National

(NEW YORK) — James Kent, the famed chef behind some of New York’s top restaurants, has died, his restaurants and hospitality group announced on Saturday. 

“We are heartbroken to share that James Kent passed away unexpectedly earlier today,” wrote Saga Hospitality Group in an Instagram post announcing the 45-year-old chef’s death. Kent helmed some of the most luxurious restaurants in New York City including Crown Shy, Overstory and Saga. 

“The Saga Hospitality Group family is focused on supporting each other and most importantly Kelly, Gavin and Avery as we grieve James’ loss,” the post said, mentioning Kent’s wife and children. The post ended with a message for followers to spend Father’s Day with their loved ones. 

The cause of Kent’s death was not disclosed by the hospitality group or his family as of time of publication. 

Harrison Ginsberg, the bar director and head of beverages for Kent’s group of restaurants, weighed in on Kent’s death. 

“Thank you for all the memories, Laughs, meals, and lessons,” wrote Ginsberg. “I was always in awe of how much you supported me, my career, the bar industry,” he continued. 

Kent was a New York City-born chef whose restaurants dominated the food scene and collected accolades including two Michelin stars for his noteworthy restaurant Saga, one Michelin star for Crown Shy, a downtown Manhattan eatery, and a spot on the ranking of the world’s best bars for Overstory, a 64th floor bar on Wall Street. In 2010, Kent won the Bocuse d’Or USA. 

Award-winning chef Gavin Kaysen paid tribute to Kent in an Instagram post recounting memories he shared with the chef and expressing shock at the news, sharing that he is “angry that the universe has taken from us without an apology or a reason.” 

“What never wavered was his smile, his positive attitude and his love for everyone around him. Our kids grew up together, playing in the city and making us and my kids feel like we deserved to be in that city,” wrote Kaysen. 

Other notable New York City chefs and restaurants Daniel Boulud, Dan Kluger, Kwame Onwuachi and The Dead Rabbit Pub also shared tributes to Kent in Instagram posts. 

(LOS ANGELES) — A Southern California wildfire doubled in size overnight, causing the evacuation of more than 1,000 campers from a park, closing a popular recreation area on Father’s Day and threatening a major freeway in and out of Los Angeles, authorities said. 

(NEW YORK) — More than 55 million people across the nation were under an alert for extreme heat on Sunday and through most of the week ahead as temperatures are forecast to hit triple digits in some parts of the country. 

Over the next seven days, 265 million people, or about 82% of the U.S. population, are likely to experience temperatures topping 90 degrees as the official first day of summer arrives on Thursday. 

An Excessive Heat Watch was already issued Sunday for parts of New England, including Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The temperature in Concord, New Hampshire, is forecast to reach 101 on Wednesday. 

New York City could feel its first heat wave of the year as temperatures are forecast to reach 90 degrees on Wednesday and 94 on Thursday on Friday. 

Pittsburgh is also in for a string of hot weather with temperatures expected to soar to 99 degrees on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. 

The heat-wave forecast for Pittsburgh could be the city’s hottest all-time for the month of June. The previous five-day June record occurred in 1994 with a temperature average of 96.4 degrees.

The all time record for a heat wave in Pittsburgh happened in mid-July 1988 when city residents sweltered for five consecutive days with 98.6-degree temperatures.

Washington D.C., is also expected to be inundated with 90-degree weather and could flirt with the century mark by Friday.

High temperatures are also forecast fro Ohio and southeast Michigan, where an excessive heat watch is also in effect from Monday through Friday.

Daily temperature records are expected to fall this week in Chicago, Green Bay, and Cleveland.

Out west, dangerous heat is expected for Texas, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico.

An excessive heat warning was issued for Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, where temperatures threatened to hit the 110-degree mark on Sunday.

Roswell, New Mexico is expected to reach 105 degrees on Sunday and El Paso and Fort Stockton, Texas are expected to get just as warm.

Authorities warn people enduring such high temperatures to stay hydrated and out of the heat, and to check on elderly neighbors and relatives.

In 2023, there were 2,303 heart-related deaths across the country, a 34% increase from 2022.

(BALTIMORE) — Several people were injured as they attempted to flee a Baltimore pride event after a “chemical agent” was released and fireworks were set off in a crowd Saturday evening, according to Baltimore Police. 

Shortly after 8:30 p.m., officers stationed for Pride Parade festivities were informed that a possible chemical agent, potentially mace, hair spray, or another agent was released into the crowd gathered in front of the main music stage, according to police. 

Fireworks were also set off at the same location, causing a mass exodus that left several people injured as they attempted to flee the area. 

Fire officials treated those individuals and the event was subsequently shut down. 

Police did not share how many people were injured in the mass exodus. 

Authorities are still working to confirm what type of chemical agent was used and are “diligently reviewing” surveillance video to piece together the series of events. Police say they do not believe this was a targeted attack. 

The investigation is ongoing, according to police. 

(ROCHESTER PARK HILLS, Mich.) — Nine people were shot, including two children, after a person opened fire at a splash pad park in Michigan Saturday afternoon, according to police. 

(LOS ANGELES) — A Southern California wildfire doubled in size overnight, causing the evacuation of more than 1,000 campers from a park, closing a popular recreation area on Father’s Day and threatening a major freeway in and out of Los Angeles, authorities said. 

The Post Fire was burning out of control Sunday near Gorman, California, in the Tejon Pass area of Los Angeles County. The blaze started just before 2 p.m. PT on Saturday in the mountainous region and gusty winds caused flames to quickly spread to 5,000 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). 

On Sunday morning, the fire had grown to more than 11,000 acres with zero percent containment, according to Cal Fire. 

At least two structures have been damaged by the fire, Cal Fire said. No injuries have been reported. 

The cause of the fire remained under investigation Sunday. 

More than 300 firefighters, including air tanker crews, are battling the fire from the ground and sky, authorities said. 

About 1,200 campers at the Hungry Valley Park State Vehicular Recreation Area were ordered to evacuate Saturday night, and authorities closed Pyramid Lake, which was expecting thousands of visitors for Father’s Day, due to the threat of the Post Fire, Cal Fire said. 

The fire was burning parallel to Interstate 5, a major artery in and out of Los Angeles. The freeway was briefly closed on Saturday, triggering a traffic jam through the area, officials said.

The wind-driven fire was pushing east Sunday toward the Arrowhead Equestrian Estates in Hesperia, where residents were under an evacuation warning, according to Cal Fire. 

The Hesperia Fire was 5% contained Sunday morning. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. 

The cause of the fire is under investigation. 

(ROUND ROCK, Texas.) — Two people were shot and killed during a Juneteenth celebration on Saturday at a park in Round Rock, Texas, police said. 

A fight broke out between two groups at the Old Settlers Park at about 11 p.m., Round Rock Police Chief Allen Banks told reporters early Sunday. At about the same time, someone produced a gun and began to fire, Banks said, adding that multiple people were struck by gunfire. 

Two people died at the scene, Banks said. The dead did not appear to have been part of the larger altercation and it was unknown how many shooters there had been, he said. 

The Juneteenth Festival, which was put on by a local nonprofit and the city government, included a free concert with a series of acts on Saturday night. 

The shooting occurred near vendor area of the concert stage, Banks said. 

At least six people were transported to hospitals with “potentially serious” injuries, emergency response officials said. 

Four adults and two children were transported to local trauma facilities, the Austin-Travis County EMS said. 

(NEW YORK) — Fifty years after they published “All the President’s Men,” Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein remain “joined at the hip.” 

“We’re on the phone, usually a couple times a week to each other,” Bernstein said. “We keep up with the work that the other is doing. We talk about what’s going on here in Washington, about what’s going on in the White House.” 

The two Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters sat down with ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl at the Watergate Hotel as they marked the 50th anniversary of their iconic book, which Time called “perhaps the most influential piece of journalism in history.” 

Asked whether they predicted the impact “All the President’s Men” would have on the country, they both laughed. Writing the book was a “necessity,” Woodward said. “We’d written these stories that no one believed.” 

“But more than that, we didn’t think the truth about Watergate was going to ever come out,” Bernstein added. 

Their first approach was to lay out the facts of the Watergate scandal. But it soon became clear it should center on the two of them, they said. 

“I said, ‘Well, the one rule of journalism, write about what you know best, and you know nothing better than what you’ve done, so let’s write about what we did,’” Woodward said. 

Bernstein was skeptical. “[I thought] that it would be an undisguised ego trip and recognized as such, that we should just stick with the facts of Watergate,” he recalled. “But Woodward said, ‘Look, we don’t have anything to write about at this point but ourselves.’” 

The two wrote the book in Woodward’s mother’s house in Naples, Florida. 

“Carl sat out by the swimming pool in the most awful pair of green shorts you’ve ever seen,” Woodward joked. “I sat in the kitchen and we said to get this done, we’re going to have to each do 10 pages a day, and then we can go out to dinner. And so that’s what we did.” 

While they had a rocky relationship at first, as they detail in the book, they quickly gained an appreciation for each other. 

“Within a few days of working on this story together, each of us saw in the other remarkable things,” Bernstein shared. “We often switch, to this day half a century later, roles that are expected. What’s expected of me, he’ll do, what’s expected of him I’ll do.” 

Added Woodward: “What it demonstrates is the power of collaboration. We learn in our personal lives you never do anything alone effectively. And it’s the same with journalism.” 

Karl asked their view on why the book, and the Hollywood adaptation in 1976, became such an important work of journalism. 

“The book itself is like a primer on basic reporting,” Bernstein responded. “You see what’s the most important decision we make as reporters? To go out at night and to visit people who work for Richard Nixon and his reelection in their homes, knock on their doors, have the doors you know, slammed in our faces, except for the few that didn’t.”