway Shooting Sparks Manhunt

Kentucky Highway Shooting Sparks Manhunt

Your unbiased daily news brief

James Kratch
September 09, 2024

Good Monday morning. A woman received a three-year prison sentence for purposely starting a pair of wildfires in Greece. Her reported reason? She wanted to watch (and flirt with) the firefighters. Have a great day!

In Today’s Brief

New York: Terror plot thwarted
Venezuela: Gonzalez flees
Trump: Sentencing delayed
Stellantis: Mass recall
Kendrick Lamar: Super Bowl gig

... and more

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Top Tips

1) The fugitive

The suspect in a Kentucky highway shooting remained at large as of last night.

What happened: Five people were shot on Saturday evening near I-75 in a rural area of Laurel County, about an hour outside of Lexington. Nine vehicles were hit with gunfire. The victims were hospitalized in stable condition, but some suffered serious injuries.
On the run: Police identified 32-year-old Joseph Couch as the suspect. They found his abandoned vehicle and then an AR-15 in the woods near the shooting site; they believe he walked to a vantage point and fired down onto the interstate. He is considered armed and dangerous; it is believed he acted alone.
Search continues: Federal, state and local agencies paused the manhunt last night due to darkness; it will resume this morning. Police said they believe the shooting was planned, but there was no specific target; they have ruled out road rage as a potential motive. Law enforcement believes they have Couch contained, but cops said the search area is extremely difficult to canvass. There are areas he could hide and avoid infrared detection; police conceded he may no longer be alive.

2) Mixed bag

The August jobs report was weaker than expected, but not terrible.

Numbers released: The U.S. economy added 142K nonfarm jobs last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.Economists were projecting 161K new jobs, reviving concerns that the economy was stalling. The unemployment rate did fall in line with Wall Street's expectations, dropping to 4.2% MoM from 4.3% in July -- a sign a soft landing amid inflation may still be possible.
Cut consideration: The Federal Reserve remains on track to cut interest rates later this month. But the jobs report, while less than spectacular, likely did not move the needle enough for the 0.5% cut banks are hoping for. Most analysts still expect a 0.25% cut amid continued worries the Fed waited too long to cut rates.
The markets: Major indexes closed down Friday on the report and continued labor market cooling. Both the Dow Jones and Nasdaq were down over 400 points. The Nasdaq (-2.55%) had its worst week since 2022 and the S&P 500 (-1.73%) had its worst week since last year. The Dow was down 1.01%.

3) Landing the planes

Boeing finally has some relatively good news.

Back home: The aerospace giant's much-maligned Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth in one piece, albeit without its crew. The ship touched down in New Mexico early Saturday morning after NASA said it was too risky to bring two stranded astronauts back after several technical issues. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been at the International Space Station since June; they will come home on a SpaceX mission in February.
Strike averted: Boeing struck a tentative deal with its largest labor union yesterday, avoiding a work stoppage. About33K workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers will get 25% pay raises over the four-year pact. The union was preparing to go on strike by the end of this week.
Big picture: Workers were set to go on strike as soon as the end of this week, a move that would have curtailed airplane production. The future of the Starliner program is far less certain, even with the safe landing. Boeing's engineers must address the craft's thruster issue amid doubts about the company's long-term commitment to the program.

Quick Tips

U.S. News

A Pakistani man arrested in Canada allegedly planned to attack a Jewish center in Brooklyn in the name of ISIS. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Muhammad Shahzeb Khan recently tried to enter the country and was plotting a mass shooting on Oct. 7, the first anniversary of the start of the Gaza war (More)
Missouri health officials said a person contracted bird flu without prior exposure to animals. The CDC is probing whether the case is related to the strain causing a widespread outbreak in dairy cows; the person has recovered andofficials said the risk to the public remains low (More)
Over two dozen people were injured when a car crashed into an Arizona Elks Lodge. Police said the driver was arrested and alcohol was believed to be a factor; 10 people were hospitalized and 15 others suffered injuries (More)

World News

Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has fled to Spain, where he will seek political asylum. He has been in hiding after President Nicolas Maduro's regime issued an arrest warrant; Gonzalez is believed to be the rightful winner of the South American country's recent contested presidential election (More)
Russian military drones violated the airspace of Latvia and Romania while carrying out attacks in Ukraine. Both countries are NATO members; the incidents reflect the Kremlin's continued effort to push the envelope along the alliance's Eastern flank (More)
The United Nations called for an "independent and impartial" peacekeeping force in Sudan to protect civilians. At least 20K people have died during the African nation's ongoing civil war, according to the UN; over 13M people have been displaced since fighting began (More)

Campaign News

A New York judge delayed former President Donald Trump's hush money case sentencing. Judge Juan Merchan pushed the hearing past Election Day to Nov. 26, saying the delay "best advances the interests of justice" (More)
Former President George W. Bush will not make a presidential endorsement. His office said he has "retired from politics" after his vice president, Dick Cheney, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, saying Trump "can never be trusted with power again" (More)
Ex-Robert F. Kennedy Jr. staffers have launched Make America Healthy Again, a super PAC supporting Trump. The independent candidate endorsed the former president after dropping out of the presidential race (More)

Business & Markets

Chrysler's parent company recalled about 1.5M vehicles worldwide. Stellantis said the impacted Ram 1500 trucks from 2019 and 2021-24 model years have an anti-lock brake system software glitch that could increase the risk of a crash (More)
Cleveland Cliffs offered to buy the unionized mills U.S. Steel is threatening to close. USS said it will be forced to shutter plants if its $15B merger deal with Nippon Steel is blocked; the Japanese steelmaker previously doubled CC's offer to take over the iconic company (More)
DirecTV filed a FCC complaint against Disney. The satellite television provider alleges the entertainment giant has engaged in anti-competitive practices; over 11M DirecTV subscribers have lost access to ESPN and other Disney properties due to a carriage dispute (More)

Entertainment & Sports

Kendrick Lamar will be the headliner for the Super Bowl LIX halftime show in New Orleans this February. The rapper, a 17-time Grammy Award winner, was previously part of an ensemble that performed at Super Bowl LVI (More)
The Tonight Show will only tape four episodes weekly, downsizing its schedule like other late-night competitors. NBC will air reruns on Fridays; economics and host Jimmy Fallon's obligations led to the move (More)
Jannik Sinner beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets to win the U.S. Open, his second tennis major tournament title of the year. The Italian also won the Australian Open; Aryna Sabalenka bested Jessica Pegula for the women's title, her third career major crown (More | More)

Quick Hitters

Fun Stuff: A bear wanted to relax in a backyard hammock. But they just could not figure out how to use it.
Take Action: When his son was diagnosed with an extremely rare disease, a Canadian man moved heaven and earth to create an effective treatment. Scientists succeeded, but more money is needed to help others.
Go Deep: Artificial intelligence is now creating new recipes for restaurants. Will technology help get more diners in the door, or will it lead to disaster instead?
Take Note: Brushing your teeth is, by and large, a good thing to do. But there are times when you should refrain, according to a dentist.
Life Hack: Don't bother using lemon to clean your dishwasher. The benefits will be minimal, and the seeds may create a clog.

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