News Roundup: State Police Probed Over Missed Logan Security Sweeps, Cost of Living Tops Midterm Concerns, and Hoax Bomb Threats Hit Seven European Flights

Here is your Tuesday evening roundup on Election Day, with one story from Massachusetts, one from across the United States and one from overseas. Polls in Massachusetts close at 8 p.m.; for hours, ID rules and a plain-language look at the nine ballot questions, see our Election Day guide.

Massachusetts: State Police probe missed overnight security sweeps at Boston Logan International Airport

A WBZ-TV I-Team investigation published Tuesday says Massachusetts State Police troopers assigned to overnight security sweeps at Boston Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, repeatedly failed to complete those checks, CBS Boston reports. Troopers are supposed to clear secure and restricted areas after the last flights leave and after TSA staffing ends for the night.

According to CBS Boston’s sources, on Oct. 4 a passenger was left overnight in a secure area. An airport employee later returned the traveler’s checked luggage — a serious concern because firearms are allowed in checked bags but not in carry-on items. Surveillance video, the sources said, showed the trooper assigned to that sweep never entered the area even though the sweep was reported as completed. The trooper has not been publicly named.

Massachusetts State Police told the I-Team they opened an internal-affairs investigation into whether troopers on duty fulfilled their responsibilities and a broader review with airport partners to reinforce protocols. In a statement, the department said it “remains committed to the safety and security of everyone traveling through or working at Boston Logan International Airport.” Sources told CBS Boston that since the October incident, troopers assigned to Logan have been required to activate body-worn cameras when conducting terminal sweeps. Former trooper Todd McGhee, who previously worked the airport detail, told WBZ that overnight sweeps are meant to make sure areas are “buttoned up” after the last flight.

United States: Cost of living and corruption top midterm voters’ concerns

As Americans finished casting ballots Tuesday in midterm elections that will decide control of the U.S. House and Senate, the Associated Press’s AP Voter Poll found cost of living and government corruption were the issues voters most often called “crucial” to their vote for Congress — roughly half of voters in each case, AP reported. About 4 in 10 named the economy as their top national issue, and about 3 in 10 pointed to the state of democracy; immigration and health care each drew smaller shares, according to AP’s reporting on the poll.

ABC News and AP note that Democrats needed to flip four Senate seats and three House seats to take both chambers from Republicans, with results expected to shape how much of President Donald Trump’s agenda advances in the second half of his term. AP’s election coverage also said about 6 in 10 voters in the poll blamed Trump’s policies for unusually high prices, and about 7 in 10 said they wanted Congress to place more checks on the presidency. The AP Voter Poll, conducted with SSRS, surveyed tens of thousands of verified registered voters before Election Day and added in-person interviews in selected states; AP publishes the methodology with its results. Massachusetts races and the nine statewide ballot questions are covered in our afternoon roundup and Election Day guide.

World: Seven European flights searched after bomb threats that proved to be hoaxes

Seven passenger flights across Europe were searched Tuesday after a string of suspected bomb threats that authorities later treated as false alarms, the BBC, Associated Press and The Guardian reported. No explosives were found and no injuries were reported. Airlines involved included Ryanair, LOT Polish Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines and Wizz Air, according to those outlets.

Two of the flights departed from the United Kingdom: a LOT service from London Heathrow toward Warsaw that was diverted to Modlin Airport, briefly disrupting that field, and a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Murcia, Spain, where passengers were held on the runway and then evacuated while bomb technicians searched the aircraft, the BBC reported. In Rome, two Ryanair arrivals — from Dublin and Lisbon — were searched after anonymous tips; the Dublin flight was escorted by Italian Air Force jets until landing, Fiumicino airport sources told the BBC. Two flights into Sofia, Bulgaria (from Bergamo, Italy, and Dublin) were checked after an emailed threat, Bulgarian border police said, and a Copenhagen-to-Warsaw SAS flight was also inspected. The UK government called the incidents “malicious hoax threats” and said aviation security systems are built to handle them. Authorities across countries said they would cooperate to determine whether the threats were coordinated; a similar Wizz Air diversion to Budapest had occurred Monday after a midair threat on a Luton-to-Sofia flight.

Stay connected

That’s the Tuesday evening roundup. For community gatherings, talks and family events happening around Massachusetts this week, see the Mass Halal events calendar.