ValleyStar donates $20,000 to expand financial education at P&HCC
ValleyStar Credit Union has expanded its partnership with Patrick & Henry Community College (P&HCC) with a $20,000 donation to support a campus-wide financial education initiative.
ValleyStar Credit Union has expanded its partnership with Patrick & Henry Community College (P&HCC) with a $20,000 donation to fund the Financial Fundamentals Program, a free service from the credit union designed to help students build money-management skills.
A Boeing C-135 Stratotanker / Stratolifter military aircraft known as KC-135 of the United States Air Force USAF configured as Air Tanker Transport for aerial refueling. (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Six service members were killed when their refueling aircraft “went down” in friendly airspace in western Iraq, according to U.S. Central Command.
“All six crew members aboard a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft that went down in western Iraq are now confirmed deceased. The aircraft was lost while flying over friendly airspace March 12 during Operation Epic Fury,” CENTCOM said Friday.
The KC-135 aircraft went down at approximately 2 p.m. ET on Thursday when two aircraft were involved in “an incident,” CENTCOM said in a brief statement, confirming that “one of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely.”
Gen. Dan Caine addressed the crashed refueling plane, saying the incident is being treated as an active rescue and recovery mission.
“The incident occurred over friendly territory in western Iraq while the crew was on a combat mission, and again, was not the result, as CENTCOM has said, was not the result of hostile or friendly fire,” Caine said Friday. “We’re still treating this as an active rescue and recovery operation, as CENTCOM announced this morning, four airmen have been recovered, and the Air Force and US Central Command will provide updates as information becomes available.”
The other aircraft involved was also a KC-135 tanker, according to a U.S. official.
The circumstances of the incident are currently under investigation and the identities of the service members who died in the incident are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified, officials said.
KC-135 aircraft are not equipped with parachutes and do not have ejection seats, which are primarily in fighter aircraft, officials have told ABC News.
Passengers and crew members of KC-135s instead are trained on how to exit the aircraft when it is on land or on water, officials said.
According to a 2008 Air Force profile of the tanker crews, the move to get rid of parachutes was made because the tankers “seldom have mishaps, and the likelihood a KC-135 crew member would ever need to use a parachute is extremely low.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — More than 120 million people are on alert for a brutal storm that’s going to bring dangerous ice and snow to the South, bitter cold to the Midwest, and a massive snowfall to the Northeast.
South
The storm moves into the South on Friday afternoon. By the evening, Dallas will see a wintry mix and Oklahoma and Kansas will get some snow.
On Saturday morning, the temperature is forecast to fall to 27 degrees in Dallas; 8 degrees in Oklahoma City; 14 degrees in Little Rock, Arkansas; and 19 degrees in Nashville, Tennessee.
As temperatures drop on Saturday, extremely dangerous snow and ice will move in from Dallas to Little Rock to Memphis, Tennessee.
Residents should be prepared for dangerous travel conditions and widespread power outages, which could leave people without electricity or heat.
The lack of heat will be very dangerous in several major cities — including Dallas, Little Rock and Memphis — where the bitter cold is expected to continue well after the storm passes.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he was activating state emergency response resources, saying the freezing rain, sleet and snow “could create hazardous travel conditions into the weekend and cause impacts to infrastructure.”
By Saturday afternoon, the snow and ice could stretch as far east as Georgia and the Carolinas.
The governors of Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina have declared states of emergency.
Midwest
This unforgiving arctic blast will strike the Midwest late Thursday into Friday, bringing extremely dangerous temperatures.
On Friday morning, the wind chill — what temperature it feels like — is forecast to plunge to minus 39 degrees in Minneapolis, minus 32 in Chicago and minus 39 in Madison and Green Bay, Wisconsin. In these conditions, frostbite can develop in just 10 minutes.
Northeast
The brutal cold will strike the Northeast on Friday night, with below-freezing temperatures expected for New York City and Philadelphia.
Then on Sunday, the storm will hit the Northeast, bringing likely plowable snow from Washington, D.C., to New York City to Boston.
The snow totals are not yet clear, but by the Monday morning commute, 6 to 12 inches is possible in some areas.
Airline travel alerts
Many airlines are issuing travel alerts and waiving rebooking fees ahead of the storm.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have waived rebooking fees, allowing passengers to rebook their flights at no additional cost.
United has issued travel waivers for cities expected to be affected, allowing those who bought tickets on or before Tuesday to rebook without a fee if their travel is affected.
Southwest said it’s monitoring the weather and will issue any advisories or make any changes as needed.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks as U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) looks on during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on January 08, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Ahead of Thursday’s vote on a three-year extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, Democrats are boasting that several Republicans are expected to defy their leadership team.
