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George Santos denies taking $3,000 intended for disabled veteran’s dying dog

January 19, 2023 by WDNY Radio

George Santos denies taking ,000 intended for disabled veteran’s dying dog

(NEW YORK) — Rep. George Santos this week denied a Navy veteran’s claim that he allegedly ran a fundraiser for the veteran’s ill dog in 2016 — and then never shared the thousands raised.

Santos, R-N.Y., has faced mounting criticism and calls to resign, including from some in his party, over a string of lies and exaggerations about his background. He has admitted to “embellishing” some details, but has said he will not step down, suggesting he’ll defer to his constituents to either reelect him or vote him out in the next election.

Navy veteran Richard Osthoff added to the string of accusations against Santos when he told Patch, in a story published Tuesday night, that Santos strung him along rather than provide the money for his dog’s care that was raised via an online fundraiser.

Osthoff is disabled and was discharged from the Navy in 2002, according to Patch. He said that he was living out of a tent and his service dog, Sapphire, was sick with a tumor in 2016 when he was referred to Friends of Pets United, which he believed was a pet charity that Santos was running at the time, when Santos was going by the name Anthony Devolder.

The IRS’ online records do not currently list a charity under that name.

Santos opened a fundraiser for Sapphire on GoFundMe and raised $3,000 but later became uncooperative and unresponsive and didn’t provide the money to treat Sapphire, Osthoff alleged to Patch.

Osthoff never managed to get Sapphire the proper treatment, he said, and she died in January 2017.

According to Patch, a screenshot of a November 2016 post from Osthoff’s Facebook page shows him writing that “we were scammed by Anthony Devolder … and Friends of Pets United.”

Patch reported that it was given texts and Facebook screenshots corroborating Osthoff’s account but could not find an archived version of the since-deleted GoFundMe page that he described.

The online news outlet Semafor found an April 2016 tweet from another user apparently referencing a fundraiser for Sapphire by an “Anthony Devolder.”

Osthoff told Patch that Santos told him he “didn’t do things my way” and Santos redirected the money “for other dogs.”

Santos denied Osthoff’s allegations to Semafor, texting a reporter there that it was “fake” and he has “no clue who this is,” in reference to Osthoff.

Texts that Osthoff provided to Patch from “Anthony Devolder” show he was told by Devolder in November 2016: “Sapphire is not a candidate for this surgery [and] the funds are moved to the next animal in need.”

“We will make sure we use of resources [sic] to keep her comfortable!” Osthoff was texted by Devolder, according to what Osthoff shared with Patch.

ABC News has reached out to Santos for comment and has not received a response.

In a statement to ABC News, GoFundMe spokesperson Jalen Drummond said the platform received a “report of an issue with this fundraiser in late 2016.”

“Our trust and safety team sought proof of the delivery of funds from the organizer. The organizer failed to respond, which led to the fundraiser being removed and the email associated with that account prohibited from further use on our platform,” Drummond said. “GoFundMe has a zero tolerance policy for misuse of our platform and cooperates with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing.”

A source confirms it was Santos running the GoFundMe in 2016.

In an interview on Wednesday with ABC’s WABC-TV in New York and other local news, Osthoff recalled the end of Sapphire’s life.

“I grabbed her by the paws. I put my mouth up to her nose and I inhaled her last breath because I wanted her soul inside of my body,” he said.

Osthoff said “of course” he’s still angry over what happened.

“More, just, I’m at a loss. This is the strangest thing that’s ever happened to me,” he said. “I can’t believe that I was so vulnerable that I allowed myself to be used like that. I’m more ashamed, I think, that I let that happen than I am angry.”

When he reached out to Santos after being referred to the charity, he told WABC, “I took his help. I needed it. I needed that dog to survive. And I didn’t have any inkling of idea that it was a scam at first; had no clue.”

Osthoff said Sapphire was a major support for him: “She knew when my moods were changing. She knew when I was depressed … She pressed herself up against me; she would climb on me; she knew something was happening. So I would put all my concentration on her, and whatever was triggering me went to the back of my mind.”

Osthoff said his only interactions with Santos were through phone calls and texts. He said he did not know who Santos really was until he saw him on television a few weeks ago outside the Capitol being chased by reporters.

“I got a sick feeling in my stomach when I saw his face,” Osthoff told WABC.

New Jersey Veterans Network President Michael Boll, a veteran and retired police sergeant, said he tried to help Osthoff and intervene in the situation.

“It really just hurts us so much to know that people are out there taking advantage of veterans that are in need,” Boll told WABC on Wednesday.

Boll also confirmed Osthoff’s service with the Navy, telling WABC he had served on the USS Nimitz.

Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, a senior adviser to advocacy group and PAC VoteVets, said in a statement: “There is not much that’s lower in this world than stealing from a disabled veteran with a terminally ill dog … Santos must be referred to the [House] Ethics Committee and must face an eventual expulsion vote, if he will not step down.”

Santos has previously apologized for some of his fabrications but cast them as more routine resume embellishments. He told The New York Post last month, “I am not a criminal.”

Documents contradict Santos’ claim mom survived 9/11

ABC News on Wednesday also obtained documents showing Santos’ mother was not in New York during the Sept. 11 attacks, as he claims.

The records were first reported by The Forward, a Jewish news outlet, and The Washington Post. They were obtained by genealogist Alex Calzareth, who requested them under the Freedom of Information Act and subsequently provided them to ABC News and other news outlets.

According to the documents from the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services, Santos’ mom, Fatima Devolder, applied in February 2003 for an immigrant visa from the American consulate in Brazil. The form states that she had not been in the United States since June 1999.

However, Santos wrote in a tweet in 2021 that “9/11 claimed my mother’s life…”

His campaign website currently states that his mother “was in her office in the South Tower on September 11, 2001, when the horrific events of that day unfolded. She survived the tragic events on September 11th, but she passed away a few years later when she lost her battle to cancer.”

An online obituary for his mother, reviewed by ABC News, states that she died on Dec. 23, 2016.

Santos’ team did not respond to a further request for comment about the discrepancies over his mother and 9/11.

Arkansas detainee died of starvation and neglect, lawsuit claims

January 19, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Sebastian County jail in Arkansas is facing a lawsuit that accuses officials of letting a detainee die of starvation and neglect while in their care.

According to the complaint, Larry Price Jr., 51, was found by guards lying in a pool of his own urine and contaminated water, unresponsive in August 2021 after having been detained for more than a year. His once 6-foot-2-inch, 185-pound frame emaciated down to 90 pounds, the lawsuit states.

Price died of acute dehydration and malnutrition, according to the Arkansas State Crime Lab.

According to Sebastian County, Price was pronounced dead on Aug. 29, 2021, at approximately 1:35 A.M. In wellness-check documents obtained by ABC News, after Price had died, prison staff marked his log 10 different times with the same seven words, “Well-Being Check Inmate and Cell OK.”

Attorney Hank Balson, who is representing the Price estate in a lawsuit against Sebastian County that was filed Friday, said Price’s death was a failure on nearly every level of judicial process, starting from his detainment to his death.

“This is a jail. Its primary purpose is not to be a mental health facility,” Balson told ABC News. “And, yet, once the government takes somebody into custody, they are required to provide them with the basic necessities of life, food, water, and necessary medical care and mental health care to protect them from harm, to prevent them from deteriorating.”

Price was arrested in Fort Smith, Arkansas, after entering a police department on Aug. 19, 2020, and verbally threatening officers while using his empty hand to resemble a gun, according to the lawsuit.

Price was often homeless, suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, hallucinations, and “a developmental disability that significantly impaired his intellectual and adaptive functioning,” according to his lawyers.

The officers were familiar with Price because he would often enter the police department and act out erratically and he seemed more agitated this time, the lawsuit states. According to the lawsuit, after officers couldn’t calm him down, they arrested him and charged him with terroristic threatening in the first degree.

Price was detained and placed almost immediately in solitary confinement because of his mental state and deteriorated quickly, the lawsuit states.

Price’s family’s said it was difficult to get access to him since the COVID-19 pandemic blocked visitations at the jail. His brother, Rodney Price, lived in California and said the jail wouldn’t help to facilitate communication between the siblings.

“I feel like the Sebastian County jail, and every employee that had contact with him, failed my brother,” Rodney Price said in a statement through Balson. “All it would have taken was one person to sound off. If one person stepped up to the plate, I feel like my brother would be alive today.”

ABC News reached out to Sebastian County jail for a comment but did not receive a statement.

An administrator with the Sebastian County Jail said in a statement Friday it had medical personnel available to treat inmates in need of care and was conducting an internal review of Price’s case, The Washington Post reported.

Turn Key Health Clinics, an independent contractor hired by Sebastian County to care for patients in the jail, and two of its employees were also named as defendants in the lawsuit. A lawyer representing Turn Key Health told ABC News that Turn Key was not contracted by Sebastian County jails to provide mental health evaluations when Price was in custody.

“Sebastian County initially contracted with Turn Key to provide eight hours a week of case management and service as a clinical liaison between Turn Key’s psychiatrist and the local community health providers,” Turn Key said in a statement to ABC News through its lawyer. “Effective January 1, 2020, Sebastian County amended its contract with Turn Key to eliminate the clinical liaison position, and all crisis management and mental health evaluations/assessments were to be contracted by Sebastian County and performed by an independent community mental health provider, not by Turn Key.”

Shooting death of Sinzae Reed, Ohio teen killed by man claiming self-defense, now ruled a homicide

January 19, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — The fatal shooting of a Black teenager by a white man in Columbus, Ohio, who claimed self-defense was officially ruled a homicide in an autopsy report.

According to a police complaint in October, a witness to the shooting saw Krieg Butler, 36, shoot and kill 13-year-old Sinzae Reed outside of an apartment complex on Oct. 12. The witness said Butler exited his truck, fired shots at Sinzae and drove off, the complaint said.

Butler was arrested days after the shooting and charged with murder, but those charges were dropped pending completion of the investigation after prosecutors said Butler claimed self-defense in the shooting during his arraignment in October, according to a statement from the Columbus Police Department.

The Franklin County autopsy report released Tuesday said the teen was shot twice, once in the hand and once in the chest, concluding the manner of death was a homicide.

The county prosecutor’s office told ABC News on Wednesday, “The matter is under internal review and as such no statements will be made at this time.”

The Columbus Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday on the autopsy results.

“In Ohio, the self-defense law changed and the legal part of that is the burden changed,” Channa Lloyd, criminal attorney and managing partner of The Cochran Firm, has said. “Previously, if a shooter said ‘I shot someone in self-defense,’ they had to prove it was self-defense. Now that the law has changed, it changes that burden and shifts it to the prosecution.”

According to Lloyd, the self-defense rule is a byproduct of the Stand Your Ground laws and is controversial because it protects the shooter as opposed to the victim.

“The Krieg Butler case is under review for potential presentation to the grand jury as evidence is gathered and reviewed,” the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office previously said in a statement to ABC News. “Because this is an active case, we cannot comment further at this time.”

Columbus Police said in a statement on Dec. 31, “The investigation continues and the Division will not be providing any more statements on the case. Once the investigation is complete, it will be presented to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office. Any further questions regarding this case should be directed towards them.”

The mother of Sinzae, Megan Reed, told ABC News’ Linsey Davis earlier this month that she is seeking justice for her son and that she herself asked Ohio law enforcement officials to provide answers as to why her son was killed.

“I need justice for my son. My son’s no longer here,” Megan Reed told Davis. “I’m going to continue this war, and I will be his voice until he gets justice.”

Megan Reed said she believes race played a part in the death of her son and that if her son was white, he probably wouldn’t have been killed that day.

“I’m very frustrated because I know if it was the other way around,” she said, “if it was a Black man and my child was white, the Black man would be in jail and my son would have justice.”

Attempts to reach Butler or an attorney for him were unsuccessful.

Megan Reed previously told ABC News a detective on the case called her and asked her why she allowed her son to carry a gun, even though the police report never stated that Sinzae was in possession of a firearm. Reed said she would never allow her son to carry a gun.

Court documents obtained by ABC News show no record that Sinzae had a weapon during the encounter with Butler. Dejuan Sharp, a community activist in Columbus, Ohio, who said he is helping the teen’s mother search for answers regarding the death, said witnesses have told them that her son did not have a weapon during the time of the shooting.

“We have people in the community…we found witnesses that seen it, that said Sinzae didn’t have a gun, that Krieg had the gun,” Sharp said.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she will step down: ‘It’s time’

January 19, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced in an emotional press briefing that she will step down, saying “it’s time.”

Ardern said Thursday she will not be seeking reelection this year and that her term will end by Feb. 7.

“This has been the most fulfilling 5 1/2 years of my life, but it has also had its challenges,” Ardern said, citing crises from the COVID-19 pandemic to the deadliest mass shooting in New Zealand’s history.

“But I’m not leaving because it was hard,” she said. “I am leaving because with such a privilege comes responsibility — the responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead, and also, when you are not.”

Ardern, 42, said she had hoped she would have found a way to prepare for another term over the summer to lead on a “full tank,” but that was not the case.

“I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice,” she said. “It’s that simple.”

Ardern said people may try to determine the “real reason” for her decision, but that this was it.

“I am human, politicians are human,” she said. “We give all that we can for as long as we can. And then it’s time. And for me, it’s time.”

Ardern outlined the next steps for her Labour Party, saying that a caucus vote will be held on Sunday to elect a new leader. If a leader is successfully elected with more than two-thirds of the caucus support, she will issue her resignation “soon after” and a new prime minister will be sworn in.

“If no one is able to garner this level of support within caucus, the leadership contest will go to the wider membership,” she said.

Ardern said she plans to remain a member of the New Zealand Parliament for Mount Albert through April to help the Labour Party “navigate this next phase.”

Ardern became New Zealand’s youngest female prime minister when she was sworn in in 2017 at the age of 37.

She cited among the party’s accomplishments the “most significant increases in welfare and the state housing stock that we’ve seen in many decades,” as well as setting ambitious targets on climate change and making progress on “issues around our national identity.”

“I believe that teaching history in schools and celebrating our own indigenous national holiday will all make a difference for years to come,” she said.

Ardern said she doesn’t know what’s next for her, though is looking forward to spending time with her family.

“Arguably they’re the ones that have sacrificed the most out of all of us,” she said.

Ardern shares a 4-year-old daughter with her partner, Clarke Gayford.

The prime minister ended her speech by thanking New Zealanders for the opportunity to serve in the “greatest role of my life.”

“I hope in return I leave behind the belief that you can be kind but strong, empathetic but decisive, optimistic but focused,” she said. “That you can be your own kind of leader, one that knows when it’s time to go.”

It’ll be a full-blown situation as Dustin Lynch plays mayor at Crash My Playa

January 19, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Long ago, Luke Bryan proclaimed Dustin Lynch the mayor of Crash My Playa, and today, Luke and Dustin gather their kingdom together for the annual getaway vacation in Riviera Cancun, Mexico.

Of course, the “Party Mode” hitmaker will once again host the pool party that forever cemented his title.

“First kickoff, yeah, [of] New Year’s is Crash My Playa,” Dustin tells ABC Audio. “You know how that’s gonna go: a week of pirating in Mexico. We’ll need a month vacation after that thing.”

“The pool situation down there,” he continues, “we started having phone calls and meetings about that show, the pool party, in July. A lot goes into putting this production on, so we don’t take it lightly. It’s a couple hours and a half of craziness, but there’s a lot of intention as it goes.”

If you’re not lucky enough to be at Crash My Playa, Dustin plans to take his famous water party from the Caribbean to Sin City.

“We’re gonna announce another Pool Situation in Vegas,” he reveals. “We’re bringin’ that monster from Mexico and putting it in Vegas for a weekend. And that’s gonna be popping off in ’23 for sure.”

Previously, Dustin’s Pool Situation in Vegas has been a sell-out.

This weekend, he’ll be hanging out with Chris Stapleton, Cole Swindell, Lionel Richie, Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce, Chase Rice and Dylan Scott, just to name some of the Crash My Playa talent.

A$AP Rocky talks new song, album, Rihanna’s upcoming Super Bowl performance and more

January 19, 2023 by WDNY Radio

A$AP Rocky released a new single, “Same Problems,” Wednesday. The song is a dedication to hip-hop’s fallen soldiers, one he wrote when he was feeling remorseful about the role his music may play in the deaths of the genre’s artists.

“I think I was feeling plight. I think I was also feeling a sense of guilt, because every time we lose somebody in our community, we all, especially me, have a habit of just saying things like, ‘It’s messed up. It’s wrong. Why do these kind of things happen?’ … I never took time out to really understand that I was part of the problem because I was contributing those kind of lyrics and whatnot to songs.”

“I just kind of wanted to express myself and tell how I felt without preaching,” he continued. “And I think we can all relate. We all got the same problems.”

“Same Problems” will appear on Rocky’s new album, Don’t Be Dumb, which he confirms is complete. “We just putting the finishing touches on it. It’s coming for sure,” he said. “The new stuff is me being vulnerable, and it’s just no filter, and just where I’m at, at my stage. My age and how I see things, my peers, the younger kids, the older cats, it’s just my perspective.”

Rocky’s girlfriend, Rihanna, has also been keeping busy. She’s performing at the Super Bowl next month and Rocky says he’s “more excited than everybody else.”

“This is incredible. I’m so glad that my lady’s back making music again and whatnot, and getting back out there,” he said. “It’s just incredible. Especially for both of us, it is a good year for both of us to be more active and be out there … she [is] going to bring it.”

Sam Smith reveals their new era goes back to “how I was when I was younger”

January 19, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Sam Smith reveals the person we were first introduced to was not who they truly were. Instead, it marked a time when they tried to fit in.

Speaking to Rolling Stone UK, the singer says fans are now seeing a more authentic version of who they are.

Sam revealed they “wore all-female clothing and full makeup” through their teenage years and “was even more dressed up than I would be now.”

So, what changed?

“People would stare at me. I became exhausted with that,” the singer said, so they began “exploring a more masculine wardrobe and setting … It just so happened that as I started to explore that, my music started to get picked up.”

Sam acknowledges their debut album, The Lonely Hour, arrived at “a time when I wanted to take a break and fit in.” The singer is now reversing course with their next album, Gloria, because they “got fed up with fitting in and wanted to go back to how I was when I was younger.”

Gloria also marks an emotional turning point in Sam’s career, because they’re able “to express certain things” in their music, such as their sexuality and happiness. “Those themes were sometimes incredibly private and I felt more comfortable showing other sides of me,” Sam said of their initial decision to sing about yearning and heartache.

Sam noted the change of the direction is because “I was just sick of being heartbroken.”

Sam came out as non-binary and genderqueer in 2019, and is happy to be experimenting with fashion and makeup once again. The singer added, “Self-love is not a destination — it’s a daily commitment to accept yourself.”

Gloria is due out January 27.

Incubus announces tour dates with Coheed and Cambria

January 19, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Incubus is linking up with Coheed and Cambria for a trio of tour dates this spring.

The shows will take place May 23 in Wilmington, North Carolina, May 24 in Columbia, South Carolina, and May 26 in Rogers, Arkansas. Tickets go on sale this Friday, January 20, at 10 a.m. ET.

For all ticket info, visit IncubusHQ.com or CoheedandCambria.com.

Both Incubus and Coheed will also be performing at the 2023 Welcome to Rockville festival in Florida, while Brandon Boyd and company are lined up for Las Vegas’ Sick New World nu metal revival fest, as well.

Incubus’ most recent release is their 2020 EP Trust Fall (Side B), while Coheed dropped a new album, Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind, last June.

Survey reveals the guests, songs fans want featured during Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime show

January 19, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Over the years, Rihanna has collaborated with many other artists, from Jay-Z and Maroon 5 to Coldplay, Eminem and Drake. But a new survey reveals that the surprise guest most fans want to see Rihanna bring onstage during her halftime performance is someone who hasn’t graced the Super Bowl stage since 2001.

VegasInsider.com polled just over 1,100 people to find out who they’d most want to see Rihanna collaborate with at the big game. The winner, with 22.6% of the vote, was Britney Spears. The two teamed up back in 2011 for a remix of Ri-Ri’s single “S&M,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The second-most-wanted guest was Eminem, followed by Rihanna’s baby daddy, A$AP Rocky.

Shockingly, Chris Brown tied for fifth place with 11.48% of the vote.

As for the song most people want to hear Rihanna perform, her 2012 number-one hit “Diamonds” topped the list, followed by “Don’t Stop the Music,” the Kanye West collab “All of the Lights” and, oddly, her 2015 patriotic single “American Oxygen.”

As previously reported, one of the musical directors of the show, Adam Blackstone, told Rolling Stone that the halftime show will “be unlike anything you’ve ever seen before,” adding that Rihanna “can do no wrong with the set list because she has massive, massive, massive hits … it’s just going to be [about] how we execute them.”

We’ll have to wait until February 12 to find out what Rihanna has up her designer sleeve for Super Bowl LVII. It airs live from Glendale, Arizona, on Fox.

From ABBA to the Beatles, Gene Simmons shares 10 albums that changed his life

January 19, 2023 by WDNY Radio

In a new interview with Goldmine magazine, KISS’ Gene Simmons is revealing the 10 albums that changed his life. And folks may be a bit surprised by some of the records that made the list.

“As a preamble, when I first came to America (from Israel) as an eight-and-a-half-year-old boy, this was pre-Beatles. I came to America with my mother in 1958, and I had never heard of rock and roll, and I actually had never seen a television set,” he tells the mag. “The first music I heard in America was Chuck Berry and Little Richard and all that.”

Albums on Gene’s list include greatest hits albums by Ray Charles, Dave Clark Five, Patsy Cline, James Brown and ABBA; 1968’s The Beatles aka The White Album; Jeff Beck Group‘s Truth/Beck-Ola; Led Zeppelin’s 1969 self-titled debut; and The Who’s Tommy.

Of course one of his band’s albums had to make the list, as well, with Gene picking KISS’ 1979 release, Destroyer, noting, “Some of those songs have survived the test of time. It was a strange period. It was the beginning of the end, really. The band started to fall to pieces way back in ’76.”

As for people who may be surprised that ABBA’s Greatest Hits made the list, Gene notes that what he loves “is the ability to craft songs that are forever.” He adds, “So if I’m riding in my car and ABBA music comes on, I turn it up and that’s the sign of greatness. Undeniable songwriting. You just can’t touch it.”

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