WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on pipe bombs sent to prominent Democrats and CNN (all times local):

Investigators probing crude pipe bombs sent to prominent Democrats are trying to determine whether the devices were intended to detonate or whether they were simply sent to sow fear.

If you have info that could assist the #FBI‘s investigation of suspicious packages, call 1-800-CALLFBI (225-5324) or use https://t.co/iL7sD5efWD. If you observe suspicious activity that requires an immediate response, call 911 or contact local law enforcement immediately. pic.twitter.com/ZsFLKvXrKy

— FBI (@FBI) October 25, 2018

That’s according to two law enforcement officials who said the devices were not rigged like a traditional booby trap package bomb that would explode upon opening.

The officials said they didn’t appear to have a trip wire or ignition.

The officials weren’t authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The four-day mail-bomb scare widened Thursday as law enforcement officials recovered three more devices.

The packages addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden and one to actor Robert De Niro were similar to crude pipe bombs sent to former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and CNN.

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11:45 a.m.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is hailing the “quick-witted work” of a security guard who alerted authorities to a suspicious device at Robert De Niro’s Manhattan office.

Two officials told The Associated Press on Thursday that a person working at the building with a law-enforcement background called police after seeing images of a package bomb sent to CNN and recalling a similar package addressed to De Niro.

De Blasio said: “Thank God there were no injuries.”

De Blasio said the device removed from De Niro’s office “was very similar to the devices that have located within the last 48 hours” at CNN and locations connected to prominent Democrats.

He said all of them appear to be from the same sender and it’s “clearly an effort to terrorize people politically, to choose people for political purposes and attack them because of their beliefs.”

De Blasio said the device is being examined at an NYPD facility in the Bronx.

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11:10 a.m.

The FBI is confirming packages addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden and actor Robert De Niro are similar in appearance to those used to send bombs to prominent Democrats.

The FBI provided the update in a tweet Thursday morning.

New York City police early Thursday recovered a package addressed to De Niro with the same return address used on the other packages.

A law enforcement official said two packages addressed to Biden were intercepted at Delaware mail facilities in New Castle and Wilmington.

The official wasn’t authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Pipe bombs addressed to Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, former CIA director John Brennan and former Attorney General Eric Holder have also been intercepted in recent days.

— By Eric Tucker and Michael Balsamo in Washington.

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10:30 a.m.

Law enforcement officials say the suspected explosive device sent to Robert De Niro may have been sitting in the mailroom of his building for a day or more before it was discovered.

Two officials told The Associated Press on Thursday that a person affiliated with the Tribeca Film Center was off work when he saw an image on the Internet and elsewhere of the package containing a crude pipe bomb sent to CNN.

That person, who has a background in law enforcement, recalled seeing a similar package at the film center mailroom earlier and reported it to police.

Emergency service officers were dispatched early Thursday to retrieve it. It had the same return address used on the other packages. An official said it was suspected to have been delivered earlier this week.

The two officials weren’t authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

— By Colleen Long in Washington and Tom Hays in New York.

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9:55 a.m.

A law enforcement official says a second package addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden has been intercepted at a mail facility in Wilmington, Delaware.

The official says it has similar markings and characteristics as the packages containing bombs sent to other prominent Democrats.

The official said another package addressed to Biden was also found Thursday morning, that one at a postal center in New Castle, Delaware.

The official wasn’t authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Several packages containing pipe bombs packed with shards of glass have been intercepted in the last few days. They targeted Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, CNN and others.

A New York City police bomb squad has recovered a suspicious package addressed to Robert De Niro.

— By Eric Tucker and Michael Balsamo

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9:45 a.m.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the notion that President Donald Trump is responsible for the packages sent to his opponents is “disgraceful.”

She told reporters Thursday there’s a big difference between “comments made and actions taken.”

Suspicious packages addressed to actor Robert De Niro and former Vice President Joe Biden were intercepted Thursday, and investigators said they were similar to crude pipe bombs sent to former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and CNN.

Sanders says the president is not responsible for sending suspicious packages any more than Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, was responsible for one of his supporters shooting up a GOP baseball practice last year in Virginia. The gunman, James Hodgkinson, had posted social media messages suggesting he targeted the team because of his political views.

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9:10 a.m.

One of the targets in a string of mail bombs is telling President Donald Trump to stop blaming others for the anger in society.

The tweet Thursday by former CIA head John Brennan came shortly after Trump tweeted that much of the anger in society is caused by the “purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media.”

Brennan, a frequent critic of Trump, said: “Look in the mirror. Your inflammatory rhetoric, insults, lies, & encouragement of physical violence are disgraceful. Clean up your act….try to act Presidential.”

He said “your critics will not be intimidated into silence.”

A package containing a pipe bomb was sent to Brennan but addressed to CNN’s New York office. No one was hurt in that attempted attack or other mail bombs aimed at critics of Trump.

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By DEWEY TERRILL
JC Post

JUNCTION CITY — Sheriff Anthony “Tony” Wolf made a first appearance in Geary County District Court on Thursday morning following his recent arrest.

Wolf was arrested Oct. 18 for felony theft for allegedly giving a county-owned firearm as a gift to a third party and for the misdemeanor allegation misuse of public funds, which asserted Wolf used public dollars in a manner not authorized by law.

Wolf was accompanied during his first appearance by defense attorney Michael Hinkin of the Manhattan law firm Clark and Platt. The prosecutor for the hearing was Assistant Dickinson County Attorney Daryl Hawkins.

A Nov. 29 status check hearing at 9 a.m. has been been scheduled for Wolf in district court. It was explained in court that the hearing will allow time for review of significant video and discovery in the case.

As a bond requirement, Wolf will continue on administrative leave from the sheriff’s position and cannot have physical or voluntary contact with law enforcement, sheriff’s department personnel, or witnesses in the case, with the exception of his ex-wife concerning their children.

Wolf waived the formal reading of the charges in the case.

Geary County Undersheriff Brad Clark, former sheriff of Greeley County in western Kansas, is overseeing the department in Wolf’s absence.

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a robbery and asking for help to locate suspects.

Just after 6:30p.m. Wednesday, police responded to a residence in the 2900 Block of North Holyoke, according to officer Paul Cruz.

A 73-year-old male victim told police an unknown suspect approached him in the Dillons Parking lot in the 3700 Block of North Woodlawn.  The suspect asked the victim for a ride to the 21^st and Rock area.  At that location, a second unknown suspect got in the victim’s vehicle and pointed a gun at him and demanded money, according to Cruz.

The first suspect exited the vehicle and the suspect with the gun forced the victim to drive the Merit Trust Credit Union at 22^nd and Rock.  The victim was forced to withdraw cash and give it to the suspect who fled on foot.

The first suspect is described as a black male in his 50s, 5-foot-5, 150 pounds. The second suspect is described as a light-skinned black male in his 40s, bald, 5-foot-5, 160 pounds and wearing a dress coat slacks and carrying a briefcase. Anyone with information is asked to call Wichita Police.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – A 22-year-old Kansas City man involved in a road rage incident that killed a woman has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Juan Sanchez was sentenced Tuesday for involuntary manslaughter in the January 2017 death of 35-year-old Shaymaa Saudi.

Court records indicate Sanchez was involved in a confrontation with Saudi’s husband. Prosecutors say Sanchez bumped Saudi’s vehicle, causing Saudi’s car to leave the road and hit a utility pole.

Saudi’s 4-year-old daughter was injured in the crash.

Sanchez fled, parked his truck at a relative’s house, removed the license plate and covered the truck with a tarp.

He was also sentenced to a concurrent sentence of four years for tampering with evidence.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A Kansas man who prosecutors say tried to purchase a child online for $500 and some meth has been sentenced to five years in prison.

News outlets report 49-year-old Ernest Anziana was sentenced Friday.

Franklin Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Zach Becker previously said Anziana was snared during an undercover investigation by the Kentucky Attorney General’s Cyber Crimes Branch, and there was no actual girl for sale. He said Anziana intended to have sex with the 11-year-old girl, impregnate her and keep that child.

Attorney General Andy Beshear’s office said Anziana offered $500; previous reports said he offered $250.

Kansas Department of Corrections records indicate Anziana was previously convicted of incest. He’ll be required to complete a sex offender treatment program upon release.

Northern Marianas slammed by typhoon

By CALEB JONES and JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — Residents of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands braced Thursday for months without electricity or running water after the islands were slammed with the strongest storm to hit any part of the U.S. this year.

Even after Super Typhoon Yutu had moved away from the U.S. territory in the Pacific, residents were warned by emergency management officials to stay indoors because downed power lines blocked roadways and winds were still strong enough to make driving dangerous.

Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, the commonwealth’s delegate to U.S. Congress, said the territory will need significant help to recover from the storm, which he said injured several people.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press from Saipan, Sablan said he has heard reports of injuries and that people are waiting at the island’s hospital to be treated. He could not provide further details or official estimates of casualties.

“There’s a lot of damage and destruction,” Sablan said. “It’s like a small war just passed through.”

The commonwealth’s emergency management agency was “deploying resources to clear our roadways so first responders can begin assisting residents who have lost their homes and for those who need transport to seek medical attention or transportation to the nearest shelter,” spokeswoman Nadine Deleon Guerrero said in a statement.

Sablan said the entire island sustained damage, but there are areas that are worse than others. He has not been able to reach officials on the territory’s neighbor islands of Tinian and Rota because phones and electricity are out.

“It’s going to take weeks probably to get electricity back to everybody,” he said.

Sablan says colleagues in Congress have reached out to offer help. He expects there will be a presidential disaster declaration put in place.

As the storm continues to move away from the Mariana Islands, Sablan said in a tweet Thursday evening that the typhoon warning for Saipan and Tinian was canceled.

The electricity on Saipan, the largest island in the commonwealth about 3,800 miles (6,115 kilometers) west of Hawaii, went out at 4 p.m. Wednesday, resident Glen Hunter said.

“We probably won’t have power for months,” he said, recalling how it took four months to restore electricity after Typhoon Soudelor in 2015.

Maximum sustained winds of 180 mph were recorded around the eye of the storm, which passed over Tinian and Saipan early Thursday local time, said Brandon Aydlett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

“At its peak, it felt like many trains running constant,” Hunter wrote in a Facebook message to The Associated Press. Hunter lives on Saipan, the largest island in the commonwealth, which is a U.S. territory about 3,800 miles west of Hawaii.

“At its peak, the wind was constant and the sound horrifying,” he wrote.

Tinian suffered a direct hit. Saipan and Tinian will be unrecognizable, Aydlett said, adding that the weather service received reports that Yutu’s catastrophic winds ripped roofs from homes and blew out windows.

“Any debris becomes shrapnel and deadly,” he said.

Fallen trees could isolate residents, and power and water outages could last weeks, the weather service warned.

It was still dark when Hunter peeked outside and saw his neighbor’s house, made of wood and tin, completely gone. A palm tree was uprooted.

Hunter, 45, has lived on Saipan since childhood and is accustomed to strong storms. “We are in typhoon alley,” he wrote, but added this is the worst he has experienced.

The roof flew off the second floor of Del Benson’s Saipan home.

“We didn’t sleep much,” he wrote to the AP in a Facebook message. “I went upstairs and the skylight blew out. Then the roof started to go. We got the kids downstairs.”

Recovery efforts on Saipan and Tinian will be slow, Aydlett said.

“This is the worst-case scenario. This is why the building codes in the Marianas are so tough,” he said. “This is going to be the storm which sets the scale for which future storms are compared to.”

Dean Sensui, vice chair for Hawaii on the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, was in Saipan for a council meeting. He hunkered down in his hotel room, where guests were told to remain indoors because winds were still strong Thursday morning.

“From around midnight the wind could be heard whipping by,” he said in a Facebook message. “Down at the restaurant it sounded like a Hollywood soundtrack with the intense rain and howling wind.”

Because he was in a solid hotel, it wasn’t as scary as living through Hurricane Iniki in 1992, which left the Hawaiian island of Kauai badly damaged, he said.

“The fact that we still have internet access proves how solid their infrastructure is,” he said. “Hawaii and others should study the Marianas to understand how to design and build communication grids that can withstand a storm.”

By JUANA SUMMERS
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — With just two weeks to go until the critical midterm elections, an overwhelming majority of Americans say the United States is greatly divided, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. Few Americans believe those stark divisions will get better anytime soon.

The newly released survey found that more than 8 in 10 Americans think the country is greatly divided about important values. Just 20 percent of Americans say they think the country will become less divided over the next few years, and 39 percent think things will get worse. A strong majority of Americans, 77 percent, say they are dissatisfied with the state of politics in the country.

The poll was conducted Oct. 11-14 in the final sprint to the midterm elections, in which President Donald Trump has been rallying his supporters to turn out to vote in November. Overall, 59 percent of Americans disapprove of how Trump, a Republican, is handling his job as president, while 40 percent of Americans approve.

How Americans view Trump divides along partisan lines, according to the poll. While 83 percent of Republicans approve of how Trump is handling his job, 92 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of independents say they do not approve.

According to the poll, nearly half of Americans say they aren’t hearing enough from campaigns about the issues that matter most to them. Fifty-four percent of Democrats and 44 percent of Republicans say they are hearing too little about key issues.

Overall, top issues for Americans include health care, education, economic growth, Social Security and crime, each of which was called very important by at least three-quarters of Americans.

Fifty-eight percent of Americans say they are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country, compared with 25 percent who say they are satisfied. But Americans are slightly more likely to be satisfied with the way things are going in their state or in their local community.

Majorities of Americans also say that they are dissatisfied with the gap between the rich and the poor, race relations and environmental conditions. But there are partisan splits. Eighty-three percent of Democrats are dissatisfied with the gap between the wealthy and the poor, compared with 43 percent of Republicans. Of environmental conditions, 75 percent of Democrats and 32 percent of Republicans say they are dissatisfied. And while 77 percent of Democrats say they’re dissatisfied with race relations, about 50 percent of Republicans say the same.

Democrats and Republicans also are divided on how important they consider each of those issues to be. About 8 in 10 Democrats but no more than a third of Republicans call income inequality, environmental issues or racism very important.

The past year has seen the United States reckon with accusations of sexual misconduct that ranged from inappropriate comments to rape and with a slew of high-profile men forced to resign or be fired. Overall, about 6 in 10 Americans said the issue of misconduct was important to them. But 73 percent of women said the issue was very important, compared with 51 percent of men. Democrats were much more likely than Republicans to call sexual misconduct important, 79 percent to 39 percent.

According to the poll, 43 percent of Americans somewhat or strongly disapprove of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court after a bruising confirmation fight that included allegations of excessive drinking and an accusation of sexual assault dating back to Kavanaugh’s teenage years. Thirty-five percent of Americans said they strongly or somewhat strongly approved of Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

Overall, 59 percent of Americans said Supreme Court appointments are very important now, which is similar to the percentage who said that in 2016. But two years ago, Democrats and Republicans were more similar in how important they saw these nominations. Now, there is a 20 percentage point gap: 73 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of Republicans say Supreme Court appointments are very important to them.
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The AP-NORC poll of 1,152 adults was conducted Oct. 11-14 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
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AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research: https://www.apnorc.org

FORT SCOTT, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas soldier who was killed in World War II has been laid to rest at Fort Scott National Cemetery, 74 years after his death.

Army Pfc. Leslie Shankles, of Arcadia, was buried with full military honors on Wednesday at the cemetery in Bourbon County. A graveside service took place in the cemetery’s committal shelter, with relatives, service members and veterans attending.

Shankles was born in Vernon County, Missouri, and later lived in Crawford County, Kansas.

He was killed during a mission to demolish the enemy’s above-ground bunkers in a forest near Germeter, Germany.

Shankles was officially declared dead on Oct. 14, 1944. His remains were discovered in 1947. They were identified in July, using a DNA sample from one of his nephews.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A man convicted in a 1993 carjacking and murder in Topeka has been granted parole, but he won’t get out of prison right away.

The Kansas Department of Corrections says 43-year-old Joshua Kaiser was granted parole recently in the death of 33-year-old Tim Riley of Topeka.

Corrections spokesman Samir Arif says Kaiser will still serve a 32-month sentence for an aggravated battery committed in Reno County.

Kaiser’s sentence for that crime is expected to end January 2021.

Kaiser and 42-year-old Jason Schaeffer, an inmate at Ellsworth Correctional Facility, were convicted of crimes linked to Riley’s murder.

Authorities said Riley was robbed of his car outside his central Topeka home, forced at gunpoint into the trunk and driven to another area, where he was fatally shot.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State officials say every room in one dormitory on the Manhattan campus will be inspected after residents reported at least 13 cases of mold this semester.

School officials said Wednesday the mold found in Ford Hall during recent inspections was inactive and not growing. But starting Thursday, the university will inspect the air handling system in all of Ford Hall’s rooms.

Ford Hall is an all-female dormitory that houses more than 500 students.

School officials could then clean the affected areas, repair damaged pipe insulation or treat the areas with mold-resistant paint.

MEDICINE LODGE, Kan. (AP) — A judge is waiting for written opinions before deciding whether there is sufficient evidence for a Kansas undersheriff to be tried for involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting a man with a beanbag round.

A final decision isn’t expected until February in the case against Barber County Undersheriff Virgil “Dusty” Brewer.

The involuntary manslaughter charge stems from the Oct. 6, 2017, death of Steven Myers, who was shot after leaving a shed. Authorities tracked Myers to the shed after he was accused of threatening people with a gun outside a bar in Sun City, about 110 miles west of Wichita.

A Kansas Bureau of Investigation special agent testified during the preliminary hearing that Brewer hadn’t received any training in the use of beanbag rounds.

PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. (AP) — Parole has been denied for a school janitor who subdued a 13-year-old girl with chloroform more than 40 years ago as she walked home from a suburban Kansas City pool and then killed her.

Kansas Prisoner Review Board has ruled that 71-year-old John Henry Horton will have to wait until 2023 for his next chance to be released from prison.

He wasn’t arrested until 2003 for the 1974 death of Liz Wilson. She vanished while cutting through the parking lot of Shawnee Mission East High School. Her remains were found six months later.

Horton was sentenced to life in prison. But life, under Kansas law in force at the time of Liz’s death, meant serving only 15 years before being eligible for parole.

GEARY COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 4:30p.m. Wednesday in Geary County.

The Kansas Highway patrol reported a 2000 Chevy Silverado driven by David L. Sutton, 70, Clay Center, was southbound on U.S. 77 a mile south of the Kansas 82 Junction.

The SUV traveled off the roadway to the right. The driver overcorrected, back on the roadway, traveled off the road to the west and rolled.

Sutton was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Penwell-Gabel Funeral Home. He was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP