Top 5 US news stories

One Detainee Killed in Targeted Shooting at Dallas ICE Facility; Gunman Takes Own Life

To Address Health Risks from Cabin Fumes, Delta Upgrades Power Units on Airbus Fleet

With One Week to Deadline, Shutdown Nears as White House Halts Negotiations

In Second Round of Cuts, Starbucks Lays Off 900 to Refocus on Cafe Operations

Justice Department Preparing to Seek Indictment of Former FBI Director James Comey

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1. One Detainee Killed in Targeted Shooting at Dallas ICE Facility; Gunman Takes Own Life

A gunman fired upon a Dallas immigration field office from a nearby roof Wednesday morning, killing one detainee and critically wounding two others before taking his own life in what authorities called an indiscriminate attack on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. All three victims were in a van outside the facility at the time, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. Authorities said they found ammunition with anti-ICE messaging at the scene. The attack is the latest public, targeted killing in the U.S. and comes two weeks after conservative leader Charlie Kirk was killed by a rifle-wielding shooter on a roof. After the shooting in Dallas, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem ordered increased security at ICE facilities nationwide.

AP News

2. To Address Health Risks from Cabin Fumes, Delta Upgrades Power Units on Airbus Fleet

Delta Air Lines is replacing power units on more than 300 of its Airbus jets in an effort to stem cases in which toxic fumes have leaked into the air supply and led to health and safety risks for passengers and crew. The move is one of the most aggressive efforts by a major U.S. airline to address what in recent years has increasingly become a hidden hazard of modern air travel. The airline is about 90% of its way through the process of upgrading the engines, a type known as the auxiliary power unit, on each of its Airbus A320 family jets, according to a spokesman for Delta. The airline operates 310 of the narrow-body type, including 76 of the latest generation models as of the end of June. The APU is typically a third engine that sits in the tail of an aircraft and is used to generate electricity and pump air into the cockpit and cabin when the two primary engines aren’t running, and for example often during taxiing. A leak in the APU can also contaminate the air even when it’s not in use, according to maintenance specialists and internal troubleshooting documents. Airbus has previously identified the APU and how it is integrated on the A320 as a leading cause of toxic fumes contaminating the so-called bleed air system. A fume event typically occurs when oil leaks into the engine or power unit’s compression chamber and is vaporized at extreme heats, releasing unknown quantities of neurotoxins and other chemicals into the cockpit and cabin air. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that fume events have been surging in recent years, driven in large part by incidents on the Airbus A320 family, and that they have led to brain injuries and other illnesses in both crew and passengers.

WSJ

3. With One Week to Deadline, Shutdown Nears as White House Halts Negotiations

WASHINGTON—President Trump backed out of a planned meeting with Democrats as the country inched toward a government shutdown a week from now, with no negotiations set to find a way out of the impending crisis that would affect government services and hundreds of thousands of federal workers. “After reviewing the details of the unserious and ridiculous demands being made by the Minority Radical Left Democrats in return for their Votes to keep our thriving Country open, I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday. Trump and Republicans are pushing for a seven-week stopgap measure to keep the government funded ahead of a possible full-year deal later this fall. Democrats have named their price for their votes: restoring billions in healthcare funds for Affordable Care Act subsidies and Medicaid. With no bipartisan agreement in sight, both parties are hoping the other side will blink.

WSJ

4. In Second Round of Cuts, Starbucks Lays Off 900 to Refocus on Cafe Operations

Starbucks is laying off 900 more corporate workers and closing some North American stores, the latest moves to trim costs and plow money into improving its cafes. The Seattle-based coffee company said Thursday that most of the affected positions are located in North America. Starbucks said it is also eliminating many open positions. The company plans to notify affected workers Friday and asked corporate employees to work from home Thursday and Friday. The layoffs are the second round that the coffee giant has undertaken since Chief Executive Brian Niccol took the helm roughly a year ago. Niccol has said the reductions are needed to direct more resources toward its stores, where he is boosting labor and training to make cafes more hospitable. Starbucks is pushing to revive its business after six straight quarters of declining same-store sales. Niccol is trying to boost business in cafes while streamlining the company’s operations. The chain is also grappling with rising labor costs as it invests more in stores, and it faces surging coffee prices.

WSJ

Editors note: this story is also interesting from many other angles including 1) how are they handling the widespread awakening about heath downsides of sugar and 2) how does a mature, global company act when its reached the limit of its growth? You can only sell so many lattes.

5. Justice Department Preparing to Seek Indictment of Former FBI Director James Comey

The Justice Department is preparing to seek an indictment against former FBI director James B. Comey for allegedly giving false testimony to Congress about his role investigating efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election, according to people familiar with the matter. The investigation centers on testimony Comey gave before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 30, 2020, about the FBI’s missteps in the “Crossfire Hurricane” probe, which had delved into possible but ultimately unproven collaboration between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Washington Post

September 25 1867: Cattle pioneer Oliver Loving dies of gangrene

On September 25, 1867, the pioneering cattleman Oliver Loving dies from gangrene poisoning in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. A few weeks before, Loving had been trapped by 500 Comanche braves along the Pecos River. Shot in the arm and side, Loving managed to escape and reach Fort Sumner. Though the wounds alone were not fatal, Loving soon developed gangrene in his arm, a common infection in the days before antibiotics. Even then he might still have been saved had his arm been removed, but unfortunately the fort doctor “had never amputated any limbs and did not want to undertake such work.”

Sometimes referred to as the “Dean of the Trail Drivers,” Loving had been braving the Comanche territory along the Pecos in order to make his second pioneering drive of cattle from Texas to Denver. In the 1860s, the Texas cattle herds were booming, but as long as the cattle were in Texas they were essentially worthless. To make money, they had to be moved over thousands of miles to the big cities where Americans were becoming increasingly fond of good fresh western beef. To overcome this challenge, a number of Texans pioneered the technique known as the “long drive,” hiring cowboys to take massive cattle herds overland to the first cattle towns like Wichita and Dodge City where they could be loaded on trains for the East.

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Sources

1. https://apnews.com/article/dallas-ice-shooting-update-immigration-0631d82e4fd0b1f6e3309e6e8aa83d1e
2. https://www.wsj.com/business/airlines/delta-airlines-engine-unit-replacement-fumes-0bfae0aa?mod=hp_lead_pos1
3. https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-democrat-meeting-government-shutdown-funding-44695b77?mod=Searchresults&pos=3&page=1
4. https://www.wsj.com/business/hospitality/starbucks-layoffs-corporate-restructure-b9dee2d3?mod=hp_lead_pos5
5. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/09/24/justice-virginia-prosecutors-james-comey/