Inducted by Long Island’s own Billy Joel, Bill Medley and the Righteous Brothers joined the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2003. Now 82, Bill sat down to chat with WHLI’s Rob Rush before he plays a show in nearby New Jersey.
Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision for The Society of Singers/AP Images
Authorities say a Northport woman is facing charges after over 200 animals were removed from her home in what prosecutors are calling a disturbing case of animal hoarding.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced that Samantha Boyd, 57, was arrested and charged with multiple counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty. She also faces a charge of endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person after investigators found a 95-year-old woman confined to the second floor of the home, trapped by piles of debris.
The investigation began after a complaint of possible animal hoarding. On October 1, authorities executed a search warrant at Boyd’s home on Fort Salonga Road. Inside, they discovered more than 200 animals — including dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, ducks, chickens, squirrels, and even crows — living in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions.
Officials say many animals were confined in cages filled with waste, had little access to clean food or water, and were surrounded by filth. The interior of the home was also infested with insects and pests, and cluttered wall-to-wall with garbage.
Boyd’s partner, Neal Weschler, 61, was also charged with animal cruelty. Meanwhile, the Town of Huntington has been notified of multiple building and fire code violations and will oversee the remediation of the property.
The rescued animals are now receiving care, authorities said.
By JOSH FUNK AP Transportation Writer
Two Delta Air Lines regional jets collided on the taxiway at LaGuardia Airport in New York, injuring a flight attendant, damaging a cockpit and tearing off part of a wing in what the airline described as a “low-speed collision.”
An aircraft carrying 32 people was preparing for takeoff Wednesday night to Roanoke, Virginia, when its wing made contact with the fuselage of an aircraft arriving from Charlotte, North Carolina, with 61 people aboard, according to a statement from Delta.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the collision happened at the intersection of two taxiways. The NTSB said it sent a team of 10 investigators to the airport, and flight recorders have already been recovered from both airplanes and sent to its headquarters for analysis.
It wasn’t immediately clear who was at fault, but air traffic control had instructed the Virginia-bound plane “to hold short and yield to the other aircraft” before the collision, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
A flight attendant was taken to a hospital, according to a statement from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. One of the pilots told the tower that the flight attendant told him she hit her knee when the planes collided, according to audio that www.LiveATC.net posted. There were no reports of passengers injured, the airline said.
“Their right wing clipped our nose and the cockpit. We have damage to our windscreen and … some of our screens in here,” a pilot said, according to the air traffic control audio.
Images of the damage showed the broken wing on one plane while the other plane’s cockpit window was shattered and its nose was deeply gouged in several places.
The plane that had landed “stopped, jerked, and jumped to the right,” passenger William Lusk told ABC. “Everyone went dead silent. And as everyone went dead silent, the pilot calmly came on and said, ‘Hey, we’ve been in a crash, everyone remain calm.'”
Close calls like this could add to worries about aviation safety in the wake of recent crashes and near misses including the deadliest plane crash in the United States in decades, when an Army helicopter collided with an airliner preparing to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Former NTSB and FAA crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti said that the ground controller lines up planes on taxiways and directs them where to go, but the pilots are expected to avoid other planes as they move at slow speeds while controllers focus on keeping the runways clear.
“You’re supposed to have situational awareness about where your wings are poking out at and what they could hit as you’re taxiing,” said Guzzetti, who is now an aviation safety consultant. “They (controllers) expect the flight crews to see each other since they’re taxiing at a slow speed. And the controller’s main function is to make sure the runway is clear for takeoff and landings.”
Because this happened at night and planes typically turn off their nose lights while taxiing, it may have been more difficult for the pilots to see exactly where the other plane was, Guzzetti said. A plane’s taxi lights are on the wings. The landing lights are used to improve visibility and help make sure other pilots can see the plane, but the FAA encourages pilots to be careful not to blind other pilots because landing lights can also impair night vision.
“Delta will work with all relevant authorities to review what occurred as safety of our customers and people comes before all else,” the statement from Delta said. “We apologize to our customers for the experience.”
The Delta Connection aircraft involved in the collision were operated by Endeavor Air. Both are CRJ-900 planes, said the FAA, which is investigating along with the NTSB. The planes can seat 70 to 90 passengers.
LaGuardia Airport is one of 35 major airports where the FAA has installed advanced surface radar systems that help track aircraft and vehicles on the ground and alert controllers to potential conflicts. It wasn’t clear what role the system played in this collision.
Guzzetti said he’s not sure if that system would have sounded an audible alarm for these planes on a taxiway even though the system would have shown both planes on a display. The primary purpose of the system is to prevent collisions on runways.
The passengers on both planes were provided meals and hotel rooms and rebooked on flights leaving on Thursday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Left out of the starting lineup for the New York Yankees’ playoff opener, Jazz Chisholm Jr. was understandably unhappy.
Any accomplished player would be. Chisholm just has a different way of blowing off steam.
“I played `MLB: The Show’ and mercy-ruled someone,” he said. “That’s how I get my stress off.”
Back at second base Wednesday night, Chisholm played a huge part in saving the Yankees’ season as they beat the rival Boston Red Sox 4-3 in Game 2 of their AL Wild Card Series.
And this one was no video game.
“Anything to help us win,” Chisholm said. “All that was clear before I came to the field today. After I left the field yesterday, it is win the next game. It is win or go home for us. It is all about winning.”
The dynamic Chisholm raced all the way home from first base on Austin Wells’ tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and made a couple of critical defensive plays that helped the Yankees push the best-of-three playoff to a decisive Game 3 on Thursday night.
“It’s what you expect. He’s a game-changer. He showed his maturity,” New York captain Aaron Judge said. “He showed up at the park today and had the biggest plays for us.”
Afterward, manager Aaron Boone said Chisholm will start Thursday night against rookie left-hander Connelly Early.
A left-handed hitter, Chisholm began Game 1 on the bench with the Yankees facing ace lefty Garrett Crochet. The two-time All-Star entered on defense in the eighth and flied out against left-handed closer Aroldis Chapman with the bases loaded for the second out of the ninth, failing to drive in a run.
That was Chisholm’s only plate appearance in a 3-1 loss that left New York on the brink of elimination.
After the game, Chisholm seemed upset about not starting. His back was turned to reporters while he answered several questions at his locker. Chisholm said Boone texted him Monday night to let him know he wouldn’t be in the Game 1 lineup.
“I did see that,” Boone said Wednesday afternoon. “Every player is not going to agree with every decision that I make. I try and help make them understand my thought process and what I am thinking. I did that with Jazz. He is a guy that wears his emotions on his sleeve. So, wasn’t necessarily how I handled it, but I don’t need him to put a happy face on. I need him to go out and play his butt off for us tonight. That’s what I expect to happen.”
Boone said the two had a conversation the day before about the potential move, and he thinks Chisholm understood.
“Jazz and I are good. No concerns that he was going to go out there and get it done,” Boone said after Game 2. “He loves to play. He feels a responsibility to us, his teammates. And, you know, he and I have always been good. Despite what you may think happened yesterday, like, yeah, he’s a gamer, and he likes the stage.”
Amed Rosario played second base in Chisholm’s place Tuesday and batted fifth. A right-handed hitter, Rosario was 6 for 9 with a home run and a double in his career against Crochet before going 0 for 3 in the playoff opener.
Chisholm is 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and a walk against Crochet.
“There is never a problem between me and Aaron Boone. He’s been my manager all year, and I’ve stood behind him all year,” Chisholm said after Wednesday night’s win. “We always have disagreements. I mean, I played third base this year, and we had a little bit of a disagreement in that.
“But at the end of the day, I always stand with Booney because he always understands where I come from. He knows I am a passionate player. He knows I wear my feelings on my sleeve. He knows I am there to compete.”
New York also put two other dangerous left-handed hitters on the bench against Crochet in Ben Rice and Ryan McMahon. Neither got in the game.
With right-hander Brayan Bello on the mound Wednesday night for the Red Sox, Chisholm was back at second base and batting sixth. Rice was at first base and hit a two-run homer on the first postseason pitch he saw. McMahon played third and went 1 for 3 with a walk.
With the score tied in the seventh, Chisholm saved at least one run with a diving stop to his right of an infield single by pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida. Chisholm also made a tough play to start an inning-ending double play with two on in the third.
There were two outs in the eighth when he worked the count full and drew a walk. Chisholm was running on another 3-2 pitch when Wells pulled a line drive that landed just inside the right-field line and caromed off the low retaining wall in foul territory.
Right fielder Nate Eaton made a strong, accurate throw to the plate, but the speedy Chisholm barely beat it with a headfirst slide.
“He’s a special player. He’s one of the best players in the game. Exciting. One of the best athletes I’ve ever seen,” Yankees reliever Fernando Cruz said. “I knew he was scoring no matter what.”
Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino and community partners, including Rallye Motors, gathered Wednesday at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park to announce the kickoff of this year’s OysterFest.
The annual celebration, one of Long Island’s largest festivals, returns October 18 and 19. Organizers say visitors can expect plenty of food, live entertainment, family-friendly activities — and, of course, oysters.
The event typically draws thousands of attendees and has become a highlight of the fall season on Long Island.
Click here for more information https://theoysterfest.org/
By HALLIE GOLDEN Associated Press
Jane Goodall, the conservationist renowned for her groundbreaking chimpanzee field research and globe-spanning environmental advocacy, has died. She was 91.
The Jane Goodall Institute announced the primatologist’s death Wednesday in an Instagram post. According to the Washington, D.C.-based institute, Goodall died of natural causes while in California on a U.S. speaking tour.
Her discoveries “revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” it said.
While living among chimpanzees in Africa decades ago, Goodall documented the animals using tools and doing other activities previously believed to be exclusive to humans, and also noted their distinct personalities. Her observations and subsequent magazine and documentary appearances in the 1960s transformed how the world perceived not only humans’ closest living biological relatives but also the emotional and social complexity of all animals, while propelling her into the public consciousness.
“Out there in nature by myself, when you’re alone, you can become part of nature and your humanity doesn’t get in the way,” she told The Associated Press in 2021. “It’s almost like an out-of-body experience when suddenly you hear different sounds and you smell different smells and you’re actually part of this amazing tapestry of life.”
Goodall never lost hope for the future
She had been scheduled to meet with students and teachers on Wednesday to launch the planting of 5,000 trees around wildfire burn zones in the Los Angeles area. Organizers learned of her death as the event was to begin at EF Academy in Pasadena, said spokesperson Shawna Marino. The first tree was planted in Goodall’s name after a moment of silence.
“I don’t think there’s any better way to honor her legacy than having a thousand children gathered for her,” Marino said.
Goodall in her later years devoted decades to education and advocacy on humanitarian causes and protecting the natural world. In her usual soft-spoken British accent, she was known for balancing the grim realities of the climate crisis with a sincere message of hope for the future.
From her base in the British coastal town of Bournemouth, she traveled nearly 300 days a year, even after she turned 90, to speak to packed auditoriums. Between more serious messages, her speeches often featured her whooping like a chimpanzee or lamenting that Tarzan chose the wrong Jane.
Tributes from animal rights organizations, political leaders and admirers poured in following news of her death.
“Dr. Jane Goodall was able to convey the lessons of her research to everyone, especially young people. She changed the way we see Great Apes,” said Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency.
Living among the chimpanzees
While first studying chimps in Tanzania in the early 1960s, Goodall was known for her unconventional approach. She didn’t simply observe them from afar but immersed herself in every aspect of their lives. She fed them and gave them names instead of numbers, which some scientists criticized.
Her findings were circulated to millions when she first appeared on the cover of National Geographic in 1963 and then in a popular documentary. A collection of photos of Goodall in the field helped her and even some of the chimps become famous. One iconic image showed her crouching across from the infant chimpanzee named Flint. Each has arms outstretched, reaching for the other.
In 1972, the Sunday Times published an obituary for Flo, Flint’s mother and the dominant matriarch. Flint died soon after showing signs of grief and losing weight.
“What the chimps have taught me over the years is they’re so like us. They’ve blurred the line between humans and animals,” she said in 1997.
Goodall earned top civilian honors from a number of countries. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025 by then-U.S. President Joe Biden and won the prestigious Templeton Prize in 2021.
“Her groundbreaking discoveries have changed humanity’s understanding of its role in an interconnected world, and her advocacy has pointed to a greater purpose for our species in caring for life on this planet,” said the Templeton Prize citation, which honors individuals whose life’s work embodies a fusion of science and spirituality.
The Humane World for Animals said Wednesday that Goodall’s influence on the animal protection community was immeasurable.
“Her work on behalf of primates and all animals will never be forgotten,” said Kitty Block, president and CEO of the group formerly the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International.
Charting a course from an early age
Born in London in 1934, Goodall said her fascination with animals began around when she learned to crawl. In her book, “In the Shadow of Man,” she described an early memory of hiding in a henhouse to see a chicken lay an egg. She was there so long her mother reported her missing to police.
She bought her first book — Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Tarzan of the Apes” — when she was 10 and soon made up her mind about her future: Live with wild animals in Africa.
That plan stayed with her through a secretarial course when she was 18 and two different jobs. By 1957, she accepted an invitation to travel to a farm in Kenya.
There she met the famed anthropologist and paleontologist Louis Leakey at a natural history museum in Nairobi. He gave her a job as an assistant secretary.
Three years later, despite Goodall not having a college degree, Leakey asked if she would be interested in studying chimpanzees in what is now Tanzania. She told the AP that he chose her “because he wanted an open mind.”
The beginning was filled with complications. British authorities insisted she have a companion, so she brought her mother. The chimps fled if she got within 500 yards (460 meters) of them. She also spent weeks sick from what she believed was malaria.
Eventually she gained the animals’ trust. By the fall of 1960 she observed the chimpanzee named David Greybeard make a tool from twigs to fish termites from a nest. It was previously believed that only humans made and used tools.
She also found that chimps have individual personalities and share humans’ emotions of pleasure, joy, sadness and fear. She documented bonds between mothers and infants, sibling rivalry and male dominance. She found there was no sharp line between humans and the animal kingdom.
In later years, she discovered chimpanzees engage in a type of warfare, and in 1987 she and her staff observed a chimp “adopt” a 3-year-old orphan that wasn’t closely related.
Taking on an activist role
Her work moved into global advocacy after she watched a disturbing film of experiments on laboratory animals in 1986.
“I knew I had to do something,” she said. “It was payback time.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and halted her in-person events, she began podcasting from her childhood home in England. Through dozens of “Jane Goodall Hopecast” episodes, she talked with guests including U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, author Margaret Atwood and marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson.
“If one wants to reach people; If one wants to change attitudes, you have to reach the heart,” she said during her first episode. “You can reach the heart by telling stories, not by arguing with people’s intellects.”
In later years, she pushed back on “gloom and doom” messaging and aggressive tactics by climate activists, saying they could backfire.
Her advice: “Focus on the present and make choices today whose impact will build over time.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ‘s administration, citing the government shutdown, said Wednesday it was putting a hold on roughly $18 billion to fund a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey and an extension of the city’s Second Avenue subway.
The White House budget director, Russ Vought, said on X that the step was taken due to the Republican administration’s belief the spending was based on unconstitutional diversity, equity and inclusion principles.
In a statement, Trump’s Transportation Department said it had been reviewing whether any “unconstitutional practices” were occurring in the two massive infrastructure projects but that the shutdown, which began Wednesday, had forced it to furlough the staffers conducting the review.
The suspension of funds is likely meant to target Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, whom the White House is blaming for the impasse. He said the funding freeze would harm commuters.
“Obstructing these projects is stupid and counterproductive because they create tens of thousands of great jobs and are essential for a strong regional and national economy,” he said on X.
The spending hold was a preview of how the messy the politics of the shutdown could get, with Vought later posting on X that $8 billion in funding for green energy projects in Democratic-led states would be canceled. The administration has shown a willingness to use its control of federal dollars to apply pressure on Democrats to reopen the government, with commuters and thousands of jobs hanging in the balance.
The agency working on the subway line said it was blindsided by the announcement. “For now, it looks like they’re just inventing excuses to delay one of the most important infrastructure projects in America,” read a statement from John McCarthy, policy chief and spokesperson for the New York state-controlled Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
At a news conference in New York City about the federal government shutdown, Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., told reporters, “The bad news just keeps coming.”
“That’s what a partnership with Washington looks like as we’re standing here. We’ve done our part. We’re ready to build. It’s underway,” she said. “And now we realize that they’ve decided to put their own interpretation of proper culture ahead of our needs, the needs of a nation.”
The Hudson River rail tunnel is a long-delayed project whose path toward construction has been full of political and funding switchbacks. It’s intended to ease the strain on a more than 110-year-old tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey. Hundreds of Amtrak and commuter trains carry hundreds of thousands of passengers per day through the tunnel, and delays can ripple up and down the East Coast between Boston and Washington.
In a 2023 interview with The Associated Press, Schumer said he and then-President Joe Biden were both “giddy” over the project.
Amtrak and the NJ Transit commuter rail system referred questions about the White House’s announcement to the Gateway Development Commission, which is overseeing the tunnel project. Commission CEO Thomas Prendergast said the agency remains “focused on keeping the project on scope, schedule and budget.”
The commission did not address questions about the specifics of the funding suspension or what it means for the project.
The Trump administration specifically targeted New York City in putting a hold on the funding, but the move could also influence this year’s election for governor in New Jersey.
The Democratic nominee, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, said on X that if elected, she would “fight this tooth-and-nail and sue the Trump administration to finish this critical, job-creating infrastructure project to reduce congestion and improve quality of life in New Jersey.”
Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli’s campaign said Sherrill owns the consequences of the shutdown.
“If Mikie Sherrill did her job as a congresswoman, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Ciattarelli campaign consultant Chris Russell said by email.
Sherrill countered in a statement that “Washington Republicans must come to the table immediately to find a bipartisan consensus on a plan that reopens the government.”
The Second Avenue subway was first envisioned in the 1920s. The subway line along Manhattan’s Second Avenue was an on-again, off-again grail until the first section opened on Jan. 1, 2017. The MTA is working toward building the line’s second phase, which is to extend into East Harlem.
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Boone planned to lift starter Max Fried after the sixth inning of Game 1 of the New York Yankees’ AL Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night. Fried inducing a double play and sitting on 99 pitches prompted Boone to reconsider and let his ace lefty get get one more out in the seventh.
Fried did that, and then Boone went to his bullpen. Luke Weaver walked the first batter he faced, and then allowed a double and Masataka Yoshida’s pinch-hit two-run single. David Bednar gave up back-to-back hits in the ninth to give Boston some breathing room, and the Yankees manager’s in-game pitching decisions were under the microscope yet again in the aftermath of a 3-1 loss that put New York on the brink of elimination in the best-of-three opening round.
Boone defended his decision on the basis that Fried faced increased pressure in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and had to work hard to get through them.
“I felt like his command was not as good those final few,” Boone said. “He’s just making so many big pitches, and his stuff was good. He gave us what we needed and felt really good about the outing he put forth, but I felt pretty convicted. Especially we got the double play, it’s like, ‘Let’s go get one more hitter and be good.'”
Fried allowed just four hits in 6 1/3 scoreless innings and threw 63 of his 102 pitches for strikes, and the Yankees led 1-0 on Anthony Volpe’s solo home run. Fried beat Jarren Duran in a race to first base for the final out he recorded and felt he “had enough in the tank for whatever the team needed.”
“I definitely felt good at the end, coming out feeling good,” Fried said. “I’m going to stay in until I get the ball taken from me.”
Boone made that call and handed it to Weaver, who has not been the same since returning in June from a stint on the injured list with a strained left hamstring. The righty had a 1.05 ERA in his first 24 appearances before getting hurt and then a 5.31 over his final 40 games.
“I’ll take Weave there at the bottom of the order, especially with an out in the books,” Boone said.
Weaver started Ceddanne Rafaela off with two strikes before walking him in an 11-pitch plate appearance. It snowballed from there with Nick Sogard doubling, Yoshida driving in two. Weaver didn’t record an out and exited with the Yankees trailing.
“They put a good approach together, put the ball in play and found the holes,” Weaver said, describing his pitching as competitive. “I know there’s a lot of disappointed people, including myself, but I just got to be better.”
There were plenty of pregame decisions questioned, too, with left-handed hitters Ben Rice, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ryan McMahon not in the lineup against Boston starter Garrett Crochet, who got 23 outs before fellow lefty Aroldis Chapman recorded the final four to close it out. Crochet retired 17 consecutive batters after Volpe homered.
But after turning to Nestor Cortes in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers last year — with Freddie Freeman hitting a walk-off grand slam in Game 1 on Cortes’ first pitch — and making other calls to the bullpen that didn’t work out, Boone put himself in position to be second-guessed again.
He expressed no regret about the decisions afterward, other than lamenting Weaver not getting Rafaela out.
“I felt good about him going through there: Sogard and then probably a pinch-hit lefty there,” Boone said. “They played a couple hits on him where (he left it) maybe just a little up with a couple of the pitches more than he wanted.”
It’s a familiar script for the Yankees, whose bullpen ERA of 4.37 ranked 23rd out of 30 teams. That could have been forgotten if they scored after loading the bases with no outs in the ninth, but Chapman got out of the jam against his former team.
New York had scored in 25 of its previous 28 innings when loading the bases with no outs.
“One hit there and we tie the game,” said Paul Goldschmidt, who singled to begin the rally that fell short. “Unfortunately it didn’t work out but a good job to give ourselves a chance.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Plunged into a government shutdown, the U.S. is confronting a fresh cycle of uncertainty after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline.
Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by the Trump administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as retribution. His deportation agenda is expected to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout is expected to ripple nationwide.
“We don’t want it to shut down,” Trump said at the White House before the midnight deadline.
But the president, who met privately with congressional leadership this week, appeared unable to negotiate any deal between Democrats and Republicans to prevent that outcome.
This is the third time Trump has presided over a federal funding lapse, the first since his return to the White House this year, in a remarkable record that underscores the polarizing divide over budget priorities and a political climate that rewards hardline positions rather than more traditional compromises.
Plenty of blame being thrown around
The Democrats picked this fight, which was unusual for the party that prefers to keep government running, but their voters are eager to challenge the president’s second-term agenda. Democrats are demanding funding for health care subsidies that are expiring for millions of people under the Affordable Care Act, spiking the costs of insurance premiums nationwide.
Republicans have refused to negotiate for now and have encouraged Trump to steer clear of any talks. After the White House meeting, the president posted a cartoonish fake video mocking the Democratic leadership that was widely viewed as unserious and racist.
What neither side has devised is an easy offramp to prevent what could become a protracted closure. The ramifications are certain to spread beyond the political arena, upending the lives of Americans who rely on the government for benefit payments, work contracts and the various services being thrown into turmoil.
“What the government spends money on is a demonstration of our country’s priorities,” said Rachel Snyderman, a former White House budget official who is the managing director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank in Washington.
Shutdowns, she said, “only inflict economic cost, fear and confusion across the country.”
Economic fallout expected to ripple nationwide
An economic jolt could be felt in a matter of days. The government is expected Friday to produce its monthly jobs report, which may or may not be delivered.
While the financial markets have generally “shrugged” during past shutdowns, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis, this one could be different partly because there are no signs of broader negotiations.
“There are also few good analogies to this week’s potential shutdown,” the analysis said.
Across the government, preparations have been underway. Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, headed by Russ Vought, directed agencies to execute plans for not just furloughs, as are typical during a federal funding lapse, but mass firings of federal workers. It’s part of the Trump administration’s mission, including its Department of Government Efficiency, to shrink the federal government.
What’s staying open and shutting down
The Medicare and Medicaid health care programs are expected to continue, though staffing shortages could mean delays for some services. The Pentagon would still function. And most employees will stay on the job at the Department of Homeland Security.
But Trump has warned that the administration could focus on programs that are important to Democrats, “cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”
As agencies sort out which workers are essential, or not, Smithsonian museums are expected to stay open at least until Monday. A group of former national park superintendents urged the Trump administration to close the parks to visitors, arguing that poorly staffed parks in a shutdown are a danger to the public and put park resources at risk.
No easy exit as health care costs soar
Ahead of Wednesday’s start of the fiscal year, House Republicans had approved a temporary funding bill, over opposition from Democrats, to keep government running into mid-November while broader negotiations continue.
But that bill has failed repeatedly in the Senate, including late Tuesday. It takes a 60-vote threshold for approval, which requires cooperation between the two parties. A Democratic bill also failed. With a 53-47 GOP majority, Democrats are leveraging their votes to demand negotiation.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said Republicans are happy to discuss the health care issue with Democrats — but not as part of talks to keep the government open. More votes are expected Wednesday.
The standoff is a political test for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who has drawn scorn from a restive base of left-flank voters pushing the party to hold firm in its demands for health care funding.
“Americans are hurting with higher costs,” Schumer said after the failed vote Tuesday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home nearly two weeks ago after having passed the GOP bill, blaming Democrats for the shutdown.
“They want to fight Trump,” Johnson said Tuesday on CNBC. “A lot of good people are going to be hurt because of this.”
Trump, during his meeting with the congressional leaders, expressed surprise at the scope of the rising costs of health care, but Democrats left with no path toward talks.
During Trump’s first term, the nation endured its longest-ever shutdown, 35 days, over his demands for funds Congress refused to provide to build his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.
In 2013, the government shut down for 16 days during the Obama presidency over GOP demands to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Other closures date back decades.
Mets owner Steve Cohen’s vision of an $8 billion casino and entertainment complex next to Citi Field in Queens took a step forward this week. A community advisory panel has voted to allow the bid to move ahead for consideration of a state-issued gaming license.
The proposed project would transform the area around the ballpark into a year-round destination with dining, entertainment, and casino gambling. Supporters say it could bring jobs and tax revenue to Queens, while critics warn of increased traffic and the social costs of expanded gambling.
The plan must still clear several layers of state review, including a competitive licensing process for downstate casinos.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board has voted to move forward with a new round of fare increases and ticketing policy changes for Long Island Rail Road riders.
Under the plan, weekly and monthly LIRR passes would rise by up to 4.5 percent beginning January 1, pending final approval. MTA officials say the increase is necessary to offset rising operating costs and maintain service levels.
In addition to the fare hike, the board also approved a change affecting how tickets are purchased. Riders who buy tickets onboard from a conductor—or activate them through the TrainTime app once already on the train—will face a $2 surcharge.
Transit advocates say the changes highlight ongoing affordability concerns for commuters, while MTA leaders maintain the adjustments are essential to sustaining the system.