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First female player on an Atlantic League baseball team shares her grand-slam mindset

March 24, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Kelsie Whitmore, 24, considers herself a proud daughter, sister, competitor, athlete and friend. If that wasn’t enough, she just so happens to be the first woman to ever start and pitch for an Atlantic League baseball team, taking the pitcher’s mound for the Staten Island FerryHawks’ 2022 season.

“You know those things in life that you can’t explain and you just know it’s your truth? That’s how playing baseball has always been to me,” Whitmore told ABC News’ Good Morning America.

“I grew up playing all sports, not only baseball. I remember playing catch in the front yard with my younger brother and dad. I played flag football, you name it — I played it,” she continued. “My parents really always encouraged us to be outside and to stay active.”

Whitmore said that growing up, she saw no boundaries between herself and other teammates.

“I just saw whoever was in front of me as a competitor,” she said. “Male or female, ethnicity, color — that didn’t matter.”

“My dad instilled in me the mentality to just suck it up and keep going,” she added. “So that’s exactly what I did.”

Whitmore has been knocking down doors in the male-dominated baseball world since her teenage years: She was the only female player to start for her varsity baseball team at Temecula Valley High School in Southern California.

“You must have short-term goals to be able to reach long-term goals. Many people are so focused on the outcome over the process. I choose the process over the outcome,” she said. “The process is what builds you.”

Though other women have coached and made history in baseball, Whitmore said that much of her journey has left her craving the non-existent camaraderie between her and other female players her age.

“It can be overwhelming at times — so that’s when I stick to the people that know who I really am and want the best for me,” she said.

“No matter how long I have been playing this game, when I step out on that field as the only female, there are always be little nerves — you know all eyes are on you,” Whitmore said. “That’s when I focus on breathing.”

“I can’t control what someone is going to think of me,” she added, “but I can control my heartbeat, how hard I am going to work, how I treat others and the positive self-talk that I feed myself.”

Whitmore urged other women that may have similar dreams as hers to put one foot in front of the other and run with them.

“Big dreams require big sacrifices,” she said.

When asked about what advice she would share with young athletes — or anyone — with big goals, Whitmore shared a glimpse into her winning mentality.

“Before anything that you are going to do in life, learn to find yourself. Look in the mirror and continue to ask yourself difficult questions. Once you have that, you can fearlessly go for anything you want in life, and for me … that’s baseball,” she said.

Another attack on an American base in Syria Friday after US retaliatory airstrikes on Iranian-backed groups

March 24, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Two U.S. officials told ABC News that there was another attack on a U.S. base in eastern Syria Friday, following a drone strike on Thursday, but that no damage or injuries resulted from the most recent attack.

The officials said the Friday attack was from indirect fire and one of the officials confirmed it was a rocket attack.

The U.S. military conducted retaliatory airstrikes in eastern Syria on Thursday against Iranian-backed groups after a drone strike targeting a U.S. base in the region killed a U.S. contractor and injured six others, including five U.S. service members, the Pentagon said.

“Earlier today, a U.S. contractor was killed and five U.S. service members and one additional U.S. contractor were wounded after a one-way unmanned aerial vehicle struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at approximately 1:38 p.m. local time,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

Two of the wounded service members were treated on site, while the other four Americans were medically evacuated to Coalition medical facilities in Iraq, officials said. A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that both contractors were American.

U.S. intelligence assessed that the one-way attack drone that struck the base on Thursday was Iranian in origin, according to the statement. Iran has used such drones in the past in attacks on Saudi Arabia and in Yemen, but this drone technology has become more noticeable after it provided hundreds of Shahed drones to Russia that have been used in attacks against Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure targets.

“At the direction of President [Joe] Biden, I authorized U.S. Central Command forces to conduct precision airstrikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC),” Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in the statement, issued late Thursday.

“The airstrikes were conducted in response to today’s attack, as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC,” he added.

A U.S. official told ABC News that the airstrikes were carried out by U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter aircraft as part of a response approved by President Joe Biden earlier on Thursday.

Biden was enroute to Ottawa, Canada, when he approved the airstrikes presented by the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community as response options to the drone attack, White House spokesman John Kirby said during an appearance on CNN.

“He made the decision very, very shortly in that discussion to authorize the strikes against these particular targets,” Kirby said. “We’re going to work to protect our people and our facilities as best we can. It’s a dangerous environment.”

“We are not seeking a conflict with Iran,” said Kirby. “We’ve been very clear with the Iranians and with our partners about how serious the mission that we’re doing in Syria is and how we’re going to protect that mission.”

“Iran should not be involved in supporting these attacks on our facilities or on our people, we’ve made that very very clear,” said Kirby.

The U.S. has about 900 troops in eastern Syria providing assistance to Syrian Kurdish forces in preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State.

In recent months, some of the bases have been the target of drone attacks that had, in most instances, not led to injuries or physical damage. Iranian-backed groups in Syria are believed to have been responsible for these attacks.

“These precision strikes are intended to protect and defend U.S. personnel. The United States took proportionate and deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize casualties,” the Pentagon statement read.

“As President Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing,” Austin said. “No group will strike our troops with impunity.”

“Our thoughts are with the family and colleagues of the contractor who was killed and with those who were wounded in the attack earlier today,” the defense secretary added.

In a statement, U.S. Central Command leader Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla said, in part, that the U.S. “will always take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing. We are postured for scalable options in the face of any additional Iranian attacks.”

“Our troops remain in Syria to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS, which benefits the security and stability of not only Syria, but the entire region,” he added.

During Thursday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing focused on the Middle East and Africa, Kurilla was asked by Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon about the frequency of Iranian proxy attacks on U.S. forces.

There have been 78 such attacks since the beginning of 2021, according to Kurilla.

“It is periodic. We see periods where they will do more,” he said

“So what Iran does to hide its hand is they use Iranian proxies — that’s under UAVs or rockets — to be able to attack our forces in Iraq or Syria,” Kurilla added.

ABC News analyst Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East and retired CIA officer, said the U.S. “must strike back at the Iranian forces in Syria responsible for these attacks to such an extent that they know the consequences of killing and injuring Americans will not be worth the costs.”

Neil Young blasts Ticketmaster: “Concert touring is broken”

March 24, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Neil Young is the latest artist to blast Ticketmaster for their business practices.

In a post on his archives website titled “CONCERT TOURING IS BROKEN,” Young blasts the ticket-selling service for its 30% ticket fees. He shared an article about The Cure’s recent attempt to keep ticket prices down and how they were able to get Ticketmaster to refund fans a portion of its “unduly high” fees.

“It’s over,” Young writes. “The old days are gone.”

Young notes that fans have written to him complaining about the $3,000 price tag for tickets to an upcoming benefit he’s a part of, but he writes, “That money does not go to me or the benefit.”

He adds, “Artists have to worry about ripped off fans blaming them for Ticketmaster add-ons and scalpers.”

He ends the post by sharing, “CONCERT TOURS are no longer fun. CONCERT TOURS not what they were.”

That benefit Young is talking about is Stephen Stills’ Light Up the Blues charity show, which raises money for Autism Speaks. The show, which will be Young’s first concert appearance since September 2019, is happening April 22 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

‘John Wick’, ranked: Fans sound off on the “#1 Action Film Franchise”

March 24, 2023 by WDNY Radio

This weekend, John Wick: Chapter 4 explodes into theaters, and to that end, the website Ranker polled its users about what they thought of Keanu Reeves‘ hitman movies.

Turns out, they love them. A lot.

The Keanu Reeves film series appears on countless fan surveys on the site, which lets its 30 million monthly visitors vote up or down on various topics.

For example, the John Wick movies ranked #1 on Ranker’s list of the Greatest Action Film Franchises, ahead of Tom Cruise‘s Mission: Impossible movies (#2), the Jason Bourne collection (#3) and even James Bond’s decades of films (#4).

Chapter 4 is ranked #3 on the Most Anticipated Sequels And Reboots We Can’t Wait To See — behind only Deadpool at #2 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — and it’s #5 on its list of the website’s Most Anticipated Movies of 2023.

What’s more, 2014’s original John Wick ranked #11 on the list of the Greatest Action Movies of All Time, ahead of classics like Die Hard (#15) and Top Gun (#22).

Keanu’s black-suited assassin also ranked #2 on The Manliest Action Movie Heroes Of All Time list, behind only Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s “Dutch” in 1987’s Predator.

Perhaps its no surprise then that John Wick is ranked #33 on the Best Fictional Characters You’d Leave Your Man For poll, putting the dog lover with the bulletproof suit ahead of Harrison Ford‘s Indiana Jones and John Krasinski‘s Office romantic Jim Halpert.

Woman’s simple five-step method to save $1,000 a month on groceries

March 24, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Woman’s simple five-step method to save ,000 a month on groceries

(NEW YORK) — One woman who said her family was in debt and one step away from financial disaster made a change in her spending at the grocery store that’s paying off big.

Becky Guiles, known as the “Freebie Lady” on social media, shared her money-saving method with ABC News’ Good Morning America, which she said helped her save $1,000 a month on her grocery bills.

“Since we’ve been doing this, we save about $1,000 a month, which equals out to about $12,000 in [the] entire year,” she said.

The mother of two told GMA she uses five easy steps, which she said can be remembered using the acronym “B.O.R.E.S.”: B stands for “budget,” O stands for “organized,” R is for “reuse,” E is for “eliminating waste,” and S stands for “simplify.”

“These are just basic principles that anybody can do, no matter where you are in life or what your family situation is like,” Guiles said. “B.O.R.E.S. is the method that I have used to cut our groceries down from $1,200 to $1,400 a month to only $400 a month.”

Guiles recommended putting aside $100 a month for food per person in the household.

“I go into my pantry and I take out everything that is expired or we’re not going to eat,” she said of the second letter in the acronym to get organized. “And that’ll just kind of give you a clear plate for what you have and what you need to get.”

She said that you can repurpose — or “reuse” — food, by turning things like chip crumbs into breading, stale bread into croutons and vegetable scraps into vegetable broth.

For her next letter of advice, “E,” Guiles said, “We try to eliminate waste as much as possible.”

“Every time you throw food away, you’re actually throwing money away,” she continued. “Once you start thinking about food like that, it totally changes your mindset.”

The final letter stands for simplify and Guiles suggested “the more you do it, the more you are going to save.”

Dangerous tornado outbreak heads to the South: Latest forecast

March 24, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A dangerous tornado outbreak is headed to the South, where intense, long-track tornadoes reaching EF-3 or higher are possible Friday afternoon and evening.

Damaging winds and large hail are also a threat all the way to Tennessee and Indiana, as is flash flooding, which could stretch from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania.

The storms will start up in eastern Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas Friday afternoon and will strengthen in the evening along the Mississippi River from Louisiana to Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee.

To the north, along the Ohio River Valley, Friday thunderstorms could spark several inches of rain and flash flooding.

The same storm system will bring snow from Iowa to Michigan on Saturday morning.

This storm will then move into the Northeast on Saturday, bringing rainy, windy and chilly conditions.

Coyote injures two toddlers in separate attacks in Scottsdale: Officials

March 24, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) — Arizona officials are searching for a large coyote who they say injured two toddlers in separate attacks in Scottsdale this week.

Both toddlers were treated for minor injuries and released following the incidents on Saturday and Wednesday, according to Arizona’s Game and Fish Department.

“The coyote shows little fear of people and may have been illegally fed in the past,” the department said in a statement on Thursday. “Parents of toddlers in the area should keep their children close when outdoors and be vigilant.”

The Game and Fish Department said it’s patrolling the area with help from Scottsdale police.

The department asks anyone who spots a coyote to immediately call 623-236-7201.

Dunkin’ adds breakfast tacos to morning menu in a sea of savory fast food competition

March 24, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — From the iconic Egg McMuffin at McDonald’s to French Toast Sticks at Wendy’s, the competition among fast food chains to serve Americans breakfast has registered another entry.

Dunkin’ launched its latest menu offering, Breakfast Tacos, on Wednesday to capitalize on consumers’ love of on-the-go options to start the day.

The tacos are made with a flour tortilla, scrambled eggs, melted sharp white cheddar cheese, fire-roasted corn and a drizzle of lime crema. Customers can enjoy the tacos as they come or order them topped with crumbled bacon.

The quick service coffee and doughnut chain noted in a press release that the tacos have “spring-forward ingredients” including the fire-roasted corn, though it wasn’t clear whether those ingredients are fresh, frozen or canned. According to the Seasonal Food Guide, corn is at its peak from May through September, so whatever the case, Dunkin’ seems to be getting a head start.

Jill McVicar Nelson, Dunkin’s chief marketing officer, said in a statement that the culinary team developed the tacos with “the vibrancy of Spring in mind” and hailed them as “undoubtedly one of the tastiest savory items we’ve launched.”

The Massachusetts-based chain’s tacos differ in ingredients and flavors from that of the beloved Tex-Mex breakfast item.

Breakfast tacos have a long history as a beloved favorite across Texas, from San Antonio to Austin, where chains like Veracruz All Natural and Torchy’s offer a variety of fresh, locally made tortillas filled with flavorful fillings, such as the classic Migas taco — made with eggs, tortilla chips, tomatoes, onion and peppers or chiles, cheese and, most times, avocado.

Dunkin’s new offering leans more towards Southwestern flavors, treating the corn like a traditional Mexican street food, esquites, which are charred kernels with white cheese, spices, mayonnaise and lime.

With its new Breakfast Tacos, Dunkin’ is going up against the likes of Taco Bell, which offers an array of breakfast burritos and breakfast quesadillas, McDonald’s, which offers sausage breakfast burritos and more traditional breakfast sandwiches, Burger King’s eggnormous burrito, Carl’s Jr.’s Big Country Breakfast Burrito and even more from regional chains.

The new menu item is slated to be served any time of day as breakfast, a midday snack or late night bite and can be purchased for $2.59 without bacon or $2.99 with the crispy crumbled bacon topping.

Does the TikTok trend of face taping to stop wrinkles work? A doctor weighs in

March 24, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Simply search the hashtag #facetaping on social media and you’ll get tens of thousands of posts about this beauty trend that promises to help prevent wrinkles and smooth fine lines.

Face taping, as the trend is known, involves placing tape on the areas of the face where a person wants to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines, like the forehead and cheeks.

The type of tape people use includes everything from regular clear, sticky tape to the kinesiology tape normally used to treat injuries to newer brands of tape marketed just for face taping.

To see whether this viral trend is one that is safe to try at home, ABC News’ Good Morning America spoke with Dr. Jennifer Ashton, a board-certified OB-GYN and ABC News’ chief medical correspondent.

Here are her answers on whether face taping is safe and, importantly, whether it actually works:

1. Does face taping have any real, physical benefits?

Possibly, according to Ashton, but any benefit would be temporary.

“Very superficially and very temporarily, it can smooth out those superficial wrinkles,” Ashton said. “It depends on the age of the person, how much sun damage there is, how much elasticity or collagen there is in their skin, how much volume they’ve lost with age. All of those things can contribute to the appearance of wrinkles.”

Ashton emphasized that a person’s wrinkles could return within “minutes” of face taping.

“It’s possible that when you remove the tape, those wrinkles can re-form in minutes to hours,” she said. “So it’s going to be a very transient effect.”

2. Does face taping help deep wrinkles?

No, said Ashton.

“You have to ask yourself whether you’re dealing with fine wrinkles and lines or deep wrinkles,” Ashton said. “Taping your face at night for several hours is very unlikely to do anything significant for deeper wrinkles.”

According to the Cleveland Clinic, fine lines are the first stage of wrinkles. They look like small creases on the skin and are closer to the skin’s surface.

Fine lines are most likely to be in places where you make repetitive movements, like around your eyes and mouth. As a person ages, those fine lines become wrinkles.

Wrinkles, according to the Cleveland Clinic, are “deeper creases” within the skin and can form anywhere on the body, not just the face.

3. Is there a risk to trying face taping?

Ashton said the main risks associated with face typing would be a reaction to the type of tape that is used, which would vary person to person.

A person could be allergic to a specific type of tape, according to Ashton, who recommends trying a small patch of skin first.

“We see all the time allergic reactions to tape on the skin in surgery,” Ashton said. “I would suggest if you’re going to try this, try it on a part of your body that the whole world doesn’t see in case you have an allergic reaction.”

Ashton said caution also needs to be taken when a person removes tape so that it doesn’t cause a burn.

“In some cases there can be tape burns,” Ashton said. “You can actually remove the superficial level of the epidermis, and obviously that would be a big problem.”

4. What are other options for reducing fine lines and wrinkles?

Ashton said injections like Botox and fillers performed by a certified professional are the “gold standard” when it comes to the prevention or improvement of wrinkles.

“Obviously there’s cost involved and that result is also temporary,” she said of injections, which can cost hundreds of dollars per session. “It’s just that instead of lasting a few hours, [injections] last a couple of months — three to four months in some cases, even six months.”

The American Academy of Dermatology notes that lifestyle changes can make a difference when it comes to wrinkles and fine lines.

Among the group’s recommendations are to wear sunscreen every day, moisturize the skin, avoid getting a tan from the sun or a tanning bed, testing facial products before using and using products as directed.

Queen + Adam Lambert announce new North American Rhapsody Tour dates

March 24, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Queen + Adam Lambert are bringing their Rhapsody Tour back to North America. The tour first kicked off in North America in 2019, and now they’ve expanded and updated it for a second leg.

“Our last tour featured our most ambitious production ever,” guitarist Brian May shares. “So we decided to rip it apart and get even more ambitious.”

“Watch out world.” Lambert adds. “I can’t wait to tour North America one more time with the Rhapsody tour alongside the two unbelievably talented legends that are Brian May and Roger Taylor.”

The Rhapsody Tour kicks off October 4 in Baltimore, Maryland, hitting such cities as Toronto, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, Denver and more, and wraps November 11 in Los Angeles, California. You can find a complete list of tour dates at queenonline.com.

Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday, March 31 at 10 a.m. local time. In an attempt to keep the tickets away from scalpers, the band announced that all tickets will be non-transferrable and can only be resold through Ticketmaster’s Face Value Exchange. That’s not the case for the shows in New York, Illinois and Colorado, because of laws in those states that prohibit the artist from restricting transfers.

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