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Human remains found after explosion, fire at California warehouse filled with fireworks

July 4, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(ESPARTO, Calif) — Human remains have been found at the warehouse filled with fireworks that exploded in Northern California this week, officials said.

The number of fatalities was not released and no positive identifications have been made, Yolo County officials said. Seven people were considered missing on Wednesday.

“Recovery efforts are expected to continue throughout the weekend as investigators, coroner personnel, and fire crews work carefully and respectfully through the process,” county officials said on Friday. “The Coroner’s Office has been in contact with the families of those previously reported missing and will continue to provide them with timely updates as information becomes available.”

The blast occurred Tuesday night at a pyrotechnics facility in Esparto, about 40 miles from Sacramento, triggering a series of massive explosions, according to fire authorities.

Cal Fire and the Esparto Fire Protection District said crews were working to find the missing.

“We obviously do our best to train for every type of incident, but an incident like this is like a once-in-a-career type of incident,” Esparto Fire Chief Curtis Lawrence said at a news conference Wednesday.

The new conference was interrupted by an angry family member who said her boyfriend and brother-in-law were in the building.

“We’re all sick to our stomach, and we’re all waiting on the information [officials say] we should receive until Saturday, when I want to know today,” she said.

The origin and cause of the blast remains under investigation, county officials said Friday.

Cal Fire’s Office of the State Fire Marshal said it believes the facility belongs to a licensed pyrotechnics operator. Investigators are working to determine if the operation complied with California’s strict pyrotechnics regulations and federal explosive storage requirements.

“This type of incident is very rare,” Cal Fire officials said, noting that such facilities must follow stringent safety protocols.

“Our hearts and thoughts are with those we lost, their families, and everyone impacted in our community,” the management for Devastating Pyrotechnics, the company that owns the pyrotechnics business, said in a statement. “We are grateful for the swift response of law enforcement and emergency personnel. Our focus will remain on those directly impacted by this tragedy, and we will cooperate fully with the proper authorities in their investigation.”

The explosion led to the cancelation of multiple Fourth of July celebrations. The Cloverdale Lions Club announced Thursday that they were canceling their annual aerial fireworks display, as the Esparto facility was their designated supplier.

Trump to sign controversial spending bill during White House 4th of July celebrations

July 4, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is slated to use the White House’s Fourth of July celebrations as the backdrop for his final victory lap over his massive spending bill.

The president will sign the legislation, which will bring massive cuts to government benefits such as Medicaid and increase funding for immigration enforcement, during the White House’s military family picnic on Friday evening.

It is unclear what guests will attend the signing event or if the picnic’s fireworks will take place during that time.

Trump pushed Congress to pass the bill by July 4th as some Republicans held out over several issues, including the bill’s effect on the debt ceiling.

“There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just hours ago when Congress passed the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ to Make America Great Again,” Trump said in Iowa on Thursday, after the House passed the bill.

The White House celebrations for the Fourth of July will include several flyovers, including one featuring B-2 bombers. The president said Thursday that the flyover will occur at the same time he signs the bill; however, the White House has not confirmed the timing of that event.

Democrats criticized the president and the bill’s supporters over its cuts to services that help the poorest Americans. The bill institutes work requirements for Medicaid that some experts say will make millions of Americans uninsured, and makes cuts to the program that will result in closures of health centers in rural areas, according to health care employers.

On Thursday, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries broke the chamber’s record with an eight-hour, 44-minute speech decrying the bill.

“We wanted to make sure that the American people had an opportunity to fully and more completely understands, in the light of day, just how damaging this one big, ugly bill will be to the American people,” he said.

Trump criticized for using antisemitic slur in Iowa speech

July 4, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(DES MOINES, Iowa) — President Donald Trump celebrated the passage of his massive tax and policy bill during a “Salute to America” event in Des Moines, Iowa, a day ahead of the Fourth of July.

Jewish advocacy groups slammed President Donald Trump for using an anti-Semitic descriptor on Thursday during his Iowa speech celebrating the passage of his spending bill.

Trump used the term “Shylocks,” which evokes a centuries-old antisemitic trope about Jewish people and greed, to talk about the tax changes in the bill.

“No death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and bar exam from, in some cases a fine banker, and in some cases Shylocks and bad people, but they took away a lot of family. They destroyed a lot of families, but we did the opposite,” he told the crowd.

Shylock is a reference to the name of the Jewish moneylender and villain in playwright William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” who demands a “pound of flesh” from protagonist Antonio.

The Anti-Defamation League on Friday morning criticized the president, reiterating that the term is “extremely offensive and dangerous.”

“President Trump’s use of the term is very troubling and irresponsible. It underscores how lies and conspiracies about Jews remain deeply entrenched in our country. Words from our leaders matter and we expect more from the President of the United States,” the organization said in a statement.

Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, also condemned Trump’s comments, saying in a statement it was one of “the most quintessential antisemitic stereotypes.”

“This is not an accident. It follows years in which Trump has normalized antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories — and it’s deeply dangerous,” she added.

“To me, Shylock is somebody that’s a money lender at high rates. I’ve never heard it that way. You view it differently than me. I’ve never heard that,” Trump claimed.

This is not the first time that an executive branch member came under fire for using the term.

In 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden took heat for using the term during the 40th anniversary celebration of the Legal Services Corporation, referring to predatory bankers as “these Shylocks who took advantage of these women and men while overseas.”

“He’s correct, it was a poor choice of words, particularly as he said coming from ‘someone as friendly to the Jewish community and open and tolerant an individual as is Vice President Joe Biden.’ He’s right,” Biden said in a statement.

ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.

Deadly storm slams New Jersey, hard-hit town cancels 4th of July celebration

July 4, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(PLAINFIELD, N.J.) — A huge line of severe weather passed through on Thursday night, killing at least three people in New Jersey and complicating travel for millions on the move for the Fourth of July weekend.

A deadly storm with winds topping 60 mph tore through central New Jersey, forcing one town to cancel its Fourth of July celebrations.

Thursday night’s severe thunderstorm killed at least three people: one in North Plainfield and two in Plainfield, about 30 miles west of New York, ABC New York station WABC reported.

“Our hearts are heavy,” Mayor Adrian O. Mapp said in a statement. “We mourn with the families and stand ready to support them in every way possible.”

Plainfield is under a state of emergency, with the mayor saying the “devastating storm” left “deep scars.”

Homes and cars have been damaged and some houses are structurally compromised from fallen trees, city officials said. Over 80 trees were knocked down, including many that are blocking roads or are entangled with power lines, officials said.

“There will be a time to celebrate again, to raise our flags and enjoy the joys of community,” the mayor said. “But right now, we must come together to clean up, to support one another, and to begin the work of rebuilding.”

Four killed, 14 hurt in Chicago mass shooting: ‘Absolute chaos’

July 4, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(CHICAGO) — Four people were killed and 14 others wounded in a “deplorable and cowardly” mass shooting in Chicago on Wednesday night, according to the police superintendent.

Around 11 p.m., people were exiting a venue in the River North neighborhood and standing on the sidewalk when a vehicle pulled up and someone in the car opened fire on the crowd, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said at a news conference.

“They didn’t care who was struck, and in a matter of seconds, they were able to shoot 18 people,” Snelling said.

The venue was targeted, but it’s not clear who specifically was the target, police said.

The vehicle fled the scene immediately and no one has been taken into custody, police said. Two different calibers of shell casings were recovered, police said.

The victims killed were identified as Leon Andrew Henry, 25; Devonte Terrell Williamson, 23; Taylor Walker, 26; and Aviance King, 27, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Fourteen others were wounded, including several who were hospitalized in critical condition, according to police. The injured victims are all in their 20s and 30s, and 11 of the 14 people hurt are women, police said.

“When I arrived last night it was absolute chaos,” Pastor Donovan Price, who works to help victims of violence, told reporters. “From people screaming, to blood on the streets, to people laying on the streets, a massive police presence. Just horrific. More than I’ve ever seen.”

The hospitals were “almost as chaotic” as the crime scene as people searched for their loved ones, Price said. “It can happen anywhere,” he warned. “It’s devastating.”

A second mass shooting also erupted on Chicago’s far South Side on Wednesday night, leaving four people hospitalized, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

“We are frustrated, but we are also grieving,” Johnson said, adding, “We will not rest until there is full accountability.”

Despite the shootings, murders were down 32% year-to-date in the city as of June 29 and shooting incidents were down 39%, according to Chicago’s crime data.

Russia hits Kyiv with massive air attack, biggest of war so far

July 4, 2025 by WDNY Radio

LONDON — Russia overnight hit Ukraine with the biggest missile and drone attack of the war, launching a record number of drones at Kyiv.

Hundreds of Russian drones swarmed the capital all night as videos show huge fires and plumes of smoke on the skyline. Residents describe it as one of the most intense nights since the start of the full-scale invasion and people in Kyiv are waking up Friday morning to the city being blanketed by smoke from the fires still burning.

Russia launched over 500 drones, a huge number and the second time in less than a week it has launched the biggest air attack of the war. The attack comes after the Trump administration froze deliveries of critical air defense missiles to Ukraine.

The mayor of Kyiv said that at least 23 people were injured as many people spent the night sheltering in Kyiv’s metro system.

The aerial assault began shortly after President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone which, in Ukraine, is being widely taken as a clear message to Ukrainians.

“Notably, the first air raid alerts in our cities and regions yesterday began to blare almost simultaneously with media reports discussing a phone call between President Trump and Putin,” Ukrainian President Zelenskyy wrote on Friday morning. “Yet again, Russia is showing it has no intention of ending the war and terror. Only around 9 a.m. today did the air raid alert end in Kyiv. It was a brutal, sleepless night.”

The 2 House Republicans who voted no on Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill

July 3, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump’s major tax cut and spending bill passed the House on Thursday, but not without some Republican opposition.

Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania voted against the legislation alongside the entire House Democratic Caucus.

While Massie and Fitzpatrick were the only GOP members to vote no, several House GOP hardliners were angered by the changes made to the bill by the Senate and there was an overnight scramble by Speaker Mike Johnson to secure the necessary support to proceed. Some of the hardliners who ultimately voted yes say President Trump made promises to get their votes, including that he’d make the bill “better” in the future.

On Thursday, Massie said he did not vote for the bill because of its projected impact on the national debt. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill could add $3.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.

“Although there were some conservative wins in the budget reconciliation bill (OBBBA), I voted No on final passage because it will significantly increase U.S. budget deficits in the near term, negatively impacting all Americans through sustained inflation and high interest rates,” Massie wrote on X. Massie also opposed the House version of the megabill that passed back in May.

Trump’s been a vocal critic of Massie, lambasting him last month in a lengthy social media post as not being “MAGA.”

“Actually, MAGA doesn’t want him, doesn’t know him, and doesn’t respect him,” Trump wrote at the time.

The president accused Massie of being a “grandstander” who routinely votes no on key Republican-led legislation. Trump suggested Massie should be challenged in the upcoming Republican primary, even before this latest vote.

“The good news is that we will have a wonderful American Patriot running against him in the Republican Primary, and I’ll be out in Kentucky campaigning really hard,” Trump wrote.

Rep. Fitzpatrick did vote for the House bill in May, but said on Thursday that the Senate changes to the bill (which resulted in deeper cuts to Medicaid) as the reason for his change in position.

As I’ve stated throughout these negotiations, with each iteration of legislative text that was placed on the House Floor, I’ve maintained a close and watchful eye on the specific details of these provisions, and determined the specific district impact, positive or negative, on our PA-1 community,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement.

“I voted to strengthen Medicaid protections, to permanently extend middle class tax cuts, for enhanced small business tax relief, and for historic investments in our border security and our military,” he added/ “However, it was the Senate’s amendments to Medicaid, in addition to several other Senate provisions, that altered the analysis for our PA-1 community. The original House language was written in a way that protected our community; the Senate amendments fell short of our standard.”

“I believe in, and will always fight for, policies that are thoughtful, compassionate, and good for our community. It is this standard that will always guide my legislative decisions,” Fitzpatrick said.

The Pennsylvania congressman, who also faces reelection in 2026, represents a swing district that went blue in 2024 for Kamala Harris.

Several 4th of July celebrations canceled in Los Angeles over fears of ICE raids

July 3, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES, Calif.) — Several Fourth of July celebrations have been canceled in Los Angeles over fears of raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to local officials and event organizers.

In early June, ICE agents carried out a series of immigration sweeps across Southern California, sparking protests in Los Angeles that spread nationwide as the raids impacted other parts of the country.

The threat of continued ICE raids has continued, prompting some officials and organizers to express concern over the welfare of revelers congregating in large celebratory gatherings.

The County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation said it postponed the East Los Angeles Rockin’ 4th of July celebration — as well as the Summer Movies and Concert in the Parks series that takes place at Schabarum Park — due to potential ICE raids.

“Out of caution, and in response to recent ICE enforcement activity impacting our communities, we are prioritizing safety and well-being of our residents, visitors, and staff,” the parks department wrote in a statement posted to Instagram.

Organizers for the Gloria Molina Grand Park Summer Block Party in Los Angeles County wrote on an Instagram post that the event is being postponed out of “an abundance of caution.”

“We know this is disappointing news,” organizers said. “We were so looking forward to celebrating with all of you at #TheParkforEveryone. Please know that your safety is our absolute first priority.”

The party was scheduled to take place Friday afternoon through the nighttime fireworks show.

Postponements and cancellations also occurred in the Bell Gardens and Cudahy, which are predominately Hispanic communities, ABC Los Angeles station KABC reported.

In addition, the El Sereno Bicentennial Committee canceled its 66th Annual Independence Day Parade after several entries were withdrawn leading up to the holiday, organizers announced on June 20. The is typically filled with local groups, schools, organizations and performers as well as classic cars and motorcycle stunt shows on Route 66.

“The people who participate in the parade are some of the most patriotic people you would meet,” parade organizers said in a statement. “Our community has always been a melting pot of many cultures and beliefs. It is what has given our town its strength and resiliency.”

Independence Day celebrations at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, however, are expected to continue — but this year with a drone show, rather than fireworks.

But events in public spaces feel “dangerous” for many residents, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado, who oversees District 14, told KABC.

“This is not the time to host large public gatherings because people are afraid,” Jurado said. “For Fourth of July and Independence, it rings hollow for a lot of our constituents here.”

Elsewhere throughout the country, security protocols were ramping up ahead of the holiday. The New York City Police Department is expected to deploy hundreds of officers and impose closures on roads, bridges and train routes due to a heightened threat environment, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced Wednesday.

Lone wolf actors are anticipated to be the biggest threat to 4th of July festivities in major cities like New York and San Francisco, multiple federal law enforcement agencies warned.

Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. arrested by ICE for alleged ties to Sinaloa Cartel: DHS

July 3, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(STUDIO CITY, Calif.) — Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., son of the legendary fighter, has been arrested and is being processed for “expedited removal” from the United States due to alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday.

Chavez was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday in Studio City, California, DHS said. He is allegedly in the country illegally after overstaying a tourist visa, according to DHS.

Chavez lost to boxer and influencer Jake Paul in a fight on Saturday night in Anaheim, California.

He has an active arrest warrant in Mexico “for his involvement in organized crime and trafficking firearms, ammunition, and explosives,” DHS said in a press release.

“Chavez is also believed to be an affiliate of the Sinaloa Cartel, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” DHS said.

The boxer entered the country in August 2023 with a B2 tourist visa that was valid until February 2024, according to DHS. He filed an application for lawful permanent resident status in April 2024, according to DHS.

“Chavez’s application was based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen, who is connected to the Sinaloa Cartel through a prior relationship with the now-deceased son of the infamous cartel leader Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman,” DHS said.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services flagged Chavez as an “egregious public safety threat” to ICE in December 2024, though his removal was not prioritized, according to DHS.

He was determined to be in the country and removable on June 27 after allegedly making “multiple fraudulent statements” on his lawful permanent resident application, DHS said.

“Under President Trump, no one is above the law — including world-famous athletes,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “Our message to any cartel affiliates in the U.S. is clear: We will find you and you will face consequences. The days of unchecked cartel violence are over.”

According to DHS, Chavez has prior convictions in California for driving under the influence of alcohol in 2012 and illegal possession of an assault weapon and manufacture or import of a short-barreled rifle in 2024.

Chavez’s father, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., is one of the greatest boxers of all-time and a huge celebrity in their native Mexico.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

House passes Trump’s major tax cut and spending bill

July 3, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The House has passed President Trump’s major tax cut and spending bill in a 218 to 214 vote.

The legislation will now go to President Trump’s desk for his signature.

The final vote came after an overnight scramble by Speaker Mike Johnson to secure the necessary GOP votes to proceed, and then a record-breaking speech from House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries that lasted for 8 hours and 44 minutes.

No changes were made by the House to the Senate version of the bill, despite some grumbling from House Republican hardliners over the Senate changes to Medicaid and the deficit. Some of those holdouts say President Trump made promises to get their votes, including saying he’d make the bill “better” in the future.

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