The Latest: Olga bringing heavy rains to central Gulf Coast
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The Latest on tropical weather in the South (all times local):
10:10 p.m.
Olga has been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone as it continues churning toward the Gulf Coast.
The National Hurricane Center said Friday night that the cyclone will bring heavy rain and possibly flash floods across the central Gulf Coast and parts of the Lower Mississippi Valley and western Tennessee Valley.
Olga had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kph) and was centered about 275 miles (443 kilometers) south-southeast of Lake Charles, Louisiana on Friday night. It was moving north-northeast at 17 mph (27 kph).
It’s expected to weaken as it moves over land on Saturday morning.
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4:55 p.m.
A tornado has been reported on the ground in southwestern Alabama.
The National Weather Service on Friday afternoon issued a tornado warning for Mobile County.
The National Weather Service in Mobile tweeted that a there was a large and dangerous” tornado on the ground near Semmes, Alabama and people should seek shelter immediately. A second possible tornado was in Washington County.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
WKRG reported that viewers sent in video of what appeared to be a large tornado on the ground.
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3:45 p.m.
Forecasters say Tropical Storm Olga has formed in the Gulf of Mexico while Tropical Storm Pablo has formed in the northeast Atlantic.
On Friday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said the storm is expected to soon merge with a cold front and become a post-tropical low with gale force winds.
The storm has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (64 kph) and was centered about 260 miles (418 kilometers) south of Lake Charles, Louisiana. It’s moving north-northeast at 18 mph (29 kph).
Forecasters expect the storm’s center to move over the northern Gulf coast late Friday or early Saturday.
No coastal tropical cyclone watches or warnings are currently in effect.
Officials say Tropical Storm Pablo is a small storm that is moving east-southeast. There are no coastal tropical cyclone watches or warnings in effect.
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10:45 a.m.
Parts of the drought-parched South are under flood watches and warnings with forecasters saying as much as 10 inches of rain could fall.
The National Weather service says an advancing cold front will collide with a weather disturbance that became a tropical depression early Friday in the Gulf of Mexico.
The National Hurricane Center said the storm’s center was 320 miles (515 kilometers) south-southwest of Lake Charles, Louisiana. It had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph).
Forecasters say coastal Louisiana could receive as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain Friday and Saturday; 6 inches (15 centimeters) was possible across a wide section of Mississippi.
Rainfall totals ranging from 1 to 4 inches (2.5 to 10 centimeters) are possible from Alabama to South Carolina.

2 dead, 14 injured after shooting at Texas homecoming party
By JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press
GREENVILLE, Texas (AP) — A gunman opened fire at an off-campus party for a nearby Texas college, leaving two people dead and 14 injured before he escaped in the ensuing chaos, a sheriff said Sunday.
Authorities believe the shooter may have been targeting just one person at the party of about 750 people outside Greenville, 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of a satellite campus for Texas A&M University, and that others may have been shot at random, Hunt County Sheriff Randy Meeks said.
The shooting took place around midnight Saturday at what Meeks described as a Halloween and homecoming party for Texas A&M University-Commerce, though officials have said it was not a school-sanctioned event. Meeks described “complete chaos” after the shots rang out, with hundreds of people fleeing, including the gunman. The injured included four people who did not have gunshot wounds but who were hurt in the melee, he said.
Authorities believe there was one male shooter who entered the venue through the back door and began firing with a handgun, Meeks said. Authorities were still looking for the suspect and did not yet know who he was or have a description of him.
The two people killed were both males, Meeks said, but he did not know if they were A&M-Commerce students. He said he believed four or five students may have been among those injured and estimated that most of the people at the party were in their late teens and early 20s. Some of the partygoers were wearing costumes, he said.
Word of the shooting spread online overnight, with many sharing on social media graphic video purported to show seriously wounded victims lying on the ground as crying and screaming could be heard in the background.
“I just briefly saw one that was a very graphic video,” Meeks said. “I don’t know that’s going to help anything at all.”
Meeks said the party was held at a facility called The Party Venue and that the owner was cooperating with authorities. The venue sits along a highway in a rural area some 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) from the Greenville city limits. Meeks said he was not aware of any surveillance video in the area.
Outside the venue Sunday, a few Halloween masks and other debris were strewn about. Pools of blood could be seen on the ground.
A patrol sergeant and deputy were at the venue when the shooting happened, having been called there for complaints about illegal parking, Meeks said. An off-duty Farmersville police officer was also there, working as security for the party.
Authorities were questioning someone who appeared to be intoxicated when they heard gunshots from the back of the building, Meeks said.
Meeks praised the patrol sergeant and deputy, saying the sergeant quickly determined that one of gunshot victims had life-threatening injuries and transported that person to a hospital, while the deputy triaged others until paramedics arrived.
The shooting came as Texas A&M University-Commerce, east of Dallas, celebrated homecoming weekend. According to its website, it is the second-largest university in the Texas A&M University System. The school was founded in 1889 and was known by several names, including East Texas State University, before joining the Texas A&M system in 1996. The university has around 6,000 undergraduate students and 4,000 graduate students.
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Associated Press writer Mallika Sen in New York contributed to this report.

PennDOT continues to remove political signs from off-ramps along Interstate 376 this week, citing a federal law. PennDOT workers are removing signs that are not at least 5-feet from the right-of-way or that are erected along the interstates or their off-ramps. Officials from both the Democratic Party of Beaver County and the Republican Committee of Beaver County confirmed that their candidates noticed signs had been removed near the Hopewell Township and Aliquippa exits on Tuesday. Beaver County Radio News Corresponent Sandy Giordano spoke with the Beaver County Democratic Chairman and County Sheriff Tony Guy to get their reaction to the removal of those signs…

A man will stand trial for allegedly jumping on a teen while working as a caregiver at a New Brighton facility for physically and developmentally disabled people. Tyler Smith was in court today for a preliminary hearing at the Beaver County Courthouse. He is accused of jumping on top of a sleeping 13-year-old and injuring the teen’s head and neck while working at the McGuire Memorial Home in New Brighton. According to Smith’s attorney, two charges were withdrawn because of the statute of limitations. His only remaining charge is endangering the welfare of children. Investigators uncovered the evidence against Smith during a different investigation into another former caregiver. Last year, criminal charges were filed against Zachary Dinell. He is accused of taking hundreds of nude pictures and videos of adults and children. A co-worker also accused Dinell of rape. Smith’s trial is scheduled to start next spring.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says “really bad things” will come from a Justice Department criminal investigation into the origins of the Russia probe. Trump says the now-concluded special counsel probe into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election was a “hoax” and that “terrible things went on for our country.” He says he’s leaving the matter to Attorney General William Barr. Barr had enlisted the U.S. attorney in Connecticut to conduct an administrative review of the Russia probe.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is pushing back against criticism it lacks a coordinated effort to fight House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry and could do a better job delivering its message. White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham told Fox News Channel on Thursday it’s difficult “to message anything that’s going on behind closed doors” and it’s like “fighting a ghost.” The House impeachment inquiry is examining whether President Donald Trump withheld military aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — Bernie Sanders insists he feels better than ever less than a month after heart surgery, but his return to the campaign trail this week sparked new questions about the unusually old age of the Democratic Party’s leading 2020 presidential candidates. The 78-year-old Sanders and 76-year-old Joe Biden suggest their age isn’t a major issue, but voters aren’t so sure. Gordon Lundberg is a 71-year-old retired Lutheran pastor from Ames, Iowa, and says candidates’ health is a key issue for him.

CHICAGO (AP) — Questions about what motivated an abortion doctor to keep over 2,000 sets of fetal remains at his Chicago-area home may never be fully answered. The remains were discovered stacked in Urlich Klopfer’s garage after he died at age 79 on Sept. 3. Was he a hoarder? Was he trying to save on disposal costs? Or was he hoping to torment his enemies after his death? He may have taken the answer to his grave.