National
The nation was shaken over the weekend as a private plane carrying a family from Texas to the Bahamas crashed into a Palm Beach, Florida, neighborhood.
The Learjet 60 was seen from multiple vehicle dashcam angles barreling into the ground, where the aircraft was vaporized instantly upon impact. The final minute of the flight’s correspondence with air traffic control (ATC) has gone viral. The co-pilot, Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, has been largely praised online for maintaining communications with ATC until the flight’s final moments. Her last words, “we’re out of time,” have caused thousands of users online to discourage others from listening to the harrowing tape.
There were 8 other fatalities, including 55-year-old pilot Jeff Gregory.
Some online have been quick to call it a conspiracy, and that the plane was actually a missile, although all evidence incontrovertibly points to a worst-case-scenario for a notoriously difficult aircraft for pilots.
Filgueiras is heard describing icing conditions to ATC while heading into a weather system and the plane immediately begins losing altitude. The Learjet 60 is known for having much less resistance to typical icing aircrafts at experience at cruising altitude. Any icing on the exterior of the plane erases the Learjet’s already-thin margin for error. The plane’s nosedive very likely saw further deterioration of the aircraft’s external controls that made the crash inevitable.
In economic news, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, lost about $500 billion in market value in a single day on October 29. It’s the worst stock market drop in the company’s history.
The drop was caused by investor panic over heavy capital expenditures ($51.4 billion) for AI infrastructure that largely outpaced the operating revenue. Alphabet also recorded an $8.7 billion accounting loss on its equity stake in Space X.
In political news, apart from the elections, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) suffered a stroke on Saturday after feeling arm numbness at his son’s hockey game. Latest reports show that Murphy, recovering at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, is alert and doctors are optimistic.
Murphy, just a day prior to the stroke, had made comments about the latest Iran War plans he’s claimed to have seen.
“This plan is insane,” said Murphy on Friday. He added that President Donald Trump (R-FL) is “reportedly planning to restart war with Iran after the election,” and that he “cannot disclose any details.”
“It [the plan] will not achieve any objectives and will set off a new cycle of escalation.”
Prediction-market traders have been speculating the same scenario. Polymarket’s trading on that outcome closed at midnight on November 3. The odds had been holding steady at 96% that the ceasefire would continue until the day of the elections, but tapered off significantly for estimates later into November. Prediction “shareholders” said that by November 8, there was a 75% chance, and by November 22, just a 39% chance.
On the warfront, the U.S. carried out a limited strike on Qeshm Island, which belongs to Iran, in the Strait of Hormuz. The Washington Post reports the strike was a resumption of major operations, although sources commented anonymously.
Qeshm Island is the largest island in the Persian Gulf and sits just off Iran’s southwestern coast. The island offers a vital strategic position to its occupier and serves as a chokepoint within a chokepoint in Hormuz. It’s reported that Iran has built underground “missile cities” beneath Qeshm’s terrain. The Monday strikes by the U.S. sought to neutralize imminent threats to U.S. air and maritime assets in the region by destroying active weapon launchers and mitigate threats against commercial shipping.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that Iran retaliated by sending out ballistic missile and drone swarms against U.S. installations in Bahrain and Kuwait, both of which CENTCOM reported were defeated.
The final hours of the 2026 midterm campaign saw a massive political shakeup and one that will likely set the tenor for the Democratic Party going forward in Trump’s final two years in office.
Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D-MI) made perhaps one of the most stunning moves of the campaign – endorsing Mike Rogers (R-MI) for Senate against Abdul El-Sayed, now Senator-elect from Michigan as of Tuesday’s results, for the open seat. Stevens was defeated by El-Sayed in the August primary in a race that made the Michigan Senate race the marquee election of the cycle. Conventional wisdom was challenged on military defense, the U.S. relationship with Israel, and insider-versus-outsider politics.
Stevens’ endorsements of Rogers came as a stinger at the last minute as the GOP desperately hoped to wrangle support in a state within a cycle that had gotten entirely derailed for the party since the summer. It resulted in Stevens’ excommunication from the Michigan Democratic Party within an hour of her endorsement of Rogers.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Prospect Heights) said her endorsement was a “terrible decision” that “blindsided everyone and isolated herself from the House Democratic Caucus.” Jeffries added that a “discussion about appropriate next steps” would be held upon Congress’ return to Washington after the elections.
The most comparable, high-profile election cross-endorsement was that of Senator Joe Lieberman’s (D-CT) endorsement of Senator John McCain (R-AZ) in the latter’s run for president. However, Lieberman’s stump for McCain was more predictable and less blindsiding as Stevens’ was for Rogers, and Lieberman endorsed McCain early in the primary. Senate Democrats allowed Lieberman to keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee despite the outraged reaction.
State
New York saw its first measles-related child death in more than 30 years.
On Monday, a Lewis County child died in connection with the ongoing outbreak that has resulted in 178 cases this year. Reports indicate Lewis County – northeast of Syracuse – has had 15 cases this year.
“I am heartbroken to learn that a child in Lewis County has died after contracting measles,” said Governor Kathy Hochul (D-Hamburg) in a press release. “As a mother and grandmother, I cannot imagine what this family is going through. My heart goes out to everyone who knew and loved this child.”
According to the State’s Health Department, 25 counties have reported cases. Seneca County, in the heart of the Finger Lakes region, has reported 30 cases, the most of any county thus far. Otsego County, halfway between Albany and Syracuse, has reported 21 cases, followed by Steuben County, just west of Elmira, with 19 cases.
Nassau County has reported 2 cases; Suffolk has reported none.
“Measles is highly contagious, and vaccination remains our best protection against this dangerous disease,” Hochul continued in the press release. “This is New York’s first measles-related death in 30 years, a devastating reminder of what’s at stake when Washington deliberately erodes decades of progress in protecting Americans from preventable illnesses.”
The particular cluster of western and northern Upstate counties have much lower vaccination rates than the rest of the states. The rural communities are seeing the Amish and Mennonite populations be disproportionately affected by the outbreak.
Pennsylvania is seeing their largest outbreak in decades as well, with almost 1,400 cases reported, and most of their cases come from heavily-Amish Lancaster County.
Lewis County’s 15 cases, including the one fatality, are all occurring unvaccinated individuals.
“In New York, we will continue to stand by proven public health measures and do everything we can to keep New Yorkers safe and healthy,” said Hochul.
Local
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney (R) announced this week that Michelle Chronick Tyson, 59, of Virginia, was indicted on two counts of Murder in the Second Degree for causing the death of her newborn baby in November 1996, when Tyson was 29 years old.
The defendant was arrested in Hampton, Virginia, and was extradited in Suffolk County.
“As alleged, this defendant made a choice back in 1996 to take her newborn child’s life before he ever had the chance to experience the world beyond his first few breaths,” said Tierney in a press release. “The alleged circumstances of this infant’s death are deeply disturbing, and the fact that nearly three decades have passed does not diminish the gravity of this crime. Every child deserves the chance to live, to grow and to thrive. This infant was robbed of that chance, and we are committed to pursuing justice for a life that was tragically and selfishly cut short.”
According to the investigation, on November 18, 1996, at approximately 12:30a.m., the deceased infant was discovered inside a toilet in the woman’s bathroom of the Commack Multiplex. The autopsy conducted by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office found that the infant was a live-born and full-term newborn baby boy. They determined the cause of death was asphyxia with submersion in water, with the manner of death determined as homicide.
In 2024, the Cold Case Task Force began developing a DNA profile. On August 26, 2026, the task force obtained a search warrant to seize a buccal swab from Tyson.
Justice Steven Pilewski ordered Tyson to be remanded during the pendency of the case. She is due back in court on November 20, and faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted on the top count.
