The good news: You will get a glorious extra hour of sleep. The bad: It’ll be dark as a pocket by late afternoon for the next few months in the U.S.
Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. local time next Sunday, Nov. 3, which means you should set your clock back an hour before you go to bed. Standard time will last until March 9 when we will again “spring forward” with the return of daylight saving time.
That spring time change can be tougher on your body. Darker mornings and lighter evenings can knock your internal body clock out of whack, making it harder to fall asleep on time for weeks or longer. Studies have even found an uptick in heart attacks and strokes right after the March time change.
“Fall back” should be easier. But it still may take a while to adjust your sleep habits, not to mention the downsides of leaving work in the dark or trying exercise while there’s still enough light. Some people with seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression usually linked to the shorter days and less sunlight of fall and winter, may struggle, too.
Some health groups, including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine, have said it’s time to do away with time switches and that sticking with standard time aligns better with the sun – and human biology.
Most countries do not observe daylight saving time. For those that do – mostly in Europe and North America – the date that clocks are changed varies.
Two states – Arizona and Hawaii – don’t change and stay on standard time.
Here’s what to know about the twice yearly ritual.
How the body reacts to light
The brain has a master clock that is set by exposure to sunlight and darkness. This circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-hour cycle that determines when we become sleepy and when we’re more alert. The patterns change with age, one reason that early-to-rise youngsters evolve into hard-to-wake teens.
Morning light resets the rhythm. By evening, levels of a hormone called melatonin begin to surge, triggering drowsiness. Too much light in the evening – that extra hour from daylight saving time – delays that surge and the cycle gets out of sync.
And that circadian clock affects more than sleep, also influencing things like heart rate, blood pressure, stress hormones and metabolism.
How do time changes affect sleep?
Even an hour change on the clock can throw off sleep schedules – because even though the clocks change, work and school start times stay the same.
That’s a problem because so many people are already sleep deprived. About 1 in 3 U.S. adults sleep less than the recommended seven-plus hours nightly, and more than half of U.S. teens don’t get the recommended eight-plus hours on weeknights.
Sleep deprivation is linked to heart disease, cognitive decline, obesity and numerous other problems.
How to prepare for the time change
Some people try to prepare for a time change jolt by changing their bed times little by little in the days before the change. There are ways to ease the adjustment, including getting more sunshine to help reset your circadian rhythm for healthful sleep.
Will the U.S. ever get rid of the time change?
Lawmakers occasionally propose getting rid of the time change altogether. The most prominent recent attempt, a now-stalled bipartisan bill named the Sunshine Protection Act, proposes making daylight saving time permanent. Health experts say the lawmakers have it backward – standard time should be made permanent.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — A woman says the sword-wielding man accused of setting fire to her West Harris County home remained defiant when confronted.
Jackie Gray said her cameras detected motion around 4 p.m. Wednesday, prompting her to go outside to investigate.
Surveillance footage shows Gray’s neighbor, Phi Le Nguyen, walking up to her house with a gasoline can.
Gray said she found the can smoking, propped up against the side of her house.
“I just saw you and I got cameras,” Gray is heard telling the suspect.
“Yeah? What you gonna do?” he retorts.
Before going to Gray’s home, video shows Nguyen walking to a neighbor’s house with a gasoline can.
That house was also set on fire.
Both Gray and her neighbor managed to put the fires out, but surveillance footage shows Nguyen returning to Gray’s house and pouring gasoline on her driveway in a possible attempt to start a second fire.
“He actually started pouring it up underneath my truck. Then, that’s when he started pouring it all in front of the driveway and everything else,” Gray said.
When he’s done, he can be seen standing at the foot of Gray’s driveway. At one point, he swung his sword, which Gray said she almost fell victim to.
“He was coming with the sword kind of up in his hand, kind of like he was coming to charge at me,” she said.
When Harris County sheriff’s deputies arrived, they reported being treated to the same hospitality.
Nguyen was charged with aggravated assault for threatening both Gray and a deputy.
“He goes into his garage still kind of swinging at the police officers, and that’s when they end up tasing him down,” Gray said.
Nguyen’s bond has upped to $200,000 since Friday. He’s due in court Monday morning.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — This well above normal stretch of warm weather will take us all the way through the end of the month, but there is hope for some rain before October is over.
It’ll be a warm and muggy Monday for SE Texas. Temperatures will climb to near 90 degrees once again. There is also the chance for an isolated shower southwest counties near Matagorda Bay during the afternoon and evening. By Tuesday the chance for a hit or miss shower spread to the rest of Southeast Texas.
When will rain chances return?
Rain chances gradually climb this week and humidity levels increase with stronger onshore flow expected to roll in from the Gulf. There’s a 10% chance for a spot shower Monday and Tuesday. By Wednesday the combination of deep tropical moisture from over the Gulf plus an approaching front could lead to a few more showers developing throughout the day Wednesday. The best chance though for rain this week is on Halloween with scattered showers and even storms possible Thursday evening.
Speaking of Halloween, will the weather be a trick or a treat?
That depends on your perspective! We desperately need some rain, and rain chances are back on the final day of October. It will almost certainly be a warm, humid Halloween with a 60% chance for showers and thunderstorms. Low temperatures will start off in the low 70s, then warm into the mid 80s during the afternoon. It is too early to say with any certainty if there will be rain around at Trick-or-Treat time, so stay tuned as we gain more clarity on the timing of the rain.
What are you tracking in the tropics?
There is now a region in the southwestern Caribbean that has 40% development odds over the next 7 days. While we’ll be keeping a close eye on this region for any storms, the general pattern over Texas and the Gulf should steer any potential storms away from us over the next two weeks. Head to our daily Tropical Update page for a complete look at what we’re covering in the tropics.
Vice President Kamala Harris has regained a slight lead among likely voters nationally in the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll, albeit with the race close enough to leave the outcome of the 2024 presidential election to the uncertainties of the Electoral College.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at James R. Hallford Stadium, Oct. 24, 2024, in Clarkston, Ga. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/APhttps://amp.cntxcdm.com/amp-embed/index.html?playerId=ps_94a77ea9-06c2-4b60-a975-daa5b45dbe79&url=https%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2Famp%2FPolitics%2Fharris-regains-slight-lead-nationally-electoral-college-holds%2Fstory%3Fid%3D115083875&isSafariOrIos=true
Turnout is key. Just 2 percentage points divide Harris and Donald Trump among all registered voters, 49-47%. This goes to a slight Harris advantage among likely voters, 51-47%, with some pro-Harris groups showing a bit more propensity to vote.
Vote Preferences. Among likely votersABC News/Ipsos and ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos polls
Compared with earlier this month, Harris has regained a more customary Democratic advantage among Hispanic people and widened her advantage among suburban women, while remaining strong in core groups including Black people. Trump pushes back in rural areas and among non-college white men, and runs competitively among younger men.
See PDF for full results.https://bf264d69baeabb51fb611821e1f58d72.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html?n=0
Issues
The candidates divide the pie in trust to handle top issues. Trump’s best include immigration, with a 12-point advantage over Harris among registered voters; the economy overall, +8 points; inflation, +7; and the conflict in the Middle East, also +7. Harris responds with double-digit leads in trust to handle abortion (+15) and health care (+10); she’s also 8 points ahead in trust to handle “protecting American democracy” and +6 on helping the middle class.
The economy and inflation continue as prominent concerns, with 90% and 85% of registered voters, respectively, calling these highly important in their vote. But this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, with fieldwork by Ipsos, finds a shift in intensity: The shares assigning topmost importance to the economy or inflation, calling them “one of the single most important issues” in their vote, have declined by 7 points apiece since September.
Issue Importance and Trust. Among registered votersABC NEWS/IPSOS POLL
Any shift from economic concerns likely would aid Harris, given her shortfall in trust to handle the issue and dissatisfaction with the Biden administration’s economic performance. President Joe Biden labors with just a 36% job approval rating; differentiating herself from him has been a challenge for Harris. She has 95% support among registered voters who approve of Biden’s job performance, compared with 16% among the majority who disapprove.
Notably, as well, protecting democracy ranks nearly as high as inflation in importance, cited by 81%. That’s well above the importance of immigration, which Trump has been hitting hard, and abortion, a central focus for Harris. But these reflect partisan realities: Democrats are far more apt than others to pick abortion as a top issue; Republicans, to select immigration.
Issue Importance by Partisanship. Among registered votersABC NEWS/IPSOS POLL
Attributes
While they battle on issues, Harris continues to lead Trump on most personal attributes. Assessed head-to-head, Harris leads Trump by 11 points, 49-38%, in being seen as having the mental sharpness it takes to serve effectively as president — a measure on which Trump had led Biden by 31 points.
Harris’ advantage widens to 29 points on having the physical health to serve effectively; she’s also more apt than Trump to be seen as honest and trustworthy, by 15 points; to understand the problems of people like you, by 10 points; and to share your personal values, by 8 points.
That said, there is a remaining personal attribute on which Trump runs essentially evenly with Harris, one that may matter in an unstable world: being trusted in a crisis. Forty-three percent pick Harris on this, 41%, Trump.
Preference on Personal Attributes. Among registered votersABC NEWS/IPSOS POLL
These aren’t the only differences in views of the candidates’ attributes. As reported Friday, registered voters are twice as likely to call Trump a fascist as to say this about Harris, and 16 points more likely to think he often says things that are not true. But they’re also 5 points more likely to think Harris rather than Trump makes proposals just to win votes, not that she intends to carry out.
Voter groups
Eight percent of adults (and 10% of registered voters) say they’ve already voted (as of early last week); a disproportionately Democratic group, they went 62-33% for Harris.
This poll finds a notable shift in vote preferences among Hispanic people, 12% of likely voters and a potentially important group given the close contest, especially in the battleground states of Arizona and Nevada. Biden won Hispanic people by 33 points in 2020, per the ABC News exit poll, and Harris leads in this group by a similar 30 points now, 64-34% — compared with 55-43% in early October.
Vote by GroupABC News/Ipsos and 2020 ABC News exit polls
Trump has some offsets to Harris’ gain among Hispanic people. He now is +41 points among white men without college degrees, essentially matching his showing in this group in the 2020 ABC News exit poll, and also +41 points among rural voters.
Additionally, men younger than 40 were +6 points for Harris early this month; now they’re +5 for Trump. This change is not statistically significant, nor is the difference between the candidates, given sample sizes. Nonetheless, the result stands in striking contrast to preferences among women younger than 40, who favor Harris by a 34-point margin.
Trump is a slight +6 among men overall, Harris +14 among women – almost exactly the average gender gap in presidential elections since 1996. This includes a 19-point lead for Harris among suburban women, vs. a slight 10-point margin for her in this group earlier in October.
Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a Turning Point Action campaign rally, Oct. 24, 2024, in Las Vegas.Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The longstanding gender gap in presidential preference reflects the fact that women are more apt than men to be Democrats — by 13 points among likely voters in this poll. This also appears in issue importance, with women more apt than men, by double digits, to pick both abortion and health care as top issues in their vote choice.
Many of these results among groups are similar to those in the 2020 exit poll. In one difference, Harris outperforms Biden four years ago among college-educated white women. She’s also strong among college graduates overall.
Another difference, though, is an important one for Trump: He’s essentially even with Harris among independents, a group Biden won by 13 points in 2020, vs. a scant Harris +1 now. The candidate who’s won independents has won nine of the last 12 presidential elections.
Turnout
Overall vote preferences are essentially even among the general population (Harris +1) and registered voters (Harris +2) alike. As noted, this inches to a slight Harris +4 among likely voters.
The shift toward Harris among likely voters relies in part on consolidated support among Democratic base groups, notably Black people and liberals. While Harris has a 70-point advantage among all Black people, that widens to 83 points among Black likely voters, 90-7%. Ninety-six percent of liberal likely voters support Harris, vs. 91% of liberals overall. Additionally, she goes from 53% support among all suburban women to 59% among those likely to vote. Trump, by contrast, doesn’t see significant bumps in support among likely voters.
Supporters hold up signs as Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during her campaign rally along with former U.S. President Barack Obama in Atlanta, Oct. 24, 2024. Megan Varner/Reuters
Identifying likely voters entails estimation, and it can be a moving target as the campaigns work overtime to motivate turnout for their candidate and demotivate it for their opponent.
In one potential indicator of turnout, the candidates are close in voter enthusiasm — 88% of Harris supporters are enthusiastic about her, as are 85% of Trump’s about him. In another, Harris maintains a slight edge in voter contact, with Americans overall 5 points more apt to have been contacted by her campaign than by Trump’s. In the seven battleground states, though, it’s a non-significant 4 points — and the 50-47% race there remains the equivalent of a dead heat.
Methodology
This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted online via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel® Oct. 18-22, 2024, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 2,808 adults, including 2,392 registered voters and 1,913 likely voters. Partisan divisions among all adults are 29-29-30%, Democrats-Republicans-independents; 32-32-29% among registered voters; and 35-35-27% among likely voters.
Results have a margin of sampling error of 2 percentage points, including the design effect, for the full sample and for registered voters, 2.5 points for likely voters and 5.5 points for likely voters in the battleground states, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Sampling error is not the only source of differences in polls.
The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates, with sampling and data collection by Ipsos. See details on ABC News survey methodology here.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Hobby Airport announced flight delays after an Alert II was signaled after an aircraft experienced “hot brakes” on the runway on Saturday evening.
The video above is from ABC13’s 24/7 livestream.
According to the airport, ARFF and airport ops have responded to the alert to tow the aircraft off the runway.
Airport officials said the incident has resulted in flight diversions to nearby cities like Austin and flight delays.
Flights diverted will be arriving later in the night, airport officials said.
At 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, the airport reported an average departure delay of 1 hour and 24 minutes, and it is expected to continue increasing.
An Olympic breakdancer, a Chipotle burrito and a pop star walk into a bar.
This may sound like the start to a bad joke, but it could be a scene unfolding across the U.S. on October 31, according to online search data.
Google’s annual “Frightgeist” list has unveiled 25 costume ideas the tech giant says are “trending” in the build-up to Halloween. The list, based on comparisons of year-on-year search data from September, is also something of a who’s who of pop culture in 2024.
Top of this year’s list is Bob, a shrunken-headed ghost from the recent “Beetlejuice” sequel. Viral breakdancer Raygun took second place, with Google noting a spike in searches for “green and yellow track suit” and “green track pants,” as worn during the Australian’s controversial Olympics performance. Third place went to CatNap, the cat-like monster from the popular video game series “Poppy Playtime.”
Also in the top 10 were Deadpool’s female counterpart Lady Deadpool and singer Sabrina Carpenter, whose cut-out heart corset has spiked in searches this year, according to Google Trends.
Elsewhere, a total of five characters from Pixar’s “Inside Out” movies – the anthropomorphized emotions Envy, Anger, Disgust, Anxiety and Joy – featured in the top 25. So, too, did Chipotle burritos (11th), Sonic’s nemesis Shadow the Hedgehog (20th), rapper Soulja Boy (24th) and three other characters from “Beetlejuice.” (Both “Beetlejuice” movies were released by Warner Bros., which is owned by CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.)
Google also looked at trending kids’ costumes (topped by Red from Disney’s “Descendants”), pet costumes (“Dogpool”) and costume pairs (Deadpool and Wolverine).
This year’s “Frightgeist” also featured a US-wide costume map, showing local preferences that were not always reflected in the national data. Dolly Parton, for instance, was the top trending costume in Tampa, Florida and Rapid City, South Dakota, while “Anchorman” character Ron Burgundy topped the list in Marquette, Michigan.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A type of respiratory tract infection is on the rise in children and affecting mainly those ages 2 to even 17 years old, according to the CDC.
That infection is causing what’s called ‘Mycoplasma pneumonia’, which many actually know as “walking pneumonia.” The rate of cases at emergency rooms had been increasing over the past six months with the peak hitting in August.
Dr. Alexis Monique Javier from Memorial Hermann explained what symptoms to look out for.
“They may have fever. They may have trouble breathing, coughing, and wheezing,” Javier said. “Difficulty breathing in kids is difficult to determine, especially given their age. So if your child is breathing faster than usual, you see their ribs getting sucked in, or neck muscles sucked in, or see that nose is flaring, then those are signs to go to urgent care or emergency room.”
To put this into perspective, according to the CDC, the percentage of diagnoses among kids from late March to early October showed an increase from 1.0% to 7.2%. This was among children ages 2 to 4 years old, and for those 5 to 17 years old, cases jumped from 3.6% to 7.4%. The CDC is also pointing out that this type of bacteria, historically, has not been the leading cause of pneumonia in kids ages 2 to 4, so it’s unclear what is causing this spike.
Dr. Javier also explained how this can spread from person to person.
“Mycoplasma pneumonia is spread through respiratory droplets,” Dr. Javier said.
So the best way to try to prevent it is going back to the basics. Wash your hands for 20 seconds and tell your kids to sing the alphabet two times. Also, don’t touch your face or eyes after touching surfaces. Sneeze or cough into your elbow and wear a mask if you are sick.
Dr. Javier also added that eating a diet rich in fruits and veggies should boost your immune system. Try to get enough sleep and stay active. All of that combined should keep you and your kids healthy this season.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — A 30-year-old mother of five fought back tears in court as a Harris County Judge said she isn’t allowed unsupervised contact with her children after being charged with child endangerment.
Shelbi Rossow was arrested after deputies say five of her kids were found alone in an abandoned trailer in Highlands. Court documents reveal the children were under-clothed, hungry, and thirsty.
The youngest is just 6 years old, and the oldest is 12.
“It killed us. We were all close to the kids. The kids would run through the apartment complex. They would play, they’d play with my so,” Kara Leblanc said.
Kara Leblanc used to live near Rossow at an apartment complex in Baytown. She said she was constantly worried about the children.
“She was drugged out all of the time,” Leblanc said.
Court records show Rossow pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance last year.
Authorities have not revealed how long Rossow was gone or who tipped them off about her alleged absence, but Leblanc told ABC13 it wasn’t the first time.
“That was not abnormal. She would leave the kids alone on a regular basis. They would sit on the front porch and cry because they didn’t have food,” Leblanc said.
Leblanc hopes Rossow gets the help she needs, so the kids can live a healthy and safe life.
I want everybody to turn their life around. I want her to get her kids back, but I also don’t want her on drugs when she does it.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — Harris County is moving forward with a program that promises free money to residents.
The Community Prosperity Program will provide select residents with a preloaded debit card for housing, medical care, groceries, and other essential needs.
This new guaranteed income program comes after the state filed a restraining order against a previous version, called “Uplift,” which sent out monthly $500 payments to low-income residents.
The state blocked Uplift, claiming it violated a law that prohibits giving away public money as gifts.
The state also attempted to stop the Community Prosperity Program, but the 165th District Court denied the request after reviewing arguments from the Texas Attorney General’s Office and the Harris County Attorney’s Office.
The new program will financially support select families living at or below 200% of the federal poverty line.
Although Uplift had fewer spending restrictions, the Texas Supreme Court influenced new limitations, restricting participant purchases to essential needs.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Houston Police Department is warning you not to try to retrieve your stolen items. They are experiencing staffing issues, which means not every crime will be evaluated.
Christian Briones recently had his car stolen and now wonders if he will ever get it back.
“It feels like we are on our own,” Briones said.
Briones went for an early Monday morning workout and returned to his stolen car. Thankfully, his wallet, which contained an Apple Air Tag, was inside the vehicle.
“I put it on my wallet just in case. I feel like people steal wallets all the time, or you might lose it somewhere,” Briones said.
He tracked the Air Tag to a home in HPD jurisdiction and called the police. He waited down the block to point the house out to officers. After ten hours, he said he finally received a call from the police asking if he still wanted help.
” It’s obvious. What do you think? I’m here carless, and of course, I need help,” Briones said.
Briones said that, as far as he knew, the police still hadn’t done anything in his case. In a recent PSA, HPD said that people tracking their stolen property is on the rise, and they want people to stop.
“Avoid confronting the suspect even if you know who it is. Stepping into a volatile situation can make things worse,” the HPD video advises.
It’s safe, smart advice people should follow, but those ABC13 talked to aren’t confident they’ll ever get their stuff back if they follow the advice.
” I feel like it’s pointless at this point. I feel like it ain’t going to happen,” Briones said.
Former acting HPD Chief Larry Satterwhite said earlier this year, during the ongoing suspended case scandal, that they do not have the manpower to investigate all property crimes.
“We don’t have enough to do all crimes,” Satterwhite said.
According to HPD data, in 2023, 99,123 property crimes were reported, but only 5,664, or about 5.7%, were cleared. So far this year, there have been 68 671 property crime reports, but only 3,648, or about 5.3%, have been cleared.
ABC13 asked HPD about cases they couldn’t investigate, but they did not answer. They sent only a statement that said:
“The Houston Police Department takes every crime in the city seriously. While we prioritize protecting lives and reducing violent crime, we recognize the vast majority of crimes reported to HPD are property crimes. Like many law enforcement agencies, HPD faces staffing challenges in patrol and investigations, which are well-documented and directly impact clearance rates. To address these challenges, we leverage technology and actively collaborate with other agencies and our community to maximize our resources. Prevention is crucial, and we encourage citizens to report any crime.”
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