The 2021 season has seen a “record-setting” start, with 19 named hurricanes forming in the Atlantic basin so far. “Teresa is the 19th storm to form in the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane season, which is well above normal. Over the past 30 years, there are typically only eight named storms by Sept. 24,” AccuWeather noted. The most notable, Ida, ripped through the Gulf coast and eastern seaboard at the end of August, and the beginning of this month....

“Republicans should be worried,” Fleischer, who served as former President George W. Bush’s press secretary, warned during an interview on America’s Newsroom. “Look, what happened in the 2018 election, if that’s any indication, it’s that Republicans have a problem, particularly in college educated suburban areas around suburban areas around Dallas, Houston, etc.” Fliescher pointed out that a Houston district, which has a highly educated population, flipped Democratic in the 2018 election after being Republican for about three decades....

The Obama-era intelligence chief pressed for the president to resign before saying Trump didn’t have the “conscience or a soul” to quit the White House in light of details contained in Woodward’s upcoming book Rage. Brennan leveled his personal attack on Trump as Woodward released interview tape of the president telling the veteran journalist coronavirus was “more deadly” than the flu on February 7—weeks before he publicly recognized the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic....

His family confirmed on Thursday that Taylor passed away after a heart attack, issuing the following statement: “With the greatest sadness, we have to announce that Graham passed away at his home early this morning of a suspected heart attack. The family are devastated by this sudden and totally unexpected loss.” Taylor made his name managing Watford over a 10-year period, taking the club from Division Four to Division One between 1977 and 1987s, finishing runners-up in the 1984 FA Cup....

Mary Ellen O’Toole, the program director for the Forensic Science Department at George Mason University and a former FBI profiler, refuted some of Trump’s statements about the mass shootings in an interview with CBS News. In his first public address on the mass shootings, Trump said “we must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace.” The president’s remarks came after it was discovered that the gunman in the El Paso shooting briefly mentioned the combat game “Call of Duty” in an hate-filled, anti-immigrant manifesto posted online shortly before the attack....

The steering committee of the coalition—Republicans and Independents for Biden—is being chaired by former GOP New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August and has backed Biden’s candidacy. Other former governors in the coalition include Bill Weld of Massachusetts, who launched a brief Republican presidential primary challenge against Trump last year, and Rick Snyder of Michigan, who published an op-ed backing Biden and calling the president “a bully” on Thursday....

The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed in March by New York Attorney General Letitia James against David Elmendorf, who once owned Bumpy’s Polar Freeze in Schenectady. In 2020, Elmendorf was accused of shouting racist epithets and making death threats with both a .22 caliber air rifle and a baton at Black protesters before he claimed he was the victim. He called 911 and said the group had threatened to shoot him....

The Houston native faced felony domestic assault by means of choking and misdemeanor assault for allegedly striking the woman on May 16, 2018. The woman testified at the three-day trial that started on Monday. “I can’t express how happy and relieved I am to be acquitted of these very serious charges,” Charlo said in a statement released to Sporting News. “I was accused of choking and striking a woman, which is a horrible crime that I didn’t commit....

Jewett died in his home in Ripton, Vermont, on January 12, according to his wife, Ellen McKay Jewett, the Associated Press reported. Over a year ago, he was diagnosed with mucosal melanoma. Jewett died with the help of Act 39, the state’s medical-aid-in-dying law that he helped pass 10 years earlier, the VTDigger news website reported. Act 39, also known as the Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act, permits eligible Vermont residents with terminal diseases to choose to be prescribed a dose of medication that helps them end their lives, according to a document from the Vermont Department of Health....

After The Athletic’s Josh Robbins and Shams Charania reported Friday that the Magic had laid off 31 full-time employees and eliminated 16 open positions because of pandemic-related financial struggles, longtime team beat writer John Denton announced Saturday he was part of the cuts. Van Gundy, who coached Orlando from 2007-2012, responded to Denton’s tweet with sarcasm aimed at the DeVos family, which owns the franchise. MORE: James Harden explains why he wore controversial mask...

Paul Farthing, better known as “Pen,” has been campaigning to get 69 workers from his animal welfare charity Nowzad and 200 rescue animals out of Afghanistan in a plan dubbed Operation Ark. He chartered a privately-funded plane to land at Kabul Airport, but accused the U.K. government of delaying the paperwork to facilitate the evacuation. On Wednesday, U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace confirmed that Farthing can land the plane and evacuate his staff and animals....

Baltimore police officers responded to a report of a shooting at 2:46 p.m. ET in the 1900 block of Braddish Ave. Once authorities arrived, they found Mackall suffering from gunshot wounds to his head and torso. He was taken to a nearby hospital but later died. Current Maryland coach Mike Locksley linked to a story about Mackall’s death in a tweet and added a plea to the community: “Hate seeing headlines like this…....

The charges stem from an incident that occurred Sept. 4 in Ann Arbor, involving a sexual encounter with a woman. The court arraigned Tuley-Tillman on two counts of capturing/distributing an image of an unclothed person, along with one count of using a computer to commit a crime. MORE: This week’s Big Ten Power Rankings | SN Top 20 The charges allege that Tuley-Tillman videotaped the sexual encounter, then sent it to his personal device without the woman’s permission....

Opening statements from prosecutors and defense addressed Winslow’s life as a professional athlete. State attorneys portrayed the former NFL and University of Miami football player as someone who made tens of millions of dollars but “took what he wanted,” in reference to prosecutors’ allegations that he raped the women. Winslow’s defense attorneys’ opening argument portrayed the sex with the women as consensual and, according to The Associated Press, asked jurors not to judge the married father for his “cheating ways....

Keller faced several criminal charges initially but those were dismissed after he reached a plea deal with prosecutors, instead he pleaded guilty to a single obstructing an official proceeding charge. A clip from the riot shows the 38-year-old wearing a Team USA jacket with an official Olympic patch and shoving police inside the U.S. Capitol as pro-Trump supporters protested Joe Biden’s presidential victory. In the footage, around the 15-second mark, Keller and the crowd were seen shoving Capitol Police as officers tried to take back the Rotunda....

Branch was found in a hotel room in Bullhead City, Arizona, the Bullhead City Police Department reported. The investigation revealed “no suspected foul play” and that Branch “died of natural causes,” the department noted. “Cliff Branch touched the lives of generations of Raiders fans,” the Raiders said in a statement. “His loss leaves an eternal void for the Raiders Family, but his kindness and loving nature will be fondly remembered forever....

Ex-Florida Rep. David Jolly told the MSNBC show Deadline White House that congressional Republicans were “without virtue” and lacking in “human integrity” during an attack on the party he left last year. The analyst also suggested that the House and Senate GOP had “failed the country and themselves” in the aftermath of the Trump-Ukraine phone call and the ongoing impeachment inquiry. Speaking to Deadline White House yesterday, former Rep. Jolly said: “You just got to be honest, these are, in today’s Republican Party, spineless politicians, rotten to the core....

Flake wrote about Trump’s latest controversy with the Ukraine whistleblower, his feelings about impeachment and the “soul” of the Republican Party in an op-ed for The Washington Post on Monday. “Compelling arguments will be made on both sides of the impeachment question. With what we now know, the president’s actions warrant impeachment,” the former lawmaker wrote. He added that he had “grave reservations” about whether removing Trump is the right decision given the “profound division in the country....

McDonough’s departure is surprising given the timing — the Suns’ season opener is on Oct. 17 — but Nets forward Jared Dudley, who played in Phoenix from 2008-13 and 2016-18, supported the shift of power from McDonough to vice president of basketball operations James Jones. The three-time NBA champion will split GM duties with assistant general manager Trevor Bukstein. MORE: When does the 2018-19 NBA season start? Markieff Morris spent the first five-plus seasons of his career with the Suns, but he clearly doesn’t have fond memories of his years with McDonough....

Pervis Payne was resentenced on January 31 to two concurrent life sentences. However, Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan ensured that he might not have to spend his entire life behind bars. In her sentence, she granted Payne eligibility for parole after serving 39 years in prison. Due to him already having served 34, he will be eligible to request parole in five years, or in 2026. Payne was resentenced after previously serving on death row for the 1987 murders of Charisse Christopher and her daughter....