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8 people missing as Dixie Fire continues path of destruction in California

August 7, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(PLUMAS COUNTY, Calif.) — Eight people are missing as the Dixie Fire rages on in California, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Saturday.

“We are seeking the public and the media’s assistance is helping us locate the individuals so we can report back to their loved ones,” they said, adding that their investigation unit has already located 16 other individuals who were previously unaccounted for.

“We request if you know where any of these people are to contact them and have them call the Sheriff’s Office at 530-283-6300 to let us know they are safe, so we can report back to the person(s) looking for them,” the police said.

The names of the unaccounted for individuals are: Danny Sczenski of Greenville, Jesus and Ella Gursasola of Greenville, Matthew Henley of Greenville, Glen Gallagher of Greenville, Sally and Harold Brown of Crescent Mills and Donna Shelton of Chester, according to the statement.

The Dixie Fire has been burning near Feather River Canyon for weeks and has now scorched through more than 434,813 acres since it sparked on July 13.

It is 21% contained and is now considered the third largest fire in California history.

The downtown neighborhood of Greenville, about 150 miles northeast of Sacramento, has been hit the hardest by the out-of-control fire, with Plumas County Sheriff Todd Johns saying Thursday that “well over 100 homes” and many businesses and historic building have been destroyed by the flames.

At least 31,000 people have been evacuated.

The fire “burnt down our entire downtown. Our historical buildings, families homes, small businesses, and our children’s schools are completely lost,” Plumas County Supervisor Kevin Goss wrote on Facebook.

It is one of 90 large wildfires, many of them uncontained, that are currently burning in the West.

Police continue search for witnesses in fatal Atlanta park stabbing

August 7, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(ATLANTA) — Atlanta police have spoken with a jogger who they initially thought may have witnessed the stabbing death of a woman in Piedmont Park last week.

Police are ramping up the search for possible witnesses of the “gruesome” stabbing death of Katie Janness, 40, and her dog Bowie, who were killed on July 28.

Authorities shared photos Friday morning of a jogger who they said could have been a witness. Atlanta police told ABC News that as of Friday afternoon the man pictured “has come forward and is cooperating with investigators at this time.” He’s not a suspect at this time or accused of any wrongdoing, police added.

Atlanta police said late Friday the jogger had not witnessed the crime.

On Wednesday, APD released surveillance video and photos showing people in the area of Piedmont Park around the time Janness was murdered, asking for those people to come forward or for the public to identify them as possible witnesses.

Police were called to the crime scene around 1:10 a.m. after it was reported a person was being stabbed. Janness and her dog were found dead, each with multiple stab wounds.

Janness’ parter of seven years, Emma Clark, said Janness went to walk Bowie after dinner but never returned, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. When she didn’t come home, Clark tracked her phone’s location and went to the park.

Authorities said the investigation is ongoing, and on Friday they raised to $20,000 the reward for more information in solving the case.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms addressed concerns that the murder may be a sign there’s a killer on the loose targeting the LGBTQ+ community.

“I know there have been several rumors that there is a serial killer on the loose in the city,” she said. “We don’t have any evidence of that — also that this was a hate crime. As of now, we don’t have any proof of that as well.”

Anyone with information on the identity of the suspect in this case should contact 911 or Crime Stoppers Atlanta. Information on the case can be submitted anonymously to the Crime Stoppers Atlanta tip line at 404-577-TIPS (8477) or online at www.StopCrimeATL.com.

Homeland Security warns of ‘increasing but moderate’ threat of violence from Trump conspiracy

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Homeland Security said Friday they have observed “an increasing but modest level of activity online” by people who are calling for violence in response to baseless claims of 2020 election fraud and related to the conspiracy theory that former President Donald Trump will be reinstated.

“Some conspiracy theories associated with reinstating former President Trump have included calls for violence if desired outcomes are not realized,” according to a DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis bulletin obtained by ABC News.

There is no evidence that shows there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.

“Over the last few days what has occurred is there’s been much more public visibility, meaning the discussions and these theories have migrated away from being contained within the conspiracy and extremist online communities, to where they’re being the topic of discussion on web forums, or more public web forums, and even within the sort of media ecosystem,” a senior DHS official explained.

DHS says in the bulletin they do not have specific evidence there is a plot imminent.

“As public visibility of the narratives increases, we are concerned about more calls to violence. Reporting indicates that the timing for these activities may occur during August 2021, although we lack information on specific plots or planned actions,” the bulletin sent to state and local partners reads.

The department “does not have the luxury of waiting till we uncover information with the level of specificity, regarding a potential location and the time of an attack” to act on potential threats due to the threat environment, the senior DHS official explained.

“Past circumstances have illustrated that calls for violence could expand rapidly in the public domain and may be occurring outside of publicly available channels. As such, lone offenders and small groups of individuals could mobilize to violence with little-to-no warning,” the bulletin says.

The senior official said that one of the lessons learned from the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol is “that information that may reflect a growing threat may be communicated on public forums.”

“The current threat environment is one which is fueled in large part by conspiracy theories and other false narratives that are spread online by foreign governments, not by foreign terrorist groups [but] by domestic extremist thought leaders, and are consumed by individuals who are predisposed to engage in violence,” the official said.

The official pointed to the events of Jan. 6 and the attacks on the synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway, California, as examples.

The senior DHS official also pointed to the balance DHS has to walk when putting out products.

“We don’t want to overreact, but we want to make sure that we are at the earliest stage possible providing awareness to law enforcement and other personnel who are responsible for security and are critical to mitigating risk,” the senior official said, adding the bulletin was done with civil rights and civil liberties in mind.

Jan. 6 select committee to hire former GOP Rep. Denver Riggleman as adviser: Source

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack will hire former Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-Va., as an adviser to the panel, according to a source with direct knowledge of the forthcoming announcement.

The former congressman, who lost his primary last summer, has become one of the few voices inside the Republican Party criticizing the spread of disinformation and conspiracy theories, including the idea that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, which led to the Capitol riot.

Riggleman, who also served as an Air Force intelligence officer, is expected to help the committee catalog and track the mistruths that circulated online and on social media before thousands of former President Donald Trump’s supporters gathered in Washington and descended on the Capitol hoping to overturn the election results.

A spokesman for the Jan. 6 committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ABC News reported earlier this month that according to sources briefed on the discussions, Riggleman could join the committee staff in an advisory capacity.

The committee held its first hearing last week with several police officers who had faced off against pro-Trump rioters at the Capitol in January. With the House now on recess through August, the panel is focused on mapping out the contours of its investigation and building up its staff.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the panel would issue “quite a few” subpoenas and could potentially seek to question and obtain documents from former Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers who communicated with Trump before and on Jan. 6.

Asked if the committee would want to interview former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, following the release of handwritten notes from former acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue that appear to show Trump trying to pressure the Department of Justice to declare there was significant fraud tainting the 2020 presidential election, Thompson said the committee hasn’t determined who it wants to hear from yet.

“The president wanted to mobilize the apparatus of the entire U.S. government to reinstall him as president, essentially,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., another panel member, told reporters. “As one member, I am very interested in retracing the steps of what the president did to guarantee what he called his ‘continuation in power.'”

Riggleman would be the third Republican linked to the panel, along with Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who both called to impeach Trump and accepted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s invitation to join the investigation over GOP leaders’ efforts to boycott it after Pelosi refused to seat two leading conservative lawmakers who voted to overturn the 2020 election.

In recent days, other conservative lawmakers have sought to push Cheney and Kinzinger out of the House GOP Conference and strip them of other committee assignments over their work on the committee.

Students can transfer schools to avoid COVID-19 ‘harassment’ like mask mandates, Florida’s board of education says

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — dThe Florida Board of Education passed a rule Friday allowing parents in the state to skirt mask mandates that districts may enforce for their children.

The rule, passed unanimously at an emergency meeting, lets parents transfer their kids to a private school or another district if they experience “COVID-19 harassment,” including mask requirements.

According to the rule, these students would qualify for a Hope Scholarship, an existing program created to protect children who are bullied, assaulted, harassed or threatened in school.

The Florida Department of Health also announced a rule on Friday requiring school districts to allow parents to opt their children out of mask mandates.

Both rules were in response to an executive order issued last week by Gov. Ron DeSantis, which directed the state departments of education and health to enact measures to protect “parents’ rights … to make health care decisions for their minor children.”

Multiple districts this week defied the governor’s order by issuing mask mandates for their students, including northern Florida’s Alachua County, where schools have experienced a surge of COVID-19 cases among staff, including two recent deaths.

Leonetta McNealy, the chair of the Alachua County School Board, who told ABC News Thursday that the executive order was “appalling and absurd,” said Friday in a text message that the district will now allow parents to opt out of wearing masks by using the Hope Scholarship.

South Florida’s Broward County Public Schools, the other district to require masks for students, had not released updated guidance by Friday evening. The district said Wednesday that it was “awaiting further guidance” before updating its policy.

The debate around mask requirements comes as the delta variant of the coronavirus wreaks havoc in Florida.

On Thursday, the Florida Hospital Association reported 12,500 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19, marking a new pandemic high. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state is now reporting over 17,000 new cases per day. About 1 in 5 COVID cases diagnosed in the country are now in Florida, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Biden administration extends pandemic relief for student loan debt through Jan. 31, 2022

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration has announced it is extending pandemic relief for student loan repayments, interest and collections through January 31, 2022, referring to it as the “final” extension.

The pause has been in effect since former President Donald Trump signed the CARES Act in March 2020 and was extended by both him and President Joe Biden. It was most recently set to expire on Sept. 30.

“As our nation’s economy continues to recover from a deep hole, this final extension will give students and borrowers the time they need to plan for restart and ensure a smooth pathway back to repayment,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “It is the Department’s priority to support students and borrowers during this transition and ensure they have the resources they need to access affordable, high quality higher education.”

The Department of Education says the extension will give borrowers time to plan to resume payments and reduce the risk of delinquency and default.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley applauded the move in a joint statement Friday afternoon.

“We’re pleased the Biden administration has heeded our call to extend the pause on federally-held student loan payments, providing an enormous relief to millions of borrowers facing a disastrous financial cliff,” they said. “The payment pause has saved the average borrower hundreds of dollars per month, allowing them to invest in their futures and support their families’ needs.”

Still, the group of lawmakers wants the president to go further and use executive action to cancel $50,000 of student debt.

“Student debt cancellation is one of the most significant actions that President Biden can take right now to build a more just economy and address racial inequity,” the statement said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, last month said the president does not have the power to cancel student debt and that only Congress has that authority.

“He can postpone, he can delay, but he does not have that power,” she said at a press conference.

Borrowers will be notified about the new extension “in the coming days” and the Education Department is expected to provide information about how to plan for restarting payments.

Virgin Galactic selling spaceflight tickets for $450,000

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Those who wish to spend a few minutes at the edge of Earth’s atmosphere will now have the chance — if they have $450,000 to spare.

Virgin Galactic, the private space tourism firm headed by billionaire Richard Branson, announced Thursday evening that it was officially reopening ticket sales.

The announcement comes on the heels of a successful test flight last month in which Branson and a crew flew to the edge of space in a mission dubbed Unity 22.

“Leveraging the surge in consumer interest following the Unity 22 flight, we are excited to announce the reopening of sales effective today, beginning with our Spacefarer community,” Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in a statement Thursday as the company announced second quarter earnings. “As we endeavor to bring the wonder of space to a broad global population, we are delighted to open the door to an entirely new industry and consumer experience.”

“Spacefarer community” refers to customers who already have put down a refundable deposit to be first in line to purchase tickets. The company said it intends to offer three consumer offerings for the private astronaut market: a single seat, a multi-seat package for couples or friends and a full-flight buyout. When the firm initially announced it was selling tickets to space a few years ago, the announced price was $250,000.

Branson’s July 11 suborbital flight took heat from critics for stretching the definition of space as the crew did not go above the Karman line (62 miles above Earth) that is defined by many agencies — but not all — as the boundary between the planet’s atmosphere and space.

Still, video from the trip showed Branson and his crew enjoying a few minutes of micro-gravity and the entire crew was presented astronaut wings during a news conference after their landing.

Branson’s role in much-viewed test flight was as a mission specialist, tasked with testing the customer experience.

“I think, like most kids, I have dreamt of this moment since I was a kid and honestly nothing can prepare you for the view of Earth from space,” Branson said after landing. “It’s just magical. I’m just taking it all in. It’s just unreal.”

Just nine days after Branson’s spaceflight, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took a similar jaunt via a ride from his private space-faring company Blue Origin. Many saw the back-to-back billionaire spaceflights as ushering in a new era in space tourism that has been propelled by a budding commercial space industry dominated by the ultra-rich.

New Jersey man pleads guilty to assaulting officer at Capitol on Jan. 6

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A New Jersey man on Friday pleaded guilty to two federal counts of assaulting law enforcement and obstruction of an official proceeding during the January 6 Capitol assault.

Scott Fairlamb is the first accused rioter charged with assaulting law enforcement to plead guilty.

Prosecutors say he was seen in videos stalking a line of officers outside the Capitol before punching one in the head.

Obstruction of an official proceeding carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and the assaulting law enforcement court carries a maximum sentence of 8 years.

Prosecutors said they are seeking a sentence ranging from 41 to 51 months in prison and have said Fairlamb should pay $2,000 restitution.

Fairlamb will likely argue for less time behind bars.

Sentencing memos from both parties are due on September 20 and Fairlamb is scheduled to appear back in court on September 27.

“Are you an American? Act like one!” Fairlamb, a gym owner and former MMA fighter, is heard yelling in a body cam video, which was released to ABC and 13 other media outlets as part of the ongoing legal effort. “You guys have no idea what the f*** you’re doing.”

Prosecutors also flagged videos Fairlamb posted to his Facebook during the riot where they say he’s seen holding a collapsible baton and saying to the camera, “What do Patriots do? We f***in’ disarm them and then we storm the f***in’ Capitol!”

Fairlamb had previously hosted a pandemic protest at his Pompton Lakes gym in response to COVID restrictions and last summer posted a threatening message on Instagram targeting Representative Cori Bush.

While Fairlamb’s attorney has said the government is seeking a 51-month sentence for his client, it’s unclear what D.C. District Judge Royce Lamberth will decide is an appropriate punishment — though it could serve as a benchmark for the more than 150 rioters so far charged with attacking police.

Of the more than 30 rioters who have pleaded guilty so far in the Justice Department’s sprawling investigation into the Capitol attack, only six have been sentenced and none of them to significant time in prison.

A Florida man, Paul Hodgkins, was recently sentenced to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to a felony charge of obstructing a congressional proceeding, and two others who had already been in government custody pending trial were sentenced to time served.

There are more than 500 people charged by the Justice Department for their actions on January 6.

Woman files criminal complaint against Gov. Cuomo in Albany

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

(ALBANY, N.Y.) — A former New York State employee has filed a criminal complaint against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, a spokeswoman told ABC News.

This is believed to be the first complaint filed against the embattled governor in wake of Tuesday’s Attorney General report which concluded he violated state and federal law in sexually harassing at least 11 women.

The woman who filed the complaint is a former assistant to the governor who is identified as “Executive Assistant #1” in Attorney General Letitia James’ report released Tuesday.

“Since approximately late 2019 the Governor engaged in a pattern of inappropriate conduct with Executive Assistant #1,” the report said.

The conduct included close and intimate hugs, kisses, touching and grabbing of her backside and suggestive remarks, according to the investigators. The report listed that Executive Assistant #1 had what appeared to be the most serious allegation against Cuomo, accusing him of reaching under her shirt and fondling her breast in the Executive Mansion in Albany in November 2020.

Cuomo has denied all allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct.

Cuomo’s lawyer Rita Glavin said in a response to the report Tuesday that the governor “never groped Ms. X,” adding, “This claim is false, as the Governor has stated repeatedly and unequivocally.”

Earlier this week the lawyer of another accuser, Lindsey Boylan, said she intends to sue Cuomo for allegedly retaliating against her after she came forward.

“Our plan is to sue the governor and his and his co-conspirators,” Boylan’s attorney, Jill Basinger, told ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” citing the retaliatory actions outlined in the AG report.

The New York State Assembly’s impeachment investigation into Cuomo “is nearing completion,” officials said Thursday, and the Judiciary Committee will meet Monday morning to discuss the probe.

So far at least five district attorney offices — Manhattan, Albany, Westchester County, Nassau County and Oswego County — have launched investigations into Cuomo for alleged incidents outlined in the report that took place in their jurisdictions.

“The governor certainly seems to form a pattern of behavior that shows a sense, at a minimum, of an entitlement and a disregard of the well-being of others and the self-respect of many women,” Oswego District Attorney Gregory Oakes said to local ABC affiliate in Rochester WHAM.

Spirit Airlines CEO says cancellations to continue into next week

August 6, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Spirit Airlines customers should expect hundreds more cancellations in the coming days as the airline works to rebuild its network.

CEO Ted Christie said weather issues coupled with staffing shortages led to mass flight cancellations at the airline this week.

“How we got here really starts with a very challenging, operating month in the month of July,” Christie said in an interview with ABC News. “Weather delays and logistics delays throughout the air transportation system built throughout the course of the month and ate away at all the redundancy that we had in our system.”

By the end of July, Spirit was forced to cancel flights for lack of crew availability, leading to a crew disruption throughout the airline’s network.

“They were in the wrong places at the wrong time,” Christie said. “And we needed to start to build that puzzle back together again. And, unfortunately, that takes our group a lot of time to do.”

The carrier has canceled more than 1,700 flights this week alone. Christie said he expects the cancellations to continue into early next week.

“We are starting to turn the tide here and get our operation back moving again,” Christie said. “There will still be cancellations over the next few days, but we can start to build back to a full operation.”

Amid the breakdown at the airline, passengers were left stranded at airports across the country.

Maria Martinez was stuck in Tampa, Florida, for three days, trying to get home to Detroit.

“We boarded the plane, they de-boarded us out of the plane and then they told us it was canceled,” Martinez told Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ.

“It’s been a terrible week for us, for our guests,” Christie said. “We offer our apology to all of our guests that have been impacted here, and to our team members who are working really hard it’s been a rough week for sure.”

Despite this, Christie said he believes they have “taken care of” their guests and have provided adequate accommodations and vouchers.

“We believe we’ve taken care of our guests at this point, and we think we’re caught up there. We’ve either gotten them reaccommodated on Spirit or another airline or we’ve put them into a hotel or gotten them where they needed to be.”

Christie acknowledged Spirit’s reputation has taken a hit due of the issues. He hopes his airline will learn from it.

“While we strive for perfection in everything we do, in the times that we don’t we are humble enough that we look inside and figure out ways to get better and Spirit has been getting better over the last five years or so, and while this has been a terrible last few days we have to do the same thing here.”

Christie said Spirit will be working over the next few days to not only rebuild its network, but its trust with passengers.

“We have to do everything in our power to earn back their confidence, their business,” he said. “And that starts with building the airline back, making it as reliable as we want it to be.”

ABC News’ Mina Kaji contributed to this report.

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