Spike, a police dog with the Burbank Police Department, gave the “ultimate sacrifice” after he was fatally shot while searching for an armed suspect who escaped from officials following a traffic stop, police said. Burbank Police Department
(BURBANK, Calif.) — A California police dog gave the “ultimate sacrifice” after an armed suspect fled from law enforcement and fatally shot the canine in the line of duty, according to the Burbank Police Department.
Spike, who officials described as an “intelligent and devoted partner,” was killed on Saturday after authorities conducted a traffic stop, which escalated into an officer-involved shooting, police said in a statement.
While police were conducting the traffic stop on Saturday evening, the passenger of the vehicle fled on foot, ran up the nearby freeway ramp and jumped over the embankment wall into a nearby residential neighborhood, officials said.
Officers remained with the driver of the vehicle and requested assistance to find the runaway suspect, police said. A “coordinated search” was initiated using a helicopter and a police canine, later identified as Spike, officials said.
During the search, Spike located the suspect, who was armed with a handgun, officials said.
The suspect, who has not been identified, then fired “multiple rounds, striking the canine, before fleeing on foot,” police said.
Spike, who was transported to a local emergency veterinarian, “succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased,” police said.
After a continued search with the help of an air support unit, police said they were able to locate the suspect.
While officials were negotiating with the armed individual, the suspect began “shooting at police officers, striking police vehicles.”
Police retuned fire, fatally striking the suspect, officials said.
The individual’s handgun was recovered at the scene, with officials saying the investigation remains ongoing.
The fallen canine, who was “known for his gentle nature off duty and his tenacity and dedication while serving” was honored with a procession on Sunday.
“Your mission is complete, hero,” police said in a statement on Sunday.
Burbank police Lt. Derek Green told ABC Los Angeles station KABC losing Spike is “no different than losing a police officer.”
“It’s a dog, but it’s part of our law enforcement family,” Green told KABC. “These police K-9s are essentially a partner to it’s handler.”
Officials told KABC they are in the process of planning a public memorial for Spike.
Spike is at least the 22nd police K-9 to die in the line of duty in the U.S. this year, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. He is the first from California to die in more than two years.
Portland Trail Blazers Coach Chauncey Billups arrives for his arraignment hearing at U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on November 24, 2025 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Portland Trail Blazers head coach and National Basketball Association hall of famer Chauncey Billups pleaded not guilty on Monday in Brooklyn federal court to charges he conspired to lure unsuspecting poker players to games allegedly rigged by the Mafia.
“We enter a plea of not guilty,” defense attorney Mark Mukasey said.
Prosecutors said Billups was one of the alleged scheme’s “face cards” who used his celebrity to attract high-rollers to poker tables that were equipped with x-ray technology and altered shuffling machines. The poker games were backed by organized crime families, according to the indictment, which was revealed Oct. 23.
The judge on Monday ordered Billups be released on bond, the terms of which are being negotiated in a separate courtroom.
Judge Ramon Reyes said he intends for the trial to begin in September 2026.
“Do whatever you have to do to get it ready to go,” Reyes said.
Billups, who spent 17 seasons in the NBA and was the 2004 NBA Finals MVP, is one of 31 defendants charged in the scheme, all of whom are due in court Monday. They’re facing various charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
All 31 defendants appeared in court on Monday.
“With respect to at least some defendants, plea negotiations have begun,” one of the prosecutors, Michael Gibaldi, said. He did not say which defendants might opt to change their plea to guilty and resolve their cases before trial.
Federal prosecutors previously signaled that they expect a number of the defendants will ultimately opt to plead guilty.
“Although it is too early for the government and any of the defendants to engage in substantial plea negotiations, the government and defense counsel for several defendants have begun productive discussions that the government hopes will ultimately lead to resolutions as to several defendants without the need for a trial,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing ahead of Monday’s status conference.
The evidence against Billups and his codefendants – including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former player and coach Damon Jones – comes from electronic devices, surveillance photographs, pole camera footage, bank records and phone records, prosecutors said.
Less than a week after the charges against Billups and others were revealed, the NBA announced that it was undertaking a review of how the league can protect itself from sports betting and whether it’s doing enough to educate coaches, players and other personnel about the “dire risks” gambling could pose to their careers, according to an NBA league memo obtained by ABC News.
Billups and Rozier were immediately placed on leave by their teams when the charges were announced, the NBA said.
Security video of Morgan Geyser. (Madison Police Department)
(POSEN, Ill.) — When she was captured on Sunday night, nearly 200 miles from the Wisconsin group home she allegedly fled, “Slender Man” stabbing assailant Morgan Geyser told officers who asked for her identity to “just Google” her, according to Illinois police.
The 22-year-old Geyser, who in 2014 stabbed a friend 19 times to appease the fictional character “Slender Man,” was located on Sunday after she allegedly cut off her Department of Corrections monitoring bracelet and left the group home where she had been a resident, authorities said.
Geyser was taken into custody in Posen, Illinois, police confirmed to ABC News.
Geyser was taken into custody at a truck stop in Posen with a 42-year-old man she had traveled across state lines with, according to a Posen Police Department statement released on Monday. Police found the pair sleeping on a sidewalk, according to the statement.
“The female repeatedly refused to provide her real name and initially gave a false one,” the police said. “After continued attempts to identify her, she finally stated that she didn’t want to tell officers who she was because she had ‘done something really bad,’ and suggested that officers could ‘just Google’ her name.”
Once she provided her real name, officers learned she was wanted for escape in Wisconsin. Both Geyser and her male companion were detained without incident, police said.
Geyser’s traveling companion, whose name was not released, was charged with criminal trespassing and obstructing identification, according to police. He has since been released and authorities did not provide information on his involvement in Geyser’s escape from the group home.
Posen Police said the pair took a bus to Posen from Wisconsin. Posen is about 25 minutes south of Chicago.
Before being located, Geyser was last seen in Madison, Wisconsin, around 8 p.m. on Saturday with an adult acquaintance, Madison police said in a statement posted on social media, which included a recent surveillance image of Geyser.
“Geyser will be held until transfer to Cook County for an extradition hearing at 26th and California,” the department said, referring by address to the Criminal Court Administration Building in Chicago. It was not immediately clear when that hearing would take place.
Prior to her daughter’s arrest, Geyser’s mother, Angie Geyser, said in a statement to ABC News on Sunday, “If you see Morgan, please call the police. Morgan, if you can see this, we love you and just want to know you are safe.”
Geyser’s attorney, Tony Cotton, also released a statement on Sunday to ABC News asking Geyser to turn herself in, saying it was “in her best interest” to do so.
In March, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren ordered that Geyser be released from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute and sent to a group home after three psychologists testified she was prepared for supervised release.
As part of her release, Geyser was ordered to wear a monitoring bracelet.
Geyser, according to police, cut off her Department of Corrections monitoring bracelet and left the group home sometime Saturday night.
Geyser and another girl, Anissa Weier, were charged as adults and pleaded guilty to stabbing a classmate, Payton Leutner, 19 times in 2014, when they and the victim were 12 years old. Both Geyser’s and Weier’s guilty pleas were later vacated when they were found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. Both of them were subsequently sent to psychiatric institutions.
“Payton Leutner and her family are aware of the most recent situation regarding Morgan Geyser,” a spokesperson for the Leutner family said in a statement to ABC News. “Payton and her family are safe and are working closely with local law enforcement to ensure their continued safety.”
“The family would like to thank all of the law enforcement entities involved in the efforts to apprehend Morgan,” the statement continued. “The Leutner family also wish to thank the outpouring of support from family, friends, and well-wishers who have contacted them during this difficult time.”
In January, Judge Bohren ordered the state Department of Health Services to come up with a plan for Geyser’s supervised release.
Geyser was transferred in March from the Winnebago Mental Health facility to a group home despite concerns raised by prosecutors, who alleged she had “violent” communication with a man outside the facility and had read a book in the facility with “themes of sexual sadism and murder.”
In 2014, Geyser and Weier lured their friend, Payton Leutner, then 12, to the woods in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where Geyser stabbed Leutner while Weier watched.
Geyser and Weier left Leutner alone in the woods. Injured and bleeding, Leutner pulled herself to safety and was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Leutner survived the attack that captured headlines worldwide after Geyser and Weier claimed that the stabbing was intended to please “Slender Man,” a faceless, fictional internet-based character that garnered a cult-like following.
Geyser pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted intentional homicide and was sent to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in 2018. Geyser was later found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, and was sentenced to up to 40 years in a psychiatric institution.
(NEW YORK) — Traveling to your Thanksgiving destination may be smoother than heading home, with a cross-country storm possibly bringing rain and snow to parts of the Northeast and Midwest.
Here’s a look at the Thanksgiving week weather forecast:
Tuesday
A winter storm watch is in place for North Dakota and Minnesota, where 3 to 9 inches of snow may fall from Monday night through Wednesday morning. Wind gusts may reach 40 mph, causing blowing and drifting snow.
Meanwhile, on the East Coast, rain will hit the Interstate 95 corridor from Washington, D.C., to Boston, on Tuesday afternoon and evening.
Wednesday
In the Northeast, a few passing showers are possible from Washington, D.C., to New York City on Wednesday morning.
In the Midwest, snow will start falling across much of Michigan on Wednesday.
Thursday
On Thanksgiving, the lake-effect snow machine will turn on and bring a blast of snow to the downwind side of the Great Lakes through Friday.
A winter storm watch is already in place for towns like Orchard Park, New York, just south of Buffalo, for Wednesday night through Friday.
More than 6 inches of snow is possible and wind gusts up to 45 mph could lead to whiteout conditions.
Friday
On Friday, a new storm system will begin moving cross-country from the Pacific Northwest.
The storm may bring snow on Friday to the Plains, from the Dakotas to northern Missouri.
Saturday
On Saturday, rain is possible from Missouri to Louisiana, while snow is possible from Illinois to Michigan, including Chicago and Detroit.
Sunday
By Sunday afternoon and evening, this system may bring rain to much of the East Coast.
Sunday is predicted to be the busiest air travel day for Thanksgiving.
(NEW YORK) — What started as a dream vacation soon thrust a tight-knit blended family into shock and anguish when one of their own, a beloved teenage girl, was discovered dead on a cruise ship earlier this month.
Even more baffling and heartbreaking, her grandparents said in an interview with ABC News, the person authorities told the family is suspected of Anna Kepner’s death: her stepbrother.
“We were all having a great time,” grandmother Barbara Kepner recalled of the trip. “I couldn’t fathom why anyone would wanna hurt my baby.”
Her grandparents said 18-year-old Anna had her whole life ahead of her. She was an independent and “mighty” young woman, set to graduate high school in May and aspiring to join the Navy, the Kepners said. Those hopes came to a screeching halt when Anna’s body was found aboard the Carnival Horizon, where she and eight other family members were on holiday.
A cause of death has not been announced by authorities, but the Kepner family says the FBI has told them Anna apparently died from asphyxiation, possibly caused by a bar hold — an arm across the neck.
“We were looking forward to seeing her grow,” grandfather Jeffrey Kepner said. “The cruise itself wasn’t what made me excited. It was the fact that I was gonna get to spend another week with my youngest son and his family and all the grandkids.”
The FBI on Sunday continued to decline to comment on the ongoing investigation, and ABC News has not independently confirmed the details of Anna’s death.
“No such thing as steps”
The Kepners, their son, his three children, including Anna, his new wife, and her children from a previous marriage, took the trip together. It was to be a new tradition they were looking forward to keeping, Jeffrey Kepner said. The three generations had three staterooms on the ship.
“The two younger girls stayed with the parents and then the three teenagers, they decided amongst themselves they wanted to stay in the room together. But we had a larger room and we made it very clear that at any time if they weren’t getting along, they didn’t want to be together, we had an extra bed in our room that they could come to,” Barbara Kepner said.
The Kepners painted a picture of a happy group, where familial ties reached further than blood, and there’s “no such thing as steps” for siblings.
“It’s all family. It’s a blended family, yes, but that’s not how our family is,” Jeffrey Kepner said. “Our dynamic is we’re all just family.”
When Anna’s father remarried, the Kepners said they gained two new grandchildren.
“I loved them just like I’ve loved the rest of my grandchildren. They called us Memaw, Peepaw, told us they loved us,” Mrs. Kepner said.
“They were just like brother and sister,” Barbara Kepner said of the stepbrother now called a “suspect” in Anna’s death, according to court papers filed by his mother and Anna’s father in an unrelated matter.
Anna’s grandmother described the two teens as having been “two peas in a pod.”
“I know that those two kids cared about each other in the right way,” Barbara Kepner said. “I can’t accuse him because I don’t know what happened in that room.”
No formal charges have been filed.
Anna’s grandparents said authorities told the family that the stepbrother, according to security cameras, was “the only one seen going in and the only one seen going out” from the room he had been sharing with Anna.
Kepner said she couldn’t understand why anyone would do such a thing to Anna — and wants to see justice done.
“That will be for the courts to decide,” Kepner said.
The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s office declined to comment Friday. The Kepners said the family has been told preliminary information indicates that there were no signs of sexual assault and that there did not appear to be drugs or alcohol in Anna’s system.
Autopsy and toxicology reports that could confirm those details have not been completed.
“I couldn’t stop screaming.”
The last night her grandparents saw Anna alive, her dental braces had been bothering her at dinner, Barbara Kepner said. But Anna was still determined to join in the fun.
“She just said, ‘Meemaw, I think I’m gonna go back to my room for a little bit, I don’t feel well.’ And she must have felt better, because she got dressed up. And she came down, we were playing in the casino. And she sat down and she played $20. And she didn’t win anything. And she said, ‘Meemaw, I love you guys, I’ll see you later,’” Mrs. Kepner said. “She’d pop in and out to check in with us. And we never saw her again after that.”
The next morning, Jeffrey Kepner said he was buying bingo cards when a medical alert blared over the ship loudspeakers. He recognized the room number.
“I went blank,” Jeffrey Kepner said. “I was hoping that it was something minor.” Instead, what he saw when he walked in haunts him. “I still wake up seeing that,” he said.
Anna’s body was discovered by a room attendant “concealed under the bed,” and there were bruises on the side of her neck, according to the Kepners and a security source briefed on the investigation.
When her son — Anna’s father — entered the room, Barbara Kepner said, “all he had to do was look at her and he knew she was gone. And then my husband got there and pulled them out of the room. As he said, they cannot see what they saw.” Then her husband came to tell her what had happened.
“I knew when he walked in the room, something was wrong,” Mrs. Kepner said. “And all he could say to me was, ‘Anna.’ The last I can remember for probably hours that morning is I just screamed. I couldn’t stop screaming.”
The utter shock of the situation hasn’t left much room for grief yet, the Kepners said — but it has made them crave understanding and rack their brains for clues.
“Those are the questions that we’ve been asking — what did we miss?” Mr. Kepner said.
Barbara Kepner said she thought Anna would have told her if she had any concerns about her safety.
“With my grandchildren, I have one rule, and it’s the only rule I have with all of them. You be truthful with me, I’ll be truthful with you, and we’ll figure this out,” Kepner said.
She said on the ship, the stepbrother told her, “In his own words, say he does not remember what happened.” She added, “I believe, to him, that is his truth.”
The stepbrother was questioned along with other family members by law enforcement — who also pored over the ship’s security camera footage and access-card swipes to get a picture of who was where at the various times prior to the death, according to the Kepner family and a security source briefed on the investigation.
“He was an emotional mess. He couldn’t even speak. He couldn’t believe what had happened,” Mrs. Kepner said of the stepbrother. After the boat docked in Miami, the stepbrother was hospitalized for psychiatric observation and then released to stay with a family member, Kepner said.
Appearing virtually in a Florida family courtroom in connection with an unrelated custody matter connected to the divorce of Anna’s parents, the attorney for Kepner’s stepmother told the court Thursday that, immediately after the incident on the cruise ship, the stepbrother was “hospitalized.” He has since been released from the hospital and is now living with a relative of the mother and receiving counseling, the lawyer said. The lawyer did not explain the reason for the hospitalization.
“The biggest question that I want answered is the why. And that’s the answer that I don’t know if we’ll ever get,” Jeffrey Kepner said.
Along with the pain of the unknown, the grandparents said, has also come the feeling they’ve lost not one, but two kids they cared for.
“I now know how she died. It helps a little bit, but it’s not going to bring Anna back,” Barbara Kepner said. “No matter what we find out, no matter what they tell us, it’s not going to bring either one of these children back.”
Security video of Morgan Geyser. (Madison Police Department)
(NEW YORK) — Morgan Geyser, who in 2014 stabbed a friend 19 times to appease the fictional character “Slender Man,” was located Sunday night after she allegedly cut off her Department of Corrections monitoring bracelet and left a Wisconsin group home where she had been a resident, authorities said.
Geyser was taken into custody in Posen, Illinois, police confirmed to ABC News.
Before being located, Geyser was last seen in Madison around 8 p.m. on Saturday with an adult acquaintance, police said in a statement posted on social media, which included a recent surveillance image of Geyser.
Geyser was found Sunday night at a Thornton’s truck stop with another person, according to Posen Police, who said the pair took a bus to Posen, and were both taken into custody.
Police later said the person traveling with Geyser was a 42-year-old man, who was charged with criminal trespassing and obstructing identification. He was released, but remained at the police station, Posen police said. Authorities said they would not provide the man’s name, booking photo or details of his involvement.
“Geyser will be held until transfer to Cook County for an extradition hearing at 26th and California,” the department said, referring by address to the Criminal Court Administration Building in Chicago. It was not immediately clear when that hearing would take place.
Posen is about 25 minutes south of Chicago.
The police department said it was notified of the 22-year-old Geyser’s disappearance on Sunday morning.
Geyser’s mother, Angie Geyser, said in a statement to ABC News earlier on Sunday, “If you see Morgan, please call the police. Morgan, if you can see this, we love you and just want to know you are safe.”
In March, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren ordered that Geyser be released from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute and sent to a group home after three psychologists testified she was prepared for supervised release.
As part of her release, Geyser was ordered to wear a monitoring bracelet.
Geyser, according to police, cut off her Department of Corrections monitoring bracelet and left the group home sometime Saturday night.
Geyser’s attorney, Tony Cotton, released a statement on Sunday asking Geyser to turn herself in, saying it was “in her best interest” to do so.
Geyser and another girl, Anissa Weier, were charged as adults and pleaded guilty to stabbing a classmate, Payton Leutner, 19 times in 2014, when they and the victim were 12 years old. Both Geyser’s and Weier’s guilty pleas were later vacated when they were found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. Both of them were subsequently sent to psychiatric institutions.
“Payton Leutner and her family are aware of the most recent situation regarding Morgan Geyser,” a spokesperson for the Leutner family said in a statement to ABC News. “Payton and her family are safe and are working closely with local law enforcement to ensure their continued safety.”
“The family would like to thank all of the law enforcement entities involved in the efforts to apprehend Morgan,” the statement continued. “The Leutner family also wish to thank the outpouring of support from family, friends, and well-wishers who have contacted them during this difficult time.”
In January, Judge Bohren ordered the state Department of Health Services to come up with a plan for Geyser’s supervised release.
Geyser was transferred in March from the Winnebago Mental Health facility to a group home despite concerns raised by prosecutors, who alleged she had “violent” communication with a man outside the facility and had read a book in the facility with “themes of sexual sadism and murder.”
In 2014, Geyser and Weier lured their friend, Payton Leutner, then 12, to the woods in Waukesha, Wis., where Geyser stabbed Leutner while Weier watched.
Geyser and Weier left Leutner alone in the woods. Injured and bleeding, Leutner pulled herself to safety and was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Leutner survived the attack that captured headlines worldwide after Geyser and Weier claimed that the stabbing was intended to please “Slender Man,” a faceless, fictional internet-based character that garnered a cult-like following.
Geyser pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted intentional homicide and was sent to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in 2018. Geyser was later found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, and was sentenced to up to 40 years in a psychiatric institution.
Weier was also found not guilty by mental disease or defect after pleading guilty to a lesser charge. She was sentenced to up to 25 years in a psychiatric institution. In 2021, at the age of 19, Weier was granted supervised release.
In an interview with ABC’s “20/20” in October 2019, Leutner said she had worked hard to heal from the attack and rebuild a normal life. She told ABC News that she was ready to reclaim her story.
“I’ve come to accept all of the scars that I have,” Leutner said in the exclusive interview with ABC’s David Muir. “It’s just a part of me. I don’t think much of them. They will probably go away and fade eventually.”
New York Jets defensive player Kris Boyd while playing for his former team, the Houston Texans in 2024. (Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A 39-year-old man was fatally shot early Sunday near a Midtown Manhattan nightclub, and the New York City Police Department said the shooter remains on the run.
The incident happened a week after New York Jets player Kris Boyd was shot and wounded outside of a Midtown Manhattan restaurant.
NYPD officers were alerted around 4:13 a.m. on Sunday that a person had been shot near a nightclub on West 46th Street and 12th Avenue in the Midtown West neighborhood, less than a block east of the Intrepid Museum.
“Upon arrival, officers observed a 39-year-old male with gunshot wounds to the back and groin,” according to an NYPD statement.
The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was taken by ambulance to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the NYPD.
No arrests have been announced and police are working to identify the suspect.
The violence follows the unrelated Nov. 16 shooting of 29-year-old Boyd, a Jets defensive back and specialty teams player, outside the Midtown Manhattan restaurant Sei Less, located 156 W. 38th Street, roughly two miles from Sunday morning’s shooting.
Boyd was shot around 2 a.m. after and he and some friends emerged from the restaurant at closing time and got into a scuffle on the street with another group that had been inside the restaurant, according to a statement from the NYPD.
Boyd remains hospitalized with a bullet lodged in his lung, law enforcement sources told ABC News. Jets coach Aaron Glenn told reporters on Wednesday that he spoke to Boyd and that he is confident the player will be okay.
The Boyd shooting is believed to have stemmed from words exchanged between Boyd, who was with two other Jets players and a friend at Sei Less, and another group “chirping” about their clothing, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
No arrests have been announced in the Boyd shooting. However, police sources on Thursday told ABC News that detectives have identified a possible suspect and are looking to question him.
(CHICAGO) — At least seven people were injured in a shooting in downtown Chicago on Friday night, police said.
Officers were on patrol when they observed a large group of people on the sidewalk close to the Chicago Theater on State Street, according to a statement from the Chicago Police Department.
“Officer’s heard gunshots being fired, and the large group began fleeing the scene,” authorities said. “Officers immediately responded to the area and discovered seven people had sustained gunshot wounds from the gun fire.”
The victims were all treated by the Chicago Fire Department and taken to local hospitals, authorities said.
The shooting happened during a very busy night downtown, with the city holding its Christmas tree lighting ceremony, according to ABC News’ Chicago station WLS.
Though police have not disclosed the identities of any of the victims, they have confirmed that six of them have been listed in good condition and one of them has been listed in fair condition.
No suspects are in custody and detectives are currently investigating the circumstances that led up to the incident.
(NEW YORK) — A proposal from the Trump administration to revise the Endangered Species Act could have critical impacts on the most vulnerable animals, plants and habitats throughout the U.S., according to environmental advocates.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of the Interior outlined several rules within the ESA that it plans to roll back.
Included in the proposed revisions are changes to the listing of protected species and critical habitat (50 CFR part 424), which would be based on the “best scientific and commercial data available,” according to the Interior Department.
This would make economics a factor in what was previously science-based decision-making, Susan Holmes, executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition, told ABC News.
“For example, if the Trump administration determined that the economic harm to a golf course would be greater than protections for the Florida panther, then they could make that determination,” she said. “It would essentially potentially put money over the science.”
The Interior Department has also proposed changes to the 4(d) provision, which casts a blanket protection over threatened species, which presumptively prohibits killing or harming them unless federal agencies outline species-specific alternatives. The revision would require species-specific rules tailored to each threatened species instead.
“Overturning the 4(d) rule would remove protections for threatened species, make it more difficult to list species in need, reduce habitat conservation and open loopholes to undermine protections for imperiled species,” animal welfare group Humane Society of the United States said.
Conservation group Defenders of Wildlife said it would also deprive newly listed species from “automatically receiving protections from killing, trapping, and other forms of prohibited ‘take.'”
This could impact species now proposed for listing, such as the Florida manatee, California spotted owl, Greater sage grouse and Monarch butterfly.
“The rule provides an important safety net for vulnerable wildlife, giving species time to recover their populations before they become critically endangered,” Kitty Block, president and CEO of Humane World for Animals, said in a statement.
The Interior Department said the change “aligns service policy with the National Marine Fisheries Service’s longstanding species-specific approach.”
The Trump administration is also proposing to restrict the amount of habitats that are protected under the ESA (50 CFR part 17). The rule would narrow the definition of “critical habitat” to exclude currently unoccupied but historic habitat.
According to the Interior Department, the revised framework provides “transparency and predictability for landowners and project proponents.”
“Habitat is the number one reason why species go extinct,” Holmes — from the Endangered Species Coalition — said. “We know, to protect a species, we have to protect the habitat where they live, where they breed, they feed.”
The move reaffirms the federal government’s commitment to “science-based conservation that works hand in hand with America’s energy, agricultural and infrastructure priorities,” Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik said in a statement.
“By restoring clarity and predictability, we are giving the regulated community confidence while keeping our focus on recovery outcomes, not paperwork,” Nesvik said.
Changes on a rule on interagency cooperation (50 CFR part 402) would make it easier for federal agencies to greenlight projects such as mining, drilling, logging and overdevelopment without fully assessing the impact on threatened and endangered species or their habitats, according to Defenders of Wildlife.
The Endangered Species Coalition’s Holmes told ABC News that “there would be less compliance, less consultation between the federal agencies.”
The proposal seeks to return to the 2019 consultation framework by reinstating definitions of “effects of the action” and “environmental baseline,” according to the Interior Department.
Since the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973, it has saved 99% of listed species from extinction since its inception, a study published in 2019 found. It has since become one of the nation’s bedrock environmental laws.
Wildlife and environmental advocates condemned the proposed revisions.
Revisions to these rules would “drastically weaken protection for endangered species,” Holmes said.
“These devastating proposals disregard proven science and risk reversing decades of bipartisan progress to protect our shared national heritage and the wildlife that make America so special,” Andrew Bowman, president and CEO at Defenders of Wildlife, said in a statement.
The Humane Society of the United States described the move as “yet another attack on wildlife” by the Trump administration.
“The proposal to repeal this rule is completely reckless,” Block said. “Even if they are listed as ‘threatened’ under the ESA, species could become extinct without its protections.”
Environment advocates also accused the Trump administration of failing to “read the room” in terms of how Americans feel about protecting nature.
Polling data published in June 2025 found that four out of five Americans support the ESA, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The polling also found that 81% of Americans say they are concerned about the environment, including the welfare of animals and including nature, and that 70% factor the value of nature into government decision-making.
In addition, 84% of those polled believe the U.S. should focus on preventing endangered species from becoming extinct, and 78% support the goals of the ESA.
“Trump’s attacks on the Endangered Species Act seriously misread the room. Most people are not going to allow the sacrifice of our natural world to a bunch of billionaires and corporate interests,” Kristen Boyles, an attorney with environmental law group Earthjustice, said in a statement.
The attempt to alter the ESA follows other attacks against wildlife by the Trump administration this year, including proposals to rescind the Roadless Rule and Public Lands Rule, according to the environmental organization Sierra Club.
If the proposed rules were to come into effect, they would benefit industry and developers, the advocates said.
“The Trump administration is stopping at nothing in its quest to put corporate polluters over people, wildlife and the environment,” Sierra Club Executive Director Loren Blackford said in a statement. “After failing in their latest attempt to sell off our public lands, they now want to enable the wholesale destruction of wildlife habitat for a short-term boost in polluters’ bottom lines.”
In a statement to ABC News, the White House said the proposed rules will streamline protections under the ESA.
“President Trump is cutting red tape across the administration — including at the Department of Interior, where he is making it easier to delist recovered species and focus protections where they are truly needed,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told ABC News in an emailed statement. “Joe Biden expanded bureaucracy and sowed confusion, but President Trump and Secretary Burgum are returning power to Americans by eliminating regulatory barriers and respecting private property while maintaining core conservation goals.”
A 30-day period of public comment is in place following the Interior Department’s proposal.
(NEW YORK) — A significant change in the atmosphere means the weeks after Thanksgiving could be colder and snowier than normal across portions of the United States.
It’s all thanks to a disruption in the polar vortex. Here’s what you need to know.
Why is this happening?
Our atmosphere consists of many layers of moving air; the troposphere is where our weather happens and above it is the stratosphere. Over both poles, a ring of strong mid-level winds called the polar vortex traps cold, sub-arctic air.
There are two of these polar vortexes — one in the troposphere that affects weather every winter, and one in the stratosphere that contains much colder air but only affects the surface weather during winter less frequently.
When polar vortex winds are strong, this frigid air remains near the poles. But when the polar vortex is weak and is disturbed, the frigid air can spill out from the North Pole, down south towards the surface.
Scientists are still trying to understand these disturbances and why they occur, but they can drive the most intense cold-air outbreaks and winter weather bursts in the U.S.
Sometimes, the polar vortex simply stretches out, bringing quick bursts of cold air and some wintry weather to the U.S. In more extreme cases, a phenomenon called “sudden stratospheric warming” — or SSWs — can trigger more significant disruptions to the polar vortex.
While it may seem counterintuitive, a sudden warming in the stratosphere above the poles often weakens these winds, disrupting the polar vortex and allowing cold air to spill out from the North Pole and down into places like the U.S., Europe and Asia.
These events can take weeks to unfold and can have cascading impacts. Some of these events can lead to strong cold outbreaks and snowier spells, while others have little impact near the surface.
According to Dr. Amy Butler, a meteorologist and lead of the Stratospheric Modeling & Analysis program at National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, SSWs occur once every other winter, But “there are only one to two major events in late November in the record back to 1958.”
“We have this unprecedented disruption in the polar architecture where it’s so early in the season … There’s not many past analogs to draw from and say [with confidence] about how this is going to go,” said Dr. Judah Cohen, a climatologist at MIT and the director of seasonal forecasting for Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER) at the JANUS Research Group.
Cohen added that an SSW is not a given yet and that we could simply see the polar vortex be stretched out past Thanksgiving, but it would still result in a noticeable change to colder and possibly more wintry weather for parts of the U.S.
La Niña will also play a role in this pattern shift, as will the forecasted weather conditions for the winter ahead.
“With North America, we have a weak La Nina and other patterns in the Pacific that have a direct influence on the weather as well,” said Dr. Jason Furtado, associate professor in the School of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma. Furtado also added that these, consequently, lead to a higher chance of a colder December.
What does it mean for the forecast?
Long-range forecasts from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center favor below-average temperatures for the majority of America from late November into December.
However, this outlook deals with average temperatures over the period, so they don’t account for short-term variations that occur over days or weeks — meaning there could be a cold snap for a few days then warmth for the rest of the period, with the average leveling out or warmer.
What does it mean for snow?
These disturbances to the polar vortex can plunge cold air south and often create more chances for snow. However, the relationship between these two is not as straightforward.
According to NOAA, this pattern change supports more winter-like conditions across the central U.S. and increase the potential for heavy snow. Specifically, the increased potential for heavy snowfalls along the Great Lakes, a region historically known for lake-effect snow.
