Hawaiian volcano erupts for the 34th time admin - Latest News - October 2, 2025 admin 11 views 11 secs 0 Comments Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted for the 34th time on Wednesday, shooting lava from its crater for six hours. Source link PREVIOUS Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleOct. 2, 2025, 2:16 PM EDTBy Denise ChowThe fall vibes are on hold across much of the Midwest this week.An extraordinary October heat wave could bring record-breaking temperatures to the northern Plains and Upper Midwest in the coming days, with Minneapolis forecast to reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit this weekend.Temperatures across the region are expected to be up to 30 degrees higher than normal on Friday and Saturday. Highs well above 80 degrees will be common from South Dakota east to Illinois. Some places may climb into the low to mid-90s, according to the National Weather Service.“Despite the calendar saying it’s October, it sure will be feeling much more summer-like than fall-like the next few days,” the weather service said Thursday in its short-range forecast.Dozens of new daily temperature records could be set Friday and into the weekend, including in Minneapolis; Bismarck, North Dakota; Rapid City, South Dakota; Madison, Wisconsin; and Moline, Illinois.These parts of the country are largely unaccustomed to summery conditions at this time of year. The Minneapolis-St. Paul area, for instance, has only hit or exceeded 90 degrees in October three times in recorded history, according to data from the National Weather Service, which has maintained temperature records since 1872.Heat waves are becoming more frequent and more severe as a result of climate change, studies have shown. Extreme heat events are also expected to last longer as the planet warms.This week’s unusual warmth is caused by a ridge of high pressure that remains parked over the Plains and Midwest, according to the National Weather Service. When these areas of high pressure stall over land, they tend to trap hot air and drive up temperatures for days on end.Denise ChowDenise Chow is a science and space reporter for NBC News.Kathryn Prociv contributed. NEXT Oct. 2, 2025, 12:53 PM EDTBy Natasha Korecki, Amanda Terkel, Monica Alba and Matt DixonDepartment of Education employees furloughed this week discovered their email accounts had been manipulated while they were out of office to include partisan talking points that blamed a government shutdown on Democrats. Five employees who spoke with NBC News and provided copies of their out-of-office messages said the wording was altered from how they originally had composed them. All of them are civil servants, not political appointees, and requested anonymity out of fear of professional repercussions. Education officials had initially sent employees templates of nonpartisan out-of-office wording to use in their emails. Several employees said they used the language provided by department officials earlier in the week only to find that while they were furloughed, someone had changed it. We’re looking to hear from federal government workers. If you’re willing to talk with us, please email us at tips@nbcuni.com or contact us through one of these methods.One person said they changed their out-of-office message back to the nonpartisan version, only to have it then revert to the partisan wording later. “None of us consented to this. And it’s written in the first-person, as if I’m the one conveying this message, and I’m not. I don’t agree with it. I don’t think it’s ethical or legal. I think it violates the Hatch Act,” this person said, referring to the law that imposes limits on political activity by federal employees.“I took the statement that they sent us earlier in the week to use. And I pasted it on top of that — basically has a standard out-of-office,” another one of the Department of Education employees said. “They went in and manipulated my out-of-office reply. I guess they’re now making us all guilty of violating the Hatch Act.” Follow live updates on the government shutdownOn Wednesday, NBC News reported that some employees at federal agencies were being offered partisan language blaming Democrats for the shutdown to use as their out-of-office messages. A number of federal websites also now display language going after Democrats or the “radical left.”But what the Department of Education is doing goes further, pulling individual civil servants into the political talking points even if they don’t agree with them. The agency did not immediately return requests for comment. One spokesperson had an out-of-office message that did not contain any partisan language, instead saying, “There is a temporary shutdown of the U.S. government due to a lapse in appropriations. I will respond to your message if it is allowable as an excepted activity or as soon as possible after the temporary shutdown ends”The altered email messages included language saying: “Thank you for contacting me. On September 10, 2025, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5371, a clean continuing resolution. Unfortunately, Democrat Senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations. Due to the lapse of appropriations, I am currently in furlough status. I will respond to emails once government functions resume.” One of the employees said they were not overly worried about getting hit with a Hatch Act violation, saying the department has crossed into a level of partisanship they’d never seen without anyone being held accountable. In this case, the employee was incensed that someone else’s message was connected to their name. “Nobody follows the law anymore, so why does it matter? It seems like laws are dotted lines now, not solid lines. It seems there’s no one to hold this administration accountable to laws,” one of the employees said. As far as fearing any repercussions, they said: “Clearly, this wasn’t done by me, it was done while I was in a furlough status, I think I’d be able to argue that point.” Natasha KoreckiNatasha Korecki is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.Amanda TerkelAmanda Terkel is politics managing editor for NBC News Digital.Monica AlbaMonica Alba is a White House correspondent for NBC News.Matt DixonMatt Dixon is a senior national politics reporter for NBC News, based in Florida.