DC-area airports reopen after 'strong odor' caused shutdown

Three Washington, D.C.-area airports have reopened after a shutdown prompted by an overheated circuit board that created a troublesome "strong odor," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced late on March 13.

"The ground stop is over and operations have resumed," Duffy said in a statement about four hours after announcing the shutdown. "Firefighters from Fauquier County and Prince William County confirm there is no danger to air traffic controllers, and they are returning to the Potomac TRACON. The source of the strong odor was traced to a circuit board that overheated, and it was replaced."

TRACON stands for Terminal Radar Approach Control, aU.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facilitywhere controllers manage aircraft within a 30 to 50-mile radius of an airport. The Potomac TRACON facility is in Northern Virginia.

The brief ground stop impacted the three major airports surrounding the nation's capital: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport and Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Richmond International Airport was also shut down.

Duffy announced the closures around 5:20 p.m. local time in a statement suggesting the strange smell put a halt to flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration "is working to address the source of a strong odor coming from Potomac TRACON that is impacting operations at the three airports," said Duffy, without addressing why the Richmond airport was also included.

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Travelers face flight delays amid FAA staff shortages, government shutdown

Airports involved in ground stops warned travelers to "expect residual delays" as a result.

"Airlines are once again resuming regular operations and preparing departures. Expect residual delays this evening," Baltimore-Washington airport officials said in a statement. "We appreciate the patience of passengers impacted by the delays."

Officials at Reagan told flyers to expect "significant delays" for the rest of Friday evening.

The series of shutdowns around Washington come as there are increased fears of potential terrorist attacks amid the war on Iran and amid a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.

On March 12, a man who lost family in Lebanon to bombings amid the war attempted to carry out a massive attack on a synagogue in Michigan. Temple security fatally shot the man after he rammed his car into the building.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:DC-area airports reopen after 'strong odor' caused shutdown

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DC-area airports reopen after 'strong odor' caused shutdown

Three Washington, D.C.-area airports have reopened after a shutdown prompted by an overheated circuit board that created ...

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US judge revives union contract for 320,000 workers at veterans' agency

By Daniel Wiessner

March 13 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday reinstated a union bargaining agreement covering 320,000 employees of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that the agency had canceled to carry ‌out an order from President Donald Trump.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose in Providence, ‌Rhode Island, is among the most significant so far in a series of lawsuits stemming from Trump's 2025 executive order stripping most of the ​federal workforce of the ability to collectively bargain.

DuBose agreed with the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 800,000 federal workers, that the VA canceled its bargaining agreement in August as retaliation for the union's opposition to Trump administration labor policies.

VA CITED NATIONAL SECURITY ROLE

In court filings, the VA claimed Trump properly exempted the agency from collective ‌bargaining because of the role it plays ⁠in maintaining national security - namely, as "the primary backup" for healthcare services required by the military during a war or national emergency.

But DuBose said the VA had provided no evidence that ⁠national security had motivated the decision to cancel the union contract, and reinstated it pending the outcome of the union's lawsuit.

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"There is zero indication from the Defendants that the termination decision would have been made or implemented without the retaliatory motive," ​wrote ​DuBose, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden.

The VA ​did not immediately respond to a request for ‌comment. The agency operates a sprawling network of hospitals and other medical facilities for veterans and has more than 400,000 employees, making it one of the largest employers in the federal government.

AFGE President Everett Kelley said the VA singled out the union for retaliation because of its opposition to cuts and other changes that the union claimed would harm veterans.

"Today's ruling holds this administration accountable and makes clear: no one can retaliate against workers for standing ‌up for their rights," Kelley said in a statement.

Trump's executive order ​exempted the VA and more than a dozen other federal agencies ​from obligations to bargain with unions. They include ​the departments of Justice, State, Defense, Treasury, and Health and Human Services.

The order applies to ‌agencies that, according to Trump, "have as a primary ​function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or ​national security work." It significantly expanded an existing exception for workers with duties implicating national security, such as federal law enforcement agents.

Trump's order has been challenged in at least three lawsuits, while unions have filed ​many more challenges to individual agencies ‌canceling bargaining agreements. Last month, a federal appeals court in San Francisco rejected a bid by AFGE ​and other unions to block Trump's order while their case proceeds.

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in ​Albany, New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Rod Nickel)

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US judge revives union contract for 320,000 workers at veterans' agency

By Daniel Wiessner March 13 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday reinstated a union bargaining agreement cove...

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Another Severe Weather Outbreak With Damaging Winds, A Few Tornadoes In Midwest, South, East Sunday and Monday

Yet another severe weather outbreak is forecast in parts of the South, Midwest and East Sunday into Monday with a threat of widespread damaging winds and a few tornadoes from Texas to the East Coast.

No, this isn't the movie "Groundhog Day." For the third time this month, a rash of severe thunderstorms is in the forecast, affecting some areas that have been hit repeatedly by severe weather in one or both of the previous outbreaks fromMarch 5-8andMarch 10-12.

This latest severe outbreak will happen on the warm side of an upper Midwest blizzard, named Winter Storm Iona by The Weather Channel.

(FORECAST:Upper Midwest Blizzard This Weekend Into Monday)

Sunday

Sunday morning, at least a few severe thunderstorms could flare up on the western and northern parts of the severe area shown below.

By Sunday afternoon, severe thunderstorms will become numerous from parts of the Midwest to the South, taking the form ofa squall line, a long line of severe thunderstorms. Some embedded tornadoes and damaging winds are increasingly likely. A locally higher threat exists from Evansville, Indiana, to Memphis.

Sunday night, this squall line will then surge east across the Ohio Valley, lower Mississippi Valley and Tennessee Valley through the easternmost areas covered in severe threat in the map below.

Monday

As the cold front from the intense Great Lakes low surges east, thunderstorms with damaging winds will likely be widespread Monday across much of the East, from north Florida to the Northeast.

For now, NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has highlighted the area with the highest chance of severe weather from parts of the mid-Atlantic states to the Carolinas.

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However, this damaging wind threat could extend through the Appalachians and entire Northeast from Monday morning through Monday night. It could accompany the squall line in the Northeast even if that section of the squall line is just a band of heavy rain without lightning.

Even a few tornadoes are possible Monday, either embedded in the squall line, or in any discrete rotating thunderstorms that could flare up ahead of the line.

Power outages and tree damage could be widespread in the East Monday and Monday night.

Prepare Now

- Prepare for a possible power outage,especially if it's forecast to turn coldafter the storm.

- Have multiple ways of receiving official National Weather Service watches and warnings including viasmartphoneandNOAA weather radio. Make sure alerts are enabled so you can be awakened, if sleeping.

- Know where to seek shelter when a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning is issued. If you live in a manufactured home, a community storm shelter, a nearby home or other substantial building is the safest choice.

- Move to shelter immediately when a warning is issued. Don't waste precious seconds looking out the window.

-Take severe thunderstorm warnings as seriouslyas tornado warnings. Winds over 60 mph are capable of downing trees on vehicles, homes and buildings,an underrated dangerin high wind events.

(MORE:14 Severe Weather Safety Tips)

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him onBluesky,X (formerly Twitter)andFacebook.

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Another Severe Weather Outbreak With Damaging Winds, A Few Tornadoes In Midwest, South, East Sunday and Monday

Yet another severe weather outbreak is forecast in parts of the South, Midwest and East Sunday into Monday with a thre...

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Formula 1 expected to cancel races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia over Iran war, sources say

Formula 1is expected to cancelraces next monthin Bahrain and Saudi Arabia due to safety reasons as amilitary conflict growsin the Middle East, sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.

F1 had scheduled a race in Bahrain for April 12 and another in Saudi Arabia on April 19, two mainstays on the calendar for years.

But the war launched by the United States and Israel on Iran has spread across the regionand intothosetwo countries, creating major security concerns and uncertainty about whether traveling or racing there will be safe.

The news was first reported Friday bySky Sports, which said the cancellation could be announced by the end of this weekend. It would cut the number of race weekends this year from 24 to 22.

A Formula 1 spokesperson declined to comment.

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F1 officials have beenwrestling with the issuefor nearly two weeks, since the war began. The lack of a formal decision at this time could mean they're biding time to see if the situation improves quickly. Alternately they could simply be waiting until the end of this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix to make it official.

There are no current plans to replace the Middle East races but that prospect hasn't been ruled out, sources said. That is seen as a difficult task on such a short time frame.

Failure to replace either Grand Prix would leave the month of April without any F1 races, a financial hit to the sport and a blow for its fans. The seasonbegan last weekend in Australia.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton voiced confidence in Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali to make the right decision.

"I know that Stefano will do what is right for all of us and the sport," Hamilton said, according toESPN.

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Formula 1 expected to cancel races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia over Iran war, sources say

Formula 1is expected to cancelraces next monthin Bahrain and Saudi Arabia due to safety reasons as amilitary conflict gro...

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Former NBA player Glen Davis released from prison after 17 months for involvement in healthcare fraud scheme

Former NBA player Glen Davis was released from prison Thursday after serving 17 months ofa 40-month sentencefollowing a November 2023 conviction for his involvement in a scheme to defraud the league's healthcare plan.

Davis and fellow NBA player Will Bynum wereconvicted by a Manhattan jury in 2023for filing false reimbursement claims to the NBA's health and welfare benefit plan for medical care and procedures that were not actually performed. The two were among 19 people indicted, 18 of them former NBA players, including Tony Allen, Terrence Williams, Shannon Brown, Melvin Ely, Sebastian Telfair and Keyon Dooling.

Bynum, an eight-year NBA veteran, wassentenced to 18 months in prisonin April 2024 and ordered to pay $183,000 in restitution.

Those involved in the defrauding scheme gained over $5 million in illicit profits,according to the U.S. Attorney's Officeof the Southern District of New York. Davis submitted $132,000 worth of claims, including $27,200 worth of dental work in Beverly Hills. Authorities were able to prove he was actually in Las Vegas at the time based on cellphone data,USA Today reported.

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Davis was eventually convicted of health care fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to make false statements and conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud. He faced up to 20 years in prison.

Additionally, Davis was ordered to pay $80,000 in restitution. His prison sentence was delayed by six months so that he could finish filming a documentary that would allow him to pay that penalty. Davis was also ordered to attend a financial management class and mandatory drug treatment.

"He used his time productively while serving his sentence and took many programs during that time," attorney Brendan Whitetold The Athletic. "He's ready to become a productive member of society again."

Davis will enter a halfway house at the Long Beach Residential Reentry Management Office to transition from being in prison to everyday life. From there, he will face three years of supervised release.

Davis played eight seasons in the NBA, averaging eight points and 4.4 rebounds per game with theBoston Celtics,Orlando MagicandLos Angeles Clippers. His best season was 2012-13, when he averaged 15.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists for the Magic.

A 2007 second-round pick out ofLSU, Davis was a member of the Celtics'2008 NBA championship teamand finished fourth in Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2011-12.

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Former NBA player Glen Davis released from prison after 17 months for involvement in healthcare fraud scheme

Former NBA player Glen Davis was released from prison Thursday after serving 17 months ofa 40-month sentencefollowing a N...

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