Mississippi county scrambles for election
JACKSON, Miss. -- Election officials in Mississippi's most populous county had to scramble to complete required poll worker training after an early September breach involving county computers.
In Hinds County, such training is typically completed by early October before a November general election, according to Election Commissioner Shirley Varnado. Instead, office staff members worked right up to Thursday's deadline to finish the training after Varnado said they were unable to access their computers for about three weeks.
Mississippi has a general election Tuesday.
Hinds County has some 167,000 registered voters and is a key source of Democratic votes. In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden won the county with 73% of the vote.
Federal authorities were investigating after county computers were compromised for a period in early September, Hinds County Board Attorney Tony Gaylor said in an email Friday. Gaylor said the county's computer network was "functioning again" and declined additional comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
Messages seeking information from the county administrator were not returned.
Varnado said the county was "on track" for Tuesday's election and no other issues were expected.
NASA finds mini moon alongside asteroid
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A small asteroid visited by NASA's Lucy spacecraft this week had a big surprise for scientists.
It turns out that the asteroid Dinkinesh has a dinky sidekick -- a mini moon.
The discovery was made during Wednesday's flyby of Dinkinesh, 300 million miles away in the main asteroid belt beyond Mars. The spacecraft snapped a picture of the pair when it was about 270 miles out.
In data and images beamed back to Earth, the spacecraft confirmed that Dinkinesh is barely a half-mile across. Its closely circling moon is a mere one-tenth-of-a-mile in size.
NASA sent Lucy past Dinkinesh as a rehearsal for the bigger, more mysterious asteroids out near Jupiter. Launched in 2021, the spacecraft will reach the first of these so-called Trojan asteroids in 2027 and explore them for at least six years. The original target list of seven asteroids now stands at 11.
Dinkinesh means "you are marvelous" in the Amharic language of Ethiopia. It's also the Amharic name for Lucy, the 3.2 million-year-old remains of a human ancestor found in Ethiopia in the 1970s, for which the spacecraft is named.
"Dinkinesh really did live up to its name; this is marvelous," Southwest Research Institute's Hal Levison, the lead scientist, said in a statement.
Workers identified in Kentucky collapse
Officials have released the names of two workers trapped when a coal mine preparation plant collapsed earlier this week in eastern Kentucky as the search continues to find one of those workers still missing in the rubble.
Martin County Judge Executive Lon Lafferty identified the men as Billy Ray Daniels and 57-year-old Alvin Nees, news outlets report. Daniels died amid rescue efforts at the scene, and Nees has not yet been located. The men from Pike County were doing contracting work as part of the building's demolition.
Crews have begun removing layers of rubble and debris at the Martin Mine Prep Plant in Martin County where an 11-story abandoned building crashed down Tuesday night while undergoing work toward its demolition.
Several state agencies have begun investigations into the collapse and possible causes, including Kentucky State Police.
The Kentucky Division of Occupational Safety and Health Compliance said one of its officers was on site and that an inspection had been opened with Lexington Coal Company LLC, which had contracted with Skeens Enterprises LLC for site demolition and salvage operations. The division said the investigation could take up to six months to complete.
N.Y. gas blast traps victims, injures 10
WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. -- A gas explosion collapsed part of a brick multifamily building north of New York City, trapping victims in the rubble and injuring 10 people, according to officials.
There were no fatalities in the Thursday afternoon explosion and fire, which sent thick smoke billowing in the air about 50 miles north of the city. Rescuers scrambled to pull people from the wreckage.
Eight adults and two children suffered blast or burn injuries. One child and two adults were flown by helicopter to Westchester Medical Center.
Three patients remain hospitalized in critical condition and five more in serious condition as of Friday. Another victim was listed in good condition at a separate area hospital, according to the Westchester Medical Center Health Network.
One firefighter and four police officers who responded to the home also received medical treatment for minor injuries or exposure to smoke during the rescue operation.
An investigation into the cause was continuing. Authorities said preliminary reports indicate a utility contractor struck a gas line.