News – Page 1221 – 105.7 WDNY

How Southern states are battling broken water pipes and boil notices after deep freeze

January 24, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — After a barrage of icy storms, strong winds and record-breaking freezes, Americans living in southern states are now battling one of weather’s most dangerous side effects — bursting pipes.

Residents in Tennessee and Mississippi were placed under water advisory notices and had limited access to clean, running water.

The city of Memphis was under a five-day water boiling notice while repair crews worked around-the-clock to repair pipes that had burst in the frigid temperatures. The boiling notice was lifted on Tuesday, according to Memphis Light, Gas and Water.

“Four inches of snow in the Northeast, for example, wouldn’t be a hazard, but in the South, we don’t have the same level of operational infrastructure,” according to a spokesperson for Memphis Mayor Paul Young.

Water pipes can start to freeze when the temperature reaches 20 degrees Fahrenheit. If pipes freeze solid, residents lose access to running water completely and the pressure buildup can cause pipes to burst, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Young’s office praised Memphis Light, Gas and Water for working quickly to restore water infrastructure and lift water boiling advisories as quickly and safely as possible.

“The very cold temps caused breaks in pipes in businesses and homes and about 70 water mains. MLGW was able to restore full system pressure within 72 hours and will be lifting the precautionary boil water advisory today,” Young’s spokesperson said.

If water mains and pipes crack or burst, the conditions within the water infrastructure could potentially allow contaminants to enter the distribution system, according to the National Association of Water Companies.

In Jackson, Mississippi, 12,000 customers, largely in the west and south areas of the city, saw low to no water pressure at the height of last week’s freeze, according to Jackson’s public utility service, JXN Water.

“How do you think you’ll feel [if] you didn’t have water?” Jackson resident Jackie Pitchford told ABC affiliate WAPT-TV on Monday after waking up to no water running from her kitchen sink. “You had to use the bathroom. Do you want to take a bath? It’s like living in the woods. Like being homeless, or something,” she said.

Pitchford shared her frustration over needing to buy water amid the freeze and still pay her utility bill at the end of the month.

“It’s been terrible because you have to buy water and you still have a bill to pay,” Pitchford said. “And we are seniors and we can’t afford that on a fixed income.”

Jackson has been hit with a total of 145 water pipe breaks, including 16 new breaks which were reported Tuesday. Of those, 102 breaks have been repaired or are under active repair as crews continue to combat the effects of the icy weather, according to JXN Water.

“The winter weather was challenging for all of us, especially with the combination of pipe breaks because of the cold and significantly higher than usual water use,” Ted Henifin, a manager at JXN Water, told ABC News. “We’re working around the clock to make the system better every day.”

Henifin noted that in addition to icy weather, the city’s increasing demand for water had contributed to the crisis.

“Demand is down significantly from the peak experienced during the freeze but still remains about 4 million gallons per day above our average,” Henifin said of the increased water demand affecting the area’s pipes. “There may still be isolated pressure fluctuations throughout the remainder of the week as storage is not fully recovered.”

While water companies and local authorities are working to repair public access to water, there are steps residents can take to help themselves and their communities at large.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, when residents are expecting very cold or freezing temperatures they should:

-Leave all water taps slightly open so they drip continuously.
-Keep the temperature inside your home warm.
-Allow heated air to reach pipes. For example, open cabinet doors beneath the kitchen and bathroom sinks.
-If your pipes do freeze, do not thaw them with a torch. Thaw the pipes slowly with warm air from an electric hair dryer.
-If you cannot thaw your pipes, or the pipes have broken open, use bottled water or get water from a neighbor’s home.
-As an emergency measure, if no other water is available, snow can be melted for water. Bringing water to a rolling boil for one minute will kill most germs but won’t get rid of chemicals sometimes found in snow.

Amish horse and buggy stolen from Walmart parking lot while family shopped

January 24, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — An Amish family had their horse and buggy stolen while they shopped at a Michigan Walmart, police say.

The theft took place on Saturday at approximately 5:30 p.m. in the town of Sturgis, Michigan – some 95 miles south of Grand Rapids near the Indiana border – when the Sturgis Department of Public Safety were called to the Walmart on 1500 S. Centerville Road to a report of a stolen Amish buggy and horse from the establishment’s parking lot, authorities said.

“A truck driver, parked in the Walmart lot, had seen a female steal the buggy,” according to a statement from the Sturgis Department of Public Safety. “He gave police a description of the female suspect.”

As it turns out, police had already made contact with the 31-year-old female suspect earlier in the day at the same Walmart, though officials did not elaborate on why they had spoken to her or what the reason behind the contact was.

Police eventually found the stolen horse and buggy later the same evening and were able to find the alleged unnamed suspect at a nearby motel where she was arrested without incident, according to authorities.

The suspect was subsequently lodged at the St. Joseph County Jail on the charges of larceny and larceny of livestock. She is currently pending an arraignment.

The horse was returned to the family, along with their buggy, following the incident and police said the animal was unharmed during the ordeal.

Video emerges of heroic officer saving 3-year-old girl’s life after she hit her head and stopped breathing

January 24, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Because of the quick response from an Ashland, Ohio, police officer, a 3-year-old girl has a second chance at life after falling and becoming unresponsive after hitting her head.

The accident happened on Jan. 8 at approximately 9:10 p.m. in the town of Ashland, Ohio – some 65 miles southwest of Cleveland – when dispatchers sent police to a home on Cottage Street to reports of an unresponsive 3-year-old girl who had fallen and hit her head, according to a statement from the Ashland Police Division.

A 23-year-old Ashland police officer, Soren Osicka, along with several other officers, immediately began life-saving efforts on the young girl and requested emergency medical services for backup.

“Without hesitation, Officer Osicka began CPR to provide the essential circulation and oxygen needed to sustain her life. Within seconds, the child began to breathe independently but abruptly stopped breathing again,” said the Ashland Police Division describing the incident. “Officer Osicka continued CPR until the girl began to breathe once more and respond. Officers cared for the child until EMS arrived for transport to a hospital.”

Police took the opportunity to remind people how critical CPR training can be following Officer Osicka’s heroism.

“This incident emphasizes the importance of CPR training,” police said. “The Division will undergo refresher training this year to better prepare officers for such a scenario. We encourage everyone to become certified in CPR, as these lifesaving skills can make a significant difference in emergencies like this one.”

The unnamed 3-year-old child has since recovered and returned home.

Said the Ashland Police Division: “The selfless actions of public safety personnel often go unnoticed. This incident is a shining example of the compassion, poise, and dedication of the officers of the Ashland Police Division. Officer Osicka’s heroic actions remind us of law enforcement’s invaluable role in our communities.”

ABC News’ Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.

North Dakota court keeps strict abortion ban in place even in cases of medical emergencies

January 24, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A North Dakota state court denied a request to temporarily block the state’s strict abortion ban on Tuesday.

Plaintiffs challenging the ban had asked the court to allow doctors to resume performing abortions to preserve the life or health of a pregnant person, based on their “good-faith medical judgment.”

While Burleigh County District Court said it would not block the state’s strict ban for now, the court has not yet issued a final decision on whether the ban violates the state constitution.

“The Center for Reproductive Rights filed the challenge in 2023, arguing that the strict exceptions in the ban are too narrow and violate the state constitution. The Court’s denial of the injunction is based on the injunctive relief sought and is not a ruling that the ban is constitutional or consistent with pregnant people’s rights or wellbeing,” the Center for Reproductive Rights said in a statement.

The CRR said that the court will make a final decision on the constitutionality of North Dakota’s abortion ban after it hears testimony and evidence in court.

“Though we are disappointed by today’s decision, the court did not reach the constitutional questions at the heart of this case, and we remain confident that we will prevail after the court hears further evidence of how this law harms pregnant North Dakotans,” said Meetra Mehdizadeh, a staff attorney at the CRR.

The North Dakota Supreme Court already blocked another ban — the state’s trigger ban on abortion — which it deemed was unconstitutional because it did not allow exceptions to save the life or preserve the health of a pregnant person.

“The North Dakota Constitution explicitly provides all citizens of North Dakota the right of enjoying and defending life and pursuing and obtaining safety. These rights implicitly include the right to obtain an abortion to preserve the woman’s life or health,” the court said in a March 2023 opinion.

The trigger ban was set to go into effect, making it a felony to perform an abortion, with exceptions for rape, incest or to save the life of a mother.

In April 2023 — just one month after that opinion was issued — state lawmakers adopted another strict abortion ban, which is being challenged in the ongoing lawsuit.

That ban, which is currently in effect, makes performing or aiding an abortion a class C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.

While the abortion ban includes an exception to save the life of a mother, plaintiffs argue that the ban keeps patients from being able to access care.

“While the amended abortion ban has an exception for health, the exception is too narrow to allow pregnant people to access care in situations where their health is at risk,” the lawsuit argues.

The suit also argues that the ban does not provide a “discernible standard” for when physicians can provide legal abortion care and does not allow them to rely on “good-faith medical judgment” to determine whether an abortion is necessary to protect the life and health of a patient.

The suit also argues that patients with nonviable pregnancies that pose risks to patients’ health are unable to get care in North Dakota and have to travel out of state.

Russian plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war crashes near border, Moscow says

January 24, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — A Russian military aircraft carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war crashed Wednesday in western Russia’s Belgorod region, Russian officials said.

The “captured” Ukrainian soldiers were being transported to the Belgorod region, located along Russia’s border with Ukraine, as part of an “exchange,” according to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense.

There were also six crew members and three “accompanying persons” aboard the Il-76 military transport aircraft, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

There was no immediate comment on the crash or confirmation of a planned prisoner exchange from Ukrainian officials.

Flash flooding and tornadoes threaten the South as winter storm moves eastward across US

January 24, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Parts of a winter storm that brought historic rainfall to Southern California this week is now moving eastward, bringing even more precipitation to the southern and eastern United States.

Areas of eastern Texas, where flash flood warnings have been issued, already got up to a half of a foot of rainfall on Tuesday and overnight into Wednesday. Some schools there had delayed openings on Wednesday morning and some roads were closed north of Houston.

As of early Wednesday, 17 states were under flood watches for heavy rain as well as a combination of heavy rain and melting snow.

Rounds of heavy rain are in the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday across the South and even into the Midwest, where all the snow is melting from mild temperatures.

On Wednesday, the heaviest rain will hit from Houston, Texas, to New Orleans, Louisiana, and into Jackson, Mississippi, where some areas could see an additional 3 to 6 inches of rain and flash flooding is expected.

Some thunderstorms could also become severe on Wednesday with damaging winds and even a few tornadoes, especially in southern Louisiana and Mississippi.

By Thursday, the flood threat is forecast to move into Georgia, including Atlanta, where 2 to 3 inches of rain could fall with localized amounts up to 5 inches possible.

Meanwhile, 23 sates from Texas to Washington and east to Pennsylvania were under dense fog alerts for Wednesday morning, with visibility dropping close to zero in some places. Overnight, a ground stop was issued at Texas’ Dallas Fort Worth International Airport due to visibility near zero.

The fog is expected to impact major cities and their airports, including Dallas, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Little Rock, Arkansas; Kansas City, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; Chicago, Illinois; and Detroit, Michigan.

The fog should dissipate in most areas by Wednesday afternoon but is forecast to reform in the evening.

In the Northeast, a mix of snow and ice was falling lightly early Wednesday from northern Pennsylvania to upstate New York into the New England area. Winter weather advisories have been issued from Pennsylvania to Maine for Wednesday morning, though not much snowfall is in the forecast there — possibly an inch or two with a glaze of ice.

Most of the weather alerts are set to expire Wednesday morning, while some — mostly in northern New England — remain in effect until the evening.

Much of the precipitation in the Northeast is expected to transition into just rain by Wednesday evening as temperatures warm well above freezing.

FAA investigating after Delta Boeing plane loses front nose wheel before takeoff

January 24, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday it will investigate after a tire under the front nose of a Delta Boeing 757 fell off one of the wheels and rolled down a nearby embankment.

The incident occurred on Saturday around 11:15 a.m. local time at Georgia’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport while Delta Flight 982 was taxiing before takeoff to Bogota, Colombia.

In air traffic control audio included in a report from the FAA, a controller is heard alerting the pilot of the situation, saying, “One of your nose tires just came off; it just rolled off the runway behind you.”

The report also says that the tire landed on the south side of the runway, down an embankment.

Following the incident, passengers and their luggage were returned to the terminal via buses and their departure was delayed. The passengers were put on another aircraft to their destination, according to the FAA report.

No injuries were reported in the incident, the FAA said.

In a statement Tuesday, Delta offered an apology “to our customers for the inconvenience.”

The news of this Boeing incident comes weeks after a mid-cabin door plug fell off during the ascent of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 and days after the FAA recommended flight operators check another model of Boeing airplanes.

On Jan. 5, the door plug fell out of the Alaska Airlines plane after it took off for Ontario, California, from Portland, Oregon. Six crew members and 171 passengers were on board Flight 1282, the airline previously said.

The cabin became depressurized shortly after takeoff, and the pilots asked for an emergency landing, according to the transcript of an air traffic control call from LiveATC.net.

The door was found several days later. The NTSB is investigating the incident.

Man with box cutter who entered a church and threatened employee arrested

January 24, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(REDWOOD CITY, Calif.) — A man has been arrested after entering a church and threatening one of the employees with a box cutter, according to authorities.

The incident occurred on Monday at approximately 7:31 p.m. when the Redwood City Police Department received a report of a subject threatening an employee with a blade at the Street Life Ministries Church, located about 30 miles south of the city of San Francisco, California.

The suspect took off shortly after the confrontation but the individual who reported it to the police followed the suspect, later identified as 29-year-old Jorge Orozco, until police officers were able to locate him in a nearby neighborhood, according to a statement from the Redwood City Police Department.

It is unclear if Orozco was affiliated with the church, knew anybody there or what his potential motivation was for threatening the employee.

“Once contacted, Orozco was detained without incident and a box cutter was located on his person,” police said following the incident. “He was positively identified by the victim as well as two witnesses.”

Nobody was injured during the assault and Orozco was booked into the San Mateo County Jail for felony assault with a deadly weapon.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Trump fends off Haley with double-digit win and other takeaways from New Hampshire’s primary

January 24, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump is projected to score a double-digit victory in New Hampshire’s primary on Tuesday, marking a second and crucial step toward securing the 2024 Republican nomination.

With more than 73% of the estimated vote in as of late Tuesday, Trump was in first with 54% and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was in second with 44%.

Though Haley played up that second-place finish in a speech after polls closed — drawing Trump’s scorn — she had staked much of her campaign on winning over New Hampshire voters given the state’s more anti-Trump electorate and its rules allowing independents to participate in the primary.

Polls show she is much further behind Trump than 10 points in various other parts of the country, including South Carolina, where they will next face off next month.

On the Democratic side, a write-in campaign for President Joe Biden handily won his race, which was unsanctioned by the Democratic National Convention after New Hampshire refused to move the race’s date to jive with the DNC’s calendar of having South Carolina hold the nation’s first primary.

Here are three takeaways from Tuesday night’s results:

Trump margin expected to stay in double digits

Experts have long said that New Hampshire had the makings of the kind of state that could blunt Trump’s momentum and help boost one of his primary rivals.

Among other things, the state boasts an electorate more moderate than that of Iowa, where Trump romped in the caucuses last week. And by Tuesday, only one major opponent remained, Haley, which could have allowed anti-Trump voters to coalesce around her.

In the end, though, Trump again emerged victorious, dashing Haley’s hopes of a narrow win or a truly close second-place finish and cementing even further his popularity in the GOP.

The next two contests are set to be held on significantly more friendly terrain for Trump.

He’ll enter Nevada’s caucuses in early February with a huge lead with voters there, per polling, and Haley isn’t even competing in them. South Carolina will hold its primary on Feb. 24 — and even though it’s Haley’s home state, Trump currently leads by about 36 points in 538’s polling average.

Trump’s allies flexed after the former president’s strong showing, pointing to the results as evidence that the primary was never competitive in the first place.

“After President Trump’s resounding victory in New Hampshire tonight people will say this primary is over. The truth is, tonight’s result proves it never existed at all. President Trump has been our nominee all along. It’s now time for the entire Republican Party to unite behind our nominee to defeat Joe Biden in November,” Kari Lake, the Arizona GOP Senate candidate rumored to also be a possible vice-presidential pick for Trump, said in a statement.

“It’s time for unity, it’s time to take the fight to the Democrats, and for Nikki Haley: it’s time to drop out,” added Taylor Budowich, who heads the main pro-Trump super PAC.

Biden’s campaign didn’t disagree with that assessment of the race.

“It is now clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee. And my message to the country is the stakes could not be higher,” he said in a statement.

Haley stays in, for now

Haley on Tuesday night played down any possibility she’d be exiting the race.

Her team had steadily lowered expectations in New Hampshire from projecting a victory to saying they would settle for a respectable second place and hope for a better result in South Carolina next month.

In a speech to supporters, Haley indicated she plans on staying in the race through South Carolina’s primary and Super Tuesday on March 5, where the lion’s share of delegates is up for grabs.

“In the next two months, millions of voters in over 20 states will have their say. We should honor them and allow them to vote. And guess what? In the next two months, Joe Biden isn’t going to get any younger or any better. We’ll have all the time we need to defeat Joe Biden. When we get to South Carolina, Donald Trump’s going to have a harder time … attacking me,” she said.

“South Carolina voters don’t want a coronation. They want an election. And we’re going to give them one,” she said. “Because we are just getting started.”

Haley also took pointed swipes at Trump, indicating an escalation of their back-and-forth that Haley had appeared reticent to engage in early in the campaign.

“[Democrats] know Donald Trump is the only Republican in the country who Joe Biden can beat,” Haley said. “You can’t fix the mess if you can’t win the election. A Trump nomination is a Biden win and a Kamala Harris presidency.”

She also noted Trump’s reluctance to debate her and a recent gaffe when he confused her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — while also reiterating her call for mental competency tests for elderly politicians.

Trump is 77, and Biden is 81.

“Most Americans do not want a rematch between Biden and Trump. The first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate is going to be the party that wins this election. And I think it should be the Republicans that win this election. So, our fight is not over because we have a country to save,” she said.

Biden write-in campaign handily defeats Phillips, Williamson

The write-in campaign set up by Biden allies is projected to have easily dispatched Democratic challengers Rep. Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson.

While the Democratic primary will not award any delegates after being disavowed by the DNC, party leaders were concerned that a victory or near-second by either of the two challengers would mark a major embarrassment for the president, just as Democrats try to quell hand-wringing over Biden’s age, handling of the economy and poor standing in early polls of the 2024 race.

In the end, though, Biden was at 67% with write-ins while Phillips hovered around 20% and Williamson failed to break 5% as of late Tuesday, with more than 41% of the vote counted. (Williamson’s campaign manager, Carlos Cardona, soon quit but told ABC News that there was no bad blood and the campaign planned to keep going.)

Still, Phillips reiterated in a speech on Tuesday that he has concerns about a Biden-Trump rematch and said he will stay in the race, despite failing to beat a man who didn’t compete in New Hampshire or even appear on the ballot.

“Joe Biden is a good man. He’s a fine man. Yes, he is everybody, he’s our president, but I gotta tell you, everyone, he cannot win. The polls are saying he cannot win, his approval numbers are saying you can’t win, and the fact that an unknown congressman from Minnesota two weeks before the election said I’m going to come out here and run for president just got 21%, that says something,” Phillips said.

“We’re going to go to South Carolina, and then we are going to go to Michigan, and then we are going to go to all the Super Tuesday states,” he added.

Prosecutors rebut ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s attempt to dismiss fraud charges

January 24, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s attempt to dismiss his fraud indictment in New York City “bears little resemblance to reality,” Manhattan prosecutors said Tuesday in a new court filing.

Bannon, who helped run former President Donald Trump’s campaign for part of the 2016 presidential race, is seeking to dismiss charges that he defrauded donors of the “We Build the Wall” online fundraising campaign that was supposed to raise money for Trump’s signature domestic project.

Bannon has pleaded not guilty in the case. A trial is scheduled for May.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office said Bannon defrauded donors to the nonprofit organization by falsely promising that none of the money they donated would be used to pay the salary of “We Build the Wall” president Brian Kolfage — while Bannon secretly funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage by laundering it through third-party entities.

The fundraising campaign represented that “We Build the Wall” would use the money to privately construct the wall along the southern boarder. Prosecutors said a “central piece of the public messaging in support of this fundraising effort was that Kolfage was not taking a penny of compensation.”

Financial records show that Kolfage was paid according to a secret salary arrangement that included an upfront payment of $100,000 and monthly payments of approximately $20,000.

Prosecutors said that when Kolfage testified before a grand jury, he admitted to receiving those payments, but testified that he believed that he was being paid by a nonprofit organization controlled by Bannon, Citizens of the American Republic, instead of We Build the Wall.

Prosecutors allege that Bannon concealed his role in diverting some of the $15 million in donations toward Kolfage, pointing to messages they say show how the alleged scheme worked.

“People’s presentation in the instant matter included ample evidence that was more than sufficient to support the grand jury’s decision to vote the charges laid out in the indictment,” prosecutors said in their opposition to Bannon’s motion to dismiss.

Bannon has pleaded not guilty to charges of money laundering, conspiracy and scheming to defraud investors. He was initially indicated on federal charges, but received a pardon from then-President Trump on Trump’s final night in office.

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