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Breast cancer by the numbers: What to know about diagnoses, survival rates

October 1, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Oct. 1 marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, putting a spotlight on the second most common cancer diagnosed among women.

Although the rates of women diagnosed with breast cancer have increased, death rates have been declining and five-year survival rates have risen.

It’s not just women; men are also diagnosed with the disease. Additionally, disparities persist among races and ethnicities.

Here’s what you need to know about breast cancer by the numbers.

Diagnosis rates

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women in the United States, aside from skin cancer, with more than 320,000 new invasive cases expected each year, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).

Breast cancer diagnoses have risen with a 1% increase per year in recent years, ACS says.

“Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women, but most women diagnosed with breast cancer do very well and outcomes have improved tremendously over the years,” Hannah Rose Naughton, breast surgical oncologist at Hackensack Meridian Health, told ABC News.

Breast cancer accounts for roughly one in every three new cancers diagnosed in women each year and is the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the U.S., behind lung cancer, according to the ACS.

“The earlier we find the cancer, the better the outcome for the patient,” Naughton said.

While breast cancer affects women far more often, the disease can also occur in men.

“One percent of breast cancer cases occur in men; it’s extremely rare,” Priya Thomas, breast oncologist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, told ABC News.

Declining death rates

The breast cancer death rate among U.S. women decreased by 44% from 1989 to 2024, preventing an estimated 500,000 to 517,900 deaths, according to ACS.

“The decrease in breast cancer death rates is probably a combination of our screening advances, as well as advances in the treatments that we have for different subtypes of breast cancer,” Thomas said. “Artificial intelligence is also being investigated and possibly can also increase sensitivity and detection.”

Improving survival rates

In the late 1970s, the five-year relative survival rate for women with invasive breast cancer — which compares how many patients are alive five years after diagnosis with people of the same age who don’t have cancer — was roughly 75%.

As of 2022, it is above 90%, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The increase reflects major advances in screening and earlier diagnosis.

Where breast cancers are found

Stage at diagnosis remains one of the biggest predictors of outcome.

Most breast cancers are discovered before they have spread to other parts of the body, according to the NCI.

About 64% of cases are diagnosed at a localized stage, meaning the cancer has not spread beyond the breast. About 27% have spread to nearby lymph nodes or tissue, and about 6% are diagnosed after the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body. About 2% have an unknown stage.

“If you feel a lump, if you notice a skin change, if you notice nipple discharge or any change that is different from your normal baseline, that warrants an evaluation by your provider,” Thomas said.

Persisting disparities

The burden of breast cancer is not shared equally.

“Black women are more likely to develop triple-negative breast cancer, which can be a more aggressive subtype, and unfortunately they do have a higher breast cancer mortality rate,” Naughton said.

As with many other diseases, the risk of breast cancer increases with age. The average age at breast cancer diagnosis in women is 63, according to the NCI.

In men, the ACS reports the average age at diagnosis is between 60 and 70. Although for both women and men, the disease can occur at virtually any age, and diagnosis at a younger age is linked to increased mortality.

“I know that recently some of the guidelines, depending on where you’re looking, have changed and may recommend mammograms every one to two years, but I still recommend yearly mammograms starting at age 40 for women at average risk,” Naughton said.

Beyond regular screening, experts say being aware of changes in your body is important.

“The most important message is that you shouldn’t ignore a change in your breast,” Naughton said.

Dr. Tara Howard is a fourth-year dermatology resident and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

Modi praises FlyDubai co-pilot credited with preventing disaster as UAE investigates incident

October 1, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has praised Capt. Smit Machchhar, the FlyDubai captain credited with intervening to help save the flight from disaster on Wednesday.

“Captain Smit Machchhar has shown the world the highest form of courage. Without fearing for his own life, he fought valiantly and prevented another 9/11 like attack from happening,” Modi said Thursday morning.

The Indian consulate in Dubai said India’s ambassador and consul general in the UAE met with Machchhar’s family members.

“They briefed the family about Captain Machchhar’s health & recovery, conveyed that the Embassy & Consulate are in touch with the UAE authorities, and assured the family of continued support,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in the United Arab Emirates have opened an investigation into the incident involving a FlyDubai flight that was diverted to Saudi Arabia after an altercation in the cockpit, the state news agency WAM reported Thursday.

The UAE attorney general ordered an investigation to establish the circumstances and motives behind the incident and “determine whether it was linked to any terrorist activity or prior planning,” WAM said.

UAE judicial authorities have jurisdiction over the investigation because the aircraft is registered in the UAE and operates under its flag, meaning offenses committed on board are subject to UAE law even when they occur outside the country, the statement said.

The flight took off at 7:05 a.m. local time from Dubai Wednesday, according to Flightradar24.

Tracking data showed the aircraft descended rapidly from 34,000 to 16,000 feet in three minutes.

About 10 minutes after the initial descent, the plane’s squawk code — used by aircraft to communicate with air traffic control — changed to “general emergency.” Seven minutes later, the squawk code changed again, indicating a hijacking or “unlawful interference.”

The aircraft then continued flying at an average altitude of about 15,000 feet until it landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, roughly an hour to an hour and a half after the rapid descent began and the emergency signals were sent.

FlyDubai confirmed that the flight “experienced an incident while en route” and landed in Tabuk.

Split among Mormon women could matter in Arizona governor’s race

October 1, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Two members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are on opposite tickets in Arizona’s closely watched governor’s race, and Mormon women are reaching sharply different conclusions about what their faith asks of them at the ballot box.

Republican gubernatorial nominee Rep. Andy Biggs, an ultra-conservative ally of President Donald Trump, is running to unseat Gov. Katie Hobbs, who picked former Mesa Mayor John Giles, a church member and a Republican-turned-independent, as her running mate.

Some Republican and independent Mormon women told ABC News that Giles’ presence on the ballot and Biggs’ vote against certifying the 2020 election have pushed them toward Hobbs. Others say their views on parental rights and transgender issues draw them to Biggs.

About 442,000 Latter-day Saints live in Arizona, per the church’s 2025 count. That’s roughly 6% of the state’s population. The split could matter in a state Hobbs won by just about 17,000 votes in 2022.

“Some of these races are close, you know, 5,000 votes, 10,000 votes. That’s well within the margin that [John] Giles adds to the ticket,” said Tyler Montague, a Republican strategist.

“We’re a huge group, and I definitely think it would be smart to be courting Mormon voters, Mormon women, because we are high propensity turnout voters,” said Ronna McDaniel, former Republican National Committee chair and a church member.

“So go the Mormon wives, go the state, really,” said Stacey Pearson, a Democratic strategist in Arizona.

Biggs has defended his record of election denialism as raising legitimate questions about election administration.

“You have a lot of people that are character voters, and they view Biggs’ participation in the attempts to overthrow the election as a severe lack of character,” Montague said.

Montague also argued abortion, long the issue binding religious conservatives to Republican candidates, may have less influence this year after Arizona voters approved a ballot measure protecting abortion access in 2024. “It’s not as salient an issue,” he said.

Jane Andersen, Arizona state director of Mormon Women for Ethical Government, said principle and conduct can outweigh loyalty to a party. The group does not endorse candidates, and its membership is roughly 40% Republican, 34% Democratic and 26% independent nationally.

“When we’ve had statewide candidates on the Republican side that have been such outliers, and … their approach to politicking has been so harsh, so negative, so out of line with how the women conduct themselves in daily life, they’ve chosen to walk away from that person,” Andersen said, “even if maybe the policies might seem like they align more.”

Suzanne Lunt, a 60-year-old teacher in Gilbert, left the party after the Jan. 6 insurrection, briefly re-registered as a Republican to run for the Arizona House, lost, then returned to independent. She is voting for Hobbs and Giles.

“Our church leaders have taught us that we should try to vote for people with integrity,” Lunt said. “I try to find leaders who I know I can trust, who follow the rule of law, and who are ready to work with all kinds of people and not just toe the party line.”

Sylvia Jencks, 51, an independent from conservative San Tan Valley, is also voting for Hobbs.

“I want somebody who cares about Arizona and not just what the president wants,” Jencks said. But she faulted Democrats, too, saying the party is “focusing on the wrong things” instead of strengthening the state’s economy.

Tatiana Pena, 43, a South Phoenix mother of five and lifelong Republican, is voting for Biggs because of what church leaders have taught about protecting “family values.”

“They don’t talk politics, but they have given us warnings,” Pena said. “One of the biggest warnings is to defend the family unit in society. That to me outweighs everything else.”

For her, that means restricting transgender women’s access to women’s restrooms and girls’ sports, and opposing gender-transition care for minors.

Tyler Bowyer, Turning Point USA’s chief operating officer and a church member from Mesa, agreed, arguing that Mormon women are “most moved by the trans policies that have been pushed by the left.”

For Brittany Romanello, a University of Arkansas professor who studies Mormon political behavior, the divide shows shared faith no longer guarantees a vote.

“Women are looking at the values, the controversies, the morals …This is not the 2012 election, where people just expected people to vote for Mitt Romney because he’s LDS,” she said.

Changes to SNAP benefits begin Oct. 1 for millions of Americans: What to know

September 30, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Major changes are coming on Oct. 1 for the tens of millions of Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for food assistance from the federal government.

In the short term, most families will see a slight bump in their monthly payments to help afford groceries. But in the coming months, households will face stricter eligibility requirements and changes to how the benefits are administered that could ultimately result in far fewer benefits.

An estimated five million Americans — including more than 1 million children — have already lost SNAP assistance over the past year as part of President Donald Trump’s signature tax and spending law, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Short-term boost in benefits

Every year on Oct. 1, the federal government adjusts its monthly SNAP benefits to account for inflation. These cost-of-living adjustments apply across all states.

For a typical single-person household in one of 48 states (not including Alaska or Hawaii), checks will go from a maximum of $298 to $306 per month. That’s an extra $8 monthly.

For a family of four, checks will go from $994 to $1,023 per month. That’s an extra $29 per month, or $348 per year.

These inflation adjustments are intended to help families keep up with the rising cost of food. Grocery prices are up 2.2% in the past year.

Big funding changes

While these adjustments will help alleviate some cost pressures for current SNAP recipients, a major overhaul to the program is resulting in fewer people receiving benefits.

As part of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” states are required to pay for a larger share of SNAP administrative costs while the federal government pays less. Now, states will be required to cover 75% of those administrative costs — a 25% increase. This change takes effect Oct. 1 and will leave states with millions of dollars of additional costs to cover.

Additional cost shifts are also looming for states. Starting in 2027, states with a SNAP recipient error rate above 6% would also be on the hook for funding a portion of SNAP benefits themselves — expected to cost states hundreds of millions of dollars extra per year.

In anticipation of these sweeping changes, some states are already seeing a big drop in SNAP enrollment.

According to an analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Arizona, Florida and Louisiana were some of the states that saw the biggest change in participation, with Arizona seeing its numbers cut nearly in half.

Changing eligibility requirements

The Republican-backed law has already imposed stricter requirements on SNAP recipients.

Under the law, work requirements apply to able-bodied adults without dependents aged 18 to 64, up from the previous age limit of 54.

The law also changed work requirements for families responsible for a dependent. Now, families with children age 14 and older are no longer eligible for an exemption from those work requirements.

Man who helped subdue knife-wielding suspect aboard flight to Tel Aviv honored

September 30, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — A man who was among a group of passengers who subdued an attacker on a flight to Tel Aviv on Wednesday was welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he returned to Israel later in the evening.

The prime minister posted a video of meeting the passenger named Yaniv Hayun, who still had blood on his shirt from the encounter.

Yaniv and a group of other passengers aboard FlyDubai Flight 1073 were able to get into the cockpit after an unidentified pilot stabbed the co-pilot, Capt. Smit Machchhar and took control of the plane, Israeli officials said.

The suspect allegedly plummeted the plane in an attempt to crash it and kill everyone aboard, Israeli investigators said.

“And then there was a very sharp nosedive down, something that threw me to where the flight attendants stand in front of the cockpit, I flew sideways,” Yaniv said.

Yaniv said he placed the attacker in a chokehold and pulled him out. And then he quickly went for the plane’s controls and briefly flew the plane.

“And the plane started to level out a bit more, and then the (third) pilot told me he’s taking control from here,” he said.

The third pilot flew it to Saudi Arabia, where the plane landed and the passengers disembarked. Capt. Machchhar was being treated for his injuries and the suspect is in custody, officials said.

“I imagine if we entered the sky of the country it wouldn’t have been good,” Yaniv told the prime minister during their meeting.

Execution of lone woman on Tennessee’s death row paused by federal appeals court

September 30, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The execution of the only woman on Tennessee’s death row was paused at the 11th hour as a federal appeals court reviews the case.

The state has since asked the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate the appeals court’s stay.

Christa Pike, 50, was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Wednesday at 10 a.m. CT. She was sentenced to death after being convicted of the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.

In a 2-1 decision issued within two hours of the scheduled execution, Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit wrote that a stay is necessary in the “interests of justice and the finality of Pike’s impending execution” in order to review whether her allegations of sexual abuse and rape as a child were fully considered before Pike was sentenced to death. The execution is stayed “until further order of this court,” the order stated.

In his dissenting opinion, Judge Richard Allen Griffin called the matter “another last-ditch meritless effort to delay a lawful execution.”

In an application asking the Supreme Court to vacate the stay, Tennessee Department of Correction Warden Kenneth Nelsen argued that Pike is not likely to succeed because her claim was “already unsuccessfully presented.” The state’s “strong interest in finality and the surviving victims’ right to closure” also require the high court to vacate the stay, he argued.

Members of Slemmer’s family — including her mother, stepfather and father — plan to attend Pike’s execution, according to Nelsen’s filing.

“It is far past time for Colleen’s family to receive the closure they seek,” the filing stated, asking the Supreme Court to vacate the stay of execution to “avoid rewarding Pike’s abusive delay tactics” and “prevent further trauma to Colleen’s family.”

In a June court filing challenging her execution, Pike argued that due to her history of rape and sexual abuse, being “the lone female in a vulnerable position surrounded by male corrections officers during the last days of her life will trigger her PTSD and result in a torturous execution or mental decompensation to the point she will be incompetent to be executed.”

The Tennessee Supreme Court rejected her claims. She subsequently filed an application for stay of execution, requesting that the U.S. Supreme Court review her claims alleging the method of execution would inflict cruel and unusual punishment because of her PTSD from childhood rapes and abuse. The Supreme Court denied that request on Tuesday.

Later that day, Pike filed a motion seeking to review her claim that her trial counsel provided ineffective assistance at sentencing and failed to introduce evidence of her history of child sexual abuse.

In a statement on the stay of execution, Pike’s attorney, Stephen Ferrell with the Federal Defenders Services of Eastern Tennessee, said, “The court has stayed this recognizing the serious concerns about Christa’s scheduled execution.”

In 1996, Pike was found guilty of first-degree murder for beating, torturing and killing Slemmer, a fellow Jobs Corps worker from Knoxville, in a remote area of the University of Tennessee Agricultural campus.

Pike, who was 18 when she committed the crime, had told a friend she planned to kill Slemmer because she “just felt mean that day” and admitted to committing the crime with her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, according to court filings. Shipp was also convicted of first-degree murder for his role in the killing and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

While incarcerated, Pike was convicted in 2001 of attempted first-degree murder in the assault on an inmate, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction.

35% of Cornell undergraduate women reported having been sexually assaulted: Survey

September 30, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As prosecutors reopened an investigation into a former Cornell University student’s allegations of being drugged and gang-raped at a fraternity house in 2024, a state-mandated survey of undergraduate students revealed that more than one-third of undergraduate women said they had experienced sexual assault during their time at the Ivy League university.

According to the school’s 2025 Survey of Sexual Assault and Related Misconduct (SARM), 35% of undergraduate women at the Ithaca, New York, school reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact involving force or incapacitation since entering Cornell. Among undergraduate men, 8% said they experienced the same.

“Despite a long history of actions to address sexual assault, culminating in Cornell’s Sexual Violence Framework … rates of sexual assault remain persistently high,” according to a summary report released in March by the Cornell University Presidential Task Force on Campus Sexual Assault (TFSA).

The report also found that alcohol played a part in “the majority of reported incidents,” with the perpetrator having consumed it prior to the incident in 62% of cases and the victim having done so in 55% of incidents.

“In 50% of cases, respondents reported being conscious but incapacitated by alcohol or drugs during all or part of the incident,” according to the report, with 19% saying they were “passed out or unconscious for some or all the time.”

Reported instances of sexual assault were significantly higher among Cornell undergraduate women who were “Greek-affiliated” compared to those who were not: 52% to 29%, respectively, according to the report.

“If there’s one takeaway from all of this, it’s that we know for certain that sexual assault is underreported,” Jennifer Simmons Kaleba, vice president of communications for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), the nation’s largest anti-sexual assault organization, told ABC News.

“Whether the numbers grew 2%, 3%, something like that, the reality is it’s probably much higher than that,” Kaleba said.

Kaleba said her group, which runs a national sexual assault hotline, estimates that 1 in 6 freshman women experience sexual assault in their first year of college, and that 1 in 4 undergraduate women and 1 in 14 undergraduate men experience rape or sexual assault by force or incapacitation before they leave school.

Tompkins County, New York, District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said this week that his office is reopening an investigation into the 2024 alleged “gang rape” of a former female student by seven former and current members of the Chi Phi fraternity after the alleged victim, identified only as Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit earlier this month, sparking outrage when news of the suit became public.

Cornell’s Chi Phi chapter was barred from campus after the Oct. 19, 2024, rape allegations were made. Trey Robb, the interim executive director of Chi Phi fraternity, said in a statement that all the accused members were kicked out of the Cornell chapter within three days of Jane Doe filing her police report in 2024.

Three of the defendants named in the suit have denied the allegations through their attorneys.

“Any suggestion that the University did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” Cornell said in a statement Monday, in part.

In an earlier statement, Cornell said it conducted a thorough Title IX investigation of Jane Doe’s allegations. “At its conclusion, the hearing panel issued a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions from Cornell,” the university’s statement said.

Van Houten said in a statement that his office is considering whether to bring criminal charges related to the incident, though he said the allegations in the civil complaint are “dramatically different” than the woman’s statement to police two years ago. He further said that his office did not bring charges in 2024 because the woman’s statement to Cornell police officers at the time did not allege she was drugged without her knowledge or that she did not consent to engage in sexual activities.

“It’s our intention to present the case to the Tompkins County grand jury with Jane Doe’s cooperation,” Van Houten told ABC News. “We want to reexamine whether there’s additional evidence that we were not aware of in November of 2024, that exists now that would change our assessment of the case and would result in the grand jury finding that there was criminal conduct.”

Kaleba told ABC News that some victims of sexual assault often do not recall exact details of what occurred to them until years later.

“One of the first things that people will say on the hotline is, ‘I think something happened,'” Kaleba said. “And so what we want is some black-and-white narrative that says everybody absolutely recognizes what sexual assault is and it’s this and it’s that, and the victim must also know exactly what happened to them and retell it to the detail with exactly the right emotion for the remainder of their lives.”

“That is profoundly unrealistic and another avenue to blame victims,” according to Kaleba.

Ken Paxton heard saying Trump’s GOP midterm convention hurt him: Report

September 30, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Texas GOP Senate nominee Ken Paxton told donors at a private fundraiser last week that President Donald Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas earlier this month had hurt him politically, according to audio obtained by The New York Times.

In a recording, a person believed to be Paxton is asked, “Do you feel like he’s a little bit of a drag?” It’s not clear in the audio about whom the questioner is referring.

“So to be honest with you, the numbers — when we did that convention — it dropped our numbers. Everybody’s numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good,” someone reported to be Paxton said in response to the question.

Three other people with knowledge of the event confirmed to the New York Times that Paxton was at the private fundraiser — with two of those people recalling Paxton’s response about the GOP midterm convention.

The Paxton campaign pushed back against the report, calling it “manipulated nonsense.” When ABC News asked specifically whether the campaign was claiming the audio was manipulated, the Paxton campaign did not respond.

ABC News reached out to the White House for comment, but did not receive a response.

Paxton’s comments are noteworthy, given how he has aligned himself with Trump, earning his endorsement ahead of the Texas Senate runoff earlier this year. Trump backed Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP primary.

A recent ReconMR Texas Poll found that the Senate race in Texas remains tight, as 49% of likely voters said they would vote for Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico if the election were held today and 43% said they would vote for Paxton.

During the GOP midterm convention, Trump both praised Paxton and mocked him for his appearance.

“He may not dress right, he may not talk exactly perfectly, and he may not be the best-looking guy I’ve ever seen. But you know what he is? He’s the greatest attorney general in America, and he deserves to be your next senator,” Trump said in early September.

Paxton’s comments about the midterm convention also paint a larger picture of how some GOP candidates feel Trump’s low approval rating, along with the political environment where voters are concerned about prices, could hurt them politically.

Several Republicans running in competitive statewide and federal races are joining growing calls in their party to end the war in Iran, including battleground Senate candidates Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa and Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio.

Trump is scheduled to travel to Texas later this week to deliver economic remarks at a truck manufacturing company — a visit that comes five weeks before Election Day and as Texas is home to many key races.

Cornell student who made rape allegations said sexual encounters ‘felt like coercion’ in 2024 statement

September 30, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A Cornell University student detailed the night that she was allegedly sexually assaulted in a statement to police two years ago — describing that she was felt incapacitated, saying she declined to participate in some of the sexual activity and that the incidents at Chi Phi fraternity house “felt like coercion,” according to a copy of the police report obtained by ABC News.

The developments in the case, which sparked a furor, come in the wake of the alleged victim in the case filing a lawsuit claiming she was gang raped and the local district attorney saying he would reopen the case.

In the Nov. 15, 2024, statement, she appeared to suggest some of the activity was consensual but detailed multiple instances where she declined to participate in certain sexual acts suggested by the men.

The woman’s statement was central to a decision by the Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten not to bring charges in 2024 and he said that the allegations in the civil suit are “dramatically different” than those in the statement.

In an interview with ABC News this week, Van Houten described the allegations as “morally disturbing” but argued Jane Doe’s 2024 account of the incident suggested that she consented to the sexual activity.

He said that she did not withdraw her consent, and that when she raised concerns, the fraternity members “stopped and did not pursue what they were doing.”

According to her 2024 statement, Jane Doe did say that shat one point she said “no to the foursome” one of the fraternity brothers proposed, she said in her statement. At another point she recalled “a group of multiple men” walking into a room and “I was instantly horrified, and I remember squealing out loud and running across the room and hiding under the covers on another bed,” the statement said. “I was horrified because I was really embarrassed that these individuals had seen me completely naked.”

Jane Doe used the word “rape” to explain why she took an additional hit of ketamine.

“I had become extremely uncomfortable with how this night was turning out so my thought was, if I do Ketamine again maybe I will pass out. My thought was that if I passed out and these men had sex with me, then they could be charged with Rape,” the statement said.

The men persisted, according to her statement.

During the final threesome, Jane Doe said, “I remember being totally disgusted at the situation, and I felt very tired and intoxicated. I would say that my level of overall intoxication was about a 8 out of 10 level of intoxicated. I would say that it was the most intoxicated I’ve ever been in my life. I felt like I was unable to make any decision because of how intoxicated I was,” the statement said.

“To me, that felt like coercion,” she wrote in the statement. “Also I felt like due to my intoxication, they should have known how intoxicated I was based on how I was slurring my words.”

She recalled being so “extremely tired” she simply uttered, “Sure” when a group of men asked to snort ketamine off of her body, according to her statement. “[The] group of men all started pouring various things all over my body. I couldn’t tell what they were pouring on me, as I had my face covered with my hands.”

Jane Doe said she slept until 10 a.m. and was driven home by the same Chi Phi member who had originally invited her to the house and who she said had participated in the sexual acts.

By the time she woke up that Sunday afternoon, “I was made aware that what had happened to me at Chi Phi was becoming public knowledge,” she wrote in the statement. “It was made clear to me by several friends that the members of Chi Phi were bragging about having an ‘eightsome’ with me. Some rumors said it was ten people, but nonetheless, it was now obvious that everyone knew it was me that this had happened to.”

In the civil lawsuit, filed earlier this month, the woman alleged that she was drugged, assaulted and gang raped by seven former and current members of the Chi Phi fraternity at Cornell. The lawsuit has drawn outrage and calls for an outside investigation into the matter.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday called for an outside investigation into Cornell University’s campus culture and its response to allegations by the student. Cornell’s Chi Phi chapter was barred from campus after the alleged Oct. 19, 2024, incident, though none of the individuals allegedly involved faced criminal charges, according to the DA.

Cornell University has said the former student’s allegations were investigated by the university’s Office of Civil Rights and the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards under the school’s Title IX policies.

On its website, the university said the investigation was conducted over several months and included hearings before a panel of trained faculty and staff.

“At its conclusion, the hearing panel issued a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions from Cornell,” the university said.

Cornell said it took the reports “very seriously” and conducted a thorough investigation but said: “At the same time, responding to an incident of this seriousness cannot end when an investigation is completed or sanctions are imposed. We have an obligation to ask what more we can learn, what we can do better, and how we can reduce the likelihood that anything like this happens again.”

Attorneys for multiple fraternity brothers named as defendants in the civil lawsuit have denied the allegations in the complaint.

As dengue continues to rise in Florida, some are worried about underreporting of cases

September 30, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As cases of dengue fever continue to rise in Florida, public health specialists are worried the true number of infections may be greater.

For the week ending Sept. 19, at least 190 cases of locally acquired dengue have been confirmed in the state, an increase of 38 cases from the week before, according to data from the Florida Department of Health (DOH).

Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, is reporting the highest number of cases at 170 followed by Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Pasco and Pinellas counties, DOH data shows.

“There’s evidence of local transmission of dengue in several counties in Florida,” Natalie Dean, an associate professor of biostatistics and informatics at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, told ABC News. “Dengue is not endemic to the United States. That means that it doesn’t typically cause local transmission.”

She added, “There can be occasional outbreaks in the U.S. but this one is notable for its size.”

Last week, DOH reported the state’s first death from dengue fever this year but did not provide any details about the patient including name, age, sex or residence.

Three counties — Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas — declared local states of emergency last week. These allow local governments to waive normal procedures, access emergency resources and strengthen efforts to control mosquito populations.

Pinellas County crews have been going door to door and spraying areas with high mosquito presence, according to local ABC News affiliate WFTS.

“I don’t recall a [period] of time when it’s been this high in such a sort of concentrated area before,” Cameron Wolfe, an infectious diseases specialist and a professor of medicine at Duke University School of Medicine, told ABC News.

Wolfe said there may be an underestimate of the true number of cases in Florida. Cases of dengue can be mild, and people may recover on their own or never be tested. Because dengue can resemble a flu-like illness, patients may never suspect the source of their infection.

Additionally, he said that reporting of confirmed cases to either local state departments or the CDC can lag.

“For every case that we know, there’s going to be a bunch that we never find out about,” Wolfe said.

Dean added that people can be infected with dengue multiple times over the course of their life, but it’s usually the second or later infection that is more severe, leading to further underreporting.

“I always think of like the top of an iceberg,” Dean said. “We’re only capturing some of the some of the cases.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told ABC News in a statement on Tuesday that the agency is “closely tracking dengue activity” and the “unprecedented” number of cases in the Tampa area.

The CDC also said they’ve provided $800,000 in emergency funds to help with the response.

“Because the types of mosquitoes that spread dengue, Aedes aegypti, are common throughout many areas of the United States, continued local spread of dengue is possible,” the CDC statement said. “The best way to prevent dengue is to protect yourself from mosquito bites by using EPA-registered insect repellant, wearing loose fitting clothes, and controlling mosquitoes in and around your home, such as dumping water.”

Some research has shown that climate change could be expanding the geographic range and severity of dengue fever.

Rising global temperature coupled with more rainfall and humidity — leading to standing water pools that serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes — could increase the number of cases.

“Global warming and climate change, in fact, leave places like Florida more wet and more capable of housing these mosquito vectors, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a little more of a perpetual thing,” Wolfe said.

ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.

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