In terror-wary NYC, security tight for Macy’s parade

In terror-wary NYC, security tight for Macy’s parade

NEW YORK

Sand-filled sanitation trucks and police sharpshooters will mix with glittering floats and giant balloons at a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade that comes in a year of terrible mass shootings and not even a month after a deadly truck attack in lower Manhattan.

New York City’s mayor and police brass have repeatedly stressed that layers of security, along with hundreds of officers, will be in place for one of the nation’s biggest outdoor holiday gatherings and that visitors should not be deterred.

“I want to assure the people that we swore to protect that anytime something happens anywhere in the world, the NYPD works with our law-enforcement partners and studies it and we learn from it and it informs our decision making going forward,” O’Neill said.

Paul’s wife speaks out on ‘blindside attack’ on husband

WASHINGTON

The wife of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul says her husband hasn’t taken a single breath without pain since what she calls “a deliberate, blindside attack” by a Kentucky neighbor earlier this month.

Authorities say the Republican was attacked Nov. 3 by Rene Boucher while mowing his lawn. Kelley Paul writes in an essay published by CNN that her husband suffered six broken ribs and fluid in his lungs. Paul says he was diagnosed with pneumonia after returning from Washington last week.

Boucher is charged with misdemeanor assault. His attorney blames the attack on a “trivial” dispute and says it wasn’t politically motivated.

Poll: Many want to avoid political talk this Thanksgiving

WASHINGTON

Pass the turkey – but maybe hold the politics. The already-fraught topic now includes allegations of sexual misconduct against politicians of various political stripes.

From GOP President Donald Trump to Democratic Sen. Al Franken, politicians past, present and aspiring stand accused of sexual misconduct and that could keep tensions high at the holiday table. More than a third of Americans dread the prospect of politics coming up over Thanksgiving, a new poll shows.

Glenn Rogers, a Republican from Los Angeles, says he asks people around the table to talk about things to celebrate from the past year.

Rogers is among more than a third of Americans who say they dread the prospect of politics coming up over Thanksgiving, compared with just 2 in 10 who say they’re eager to talk politics, according to a new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Four in 10 don’t feel strongly either way.

Woman raises more than $60K for homeless man

PHILADELPHIA

A New Jersey woman who was helped by a homeless man after she ran out of gas on an interstate in Philadelphia has raised more than $60,000 for the good Samaritan.

Kate McClure, 27, started the Gofundme.com campaign earlier this month after she said she ran out of gas on Interstate 95 and a homeless man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr., walked a few blocks and bought her some with his last $20.

McClure said she didn’t have any money to repay him at the time but returned to the road several times to give him cash, clothes and food.

After a few visits, she started the fundraiser with the hopes of using the money toward housing and other expenses for the 34-year-old Bobbitt.

Associated Press