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Tonight: Partly cloudy with slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening, then mostly cloudy with slight chance of showers after midnight. Todays Briefing: Quick LinksIn Flagler and Palm Coast:Note: all government meetings noticed below are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated. Hall of Terror, 7-10 p.m. at Fire Station 21, 9 Corporate Drive, Palm Coast. Hall of Terror takes those who dare through a haunted house and show at Palm Coast Fire Station 21. The Free Quit Smoking Now program meets from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at AdventHealth Palm Coast (in conference room C: enter main entrance, conference room to the right).

Today:Chance of showers and slight chance of thunderstorms in the morning, then showers likely and slight chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Hotel California, A Salute to the Eagles at Flagler Auditorium, 7:30 p.m. Flagler Auditorium, 5500 East Hwy 100, Palm Coast, call 386-437-7547. Stetson University Concert Band, 7:30 p.m., Elizabeth Hall, Room 100 (Lee Chapel), 421 North Woodland Boulevard, DeLand. The Stetson University Concert Band, established in the fall of 2018, continues the Stetson Bands tradition of performance excellence Please join us for an evening of music. $10 adults, $5 youth and free for Stetson University students with an ID and ages 12 and under.

Snow squalls can pose an extreme risk to drivers, which is why the National Weather Service recently started issuing snow squall warnings. Wondering why they're so dangerous? We've got you covered.

Dallas police say a woman has been arrested after punching a Southwest Airlines employee in the head during boarding for a flight out of a Dallas airport.

The climate crisis has affected every corner of the country, including many of the places we once fantasized about moving to for a better quality of life

Here's the latest on the Southwest Airlines saga.

More than 2,500 flights were canceled but officials have adamantly denied reports that pilots staged a sickout over a looming coronavirus vaccine mandate.

When Southwest Airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights over the weekend, unsupported claims blaming vaccine mandates began taking off.

After a weekend filled with more than 1,000 cancelled flights, Southwest Airlines encountered less turbulence at the start of this week.

The 22-year-old was reported missing — and later found dead​ — after her fiancé returned home from a cross-country road trip without her.

The delays and cancelations began shortly after the pilot's union tried to block Southwest's new COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The delays and cancelations began shortly after the pilot's union tried to block Southwest's new COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

"Captain Kirk" will have to wait a little longer before he can be beamed up to space.

Mass migration in Del Rio has placed local Democrats in the awkward position of calling out the Biden administration while accepting the help of

There’s a right and a wrong way to live in the desert, says Outside’s ethics guru

Associated Press — (AP) — Some members of Congress want to ensure that protections are put in place to address ongoing trauma as more information comes to light about the troubled history of Indigenous boarding schools in the United States. “The first step we need to take is caring for our boarding school survivors,” said Deborah Parker, a citizen of the Tulalip Tribes and director of policy and advocacy at the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. The lawmakers in their letter described the boarding school era as a “stain in America's history.” They wrote that revisiting that history undoubtedly will be traumatic for survivors and their communities. “We are confident that IHS is equipped to consider ways to prevent inflicting or worsening existing intergenerational trauma,” the letter reads. According to the boarding school healing coalition, hundreds of thousands of Native American children passed through boarding schools in the U.S. between 1869 and the 1960s.

RSV cases are climbing across the South, in the Southwest and Midwest and Kentucky, where doctors are warning parents to watch for red flags.

Water thieves, many of them illegal marijuana growers, are tapping into fire hydrants and drilling unauthorized water wells, threatening the water supply for residents.

FORT WORTH, Texas — (AP) — The fuel needle is moving closer to “empty” at some U.S. airports. American Airlines says it’s running into fuel shortages at some smaller and mid-size airports, and in some cases the airline will add refueling stops or fly fuel into locations where the supply is tight. Southwest said the fuel situation hasn’t affected its flights, but it has added more fuel on some planes to limit the amount needed at airports with shortages. Trade group Airlines for America said it is talking to federal authorities and pipeline operators about the situation, which it said mostly affects smaller airports in the West. The jet fuel supply is begin taxed by a strong recovery in travel, which means more planes in the air.

The transports stocks have hit a roadblock as several companies such as CSX and Southwest prepare to release earnings. Two traders share what they're watching.

The annexation would be expensive for everyone.

Airlines and credit-card companies are likely to devalue their rewards points in the next few months, experts say. Here's how to maximize the points you have.

She wrote that she is concerned by reports that have highlighted the role of worker shortages in a surge of delayed and canceled flights. Since March 2020, when the pandemic began to crush air travel, Congress has approved $54 billion to keep airline workers employed. Delta said it will hire between up to 5,000 workers this year to reduce long hold times for customers who call the airline and to deal with workers shortages at contractors such as food caterers and airplane cleaners. It blamed recent delays on summer thunderstorms and technology “challenges” last month that led to an unusually high number of delays and flight cancelations. The number of people flying in the U.S. bottomed out at less than 100,000 a day in April 2020.

A key senator wants to know whether labor shortages are causing delayed and canceled flights at major U.S. airlines.

Climate destruction is now moving much faster than human institutions.

President Joe Biden overstated the expected employment gains Tuesday in making his pitch for a bipartisan infrastructure proposal that he said would create “millions” of new jobs. While Biden and congressional Democrats are aiming to pass the remainder of the president's proposal in separate legislation, that is meeting Republican resistance and is far from certain.

A severe drought going into the summer is setting up the western United States for water rationing and nasty wildfires.

California and the Southwest face soaring temperatures, severe drought — and a hotter and drier new normal

The identity of the potential Murgoitio site developer has been revealed. Here’s the location of the Foothills land he’s offering in exchange.

Hong Kong Internet Disruption FILE - In this Oct. 9, 2019, file photo, flags are raised outside the Hong Kong Exchange Square building in Central of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange said it was hit by technical problems Thursday as a wave of brief internet outages appeared to hit dozens of financial institutions, airlines and other companies across the globe. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the four largest U.S. airlines were among those impacted. The company blamed the problem on a software bug triggered when a single customer changed a setting. Brief internet service outages are not uncommon and are only rarely the result of hacking or other mischief.

A software bug at a major network provider briefly knocked offline dozens of financial institutions, airlines and other companies across the globe during peak Asian business hours.

A punishing and long-enduring heat wave is intensifying in parts of the West and Southwest, with heat warnings and advisories in effect across seven states Wednesday. The heat will not relent until late in the weekend.Threat level: In the coming days, 40 million are likely to see temperatures reach or exceed 100 degrees.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Why it matters: The extreme heat is unusually intense for June, and is aggravating already dire drought

The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily halted all Southwest Airlines flights over a computer issue Tuesday afternoon.

About 43 million Americans are under heat advisories as extreme heat exacerbates drought and wildfire conditions.

Scorching temperatures come on top of the worst drought​ in the region modern history.

Some flight attendants told Insider alcohol had been involved in altercations over federal mask mandates during the pandemic.

The Transportation Security Administration announced Saturday that 2.03 million travelers were screened at airport checkpoints on Friday. However, the 2.03 million figure was 1.5 million more travelers than the same day last year, according to the TSA. International travel and business trips are still deeply depressed, but domestic leisure travel is roughly back to pre-pandemic levels, airline officials say. He said the company is “very optimistic” about leisure travel over the summer and a pickup in business travel this fall. READ: CDC to review potential link between heart inflammation, mRNA COVID-19 vaccinesPrior to the pandemic, TSA screened on average 2 million to 2.5 million travelers per day.

The Transportation Security Administration announced Saturday that 2.03 million travelers were screened at airport checkpoints on Friday. However, the 2.03 million figure was 1.5 million more travelers than the same day last year, according to the TSA. International travel and business trips are still deeply depressed, but domestic leisure travel is roughly back to pre-pandemic levels, airline officials say. He said the company is “very optimistic” about leisure travel over the summer and a pickup in business travel this fall. Prior to the pandemic, TSA screened on average 2 million to 2.5 million travelers per day.

The airline industry’s recovery from the pandemic passed a milestone as more than 2 million people streamed through U.S. airport security checkpoints on Friday for the first time since early March 2020.

Amid an intensifying drought, Lake Mead in Nevada, the nation's largest reservoir by volume, reached its lowest level since the 1930s late Wednesday.Why it matters: The record low is due to a combination of years of punishing drought that's worsening across the Southwest, as well as challenges in managing water resources for a burgeoning population. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for freeThe record-low reading, as well as expected subs

The Federal Aviation Administration has received roughly 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since the beginning of the year.

A Southwest Airlines flight attendant lost two teeth when she was attacked by a passenger this weekend, and the president of her union calls it part of a disturbing increase in unruly passengers.

TOWN SQUARE | The 560-square-foot studio has water views and an updated kitchen.

Consumers will continue to expect many of the customer-friendly policies that have become the norm over the past year.

Airline stocks are losing altitude amid fuel shortage concerns, but two traders see selective buying opportunities.

The Florida student accused of rigging her school's homecoming queen election will be charged as an adult and could face a 16-year sentence.

Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan arrived in Kenya on Tuesday for a two-day trip to thaw relations between the neighbours, after years of disputes over trade and border issues.

Siphoning water from the Great Lakes would be illegal and predatory. To survive drought, California needs to recycle water.

Rainstorms grew more erratic and droughts much longer across most of the U.S. West over the past half-century as climate change warmed the planet.

A former Southwest Airlines pilot is being accused of indecent exposure during a flight last year from Philadelphia to Orlando.

The pueblos of Jemez and Laguna are the latest to raise concerns over inadequate protections for local water sources in the desert Southwest. Jemez Pueblo covers mountainous and desert regions in northern New Mexico. The rule change, which took effect in June, narrowed the types of waterways that qualify for federal protection under the half-century-old Clean Water Act. New Mexico was among the states that went to court last May seeking to prevent the rule from taking effect. Jemez Pueblo depends on federal authority under the act to protect waters outside its jurisdiction.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020 file photo, a worker uses a flashlight to inspect an engine on a Boeing 737 Max 8 built for Southwest Airlines at Renton Municipal Airport in Renton, Wash. On Monday, mach 29, 2021, Southwest said it's expanding its all-Boeing fleet with an order for 100 737 MAX airplanes. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)NEW YORK – Southwest Airlines said Monday it is expanding its all-Boeing fleet with an order for 100 Max jets instead of buying planes from Europe's Airbus. Southwest ordered the 150-seat 737 Max 7 and expects the first 30 to show up next year. AdCombined with past orders, Chicago-based Boeing is in line to build more than 600 Max 7 and Max 8 jets for Southwest through 2031. American and United had already resumed Max flights, and Alaska Airlines began using the plane too.

U.S. airlines and more than two dozen other industry groups on Monday urged the Biden administration to form a plan by May to lift international travel restrictions, including digital vaccine passport standards, after cross-border travel was devastated in the Covid pandemic. In the meantime, airlines and officials have been looking at ways to use digital vaccine or health passports to help spur travel and eventually replace travel restrictions. The European Union last week proposed a digital health certificate with a QR code that contains vaccine and Covid-19 test results. Delta Air Lines' CEO Ed Bastian last week told "NBC Nightly News" that he expects digital vaccine passports will be required for international travel. The White House declined to comment and pointed to a recommendation against travel that CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky gave Monday.

And nearly all of the continental United States is looking at warmer than normal spring, except for tiny parts of the Pacific Northwest and southeast Alaska, which makes drought worse. “It’s definitely something we’re watching and very concerned about.”NOAA expects the spring drought to hit 74 million people. AdMore than 44% of the nation is in moderate or worse drought, and nearly 18% is in extreme or exceptional drought — all of it west of the Mississippi River. AdWinter and spring wheat crops also have been hit hard by the western drought with 78% of the spring wheat production area in drought conditions, Rippey said. That leaves more of the energy to heat up the air, and the heat makes the drought worse by boosting evaporation.

Nearly half of the continental United States is in a moderate to exceptional drought, government forecasters said on Thursday, and conditions are expected to grow more severe and persistent over the next three months. It's the most significant spring drought to grip the country since 2013 and will affect about 74 million people, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said during a media briefing announcing their spring weather outlook. The worst hit area is the Southwest, which experienced a La Nina event and a failed 2020 summer monsoon that exacerbated conditions. Hotter-than-average temperatures this spring and low soil moisture will fuel and expand drought conditions in the southern and central Great Plains and southern Florida, forecasters said. In the northern Plains, drought conditions could grow worse depending on how much rainfall the area experiences.

Homeland Security secretary on surge in migration at Southwest U.S. border The U.S. is on pace to see more migrants at the Southwest border than at any time in the past 20 years - fueling what some are calling a humanitarian crisis. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas joined "CBS This Morning" to discuss the surge, and the Biden administration's plans for handling it.

The S&P 500 may be coming off a losing week, but travel and leisure stocks have run hot. Bets on the reopening trade as the U.S. passed 70 million vaccine doses have ignited a fire under these stocks. "Lido Advisors has taken a position in their Lido recovery portfolio in Las Vegas Sands," Sanchez told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Friday. Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Sandler, says one stock could be a way to get exposure across the entire travel industry. He now sees the stock heading back to its former highs set in 2018 — a target that implies 35% upside.

Massive blackouts in the Southwest this week have thrown renewable energy into the spotlight. The U.S. added a record amount of wind and solar energy last year even as the coronavirus was crippling the economy, according to figures released Thursday by BloombergNEF and Business Council for Sustainable Energy. Installations of wind and solar power soared 61% over the previous year, with 33.6 gigawatts added to the grid in 2020. The interest in clean power is broad, with about two-thirds of the companies that signed up for solar power last year consisting of small businesses, according to Abigail Hopper, CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association. While natural gas pollutes less than coal, it is a fossil fuel that drives global warming and contributes to other pollution.

Delta, United and Alaska airlines said Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021 they will bar passengers flying to Washington from putting guns in checked bags. The moves follow the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump and politically tinged confrontations on some flights. American Airlines is bringing back a ban on serving alcohol on flights to and from the Washington area — flights go dry starting Saturday through next Thursday. Price also said that it is “a good idea” to prohibit passengers from putting guns in checked bags if they are flying to Washington. Federal law allows passengers to put guns in checked baggage if they are unloaded and in a locked, hard-sided case, although airlines have the discretion to ban guns.

Airlines offering tests still require passengers to wear a mask, observe social distancing rules and practice other safety measures. DeltaFor now, Delta's preflight COVID-19 tests are only for passengers traveling from Atlanta to Amsterdam. Hawaiian AirlinesHawaiian Airlines offers drive-through COVID-19 testing for passengers flying to Hawaii from Los Angeles and San Francisco airports. Passengers are required to submit a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of boarding a Southwest airplane. Passengers flying from Houston to Latin American countries including Peru and Panama can take a mail-in COVID-19 test for $119.

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)DALLAS – Southwest Airlines warned nearly 7,000 workers on Thursday that they could lose their jobs unless labor unions accept concessions to help the airline cope with a sharp drop in travel caused by the pandemic. The warnings went to 6,828 employees including more than 2,500 ground workers and 1,500 flight attendants represented by the Transport Workers Union and 1,221 pilots, who have their own union. Rivals American Airlines and United Airlines furloughed 32,000 workers between them in October. Jon Weaks, president of the pilots’ union, called the furlough notices “a sad milestone” in Southwest history. Southwest received $3.2 billion in federal aid this spring as its share of the $25 billion allotted by Congress to help airlines cover their labor costs through September.

Analysts gave Southwest a $55 price target, saying the airline is best positioned to benefit from a return to domestic U.S. travel. Todd Gordon, founder of TradingAnalysis.com, is also positive on Southwest but is not ready to buy. "I would be cautiously looking to add Southwest to the portfolio," Gordon told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Tuesday. Based on a technical analysis, he said the stock could move up to break through $55 and then possibly break above $70 should a Covid-19 vaccine become widely available. A move above $70 implies more than 50% upside and would mark a new high for the first time since December 2017.

A United Airlines plane takes off above American Airlines planes on the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on October 1, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. U.S. airline employment will soon fall to the lowest level since the mid-1980s, the result of the pandemic's devastating impact on the sector, an industry group said Thursday. Air travel demand has begun to recover from more than five-decade lows hit in April, early in the pandemic, but it remains a fraction of last year's levels. Thanksgiving will provide only a modest uptick in demand, and airline executives on Thursday highlighted continued challenges facing the business in the pandemic. Southwest on Thursday said a revenue rebound appeared to be losing steam for November and December bookings.

All rights reserved)ORLANDO, Fla. – JetBlue is the latest U.S. airline to announce it will stop blocking seats on flights. The company says it will reduce the number of middle seats it leaves empty starting Dec. 1. [TRENDING: COVID-19 closes early voting location | Can you get COVID-19 twice? Airlines have been blocking seats due to the coronavirus pandemic. Southwest announced last week it will start selling middle seats after Dec. 1.

Southwest Airlines took a major financial hit in 2020 and now the company is making a big change in an effort to mitigate further losses. Southwest will start selling every seat on flights starting Dec. 1. Southwest passenger Linda Morsilli is not a fan of the move. “I loved the idea that they had a middle seat vacant,” she said. “Somebody my age, who is very vulnerable, we can’t fly if they have it so crowded.

Southwest CEO Gary Kelly told CNBC on Thursday the airline is focusing its operations on leisure fliers, citing the difficulty in predicting when business travel will rebound in earnest from the coronavirus pandemic. "And I've said before, it may be 10 years before business travel recovers. Although air travel overall has picked up since its April nadir, business trips have not returned at the same rate as leisure fliers. "I do think there is a need for business people to travel and I think that that will get back to 'normal' at some point. One way to do that is to adjust its route system to be more tailored around flights leisure travelers would take, Kelly said.

American Airlines, Southwest and Union Pacific will report Thursday morning. Bapis also points to Union Pacific as a standout transports stock, highlighting its 2% dividend yield and reasonable price-to-earnings ratio as two pros. Union Pacific has gained 10% in 2020, outpacing the IYT ETF's 6% gain. Robinson is set to report earnings on Tuesday. Vios holds shares in Union Pacific.

Transports were in the red Wednesday ahead of a busy stretch for the group. CSX is set to report earnings after the bell Wednesday and American Airlines, Southwest and Union Pacific are set for Thursday. Todd Gordon, founder of TradingAnalysis.com, is betting on a breakout for this slice of the industrials sector. "Perhaps we'll start to see a little bit of a rotation out into the transports here again as the economy comes back online." Gordon noted that the IYT transports ETF entered a stretch of consolidation from 2017 through to the beginning of this year.

All rights reserved)Southwest Airlines is cutting back on cabin cleaning procedures that were instituted because of the coronavirus pandemic. Scaling it back will mean changes including no longer sanitizing seat belts between flights. The company says cleanings will now focus on a few items like tray tables and lavatories. According to a memo sent to flight attendants, the move will reduce the time planes spend on the ground between flights. Southwest says it will limit plane capacity through the end of October to allow for middle seats to remain empty.

The JD Power survey of 10,000 business and leisure travelers was conducted from April 2019 to March 2020. Southwest had the highest satisfaction levels in a number of categories including baggage handling, boarding, check-in, costs and crew. The survey covered both short-haul and long-haul flights and Southwest was on top in both categories. Ironically, before the pandemic, JD Power noted that overall customer satisfaction scores were the highest they had ever recorded. A survey conducted in mid-April shows that now what air travelers value most are regular updates on safety and sanitization measures.

A tempting offer for those itching to travel again, Southwest Airlines is offering one-way fares starting at $49. Feel free to book Southwest flights only if you’re OK flying with some travelers not wearing masks on your flight. An internal memo by Southwest Airlines tells flight crews not to stop passengers from boarding if they refuse to wear a mask. The airline tells flight attendants to inform customers of the policy and ask them to comply, but not enforce it. Southwest's official policy says customers will be asked to wear the masks when social distancing is not possible.

AUSTIN, Texas – A Southwest Airlines jetliner hit and killed a person upon landing Thursday night at Austin’s main airport, CBS News reported. The Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot of Flight 1392 reported seeing a person on the runway shortly after the Boeing 737 touched down at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport statement on tonight's pedestrian fatality. pic.twitter.com/7xjwZq5sCy — Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (@AUStinAirport) May 8, 2020Southwest released a statement about the incident:Southwest flight #1392 arrived safely this evening at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) after being cleared to land on runway 17R. The Southwest aircraft maneuvered to avoid an individual who became visible on runway 17R shortly after touchdown.

These are the precautions airlines are taking to prevent the spread of the coronavirusPublished: April 28, 2020, 1:04 pmHere's what airlines are doing to protect passengers and employees during the coronavirus pandemic.

ORLANDO, Fla. – A passenger aboard a Southwest flight traveling from Orlando had flu-like symptoms, prompting an airport to issue a statement about the incident. The Rhode Island Airport Corporation said a sick passenger on Southwest Airlines Flight 153 arrived at T.F. Green Airport from Orlando on Tuesday. “A customer was reportedly experiencing flu-like symptoms, so our crews requested support for the individual from local EMTs. As always, safety is our uncompromising priority, and we follow all CDC reporting guidelines.”It’s not known if the passenger was tested for coronavirus.

ORLANDO, Fla. – After a very wet Friday, expect another round of rain and storms for Saturday. With high pressure continuing to drag winds in from the Southwest, Central Florida will see another round of storms favoring the eastern half of the state starting up around lunch and remaining unsettled through sundown. Highs across the area will remain near normal in the upper 80s to low 90s before the storms roll in. The rest of the outlook remains seasonal with temperatures in the low 90s and rain chances sitting between 50-60 percent.