Northeast
Whistleblower accuses acting Secret Service director of reducing counter surveillance before Trump shooting
BUTLER, Pa. – A whistleblower told Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley that Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. personally directed cuts to the Counter Surveillance Division (CSD), which led to the threat assessment team failing to perform its typical duties prior to the Butler, Pennsylvania rally.
The senator’s report comes after lawmakers grilled agency leaders on the mounting security failures at the Pennsylvania rally where former President Trump narrowly escaped assassination.
The whistleblower alleged that the Secret Service CSD, the division that performs threat assessment of event sites before the event occurs, did not perform its evaluation prior to the fateful rally in Western Pennsylvania on July 13.
“This is significant because CSD’s duties include evaluating potential security threats outside the security perimeter and mitigating those threats during the event,” Hawley wrote in a letter to Rowe on Thursday.
TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
Senators grilled Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate about the events leading up to the July 13 attempted assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The whistleblower further alleged that if the CSD performed their normal duties, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks “would have been handcuffed in the parking lot.”
SENATORS ACCUSE SECRET SERVICE OF TRYING TO MAKE LOCAL POLICE A ‘SCAPEGOAT’ FOLLOWING TRUMP RALLY SHOOTING
“The whistleblower claims that if personnel from CSD had been present at the rally, the gunman would have been handcuffed in the parking lot after being spotted with a rangefinder,” Hawley wrote to Rowe. “You acknowledged in your Senate testimony that the American Glass Research complex should have been included in the security perimeter for the Butler event.”
“The whistleblower alleges that because CSD was not present in Butler, this manifest shortcoming was never properly flagged or mitigated,” he said.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is covered by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Hawley’s office also revealed Rowe’s alleged personal involvement in cutting staffing to CSD.
“The whistleblower further alleges that you personally directed significant cuts to CSD, up to and including reducing the division’s manpower by twenty percent,” Hawley said. “You did not mention this in your Senate testimony when asked directly to explain manpower reductions.”
Sen. Josh Hawley released a report on Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr.’s alleged involvement in the staffing at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Rowe also contributed to a cultural problem at the organization, the whistleblower claimed, saying that retaliation was threatened to those who raised security concerns.
“The whistleblower also alleges retaliation against those within the Secret Service who expressed concern about the security at President Trump’s events,” Hawley said. “The whistleblower claims that following an event with the former President at a golf tournament in August of last year, Secret Service personnel present expressed serious concern that the Secret Service’s use of local law enforcement was not adequate for security needs: local law enforcement were not properly trained for the event or otherwise prepared to execute the tasks given them.”
“Further, Secret Service personnel expressed alarm that individuals were admitted to the event without vetting,” he said. “The whistleblower alleges that those who raised such concerns were retaliated against.”
TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT PUTS SECRET SERVICE FUNDING IN QUESTION: AMERICANS ‘DESERVE ANSWERS’
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said that they will respond to Hawley’s requests.
“We respect the Senator and the role of oversight and will respond to the request through official channels,” Guglielmi said.
An aerial image shows investigators surveying the area of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (Fox Flight Team )
Approximately 90 minutes passed between the time law enforcement officials first identified a suspicious person near the rally grounds.
Officials temporarily lost sight of the suspicious person, but then around 5:52 p.m. a sniper spotted Crooks, which was about 20 minutes before gunfire rang out.
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Pennsylvania
3 dead in apparent murder-suicide spanning from Pennsylvania to Illinois, police say
Two women are dead in Pennsylvania and a man is dead in Illinois after an apparent murder-suicide, police said on Wednesday.
According to a report from the Pennsylvania State Police, the investigation began in Hillside, Illinois, when police there were dispatched after a man reported two women dead in Jackson Township, Pennsylvania. Police said that when officers got to Hillside, about 15 miles west of Chicago, they found that the man had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
After identifying him, troopers said Hillside officers contacted police from Jackson Township to request a welfare check at the man’s home on Dior Drive, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh.
Police said officers used forced entry to get into the home and found two women dead from apparent gunshot wounds. It’s believed the two women were family members of the man who died by suicide in Illinois, investigators said.
Pennsylvania State Police said they’ve assumed control of the case and are “actively investigating” what happened surrounding the three deaths.
Police didn’t release any names, saying the process of formal identification and notification of next of kin hasn’t been completed. Sources told KDKA that the victims were a husband, wife and their daughter.
“At this time, investigators believe there is no ongoing threat to the public, and law enforcement is not searching for any additional individuals in connection with this incident,” police wrote in the public information release report. “This remains an active and ongoing investigation.”
State police didn’t release any other details on Wednesday but said more information will be made public when it’s available.
“My first reaction was shocked because this is such a close-knit neighborhood, and to think something that horrible could happen here is very tragic because they were such a good family,” neighbor Danielle Sporer said on Wednesday.
Rhode Island
RI Lottery Powerball, Numbers Midday winning numbers for March 4, 2026
The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 4, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from March 4 drawing
07-14-42-47-56, Powerball: 06, Power Play: 4
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Numbers numbers from March 4 drawing
Midday: 2-7-4-4
Evening: 7-6-0-2
Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Wild Money numbers from March 4 drawing
08-11-12-18-24, Extra: 15
Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 4 drawing
12-13-36-39-58, Bonus: 03
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes less than $600 can be claimed at any Rhode Island Lottery Retailer. Prizes of $600 and above must be claimed at Lottery Headquarters, 1425 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, Rhode Island 02920.
- Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners can decide on cash or annuity payment within 60 days after becoming entitled to the prize. The annuitized prize shall be paid in 30 graduated annual installments.
- Winners of the Millionaire for Life top prize of $1,000,000 a year for life and second prize of $100,000 a year for life can decide to collect the prize for a minimum of 20 years or take a lump sum cash payment.
When are the Rhode Island Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Midday): 1:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Evening): 7:29 p.m. ET daily.
- Wild Money: 7:29 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Rhode Island editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Vermont
19 Vermont school budgets fail as education leaders debate need for reform
MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Most Vermont school budgets passed Tuesday, but 19 districts and supervisory unions saw their spending plans rejected — an uptick from the nine that failed in 2025, though well below the 29 that failed in 2024.
Some education leaders say the results show communities are largely supportive of their schools.
“We’re starting to kind of equalize out again towards the normal trend of passage of school budgets each year,” said Chelsea Meyers of the Vermont Superintendents Association.
Sue Ceglowski of the Vermont School Boards Association said the results send a clear message. “Vermont taxpayers support Vermont’s public schools,” she said.
Meyers said the results also raise questions about the scope of education reform being considered in Montpelier. “If we are going to reform the system, it might not require sweeping broad changes as are being considered right now, but a more concise approach to consider that inequity,” she said.
But in districts where budgets failed, officials say structural changes are still needed. In Barre, where the budget failed, Barre Unified Union School District Board Chair Michael Boutin said the Legislature must, at a minimum, create a new funding formula. “We have to have that in order to avoid the huge increases and decreases — the huge increases that we’ve seen in the last couple years,” Boutin said.
He said the rise in school budgets is separate from why property owners are seeing sharp tax increases. The average state increase in school budgets is 4%, but the average property tax increase is 10%, driven by cost factors including health care. “There’s a complete disconnect, and that’s a product of the terrible system that we have in Vermont with our funding formula,” Boutin said.
Ceglowski says the state should address health care costs before moving forward with rapid education policy changes. “Addressing the rapid rise in the cost of school employees’ health benefits by ensuring a fair and balanced statewide bargaining process for those benefits,” she said.
The 19 districts that did not pass their budgets will need to draft new spending plans to present to voters, which often requires cuts. Twelve school districts are scheduled to vote at a later date.
Copyright 2026 WCAX. All rights reserved.
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