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2 hikers rescued by helicopter from remote beach after rising tides cut off exit route

August 5, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Two hikers were rescued by helicopter after becoming stranded on a remote beach in California after rising tides cut off their exit route, police said.

The Marin County Fire Department received a call on Saturday to assist with two stranded hikers who became trapped on the beach near Elephant Rock in the Point Reyes National Seashore, according to a statement from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday. The statement said that rising tides cut off the hiker’s exit route and left them with no safe escape by land or by sea.

Authorities deployed a helicopter to assist in a long-line rescue operation and the vehicle was configured with a 100-foot-long rope before arriving at the scene and securing each hiker into “hot seat” rescue devices designed for aerial extraction.

Henry-1 executed a long line rescue operation. Henry-1 was configured with a 100-ft long line. The Henry-1 Tactical Flight Officer/EMT was inserted to the beach, where they secured each hiker into “hot seat” rescue devices for aerial extraction.

“Both of the hikers were extracted together and delivered to Marin County Fire Department personnel staged nearby,” police said.

Video of the rescue shows authorities descending toward the rocky coastline with crashing waves as the rescuer secures both hikers before the helicopter lifts them into the air and takes them to safety.

No injuries were reported during the incident.

“Thanks to the seamless teamwork between Henry-1 and Marin County Fire, both hikers were safely rescued with no injuries reported,” authorities said. “A great example of multi-agency coordination and skilled execution.”

Grand jury transcripts in Ghislaine Maxwell case contain nothing new, DOJ filing says

August 5, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Much of what the Justice Department wants a federal judge to unseal from the Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury investigation is already known and, at least so far, the attorney general is seeking to unseal nothing else, according to a new court filing Tuesday.

The Justice Department turned over a version of the Maxwell grand jury transcripts that identifies which information is not already publicly known. That annotated version shows that “much of the information provided during the course of the grand jury testimony — with the exception of the identities of certain victims and witnesses — was made publicly available at trial or has otherwise been publicly reported through the public statements of victims and witnesses,” the filing said.

The Justice Department is asking two federal judges in New York to unseal the grand jury transcripts in the Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein cases. It is not asking the judges to unseal the grand jury exhibits, though the attorney general asked for several more days to consider “its position with respect to unsealing of the grand jury exhibits,” the filing said.

The Epstein grand jury met twice on June 18, 2019, and July 2, 2019, before he was indicted on charges accusing him of sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of minor girls.

The Maxwell grand jury met on June 29, 2020, July 8, 2020, and March 29, 2021, before she was indicted on charges she conspired with Epstein to entice minors to travel so they could engage in illegal sex acts.

Maxwell was convicted and is serving a 20-year prison sentence at an all-female federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, where she was recently moved from a minimum security prison in Tallahassee, Florida.

The Justice Department said it has provided notice of the unsealing motions to all but one of the victims who are referenced in the grand jury transcripts. Federal prosecutors have been unable to contact that remaining victim.

“With respect to victims who are not identified in the grand jury transcripts but who have previously received victim notifications in the Maxwell and Epstein matters, the Government will over the coming days alert those victims to the fact of the unsealing motions,” the filing said.

On Monday, the court placed on the docket letters from anonymous purported Epstein victims criticizing the Trump administration’s approach.

8 die from hunger, including child, in Gaza over past day, health ministry says

August 5, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(CAIRO) — Hospitals across the Gaza Strip recorded eight deaths — a child among them — “due to famine and malnutrition” over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Tuesday.

At least 188 Palestinians, including 94 children, have died from hunger in Gaza since the ongoing war began, according to the health ministry.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs denied bail while awaiting sentencing

August 5, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A federal judge in New York declined on Monday to grant Sean “Diddy” Combs bail, finding no “exceptional reasons” to release him prior to his October sentencing.

Combs was convicted of transportation to engage in prostitution, which the judge said mandates incarceration. His sentencing is set for Oct. 3.

Judge Arun Subramanian said Combs remains a risk of flight and a danger to the community, pointing to the violence exhibited on 2016 hotel surveillance footage that shows him kicking and dragging Cassie Ventura.

Defense attorneys said Combs transported male escorts not for profit or under duress but to join his “swingers lifestyle,” arguing those unique circumstances warranted release. The judge said that argument “might have traction” in a different case but not one that included evidence of violence, coercion or subjugation in connection with the prostitution.

“The record here contains evidence of all three,” Subramanian said.

“While Combs may contend at sentencing that this evidence should be discounted and that what happened was nothing more than a case of willing ‘swingers’ utilizing the voluntary services of escorts for their mutual pleasure, the Government takes the opposite view: that Cassie Ventura and Jane were beaten, coerced, threatened, lied to, and victimized by Combs as part of their participation in these events,” the opinion said. Combs also argued for release on bail because of the squalor and danger at the Metropolitan Detention Center. But the judge said jail staff “has been able to keep him safe,” even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate, according to the opinion. The judge’s order did not elaborate on the nature of the threat or what jail staff did to mitigate it.

Combs has been incarcerated at the federal jail in Brooklyn for 11 months.

Following an eight-week federal trial, a jury convicted Combs last month of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted him of more serious sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges.

Subramanian denied him bail following the verdict, citing then as well the violence that was “starkly depicted” in the 2016 hotel security footage.

Maui firefighters battle brush fire in Ka’anapali

August 5, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES) — Firefighters in Maui are battling a brush fire burning above Kaanapali, Hawaii, on Monday.

The fire is near the old Sugar Cane Train warehouse, the Maui Emergency Management Agency said.

Both lanes of Honoapiʻilani Highway between Puʻukoliʻi Road and Lower Honoapiʻilani Highway have been shut down amid firefighting efforts, according to the agency.

The Maui County Fire Department said in an update on X that the fire “is slowly being contained.”

Officials asked motorists to avoid the area. “Smoke continues to impact the highway, necessitating the continued road closure,” the department said.

The blaze is just a couple of miles north of where the devastating Lahaina wildfires occurred nearly two years ago.

The fires, which became the fifth deadliest in U.S. history, left over 100 people dead, destroyed thousands of structures and parched the local landscape.

Suspect in Tennessee quadruple killing spotted on home security camera: Police

August 5, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(DYER COUNTY, Tenn.) — A 28-year-old man being sought in the homicides of four people in Tennessee has been captured on a home security camera, police said Monday, as the search for the suspect continued.

Austin Robert Drummond was seen late Sunday night in Jackson, Tennessee, according to local police. The sighting was captured on a citizen’s camera system on the 700 block of Pipkin Road, police said.

The suspect is believed to still be in the area, the Jackson Police Department said while warning people to “remain vigilant” and “exercise extra caution.”

The primary suspect, Austin Robert Drummond, is considered armed and dangerous following the killings of 38-year-old Cortney Rose, Rose’s children, 20-year-old Adrianna Williams and 15-year-old Braydon Williams, and Adrianna Williams’ boyfriend, 21-year-old James “Michael” Wilson, according to authorities and family. The victims were killed on Tuesday and found along a road in Lake County, in northwest Tennessee, authorities said.

The same day, Wilson and Williams’ baby was left in a car seat in a “random individual’s front yard” in nearby Dyer County, according to the Dyer County Sheriff’s Office.

A motive for the killings remains under investigation.

Drummond is wanted on four counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated kidnapping, four counts of felon in possession of a firearm and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).

A total reward of up to $30,000 has been offered for information leading to Drummond’s arrest.

Amid the search, two additional individuals have been arrested on charges linked to the killings, authorities said.

Dyer County, Tennessee, District Attorney Danny Goodman said Dearrah Sanders and Brandon Powell were the latest suspects arrested in connection with the quadruple killing that included three victims from the same family. Goodman made the announcement at the arraignment on Monday of Tanaka Brown, who is charged with being an accessory to the killings after the fact and tampering with evidence.

Sanders is also charged with being an accessory after the fact, while Powell is charged with possession of schedule six drugs and criminal conspiracy, Goodman said. Also arrested in the homicide case was Giovante Thomas, who has been charged with being an accessory after the fact, authorities said.

‘Vote him out!’: Town hall erupts in anger at Nebraska GOP congressman over Trump megabill, policies

August 5, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LINCOLN, Neb.) — House Republican Rep. Mike Flood faced what appeared to be a hostile crowd during a rowdy town hall on Monday night in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The crowd erupted within just minutes of the start of the forum, shouting and heckling at the congressman as he touted President Donald Trump’s massive policy and tax bill that was signed into law in July.

Flood said there were about 750 members in the audience at Kimball Hall.

“I know this is probably going to be met with some resistance … I want the opportunity to tell you and talk to you about health care in the bill we just passed. I want to go right into this bill, because I know this is something a lot of people have questions about. And quite frankly, from where I sit, there’s been a lot of misinformation out there about the bill,” Flood told the crowd, which received loud boos from the audience.

He tried to walk the audience through key health care provisions of the megabill but was continuously drowned out by the raucous crowd.

“The only way we’re going to get through tonight is if I get a chance to tell you why I voted, because ultimately I represent you, and you will have your say,” he said.

The megabill’s impact on Medicaid was a main topic brought up at the town hall, which angered the audience.

“So, here’s a question. Do you think that people who are 28 years old that can work and refuse to work, should get free health care?” Flood asked, which received an unfriendly response from the crowd. “I don’t think that a majority of Nebraskans agree with you.”

The congressman argued that while Medicaid benefits were not cut, the changes to the program don’t “involve anybody that’s disabled, that is of senior age and unable to work, anybody that is pregnant or the vulnerable.”

When asked by an audience member how the congressman can justify taking away health care from Nebraskans, Flood brushed off the concern.

“We have a state where our infrastructure is going to be supported, is going to be funded, and is going to be available for the people that need it. If you are able to work, and you’re 28 years old and you choose not to work, you don’t get free health care in America. If you are in this country illegally, you do not get free health care in America.”

Audience members repeatedly shouted, “Tax the Rich! Tax the Rich! Tax the Rich!” as Rep. Flood discussed tax provisions of the megabill like no tax on tips and no tax on overtime.

The congressman pushed back, saying, “If we adopted the Democrats’ plan in the last Congress to tax the rich, it would generate $50 billion, which does not take us close to where we’re going. And it cuts job creation. It cuts business creation. It cuts the ability for employers to invest in their businesses.”

“This bill is a middle-class tax cut,” Rep. Flood said at one point, which received strong pushback and boos from the audience.

“I read the bill,” the congressman added when pressed by a constituent. “Is every bill perfect? No. But I supported this bill.”

Rep. Flood took several questions on a wide range of topics but the audience was remained not satisfied, yelling, “vote him out!” as the hour-and-a-half event came to a close.

Gifford Fire burns over 72,000 acres in California

August 5, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(SOLVANG, Calif) — Over 1,000 firefighters continue to battle a wildfire in California that has over 72,000 acres, prompted evacuation orders and caused three injuries, according to officials.

The Gifford Fire, which began on Friday afternoon, is situated within the Los Padres National Forest in Solvang, California, impacting those within Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, officials said. As of Monday, the fire has engulfed 72,460 acres and is only 3% contained, according to Cal Fire.

While the flames have been centered around thick brush and rugged terrain, officials said 460 structures are threatened by this wildfire.

On Sunday, officials said the fire “showed significant growth as it aligned with topographical features, especially in grass-dominated areas.”

Evacuation orders and warnings are in effect for areas in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, and Highway 166 has been closed due to flames burning on both sides of the road, officials said.

Three people have been injured by the wildfire, including one civilian who was hospitalized for burn injuries and two contractor employees who were injured in a UTV rollover incident, officials said on Saturday.

An air quality alert in Cuyama, California, and an air quality watch for the rest of Santa Barbara County will remain in effect “until conditions improve,” the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District said on Saturday.

“If you see or smell smoke in the air, be cautious and use common sense to protect your and your family’s health. Everyone, especially people with heart or lung conditions, older adults, pregnant women and children, should limit time spent outdoors and avoid outdoor exercise when high concentrations of smoke and particles are in the air,” the air pollution control district said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, according to Cal Fire.

The fire is located west of the Madre Fire, which burned over 80,000 acres and was fully contained on July 26, officials said.

Two more fires erupted in Southern California on Monday afternoon.

The Rosa Fire in Riverside County started just after noon local time and has burned over 1,200 acres.

In San Bernardino County, the Gold Fire has spread 348 acres with 0% containment.

2 dead and at least 58 sick from growing Legionnaires’ disease cluster in New York City

August 5, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Two people have died and at least 58 people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease in a cluster that broke out in the Harlem area of New York City last week, officials said on Monday.

The New York City Health Department had reported on Thursday that one person had died and 22 people were sick in the cluster.

“People living or working in the area with flu-like symptoms, such as cough, fever, chills, muscle aches, or difficulty breathing should contact a health care provider immediately,” the department said in a statement on Monday. “It is especially important for people at higher risk — including those ages 50 and older, cigarette smokers, and people with chronic lung disease or compromised immune systems — to get care if they have symptoms.”

Legionnaires’ disease is a type of pneumonia that is caused by the bacteria Legionella, which grows in warm water, health officials said, and people can get Legionnaires’ disease by breathing in water vapor that contains Legionella bacteria.

“Anyone in these zip codes with flu-like symptoms should contact a health care provider as soon as possible,” said Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse. “Legionnaires’ disease can be effectively treated if diagnosed early, but New Yorkers at higher risk, like adults aged 50 and older and those who smoke or have chronic lung conditions, should be especially mindful of their symptoms and seek care as soon as symptoms begin.”

Legionnaires’ disease can be caused by plumbing systems where conditions are favorable for Legionella growth, such as cooling towers, whirlpool spas, hot tubs, humidifiers, hot water tanks and evaporative condensers of large air-conditioning systems, health officials said.

People can get Legionnaires’ disease by breathing in water vapor that contains Legionella bacteria, though officials reminded people that the disease cannot be transmitted from person to person and can be treated with antibiotics.

The respiratory disease takes its name from an outbreak at the Pennsylvania American Legion convention held at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia in July 1976 and the bacterium believed to be responsible is found in soil and grows in water, such as air-conditioning ducts, storage tanks and rivers.

No details about the two people who died have been released by officials as of Tuesday.

Denmark zoo asks for people to donate their pets to feed its predators

August 5, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — A Denmark zoo is asking the public to donate their pets — particularly chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs — so that they can feed them to the zoo’s predators.

“In zoos we have a responsibility to imitate the natural food chain of the animals — in terms of both animal welfare and professional integrity,” the Aalborg Zoo said in a statement last Thursday.

The request created a backlash online with many disagreeing with the practice, but the zoo said the purpose of the program is to make sure “nothing goes to waste — and [to] ensure natural behavior, nutrition and well-being of our predators,” according to the zoo’s website.

The zoo also said they would accept larger animals, such as horses, which they euthanize and slaughter for food, though they said that the zoo’s needs vary throughout the year and there might be a waiting list.

For horses, Aalborg Zoo receives the horse as a donation and the owner of the horse can obtain a tax deduction for the value of the horse, according to the zoo’s website.

The zoo also said they will “accept chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., but no more than four at a time.”

ABC News has reached out to Aalborg Zoo for comment.

The practice is not unheard of in Denmark and, in 2014, the Copenhagen Zoo garnered attention on social media when it killed a healthy giraffe and fed it to their predators.

Four lions, including two cubs, were also euthanized several weeks later to make room for a new male lion in the Danish zoo. The lions were euthanized for not being able to defend themselves against him, zoo officials said at the time.

“If you have an animal that has to leave here for various reasons, feel free to donate it to us,” the zoo said. “The animals are gently euthanized by trained staff and are afterwards used as fodder.”

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