COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former South Carolina Sen. Kay Patterson, who rose from cleaning offices at the segregated Statehouse to serving as a state legislator for over 30 years died Friday. He was 93.

The South Carolina Democratic Party announced Patterson’s death saying he “left an indelible mark on our state. Senator Patterson commanded everyone’s attention with his wit and wisdom.”

The statement did not list a cause of death.

Patterson was born in 1931 in Darlington County and raised by his grandmothers. They recalled his hardheaded spirit early, recommending he not take jobs as a golf caddy or shoe shiner because he was likely to mouth off to white people in segregated 1940s South Carolina and get in trouble.

Instead, Patterson served in the military and then got his teaching degree through the GI Bill at Allen University. While in college, he cleaned offices at the segregated capitol where he and other Black people couldn’t be unless they were working.

“When I was a janitor, Black people couldn’t go in the Statehouse,” Patterson said in a 2004 interview with the University of South Carolina. “And then one day I came back down here as a member of the House and then in ’84, I came back sitting in the Senate as a senator. Now that’s a hell of a long way to come.”

Patterson spent 30 years in education and was elected to the South Carolina House in 1974 and the Senate 10 years later after U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn urged him to run for the upper chamber seat.

In a statement, Clyburn called Patterson “a trusted leader, a tireless champion for civil rights, and a treasured friend. He was a person of strength, determination, wisdom, and a long proponent of removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Statehouse dome.”

Patterson was also the first Black person to serve on the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees since Reconstruction.

Patterson was a key member of both the House and Senate, He served on the budget committees in both chambers and…

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LAS VEGAS — A slate of six Nevada Republicans have again been charged with submitting a bogus certificate to Congress that declared Donald Trump the winner of the presidential battleground’s 2020 election.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced Thursday that the state’s fake electors case had been revived in Carson City, the capital, where he filed a new complaint this week charging the defendants with “uttering a forged instrument,” a felony. The original indictment was dismissed earlier this year after a state judge ruled that Clark County, the state’s most populous county and home to Las Vegas, was the wrong venue for the case.

Ford, a Democrat, said the new case was filed as a precaution to avoid the statute of limitations expiring while the Nevada Supreme Court weighs his appeal of the judge’s ruling.

“While we disagree with the finding of improper venue and will continue to seek to overturn it, we are preserving our legal rights in order to ensure that these fake electors do not escape justice,” Ford said. “The actions the fake electors undertook in 2020 violated Nevada criminal law and were direct attempts to both sow doubt in our democracy and undermine the results of a free and fair election. Justice requires that these actions not go unpunished.”

Officials have said it was part of a larger scheme across seven battleground states to keep Trump in the White House after losing to Democrat Joe Biden. Criminal cases have also been brought in Michigan, Georgia and Arizona.

Trump lost in 2020 to Biden by more than 30,000 votes in Nevada. An investigation by then-Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican, found no credible evidence of widespread voter fraud in the state.

The defendants are state GOP chair Michael McDonald; Clark County GOP chair Jesse Law; national party committee member Jim DeGraffenreid; national and Douglas County committee member Shawn Meehan; Storey County clerk Jim Hindle; and Eileen Rice, a party member from…

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WASHINGTON — Donald Trump on Sunday called for an immediate cease-fire in Russia’s war with Ukraine and the president-elect renewed warnings that he was open to pulling the United States out of NATO.

Trump made his cease-fire proposal after a weekend meeting in Paris with French and Ukrainian leaders, claiming in a social media post that Kyiv “would like to make a deal” to end the more than 1,000-day war. The Kremlin responded that it was open to negotiations, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautioned that any deal would have to pave the way to a lasting peace.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Russia and Ukraine have each lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers in a war that “should never have started.”

“There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed,” Trump said. He urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to act to bring an end to the fighting.

Trump’s remarks came after the meeting Saturday with Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron that Zelenskyy described as “constructive.”

In a post Sunday on the Telegram messaging app, Zelenskyy cautioned that Ukraine needs a “just and robust peace, that Russians will not destroy within a few years.”

“When we talk about an effective peace with Russia, we must talk first of all about effective peace guarantees. Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else. Russia brought war to our land,” Zelenskyy said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Moscow’s long-standing message that it is open to talks with Ukraine. He referenced a decree by Zelenskyy from October 2022 that formally declared the prospect of any talks “impossible” as long as Putin was the…

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Oregon remained the unanimous No. 1 team in The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll Sunday after its close call at Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Alabama each jumped up two spots and Georgia returned to the top 10. LSU is unranked for the first time in two years.

The unbeaten Ducks are atop the AP Top 25 for the fifth straight week, passing Texas as the No. 1 team for the most polls this season. They received all 62 first-place votes for the third week in a row after scoring their fewest points in 37 games in the 16-13 win over Wisconsin.

Oregon also holds the top spot in the College Football Playoff rankings and will attempt to complete its first perfect regular season since 2010 when it hosts Washington in two weeks.

The Ducks were followed in the AP poll by No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Penn State and No. 5 Indiana for the second straight week. The top five could be due for a shakeup this week with Indiana visiting Ohio State for one of the most anticipated games of the season.

Notre Dame, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee rounded out the top 10. Georgia got a three-rung promotion to No. 8 with its 31-17 win over Tennessee.

Mississippi, which was idle Saturday, rose one spot and Tennessee dropped four but stayed in the top 10.

The Big Ten again held four of the top five spots, and the Southeastern Conference had five of the top 10.

BYU’s 17-13 home loss to Kansas dropped the Cougars from No. 7 to No. 14 and put them in a first-place tie with Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes in the Big 12. The Buffs are No. 16.

A season-high four Group of Five teams are in the Top 25. No. 12 Boise State remains the highest ranked of those programs and first in line for the guaranteed playoff spot. No. 23 UNLV joins Boise State as Top 25 Mountain West…

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DENVER — The Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons spent the week addressing special teams breakdowns that led to gut-wrenching losses.

The Broncos (5-5) are trying to fix their field-goal protection unit after allowing the Kansas City Chiefs to remain unbeaten by blocking a 35-yard would-be game-winner as time expired last weekend.

The Falcons (6-4) worked to get scuffling kicker Younghoe Koo back in rhythm after his trio of misses allowed the New Orleans Saints to end a seven-game skid and hand Atlanta its first loss in five games against the NFC South.

Sean Payton’s Broncos are 3-0 against his familiar foes in that division this season, and all three wins have been by double digits thanks to disruptive defense and a blossoming offense featuring quarterback Bo Nix, who was named the NFL’s Rookie of the Week after he outplayed Patrick Mahomes at Arrowhead Stadium.

Sunday’s showdown could be a tipping point for both franchises and it features the return of Justin Simmons, the star safety who was jettisoned in a cost-cutting move after eight seasons in Denver.

Simmons’ $18.25 million salary for 2024 was too rich for the Broncos, who are saddled with an enormous dead cap charge from Russell Wilson’s departure. Simmons signed a one-year, $7.5 million deal with the Falcons after the safety market dried up.

“Hey bro, you see me coming across the middle, just remember we’re friends,” wide receiver Courtland Sutton texted his former teammate ahead of their reunion.

Both the Broncos and Simmons have thrived after their split. Denver again features one of the league’s best defenses and it replaced Simmons with free agent Brandon Jones, whose three-year, $20 million contract was much more…

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NICOSIA, Cyprus — It was the first time that Canadian UN peacekeeper Michelle Angela Hamelin said she came up against the raw emotion of a people so exasperated with their country’s predicament.

On an eight-month tour of duty on ethnically divided Cyprus in 1986, the fury of Greek Cypriot protesters demonstrating against the first-ever visit by a Turkish head of government to the island’s breakaway Turkish Cypriot north was seared in her memory.

“I think that that was something that really stuck to my mind because of that anger and the people,” Hamelin told The Associated Press.

She was one of among 100 other Canadian veterans who travelled to Cyprus as part of commemorations that culminated Monday to mark the 60th anniversary of the U.N. peacekeeping force (UNFICYP), the longest such Canadian mission.

“And this was the first time I was confronted with people that were really, really upset with their situation that they were in.”

At the time, it had been a dozen years after a Turkish invasion — triggered by a coup aiming at union with Greece — sliced the island along ethnic lines and tensions were still high.

UNFICYP had been in place since 1964, a decade prior to the invasion, deployed to tamp down hostilities between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to prevent an all-out civil war. Canadians were among the first to join the force and more than 28,000 would eventually serve with UNFICYP. Canada withdrew almost all its peacekeepers from UNFICYP in 1993, but a Canadian presence still remains. Some 28 lost their lives in the line of duty.

Through most of 1986, it was Hamelin’s job was to patrol the U.N.-controlled buffer zone that separated troops on either side of the divide in the medieval center of the capital, Nicosia, staying in the once luxurious Ledra Palace hotel that had been converted into a UN barracks.

The hotel’s bullet-pockmarked sandstone walls were a constant reminder that a flare-up in hostilities could never be ruled out.

“And…

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Lace up your sneakers and hit the pavement: Fall walks, runs and turkey trots have begun. Whether for exercise, to celebrate the life of a loved one who died or to raise money for a good cause, seasonal races have become a Long Island family tradition. Here is a schedule of runs.

NASSAU COUNTY TURKEY TROT 5k

Eisenhower Park, Field 1A, 1899 Hempstead Tpke., East Meadow; runawesome.com

• When 9 a.m. Nov. 10
• Cost $44, $50 race day; high school and youth 5k: $35, $40 race day; 1k: $12, $15 race day
• More info Kids’ 1k Chase the Gobbler begins at 8:30 a.m. Food donations will be accepted. 

WILLIAM RALL PTA TURKEY TROT 5k

Lindenhurst Middle School, 350 S. Wellwood Ave., Lindenhurst; elitefeats.com

• When 9 a.m. Nov. 16
• Cost $30, $35 race day; free for fun run
• More info Kids’ fun run begins at 8:30 a.m. Food donations will be accepted.

LONG ISLAND TURKEY TRAIL TROT 5k RUN/WALK

Bethpage State Park, 99 Quaker Meetinghouse Rd., Farmingdale; elitefeats.com

• When 9:30 a.m. Nov. 16
• Cost $33, $35 race day; free for fun run
• More info Benefits the Never Stop Running Foundation, kids fun run begins at 9 a.m.

CITY COUNCIL 10k TURKEY TROT

Long Beach Catholic Regional School, 735 W. Broadway, Long Beach; 516-431-3890, longbeachny.gov/rec

• When 9 a.m. Nov. 17
• Cost $35, $45 race day; $15 fun run
• More info Bring a nonperishable food item. The 1-mile fun run begins at 8:30 a.m.

MASSAPEQUA PARK 5k TURKEY TROT

Brady Park, Lake Shore Drive and Front Street, Massapequa Park; eventpowerli.com/turkeytrot

• When 9 a.m. Nov. 23
• Cost $35, $40 race day; youth run: $20, $25 race day
• More…

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KYIV, Ukraine — There is no doubt that the U.S. election will determine the trajectory of the war in Ukraine.

The status of military aid from Kyiv’s chief international backer is dependent on who becomes president, as is any prospect for a cease-fire that could benefit Ukraine.

Some in Kyiv say the country’s very existence hinges on who wins the White House.

As Americans vote, exhausted and outmanned Ukrainian soldiers are holding defensive lines under constant Russian fire, knowing the results will dictate their future.

The war in Ukraine is one of the most divisive issues of the Nov. 5 election: Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, advocate very different views on how much support the U.S. should continue to give Ukraine.

After a whirlwind Western tour, Kyiv’s leaders have tried to promote their version of what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls his “victory plan.” They hope key decisions will be made — including Ukraine’s bid for NATO membership — by the new administration.

For now, they have no choice but to wait.

“We believe that regardless of the last name of the future president of the U.S., the country of the United States will not give up global dominance, global leadership as such. And this is possible only through the support of Ukraine and through the defeat of the Russian Federation,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyy.

Harris would likely continue Biden’s policies

Harris, who has decried President Vladimir Putin’s “brutality,” would likely carry on President Joe Biden’s policy of support, albeit within the strict limits on Ukraine’s ability to strike deep inside Russian territory that have frustrated Kyiv’s…

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