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(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio food banks are reporting a surge in demand amid concerns about growing food insecurity and what it may signal for the overall U.S. economy.

“Right now we’re running 47% higher in ’23 than we did, you know, a year ago,” said Matt Habash, CEO of Mid-Ohio Food Collective. “And I thought it would drop after the pandemic.”

Serving 20 counties across central Ohio, the organization is one of the largest of its kind in the country, providing 170,000 meals a day to those in need. One of their locations, the Mid-Ohio Market, is set up like a regular grocery store that organizers say is to combat stigma associated with food insecurity.

Kayla Kraig, a mom of five, said she started volunteering there about three months ago. When she told her story to other volunteers, they encouraged her to use the food bank when she needed help putting food on the table.

“They were like, ‘You need to shop.’ I didn’t know that it was like that. I feel like that’s the first reaction is, ‘I’m embarrassed to ask for help,'” Kayla told ABC News’ Alex Presha.

Kayla said she ultimately decided to shop there twice in the last three months, giving her some much-needed breathing room.

“I can rest my shoulders instead of being like, ‘Oh my God, what am I going to do this month?'” Kayla said.

The Mid-Ohio Food Collective and its partner agencies had the highest number of people walk through their doors in March — more than 141,000 people, the organization said.

“We had to come to the pantry, and this is life-saving, because I don’t know what we would do. It’s a game changer,” one resident told ABC News.

Habash attributes some of the demand to pandemic federal problems being no longer available, like stimulus checks, child tax credits and emergency food stamp benefits, which ended in March. There’s also rising inflation — groceries are 23% more expensive now than they were at the start of the pandemic, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“It doesn’t look like there’s any end in sight…it scares me to death,” Habash said.

In southeast Columbus, Community Kitchen, which provides people in need with a free meal, is also seeing an increase in demand. The organization’s president, MJ McCleskey, told ABC News that many of the people coming into the facility have never been there before. The need is so big, they’re now looking to open another facility, she said.

Some economists worry what’s playing out in Ohio and other parts of the country could be an indicator for the health of the U.S. economy. Mark Partridge, a rural and urban policy expert at Ohio State University, is also alarmed by the trend.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen this kind of pressure that you have to go back to the really early 1980s, in the 1970s to see anything like this with really rapid inflation, especially for food prices. And wages are not keeping up with inflation,” Partridge told ABC News.

ABC News’ Alex Presha and Katie O’Brien contributed to this report.

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(SAN DIEGO) — Researchers have successfully simulated a high magnitude earthquake on the largest building ever tested, and the structure survived.

Global interest in mass timber construction — which involves thick, compressed layers of wood, bonded together, creating structural load-bearing elements — has skyrocketed in the last several years, after the International Building Code announced the intention to add new building provisions to allow the construction of wood buildings up to 18 stories, Shiling Pei, associate professor at the Colorado School of Mines, told ABC News.

“There is very strong interest in doing so on the West Coast,” he said. “But one thing the West Coast has is earthquake hazard.”

To test whether these high rises made of timber could withstand an earthquake, the National Science Foundation funded the construction of Tallwood, a 10-story mass timber building situated on the University of California San Diego’s campus. Tallwood, the world’s tallest full-scale building ever tested on an earthquake simulator, was then placed upon one of the two largest shake tables in the world, according to the university’s Englekirk Structural Engineering Center.

On Tuesday, the researchers simulated two of the largest earthquakes in recent decades — the 6.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Northridge, California, in 1994, and the 7.7 Chi-Chi earthquake that struck Taiwan in 1999 and killed more than 2,400 people.

First they “played” the Northridge earthquake on the simulator for five minutes before turning to the Chi-Chi earthquake, watching the building all throughout the process.

Tallwood “danced,” Pei said — a sign the construction was a success.

“The building moved around just like a tree in a windstorm,” Pei said.

Tallwood endured no structural damage, only the odd chip or crack in the drywall after the Chi-Chi simulation, things “you can repair very easily,” he added.

The researchers are using the data they gathered at the shake test to model what would happen in even taller buildings. If constructed correctly, an 18-story building should be able to withstand earthquakes of similar magnitudes.

“The rocking wall system basically consists of a solid wood wall panel anchored to the ground using steel cables or rods with large tension forces in them,” Pei said. “When exposed to lateral forces, the wood wall panels will rock back and forth — which reduces earthquake impacts — and then the steel rods will pull the building back to plumb once the earthquake passes.”

Also of utmost importance is the exterior envelope, which must protect the building from temperature extremes, weather events and stairs, which must remain functional to allow occupants to safely exit and first responders to continually access all floors of the building, according to UC San Diego.

The shake table has recently been upgraded to move in 3D at six degrees of freedom, including east to west, north to south, up and down, and roll pitch and yaw, according to the university. It can shake structures weighing up 4.5 million pounds, or roughly the weight of 1300 sedan cars, and is the only earthquake simulator located outdoors.

After six years of research and planning, the excitement at the shake site was palpable, Pei said.

“It is very rare to have an appointment with an earthquake,” he said.

Even more amazing was being able to climb to the top of the structure and see it “good as new,” Pei said.

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(ALLEN, Texas) — Irvin Walker II had just dropped off his wife at the Allen Premium Outlets in Texas when a gunman fired shots into his car, hitting him three times.

The dad and husband “got into survival mode,” his attorney, Daryl Washington, told ABC News. “He wanted to live.”

Walker tried to drive away, but he was losing so much blood that he was afraid of bleeding out, Washington said, so he ran to a store for help. But Walker then realized he was at risk in the store, too, because he didn’t know where the gunman was located.

As Walker left the store, he witnessed 20-year-old mall security guard Christian LaCour get shot and killed, Washington said.

“He loves his family, he loves his daughter. … These are the things that was going through his mind, whether he’d ever see his family again,” Washington said.

Walker kept fleeing the mall area until “someone picked him up and put him in the back of a police cruiser” to bring him to safety, Washington said.

The suspect, who died after a confrontation with police, had three weapons on his person and five in his car when he opened fire at the mall on Saturday afternoon, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Eight people were killed and seven, including Walker, were injured.

Walker, who’s suffering from physical and mental injuries, has completed one surgery and may need a second, his attorney said.

Among the physical scars are bullet fragments lodged into his skin all over his body, Washington said.

“That’s gonna be with him for the remainder of his life — he won’t be able to do just simple things, [like] going into an airport, without the security alarm going off,” the attorney said.

“There’s no need for a gun with that amount of strength to be on the street,” Washington added.

Authorities said Tuesday that it appears the suspect, Mauricio Garcia, targeted the mall and shot people at random. A motive remains unknown.

ABC News’ Connor Burton contributed to this report.

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(CHICAGO) — Four teenagers, including a 16-year-old, have been charged in the murder of a beloved 24-year-old Chicago police officer, authorities announced Wednesday.

Officer Aréanah Preston had just finished her shift and was still in uniform when she was shot and killed at about 1:42 a.m. Saturday, according to Chicago police.

The four suspects — ages 19, 19, 18 and 16 — “were out looking for victims” that night and are believed to be connected to multiple robberies and a car theft in the hours leading up to Preston’s murder, interim Chicago Police Superintendent Eric Carter said at a news conference.

As Preston was returning home, the teens pulled up in a stolen car, and at least two of the teens allegedly fired at her, according to police.

Preston returned fire, but the teens continued to shoot, and they allegedly stole Preston’s gun before fleeing, Carter said.

Preston’s gun has not yet been recovered, police said.

The four suspects were all charged with first-degree murder and face other charges, including armed robbery and arson, police said. The 16-year-old will be charged as an adult, police said.

Carter said Preston was a “beloved, daughter, sister and friend who wanted to make a difference in this world” and “create a better future for Chicago.”

Police Officer Aréanah M. Preston
End of Watch: May 6, 2023

We join Officer Preston’s family and loved ones in mourning the loss of our fallen hero. Our hearts are heavy, but through our grief, we will carry on her legacy of service to Chicago and its people. pic.twitter.com/cZOTrGKZzS

— Chicago Police (@Chicago_Police) May 8, 2023

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(AUSTIN, Texas) — Despite a consistent stream of tragedies, Texas officials aren’t doing enough to combat gun violence, according to elected officials, activists and families of people killed in mass shootings who say they are frustrated by a lack of legislative progress in the state.

Although gun reform activists claimed a small victory Monday when a Texas state house committee advanced a bill that would raise the age to buy assault-style weapons, they say the process shouldn’t take this long.

Rosie Yanas, who lost her 17-year-old son Chris in a 2018 school shooting at Santa Fe High School located outside of Houston, told ABC News that she and other families worry that no real change will happen given the pro-gun stance taken by many of the state’s leaders.

“Any change is better than nothing,” Yanas, who identifies as a conservative Republican said. “I may not agree with everything, [or] what everybody’s fighting for, but any kind of change is better than nothing.”

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, introduced several bills during this legislative session to combat gun violence. Aside from the bill to raise the age limit on assault-style weapons from 18 to 21, he also is pushing for mandatory safe storage laws, and extreme risk protective orders.

Gutierrez, a Democrat, told ABC News he knows that many of his proposals don’t stand a chance due to opposition from Republicans. However, he said it is worth trying.

“We’re never going to legislate this thing away, but we have to make it harder,” the senator told ABC News about gun violence.

Some activists have noted that other red states pushed to pass bipartisan gun reform bills without the roadblocks. Roughly three weeks after the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting, then-Gov. Rick Scott signed a gun reform package that included raising the minimum age for buying a gun from 18 to 21 and a red flag law that allowed law enforcement the right to petition a judge to take a gun away from an individual who poses a threat to themselves or others.

Republican Texas state Rep. Dustin Burrows and Democratic Texas state Rep. Joe Moody sat on a special legislative committee that came together after the Uvalde mass shooting, and responded to the calls from parents who are pushing to raise the age of assault weapon purchases.

Burrows told ABC News that he’s concerned about legal challenges down the line.

“I look at, you know, where are we going to spend our time?” he said. “You know, having a big, robust debate or trying to push something forward like that when there’s a lot of other solutions that I don’t think have this impediment that we can focus on and do.”

Moody told ABC News that it is important to have the conversation about raising the age.

“I will fight for those changes that I think would’ve made their community safer that day because I think they deserve it,” he said.

Christina Delgado, an activist who volunteers with the nonprofit Community Justice Action Fund, told ABC News that she thinks the lack of action by the Texas legislature, despite the outcry from the community, is sometimes caused by political games. However, she reiterated that gun violence and gun reform is not a political issue, but a public health issue.

“There are responsibilities that we all have, not just as parents, not just as Texans, but as Americans and, more importantly, as gun owners, to really stand by those responsibilities,” she said.

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(NEW YORK) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams condemned the death of Jordan Neely Wednesday, who died after a fellow subway passenger was captured on video putting him in a chokehold.

“Jordan Neely did not deserve to die,” Adams said in prepared remarks Wednesday amid growing calls for an arrest in the case, including from Neely’s family.

“Jordan Neely’s life mattered. He was suffering from severe mental illness, but that was not the cause of his death. His death is a tragedy that never should have happened,” the mayor said, referring to Neely as “a Black man like me.”

“No family should have to suffer a loss like this,” Adams said.

Adams, a moderate Democrat, has been criticized by progressives, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for not more strongly condemning the actions of the individual who put Neely in the chokehold. In his first comments on the incident last week, Adams said in a statement, in part, “Any loss of life is tragic. There’s a lot we don’t know about what happened here, so I’m going to refrain from commenting further.”

A grand jury is likely to weigh in on the case as soon as this week, law enforcement sources told ABC News. A grand jury would determine whether criminal charges are warranted, according to the sources.

Neely, a homeless man, died after another subway passenger held him in a chokehold for several minutes on May 1, according to witnesses and police. The 30-year-old’s death has been ruled a homicide by the medical examiner’s office.

Some witnesses reportedly told police that Neely was yelling and harassing passengers on the train before being subdued by the other passenger.

According to police sources, Neely had a documented mental health history. Neely had been previously arrested for several incidents on the subway, though it’s unclear how many, if any, led to convictions.

During his 15-minute remarks on Wednesday, Adams pushed for expanded mental health services. He touted a bill he introduced last year intended to give the state more authority to intervene to assist people suffering from mental illness and encouraged the legislature to pass it.

“We cannot and will not accept this state of affairs,” Adams said. “We will not walk by those in need, step over those who are suffering or ignore those calls for help. We will respond with care, compassion and action.”

The mayor did not mention the circumstances of Neely’s death or Daniel Penny, the man whom a bystander filmed putting Neely in a chokehold on the subway train.

Police sources told ABC News that Penny was not specifically being threatened by Neely when he intervened and that Neely had not become violent and had not been threatening anyone in particular.

Penny, a 24-year-old Marine veteran, was questioned by detectives and released, according to police. He reportedly told police he was not trying to kill Neely.

In a statement this week, attorneys for Penny offered “condolences to those close to Mr. Neely” and claimed, “Mr. Neely began aggressively threatening Daniel,” and that the Marine veteran and others “acted to protect themselves.”

“Mr. Neely had a documented history of violent and erratic behavior, the apparent result of ongoing and untreated mental illness,” said the statement from the law firm of Raiser and Kenniff. “When Mr. Neely began aggressively threatening Daniel Penny and the other passengers, Daniel, with the help of others, acted to protect themselves, until help arrived. Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death.”

The Neely family attorneys criticized the statement, calling it a “character assassination” of Neely, while calling for charges in the case.

“The truth is, he knew nothing about Jordan’s history when he intentionally wrapped his arms around Jordan’s neck, and squeezed and kept squeezing,” said the Neely family attorneys.

“Daniel Penny’s press release is not an apology nor an expression of regret. It is a character assassination, and a clear example of why he believed he was entitled to take Jordan’s life,” the statement from attorneys Donte Mills and Lennon Edwards continued.

Neely’s family also called on the mayor to give them a call, saying, “The family wants you to know that Jordan matters.”

Protesters have called for justice following the deadly incident. Over the weekend, protesters filled subway stations, some jumping on the tracks, while pressing for more action. Several protesters have been arrested in recent days during demonstrations.

ABC News’ Kiara Alfonseca contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Who’s the best boy?

Buddy Holly, a petit basset griffon Vendéen or PBGV, was named the 2023 best in show winner at the 147th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show Tuesday evening in New York.

The 6-year-old hound from Palm Springs, California, was crowned top dog at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, making history as the first PBGV to win, according to a news release.

This year 2,500 dogs were entered into the competition.

Buddy Holly made his first exclusive morning show debut as champion, arriving at the Good Morning America studio in a winner-worthy Rolls-Royce.

Buddy Holly’s handler and co-owner Janice Hayes told GMA she knew from the age of 9 that she would train a champion dog.

“I knew it was going to happen. I don’t know why, I just fell in love with the sport then and I knew exactly what I wanted to do from then,” Hayes said.

Gail Miller Bisher, the Westminster Kennel Club’s director of communications, said all seven finalists were excellent examples of their breeds but Buddy Holly truly stood out.

“I think Buddy, of course, had these key features that are so important to the breed, which are a very balanced body, compact. He has the mustache, the long eyebrows, all these key features that are so important and of course, when he’s going around that ring, he has his tail up, nice tapered tail,” Bisher explained.

“He has, most importantly, the attitude and temperament. They’re supposed to be extroverts, they’re supposed to be confident. He clearly has that,” Bisher added.

Hayes said Buddy Holly loves treats and although he loves the camera too, the dog has now retired from competition.

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(AUSTIN, Texas) — An Army sergeant convicted of murder in the fatal 2020 shooting of an armed Black Lives Matter protester during a demonstration in Austin, Texas, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday, even as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott seeks to grant him a pardon.

Attorneys for 35-year-old Daniel Perry asked a judge to consider giving their client a 10-year sentence for the murder of Garrett Foster, a U.S. Air Force veteran, citing Perry’s lack of criminal history and presenting evidence that he has post-traumatic stress disorder from a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

But Travis County, Texas, Criminal Courts Judge Clifford Brown rejected the plea for leniency and sentenced Perry to 25 years in prison.

Prosecutors have asked Brown to consider a sentence of at least 25 years.

“This man is a loaded gun, ready to go off at any perceived threat. He’s going to do it again,” Travis County Assistant District Attorney Guillermo Gonzalez told Brown during Tuesday’s hearing.

Brown announced his sentencing after Foster’s mother and sister testified Wednesday morning.

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to sit here facing the evil that killed my son, sitting here thinking how surreal it is that this is happening, finally. After three long years, we’re finally getting justice for Garrett,” Sheila Foster testified.

Anna Mayo, Garrett Foster’s sister, testified that her brother was an U.S. Air Force veteran who comes from a family of military combat veterans, including her father.

“When I look at you, I see a very small man who used his military status as a means to kill,” Mayo testified, speaking directly to Perry, who sat at the defense table wearing black and gray striped jail clothes and with his head bowed down. “I do not see any honorable traits and I see no remorse for what you’ve done. You can’t even look at my family.”

Perry, who was an active-duty U.S. Army sergeant based in Texas at Fort Hood, was working as a driver for a ridesharing company when he drove onto a street crowded with protesters on July 25, 2020, in downtown Austin.

Foster, 28, who was white, was pushing his fiancee Whitney Mitchell’s wheelchair during the Austin protest over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis when authorities said protesters surrounded Perry’s ridesharing car. Foster, who was legally wielding an AK-47 rifle in accordance with Texas’ open carry law, was fatally shot when he approached Perry’s vehicle, according to prosecutors.

During the trial, defense attorneys argued that Perry fired at Foster in self-defense, alleging the protester pointed the rifle in his direction. But prosecutors argued that Perry could have avoided the fatal confrontation by simply driving away and witnesses testified at the trial that Foster never raised his rifle at Perry.

After a jury convicted Perry of murder on April 7, Abbott said he was “working as swiftly as Texas law allows” to pardon Perry.

Abbott criticized both the jury’s decision to convict Perry and Travis County District Attorney José Garza for pursuing the case.

“Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney,” Abbott said in a statement.

During Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors called Mitchell, who lost both her legs to sepsis, to the witness stand and she gave emotional testimony of how difficult her life his become since losing Foster, her primary caregiver.

“It’s hard to sleep in my bed because he’s not there. To have to learn how to do all of that stuff that Garrett was doing for me for a decade, and it’s hard because I have to get comfortable being vulnerable,” Mitchell testified, according to ABC Austin affiliate station KVUE.

Defense attorneys called forensic psychologist Greg Hupp to testify. Hupp said he believes Perry suffers from PTSD and has personality characteristics consistent with an autism spectrum disorder.

Following the trial, Judge Brown unsealed court records revealing racist messages and anti-protest sentiments Perry posted on social media prior to the shooting. In one of the social media posts, Perry wrote, “Black Lives Matter is racist to white people … It is official I am racist because I do not agree with people acting like monkeys.”

During the two-week trial, the jury did not see or hear Perry’s social media posts.

Two soldiers, Ronald Wilson and Traveon Napper, who served in the Army with Perry were called to the witness stand Tuesday and both testified that Perry, in their opinion, is not a racist. Wilson testified that sharing such social media posts was a way to cope with the daily stress of serving in the military.

Perry’s mother, Rachel Perry, also took the witness stand, testifying her son has shown remorse for the fatal shooting.

“He cried a lot when this happened,” Rachel Perry testified. “His intention was just to protect himself, not to go out and shoot anybody.”

Following the Perry’s conviction, his attorney’s requested a new trial, citing juror misconduct. The defense attorney’s alleged jurors brought outside information into the jury deliberation room concerning self-defense law during their deliberations.

Judge Brown rejected the motion for a new trial. The defense attorney did not immediately say they will appeal the conviction.

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(NEW YORK) — A missing teenage hiker was rescued from chest-deep snow in Montana’s Glacier National Park after going missing for three days, officials announced Tuesday.

Rescue personnel found 19-year-old Matthew Read at 11 p.m. on Monday. Two Bear Air rescuers saw a thermal heat signature in heavily forested terrain and lowered a rescuer to the location.

Read was found “somewhat responsive” and was extracted by a 175-foot hoist, according to park officials. He was flown out of the park and transferred to an ambulance.

Officials said he is in stable condition.

Read hiked the Huckleberry Lookout trail on Friday, reaching the first saddle, where he encountered a snowfield covering the trail, according to park officials.

Read then slipped into an unnamed drainage on the east side of Huckleberry Mountain, where he descended into chest-deep snow, losing his phone, water bottle and shoes. Read then realized he could not make it back up to the trail and started working down the drainage, according to park officials.

“Conditions on Huckleberry Trail at the upper reaches are winter-like with snow over the trail at higher altitudes,” park officials said in a statement.

The search began after he was reported overdue to park officials on Sunday and expanded into Monday morning when about 30 people with the park rangers, U.S. Border Patrol and Flathead County Sheriff’s Office and county search dogs looked for Read. His vehicle was located at the Huckleberry Lookout Trailhead on Sunday.

The Huckleberry Lookout trail reopened on Tuesday morning after it had been closed for the search.

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(ALLEN, Texas) — Irvin Walker II had just dropped off his wife at the Allen Premium Outlets in Texas when a gunman fired shots into his car, hitting him three times.

The dad and husband “got into survival mode,” his attorney, Daryl Washington, told ABC News. “He wanted to live.”

Walker tried to drive away, but he was losing so much blood that he was afraid of bleeding out, Washington said, so he ran to a store for help. But Walker then realized he was at risk in the store, too, because he didn’t know where the gunman was located.

As Walker left the store, he witnessed 20-year-old mall security guard Christian LaCour get shot and killed, Washington said.

“He loves his family, he loves his daughter. … These are the things that was going through his mind, whether he’d ever see his family again,” Washington said.

Walker kept fleeing the mall area until “someone picked him up and put him in the back of a police cruiser” to bring him to safety, Washington said.

The suspect, who died after a confrontation with police, had three weapons on his person and five in his car when he opened fire at the mall on Saturday afternoon, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Eight people were killed and seven, including Walker, were injured.

Walker, who’s suffering from physical and mental injuries, has completed one surgery and may need a second, his attorney said.

Among the physical scars are bullet fragments lodged into his skin all over his body, Washington said.

“That’s gonna be with him for the remainder of his life — he won’t be able to do just simple things, [like] going into an airport, without the security alarm going off,” the attorney said.

“There’s no need for a gun with that amount of strength to be on the street,” Washington added.

Authorities said Tuesday that it appears the suspect, Mauricio Garcia, targeted the mall and shot people at random. A motive remains unknown.

ABC News’ Connor Burton contributed to this report.

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