Comment on Lakefest continues at Island Lake's Water Tower Park

By HALELUYA HADERO Retailers are ramping up hiring for the holiday season, but fewer seasonal employees are expected to be taken on this year to help customers in stores and assemble online orders in warehouses. E-commerce giant Amazon said Thursday it will hire 250,000 full, part-time and seasonal workers for the crucial shopping period, rounding out a series of announcements made in recent weeks by the country’s top retailers. Amazon is hiring the same number of employees it did last year, similar to Bath & Body Works and Target, which said in September it planned to bring in roughly 100,000 seasonal employees and offer current employees the option to work extra hours during the holiday shopping period. Meanwhile, the department store Kohl’s encouraged people to apply for positions but stayed mum on its plans, mirroring Walmart, which said it’s been hiring store associates throughout the year and will tap into its own staff when needed during the busy season. Others have indicated they will scale back their holiday hiring.

Anyone who wants to vote — for president, for or against the proposed abortion-rights amendment to the Florida Constitution, on whether to legalize recreational marijuana for adults — faces a Monday deadline. Monday, Oct. 7, is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 5 election. “In the state of Florida, you do have to be registered to vote 29 days before the election or you won’t be able to participate,” said Broward Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott. How to register People registering online have until 11:59 p.m.

By HANNAH FINGERHUT As Hurricane Helene roared outside, the wind howling and branches snapping, John Savage went to his grandparents’ bedroom to make sure they were OK. “We heard one snap and I remember going back there and checking on them,” the 22-year-old said of his grandparents, Marcia, 74, and Jerry, 78, who were lying in bed.

By KATE PAYNE and DAVID R. MARTIN HORSESHOE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — It was just a month ago that Brooke Hiers left the state-issued emergency trailer where her family had lived since Hurricane Idalia slammed into her Gulf Coast fishing village of Horseshoe Beach in August 2023. Hiers and her husband Clint were still finishing the electrical work in the home they painstakingly rebuilt themselves, wiping out Clint’s savings to do so.

By Zoe Tillman, Chris Strohm and David Voreacos, Bloomberg News WASHINGTON — Donald Trump should stand trial for his “private crimes” in trying to overturn the 2020 election, U. S. prosecutors argued in a newly unsealed court filing that sheds fresh light on his interactions with former Vice President Mike Pence. The government said Trump’s communications with his running mate should stay in the case because the former president acted as a private citizen and candidate when he allegedly pressured Pence to intervene to stop or delay Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s win on Jan.

By ADRIAN SAINZ MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The future of three former Memphis officers charged with violating Tyre Nichols’ civil rights in a beating that proved fatal is in the hands of a jury after a nearly monthlong federal trial. Jurors began their deliberations Thursday, a day after prosecutors and defense attorneys presented closing arguments in the trial of Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith.