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Today in History: January 4, Nancy Pelosi becomes first female speaker of the House

South Florida Local News - 16 hours 39 min ago

Today is Saturday, Jan. 4, the fourth day of 2025. There are 361 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 4, 2007, Nancy Pelosi was elected the first female speaker of the House as Democrats took control of Congress.

Also on this date:

In 1853, New Yorker Solomon Northup regained his freedom after being kidnapped in Washington, D.C., and forced into slavery in 1841; he would later tell his story in his memoir, “Twelve Years a Slave.”

Related Articles

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered his State of the Union address in which he outlined the goals of his “Great Society” initiative.

In 1974, President Richard Nixon refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.

In 1999, Europe’s new currency, the euro, got off to a strong start on its first trading day, rising against the dollar on world currency markets.

In 2006, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a significant stroke; his official powers were transferred to his deputy, Ehud Olmert (EH’-hood OHL’-murt). (Sharon remained in a coma until his death in January 2014.)

In 2010, the Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world, opened in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Today’s Birthdays:
  • Actor Dyan Cannon is 88.
  • Guitarist John McLaughlin is 83.
  • Author-historian Doris Kearns Goodwin is 82.
  • Country singer Patty Loveless is 68.
  • Singer Michael Stipe (R.E.M.) is 65.
  • Actor Julia Ormond is 60.
  • NFL running back Derrick Henry is 31.
  • Singer-actor Coco Jones is 27.
  • NBA center Victor Wembanyama is 21.

Daily Horoscope for January 04, 2025

South Florida Local News - 20 hours 39 min ago
General Daily Insight for January 04, 2025

Unsteady beginnings can become more solid. First, the delicate Moon clashes with expansive Jupiter, blowing emotional responses out of proportion and making it harder to recognize boundaries. When the Moon joins with serious Saturn later on, the reality of the situation becomes visible, as our emotions stop clouding our vision. Finally, the confident Sun supports Saturn at 5:36 pm EST, advising us to make fair judgments with a clear head. Don’t make snap decisions when off-balance — wait until both feet are on the ground.

Aries

March 21 – April 19

What other people project onto you isn’t necessarily who you are. While you are the protagonist of your story, in the narratives of others, you might be a hero, a villain, or somewhere in between. Your words and actions both impact this, but their perception will be what they remember about you. They may try to tell you that you’re someone you’re not, and that could shake you. Don’t let them tear you down! Be the person that YOU know you can be.

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

Your current friends may be able to light the road ahead. You might feel like you have most of the map memorized, but something is potentially missing from your life, leaving you \unfulfilled in one way or another. While you might not be able to grasp the details yourself, your pals may have noticed that you’re happier when you’re in a team sport, or that you light up around a certain acquaintance that you haven’t considered befriending further. Be open to what they suggest.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

Your present to-do list could be long. Overwhelming ongoing responsibilities plus others piling work onto your plate equals one bad time! On top of that, you may have to make a difficult decision that will affect multiple people, and you might not be sure what the answer is with such pressure on you. Even when life gets this intense, you have the tools that you need to vanquish it and make the right choice for everyone. Don’t shy away from such hard calls.

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

Not having clear boundaries might come back to bite you at any moment. You could have left things open-ended with someone who took your actions to mean something else. No matter how much you’ve hoped that a situation would solve itself, it will probably require your input. Those involved may start telling other people what they interpreted from your silence, and attempting to clarify after that would be complicated. Let them know what your true intentions were, then leave it at that if you can.

Leo

July 23 – August 22

Other people might volunteer you for something that you don’t want to do. You may not have expressed that you didn’t want to do this before they signed you up without asking, making it difficult to navigate. Do you take the plunge and try to be a good sport, or stand firm and say that you won’t be doing it regardless? It may be socially easier to simply do it, but make it known that you won’t be interested in being “volun-told” a second time.

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

The credit you deserve is in danger of going to someone else. You might have to speak firmly in order to make it known that this was your hard work, and you deserve partial (if not full!) credit for the effort you expended. No matter how nerve-wracking it sounds to advocate for yourself when someone else is being celebrated, fair is fair! You aren’t seeking false attention — you’re merely asking for the appreciation you’ve earned. Don’t let anyone write you out of your story.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

Life won’t necessarily be easy today, but you’ve got this! Even if you feel as though you’re already taking on more than you can handle, the power is within you. First, make a point of setting boundaries with your boss so that your workload becomes more manageable, or perhaps doing the same with a friend so that you’re not spending excessive time together. Giving so much of yourself to others will leave little time for what you want, so make sure you’re creating that time.

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

You know you deserve to be taken seriously, Scorpio — but you’d be wise to prove that with your voice rather than your scorpion stinger. If someone keeps brushing off your concerns, you may have to speak up for yourself again and insist on being heard. Repeatedly raising the issue may feel uncomfortable when you’ve been told it’s not that serious, but you’re the only one who can communicate your experience. Provide your point with confidence, and they’ll have a hard time ignoring your impact.

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

You’re learning to release things that don’t concern you. You may have felt very strongly about a situation in the past, something that you’re now realizing had nothing to do with you. It could be that you receive clarity about this situation from someone else who was involved at that time, or you could find this eureka moment on your own while thinking back to the incident. Let it go and give yourself permission to move forward unburdened into the future.

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

Holding back will probably be hard at present. You might see the flaws or mistakes that another person is showing, either in conversation or while working together. This could push your buttons more than it normally would. They may even be critical of you, tempting you to give as good as you’ve gotten — this would not be the right move. If you shoot back at them, you risk sinking to their level. Rather than fighting fire with fire, shut down their pettiness with kindness.

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

The fun you have may be directly connected to how secure you feel. There might be an opportunity to either sink or swim — sinking could be embarrassing, but if you swim, you’ll be so happy you did. Ultimately, you shouldn’t feel as though you’re in competition with anyone other than yourself. You deserve to have fun, whether you succeed or need to try again. There’s a first time for everything, so don’t feel like you have to be perfect right away!

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

Where you are should reflect who you are. When you’re stuck somewhere that’s disorganized — or even TOO organized — it could dampen your energy and wear you out over time. Take this moment to plan some ways to redecorate and carve out a place that’s just for you, even if it’s just a corner of your bedroom. Personalize it in any way you can and make it somewhere that you can chill out. Don’t worry about what others will think about it!

Reinhart, Lundell score in shootout, Panthers beat Penguins 3-2

South Florida Local News - Fri, 01/03/2025 - 20:00

By TIM REYNOLDS

SUNRISE — Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell scored in the shootout, and the Florida Panthers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Friday night.

Matthew Tkachuk got a power-play goal midway through the third period for Florida, which also got a goal from Gustav Forsling.

Spencer Knight stopped 29 shots for Florida, then stopped Rickard Rakell and Sidney Crosby in the shootout. Lundell’s score won it for the Panthers.

Rakell got the tying goal with 39.9 seconds left in regulation — 6-on-4, with Florida’s Sam Bennett in the box for roughing — and Crosby also scored for Pittsburgh.

Tristan Jarry made 31 saves for Pittsburgh.

Panthers Quarter-Century Team

The NHL is celebrating the best of the past 25 years by revealing Quarter-Century Teams for each of the League’s 32 franchises and the Arizona Coyotes, and on Friday, the league released the Florida Panthers selections. On the first team are forwards Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Matthew Tkachuk, defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Gustav Forsling and goalie Roberto Luongo. On the second team: Forwards Pavel Bure, Olli Jokinen and Sam Reinhart, defensemen Jay Bouwmeester and Robert Svehla and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

Takeaways

Penguins: C Philip Tomasino was lost about five minutes into the third period after an awkward fall into the boards and needed help getting off the ice, clearly favoring his lower right leg. The Penguins quickly announced that he would not return to the game.

Panthers: Tkachuk might have been a little extra motivated on his goal. The Panthers were about to get a delayed power play late in the second period when Crosby swiped at a puck to stop play. A scrum ensued and 20 penalty minutes were handed out — 12 to Tkachuk for a minor and a misconduct.

Key moment

Knight made a spectacular save against Pittsburgh’s Michael Bunting just after the Tkachuk goal. With the Penguins on the power play, the puck squirted into the goal crease — and Knight kicked his right toe at it just in time to deny Bunting and protect a 2-1 lead.

Key stat

Crosby became the eighth player to score 30 regular-season goals against Florida, joining Alex Ovechkin (44), Steven Stamkos (42), Jaromir Jagr (35), Ilya Kovalchuk (35), Martin St. Louis (32), Marian Hossa (32) and Peter Bondra (30).

Up next

Pittsburgh visits Carolina on Sunday. Florida visits Colorado on Monday.

___

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Space Coast launch schedule

South Florida Local News - Fri, 01/03/2025 - 18:37

The Space Coast set a new launch record in 2023 with 72 orbital missions from either Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Early forecasts for as many as 111 launches in 2024 fell short, but the 2023 total was surpassed in October with a total of 93 launches by Dec. 31.

Check back for the latest information on upcoming launches.

By The Numbers:

2024: 93 Space Coast launches in 2024 (updated Dec. 31) | 67 from Cape Canaveral, 26 from KSC | 88 from SpaceX (86 Falcon 9, 2 Falcon Heavy), 5 from ULA (2 Vulcan, 1 Delta IV Heavy, 2 Atlas V) | 5 human spaceflights (Axiom Space Ax-3, SpaceX Crew-8, Boeing Crew Flight Test, Polaris Dawn | Crew-9)

2023: 72 Space Coast launches in 2023 | 59 from Cape Canaveral, 13 from KSC | 68 from SpaceX (63 Falcon 9s, 5 Falcon Heavy), 3 from United Launch Alliance (1 Delta IV Heavy, 2 Atlas V), 1 from Relativity Space | 3 human spaceflights (Crew-6, Ax-2, Crew-7)

Details on past launches can be found at the end of file.

UPCOMING: 2025

Jan. 3: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Thuraya-4 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 during a four-hour launch window that opens at 8:27 p.m. and same window in a backup opportunity on Jan. 4-5. The first-stage booster is making its 20th flight and will aim for a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

TBD, No earlier than Jan. 5: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-71 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 during window that runs from 12:10 p.m.- 4:14 p.m. and backup Jan. 6 from 12:44-4:15 p.m.

TBD, No earlier than Jan. 6: First launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket on the NG-1 Blue Ring Pathfinder mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 36. FAA has cleared launch during Jan. 6 window that opens at 1 a.m. and runs through 3:45 a.m. Jan. 6. The backup window runs from 11 p.m. Jan. 6 into 3:45 a.m. Jan. 7, 2025. This would be the first of two certification flights for NSSL missions required by the Space Force. Payload will be Blue Origin Blue Ring pathfinder. Originally targeted to be 2nd launch of new rocket. New Glenn’s first launch was planned to be NASA’s Mars-bound ESCAPADE twin satellite mission, but that has been delayed to potentially spring 2025 or later. New debut launch then targeted November, but FAA only gave launch license on Dec. 27, same day as the rocket’s first test hot fire on the pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 36. Read more.

TBD, No earlier than Jan. 6: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 12-11 mission from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A during launch window from 1:19-4:50 p.m. and backup Jan. 7 from 12:51-4:22 p.m.

TBD: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 12-3 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40.

TBD, Six-day window in mid-January 2025: SpaceX Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A with both the Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost moon lander on Blue Ghost Mission 1, the third of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) missions, and the Japanese company ispace’s Hakuto Mission-2 lunar lander for JAXA. Blue Ghost is designed to deliver 10 payloads. The objectives of the mission are to investigate heat flow from the lunar interior, plume-surface interactions, crustal electric and magnetic fields. It will also take X-ray images of the Earth’s magnetosphere. Technology tests in include regolith sampling, regolith adherence, Global Navigation Satellite System abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and dust mitigation using electrodynamic fields.

TBD, early 2025: Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with the company’s second Nova-C lander featuring NASA’s PRIME-1 drill, to land a drill and mass spectrometer near the south pole of the moon in order to demonstrate the feasibility of in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) and measure the volatile content of subsurface samples. Also flying is the Lunar Trailblazer, a mission selected under NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program, a small satellite designed to provide an understanding of the form, abundance, and distribution of water on the moon, as well as the lunar water cycle.

TBD, 1st half of 2025 (Delayed from 2024): United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur on USSF-106, the rocket’s first Department of Defense mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41. Dependent on ULA completing both Certification 1 and Certification 2 flights. Payload is the Navigation Technology Satellite-3 headed to geostationary orbit. Built by L3Harris, it’s funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory and potential replacement technology for GPS.

TBD, 1st half of 2025 (Delayed from 2024): United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur on USSF-87, the rocket’s second planned Department of Defense mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41.

TBD, by end of 1st quarter 2024: United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur, the rocket’s third planned Department of Defense mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41.

TBD, no earlier than spring 2025: SpaceX Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon on the Fram2 private human spaceflight mission. It would be the first time humans have flown on a polar orbital mission. Named Fram2 in deference to the ship “Fram” built in Norway that helped explorers get to the Arctic and Antarctica. The crew includes Chun Wang of Malta, an entrepreneur who made a fortune in cryptocurrency and an avid adventurer. Along for the ride will be fellow adventurers Eric Philips of Australia, Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway and Rabea Rogge of Germany. Mikkelsen will take the role of mission commander and Philips the role of pilot. Read more.

TBD, no earlier than late March 2025: SpaceX Crew-10 mission on SpaceX Falcon 9. Delayed from a planned February launch because of more time needed for a new Crew Dragon from SpaceX. The Crew-10 and a planned summer launch of Crew-11 were awarded in lieu of the now-delayed Boeing Starliner-1 mission after issues with 2024’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission. Read more.

TBD: United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur on the first Sierra Space Dream Chaser flight to the International Space Station. Mission slipped into 2025 because ULA needed more Vulcan rocket hardware beyond Cert-2 and the two USSF missions that took priority over the Dream Chaser flight. Read more.

No earlier than spring 2025: Axiom Space was awarded the right to fly Axiom-4. The crew assigned to Ax-4 includes Commander Peggy Whitson, Mission Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański of ESA/Poland, and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu of Hungary. This would be Whitson’s second trip on an Axiom mission to the ISS, and part of NASA’s requirement that former NASA astronaut command commercial mission visits to the ISS. The commercial flight brings four crew for a short stay on the ISS. This mission is targeting a 14-day stay, and will fly up with one of the SpaceX Crew Dragons. The launch date is dependent on spacecraft traffic to the ISS and in-orbit activity planning and constraints that have to be coordinated with NASA.

No earlier than spring 2025 (Delayed from Oct. 13): Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket of the twin spacecraft for ESCAPADE, which stands for Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, for NASA and the University of California Berkeley’s Space Science Laboratory. Was bumped from Oct. 13 after NASA concerns about New Glenn rocket’s readiness. Read more.

TBD, no earlier than July 2025: SpaceX Crew-11 mission on SpaceX Falcon 9. Crew TBD. Read more.

TBD, no earlier than late 2025: Boeing Starliner-1 on ULA Atlas V from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 41. NASA astronauts Scott Tingle and Mike Fincke will be commander and pilot, respectively. This Starliner previously flew on Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 mission. Read more.

September 2025: NASA Artemis II mission to send four crew on 10-day orbital mission to the moon from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-B. Read more.

TBD, fall 2025: SpaceX Falcon Heavy flying Astrobotic’s Griffin lunar lander as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. No longer taking the canceled VIPER rover mission. The Griffin lander will touch down on Mons Mouton near the western rim of Nobile crater close to the lunar south pole.

UPCOMING: TBD IN 2026

September 2026: NASA Artemis III mission to send four crew on lunar landing mission to the moon from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-B. Read more.

LAUNCHED IN 2024

Jan. 3: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Ovzon 3 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:04 p.m. This was the first launch of 2024. The 3,968-pound Ovzon 3 satellite is the first privately funded and developed Swedish geostationary satellite ever to be launched, headed for a geostationary transfer orbit where it will then propel itself to its geostationary orbit over 3-4 months at 59.7 degrees east at 22,236 miles altitude. The first-stage booster flew for the 10th time with a recovery landing at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. Read more.

Jan. 7: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-35 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:35 p.m. The first-stage booster made its 16th flight having previously flown on two crewed and two cargo missions to the International Space Station among others. It managed its recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

Jan. 8 (Delayed from May 4, Dec. 24-26): First-ever launch of United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur on Certification-1 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 2:18 a.m. Primary payload was commercial company Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander headed to the moon. Also flying will be another human remains payload for Celestis Inc., this time brining the ashes of more than 200 people to space including “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and actor James Doohan who played “Scotty” on the TV series. Read more.

Jan. 14 (Delayed from Jan. 13): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-37 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with 23 Starlink satellites at 8:52 p.m. The first-stage booster flew its 12th mission and with a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. This was the fourth launch from the Space Coast in 2024. Read more.

Jan. 18 (Delayed from Jan. 17): SpaceX Falcon 9 with a Crew Dragon Freedom for Axiom Space’s Axiom-3 mission launched at 4:49 p.m. from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A. The crew includes one astronaut each from Italy, Turkey and Sweden while the mission is led by Axiom’s chief astronaut Michael López-Alegría who is making his sixth trip to space. The customers are Italian Air Force Col. Walter Villadei, who will act as pilot. In the two mission specialist roles are Alper Gezeravcı of Turkey and ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden. All three have served in their respective nations’ air forces. The commercial flight brings four crew for a short stay on the ISS. This mission is targeting a 14-day stay with docking planned for Saturday at 5:15 a.m. The first-stage booster made a landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Landing Zone 1. Read more.

Jan. 28: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-38 mission with 23 Starlink satellites at 8:10 p.m. liftoff on a southerly trajectory from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39-A. The first-stage booster made its 18th flight, with past missions including the crewed flights of Inspiration4 and Ax-1, and had a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

Jan. 30: SpaceX Falcon 9 with Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft on the NG-20 mission to resupply the International Space Station at12:07 p.m.. This was the first ISS launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40, which SpaceX has been redeveloping to support future crewed missions in addition to KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A. This was the first of at least three SpaceX flights of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft as part of a deal after its 10-year run of launches atop Antares rockets ended with the Aug. 1 launch from Wallops Island, Virginia because of issues with Russian- and Ukrainian-made rocket engines and first stage parts that are being redeveloped with Firefly Aerospace for a future Antares rocket not expected until at least 2025. Following launch, the space station’s Canadarm2 will grapple Cygnus no earlier than Thursday, Feb. 1, and the spacecraft will attach to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port for cargo unloading by the Expedition 70 crew. The first-stage booster made its 10th flight and returned for a touchdown at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. Read more.

Feb. 8 (Delayed from Feb. 6, 7): NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol Cloud Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:33 a.m. PACE will advance the assessment of ocean health by measuring the distribution of phytoplankton, tiny plants and algae that sustain the marine food web, as well as clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere. The first-stage booster flying for the fourth time made a recovery landing at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. Read more.

Feb. 14: A SpaceX Falcon 9 on the USSF-124 mission launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:30 p.m. Payloads included two satellites for the Missile Defense Agency to track hypersonic missiles and four more satellites for the Tranche 0 constellation for the Space Development Agency. The first-stage booster flew for the seventh time with a recovery landing at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 2. Read more.

Feb. 15 (Delayed from Nov. 14, Jan. 12, Feb. 14): SpaceX Falcon 9 for the Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission with the company’s Nova-C lunar lander Odysseus from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 1:05 a.m. This could end up being the first NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) mission to land on the moon after the failure of Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander. The IM-1 has a suite of six NASA payloads as part of a CLPS delivery and another six privately organized payloads. Landing would take place Feb. 22.Read more.

Feb. 20: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Merah Putih 2 mission, a communications satellite for Telkom Indonesia, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 40 at 3:11 p.m. into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. This was the 11th launch from the Space Coast in 2023 and 300th successful Falcon 9 launch since its debut in 2010, having only had one mid-launch failure in 2015. This was the 17th launch of the first stage booster, and it made a recovery landing downrange on the Just Read the Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

Feb. 25 (delayed from Feb. 24): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-39 mission sending up 24 Starlink satellites launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:06 p.m. This was the 12th launch from the Space Coast in 2024. The first-stage booster for the mission flew for the 13th time and made a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. Read more.

Feb. 29: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-40 mission with 23 Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:30 a.m. This was the 13th launch from the Space Coast in 2024. The first-stage booster for the mission flew for the 11h time and made recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions downrange in the Atlantic. Read more.

March 3 (delayed from Feb. 22, 28, March 1, 2): SpaceX Crew-8 on Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A  at 10:53 p.m. Bad weather on the ascent corridor took the first three launch options on March 1 and 2 off the table. It’s the eighth SpaceX operational mission under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Its four crew members are NASA astronauts Commander Matthew Dominick, Pilot Michael Barratt, Mission Specialist Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mission Specialist Alexander Grebenkin. They flew up in the Crew Dragon Endeavour making its fifth trip to space. The first-stage booster made its first flight. The mission had originally been targeting Feb. 22, but that was the target day for the Intuitive Machines attempt to land on the moon, and NASA chose to move the launch to “deconflict” NASA support operations that day. Read more.

March 4: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-41 mission sending up 23 more Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:56 p.m. The first stage booster flew for the 13th time and made a recovery landing on the droneship  A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

March 10: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-43 mission sent up 23 more Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:05 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 11th time with a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions downrange in the Atlantic. This was the 16th launch from the Space Coast in 2024. Read more.

March 15 (Delayed from March 13, 14): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-44 mission sending up 23 more Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 8:21 p.m. after scrubbing launches on both Wednesday and Thursday with about 2 minutes on the countdown clock. The booster flew for a record-tying 19th time and made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

March 21: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the CRS-30 resupply mission with a Cargo Dragon to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 4:54 p.m. This was the first Dragon launch from SLC-40 since the addition of a crew access arm to support Dragon launches from more than one Space Coast pad and augment normal launches from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A. The first-stage booster made a recovery landing at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. Read more.

March 23 (delayed from March 22): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-42 mission sending up 23 more Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 11:09 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for 19th time.

March 25: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-46 mission sending up 23 more Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:42 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the eighth time and landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship.

March 30: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Eutelsat-36X mission from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 5:52 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 12th time with a landing on the Just Read the Instructions droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. This was 20th SpaceX launch from the Space Coast in 2024 and 21st among all companies. Read more.

March 30: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-45 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 9:30 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 18th time with a landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

April 5: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-47 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:12 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 14th time landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. It was the 275th recovery of a Falcon 9 booster for SpaceX. Read more.

April 7: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the the Bandwagon-1 mission from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 7:16 p.m, The first-stage booster flew for the 14th time and made a recovery landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Landing Zone 1. The 11 satellites on board are flying to a mid-inclination orbit. This is the first of a new type of rideshare program flying to that orbit that augments SpaceX’s Transporter program that flies to SSO. Read more.

April 9 (Delayed from March 28): United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy on the NROL-70 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37 at 12:53 p.m. This was the final Delta IV Heavy rocket launch ever, and last of any Delta rocket, which has been flying for more than 60 years. The Space Force has one more launch on a ULA Atlas V rocket before future missions transition to ULA’s new Vulcan Centaur. Read more.

April 10: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-48 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:40 a.m. The first-stage booster made its second flight with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions.

April 12: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-49 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 9:40 p.m. The launch set a turnaround record for launches from SLC-40 at two days and 20 hours since the Aug. 10 launch. The previous record was Aug. 3-6, 2023 at three days, 21 hours, 41 minutes. The first-stage booster also flew for a record 20th time making a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

April 17: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-51 mission with 23 Starlink satellites launched from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 5:26 p.m. The first-stage booster made its 12th flight and landed downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

April 18: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-52 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:40 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the seventh time and made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

April 23 (Delayed from April 22): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-53 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:17 p.m. This was the 30th Space Coast launch of the year, with all but two coming from SpaceX. It also marked the 300th successful recovery of a first-stage booster among Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. Of note, the launch came 16 minutes ahead of a Rocket Lab launch from New Zealand. Read more.

April 27: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Galileo L12 mission carrying satellites for the European Commission from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 8:34 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for a record-tieng 20th time, but was expended getting the payload to medium-Earth orbit. Read more.

April 28: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-54 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:08 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 13th time with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. Read more.

May 2: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-55 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:37 p.m. This was the 19th flight of the first-stage booster, which launched both Crew 3 and Crew 4 human spaceflight missions. It’s recovery landing was on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic.

May 6: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-57 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 2:14 p.m. The first-stage booster for the flight made its 15th trip to space with a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic Ocean on SpaceX’s droneship Just Read the Instructions.  Read more.

May 8 (Delayed from May 7): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-56 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 2:42 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the third time having launched Crew-8 and a Starlink mission. It made a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. Read more.

May 12: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-58 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 8:53 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 15th time with a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

May 17: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-59 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral SLC-40 at 8:32 p.m. This marked the 21st flight for the first-stage booster, the most in the booster fleet, having previously flown on human spaceflight missions Inspiration4 and Axiom Space’s Ax-1 among others. It made another recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

May 22: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-62 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral SLC-40 at 10:35 p.m. This was the eighth flight of the first-stage booster, which made a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.

May 23: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-63 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 10:45 p.m. This was the 13th flight of the first-stage booster, which made a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship Just Read the Instructions.

May 28 (Delayed from May 27): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-60 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral SLC-40 at 10:24 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 10th time and made a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. Read more.

May 31: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-64 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral SLC-40 at 10:37 p.m. The booster flew for the 14th time making a landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, a record turnaround for droneship recovery coming less than 84 hours since the previous recovery landing on May 28. Read more.

June 4: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink g8-5 mission carrying 20 Starlink satellites including 13 with direct-to-cell capabilities from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:16 p.m.  This was the 20th flight of the first-stage booster that made a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

June 5 (Delayed from June 1, May 6, 17, 21, 25 2024; July 21, 2023; April 22, 2024): Boeing CST-100 Starliner atop United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 10:52 a.m. on the Crew Flight Test (CFT) carrying NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams on an eight-day mission to the International Space Station followed by a parachute-and-airbag-assisted ground landing in the desert of the southwestern United States. The May 6 attempt was scrubbed two hours before liftoff because of valve on ULA’s upper Centaur stage that teams continue to investigate. Teams deemed the valve needed to be replaced and the rocket needed to be rolled back from the pad to Boeing’s Vertical Integration Facility. A helium leak in the Starliner capsule further delayed it from a planned May 17 target to May 21 and then May 25. A June 1 attempt scrubbed with less than 4 minutes on the countdown clock. Read more.

June 7: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-1 mission carrying 22 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 9:56 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 16th time landing on the droneship  A Shortfall of Gravitas. It also marked the 300th landing of a Falcon 9 booster.

June 20 (Delayed from June 18, 19): SpaceX Falcon 9 on SES 24 mission flying the ASTRA 1P communication satellite for Luxembourg-based communications company SES for TV markets in Germany, Spain and France from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:35 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the ninth time making another recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions, the 250th time SpaceX had used a droneship for a successful recovery. Read more.

June 23 (Delayed from June 12,13,14): SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 10-2 mission with 22 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:15 p.m. An abort at T-0 on June 14 forced SpaceX to delay its launch nine days and change out the first-stage booster. The new booster made its 11h flight with a landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. Read more.

June 25: SpaceX Falcon Heavy on its 10th launch ever with payload of the GOES-U satellite for the NOAA from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 5:26 p.m. The two side boosters returned for a land landing at Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station while the center core stage fell into the ocean. Read more.

June 27: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 10-3 mission with Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:14 a.m. The booster for the flight made a record 22nd launch with a landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

July 3: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 8-9 mission carrying 20 Starlink satellites including 13 with direct-to-cell capabilities from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 4:55 a.m. This was the 16th flight of the first-stage booster, which was previously on the pad for the Starlink 10-3 mission, but was changed out after an issue when it hit T-0 during a launch attempt. It made a landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic. Read more.

July 8: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Turksat 6A mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:30 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 15th time and made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

July 27: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-9 mission launching 23 Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 1:45 a.m. The first-stage booster made its 17th flight with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions stationed in the Atlantic. The launch was the first since a California Starlink launch that ended up with a second-stage failure that grounded the Falcon 9. Read more.

July 28: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-4 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:09 a.m. This was the 14th flight of its first-stage booster, which made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. This marked the 300th successful reflight of a booster. Read more.

July 30: United Launch Alliance Atlas V on USSF-51 with classified payload from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 6:45 a.m. One of 16 remaining Atlas V rockets for ULA. Read more.

Aug. 2: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-6 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 1:01 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 12th time with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. It was SpaceX’s 50th launch from the Space Coast for the year. Read more.

Aug. 4 (Delayed from Aug. 3): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the NG-21 resupply mission taking up the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft with cargo to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:03 a.m, The first-stage booster flew for the 10th time and made a land recovery at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. This was the 2nd time SpaceX has flown the Cygnus spacecraft. Weather led to a scrub of the Aug. 3 attempt, but SpaceX was able to launch despite Tropical Storm Debby churning off Florida’s southwest coast. Read more.

Aug. 10 (Delayed from Aug. 9): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-3 mission with 21 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 8:50 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 21st time, one of four boosters with more than 20 flights among the SpaceX fleet. It landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Was scrubbed from Friday because of bad weather in the launch recovery zone in the Atlantic.  Read more.

Aug. 12 (Delayed from Aug. 10, 11): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-7 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 6:37 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 17th time landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

Aug. 15: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Maxar 2 mission flying two of Maxar Techologies’ WorldView Legion Earth-observation satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 lifting off at 9 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 16th time with a recovery at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. This was the 199th Falcon 9 launch from SLC-40. Read more.

Aug. 20: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink g10-5 mission carrying 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit, launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 9:20 a.m. This was the first flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

Aug. 28: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 8-6 mission carrying 21 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 targeting at 3:48 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for a record 23rd time, but did not make a successful landing. Its previous missions included the Inspiration4 and Axiom Space Ax-1 crewed launches. It tipped over during its recovery landing attempt downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. The FAA grounded Falcon 9 pending a SpaceX investigation. Read more.

Aug. 31: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 8-19 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with 21 Starlink satellites at 3:43 a.m. Its first-stage booster made its 18th flight and stuck the landing without issue on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

Sept. 5 (Delayed from Sept. 4): SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 8-11 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:33 a.m. The first-stage booster made its 15th flight with a landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. A Sept. 4 launch attempt was scrubbed because of poor weather conditions downrange for the booster recovery. Read more.

Sept. 10: (Delayed from Aug. 28, Aug. 27, July 31, summer 2023): Polaris Dawn mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 topped with the Crew Dragon Resilience from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A at 5:23 a.m. The private orbital mission will bring billionaire Jared Isaacman to space for a second time after 2021′s Inspiration4 mission. It’s the first of up to three planned Polaris missions, and will feature a tethered spacewalk. Also flying are Scott Poteet, given the title of mission pilot, specialist Sarah Gillis, and specialist and medical officer Anna Menon. Both Gillis and Menon are SpaceX employees. Read more.

Sept. 12: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the BlueBird mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 4:52 a.m. on a mission to place five BlueBird satellites for Midland, Texas-based AST SpcaeMobile. The satellites are part of a space-based cellular broadband network in low-Earth orbit to be accessible by everyday smartphones for both commercial and government use across the U.S. and in select global markets. Beta test users will be for AT&T and Verizon. The first-stage booster flew for the 13th time making a return landing at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. This was the 60th Space Coast launch of the year for SpaceX. Read more.

Sept. 17: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Galileo L-13 mission for the European Commission headed to medium-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:50 p.m. The payload’s MEO orbital needs required a previous mission to expend its booster back in April, but SpaceX has adjusted design to recover this mission’s booster making its 22nd flight with a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

Sept. 28: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Crew-9 mission flying aboard the Crew Dragon Freedom, flying for its fourth time, on the first human spaceflight from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:17 p.m.  Crew was only two to make room for Boeing Starliner CFT crew astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on the return flight next February. Commander is NASA astronaut Nick Hague, the first active Space Force member to launch to space on his third launch, and Roscomos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov making his first flight. Original crew members, NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, who was originally slated to be commander but would have been making her first spaceflight, and Stephanie Wilson, a veteran of three space shuttle flights, were pulled from the mission. This is Hague’s third launch, although his first was an aborted Soyuz mission. This is Gorbunov’s first spaceflight. They mission is slated to return with four in February 2025. Of note, this will also be the first human spaceflight from SLC-40 as KSC’s pad will be in preparation for the Europa Clipper launch in October. The first-stage booster made a recovery landing on land at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. Read more.

Oct. 4: United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur on the Cert-2 mission at 7:25 a.m. Originally supposed to fly Sierra Space Dream Chaser test flight, but payload switched to an inert mass simulator because of potential Dream Chaser delays beyond October launch date. Launch was from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41. Read more.

Oct. 7: SpaceX Falcon 9 to launch the Hera mission for the European Space Agency (ESA) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:52 a.m. Hera will visit the asteroid Didymos and its moon Dimorphos as part of the NASA/ESA Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) collaboration. The initial mission of the collaboration, the NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will have visited the asteroids earlier and impacted Dimorphos with sufficient momentum to effect a measurable change in its orbit. The first-stage booster flew for a record-tying 23rd time, but it did not attempt a landing as it was expended to get Hera into an interplanetary transfer orbit. Read more.

Oct. 14 (Delayed from Oct. 10): SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 12:06 p.m. on the Europa Clipper mission to travel 1.8 billion miles to investigate Jupiter’s moon Europa to determine whether there are places below Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, that could support life. The mission’s detailed investigation of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet. NASA and SpaceX stood down from Oct. 10 opportunity to allow for Hurricane Milton to pass. The first-stage boosters made their 6th and final flights with no recovery. Read more.

Oct. 15: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 10-10 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 2:10 a.m. The booster flew for the 11th time and landed on A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

Oct. 18: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 8-19 mission with 20 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:31 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 17th time landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

Oct. 23 (Delayed from Oct. 22): SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-61 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:47 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 18th time landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. The mission marked the 72nd from all launch service providers on the Space Coast in 2024, tying the record set in 2023. Read more.

Oct. 26: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 10-8 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:47 p.m. The first-stage booster made its 19th launch with a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. It was the record-setting 73rd launch from the Space Coast for the year. Read more.

Oct. 30: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 10-13 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:10 p.m. The first-stage booster for the mission made its 14th launch with a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic Ocean on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. This was a record 69th launch for SpaceX from the Space Coast for the year, although not a record for SLC-40, which had 55 launches in 2023, and only 51 so far in 2024.  Read more.

Nov. 4: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the CRS-31 mission flying up a Cargo Dragon with supplies to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 9:29 p.m. The first-stage booster made its fifth flight (Flew Crew-8, Polaris Dawn, 2 Starlink missions) and with a recovery landing on land back at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. This is fifth flight of the Dragon spacecraft having flown CRS-21, CRS-23, CRS-25 and CRS-28. It has a 13-hour flight to the ISS with plans to dock Nov. 5 at 10:15 a.m. It’s carrying 6,000 pounds of food, supplies and equipment along with new experiments including the solar wind Coronal Diagnostic Experiment, Antarctic moss to observe cosmic radiation and microgravity on plants, a device to test cold welding of metals in microgravity, and an investigation that studies how space impacts different materials. Read more.

Nov. 7: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-77 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 3:17 p.m. The first-stage booster made its third flight with a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

Nov. 11: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Koreasat-6A mission from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 12:22 p.m. This was the 23rd mission for the first-stage booster, which made a record recovery return to nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Landing Zone 1. It became the first SpaceX booster to successfully make 23 landings, although two previous boosters launched 23 times. One of those blew up on its landing attempt while another was purposefully expended to get its payload to a higher orbital insertion. Read more.

Nov. 11 (delayed from Nov. 10): SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-69 mission with 24 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 4:28 p.m. The first-stage booster for this mission made its 12th flight and made a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. The launch came 4 hours and 6 minutes after the Koreasat-6A mission at neighboring KSC. Read more.

Nov. 14: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-68 mission with 24 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 8:21 a.m. The first-stage booster for the mission made its 18th flight with a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

Nov. 17: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Optus-X mission to launch a geostationary communication satellite built by Northrop Grumman for the Australian company Optus from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A during window at 5:28 p.m. This was the 16th mission for the first-stage booster, which was used on Crew-5, CRS-28 and NG-20 among other missions, making another recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

Nov. 18: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the GSAT-20 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:31 p.m. The first-stage booster for the mission flew for the 19th time and made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. Read more.

Nov. 21: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-66 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:07 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 20th time and made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

Nov. 25: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starliner 12-1 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:02 a.m. with 23 Starlink satellites including 12 with Direct to Cell capabilities. The first-stage booster made its 13th flight landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. The booster turnaround from its last flight set a record for SpaceX coming at 13 days 12 hours 44 minutes.

Nov. 26 (Delayed from Nov. 25): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-76 mission from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 11:41 p.m. This was the 15th flight for the first stage booster with a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.

Nov. 30: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-65 mission with 24 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 12 a.m. First-stage booster flew for the 6th time making a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions.

Dec. 4: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-70 mission with 24 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:13 a.m. This was the record 24th launch of the first-stage booster, which made a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

Dec. 5: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Sirius XM-9 mission from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 11:10 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 19th time landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions, which had its 100th booster landing. The mission was the 3rd in less than 30 hours for SpaceX among its 2 Florida and 1 California launch pads. Read more.

Dec. 8: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 12-5 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:12 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the second time having been one of the two used on the GOES-U Falcon Heavy mission. It made a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.

Dec. 12: Army and Navy hypersonic missile launch test from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 46. Read more.

Dec. 16 (Delayed from Dec. 13): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the RRT-1 mission of a GPS III satellite under a National Security Space Launch contract that switched from United Launch Alliance because of delays in Vulcan rocket certification. Launch occurred from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:52 p.m. This was the fourth launch of the first-stage booster that made a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

Dec. 17 (Delayed from Dec. 15): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the mPower-E Mission with two telecom satellites for Luxembourg-based SES from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 5:26 p.m. This was the first launch of the first-stage booster with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. It marked the 90th launch in 2024 from all providers on the Space Coast. Read more.

Dec. 23: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 12-2 mission from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 12:35 a.m. First-stage booster made its 14th flight landing on the drone ship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic.

Dec. 29 (Delayed from Dec. 20, 22): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Astranis MicroGeo mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at midnight. The first-stage booster that had been tapped during the original attempts was discarded for a new booster. The new one flew for the 7th time, having also flown on the Crew-8, Polaris Dawn, CRS-31 and three Starlink missions. It made a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic. This was the 92nd launch of the year on the Space Coast. Read more.

Dec. 31 (Delayed from Dec. 30): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 12-6 mission with 21 Starlink satellites including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 12:39 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 16th time having previously flown the Crew-6 mission among its 15 other flights. It made a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. This was the 93rd and final launch of the year on the Space Coast. Read more.

LAUNCHED IN 2023

Jan. 3: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the Transporter-6 mission carrying 114 payloads for a variety of customers blasted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 9:56 a.m. Read more.

Jan. 9: A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off carrying 40 satellites for OneWeb at 11:50 p.m. Monday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. Read more.

Jan. 15: The fifth-ever flight of SpaceX’s powerhouse Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off at 5:56 p.m. from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A on a mission for the Space Force dubbed USSF-67. Read more.

Jan. 18: A SpaceX Falcon 9 on the GPS III Space Vehicle 06 mission for the Space Force rose through the pink, orange and blue horizon at 7:24 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. Read more.

Jan. 26: SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 5-2 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 launched at 4:32 a.m. sending up 56 Starlink satellites. Read more.

Feb. 2: Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-3 from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 2:43 a.m. 200th successful flight of Falcon 9 on mission to send up 53 Starlink satellites. Read more.

Feb. 6: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Amazonas-6 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 lifted off at 8:32 p.m. Payload is communications satellite for Hispasat known also as the Amazonas Nexus. Read more.

Feb. 12: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-4 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 40 launched 55 Starlink satellites at 12:10 a.m. This set a then-record turnaround between launches from the same pad for SpaceX coming just five days, three hours, and 38 minutes since the Feb. 6 launch. Read more.

Feb. 17: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Inmarsat’s I-6 F2 satellite launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:59 p.m. The second of six planned communication satellite launches, the first of which came in 2021 with the final coming by 2025. Read more.

Feb. 27: SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 6-1 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:13 p.m. carrying 21 of the second-generation Starlink satellites. Read more.

March 2: Crew-6 mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 launching Crew Dragon Endeavour from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39-A at 12:34 a.m. A Feb. 27 attempt was scrubbed with less than three minutes before liftoff. Flying were NASA astronauts mission commander Stephen Bowen and pilot Woody Hoburg, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, heading to the International Space Station for around a six-month stay. It’s the sixth SpaceX operational mission under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Read more.

March 9: A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off carrying 40 satellites for OneWeb launched at 2:13 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. The first-stage booster flew for the 13th time landing at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. Read more.

March 14: After arrival of Crew-6 and departure of Crew-5 to make room for a cargo Dragon, SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a cargo Dragon spacecraft on CRS-27, the 27th resupply mission to the International Space Station from KSC’s Launch Complex 39-A at 8:30 p.m. Read more.

March 17: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the SES 18 and 19 mission, a pair of communication satellites set to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. Set a record for SpaceX mission turnaround with launch only four hours and 17 minutes after a Starlink launch from California. Read more.

March 22: Relativity Space Terran-1, a 3D-printed rocket awaiting company’s first-ever launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 16 at 11:25 p.m. While first stage successfully separated, the second stage engine did not get it into orbit. Read more.

March 24: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-5 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:43 a.m. carrying 56 Starlink satellites to orbit. The booster made its 10th flight. Read more.

March 29: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-10 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station launched at 4:01 p.m. The booster making its fourth flight landed on Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. Read more.

April 7: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Intelsat 40e mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:30 a.m. Read more.

April 19: SpaceX Falcon 9 launch on Starlink 6-2 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:31 a.m. with 21 Starlink satellites. The first-stage booster made its eighth flight with a recovery on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

April 28: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the SES 03b mPOWER-B mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:12 p.m. Read more.

April 30: SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch of ViaSat-3 Americas’ communications satellite from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39-A at 8:26 p.m. All three boosters were expended, so no sonic boom landings. Also flying were payloads for Astranis Space Technologies and Gravity Space headed for geostationary orbits. It’s the sixth-ever Falcon Heavy launch. The launch pad endured a lightning strike on April 27, but SpaceX said the rocket was healthy for the attempt. Read more.

May 4: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-6 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with 56 Starlink satellites at 3:31 a.m. The first-stage booster making its eighth flight was recovered once again on the droneship called A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

May 14: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 launnched at 1:03 a.m. Read more.

May 19: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-3 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 2:19 a.m. carrying 22 second-gen Starlink satellites. The first-stage booster made its fifth flight and landing on droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in Atlantic. Read more.

May 21: Axiom 2 mission with four private passengers launched to the International Space Station for an eight-day visit flying on a SpaceX Falcon 9 topped with Crew Dragon Freedom from KSC’s Launch Complex 39-A at 5:37 p.m.  The first-stage booster flew for the first time with a return to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Landing Zone 1. This is only the second crewed mission from the U.S. in 2023 following March’s Crew-6 mission. The second Axiom Space private mission to the International Space Station following 2022′s Axiom 1 mission. Axiom Space’s Director of Human Spaceflight and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is the mission commander with aviator John Shoffner as pilot and two mission specialist seats paid for by the Saudi Space Commission, Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni. Read more.

May 27: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the ArabSat BADR-8 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:30 a.m. The first-stage booster made its 14th flight with a landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. Read more.

June 4: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-4 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with 22 second-generation Starlink satellites at 8:20 a.m. The first-stage booster made its third flight and was able to land down range on droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. The launch came 13 years to the day since the first Falcon 9 launch in 2010. It was the 229th attempt of a Falcon 9 launch with 228 of the 229 successful. Read more.

June 5 (Delayed from June 3, 4): SpaceX Falcon 9 on CRS-28 launched a cargo Dragon spacecraft, the 28th resupply mission to the International Space Station from KSC’s Launch Complex 39-A at at 11:47 a.m. The first-stage booster made its fifth flight and SpaceX recovered it downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. This is the fourth flight of the crew Dragon, which will be bring up nearly 7,000 pounds of supplies, dock to the station 41 hours after launch and remain on the station for three weeks. Read more.

June 12: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-11 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with 53 of the company’s internet satellites at 3:10 a.m.  The first stage booster flew for the ninth time with a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

June 18: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the PSN MSF mission to launch the Satria communications satellite for the Indonesian government and PSN, an Indonesian satellite operator. This satellite will provide broadband internet and communications capability for public use facilities in Indonesia’s rural regions. Liftoff was at 6:21 p.m. with the first-stage booster making its 12th flight and once again landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. Read more.

June 22: United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy on NROL-68 for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command and the National Reconnaissance Office from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37B lifted off at 5:18 a.m. This was the second-to-last Delta IV Heavy launch with the final one expected in 2024. Read more.

June 23: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 5-12 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 carrying 56 Starlink satellites at 11:35 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the ninth time and landed on a droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. Read more.

July 1: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the ESA Euclid space telescope mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:12 a.m. The European Space Agency telescope is designed to make a 3D map of the universe by looking at billions of galaxies up to 10 billion light years away across one third of the sky. Read more.

July 9: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-5 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:58 p.m. The booster made a record 16th flight and was recovered again downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

July 15: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-15 mission with 54 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:50 p.m. (early Friday scrubbed 40 seconds before launch, and early Saturday option passed over) Booster made a record-tying 16th fligh landing on droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. Read more.

July 23: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-6 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 8:50 p.m. carrying 22 of its v2 mini Starlink satellites. The booster flew for the sixth time and made a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

July 28: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-7 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:01 a.m. with 22 Starlink satellites. Booster flew for the 15th time including crewed launches Inspiration4 and Ax-1, and made recovery landing on droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. The launch set a record for turnaround time for the company from a single launch pad coming four days, three hours, and 11 minutes since the July 23 launch. The previous record was set from Feb. 6-12 at five days, three hours, and 38 minutes. Read more.

July 28: SpaceX Falcon Heavy from KSC’s Launch Complex 39-A that launched a telecom satellite for Hughes Network Systems called the Jupiter 3 EchoStar XXIV at 11:04 p.m. The two side boosters were recovered at Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This was the third Falcon Heavy launch of 2023 and seventh overall. Read more.

Aug. 3: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Intelsat G-37 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1 a.m. The first-stage booster made its sixth flight with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

Aug. 6: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-8 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:41 p.m. with 22 Starlink V2 minis. The first-stage booster made its fourth flight with another recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. The turnaround time between the Aug. 3 Intelsat G-37 mission and this mission broke SpaceX’s previous record for time between launches from a single launch pad. Previous record was from July 24-28 with a turnaround of four days, three hours, and 11 minutes. This one came in at three days, 21 hours, 41 minutes. Read more.

Aug. 11: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-9 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:17 a.m. Payload is 22 of the V2 mini Starlink satellites. First-stage booster flew for the ninth time with a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. Read more.

Aug. 16: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-10 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with 22 of the V2 mini Starlink satellites. The first-stage booster made its 13th flight and SpaceX was able to recover it again on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. Read more.

Aug. 26: SpaceX Crew-7 mission on a Falcon 9 launching the Crew Dragon Endurance from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39-A lifted off at 3:27 a.m. liftoff. It’s the seventh SpaceX operational mission under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Flying are NASA astronaut and mission commander Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA astronaut and pilot Andreas Mogensen, mission specialist JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and mission specialist Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov. This will be Endurance’s third spaceflight after having been used on the Crew-3 and Crew-5 missions. The launch will use a new first-stage booster. The crew will arrive at 8:50 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 27. with hatch opening about two hours later. It will stay docked about 190 days. Read more.

Aug. 26: SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 6-11 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 9:05 p.m. with 22 Starlink satellites. The first stage flew for the third time and landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Aug. 31: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-13 mission carrying 22 of the v2 Starlink minis from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:21 p.m. It was SpaceX’s ninth launch of the calendar month matching the record nine launches it had in May. It was the company’s 60th orbital launch of the year. The first-stage booster flew for the seventh time and made a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. Read more.

Sept. 3: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-12 mission carrying 21 of the v2 Starlink minis from Kennedy Space Center’s Space Launch Complex 39-A at 10:47 p.m. It marked the 62nd SpaceX orbital launch in 2023 besting the 61 launches the company performed in 2022. The first-stage booster on the flight made its 10th launch and was able to make its recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

Sept. 8: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-14 mission carrying 22 of its Starlink satellites, flying from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 took off at 11:12 p.m. The first-stage booster made its seventh flight with a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. Read more.

Sept. 10 (delayed from Aug. 29): United Launch Alliance Atlas V on the SILENTBARKER/NROL-107 for the National Reconnaissance Office and Space Force from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 8:47 a.m.. Delayed because of Tropical Storm Idalia. This was the second ULA launch of 2023. SILENTBARKER’s classified mission is to improve space domain awareness to support national security and provide intelligence data to U.S. senior policy makers, the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense. It will provide the capability to search, detect and track objects from space-based sensors for timely custody and event detection. Read more.

Sept. 15: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-16 mission, carrying 22 of its Starlink satellites, flying from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 launching at 11:38 p.m. The first-stage booster for the mission made its fifth flight with a landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. It marked SpaceX’s 65th orbital launch of the year including missions from Canaveral, KSC and California. Read more.

Sept. 19: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-17 mission, carrying 22 of its Starlink satellites, flying from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 launching at 11:38 p.m. This was a record reuse flight for the first-stage booster flying for a 17th time with a recovery landing on the droneship A Short Fall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

Sept.23: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-18 mission, carrying 22 of its Starlink satellites, flying from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:38 p.m. The first-stage booster made a record-tying 17th flight with a recovery landing down range on droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

Sept.29: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-19 mission, carrying 22 of its Starlink satellites, flying from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10 p.m. The booster on this flight made its 10th launch having flown on CRS-24, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13F, OneWeb 1, SES-18 and SES-19 and five Starlink missions. It made a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. This was SpaceX’s 69th launch of the year, its 49th from the Space Coast, 39th from Cape Canaveral and the other 10 from KSC. With only three non-SpaceX flights this year, it was the Space Coast’s 52nd overall. Read more.

Oct. 5: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-21 mission with 22 of its Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:36 a.m.  The booster made its eighth flight with a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. This was SpaceX’s 70th launch of the year, its 50th from the Space Coast, 40th from Cape Canaveral. With only three non-SpaceX flights this year, it is the Space Coast’s 53rd overall. Read more.

Oct. 6: United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 2:06 p.m. Payload was Amazon’s two test Project Kuiper satellites that were set to fly on ULA’s first Vulcan Centaur rocket, but switched to one of the nine Atlas rockets Amazon had previously purchased from ULA as Vulcan had been delayed to no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2023. Read more.

Oct. 13 (Delayed from Oct. 12): A SpaceX Falcon Heavy launched NASA’s Psyche probe into space launch from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39-A at 10:19 a.m. The probe was delayed from 2022, and headed for the asteroid Psyche, using a Mars-gravity assist and not arriving until August 2029. Psyche is a nickel-iron core asteroid that orbits the sun beyond Mars anywhere from 235 million to 309 million miles away. The two side boosters returned for a land landing at Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Read more.

Oct. 13 (Delayed from Oct. 8): SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-22 mission with 22 of its Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:01 p.m. The first-stage booster for the mission is making its 14th flight, and made another recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas down range in the Atlantic. The launch came 8 hours and 42 minutes after the Falcon Heavy launch from nearby KSC earlier in the day. Read more.

Oct. 17: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-23 mission with 22 of its Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 8:36 p.m. This is the first-stage booster made its 16th flight with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. This marked the Space Coasts’ 57th launch of the year, which matched the total it had in 2022. Read more.

Oct. 21: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-24 mission with 23 of its Starlink satellites launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:17 p.m. The first-stage booster made its fourth flight with a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. This became the record 58th launch from the Space Coast for the year. Read more.

Oct. 29: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-25 mission with 23 of its Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:20 p.m. This was the 59th launch from the Space Coast for the year. The first-stage booster flew for the eighth time and made a  recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions stationed down range in the Atlantic. Read more.

Nov. 3: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-26 mission with 23 of its Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 8:37 p.m. This was the 60th launch from the Space Coast for the year. The first-stage booster flew for a record 18th time and made a  recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed down range in the Atlantic. Read more.

Nov. 8: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-27 mission with 23 of its Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 targeting 12:05 a.m. The first-stage booster made its 11th flight with a landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions downrange in the Atlantic. This was the 61st launch from the Space Coast for the year. Read more.

Nov. 9: SpaceX Falcon 9 with cargo Dragon on the CRS-29 mission to carry supplies to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-B at 8:28 p.m. It’s the 29th resupply mission for SpaceX with its cargo Dragon filled with 6,500 pounds of supplies for the Expedition 70 crew with an expected arrival to the ISS about 5:20 a.m. Saturday. It includes NASA’s Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) science experiment to measure atmospheric gravity waves and how it could affect Earth’s climate and the Integrated Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Low-Earth-Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T), a technology demonstration for laser communications among the ISS, an orbiting relay satellite and a ground-based observatory on Earth. The first-stage booster flew for the second time and landed back at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Landing Zone 1. Read more.

Nov. 12: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the SES O3b mPOWER mission to medium-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40  at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 4:08 p.m. First stage made its 9th flight with a recovery landing on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

Nov. 18: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-28 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:05 a.m. with 23 Starlink satellites. First-stage booster flew for the 11th time and landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions This was the 64th launch from the Space Coast in 2023. This launch came hours ahead of the Starship and Super Heavy launch attempt in Texas. Read more.

Nov. 22: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-29 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 2:47 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 15th time and landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. This marked the 65th launch from the Space Coast in 2023. Read more.

Nov. 27: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-30 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40at 11:20 p.m. This was a southerly trajectory launch. The booster flew for the 17th time (3rd booster to do so) and landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. It was the 66th launch of the year from the Space Coast, 62nd from SpaceX in Florida, and 87th orbital launch from SpaceX including California missions. Read more.

Dec. 2: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-31 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11 p.m. First stage booster flew for the sixth time and landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. It marked the 67th launch of the year from the Space Coast, 63rd from SpaceX in Florida, and 89th orbital launch from SpaceX including California missions.

Dec. 7: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-32 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:07 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the ninth time with a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions stationed downrange in the Atlantic. This was the 68th launch from the Space Coast in 2023. Read more.

Dec. 18 (Delayed from Dec. 11, 12, 13) SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-34 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:01 p.m. Read more.

Dec. 23: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-32 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:33 a.m.  This was a record 19th flight for the first-stage booster having flown previously on Crew Demo-2, ANASIS-11, CRS-21, Transporter-1, Transporter-3 and 13 Starlink missions. It made a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions downrange in the Atlantic. This was the 70th Space Coast launch of the year. Read more.

Dec. 28 (Delayed from Dec. 10, 11, 13): SpaceX Falcon Heavy from KSC’s Launch Complex 39-A on USSF-52, the third mission for the Space Force, launching the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle on its seventh trip to space at 8:07 p.m. The side boosters flew for the fifth time, previously used on the Psyche mission, two Space Force missions and one commercial flight with another double land landing at Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Read more.

Dec. 28: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-36 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 targeting 11:01 p.m. This was the 12th flight for the first-stage booster with a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. This was a record turnaround among SpaceX launches from Space Coast launch pads at 2 hours and 54 minutes besting October’s double launch that saw a Falcon 9 launch at CCSFS just eight hours, 42 minutes after a Falcon Heavy launch at KSC. Read more.

Follow Orlando Sentinel space coverage at Facebook.com/goforlaunchsentinel.

Have an extra $4 million? You could buy the ‘Breaking Bad’ house

South Florida Local News - Fri, 01/03/2025 - 17:40

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The house made famous by the “Breaking Bad” TV series is up for sale, and the owners of the otherwise unassuming home in one of Albuquerque’s older neighborhoods are hoping the property’s role in the long-running series will help them fetch a pretty penny.

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Centered on mythical methamphetamine cookers Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, the series wrapped up more than a decade ago, but its legacy continues to draw looky-loos to the home and other associated filming spots around town.

New Mexico’s governor also recently tapped the Walter White character, played by Bryan Cranston, to star in a campaign against littering in New Mexico.

While “Breaking Bad” certainly has left its mark on New Mexico and this quiet block in Albuquerque, the listing is sure to reignite interest.

Time to move on

Fans often flock to the home, sometimes with hundreds of cars driving by in a single day, Joanne Quintana told Albuquerque television station KOB-TV.

Quintana said her parents purchased the home in the 1970s and that she and her siblings grew up there. As her parents got older and the show’s popularity skyrocketed, it became harder to protect them. The family was forced to put up a metal fence and install security cameras to keep fans at bay.

Now that her parents are gone, it’s time to sell.

“This was our family home from 1973, almost 52 years,” she told the station. “So we’re going to walk away with just our memories. It’s time to move on. We’re done. There’s no reason to fight anymore.”

Hollywood magic

It was 2006 when a film scout first approached Quintana’s mother about shooting a pilot episode at the home. Within months, the equipment was set up and filming began.

The family got to meet Cranston and the other stars and watched from behind the scenes as crew members worked their magic. Quintana’s mother was always sure to have cookies for the cast and crew.

The inside of the home was used to prep, while interior scenes were shot in a studio.

For the famous pizza scene, Quintana remembers boxes of pizza lining the sidewalk. Plenty of unsliced cheese and pepperoni props were at the ready in case Cranston didn’t nail it first try. He did — landing the pizza face-up on the roof after his character’s wife shut the door in his face.

The homeowners had a hard time keeping fans from attempting their own pizza tosses or trying to sneak dips in the iconic backyard pool.

Priced to sell?

The housing market in New Mexico’s largest city certainly isn’t what it would have been when Walter White was applying for a mortgage, and the price paid by Quintana’s parents five decades ago is unimaginable now. The median price in the Albuquerque area is approaching $400,000, and interest rates are expected to hover around 6% this year.

Some online real estate calculators put the estimated market value of the four-bedroom ranch-style home at just over $340,000. But with the star power of “Breaking Bad” behind it, the global luxury realty service that is listing the home for Quintana and her family has it priced at just under $4 million.

David Christensen with eXp Luxury told The Associated Press on Friday that it’s been a busy day with the listing going live and that investors will be looking at the property. Ideas include turning the home into a vacation rental or a museum.

The listing company has set up a website to showcase the property, billing it as a chance to own a piece of pop culture history.

Satan banners lawsuit against Broward School Board gets go-ahead

South Florida Local News - Fri, 01/03/2025 - 17:37

A federal judge this week allowed a lawsuit to move forward against the Broward County School Board over its refusal to allow banners that said “Satan Loves the First Amendment” at two schools.

Activist Timothy “Chaz” Stevens, a minister of The Church of Satanology and Perpetual Soiree, filed the lawsuit alleging violations of the First Amendment and two Florida laws.

The school board filed a motion to dismiss the case, but U.S. District Judge Robert Scola on Thursday issued an 11-page order that allowed Stevens to pursue the First Amendment claim and a claim under a state law known as the Florida Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

A trial is scheduled March 10.

Stevens in October 2023 requested to put the banners at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and West Glades Middle School, but the school board later rejected the requests, Scola wrote. The order said the school board between December 2023 and September 2024 allowed religious organizations, such as Calvary Chapel and Potter’s House, to display banners at West Glades Middle School and Coral Springs High School. Stevens alleges “unequal treatment,” Scola wrote.

Excerpts from the judge’s ruling to go ahead with Trump sentencing

South Florida Local News - Fri, 01/03/2025 - 17:17

NEW YORK (AP) — The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s hush money case in New York dealt with a host of weighty, unprecedented questions before deciding Friday that the president-elect should be sentenced later this month for the crime of falsifying business records.

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In an 18-page legal opinion, Judge Juan Merchan laid out his reasoning for the ruling. His most important finding was that Trump’s conviction should not be thrown out simply because he was elected president.

“Indeed, the sanctity of a jury verdict and the deference that must be accorded to it, is a bedrock principle in our Nation’s jurisprudence,” Merchan wrote.

But the judge also signaled that he intended to impose a sentence of “unconditional discharge,” which means Trump would not face any punishment beyond having the conviction on his legal record.

Trump’s spokesperson said after Merchan’s ruling that the president-elect would continue to fight against the case, which he called a hoax.

Here are some key excerpts from the judge’s decision:

A president-elect is not immune from prosecution

“The Constitution dictates that only a President, after taking the oath of office, has the authority of the Chief Executive, a President-elect does not. Accordingly, a President-elect is not permitted to avail himself of the protections afforded to the individual occupying that Office. … Binding precedent does not provide that an individual, upon becoming President, can retroactively dismiss or vacate prior criminal acts nor does it grant blanket Presidential-elect immunity.”

Trump’s election win doesn’t mean he can’t be sentenced

“Any claim Defendant may have that circumstances have changed as a result of Defendant’s victory in the Presidential election, while convenient, is disingenuous. Defendant has always pronounced, since the inception of this case, confidence and indeed the expectation that he would prevail in the 2024 Election — confidence that has proven well-founded. That he would become the ‘President-elect’ and be required to assume all the responsibilities that come with the transition were entirely anticipated. Thus, it was fair for this Court to trust that his request to adjourn sentencing until after the election carried with it the implied consent that he would face sentence during the window between the election and the taking of the oath of office.”

The conviction should not be dismissed ‘in the interests of justice’

“Here, 12 jurors unanimously found Defendant guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records with the intent to defraud, which included an intent to commit or conceal a conspiracy to promote a presidential election by unlawful means. It was the premediated and continuous deception by the leader of the free world that is the gravamen of this offense. To vacate this verdict on the grounds that the charges are insufficiently serious given the position Defendant once held, and is about to assume again, would constitute a disproportionate result and cause immeasurable damage to the citizenry’s confidence in the Rule of Law.”

Trump has engaged in ‘unrelenting and unsubstantiated attacks’ on the legal system

“Defendant’s disdain for the Third Branch of government, whether state or federal, in New York or elsewhere, is a matter of public record. Indeed, Defendant has gone to great lengths to broadcast on social media and other forums his lack of respect for judges, juries, grand juries and the justice system as a whole.”

The jury’s verdict should not be disregarded

“This Court recognizes the importance of considering and balancing the seemingly competing factors before it: ensuring that the Executive Branch is free to fully dispense the duties of the President and safeguard the interests of the Nation, unencumbered by pending criminal proceedings; to ensure that the Supreme Court’s ruling and the citizenry’s expectation be honored that all are equal and no one is above the Iaw; and the importance of protecting the sanctity of a jury verdict. This Court is simply not persuaded that the first factor outweighs the others at this stage of the proceeding, either on its own or in conjunction with the other … factors.”

“To dismiss the indictment and set aside the jury verdict would not serve the concerns set forth by the Supreme Court in its handful of cases addressing Presidential immunity nor would it serve the Rule of Law. On the contrary, such decision would undermine the Rule of Law in immeasurable ways.”

Trump likely won’t go to jail

“While this Court as a matter of law must not make any determination on sentencing prior to giving the parties and Defendant opportunity to be heard, it seems proper at this juncture to make known the Court’s inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration, a sentence authorized by the conviction but one the People concede they no longer view as a practicable recommendation. As such, in balancing the aforementioned considerations in conjunction with the underlying concerns of the Presidential immunity doctrine, a sentence of an unconditional discharge appears to be the most viable solution to ensure finality and allow Defendant to pursue his appellate options.”

Orlando police shoot armed man outside of busy gas station

South Florida Local News - Fri, 01/03/2025 - 17:02

ORLANDO — Police shot an armed man previously convicted of murder outside an Orange County gas station on Friday, according to Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith.

Orlando Police officers and Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a BP gas station on South John Young Parkway after receiving reports of a man with a gun about 2:20 p.m., Smith said at a Friday news conference.

Smith said that officers confronted the man on the sidewalk outside the gas station and he refused verbal commands to drop the gun, after which an Orlando officer shot him. The chief said the suspect was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition.

Smith called the incident a scary situation.

“There’s a lot of people at the busy business of BP, so you got to make a judgment call, you got to act, you give the multiple commands to drop the gun,” Smith said. “People are at risk. You have to take action.”

Police did not release the suspect’s name, but Smith said he served 20 years in prison for second-degree murder and was released in 2023. He said the officer who shot the man was not injured and will be placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into the shooting by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is standard practice for a police-involved shooting.

Sick season is in full force. What the latest CDC figures show

South Florida Local News - Fri, 01/03/2025 - 16:52

By MIKE STOBBE

The holidays came with a side of flu for many Americans, with 40 states reporting high or very high levels of illness last week, according to the latest government health data.

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“A lot of flu out there,” said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Carrie Reed.

Of course, there are a number of bugs that cause fever, cough, sore throat and other flu-like symptoms. One is COVID-19. Another is RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, which is a common cause of cold-like symptoms but can be dangerous for infants and the elderly.

The most recent CDC hospitalization data and other indicators show that the flu virus is trending higher than the other germs, Reed said. Several seasonal flu strains are driving cases, with no dominant one, she added.

Pediatric hospitals have been busy since November with RSV, but “influenza has now joined the party,” said Dr. Jason Newland, an infectious diseases specialist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

“Now we’re really starting to roll,” he added. ”Our hospitals are busy.”

Where flu illnesses are the highest

One indicator of flu activity is the percentage of doctor’s office visits driven by flu-like symptoms. That level last week was about equal to the peak of last winter’s respiratory virus season — which occurred at the same time of year. Reed noted that most people avoid medical appointments over the holidays if they can help it, so the data in late December might be skewed by people who came down with sudden illnesses.

Last week’s flu activity was particularly intense in the South, Southwest and western U.S. The states reporting lesser amounts of suffering were mostly in the northern Great Plains and in New England.

So far this season, the CDC estimates, there have been at least 5.3 million flu illnesses, 63,000 hospitalizations, and 2,700 deaths — including at least 11 children.

It’s not clear if this winter respiratory virus season will be any worse than others. So far it seems relatively typical, at least for kids, Newland said.

How to protect yourself from seasonal illnesses

U.S. health officials recommends that everyone 6 months and older get an annual flu vaccination, and they say it’s not too late to get a shot.

You should also avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth because germs can spread that way, health officials say. You should also wash your hands with soap and water, clean frequently touched surfaces and avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Other germs are being watched

The CDC also has been keeping its eye on a rise of illnesses from norovirus, a nasty stomach bug, with 91 outbreaks reported early in December.

Investigators also have been closely watching another kind of influenza virus, the Type A H5N1 version of bird flu. The CDC says 66 human U.S. cases of that were reported last year, but none of them in the last week.

The cases are “fairly sporadic” and the overall risk to the public remains low, Reed said. Almost all have been traced to direct contact with infected animals, with no proof of spread between people.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Honduras suggests ending US military cooperation over Trump mass deportation threat

South Florida Local News - Fri, 01/03/2025 - 16:43

By MARLON GONZÁLEZ

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduras President Xiomara Castro ’s comments earlier this week threatening to stop her country’s cooperation with the U.S. military if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on promised mass deportations have generated political heat at home, even as the U.S. government has remained silent.

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In a New Year’s Day speech on a national television channel, Castro said that if Trump goes ahead with massive deportations, Honduras would reconsider military cooperation with the U.S.

“Faced with a hostile attitude of mass expulsion of our brothers, we would have to consider a change of our cooperation policies with the United States, especially in the military realm,” Castro said.

She said the U.S. had maintained a presence in Honduran territory for decades without paying a cent and if Hondurans are expelled en masse that presence would cease to have any reason to exist in Honduras. She added that she hoped the Trump administration would be open to dialogue.

It was just the latest response in the region to early pronouncements from Trump.

His threat to impose tariffs on Mexico if it didn’t do more to stop illegal migration and drug trafficking was met with a suggestion of retaliatory tariffs from that government. More recently Trump criticized charges to transit the Panama Canal and suggested the U.S. could take it back, something Panama’s president emphatically rejected.

The main U.S. military presence in Honduras is at Soto Cano Air Base outside the capital. While it is a Honduran base, the U.S. has maintained a significant presence there since 1983 and it has become a key U.S. launching point for humanitarian and anti-drug missions in Central America.

It is home to Joint Task Force Bravo, which the U.S. Defense Department has described as a “temporary but indefinite” presence.

The U.S. Defense Department declined to comment, noting that it “pertains to campaign statements and not policy.” U.S. Embassy in Honduras did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Castro’s political opposition, however, has been quick to denounce the president’s comments.

Jorge Cálix, a probable presidential aspirant for the Liberal Party in Honduras’ Nov. 30 elections, said Castro had put Honduras “in grave danger” for personal and ideological reasons.

Olban Valladares, a political analyst contemplating his own run for office for the Innovation and Unity Party, panned Castro’s threat.

“She knows we don’t have the ability to threaten the United States in any way, that the damages it would cause Honduras would be terrible,” Valladares said. He said the threat could make Honduran migrants even more of a target for the Trump administration.

Daily Horoscope for January 03, 2025

South Florida Local News - Thu, 01/02/2025 - 22:00
General Daily Insight for January 03, 2025

Balance wins over frustration. Dynamic Mars faces off with transformative Pluto at 2:21 am EST, rocking the boat with frustrating havoc — and the only way out is through. This intensity is softened by the emotional Moon entering gentle Pisces, adding an air of compassion and healing to our inner lives. Later, the Moon conjoins balanced Venus, adding an even more powerful harmonizing effect to the Pisces Moon. Let this soften confrontations and encourage compromise. We can find a solution that works for everyone.

Aries

March 21 – April 19

Chaos could erupt in your friend group with little to no warning. There might have been an event between two people that set off a ripple effect throughout the group, leading to everyone feeling forced to pick sides or be alone in no man’s land. Compassion for both parties may be hard to express when tensions are so high, but it’s important to avoid becoming too defensive of either side. Try to create harmony and build a road through the hurt for everybody.

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

Compassion holds the key. You might be leaning into the intensity that’s around you, attempting to take charge by being the loudest voice in the room, but this can push you to step on other people’s toes. Whether or not you meant to, that would probably create more issues than it solves — watch out, or you might become the object of everyone’s ire! Remember that you’re all human and make mistakes, and that finding harmony is the best way forward.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

Progress is easier said than done. You could be trying to forge a wondrous adventure, but everything seems to be in your way rather than supporting you. Distractions might be everywhere, miscommunications may throw you off course, or you could simply lose your way. Be kind to yourself and seek out authority figures or elders that you trust who can set you back on the right course. There’s no shame in not knowing the answer, and you risk remaining lost if you don’t seek guidance.

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

Your fate could be in someone else’s hands. You may have to depend on another person today, and they may not know what is best for you nor understand what you truly need. Even if they’re genuinely doing their best, they still might not do what you are asking them to. While relying on another person can be frustrating, make an effort to be thankful for any assistance that you are receiving — including the aid that isn’t exactly what you wanted.

Leo

July 23 – August 22

You may get taken to task for something that you didn’t do. Someone might have misinterpreted your actions or even believed a false rumor about you, convincing them to see you differently and possibly even confront you. This can be daunting, since your initial response might look like dramatic efforts to explain how that wasn’t actually what took place. Don’t over-explain yourself! How someone else sees you is not always something that you can control — you can only show them who you are.

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

Confusion can be frustrating. You may hear opposing stories from different people about the same event, making it hard to know what actually took place. There’s likely to be some exaggeration adding different colors to both sides, and you could feel as though you’ll never know what happened because you didn’t see it happen personally. If other bystanders ask you about it, make a point of stating that you don’t know the truth, and you don’t want to pretend you do.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

Manifesting your dreams may require extra diligence from you. You might have been giving little bits of time here and there to your goals. Still, without a more regular schedule of your input going into their realization, you probably won’t get as much output as you would have hoped for. Maybe there are countless ideas in your head that you want to put into this project — regardless, you need to start working on it in more tangible ways to see those results.

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

Your work/life balance may be immensely out of balance right now. There might be too much work demanding that you exhaust yourself and robbing your time and energy from other areas, or there could be too much rest tempting you to stagnate and avoid going where you want to go. There’s no shame in reevaluating your current status — and it’s better to do so sooner rather than later. The more you wait, the more difficult it’ll be to find equilibrium in the future.

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

Your progress might be at a standstill because of your present mindset. You could be very good at beginning projects, but not as good at finishing them, or you may be good at constructing someone else’s dream in reality in a group setting, but struggle to make your own voice heard. Have some compassion for yourself, especially if you’ve been running into mental obstacles that are preventing you from showing the world your vision. After that, find ways to break them down!

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

Isolation may create frustration for you. You could feel as though you’re missing out on experiences that others are getting to have, while you’re forced to work or go through more challenging situations at this time. While this is understandable, don’t let it keep you down. Perhaps you’ll have an experience later on that makes you thankful that you were in the right place at the right time. Whether you’re making a friend or discovering something about yourself, trust the journey you’re on.

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

Someone is potentially opposing your decisions. While you’re trying to make choices that make sense for you, someone close to you might be trying to push you in another direction, for their gain or yours. Whether they think they’re doing the right thing or not, it’s okay to say no when it simply doesn’t feel like it’s right. You can see their point of view and still think that something else would be a better path for you. Stay secure in your decision.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

There’s no substitute for hard work. You may have been trying to see results while only putting in half of the effort, and this could be why you aren’t fulfilling the objectives that you want. Taking a clear look at what might be holding you back from reaching your goals should show you a path past your distractions, your misconceptions, or your self-doubt. Only you can make this change for yourself — and once you do, the results may start pouring in!

Jimmy Butler says joy is lost with Heat; Can he get it back in Miami? ‘Probably not’

South Florida Local News - Thu, 01/02/2025 - 21:07

MIAMI — The Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler appear to have reached a point of no return, with rumor and conjecture of a trade desire turning into something more tangible after Thursday night’s 128-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers at Kaseya Center.

Insisting he has been cast in a role that does not play to his skill set and robs him of his joy for the game, Butler offered pointed comments moments after coach Erik Spoelstra downplayed Butler’s limited and passive performance against the Pacers.

“What do I want to see happen?” Butler responded rhetorically. “I want to see me get my joy back from playing basketball. And wherever that may be, we’ll find out here pretty soon.

“I want to get my joy back. I’m happy here — off the court. But I want to be back to someone dominant. I want to hoop and I want to help this team win. Right now, I’m not doing that.”

Asked if he could foresee regaining that joy with the Heat, Butler responded, “Probably not.”

For weeks, conjecture has focused on a desire by Butler to be relocated. While Butler’s comments following Thursday night’s loss focused on what he perceives as a diminished role, the overarching element has been the Heat’s lack of desire to offer a contract extension that Butler has been eligible to receive since July.

In recent interviews, Butler had downplayed angst.

But Thursday, after attempting just six shots and scoring just nine points, he followed Spoelstra to the interview podium and debunked Spoelstra’s comments that had minimized Butler’s lack of involvement.

Asked how he felt about his Thursday performance, which often consisted of standing in a corner, Butler said, “It felt great. I felt like I was focused. I felt like I did my job, or at least what my job is now.”

Asked if such limited activity can serve as his role, Butler, 35, said, “It can be my role here. But I mean that’s not what I’m used to being. I haven’t been that since my first, second, third year in the league, where I just went out there and played defense. I competed. I guarded. I tried not to let my man score. But that’s what I’m doing now.”

Spoelstra suggested during his media session of casting Butler more at point guard to get the ball in his hands more often.

Asked if that could be a workable compromise, Butler said, “That ain’t gonna fix it.”

Now, Butler said, he is reduced to playing in a role of complementary component.

“It’s not a tough adjustment to me,” he said. “I’m going out there to compete to win, either way — whether I score or not. I will compete. That’s one thing that I will say. So you won’t say that I’m out there not playing hard. It may look like that, because my usage is down and I don’t shoot the ball a lot.”

Spoelstra was brusque in his opening postgame comments when asked about Butler’s seemingly indifferent approach.

“That had nothing to do with anything,” he said. “We got outplayed from the tip all the way until probably seven minutes, that last group that was in there.”

Spoelstra then spoke of the option of playing Butler at point guard.

“In the second half, we had him playing point just to make sure the ball was in his hands and then the game still got away from us,” Spoelstra said. “So, that was the frustrating part. Obviously, we need him to be aggressive, we need to get him in spots where he can be aggressive. We know how to do that. This game just got away from us.”

To Spoelstra, at least in his postgame comments, it is a strategic issue.

“Whatever we got to do,” he said. “If we got to get him activated, put the ball in his hands and play point. He’s done it before. We know how to get him going, he knows how to get going. These are not two strangers.”

With that, Spoelstra suggested a different Butler would be in play Saturday against the visiting Utah Jazz.

“Aberrational,” he said of Butler’s lack of activity the past two games, “activate on Saturday.”

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In fact, before Butler spoke, Spoelstra was dismissive of an external element to Butler’s lack of  contribution in his first two games back after missing five due to what first was listed as a stomach ailment.

“Look, he went through it,” Spoelstra said. “Those 13 days, that’s a long time to be away from it. It’s about being aggressive. If we got to figure it out, then we’ll figure it out. He’s got to figure it out, too.

“We got to figure it out. I think that’s an easy storyline.”

The postgame discussion, at least the public discourse, appeared to catch teammates off guard.

“I think it’s a bad night all around,” team captain Bam Adebayo said. “Lose the game, obviously he’s frustrated and he feels like he’s standing in a corner. So he’s got a lot of things going on in his corner.”

As for Butler saying that he might want to find his joy elsewhere, Adebayo addressed the locker-room component.

“You go out there and play basketball still,” Adebayo said. “It’s still our job.

“You hear all the outside noise and we block it out as a team.”

The rest, Adebayo said, is up to Spoelstra, Butler and Heat President Pat Riley.

Asked if he was surprised by Butler’s comments, teammate Tyler Herro said, “Not really. I don’t know. We’re all trying to find joy in it at the same time. So we’ll see.”

Slavin’s third-period shot into crowded goal lifts Hurricanes over Panthers

South Florida Local News - Thu, 01/02/2025 - 19:59

SUNRISE — Jaccob Slavin scored the go-ahead goal to lift the Carolina Hurricanes over the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Thursday night.

Florida’s Anton Lundell tied it at the beginning of the second before Slavin got one past Sergei Bobrovsky with about seven minutes left in the third.

Pyotr Kochetkov made 26 saves, and Slavin also had an assist. Martin Necas added an empty-netter.

Brent Burns gave Carolina a 1-0 lead 35 seconds into the game with a shot that bounced off Florida’s Aleksander Barkov and into the net. Bobrovsky stopped 37 shots.

It was the last matchup of the regular season between the two teams. Florida swept a home-and-home set earlier this season, beating the Hurricanes 6-3 on Nov. 29 and 6-0 on Nov. 30.

Takeaways

Hurricanes: Weren’t able to cash in on their many chances in the first period to build on their early lead. They had 16 shots on goal compared to Florida’s six in the opening frame. Kochetkov made some big-time saves to keep his team in it.

Panthers: Bobrovsky was nearly perfect after Burns’ early shot got past him, but the Panthers missed on too many opportunities down the stretch to capitalize on his stellar performance.

Key moment

Bobrovsky pleaded with the official that the play should have been blown dead on Slavin’s go-ahead goal because the goalie was pinned in the crease. It was upheld after the referee said Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk wouldn’t let Jesperi Kotkaniemi up out of the crease after he collided with Bobrovsky.

Key stat

Bobrovsky played in his 269th career game for Florida, which is the second-most all time for a Panthers goaltender.

Up next

The Hurricanes host Minnesota on Saturday, while the Panthers remain home against Pittsburgh on Friday.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Winderman’s view: Without a fully engaged Jimmy Butler an outlook as bleak as loss to Pacers

South Florida Local News - Thu, 01/02/2025 - 19:56

Observations and other notes of interest from Thursday night’s 128-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers:

– No, we’re not going to go through the Heat mantra that last season was painted on the court during City Edition nights.

– You know, the one about, “Hardest working . . . ”

– But do consider each one of those touchstones and then consider Jimmy Butler’s performances the past two nights.

– Yes, illness can sap.

– And 13 days off requires a degree of build-up.

– But after missing 10 of the season’s first 30 games, something more could, would and should be expected.

– This, of course, comes after Tuesday’s comments about trade speculation.

– With no clear statement of commitment at that stage.

– Which certainly is within his rights.

– And then these two games following.

– With lots and lots and lots of standing in the corners.

– In other words, hard not to read between any lines.

– Yes, a career resume superior to Bam Adebayo at this point.

– And to Tyler Herro.

– But also the team’s highest-paid player.

– So therefore expectations.

– Significant expectations.

– Pat Riley addressed the trade rumors.

– Is it time to address this, as well?

– Because a trade simply cannot be off the table.

– At least while this is being served up.

– The Heat need Jimmy Butler to be present.

– And engaged.

– Not 48 hours of this.

– This isn’t about whether Butler wins with a potential trade.

– This is about the rest of the roster.

– And the rest of the season.

– And the future.

– The Heat stayed with their preferred starting lineup of Butler, Herro, Adebayo, Duncan Robinson and Haywood Highsmith.

– Entering with a 9-4 record with that group, including Wednesday night’s victory over the visiting Pelicans.

– The Pacers opened with a lineup of Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin, Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner.

– Kel’el Ware and Terry Rozier were the first two off the Heat bench, entering together.

– Those two entered when former Heat center Thomas Bryant entered for the Pacers.

– With Bryant then promptly draining a 3-pointer.

– Nikola Jovic and Jaime Jaquez Jr. then entered together, third and fourth off the Heat bench.

– With Alec Burks making it 10 deep.

– Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was effusive in his praise of Herro during his pregame media session.

– Asked how to stop Herro, Carlisle said, “Hope he misses.”

– Carlisle added, “There’s a lot of talk for him for All-Star, and it’s all deserved. The things that he’s pulled off at the ends of games, consistently over the first two and a half months of the season, have been pretty breathtaking.”

– Carlisle continued, “He’s special. There’s something else. He just has a different look in his eye. He’s a big problem.”

– Thursday was the 25th anniversary of the first Heat game at what then was AmericanAirlines Arena and now is Kaseya Center.

– “I do remember walking over here from the Miami Arena when they were breaking ground,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They had us walk over there and look at the sites and everything. I couldn’t even picture like how it was going to look, sitting on the bay and all of that.”

– The game closed the Heat’s seventh of the Heat’s 15 back-to-back sets this  season, after defeating the Pelicans on Wednesday night,

– The Heat oddly entered 2-5 on the first nights of such sets and 3-3 on the second nights, including Sunday’s loss in Houston.

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– Spoelstra downplayed the back-to-back concerns.

– “These guys are rested, they feel fine,” he said.

– The game also was the close of the second of four instances this season with home games on consecutive days, having won against the Suns and Cavaliers at Kaseya Center on Dec. 7-8.

– The Heat have played home games on consecutive days 39 previous times in the franchise’s 37 seasons, winning both games 13 times, splitting the pair 17 times and dropping both on nine occasions.

– Herro extended his career-best streak of games scoring in double figures to 62. His previous high was 38 in a row.

– Herro extended his career best streak of games with at least one 3-pointer to 66, three games off Robinson’s franchise record.

– Herro also has now converted a 3-pointer in the season’s first 32 games, having previously broken the longest such Heat 3-pointer streak to open a season, of 28 set in 1998-99 by Tim Hardaway.

Heat fall flat in defenseless 128-115 loss to Pacers, with Butler again passive

South Florida Local News - Thu, 01/02/2025 - 19:54

MIAMI – For a second consecutive night, the edge from Jimmy Butler was missing. For the first time in a while, the defense also was missing.

For the Miami Heat, that proved too much to overcome in a 128-115 loss Thursday night to the Indiana Pacers at Kaseya Center.

In falling for only the second time in their last nine home games, the Heat proved unable to contain the Pacers’ pace and ball movement as well as an inability to contain Indiana guard Tyrese Haliburton.

Indiana closed at .531 from the field and 17 of 40 on 3-pointers, with Hailiburton finishing with 33 points and a season-high 15 assists.

A night after leading wire-to-wire in a home victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, the Heat very much had the look of a team playing on the second night of a back-to-back set.

“We just weren’t mentally prepared for the pace,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And it’s not just the fullcourt pace, it’s the halfcourt pace.

“We were never really able to get control.”

For the second consecutive night, Butler was held out of the fourth quarter, closing with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting.

Otherwise, the Heat got 20 points and eight rebounds from center Bam Adebayo and 17 points from guard Tyler Herro, which proved not nearly enough to keep Spoelstra’s team afloat.

Later, with the Heat playing from well behind, rookie center Kel’el Ware closed out a 25-point performance, albeit one that came without a single rebound by the 7-footer.

Five Degrees of Heat from Thursday night’s game:

1. Game flow: The Pacers led 38-25 at the end of the first period, 66-50 at halftime and 107-83 going into the fourth quarter.

While Spoelstra did not exactly pull the plug at that stage, he did insert undrafted rookie forward Keshad Johnson to start the fourth quarter, as Butler and Adebayo sat.

It was just Johnson’s third appearance of the season, first since being shifted from his two-way contract to a standard deal.

With Johnson and Ware on the court, the Heat closed within 12 on a Ware 3-pointer with 5:33 to play. But that is where the rally stalled.

2. Where’s Jimmy?: For the second night in a row, Butler was less than engaged amid the swirl of trade desires.

This time he scored on the Heat’s first possession by attacking the rim, without another basket until converting a 3-point with 6:07 left in the third period, and the Heat down 24.

It was the second consecutive night of a largely passive approach by Butler, often simply spotted up in a corner.

This performance followed up Wednesday night’s nine-point outing against the Pelicans, when he closed 3 of 5 from the field.

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3. Where’s Ware?: By contrast, Ware maximized his minutes, albeit with the game largely out of reach during the majority of those minutes.

While the rebounding wasn’t there, closing with just, the 3-point stroke was a factor, finishing 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.

On the defensive end, Ware also has three blocked shots and one steal.

4. Battle for backcourt: With the release from the first round of fan balloting for the All-Star Game, Herro not only found himself ninth in the early voting, but Haliburton was not even in the Top 10 among East guards.

Haliburton then came out and hit his first three shots, all 3-pointers, on the way to a 16-point first period.

For Herro, it was a rare uneven night, closing 6 of 12, the Pacers limiting his attempts.

Haliburton closed 13 of 21 from the field, including 6 of 13 on 3-pointers.

5. Rozier back: Guard Terry Rozier was back for the Heat after serving a one-game NBA suspension for his role in Sunday night’s melee in the road victory over the Houston Rockets.

Rozier entered in the Heat’s first substitution and provided a second-unit spark along with Ware.

Rozier closed with 16 points, seven assists and three rebounds, closing 6 of 12 from the field.

2 dead and 18 injured in small plane crash in Southern California

South Florida Local News - Thu, 01/02/2025 - 18:06

By JAIMIE DING and EUGENE GARCIA

FULLERTON, Calif. (AP) — Two people were killed and 18 injured when a small plane crashed through the rooftop of a commercial building in Southern California on Thursday, police said.

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Police got a report at 2:09 p.m. about the crash in the Orange County city of Fullerton, said Kristy Wells, a Fullerton police spokesperson.

Firefighters and police arrived on scene and battled a blaze that broke out, and evacuated surrounding businesses, Wells said.

The fire damaged the warehouse, which appeared to contain sewing machines and textile stock. The building was occupied by Michael Nicholas Designs, a furniture upholstery manufacturer, according to a sign on a door.

Ten people were taken to the hospital, while eight were treated and released at the scene, police said. There were two confirmed deaths, according to Wells.

It was not immediately known what type of plane it was or whether those injured were in the aircraft or on the ground, Wells said.

The flight-tracking website FlightAware shows a four-seat, single-engine aircraft crashed about a minute after takeoff.

Security camera footage from Rucci Forge, a wheel manufacturer across the street, shows a fiery explosion and a large plume of black smoke as the plane appeared to dive into the building tilted on its side.

The plane crashed near the Fullerton Municipal Airport, a general aviation airport in Orange County that is about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from Disneyland. It has one runway and one heliport. Metrolink, a regional train line, is nearby, and flanks a residential neighborhood and commercial warehouse buildings.

Another four-seat plane crashed into a tree a half-mile from the airport last November while making an emergency landing right after it had taken off, the Orange County Register reported. Both people on board suffered moderate injuries.

Fullerton is a city of about 140,000 people some 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.

Associated Press writer Amy Taxin contributed from Orange County.

Ethics report details allegations of campaign violations by Cherfilus-McCormick

South Florida Local News - Thu, 01/02/2025 - 17:14

A report containing findings by the Office of Congressional Ethics, released Thursday, provides details of multiple campaign transactions and official government office activities by U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick that investigators said may have violated House rules and federal law.

The Broward-Palm Beach county Democrat, first elected in a January 2022 special election, has been under investigation for almost her entire time in Congress. An investigative subcommittee of the House Ethics Committee has been working on the case for more than a year, but has not taken any public action.

The document released on Thursday is the Office of Congressional Ethics “findings of fact and citations to law” about its investigation that prompted the Ethics Committee to begin its own inquiry and set up the investigative subcommittee.

The 576 pages of materials — including the findings of fact and copies of campaign finance reports, interview transcripts, bank statements and text message exchanges — were released because of a deadline in U.S. House rules.

Cherfilus-McCormick said through a spokesperson that the newly released document does not mean she has done anything wrong.

The findings, released along with supporting documents, said Cherfilus-McCormick did not cooperate with the Office of Congressional Ethics investigation. Neither did her campaign organization, her relatives, or Mark Goodrich, a political consultant described in the report as her de facto campaign manager in 2021 and 2022 and someone who did work for her congressional office after she was elected.

The Office of Congressional Ethics said it relied on information from interviews with and documents provided by others, along with text messages and emails to and from the congresswoman. Some of those interviewed were named; another eight were identified with labels such as “Staffer 1” and “Witness 2.”

In a statement, Cherfilus-McCormick said: “As stated in the Committee’s public statement, the investigative subcommittee has not concluded its review of the allegations, and the release of OCE’s Findings is simply a result of the House investigative process. The fact that the allegations were referred for further review does not indicate any violation has occurred. I plan on continuing to collaborate with the Committee and its Investigative Subcommittee.”

Goodrich didn’t immediately respond Thursday to an email sent to an address he used in 2022.

Findings

In its findings, the Office of Congressional Ethics indicated “there is substantial reason to believe” four allegations involving Cherfilus-McCormick, her campaign or her congressional office.

State PAC Payments. The office said there was substantial reason to believe she “made payments to a state political action committee in connection with her campaign and failed to report these payments as contributions to her campaign.”

It said SCM Consulting Group, owned by Cherfilus-McCormick, made 30 payments totaling $269,424 during the 2021-2022 special election campaign to Leadership in Action PAC. The report described Goodrich as Leadership in Action’s “executive director” and also said he “appears to have been functionally responsible for the PAC.”

During that time Leadership in Action made $116,794 in payments to Goodrich, the report said, and SCM Consulting accounted for the “vast majority” of Leadership in Action’s contributions.

The report said Goodrich “effectively served” as her campaign manager and Leadership in Action “also made payments to vendors” on behalf of her campaign.

The office said the payments to the PAC may have violated federal reporting requirements and, if the money was not from her “personal funds,” could have violated limits on the size of campaign contributions.

In 2021 and 2022, the Federal Election Commission website shows that individual contributions were limited to $2,900 for each primary or election.

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Services received. The office said there was substantial reason to believe her congressional office “received services related to franked communications and other official work from an individual who was not compensated with official funds.”

Franked communications are the official, government-paid mass communication from a member of the House to constituents, often in the form of newsletters.

The findings said Goodrich was extensively involved in the preparation and placement of the franked communications, including multiple mailers and television and radio spots, which were considered official business, even though he wasn’t on the government payroll.

Excessive contributions. The report said there was substantial reason to believe her campaign committee “accepted and failed to report contributions exceeding contribution limits.” The report said it couldn’t determine the source of some political spending, whether it came from her personal funds or a business.

If they weren’t personal funds, the report said the contributions would have been subject to federal campaign contribution limits.

It said the timing, scale and sources of money “warrant further review.” The report, citing financial disclosures, said Cherfilus-McCormick reported her income increasing by more than $6 million between 2020 and 2021.

Unreported transactions. The report said there was substantial reason to believe her campaign committee “failed to report transactions between the campaign committee’s bank account and Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick’s business’ bank accounts.” In a separate section, the report said the office “found evidence of transactions between Rep Cherfilus-McCormick’s campaign committee and her businesses that were not reported” on federal campaign finance filings.

The office said it identified “three instances in which apparent  transfers” between Cherfilus-McCormick’s campaign bank account and her business’ accounts were not reported on federal campaign finance reports, including  a $25,294 payment from the campaign to “EC Firm,” a Florida limited liability company half owned by Cherfilus-McCormick with her brother as the registered agent and manager.

Edwin Cherfilus told the office that the money was withdrawn from her corporate equity account but that she opted to return the funds back to her equity account. The report said the campaign reported making a payment to the EC Firm — but didn’t report receiving the money in the first place.

The office said it “obtained” documents showing $88,828 was transferred from the campaign committee to SCM Consulting, the limited liability company wholly owned by the future congresswoman, in June 2021. But it said the campaign didn’t report an expenditure on that date to Cherfilus-McCormick or her firm.

It also cited one of the loans Cherfilus-McCormick reported making to her campaign, $10,000 on Aug. 17, 2021. On the same date, it said documents show a $10,000 transfer from the campaign to SCM Consulting but that the transfer wasn’t reported.

(Article continues after this document.)

Campaign manager

The office said that “much” of its review concerned “conduct involving” Goodrich. It described him as her campaign manager in 2021 and 2022.

“Although an individual named Willis P. Howard officially held the title of campaign manager with respect to Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick’s campaigns, Mark Goodrich appears to have actually managed the campaigns … Multiple witnesses understood Mark Goodrich — not Willis P. Howard — to be the campaign manager.”

The activities the report cited included the payments from the limited liability company to the state PAC and services he provided to her official office after Cherfilus-McCormick was sworn in as a member of Congress.

The report said after she was elected, Goodrich performed work for Cherfilus-McCormick’s official office, including on the franked communications to constituents even though she did not report compensating him with official funds. “At the same time Mark Goodrich was providing these services to Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick’s congressional office, he was also overseeing her campaign for re-election.”

During her 2022 reelection campaign, the report said a Florida corporation paid more than $150,000 for campaign mailers on behalf of the campaign “apparently at Mark Goodrich’s direction” but her campaign did not report the payments as contributions, and the payments exceeded federal limits on campaign contributions.

The report said a Florida company, Truth & Justice Inc.,  made three wire transfers totaling over $150,000 to a graphics and printing vendor for mailers ordered by Cherfilus-McCormick’s 2022 reelection campaign. It said Goodrich was executive director of Truth & Justice Inc. It said the payments to the vendor “apparently directed by Mark Goodrich, came at a time when the campaign’s cash on hand was highly variable.”

That may mean, the report said, that the campaign accepted and failed to report contributions from Truth & Justice that exceeded federal campaign limits.

The $150,288 in payments from Truth & Justice to the vendor, Image Plus Graphics, were made during a few weeks in July and August 2022. The report said documents filed with the Federal Election Commission ‘reflect that the campaign’s coffers were largely depleted by the beginning of July 2022” with cash on hand of $837 “despite the numerous loans that Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick made to her campaign during this time.”

Cherfilus-McCormick

Cherfilus-McCormick, 45, is the only Haitian American member of Congress, and has been outspoken about trying to find solutions to turmoil in the Caribbean nation.

She was first elected in a January 2022 special election to fill the vacancy created the year before by the death of the late U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings.

That victory came after she narrowly won a hotly contested Democratic primary in November 2022 by just five votes. She had never been elected before, but had previously run in primaries when Hastings was still in office.

The congresswoman was elected to a full term in November 2022. No Democratic primary challenger or Republican general election challenger came forward to run against Cherfilus-McCormick in 2024, making her the only one of Florida’s 28 members of Congress returned to office without facing a primary or general election.

The congresswoman represents the 20th Congressional District, which takes in most of the African American and Caribbean American communities in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Before her election, she was CEO of Trinity Health Care Services, a home health-care agency owned by her family.

Ethics process

The unresolved ethics referral was released Thursday under House rules, which provide for a complicated process to deal with ethical questions about members.

The Office of Congressional Ethics refers complaints about representatives to the House Ethics Committee.

In this case, the Ethics Committee established an investigative subcommittee to look into the matter. Under the rules, if no action has taken place, a summary of the referral is publicly released if there’s no resolution one year after the referral. The summary was released on Sept. 25, 2024.

If there is no action at the end of a congressional session, the entire set of findings is released.

A session lasts for two years. Under the Constitution the last full day of the 118th Congress was Thursday; the 119th Congress begins its two-year term at noon on Friday.

A second Office of Congressional Ethics referral about Cherfilus-McCormick was sent to the Ethics Committee on May 29, 2024. The Ethics Committee assigned the matter to the already established investigative subcommittee.

Under the rules — unless they’re changed by the newly sworn-in House — if there is no action one year after that referral, a summary would be released on May 29, 2025. If there’s still no action, the entire referral would be released at the end of the 119th Congress, which concludes on Jan. 3, 2027.

The Ethics Committee, which includes Democratic and Republican members, conducts its business behind closed doors. Its public statements are typically brief. Thursday’s statement accompanying the document release was four paragraphs and said that “No other public comment will be made on this matter except in accordance with Committee rules.”

The Office of Congressional Ethics has its own staff and is governed by an six-member board, plus two alternates, of private citizens who aren’t members of Congress and don’t work for the federal government. Half the board is appointed by the House speaker and half by the minority party leader.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.

An Army veteran’s path to radicalization followed divorces, struggling businesses in Texas

South Florida Local News - Thu, 01/02/2025 - 16:33

By KRISTIE RIEKEN

BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) — Shamsud-Din Jabbar grew up in Texas, joined the U.S. Army and eventually settled in Houston, where he spun up a real estate business and made $120,000 a year for one of the world’s largest consulting firms.

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But the 42-year-old U.S. citizen, who authorities say plowed a rented truck through New Year’s revelers in New Orleans before being shot and killed by police, also faced pressures. He finalized a third divorce in 2022, saying in filings he couldn’t pay his mortgage and his business was losing money.

On Thursday, authorities and relatives were still piecing together why Jabbar barreled through a crowd in a Ford F-150 on Bourbon Street, killing 14 revelers and injuring at least 30 others. Officials said the attack was inspired by the Islamic State group, making it one of the deadliest IS-inspired assaults on U.S. soil in years.

FBI officials said Jabbar posted five videos to his Facebook account in the hours before the attack in which he aligned himself with IS. Authorities also found an Islamic State flag on the truck used in the attack early Wednesday.

“It’s completely contradictory to who he was and how his family and his friends know him,” Abdur-Rahim Jabbar, one of his brothers, told The Associated Press on Thursday at his home in Beaumont, about 90 miles outside Houston.

The 24-year-old said his older brother had increasingly isolated himself from family and friends in the last few years but he hadn’t seen any signs of radicalization when they talked. He said it had been a few months since he had seen his brother in-person and a few weeks since they talked on the phone.

“Nothing about his demeanor seemed to be off. He didn’t seem to be angry or anything like that. He was just his calm, well-mannered, well-tempered self,” the younger brother said.

Law enforcement officials said after driving into the Bourbon Street crowd and crashing the truck, Jabbar exited the car wearing a ballistic vest and helmet and fired at police, injuring at least two before he was shot and killed by officers returning fire.

Army, court and other public records piece together a picture of a man who had been stationed or lived in multiple states including North Carolina, Texas, Georgia and Alaska, had been married multiple times and seemed to be experiencing financial difficulties as he tried to adjust to civilian life.

Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, serving on active duty in human resources and information technology and deploying to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.

A spokesperson for Georgia State University confirmed Jabbar attended the school from 2015-2017 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems in 2017.

He had been married at least three times over the last two decades and had at least three children who were mentioned in divorce and custody agreements. His two most recent marriages, in Georgia and Texas, each lasted about three years, according to court documents.

Dwayne Marsh, who is married to one of Jabbar’s ex-wives, told The New York Times that Jabbar had been acting erratically in recent months. Marsh said he and his wife had stopped allowing the two daughters she shared with Jabbar to spend time with him.

The AP left a message at a number listed for Marsh Thursday. Messages were also left for Jabbar’s two other ex-wives at their numbers or with their attorneys.

The AP also left messages for Jabbar’s mother that were not returned as of Thursday afternoon. Abdur-Rahim Jabbar said their father had declined to speak with reporters.

Divorce records also show Jabbar faced a deteriorating financial situation in January 2022. Jabbar said he was $27,000 behind on house payments and wanted to quickly finalize the divorce.

“I have exhausted all means of bringing the loan current other than a loan modification, leaving us no alternative but to sell the house or allow it to go into foreclosure,” he wrote in a January 2022 email to his now-ex-wife’s attorney.

His businesses were struggling, too. One business, Blue Meadow Properties LLC, lost about $28,000 in 2021. Two other businesses he started, Jabbar Real Estate Holdings LLC and BDQ L3C, weren’t worth anything. He had also accumulated $16,000 in credit card debt because of expenses like attorneys fees, according to the email.

Court documents show he was making about $10,000 a month doing business development and other work for the consulting firm Deloitte in 2022.

On Wednesday, police blocked access to a Houston neighborhood where Jabbar’s last address was listed, a small white mobile home in a gated community where ducks and goats were roaming in the grass. On Thursday, the FBI said it had finished a search of the area but did not release more details.

Despite the tumult indicated by court documents, Abdur-Rahim Jabbar said his brother hadn’t shown any outward signs of distress or anger about his relationships.

“I think he blamed himself more than anything for his divorces. … And he never was bitter towards his ex-wives,” the younger Jabbar said.

Childhood friend and fellow veteran Chris Pousson reconnected with Jabbar on Facebook around 2009, before the two lost touch again around 2019. From his home in Beaumont, he said his biggest takeaway from periodic check-ins with Jabbar were positive messages and praise for his faith, but nothing that raised any flags.

“I never saw this coming. And in the military, actually, I did anti-terrorism in the military. And if any red flags would have popped off, I would have caught them and I would have contacted the proper authorities,” he said.

“But he didn’t give anything to me that would have suggested that he is capable of doing what happened.”

Associated Press reporters Jamie Stengle in Dallas, Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia, Tara Copp in Washington, Kate Brumback in Atlanta, Michael Phillis in St. Louis, and Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.

FBI releases new video of a suspect planting a pipe bomb near DNC offices on eve of the Capitol riot

South Florida Local News - Thu, 01/02/2025 - 16:33

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — A harrowing chapter in American history remains shrouded in mystery: Who planted pipe bombs outside offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees in Washington on the eve of the attack on the Capitol?

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Hoping to generate new tips from the public, the FBI is releasing more information about its pipe bomb investigation, including an estimate that the unidentified suspect is about 5 feet 7 inches tall. The bureau also is posting previously unreleased video of the suspect placing one of the bombs.

A host of basic questions remains unanswered four years later. For starters, investigators haven’t determined if the suspect is a man or a woman. Nor have they established a clear link between the pipe bombs and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol by a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters.

The FBI “can’t work on assumptions,” said David Sundberg, assistant director in charge of the bureau’s Washington field office.

“Without being able to confirm the suspect’s identity, it is very hard to definitively establish motive,” Sundberg told The Associated Press. “Therefore, it would be difficult for us to state that there is a link, although we can’t state there is not one.”

In the absence of harder evidence, Republican lawmakers and right-wing media outlets have promoted conspiracy theories about the pipe bombs. House Republicans also have criticized security lapses, questioning how law enforcement failed to detect the bombs for 17 hours.

“We remain focused on conducting an investigation using all of the tools we have at our disposal,” Sundberg said. “But it is incumbent upon us to follow facts and evidence.”

The FBI has assessed over 600 tips, reviewed about 39,000 video files and conducted more than 1,000 interviews over the past four years. Images show the suspect was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a face mask, black gloves and a black and grey pair of Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes with a yellow logo. The person also wore or carried a backpack containing the bombs.

Surveillance video captured the suspect placing the pipe bombs near the committees’ offices between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, 2021. Nobody was hurt before the bombs were rendered safe, but the FBI says both devices could have been lethal.

Kamala Harris, then the Vice President-elect, was inside the DNC offices when the pipe bomb was found outside the building about 1:05 p.m. on Jan. 6. Before the bomb was deactivated, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s motorcade passed by the DNC building as she was evacuated from the Capitol, according to House Republicans.

This week, the FBI is releasing a minute-long video that shows the suspect sitting on a park bench outside the DNC before placing the first bomb there at about 7:54 p.m. The suspect placed the second bomb about 8:16 p.m., in an alley behind the RNC, the FBI says.

The FBI also is releasing closeup images of the type of Nike sneakers worn by the suspect. Fewer than 25,000 pairs of the same shoe were sold between August 2018 and January 2021, according to the FBI.

“Based on attire, those are probably the most remarkable or distinctive feature when it comes to clothing the suspect wore,” Sundberg said. “We’re hoping that somebody might recognize that.”

The FBI used surveillance footage to track the suspect’s movements through Capitol Hill on the night of Jan. 5. The suspect initially is captured on video at about 7:34 p.m. at the intersection of First Street and North Carolina Avenue. The suspect is last seen on camera around 8:18 p.m. heading east on Rumsey Court.

“The suspect in this case did a very good job covering themselves up at a time that this would not be abnormal, so it didn’t raise any attention,” Sundberg said, referring to face masking during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Video of the suspect was sporadically available and often of poor quality, according to Sundberg. The 17-hour gap between the planting and discovery of the pipe bombs made it more difficult to identify potential witnesses, he said.

Authorities previously offered a reward of up to $500,000 for information leading to the suspect’s arrest and conviction.

President-elect Trump, who returns to the White House on Jan. 20, repeatedly has vowed to pardon some or many of the rioters who stormed the Capitol. More than 1,500 people have been charged with Jan. 6-related crimes. About 1,100 have been convicted and sentenced. Over 700 defendants got terms of imprisonment ranging from a few days to 22 years.

Sundberg said he doesn’t expect the change in administration to alter the course of the FBI’s pipe bomb investigation.

“We don’t know who the suspect is,” he added. “And I expect that we will continue to work this case until its logical conclusion and we identify a suspect.”

Wayne Osmond, singer and guitarist for The Osmonds, is dead at 73

South Florida Local News - Thu, 01/02/2025 - 16:01

NEW YORK (AP) — Wayne Osmond, a singer, guitarist and founding member of the million-selling family act The Osmonds, who were known for such 1970s teen hits as “One Bad Apple,” “Yo-Yo” and “Down By the Lazy River,” has died. He was 73.

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Sibling Merrill Osmond posted on his Facebook page that Wayne died this week at a Salt Lake City hospital after suffering a “massive stroke.”

“I’ve never known a man that had more humility. A man with absolutely no guile,” Merrill wrote. “An individual that was quick to forgive and had the ability to show unconditional love to everyone he ever met.”

Wayne Osmond was the fourth oldest of nine children raised in a Mormon household in Ogden, Utah, and the second oldest among the musical performers. The siblings’ career began in the 1950s when Wayne, Alan, Merrill and Jay sang as a barbershop quartet.

FILE – The Osmonds from left, Jay, Jimmy, Merrill, Marie, Donny, Wayne, and Alan perform during a taping of their 50th anniversary show at the Orlean’s casino in Las Vegas, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken, File)

Their popularity grew in the 1960s after being supported by singer Andy Williams, and they peaked as a quintet in the early 1970s, with younger brother Donny Osmond the breakout star. “One Bad Apple” and other songs were often compared to the music of The Osmonds’ contemporaries, the Jackson 5, and Donny was positioned as the white counterpart to the Jacksons’ lead singer, Michael Jackson.

The Osmonds’ popularity faded by the mid-1970s, although Donny and Marie Osmond both enjoyed successful careers as solo performers and as a brother-sister duo.

In the 1980s, Wayne Osmond regrouped with Alan, Merrill and Jay as a country act and had a handful of hits, including “I Think About Your Lovin.’”

But in the mid-1990s he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and lost much of his hearing from the surgery and treatment. A stroke in 2012 left him unable to play guitar.

“I’ve had a wonderful life. And you know, being able to hear is not all that it’s cracked up to be, it really isn’t,” he told the Deseret News in 2018. “My favorite thing now is to take care of my yard. I turn my hearing aids off, deaf as a doorknob, tune everything out, it’s really joyful.”

Wayne Osmond married Kathlyn White in 1974. They had five children.

This story has been updated to correct that Wayne Osmond was the fourth oldest sibling, not the second oldest

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