PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN insisted Friday he was not dropping out the presidential race (Shutterstock).

Battling headwinds of members of his own party urging him to drop his candidacy for a second term in the White House, President Joe Biden stood his ground on Friday.

At a high school gym in Detroit, Biden said “I’m not going anywhere.” The crowd chanted “Don’t you quit!” He blamed the assembled news media for giving former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump a “free pass.”

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries revealed that he had met with Biden and discussed with him the concerns of fellow members of their party over the prospects for Nov. 5. One of them, Mike Levin of California, said on Friday, “I believe the time has come for President Biden to pass the torch.”

While the New York Times average of national polls shows Trump ahead by 47 to 45 percent, a new Marist College poll shows Biden leading Trump 50 to 48 percent.

Heavy fighting in Gaza City

HAMAS vs. Israel (Shutterstock).

The war between Israel and Hamas militants continued, with buildings being destroyed and “dozen of people” killed in Gaza City this week.

On Friday, many bodies were recovered from the Deir Al-Balah district of the city after Israel pulled out of two neighborhoods it had entered in pursuit of Hamas fighters who had allegedly rallied there.

Cease-fire negotiations continue but so far there’s no resolution yet. At  our deadline, the number of bodies recovered had reached about 100.

Also, an airstrike struck a warehouse for donated aid in a “safe zone” and killed at least four people.

Manslaughter case vs. Baldwin ends

ALEC BALDWIN (Wikipedia/Gage Skidmore).

The  involuntary manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin was dismissed Friday by a New Mexico judge.

The case was dismissed by Judge Mary Marlow Sommer because of misconduct by police and prosecutors over the withholding of evidence from Baldwin’s defense team.

He had been charged in connection with the fatal accidental shooting of a cinematographer during the making of the motion picture “Rust.”

Baldwin wept, then hugged his lawyers and his wife. Judge Sommer said actions of police and prosecution were “so near to bad faith to show signs of scorching.”

In addition to dismissing the case, Sommer prohibited its filing again.

No escape for Giuliani in bankruptcy

Former New York City Mayor and Donald Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani won’t be able to escape his debts by claiming bankruptcy.

RUDY GIUIANI (Shutterstock).

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane threw out his case on Friday and set the stage for his creditors to go after his assets to settle a $148 million defamation judgment.

The judge slammed Giuliani for failure to comply with court orders, disclose sources of income and failure to hire an accountant to check his bookkeeping .

Creditors can now seek to get some of the money owed them, including seeking a court order to seize his apartments.

Giuliani was hit with the $148 million judgment for making false statements while seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election on behalf of former president Donald Trump.

Weather: Rolling hills of climate

The patterns of heating and cooling continue to undulate in our West Orange County area under partly cloudy skies. Saturday is expected to have a daytime high of 81 with an overnight low of 66. Sunday will warm slightly to 83 (64), followed by declines to 82 (64) on Monday and 81 (64) on Tuesday.