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Man charged with cyberstalking slain UnitedHealthcare CEO’s family member

August 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A New York man was charged with allegedly cyberstalking a family member of the slain former UnitedHealthcare CEO, according to a complaint filed by the Justice Department on Wednesday.

Shane Daley, 40, of Galway, New York, allegedly left four voicemails over the course of multiple days for an unnamed member of Brian Thompson’s family.

Luigi Mangione was charged in the brazen shooting of Thompson in December 2024 that unfolded in the middle of New York City and captured the nation’s attention. Prosecutors say Mangione allegedly targeted Thompson for his role at the healthcare company.

The voicemails allegedly left by Daley, according to the DOJ, are “threatening” and left the member of Thompson’s family scared for her life.

“Your [family member] got lit the f— up cause he’s a f—— asshole,” Daley allegedly said in a voicemail left on Dec. 4, 2024, the same day of Thompson’s killing, according to the complaint.

“Profiting off the f——, off the backs of poor Americans. This s— is gonna keep happening to you f—— pricks. F— you.”

In another voicemail, Daley allegedly shared a hostile message that Thompson’s family member should tell his children.

“Their dad died cause he was a f—— capitalist. $10.2 million a year, f—— insider trading b—-. Making a f—— off of the backs of poor Americans. You all deserve to f—— die and burn and hell. F— you. F— your f—— kids.”

“Brian Thompson was gunned down in midtown Manhattan,” Acting U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III released a statement along with the DOJ complaint, saying, Daley, “…Gleefully welcomed this tragedy and did all that he could to increase the Thompson family’s pain and suffering.”

“My office and its partners will now do all that we can to hold him accountable for this vicious and outrageous conduct,” Sarcone said.

Mangione has been indicted on federal charges accusing him of stalking Thompson outside the Hilton in Midtown Manhattan and then shooting him to death on Dec. 4, 2024.

Thompson was heading to an investors’ conference when he was shot and killed. Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days later.

Mangione pleaded not guilty to the four-count federal indictment in April. He is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York, awaiting trial.

Young woman shot dead while walking child to bus stop in Louisville, suspect at large: Police

August 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — A young woman was struck and killed by gunfire while walking a child to a bus stop in Louisville, Kentucky, on Wednesday morning, and authorities are now searching for the shooter.

The child who was with the woman wasn’t physically hurt, Louisville Metro Police Chief Paul Humphrey told reporters.

A 15-year-old boy was taken into custody earlier in the day in connection with the shooting, but authorities determined he was not a suspect and he’s been released, police said.

Authorities then released images of a person of interest and said they’re asking for the public’s help to identify him.

“We do have a description of a young black male dressed in a red hoodie and black sweatpants,” Humphrey said.

The shooting was in front of “very small children,” Humphrey said.

The children who witnessed the gunfire “are forever impacted by this,” Humphrey said, noting that counselors are being provided.

This marks the second shooting at a Louisville bus stop within one week. On Aug. 7 — Jefferson County’s first day of school — multiple shots were fired at a bus stop, police said. No one was hurt and a suspect was arrested, police said.

Officers had been positioned at the site of Wednesday’s shooting each morning since Aug. 7, Humphrey said, but “today happened to be the first morning that we did not have officers at this bus stop.”

“Kids should be able to go to school, go to the bus stop in the morning without any fear of gun violence, of having to run for their life in the morning,” Humphrey said. “It’s absolutely unacceptable that these types of incidents have happened now twice in the last week.”

ABC News’ Michael Pappano contributed to this report.

Glacier lake outburst at Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier causes record-breaking flooding

August 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(JUNEAU, Alaska) — One of Alaska’s most populated cities is bracing for potentially catastrophic flooding as a basin dammed within the Mendenhall Glacier has started to release rainwater and snowmelt downstream, according to officials.

Suicide Basin, a side basin within the Mendenhall Glacier that sits above the city of Juneau, regularly releases glacier lake outburst floods, according to the National Weather Service. But recent measurements of water within the basement suggest the basin could release enough water to overwhelm the Mendenhall River and Mendenhall Lake, according to officials.

By 7 a.m. local time, the Mendenhall River had reached a major flood stage at 16.51 feet and was continuing to rise — surpassing the record flood stage set in 2024 of 15.99 feet, according to the NWS. Flood warnings have been issued for the lake and river due to the release.

Residents along the flood zones have been urged to evacuate the area, with the peak flooding expected Wednesday around 8 a.m. local time.

“Don’t Wait. Evacuate TONIGHT,” the City of Juneau wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday night.

City officials were warning residents early Wednesday to avoid driving on roads within the flood zone already inundated by water.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski posted to X on Wednesday, warning of how dire the situation could become.

“This is likely to become a life-threatening situation,” Murkowski said. “If you are told to evacuate, stop what you are doing and immediately go to an emergency shelter or another safe location.”

Floodwaters are expected to fall below the flood stage through Thursday, according to the NWS.

Mendenhall is a popular tourist attraction in Alaska, but the retreating glacier — which acts as a dam for Suicide Basin — has caused flooding in the region every summer in recent years after it refills with water from rain and melting snow in the spring.

In 2023, a glacier lake outburst at Mendenhall’s Suicide Basin destroyed several structures along the Mendenhall River as the water rushed downstream. The record flooding prompted city officials in Juneau to issue an emergency declaration.

The outburst, which caused a decade’s worth of erosion in one weekend, would not have happened without climate change, NOAA said in 2023. Alaska has warmed twice as fast as any U.S. state over the last several decades, according to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Suicide Basin has been releasing glacier lake outburst floods since 2011, so the National Weather Service in Juneau’s monitoring program has a camera pointed directly at the basin to see how much water levels are rising and falling.

Glaciers in Alaska have been experiencing a steep decline since the late 1980s, according to the state’s Department of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.

Globally, glaciers are at risk of significant ice loss due to climate change, scientists say.

Glaciers around the world lost an estimated 7,211 billion tons of ice between 2000 and 2023, equating to an average annual loss of 301 billion tons, according to a Nature study published in February. The rate of ice loss has increased by about 36% in the past two decades, the researchers found.

Even if warming were to stabilize at current levels, the world’s glaciers would still likely lose at least 39% of mass, according to the World Economic Forum.

Trump to seek ‘long-term’ extension of federal control of DC police

August 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he will seek more permanent federal control of the Washington, D.C., police force as he continues his efforts to ramp-up crime enforcement in the nation’s capital.

Earlier this week, Trump announced his plans to deploy National Guard troops in the nation’s capital, declaring a public safety emergency in order to put the Washington police department under federal control and station the National Guard on the city’s streets. Trump’s control of the D.C. police force expires in 30 days, after which Congress would have to weigh in.

Asked Wednesday whether he’d work with Congress to extend the emergency authorization allowing him to seize temporary control of local law enforcement, Trump said he’ll ask Congress for a “long-term” extension of federal control of the Washington police force.

“We’re going to be asking for extensions on that — long-term extensions, because you can’t have 30 days,” Trump said at an event at the Kennedy Center Wednesday afternoon.

Trump indicated at one point that he’d ask Congress for more funds to fight crime and to make repairs to Washington.

“We’re going to make Washington beautiful. We’re going to redo roads. We’re going to redo the medians. The pavers and the medians are all throughout the city. We’re going to take all the graffiti off. We’re going to have to remove the tents. And the people that are living in our parks, we’re going to be redoing the parks, the grasses and all. We’re going to be going to Congress for a relatively small amount of money. And Lindsey [Graham] and the Republicans are going to be approving it,” Trump said.

Trump has long threatened to take control of Washington, saying he wants to crack down on violent crime in the District although police statistics show that in the past two years, violent crime has fallen dramatically.

“Fighting crime is a good thing. We have to explain we’re going to fight crime — that’s a good thing,” Trump said Wednesday afternoon. “Already they’re saying, ‘He’s a dictator.’ The place is going to hell. We’ve got to stop it. So instead of saying, ‘He’s a dictator,’ they should say, ‘We’re going to join him and make Washington safe.'”

Trump pledged to make Washington “crime-free.”

“We’re going to be essentially crime-free. This is going to be a beacon, and it’s going to also serve as an example of what can be done,” Trump said.

On Tuesday night, more than 1,450 federal law enforcement officers and National Guard members patrolled Washington, according to a White House official. Forces made 43 arrests on Tuesday night — nearly twice the amount they made Monday night.

Those forces included 750 D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officers who were “uniformed, marked as patrol and directly assigned as anti-crime officers,” the White House official said. That was in addition to the federal law enforcement who had been previously mobilized in the area. The White House official said that there were about 30 National Guard troops on the ground last night.

The forces, which included 19 inter-agency teams, were “deployed throughout all seven districts in D.C. to promote public safety and arrest violent offenders,” the White House official said.

After Trump’s announcement Monday, approximately 850 officers and agents fanned out over D.C. right after Trump declared a crime emergency in the capital, making 23 arrests, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.

The surge in federal law enforcement has yielded more than 100 total arrests since Aug. 7, according to a White House official. The official said that the charges have included one homicide charge, seven narcotics charges, 33 firearms charges, 10 warrants, 23 charges against undocumented immigrants and 29 other charges. The official adds that they have seized 24 firearms since operations began.

The official said that on Wednesday night they expect “significantly higher National Guard presence to be on the ground throughout Washington, D.C.” The White House official adds that beginning Wednesday night, the operations will transition to round-the-clock, 24/7 operations. Operations had been previously focused on evening and overnight hours.

On Tuesday, National Guard troops were spotted on the National Mall, with many stationed around the base of the Washington Monument. The troops left Wednesday morning. It was not immediately clear why the presence of U.S. troops along the National Mall was needed, other than to put Trump’s orders on display. The area, marked by museums, monuments and long stretches of grass, is known as a relatively safe part of the city that attracts mostly tourists and school groups.

Appeals court ruling will let Trump administration cut billions in foreign aid

August 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A federal appeals court has reversed a lower court’s ruling, clearing the way for the Trump administration to cut billions in foreign aid funding this year.

In a 2-1 decision Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overruled a lower court’s decision that prohibited the Trump administration from making drastic cuts to USAID funding that had already approved by Congress.

The court sidestepped the substantive question of whether the cuts were constitutional, instead deciding that the nonprofits that sued the Trump administration lacked the standing to bring a case.

Judges Karen Henderson and Gregory Katsas — appointed by Presidents George H. W. Bush and Donald Trump, respectively — determined that only the head of the Government Accountability Office has the authority to sue under the Impoundment Control Act.

“The district court erred in granting that relief because the grantees lack a cause of action to press their claims,” the majority wrote.

The lawsuit over USAID funding had been one of the first major legal successes for nonprofits challenging the Trump administration, which ordered the suspension of grants that didn’t comply with the president’s priorities.

After U.S. District Judge Amir Ali issued a temporary restraining order in February blocking Trump’s executive order from taking effect, both the D.C. circuit court and the United States Supreme Court sided with the nonprofits, denying a request from the Trump administration to block an order enforcing the TRO.

In a dissenting opinion issued with Wednesday’s ruling, Judge Florence Pan, a Biden appointee, criticized her colleagues for ignoring the concern that the funding cuts were unconstitutional and thus harmed “the rule of law and the very structure of our government.”

“At bottom, the court’s acquiescence in and facilitation of the Executive’s unlawful behavior derails the ‘carefully crafted system of checked and balanced power’ that serves as the ‘greatest security against tyranny — the accumulation of excessive authority in a single Branch,” she wrote.

National Guard troops part of surge of forces in DC: White House official

August 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — National Guard troops called to active duty in Washington, D.C., by President Donald Trump have made dozens of arrests to combat what the president says is rampant violent crime that statistics show is actually decreasing.

The forces, which included 19 inter-agency teams, were “deployed throughout all seven districts in D.C. to promote public safety and arrest violent offenders,” the White House official said.

On Monday, Trump announced his plans to deploy National Guard troops in the nation’s capital, declaring a public safety emergency in order to put the Washington police department under federal control and station the National Guard on the city’s streets. Trump’s control of the D.C. police force expires in 30 days, after which Congress would have to weigh in.

Trump has long threatened to take control of Washington, saying he wants to crack down on violent crime in the district although police statistics show that in the past two years, violent crime in Washington has fallen dramatically.

“Fighting crime is a good thing. We have to explain we’re going to fight crime — that’s a good thing,” Trump said of the effort during an event at the Kennedy Center Wednesday afternoon. “Already they’re saying, ‘He’s a dictator.’ The place is going to hell. We’ve got to stop it. So instead of saying, ‘He’s a dictator,’ they should say, ‘We’re going to join him and make Washington safe.'”

Search underway for man dropped off by ride share in Rocky Mountain National Park

August 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, Colo.) — Rocky Mountain Park Rangers are searching for a 23-year-old Nebraska man who went missing in the Colorado park after he was dropped off there by a ride share service last week, the National Park Service (NPS) said.

Blake Kieckhafer was reported missing to park rangers on Monday, according to NPS.

He was last seen in the Upper Beaver Meadows area of the park last Thursday at around 5:20 p.m. when he was dropped off, the park service said.

Upper Beaver Meadows Road is about a mile west of Beaver Meadows Entrance, on the east side of the park near U.S. Highway 36, according to NPS.

He was wearing a dark T-shirt, dark pants and a dark baseball cap with no logo, officials said. He was also carrying a small maroon daypack, they noted.

Kieckhafer is 5 foot 11 inches, weighs about 180 pounds, has buzzed, short blonde hair, a mustache and blue-green eyes, NPS said.

“If you have information that could help investigators or if you have seen Blake Kieckhafer, please contact us. You don’t have to tell us who you are, but please tell us what you know,” NPS said in a statement Wednesday.

The service noted that anyone with information can call or text the National Park Service Investigative Services Bureau Tip Line at 888-653-0009, fill in their online form or email them.

These jobs are hiring, despite a weak job market

August 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The labor market slowed sharply this summer, leaving job applicants with fewer places to turn for a new position.

Employers added an average of about 35,000 jobs over three months ending in July, which marks a major slowdown from roughly 128,000 jobs added monthly over the prior three months, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said earlier this month.

The hiring cooldown has hit nearly every industry, including manufacturing, leisure and hospitality and the federal government.

But two industries have bucked the trend: Health care and social assistance, the latter of which comprises services like child care and counseling, economists told ABC News. If not for job growth in those two sectors, the labor market would have suffered net job losses over the past three months.

“This is a job market where growth is very thin,” Daniel Zhao, chief economist at job-posting site Glassdoor, told ABC News. “Unfortunately, there aren’t many industries growing consistently and robustly.”

“The job market is being propped up by health care and social assistance,” Zhao added.

Health care

The health care sector added 55,000 jobs in July, which amounted to three of every four jobs added across the U.S. economy last month, BLS data showed. The performance in July extended robust growth that stretches back several years, economists said.

“There’s clearly an industry that stands out right now and that would be health care,” Cory Stahle, an economist at Indeed Hiring Lab, told ABC News.

The gangbusters hiring in the health care sector owes to two overlapping trends, economists said: persistent demand for health care from an aging population and ongoing recovery from job losses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unlike discretionary costs like luxury goods or restaurant dining, health care services are a necessity taken up by consumers regardless of financial conditions, economists said.

“Health care is a non-optional industry,” Stahle said. “If you need health care, you need health care.”

As the baby-boomer generation has aged, a growing share of people have experienced such healthcare needs. Between 2012 and 2050, the population of older people – aged 65 and above – is expected to nearly double from about 43 million to 83 million, the U.S. Census Bureau found in 2014.

Robust consumer demand has coincided with a shortage of workers in the aftermath of widespread job losses as health care professionals suffered burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While overall employment in the sector has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, the new workers have been unevenly distributed, leaving shortages at workplaces such as skilled nursing facilities and intensive behavioral health centers, researchers at the University of Michigan found in June.

“We do expect job growth in health care to continue as the U.S. population ages and demand for health services continues to rise,” Zhao said.

Social assistance

Social assistance, the provision of support and emergency relief services, makes up the other bright spot in the job market.

The sector added 18,000 jobs in July, accounting for nearly one of every four jobs added last month, BLS data showed.

A subset of the sector, referred to by the descriptor “individual and family services,” accounted for all of the jobs added in July. Such work is made up of counseling, welfare and referral services.

Employers have continued to hire for therapist roles, despite a slowdown in the wider job market, Stahle said, citing job postings on Indeed.

If the economy tips into a recession, the industry will likely continue to grow, since a larger share of the population would need assistance in the event of financial hardship, Zhao said.

“This is a sector that grows even during bad times, because there is a demand for more social assistance when the economy is poor and people do need those services,” Zhao added.

Positions in the sector are not typically well compensated, however. Average hourly earnings in social assistance clocked in at $23.60 in June, the most recent month for which such data is available. That pay level came in well below an average of $36.32 per hour across the private sector, BLS data showed.

Newsom says California to draw congressional maps to ‘END TRUMP PRESIDENCY’

August 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said California will move forward with drawing new congressional maps that he said “WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY” and allow Democrats to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“DONALD ‘TACO’ TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, ‘MISSED’ THE DEADLINE!!! CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE ‘BEAUTIFUL MAPS,’ THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!),” Newsom wrote Tuesday night, in a post written in the style of President Donald Trump’s occasionally all-caps social media posts.

The announcement comes amid Texas Republicans’ efforts to redraw congressional maps in their party’s favor. The redistricting showdown in Texas has led blue states to threaten to retaliate — with Newsom proposing to cut five GOP-held seats in California.

The redistricting battle in Texas — and potentially other states — has national implications, with control of the U.S. House potentially at stake. The Texas GOP’s proposed congressional map could net Republicans between three and five seats in next year’s midterm elections — seats that could make a difference as Republicans work to maintain their small majority in the U.S. House.

A spokesperson for California State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas confirmed to ABC News that the state legislature is aiming to release draft maps on Friday.

Newsom’s post did not offer any details on the maps or how he plans to get them approved, although Newsom has said previously he would consider trying to have maps on the ballot in a special election in November.

The California governor said he would be part of a press conference this week with “powerful” Democrats, but didn’t offer details about who would be in attendance.

Newsom sent a letter to Trump on Monday asking the president to tell Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republican governors to abandon efforts to draw new congressional maps. Texas Democrats have fled the state in protest of the maps.

The Texas House of Representatives was once again unable to reach a quorum Tuesday. Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows said that the House will convene once again on Friday, adding if there’s no quorum by then, Abbott will adjourn the current session and call a second special session to begin immediately.

Newsom says California’s new congressional maps will take down Trump

August 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

A spokesperson for California State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas confirmed to ABC News that the state legislature is aiming to release draft maps on Friday.

The California governor said he would be part of a press conference this week with “powerful” Democrats, but didn’t offer details about who would be in attendance.

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