US Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was hospitalized Wednesday after feeling unwell during a Senate Democratic retreat.Getty Images
Fetterman is “in good spirits and talking with his staff and family” at the hospital, where he will remain overnight while doctors conduct further testing, his communications director, Joe Calvello, said in a Wednesday night statement.
The new assistive technology was installed despite the Senate’s strict rules banning members from using certain electronic devices, such as cellphones, on the chamber floor.
Russell Heller, 51, was found dead just after 7 a.m. in the Somerset parking lot of PSE&G, the local energy company where the Milford Republican worked.
Cops quickly IDed a former employee, Gary Curtis, 58, as a suspect — and found him dead in his car from a suspected self-inflicted gunshot around three and a half hours after the slaying.
New Jersey councilman Russell Heller, 51, was shot dead Wednesday.Facebook/ Russ Heller
The councilman’s murder came exactly a week after Sayreville Councilwoman Dwumfour — also a Republican — was gunned down in her SUV outside her home about 15 miles away. Her murder remains unsolved.
The director of the county board of commissioners, Zachary Rich, expressed the “collective shock and grief felt” over the “senseless shooting death.”
Eunice Dwumfour was shot and killed outside her home a week before.APThe councilman was also a dad.Facebook/ Russ Heller
“Russell was a dedicated and valuable member of the Milford and Hunterdon County community whose leadership and commitment will be sorely missed,” Rich wrote.
“More importantly, however, Russell was a loving and caring father to his daughter and a dedicated and loyal friend to all of those who had the pleasure of knowing him,” he said of the “tragic loss.”
PSE&G, meanwhile, said it was “offering support” to employees after the “tragic and disturbing event.”
PSE&G said it was “heartbroken” by the longtime employee’s murder.
The energy company said it was “heartbroken at the tragic death” of Heller, a senior distribution supervisor at the company.
“Russell was an admired employee and a supervisor with over 11 years of service with PSE&G. He will be sorely missed by all and our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time,” PSE&G said.
No mention was made of the suspect, Curtis, or when he left the company.
A migrant, who was allegedly shot and killed by anelderly Arizona rancherwhom a judge ordered held on $1 million bail despite pleas that his wife is left alone on their property near the U.S.-Mexico border, had been deported several times before the deadly encounter, according to records obtained by the Daily Mail.
George Alan Kelly, 73, was charged with first-degree murder in connection to the shooting of a man authorities believe to be 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Butimea, based on the Mexican voter registration card he carried. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office in Nogales, Arizona, said Cuen-Butimea’s body was found with one gunshot wound about 100 to 150 yards from Kelly’s home on Jan. 30.
The sheriff’s office confirmed Monday that Kelly had been arrested last week.
The shooting reportedly happened on Kelly’s Vermilion Mountain Ranch in Kino Springs.
According to Nogales International, Kelly pleaded with a judge to reduce his $1 million bail because his wife is now left to fend for herself on the cattle ranch they share. The judge declined Kelly's request.
"She's there by herself," Kelly reportedly said at a court hearing. "Nobody to take care of her, the livestock or the ranch. And I'm not going anywhere. I can't come up with a million dollars."
"Federal court records show Cuen-Butimea has had a history of illegal border crossings and deportations in and around Nogales, with the most recent documented case in 2016," the Daily Mail reported. Fox News Digital reached out to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office Thursday to confirm those records, but did not immediately hear back before publication.
The Mail reported that Santa Cruz Chief Deputy Gerardo Castillo declined to comment on Cuen-Butimea’s immigration status, claiming that it has not yet been confirmed.
The U.S.-Mexico border fence stretches into the countryside near Nogales, Arizona, on March 8, 2013.(John Moore/Getty Images)
Castillo reportedly said investigators are still working to confirm the circumstances of the shooting as well as a potential motive, adding that it does not appear Kelly knew the victim.
Citing a dispatch report, Nogales International reported that the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office first received a call about 2:40 p.m. Jan. 30 from U.S. Border Patrol agents relaying details of a "possible active shooter" in the area of Sagebrush Road. Border Patrol said someone at the scene, identified as "Allen," described a "group of people running" and said he was "unsure if he was getting shot at as well."
Border Patrol said a caller from George Kelly's ranch reported seeing a group of people running and did not know if he was being shot at hours before a migrant was found dead.(John Moore/Getty Images)
By about 5:50 p.m., sheriff’s deputies received another report about shots fired at the property. By 6:42 p.m., authorities recovered the body of a "deceased Hispanic male" and said he had no weapons on him at the time, Castillo told the outlet. Investigators reportedly collected two assault-style rifles from Kelly's property to determine if either was used in the shooting.
Kelly’s neighbor, Maria Castillo, told KOLD News 13 that it is not usual to see migrants crossing the border and entering town. Cuen-Butimea lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico.
Kelly, who remained held at Santa Cruz County Jail ahead of a Wednesday court appearance, reportedly doubles as a self-published fiction author writing about ranch life in the border region. One book available as an Amazon e-book is titled "Far Beyond the Border Fence" and is described as "bringing the Mexican border/drug conflict into the 21st century," according to the Mail.
Chase, the consumer and commercial bankingarm of JPMorgan, announced Wednesday it plans to hire upward of 500 bankers to service small businesses over the next few years to help customers navigate ongoing economic uncertainty.
The company said its new hiring commitment will boost its business banking workforce by 20% and will focus on building small business relationships through broader access to credit, advice and education.
"Small business owners are facing difficult challenges with persistent inflation, supply chain disruptions and expense pressure," Ben Walter, CEO of business banking at Chase, said in a statement. "We know that banks play a critical role in the long-term success of small businesses and their communities. This investment in our workforce is a testament to our commitment to our clients and our intent to support them through the business cycle."
Chase's announcement comes on the heels of JPMorgan's 2023 annual Business Leaders Outlook survey released last month showing nearly two-thirds of small and midsize U.S. businesses expect the country will enter a recession in the year ahead, citing inflation as their top concern.
The bank's hiring expansion also comes as other firms are cutting payrolls amid market volatility and concerns of a brewing "white-collar recession."
Wall Street titans Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have laid off thousands of workers over the past few months, along with other high-profile corporate cuts by tech firms like Amazon, Google parent Alphabet and Microsoft.
Despite growing layoffs, however, the U.S. showed strong job growth in January, adding 517,000 jobs in the best month for job creation since July.
