(MANCHESTER, N.H.) — A daycare owner and three of her employees have been arrested after allegedly sprinkling melatonin on children’s food, police say.
The incident began in Nov. 2023 when police in Manchester, New Hampshire, received a report alleging “unsafe practices going on in an in-home daycare at 316 Amory Street,” which led to a lengthy investigation, according to a statement released by the Manchester Police Department on Thursday.
“Through the investigation, police determined that the children’s food was being sprinkled with melatonin without their parent’s knowledge or consent,” authorities said regarding the case.
“The hormone melatonin plays a role in the sleep-wake cycle. Natural levels of melatonin in the blood are highest at night. Some research suggests that melatonin supplements might be helpful in treating sleep disorders, such as delayed sleep phase. They also may provide some relief from insomnia and jet lag,” according to the Mayo Clinic. “Melatonin is generally safe for short-term use. Unlike with many sleep medications, with melatonin you are unlikely to become dependent on it, have less response to it after repeated use or experience a hangover effect.”
It is currently unclear how long the daycare workers were dosing the children’s food with the drug or how much they were giving them. Police also did not disclose how the practice was initially discovered.
Arrest warrants were issued for the owner, 52-year-old Sally Dreckmann, as well as 51-year-old Traci Innie, 23-year-old Kaitlin Filardo, and 23-year-old Jessica Foster, all of whom hail from Manchester, police said.
The suspects turned themselves into police and all four of them were charged with 10 counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
The investigation into this case is currently ongoing.
Authorities are looking for two people who they say committed “archeological theft” at a U.S national park in Moab, Utah. — National Park Service
(MOAB, Utah) — Law enforcement officers are still looking for two suspects they say committed “archeological theft” at a U.S national park in Utah two days after they asked for help from the public.
The incident occurred on March 23 at Canyonlands National Park in Moab, Utah, at the Cave Spring Cowboy Camp in the Needles district of the park at approximately 5:30 p.m. when security cameras captured two people enter “a signed-as-closed area, removed artifacts from a cabinet, and handled historic harnesses in a manner that had potential to damage them,” according to a statement from the National Park Service released on Wednesday.
However, after several weeks of searching and two days after making their plea public, authorities have not yet been able to identify the suspects.
“National parks are some of the most special, treasured, and protected areas of our country,” authorities said. “To protect their natural and cultural resources for this and future generations, all visitors to national parks are expected to follow park laws and regulations and practice Leave No Trace principles to minimize their impact on park lands.”
“If you have information that could help identify the suspects, please contact investigators. Tips can be anonymous,” the National Park Service said. “Call or text the National Park Service-wide Tip Line 888-653-0009 or online, go to https://www.nps.gov/SubmitATip.”
This incident remains under investigation and no additional information is available at this time.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York City, where he is facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been tried on criminal charges.
Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
Here’s how the news is developing:
May 16, 7:30 AM Defense to resume cross-examination of Cohen
Michael Cohen returns to the witness stand this morning, where the former Trump attorney is expected to face a full day of cross-examination.
Cohen, under direct examination earlier this week, described in-person meetings and phone calls with Donald Trump, who he said joined into an agreement with tabloid publisher David Pecker to catch and kill negative stories ahead of the 2016 election; approved a $130,000 hush money payment from Cohen to Stormy Daniels; and signed off on an arrangement to reimburse Cohen in 2017 using what prosecutors say were falsified invoices. Trump has denied all wrongdoing.
Defense attorneys are expected to question Cohen’s credibility based on his past testimony and previous statements he has made in interviews, podcast and books.
May 15, 8:17 PM Trump takes fight over gag order to NY’s highest court
Former President Trump has asked New York’s highest court to rescind the limited gag order that prevents him from commenting publicly about witnesses, jurors and lawyers in his ongoing criminal trial, according to a new court filing.
The filing is sealed, but is the next step after an intermediate appeals court yesterday upheld the order imposed by trial Judge Juan Merchan.
Trump has frequently attacked the judge, which is permitted, and has called the limited gag order unconstitutional.
In its ruling yesterday, the intermediate appellate court said that Merchan had appropriately balanced Trump’s free speech rights with the court’s need to control the trial.
There was no immediate comment from the Manhattan DA’s office.
Former Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen departs from his home to attend his second day of testimony at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 14, 2024 in New York City. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Michael Cohen is set to return to the witness stand Thursday to face a full day of cross-examination in which the defense is expected to question the former Trump attorney’s credibility as the prosecution’s star witness in Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial.
Across his two days on the witness stand, Cohen has offered the most incriminating testimony so far that Trump was aware of, and directly involved in, the criminal conduct alleged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who has accused the former president of falsifying business records to hide the reimbursement of a hush money payment that Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost Trump’s electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
Cohen, under direct examination, described in-person meetings and phone calls with Trump, who he said joined into an agreement with tabloid publisher David Pecker to catch and kill negative stories ahead of the election, approved a $130,000 hush money payment from Cohen to Daniels, and signed off on a scheme to reimburse Cohen in 2017. Trump has denied all wrongdoing.
Defense attorneys in their cross-examination are expected to try to use Cohen’s own words against him, including previous statements he’s made in media interviews, on podcasts and in his books, including his 2020 memoir, Disloyal.
Cohen told jurors that he made approximately $3 million from that book, which he wrote while serving 13 months in federal prison — in part for campaign finance violations related to the Stormy Daniels payment.
On Tuesday, defense attorney Todd Blanche began confronting Cohen with portions of the memoir to suggest Cohen was “obsessed” with Trump.
“At that time, I was knee-deep into the cult of Donald Trump,” Cohen said about his decade working for Trump.
Cohen’s detailed descriptions in Disloyal about his meetings with Trump related to the catch-and-kill scheme could be a focus of the cross-examination, as defense attorneys attempt to draw out any differences between Cohen’s testimony and what he wrote in the book.
Cohen’s secret recording
On Monday, jurors heard a recording that Cohen secretly made of a conversation with Trump in September 2016, when the two discussed a plan to reimburse Pecker for his company’s $150,000 hush money payment to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who alleged a year-long affair with Trump that Trump denied took place.
“We’ll have to pay him something,” Cohen can be heard saying in the recording.
“Pay with cash,” Trump responded.
Asked on the stand to explain why he secretly recorded his boss, Cohen told jurors that he wanted to provide Pecker proof that Trump planned to repay him.
“It was so I could show it to David Pecker, and that way he would hear the conversation so that he would know that we are going to be paying him,” Cohen said. “I also wanted him to remain loyal to Mr. Trump.”
In his book, Cohen offered an additional explanation for the recording: that he made it in case Trump “threw me under the bus” one day.
“First, to show Pecker that I was asking Trump to repay the obligation, and second, to have a record of his participation if the conspiracy ever came out,” Cohen wrote. “I was certain that Trump would throw me under the bus in that event, claiming ignorance and laying all the blame on a rogue lawyer, namely me.”
Though Cohen wrote the book three years before Bragg would indict Trump, Cohen acknowledged in the book, “I had no idea how prescient I was.”
The Stormy Daniels payment
Cohen testified that Trump was angry when Cohen first shared the news that Daniels was shopping her story in the fall of 2016.
“He was really angry with me,” Cohen told jurors, saying Trump told him, “I thought you had this under control.”
In Cohen’s book, Trump sounded more subdued.
“He didn’t explode as I expected, perhaps slightly chastened by the Access Hollywood episode and his vulnerable position in the campaign,” Cohen wrote.
In the book, he said that after he recounted Daniels’ allegations to Trump, they called Pecker for his input regarding potential damage to the campaign.
“Let’s not forget about upstairs,” Cohen said Trump joked — referencing his wife Melania — to both him and Pecker.
The next morning, Cohen said he met with Trump, who confirmed the plan to make the payment, according to the book.
“It’s only $130,000,” Trump said, according to Cohen. “F— it, Michael. Go talk to Allen and figure it all out,” Trump allegedly said, referring to then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.
Later that day, Cohen and Weisselberg met with Trump to confirm the plan to pay Daniels, according to Cohen’s 2020 account.
“A hundred and thirty thousand is a lot less than I would have to pay Melania,” Trump said, according to Cohen.
Cohen said in his book that he and Weisselberg met with Trump again to confirm that Cohen would make the payment out of his own pocket.
“Wow, Michael,” Trump said of the plan, according to Cohen’s book. “That’s great. Perfect.”
Testifying earlier this week, Cohen told jurors he initially had two in-person conversations with Trump after learning that Daniels was shopping her story in October 2016. While Cohen said Trump directed him to work with Pecker to control the story, Cohen did not testify about a phone call with both Trump and Pecker.
Cohen testified that during one of those two conversations with Trump, he asked Trump how Melania would respond to the story.
“I said to him, how’s things going to go with upstairs?” Cohen testified.
“He goes, ‘How long do you think I will be on the market for? Not long,'” Cohen testified.
Cohen told jurors that later in October, Trump approved the payment after Cohen attempted to delay paying Daniels the money.
“He expressed to me: ‘Just do it. Go meet up with Allen Weisselberg and figure this whole thing out,'” Cohen testified.
Cohen said that he and Weisselberg also spoke to Trump together to confirm that Cohen would make the payment out of his own pocket.
“We expressed to him that I was going to front the money for it, to which he was appreciative and [said] ‘Good, good,'” Cohen testified.
Prosecutors also outlined a series of calls between Trump and Cohen in October 2016 using phone records in evidence.
Cohen’s bonus
Cohen told jurors that he was “insulted” and “personally hurt” after Trump, in 2016, paid him a smaller holiday bonus than he expected — especially after he used $130,000 of his own money to pay Daniels.
“It was insulting that the gratitude shown back to me was to cut the bonus by two-thirds,” Cohen said.
In his book, Cohen offered a similar account of his frustration related to the bonus, but added that he also mulled using the rights to Daniels’ story against Trump to create a “biblical-level sex scandal.”
“I was the owner of her rights, after all, through my Delaware company Essential Consulting LLC, so the story of the newly elected President cheating on his wife with a porn star only weeks after she’d given birth to Barron was sure to fetch a pretty penny,” Cohen wrote. “Millions, I figured, maybe multiple millions, as I cursed inwardly and swore I wouldn’t allow myself to be treated in such a shabby way. Two can play this game, I thought, as I imagined the headlines that would turn the nightmare that constituted his transition to the White House into a biblical-level sex scandal.”
Cohen, however, ended up keeping those thoughts to himself. In his testimony, Cohen said that he brought up the bonus with Weisselberg, who told him that Trump would resolve the issue in the new year.
“You know that Mr. Trump loves you. We are going to do right by you,” Cohen testified that Weisselberg told him. “We are going to make sure that you are taken care of.”
(IRVINE, Calif.) — Tensions at the University of California, Irvine campus escalated Wednesday as a group of several hundred pro-Palestinian protesters entered a lecture hall and surrounded the building, according to school officials.
The Irvine Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department were called to the scene after the university called for mutual aid from local law enforcement agencies, UC Irvine said in an emergency update.
Authorities were seen putting protesters in zip-ties and escorting them away from the main protest area.
Police took down barricades from the encampment and people were asked to leave the building.
Protesters entered the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall on the UC Irvine campus at approximately 2:30 p.m. local time, according to the university.
Classes for the remainder of the day were canceled and school officials urged anyone in the immediate area to evacuate until further notice.
“Anyone currently in buildings in the vicinity of the protest are advised to exit buildings & leave area at this time,” UC Irvine wrote in an update on X. “Please disregard all previous orders to shelter in place. If able, please leave immediately & continue to avoid the protest area until further notice.”
By Wednesday night, police had broken up the campus encampment.
UCI said classes on Thursday would be remote.
“UC Irvine will move to remote instruction on Thursday, May 16. Unless specifically noted, all employees should work remotely. Resident students may still access dining facilities. Protest activity continues. Please avoid area until further notice,” read a post on the school’s X page Wednesday night.
Pro-Palestinian protesters have been present on the UC Irvine campus since establishing an encampment on April 29, according to the university.
Wednesday’s unrest comes amid weeks of protests breaking out at universities across the country, calling for institutions to divest from companies that financially support Israel.
On Tuesday, UC Chief Investment Officer Jagdeep Singh Bachher announced that investments from companies that students are targeting in their call for divestment represent $32 billion, which is nearly one-fifth, of the UC system’s overall assets.
Last month, the University of California president said the institutions would not boycott or divest from Israel.
A person places flowers at a makeshift memorial at the site of an altercation between 69-year-old Paul Kessler, who was Jewish, and pro-Palestinian protester on Nov. 7, 2023, in Thousand Oaks, Calif. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A Ventura County judge ruled that a pro-Palestinian demonstrator will stand trial in the death of a Jewish man who was counter-protesting on a Thousand Oaks street in November.
Paul Kessler, a 69-year-old Jewish man, died from blunt-force head trauma following a confrontation with a counterprotester, amid simultaneous pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations last November, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office previously said. Loay Abdel Fattah Alnaji is accused of striking Paul Kessler with a megaphone, causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement.
The Ventura County Medical Examiner ruled that Kessler died from blunt force trauma caused by the blow from the megaphone and the subsequent fall.
Alnaji was charged in November with involuntary manslaughter, battery causing serious bodily injury and special allegations of personally inflicting great bodily injury.
At his arraignment last fall, Alnaji pled not guilty to the charges.
A Ventura County Superior Court judge made the decision that Alnaji would face trial after a recent two-day preliminary hearing that saw 18 witnesses testify.
Authorities are continuing to investigate. The Ventura County DA’s office said it has not found evidence to support a hate crime.
Alnaji was released on $50,000 bail.
If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum of four years in prison.
A lawyer for Alnaji couldn’t immediately be reached for comment by ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — Three people are dead after a small plane crashed in Tennessee on Wednesday, authorities said.
A 911 caller reported an explosion around noon Wednesday in Williamson County that was believed to have been a possible plane crash, authorities said.
The National Transportation Safety Board said a Beech V35 aircraft crashed near Franklin.
It is unclear what caused the crash but it “does appear that the plane did break up in the air,” Chief Deputy Mark Elrod with the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office said during a press briefing Wednesday evening.
There were no survivors, he said.
“This is a tragic scene,” Elrod said.
The debris field is “rather large,” Elrod said. It is estimated to be about a half mile long, authorities said.
“We’re unsure exactly where the crash started and where it ended,” Elrod said.
There was no damage to any structures but people have been reporting debris on their property, including yards and driveways, Elrod said. A section of a roadway near the crash scene will be closed Thursday for traffic as authorities continue to search for debris, he said.
The plane left Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and was en route to Louisville, Kentucky, when it crashed, authorities said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to arrive later Wednesday and begin their investigation on Thursday, Elrod said.
(NEW YORK) — Authorities in Florida said they have seized a boat believed to be connected to a hit-and-run that killed a teenager wakeboarding in the Miami area over the weekend.
Ella Adler, 15, was struck by a boat while wakeboarding near Nixon Beach in Key Biscayne Saturday afternoon, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.
The teen had fallen in the water while being towed about a mile from shore and was waiting to be recovered by her boat when another vessel fatally struck her, Reynaud said. The boat that struck the teen did not stop, FWC said.
Following a dayslong search, FWC said Tuesday it has a boat matching the description given by witnesses of the striking vessel in their custody. The 42-foot Boston Whaler has been transported to an FWC evidence compound, the agency said.
The boat’s owner and operator — identified as a 78-year-old man from Coral Gables — is cooperating with the investigation, FWC said. No charges have been announced in the case.
FWC had called in additional resources and “worked around the clock” to find the vessel, FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto said Tuesday.
“As a father and grandfather, my heart is broken for the Adler family,” Barreto said in a statement. “Ella’s death is devastating for her family, friends and the community at large. The FWC and our partner law enforcement agencies will not stop until we have all the answers and the case is solved.”
The investigation remains ongoing. FWC called for anyone with information or footage to contact them.
“The world lost a star this weekend. Ella was beautiful and shined brightly. In her 15 years she gave us more light than we could have ever dreamed,” her parents, Amanda and Matt Adler, said in a statement to ABC News. “While we cope with this unspeakable tragedy, we hope the public will help us find the person who took her from us.”
Ella Adler was a student at Ransom Everglades School, a college prep day school in the Miami area. The school described her as an “outstanding student, a wonderful dancer and an active member of the Jewish Student Association and speech and debate team.”
“Our hearts are broken and our community has been devastated by this tragedy,” the school said in a statement. “Ella shined in our classrooms and on our stages, and she embodied the mission of Ransom Everglades School.”
Adler was a ballerina who appeared in more than 100 performances with the Miami City Ballet, according to her obituary, which called her a “star” and “force of nature.”
(WASHINGTON) — In the heart of Washington, D.C., in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, stands Purple Patch, a Filipino American restaurant that embodies the rich tapestry of Patrice Cleary’s heritage.
Cleary, a self-taught chef, a mother, a daughter, and a former Marine, is a first-generation Filipino-American. Her story is set within the four-story building that houses Purple Patch.
“I was able to introduce my food, that I grew up on, that I loved…to people that may have never had it, but also people from the diaspora that missed it and wanted it,” Cleary said.
Purple Patch has not only become a culinary hotspot, but has also played a significant role in bringing Filipino food to prominence in Washington, D.C., elevating Cleary’s stature as a pioneer in her industry.
Since its opening in 2015, Purple Patch has grown to accommodate more than 200 tables, inside and out, with one very important regular: Mama Alice.
“Mama Alice” is Cleary’s mom, who was born and raised in the Philippines. Cleary, whose father served in the U.S. Marines, moved around frequently during her childhood. However, she found her place in the kitchen, learning its mechanics and the art of bringing people together through food.
This connection to her roots inspired Cleary to share her culinary creations with others. “Anybody that opens a restaurant has to be borderline crazy. I went from being a stay-at-home mom one day to a restaurateur the next day,” she said.
Within months of opening, Purple Patch gained recognition in the nation’s capital. The restaurant received accolades from notable Washingtonians, including the vice president and the Washington Post’s food critic. Its name, a British phrase meaning a period of great success, reflects its fusion roots and is also the color of the famous sweet potato, ube, a staple in Filipino cuisine.
Cleary’s menu at Purple Patch is vast, aiming to be approachable for everyone. “I feel like I make dishes that entice people to want to try it — I love food. I get lost in my kitchen, whether it’s here or when I go home. I can never get tired of it.”
Before Purple Patch reached its fifth-year anniversary, everything changed. In 2020, COVID-19 was declared a national emergency and Cleary transformed her food haven into a food kitchen, providing over 8,000 free meals to local families in need.
“We probably did over 8,000 meals, free meals from 10 to 1 p.m. It could be pancakes and waffles and lumpia and pancit and juice boxes,” Cleary said.
Despite the challenges, Cleary found a way to keep her doors open, her staff employed, and her family’s recipes alive. One recipe is Cleary’s favorite — ginataang alimasag, a dish native to the region where Mama Alice was born and raised. It’s a stew of crabs in coconut milk with ginger and kale, served over rice. Cleary was able to adapt the recipe for her restaurant. Instead of whole pieces of crab, including the shell, she uses jumbo lump crab meat. But Cleary acknowledges Mama Alice’s original recipe reigns supreme in a side-by-side taste test.
Perhaps the most beloved dish on the menu is lumpia — highly addictive, crunchy cigar-shaped appetizers filled with ground pork and beef, carrots and spices, deep-fried to perfection.
In 2021, Patrice had the opportunity to buy the building that houses Purple Patch. Now, from the foundation up, Purple Patch is entirely in Cleary’s name.
“We don’t even own residential real estate, but we own commercial real estate. This is a dream,” Cleary said.A dream that, for Cleary, has now expanded into a second restaurant called Joia Burger, just a few doors down from Purple Patch.
“I own a Filipino restaurant, and I’m part of my own diaspora, you know, and I’m learning so much from my own people, and I’m giving back just as much as they’re giving to me,” she said.
Cleary said her restaurant allows her to share her culture and heritage with her community, letting her stand shoulder to shoulder with her mother, Mama Alice, in the kitchen, cooking meals they love, in a space they own.
An age progression photo from the FBI of what Stephen Gale may look like at age 71. Via Middlesex District Attorney’s Office
(NEW YORK) — Massachusetts authorities are searching for a newly identified suspect in two rapes from 1989 — a crime the Framingham police chief said “haunted the Framingham community for decades.”
Stephen Paul Gale, 71, who was identified through genetic genealogy, is wanted on four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping and one count of armed robbery, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.
The crime unfolded on the morning of Dec. 27, 1989, when a man armed with a gun went into a Framingham clothing store and confronted two employees — women ages 18 and 29, prosecutors said.
The man forced the 29-year-old to give him money from her purse, from a locked safe and from the store’s register, prosecutors said. He forced the 18-year-old woman to lock the doors and put a sign out front saying the store would be opening late, prosecutors said.
The man then sexually assaulted both women at gunpoint, prosecutors said.
The suspect’s DNA was collected from the crime scene. It was later uploaded to CODIS, the national law enforcement DNA database, but no match was found, prosecutors said.
In 2022, investigators began working with Parabon Nanolabs to try to solve the case through genetic genealogy, prosecutors said.
Genetic genealogy takes an unknown suspect’s DNA left at a crime scene and identifies it using family members who voluntarily submit DNA samples to a database. Police can then create a much larger family tree than if they only used databases like CODIS. Genetic genealogy first made headlines in 2018 when it was used to find the Golden State Killer.
Massachusetts investigators later obtained DNA samples from Gale’s relatives, which confirmed Gale was their suspect, prosecutors said.
Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said investigators spoke to both victims on Tuesday. She said they expressed gratitude for the police work done in their case and were hopeful that Gale will be brought to justice.
Framingham Police Chief Lester Baker in a statement on Tuesday thanked the victims for their bravery, saying, “Without their ongoing help and courage, we would never have been able to finally have a break in this horrific crime.”
“It’s been a long time coming — over 30 years now — and I am grateful to now have the opportunity to finally tell them — and their loved ones — that all of their efforts have not been in vain,” Baker said.
The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a reward up to $5,000 for information leading to Gale’s arrest, prosecutors said. Anyone with information about Gale’s whereabouts is asked to call the Framingham Police Department at 508-532-5923.
Gale, who has ties to organized crime, has lived in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, prosecutors said. He’s used aliases including: Stephen Pisarcik, John Rossi, Paul Costa, Paul DeRosa, Paul DiCarli, Paul Joseph DeCarlo, Steve Miner, Paul Williams and Paul Ptaszynski, according to prosecutors.
