Hurricane Rafael could strengthen to Category 3 before landfall in Cuba: Latest track and forecast
ABC News
(FLORIDA KEYS, Fla.) — Hurricane Rafael, now a powerful Category 2 hurricane, could strengthen into a major Category 3 hurricane later in the day before making landfall in Cuba on Wednesday night.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Florida Keys, where heavy rain, gusty winds and even tornadoes are possible on Wednesday and into Thursday morning.
By the weekend, Rafael will weaken as it stalls in the Gulf of Mexico.
Rafael isn’t posing a major threat to the U.S. Gulf Coast, but some of the tropical moisture could move toward the coast and add to the rain from an approaching cold front.
Most models predict Rafael sitting in the Gulf into next week and possibly moving southwest toward Mexico.
(SAN FRANCISCO) — When a California resident began to question the price of his electricity bill every month, he realized an up to 18-year-old mistake was costing him well over his personal usage.
Ken Wilson, a Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) customer who has lived alone in an apartment complex in Vacaville since 2006, told ABC News’ San Francisco affiliate he started to notice his bill rise a few months ago.
In an effort to lower costs, Wilson told the outlet he tried to cut back on usage and purchased a device to help monitor how many watts his appliances use.
“Even after I turned off my breakers, I kept going outside to check my meter to see if it was still running and it was still running,” Wilson told ABC7.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he added.
Wilson said he contacted PG&E about the issue and they sent a representative to his apartment to check his meter, who confirmed his suspicions were not unfounded.
The utility company released a statement to ABC News saying Wilson had been paying the electricity bill for the apartment next to him “since potentially 2009,” three years after he had moved in.
“Our preliminary investigation has found the meter number for the customer’s apartment was being billed to another apartment since potentially 2009,” a spokesperson for PG&E said.
PG&E owned up to the mistake and maintained the company is “committed to rectifying the situation with the customer,” the statement said.
Since he’s had the same agreement with PG&E since he moved into the complex in 2006, Wilson told ABC7 and other media outlets he believes the costly mistake has been going on longer.
“We sincerely apologize for the oversight and regret any inconvenience caused by the duration of this issue,” the spokesperson added.
In an update to CBS News’ Sacramento affiliate, Wilson said PG&E fixed his meter so that he would only be paying his share of electric usage and that he was credited $600 to his account with the company.
PG&E also urged fellow customers who are worried about their usage and billing to verify their meter is correct by comparing the meter ID number on the electric panel to that on their monthly bill.
(NEW YORK) — NASA and SpaceX are set to launch a critical mission Saturday to bring home the two astronauts who flew Boeing’s Starliner to the International Space Station.
The SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon will take off with two empty seats and extra spacesuits for Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, who have been in space since June. Wilmore and Williams performed the first crewed test flight of the Starliner and were supposed to be on the ISS for about a week.
NASA and Boeing officials decided to send Starliner back to Earth last month after several mechanical issues, keeping Wilmore and Williams onboard the ISS until February 2025.
The unmanned Starliner landed safely at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in the early hours of Sept. 7.
The Dragon spacecraft was originally scheduled to travel to the ISS with four astronauts for a routine science mission. Astronauts Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov will crew the spacecraft to the ISS.
Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines (Letcher County)
(NEW YORK) — The Kentucky sheriff accused of fatally shooting a judge in his chambers is retiring, according to a letter from the murder suspect’s attorney.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines, 43, was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Kentucky District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, who authorities said was gunned down inside his chambers in the Letcher County Courthouse on Sept. 19.
Stines “has made the difficult decision” to retire on Monday, attorneys Jeremy Bartley and Kerri Bartley stated in a letter addressed to S. Travis Mayo, deputy counsel at the Kentucky governor’s office.
“This decision is made, not as a result of any ultimatum or in any way as a concession to any allegations made by the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” the letter stated. “Rather, Sheriff Stines has made this decision to allow for a successor to continue to protect his beloved constituents while he addresses the legal process ahead of him.”
Stines pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charge during his first court appearance last week.
There was no discussion of a bond during the hearing, Lexington ABC affiliate WTVQ-TV reported.
He is expected back in court on Tuesday.
Stines could face the death penalty if convicted, according to a special judge appointed to preside over the case.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear had previously called on Stines to resign in the wake of the incident by Sept. 27. If not, Beshear said there is a “removal process” he can start.
“Every Kentucky county needs an active and working sheriff,” Beshear said at an unrelated press briefing last week. “Right now, Letcher County doesn’t have an active and a working sheriff.”
Mullins was found with multiple gunshot wounds after a 911 caller reported shots being fired inside the courthouse, and Stines was taken into custody without incident at the courthouse, police said.
The shooting allegedly occurred “following an argument inside the courthouse,” according to Kentucky State Police, and investigators are still searching for a motive.
The two had had lunch together the day of the shooting, Letcher County Circuit Clerk Mike Watts told WTVQ.
Days before the shooting, Stines was deposed in a lawsuit, which alleged he had failed to investigate one of his deputies who sexually abused a woman in Mullins’ chambers.
