A weakening but still powerful Hurricane Matthew barreled north along the East Coast early Saturday and is expected to flood some of the South’s most historic cities.

Matthew was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane on Saturday morning as it hovered around 30 miles southeast of Charleston, S.C., having already killed at least four people in Florida and left more than 1 million homes and businesses without electricity. The winds dropped to 75 mph, down from a recorded 145 mph at the height of the hurricane’s severity when it ripped across Haiti, killing hundreds. The cities of Mrtyle Beach and Wilmington, S.C. were bracing for the arrival of the storm on Saturday, as it made its way up the southeast coast of the U.S…[+]

Lethal Hurricane Matthew, its 140 mph winds and pounding rain already blamed for 114 deaths, plowed Thursday toward Florida’s Atlantic Coast amid dire predictions of destruction. “This is a dangerous storm,” warned Florida Gov. Rick Scott as the strengthening storm blew north. “The storm has already killed people. We should expect the same impact in Florida.” President Obama, after a Thursday morning briefing, declared a state of emergency in Florida as the U.S. National Hurricane Center classified Matthew as a Category 4 storm — the “extremely dangerous,” highest level of hurricane. Sustained winds of 140 mph were reported at 2 p.m. by the center.(Nydailynews.com)…[+]

A Bronx mom blamed for a fire that killed her two young daughters appeared with a newborn Thursday in court where she turned down a no-jail plea deal, her lawyer said.

Haya Konte, 26, has been charged with two counts of criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a child for leaving her two girls in an apartment with burning incense at the Butler Houses in Claremont in April while she was across the street washing laundry.Konte’s kids, Jainabu Jabbie, 2, and Adama Jabbie, 18 months, perished in the blaze after incense sparked the fire and flames quickly filled the third-floor apartment. Witnesses said at the time that the visibly pregnant Konte collapsed on the sidewalk — shouting “My babies!” — as emergency responders carried the burned bodies out of the building.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

A 86-year-old woman plummeted to her death from an Upper East Side building about a block from Gracie Mansion Thursday morning, officials said. The woman plunged from the 20-story building on E. 86th St. near York Ave. just after 9 a.m., officials said. Cops believe that she jumped and no criminality is suspected, sources said. She died at the scene.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

A subway surfer was killed in Brooklyn Wednesday morning when he tried to climb on top of a train, police said. The unidentified man was between the cars of a southbound F train trying to climb on top when he was clipped and fell at the Fourth Ave./Ninth St. station around 4:45 a.m., cops said. He died at the scene, officials said. Southbound F and G trains were bypassing the station Wednesday morning as police investigated.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

A woman and her boyfriend were found dead from gunshot wounds early Wednesday morning in a Brooklyn apartment, in what police are investigating as a murder-suicide. Felicita Sotillo, 38, was found dead just after midnight. in a Bed-Stuy apartment along with an unidentified 41-year-old man believed to be her boyfriend, police said.

Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene with gunshot wounds to the head, according to officials. A gun was recovered from inside the apartment at Gates Ave. near Lewis St. Police sources believe that the man shot Sotillo in the head before taking his own life. The investigation is ongoing, officials said Wednesday morning.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Hurricane Matthew’s slog toward the East Coast has government officials worried about complacency, especially in South Florida, which hasn’t seen a major hurricane in 11 years.

South Carolina’s governor said she would issue an evacuation order Wednesday so that 1 million people would have time to leave the coast, and residents up and down the Eastern seaboard flocked to hardware stores, grocery aisles and gas stations to prepare for the powerful storm.

A dangerous Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 125 mph, Matthew was bearing down on the southern Bahamas early Wednesday amid forecasters’ predictions it would be very near Florida’s Atlantic coast by Thursday evening. Already the hurricane was spreading high winds, heavy rain and a dangerous storm surge ahead of it on its approach to the Bahamas, forecasters said.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

Two New Jersey homes were destroyed Tuesday morning in a fiery home explosion just as gas officials investigating a leak in the area evacuated the neighborhood.

At least one more house was damaged in the blast on Goshen Street in Paterson, fire officials said at a press conference. “Nothing life-threatening,” he added.”It sounded like a bomb,” Alberto Volpe, who lives about a block and half away from the blast site, told the Record. “We thought it was a terrorist attack.”(nydailynews.com)…[+]

A woman was killed when she was crushed by a city bus on the Lower East Side Tuesday, officials said. The woman, who is believed to be in her 60s, was struck by the rear wheels of the bus as it rolled by Columbia St. and E. Houston St. about 9:45 a.m.

She died at the scene. Cops were investigating Tuesday.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

Charit-me, me, me.

Donald Trump used $286,000 in funds from the Donald J. Trump Foundation on donations aimed at winning over skeptical conservatives as he began preparing for a presidential run, according to a new report by RealClearPolitics.

A review of the foundation’s tax filings from 2011 to 2014 found that Trump spent more than a quarter-million dollars on donations to influential conservative and policy groups, money that appears to have secured him some prime speaking slots in front of conservative audiences or endorsements from conservative king-makers. That included $10,000 to the Palmetto Family Council, whose leader, South Carolina conservative player Oran Smith, had previously been critical of Trump.(nydailynews.com)…[+]