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Why the Crimean Bridge is key to Russia’s war in Ukraine

July 17, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — A series of explosions damaged a section of the single bridge that connects Russia to Crimea on Monday, marking the latest attack on Moscow’s crucial link to the annexed peninsula.

The blasts occurred before dawn, killing a married couple and wounding their daughter, according to Russian state media. The Crimean Bridge — the longest in Europe — remains open to trains but is now closed to road traffic as Russian authorities assess the damage before determining how long it will take to repair. Footage from the scene on Monday morning showed a damaged section tilted and hanging down.

Russian officials said the strike was carried out by Ukrainian sea drones and described the incident as a terror attack. Ukrainian officials have not yet commented publicly on the matter.

It’s the second major strike on the Crimean Bridge since last October, when a truck loaded with explosives blew up both the road and rail sections. Repairs took months, with the roadway reopening in February and the rail side in May.

Russian troops invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from neighboring Ukraine in 2014, a move that most of the world denounced as illegal and prompted both the United States and the European Union to impose sanctions on Moscow. But Russian President Vladimir Putin defied the criticism and ordered the construction of a $3.6 billion bridge spanning nearly 12 miles across the Kerch Strait, which separates mainland Russia from Crimea.

After two years of construction, Putin announced the opening of the road section of the Crimean Bridge in 2018. The rail section was finished the following year.

The bridge established Russia’s first land link to Crimea — connecting the southern Russian region of Krasnodar to the peninsula’s port of Kerch — and, thus, is laden with symbolism. Moscow has portrayed the bridge as a physical affirmation of Crimea’s incorporation into Russia. Crimea’s only other land crossing leads into the rest of Ukraine and, until the bridge’s completion, vehicles traveling from Russia have had to rely on ferries across the Kerch Strait that are frequently interrupted by bad weather.

The Crimean Bridge has become a key supply route for the Russian military since its forces invaded Ukraine again in 2022, with the conflict spiraling into an all-out war. The bridge remains essential for Russia’s military operations in southern Ukraine as Ukrainian troops wage a major counteroffensive to take back Russian-seized territory.

Recently, Ukrainian forces have also targeted other bridges connecting Crimea to the southern areas, which analysts said is an effort to break down Russia’s ability to supply its lines in the Zaporozhzhia and Kherson regions.

ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.

These are the US cities, states with air quality being affected by Canadian fires

July 17, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As Canada continues to battle its worst wildfire season on record, toxic smoke has traveled south and is once again blanketing states across the U.S.

A total of 20 states are under air quality alerts Monday, stretching from Montana to New York and as far south as North Carolina and Tennessee as of Monday morning, according to AirNow, an air quality website run by a partnership between the federal government and state and local air quality agencies.

Cities including Billings, Montana, Cleveland and Pittsburgh had Air Quality Index ratings of above 150, which is considered “unhealthy.”

Meanwhile, residents in Chicago woke up to the fifth worst air quality among major cities worldwide, according to an ABC News analysis.

“Haze from wildfire smoke will persist in our region into Monday,” National Weather Service Chicago tweeted Sunday. “Resulting poor air quality may be unhealthy for sensitive groups. Limit prolonged outdoor activity if you have a chronic respiratory issue.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson recommended over the weekend that vulnerable groups, such as children, teenagers, senior citizens, pregnant people and those with heart or lung disease, stay indoors and that people who travel outdoors consider wearing masks,

This is because wildfire smoke is made up of several toxins, including fine particulate matter — known as PM2.5 — which is 30 times smaller in diameter than a human hair.

These particles are too small to be seen with the naked eye and can be breathed deep into the body, entering the nose and throat and traveling to the lungs.

PM2.5 can cause short-term health effects, even for healthy people, including irritation of the eyes, nose and throat; coughing, sneezing; and shortness of breath. It can also cause long-term effects such as asthma and heart disease.

By Monday evening, the heaviest smoke in the U.S. is expected to be concentrated over upstate New York around Tupper Lake, which is about 80 miles from the Canadian border, and Burlington, Vermont.

“Air Quality Health Advisories are in effect for the entire state today,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul tweeted Monday. “New Yorkers should continue to monitor the latest information from [the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation], http://airnow.gov, or their weather app, and take necessary steps to stay safe.”

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced it would be handing out masks all day Monday at the bus terminal in Manhattan.

The forecast shows on Tuesday morning, much of the surface smoke will start dissipating and by the evening, it is expected to be light to medium.

However, Canada may not be the only country in North America that has to battle wildfires. Red flag warnings went into effect Monday for much of eastern Washington and parts of Oregon and Colorado due to dry air, dry ground, and breezy conditions.

Combined with low humidity and strong winds, the conditions are prime for fires to be sparked and to grow rather quickly.

ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke contributed to this report.

House Oversight Committee to hold UFO hearing next week

July 17, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Republican-led House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing on UFOs, officially called unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), next week.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., announced on Twitter that the session is scheduled for July 26.

The hearing comes after Republican lawmakers have promised to look deeper into UAPs following unconfirmed claims from a former intelligence official that the U.S. military had allegedly found crashed alien spacecraft. The Pentagon has said it hasn’t discovered any information to substantiate this claim.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was asked Monday if he believes in extraterrestrial life, in light of Burchett’s announcement of the hearing.

“I will continue to see,” McCarthy told reporters with a grin. “But I think if we had found a UFO, I think the Department of Defense would tell us because they would probably want to request more money.”

“I’d love to see whatever facts and information we have,” McCarthy continued. “I’m very supportive of letting the American people see what we have, where we go.”

Burchett, who is leading the panel’s inquiry into UAPs with fellow GOP hard-liner Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, had previewed the hearing last week.

“We’re going to have professionals in here and we’re getting blowback from some of the alphabet agencies,” he claimed to reporters without elaborating further.

“I’m sick of government … that does not trust the people,” he said when pushed by the press for more detail.

Earlier this year, the Pentagon office tasked with reviewing UAPs said it had look at more than 800 cases dating back decades but hadn’t identified any that could be attributed to alien origin.

Sean Kirkpatrick, the director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, told a Senate subcommittee in April “only a very small percentage” of UAP reports could be described as “anomalous.”

“The majority of unidentified objects reported to AARO demonstrate mundane characteristics of balloons, unmanned aerial systems, clutter, natural phenomena, or other readily explainable sources,” he said at the time.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez contributed to this report.

Inflation has plummeted but these prices are still soaring

July 17, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A better-than-expected inflation report last week bolstered hopes that a prolonged bout of severe price hikes is near its end — but the costs of some staple items continue to soar.

Consumer prices rose 3% last month compared to a year ago, marking a significant slowdown from a peak last summer of more than 9%, government data showed.

The aftereffects of pandemic-induced supply chain blockages and the Russia-Ukraine war, however, have kept price hikes elevated for some crucial goods, such as bread and frozen vegetables, experts told ABC News.

Here’s what to know about which prices are still rising and what’s causing the surge.

Bread and beer

The price of bread jumped 11.5% in June compared to a year prior, marking a cost increase nearly four times higher than overall inflation. The cost of cookies jumped 8.8% over that period, while the price of beer leapt 5.4%, according to government data.

Taken together, these sharp price hikes stem in large part from grain supply shortages imposed by the Russia invasion of Ukraine, the world’s fifth-largest exporter of wheat, said Mark Hamrick, a Washington bureau chief and senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com.

“It begins with the war in Ukraine,” Hamrick told ABC News. “And there have been ripple effects from that.”

On Monday, Russia paused its participation in a key deal allowing for the export of Ukrainian grain, potentially exacerbating the global supply shortage, said David Ortega, a food economist at Michigan State University.

And even as global supply chains have tried to adapt to the grain shortage, elevated fuel prices have added transport costs, Ortega said.

“There’s a reality of higher energy costs compared to pre-COVID,” he said.

Processed fruits and vegetables

Some of the most eye-popping price increases have struck packaged fruits and vegetables.

Frozen vegetable prices soared more than 17% in June compared to a year prior, which makes for an inflation rate nearly six times higher than the overall pace. The cost of canned fruits jumped more than 8% over that period, meanwhile, and the price of canned vegetables rose more than 5%, government data showed.

Such foods have resisted a cooldown in prices because they require a “long supply chain” that calls for packaging and processing, which in turn exposes them to elevated supply costs as the global economy works out remaining kinks from the pandemic disruption, Ortega said.

By comparison, Ortega noted, price increases for fresh produce have slowed significantly. The prices of fresh fruits and vegetables climbed just 1.1% in June compared to a year prior.

“In the perimeter of stores, we’re seeing food prices abating,” Ortega said, highlighting the presence of fresh food in that area. “In the center of the store, that’s where we’re seeing food-price inflation persist.”

Underwear and jewelry

Price hikes also remain sky high for some apparel goods. The prices for women’s underwear and swimwear jumped more than 7% in June compared to a year ago; the price of men’s underwear climbed over 4% during that period.

“I did purchase underwear myself recently and literally made a comment to the store clerk saying it’s getting expensive to wear underwear these days but there’s no alternative,” said Hamrick, of Bankrate.com.

In general, such price spikes result from a “mismatch between supply and demand,” Hamrick added, noting that he did not know the exact cause of the rise in underwear prices.

Similarly, the price of jewelry jumped more than 7% in June compared to a year ago, far outpacing the inflation rate for overall apparel costs during that period, which stands at 3.1%.

Other notably high price increases over the past year include a roughly 12% leap in pet food costs and a nearly 9% rise for tools and outdoor equipment, government data showed.

The price of eggs, which spiked last summer due to an avian flu outbreak, has fallen nearly 8% over the past year.

Pence sees lackluster fundraising early in GOP primary, insists he’ll make it to debate stage

July 17, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Mike Pence’s latest fundraising totals suggest a rocky road ahead for the former vice president as he fights both for support from voters in the Republican Party he once helped lead — and a spot on next month’s primary debate stage.

Pence raised just $1.2 million for his campaign since formally entering the race in early June, while a pro-Pence super PAC, Committed to America, took in $2.7 million during the second quarter of 2023.

Those totals trailed several of Pence’s rivals, including second-quarter hauls of $15.3 million for former President Donald Trump, $20 million for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, $5.8 million for South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and $5.3 million for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Pence also financially lagged much lesser-known candidates like entrepreneur and commentator Vivek Ramaswamy and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

To be sure, Pence did not have a full quarter to fundraise himself, getting into the race later than many of his rivals, and he does not have a joint-fundraising committee like many of his competitors do.

Still, the haul means that Pence will have significantly less money at his disposal than other GOP primary contenders, in turn impacting his ability to advertise and gin up further support as the 2024 cycle gets underway in earnest.

More tangibly, the haul could portend difficulties for Pence to make it on stage for the first primary debate, on Aug. 23.

Under the Republican National Committee’s qualifications, Pence and other contenders will have to attract at least 40,000 unique donors, along with meeting polling criteria and signing a loyalty pledge to support the GOP’s eventual nominee.

Pence appears far from winning all the needed donors, though he has expressed confidence that he’ll end up debating next month nonetheless.

“We’ll make the debate stage. We’re working around the clock to make sure that we reach that threshold of 40,000,” he told ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks last week. “I’m confident we’ll be there come Aug. 23.”

“I just announced a month ago,” he later added to another reporter. “Give me some time.”

Pence formally launched his campaign in early June. In a speech from Iowa at the time, he sought to stress his own conservative bona fides, including his longtime support of abortion restrictions, religious liberty principles and shrinking the federal government — and he also rebuked former President Trump over Trump’s actions around Jan. 6 and the push to overturn the 2020 election.

“We can defend our liberties and give America a new beginning for life. But it will require new leadership — in the White House and the Republican Party,” he said then.

Early polling shows he has gained only some traction in the crowded primary field: According to FiveThirtyEight, Pence is averaging about 7% in national surveys, compared to DeSantis’ 20% and Trump’s 50%.

Fissures have also emerged between the former vice president and a grassroots that remains largely enthusiastic about Pence’s old boss. Last week at a multi-candidate event in Iowa, whose heavily evangelical caucus electorate should theoretically align with Pence’s own background, he was booed over his support for Ukraine in defending against Russia’s invasion.

Pence has projected confidence about his chances — not just to make it to the debate, but in facing off against Trump.

“Sometimes people ask me what I think about debating Donald Trump. I tell people I’ve debated Donald Trump a thousand times, just not with the cameras on,” he said last week. “I look forward to seeing him on the stage.”

ABC News’ Libby Cathey contributed to this report.

Asa Hutchinson previews new plan to reform federal law enforcement if elected in 2024

July 17, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Monday unveiled a federal law enforcement reform plan that he’s calling “critically important” and overdue — and a preview of legislation he would push if he is elected president in 2024.

“If there’s anything that my life has represented, it is both my faith but it’s also support for the rule of law,” Hutchinson, a former federal prosecutor now seeking the Republican presidential nomination, told “GMA3.” “I’ve spent my private life, my public career, defending the rule of law and our justice system — and it needs a correction. We haven’t had a major reform in our federal law enforcement in over 20 years.”

Hutchinson said his proposal is intended to help restore confidence in federal law enforcement by giving them more accountability — by requiring agent interviews be recorded, for instance — without undercutting the mission of public safety and protecting the nation.

The proposal includes eight reforms: transferring drug enforcement responsibilities from the FBI to the Drug Enforcement Administration; elevating the Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties now under the FBI’s general counsel to the FBI director’s office; requiring the FBI to record agent interviews; reassigning administrative support offices within the FBI to the Department of Justice; creating a unified charter for federal law enforcement agencies; establishing a commission on the future of federal law enforcement; reforming intelligence collection under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and reaffirming the relationship between the president and attorney general.

Hutchinson is holding a press conference at 3 p.m. ET at the National Press Club in Washington to discuss the proposal.

“These will be some very bold reform proposals that are critical to make sure and our system works again, which is the envy of the world,” he said on “GMA3.”

Other Republicans in the 2024 race, led by former President Donald Trump, have been increasingly critical of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, claiming they are politicized — a charge that top law enforcement officials have pushed back against.

“We’ve lost confidence in the federal law enforcement in some ways, and that confidence needs to be rebuilt. And that’s the purpose of this reform,” Hutchinson said Monday.

Monday’s unveiling comes as he works to reach 40,000 unique donors to his campaign to qualify for the primary debate stage next month in Milwaukee. As of Friday, just before second-quarter filings were due, Hutchinson’s campaign said he had received donations from 7,000 individuals — meaning he has about a month to acquire more than 30,000 new donors.

“We’re not there yet. We need a lot of help to get there, but it’s really important,” Hutchinson acknowledged on “GMA3.” “Obviously, the voters are now starting to get tuned in with the Iowa caucus six months away. … So this debate is a way to contrast the candidates between themselves and their ideas.”

Some of those places of “contrast” that Hutchinson highlighted were on border security and support for Ukraine. While some GOP candidates, like biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, have advocated for ending both birthright citizenship and U.S. support for military efforts in Ukraine — arguing the latter is not as much of a priority as countering China — Hutchinson said he offers true conservative policies, like a strong military and cutting federal spending.

“These are dramatic changes that I want to present, and that’s why we want on that debate stage as well,” he said Monday.

Hutchinson has been an outspoken critic of Trump for, as he claims, undermining the rule of law. (Trump denies all wrongdoing.)

He has called for the former president to drop out of the 2024 race as the various criminal investigations into Trump’s actions have become “a distraction” to the campaign, he’s said.

Still, Trump continues to hold a commanding lead among Republican voters, polling at an average of about 50% in an average of early national surveys, according to FiveThirtyEight. Hutchinson, by contrast, is polling around around 1%. Trump has also dismissed Hutchinson’s own prospects.

Asked on Monday if the GOP has moved too far away from the more moderate Republican Party that Hutchinson sees himself as representing — after, on Sunday, he was booed at one point and drowned out with chants of “Trump” while speaking at a Turning Point USA conference in Florida — Hutchinson said he’ll continue to make the case against Trump and called this “the most unpredictable election season that I’ve seen in my lifetime.”

“First of all, it was a great event. There were thousands of young people there who were very well behaved. A few of the adults got out of hand, but it’s really important, as you said, to go to these audiences [who] might be pro-Trump and make your case — because the way to the nomination has to go through Donald Trump,” he said. “You have to make your case against him. You have to contrast it and we’re doing that every day. And over time, that’s going to make a difference.”

“The key is people want to win in 2024, and Donald Trump is not the path to victory,” he added. “And so right now, it is wide open.”

ABC News’ John Klarl contributed to this report.

Iran resumes infamous ‘morality police’ to enforce mandatory hijab law

July 17, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Iran’s infamous hijab police, known as the “morality police,” are again patrolling the streets, Iranian authorities said.

The controversial measure was announced Sunday along with a series of other severe actions that are being taken against women just 10 months after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody, an event that sparked bloody nationwide protests.

“The police … will take legal action against those who, unfortunately, continue to break the dressing norms regardless of the consequences of doing so,” said Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi, spokesman of the Law Enforcement Force of the Islamic Republic.

Women will be warned to follow the hijab rules and if they do not follow, the morality police will refer them to the judicial system, he said.

The return of the morality police marks the latest in a series of severe punishments — including arresting activists and implementing uncommon court sentences — for those who do not abide by the mandatory hijab law.

Last week, the picture of a controversial Tehran court sentence was published by domestic news agencies for a woman who was accused of driving without a headscarf. On top of paying fine, the woman is sentenced to “wash dead bodies in Tehran for one month” as a part of “social service.”

In another notorious verdict, Azadeh Samadi, an Iranian actress, was sentenced to refer to a therapist for mental health issues.

The judge in that case told Samadi she needed to refer to a psychology center due to “antisocial personality disorder and her need to be seen via breaking norms.” Samadi was also banned from accessing her social media accounts.

The decision by the country’s hardline leadership regime to send the morality police back into the streets comes two months before the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death. Some activists said on social media that the regime is getting prepared to control the atmosphere for Mahsa Amini’s anniversary.

Amini, 22, was on a trip to Tehran last September when the hijab police, arrested her for not wearing “proper hijab.” She was taken into custody only to be announced dead at a hospital three days later, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Iran Human Rights reported that at least 537 people were killed in the ensuing protests and at least 22,000 people were arrested, with IRNA confirming the number of arrests.

Imprisoned Cuban rapper sewed his mouth shut in protest of government’s mistreatment

July 17, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A Cuban rapper, who helped write the 2021 Latin Grammy song of the year, reportedly sewed his own mouth shut to protest his alleged mistreatment in a maximum-security prison on the island, according to posts on his social media pages, other Cuban activists and his wife.

In a photo secretly taken in prison and posted on his Facebook page, Maykel “Osorbo”—one of dozens of political prisoners the Cuban government has held since widespread protests two years ago this month—is seen flipping off the camera with his lips shut. A second, more graphic photo posted on Instagram yesterday clearly shows the stitches on his mouth—and calls for protests in the Miami area this evening.

“He is fed up with the abuses and with being unjustly imprisoned when the whole world is raising its voice for his freedom,” Cuban artist and activist Anamely Ramos González wrote—sharing a poem she says Osorbo wrote in prison, and shared with her during a phone call Wednesday.

“They broke my head with cynicism, but what they couldn’t do was break me, too. While injustice collides, I will not close my arms or close my mouth, I sew it shut nonetheless,” the poem, as translated from Spanish reads.

Cuban authorities reportedly removed the stitches the following day, Osorbo’s wife told Martí Noticias after also speaking with him last week: “He was speaking strangely, like when you have injured lips, an injured mouth, like when you can’t speak. I don’t know how things are going to be from now on.”

While the act of protest is an extreme one, it’s not Osorbo’s first, as he participated in a hunger and thirst strike last year. But this protest coincides with the two-year anniversary of some of the largest island-wide protests Cuba had seen in decades—with demonstrators taking to the streets starting on July 11, 2021, often chanting the name of the award-winning song Osorbo helped pen, “Patria y Vida.”

The song, released months earlier in February 2021, is a play on the Cuban communist revolution’s slogan “patria o muerte”—which means “homeland or death.” After Osorbo was detained that May, the song’s title became protesters’ cry in response to the dire situation in Cuba—its crumbling economy hit hard by COVID-19, a drop in tourism, global inflation and government mismanagement—but those calls for “life” in July 2021 were met by a violent crackdown and ongoing oppression.

“Maykel Castillo Pérez is unjustly imprisoned for exercising his right to free expression, for writing a song, for criticizing his country’s government. His case is emblematic of the situation faced by independent artists, writers, journalists and human rights defenders in Cuba,” Ma Thida, chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee, said in a statement Friday—using Osorbo’s real name.

Last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken marked the two-year anniversary of the so-called 11J protests by calling for the “immediate release of unjustly detained political prisoners” like Osorbo.

“The world will not forget those who bravely made their voices heard in the face of extreme repression, including the more than 700 individuals who remain in Cuban jails, condemned to prison sentences ranging up to 25 years for exercising their freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly,” he added in a statement.

Gilgo Beach investigators comb unsolved murders for potential ties to suspect

July 17, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As investigators dig into the “double life” of suspect Rex A. Heuermann, the Manhattan architect charged in the murders of three women in Long Island, they’re also checking to see if they can tie him to unsolved murders or missing persons cases throughout New York state, an NYPD official told ABC News.

Police throughout New York are interested in whether they might be able to tie Heuermann to victims beyond Gilgo Beach. Detectives are now checking to see if his DNA or behavior fit unsolved murders and missing persons cases in New York City, an NYPD official told ABC News.

Additionally, Heuermann’s DNA has been entered into a statewide database, available to all law enforcement agencies in New York.

Heuermann, 59, has been charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, whose bodies were found covered in burlap along Ocean Parkway on Long Island’s South Shore in December 2010. He was also named the “prime suspect” in the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, a fourth woman discovered in the same spot, police said.

Heuermann appears to fit into a profile of serial killers who’ve led double lives, a former FBI agent said.

Some suspects in serial crimes appear to lead normal lives at work and home, which they can separate from their misdeeds, Brad Garrett, a former FBI profiler, told George Stephanopoulos on Monday’s “Good Morning America.”

“Serial offenders lead parallel lives — in other words, George, they can do horrendous things, kill people, torture people, whatever it might be,” Garrett said. “They can go home, they can feed their kids, they can kiss their wives goodbye … and their life goes on.”

The architect commuted into New York City from his home in Massapequa Park, where he lived with his wife, according to court documents. He’s a father of two, the documents said.

But, at the same time, he allegedly signed up for online accounts using fictitious names to search for sex workers for “dates” or “hookups,” according to court documents. And he also had permits for 92 firearms, prosecutors said.

“That’s why the term ‘hide in plain sight’ is very relevant to serial offenders,” Garrett said.

Heuermann’s defense attorney, Michael Brown, said in a statement Monday: “There is nothing about Mr. Heuermann that would suggest that he is involved in these incidents. And while the government has decided to focus on him despite more significant and stronger leads, we are looking forward to defending him in a court of law before a fair and impartial jury of his peers.”

Police remained on Monday at his Massapequa Park home searching for clues.

They also searched a storage unit bin in nearby Amityville as they try to solidify the case involving the three first-degree murder charges and see if they can tie him to the six other Gilgo victims, all found along the same stretch of beach in late 2010 and early 2011.

“I wouldn’t be surprised” if they found additional cases to tie Heuermann to, Garrett said, but he warned that the suspect may have “changed” his pattern after bodies were found on Gilgo Beach in 2010.

ABC News’ Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.

Houston confirms 1st heat-related death of the year amid extreme heat across US

July 17, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The most populous city in Texas has confirmed its first heat-related death of the year as record high temperatures scorch a swath of the United States.

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences told ABC News on Sunday that there has been one heat-related death in Houston, the only one to occur in Texas’ Harris County so far this year. Victor Ramos, 67, was found in his Houston home, which didn’t have air conditioning, and was taken to a local hospital where he died on June 24. The manner and cause of death were ruled to be accidental hyperthermia, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.

More than a dozen heat-related deaths have been recorded in Texas this year, according to a count kept by The Associated Press. At least 11 of those fatalities happened in Webb County, which includes the city of Laredo.

The news came as more than 75 million people across 13 U.S. states from California to Florida remain under heat alerts. As of Monday morning, the National Weather Service had issued excessive heat warnings for a number of cities such as Palm Springs, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; and Corpus Christi, Texas. Heat advisories were issued for other cities such as Denver, Colorado; Houston, Texas; Alexandria, Louisiana; and Miami, Florida.

The extreme heat peaked in the Southwest over the weekend and was expected to drop off slightly in the coming days. But temperatures will continue to top 110 degrees Fahrenheit from Las Vegas to Phoenix.

Arizona’s capital has recorded temperatures of 110 degrees and higher over the past 17 days and is on track to break the all-time-record of 18 consecutive days set in 1974. Overnight temperatures in Phoenix haven’t dipped below 90 degrees for the last seven days and one more night would set a record.

El Paso, Texas, has recorded temperatures topping 100 degrees over the past 31 days, smashing the previous record of 23 consecutive days set in 1994. The El Paso Fire Department said Sunday that four people suffering from heat-related symptoms ranging from minor to severe at a car show in Ascarate Park had to be transported to a local hospital, while multiple others were checked at the scene.

Much of Texas and into the Deep South saw some respite from the dangerous combination of hot and humid weather on Sunday afternoon, with heat index values not as high as recent days. However, it was still dangerously hot for many along the Gulf Coast where temperatures were forecast to feel like 105 to 110 degrees and up.

Temperatures are forecast to return to the 100s for much of the South and the West on Monday, with highs in the 120s in Death Valley and 110 in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Palm Springs. Meanwhile, heat index values will reach the 100s across the Southeast, with up to 115 in Corpus Christi. The extreme heat is expected to continue throughout the week.

Unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlantic Ocean are contributing to the persistent and oppressive humidity and are limiting nighttime cooling, making it difficult for people in the region to find adequate relief overnight without the aid of air conditioning.

ABC News’ Marilyn Heck and Vanessa Navarrete contributed to this report.

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