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Highland Park shooting victims file lawsuits against gun-maker over advertising practices

September 29, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — Victims of the July 4 shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, are filing a series of lawsuits against the manufacturer of the gun used in the shooting, accusing the company of irresponsibly and unlawfully marketing weapons in an unsafe and illegal manner, according to an attorney for one of the victims. The suspect allegedly used a rifle manufactured by Smith & Wesson to carry out the shooting.

The suits also name the former parent company of the manufacturer, American Outdoor Brands; accused shooter Robert Crimo III; and his father, Robert Crimo Jr., Ari Scharg, an attorney at Edelson, one of the firms coordinating the legal complaints, told ABC News.

Suits are being filed by families of three victims killed, at least 10 people or families of people who were injured and more than 30 people at the parade who were traumatized by the shooting, according to attorneys for the victims. They are represented by law firms including Romanucci & Blandin; Everytown Law; and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

Some lawsuits also name online gun distributor Bud’s Gun Shop and Illinois gun retailer Red Dot Arms, alleging that the retailers negligently and illegally sold the weapon to the alleged shooter in violation of the assault weapons bans in Highwood and Highland Park, Illinois, according to a joint press release from the law firms.

“Despite that Bud’s Gun Shop knew that the shooter resided in Highland Park or Highwood, where it is illegal to acquire or possess an assault weapon, it sold the Rifle to the Shooter, thereby knowingly aiding and abetting the violation of the ordinances,” the suit alleged.

The suit also accuses Red Dot Arms of knowingly violating the ban.

“Despite knowing that the Shooter resided in a municipality that prohibited the possession of assault weapons, Red Dot Arms transferred the Rifle to the Shooter, thereby knowingly aiding and abetting the violation of the ordinances,” the lawsuit alleged.

Robert Crimo III, is facing 117 charges for allegedly killing seven people and injuring more than 30 others at an Independence Day parade in the Chicago suburb. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Elizabeth Turnipseed, a victim who was shot in the pelvis during the shooting while standing next to her husband and 3-year-old daughter, is one of the plaintiffs who filed a suit in the Circuit Court of Lake County on Wednesday.

Scharg, who is representing Turnipseed, told ABC News in an interview that his client has been in and out of the hospital since the shooting and will likely never be able to walk again without assistance. Turnipseed returned to the hospital Wednesday due to her injuries, he said.

“She woke up this morning with blinding pain from the inside of her body and is now again back in the hospital undergoing tests and scans,” Scharg said.

Turnipseed still has shrapnel in her body from the shooting, which will likely remain in her body for the rest of her life, Scharg said.

The suit alleges that Turnipseed has suffered and will continue to suffer pain and anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of earnings and earning capacity and has incurred and will continue to incur substantial expenses for medical treatment, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by ABC News.

The lawsuit filed on Wednesday is one of about 10 suits being filed by victims of the shooting. They have not yet all been filed. While the suits are being filed separately, lawyers intend to enjoin them at a later stage, Scharg said.

The lawsuit filed by Turnipseed alleges that “Smith & Wesson has been aware since at least 2000 that its marketing practices played a role in contributing to gun crimes.”

According to the lawsuit, the company negotiated a settlement that year with the federal government, saying it will not “market any firearm in a way that would make the firearm particularly appealing to juveniles or criminals’ due to the foreseeable risk of such advertising fueling unlawful acts of violence by such actors.”

The suit alleges that Smith & Wesson targeted “impulsive young men with hero complexes and/or militaristic delusions military complexes attracted to the particularly high lethality of ar-15 style weapons . . . to execute their fantasies.”

According to the lawsuit, Smith & Wesson’s marketing was designed “to mimic the aesthetic of being the shooter in a video game” which is used in many popular video games, such as Call of Duty.

Turnipseed is alleging that Smith & Wesson is responsible for damages and injuries caused by the shooting.

Smith & Wesson, American Outdoor Brands, Bud’s Gun Shop and Red Dot Arms did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

In a statement to VICE in August, Red Dot Arms owner Mike Rioux defended the sale to the alleged shooter saying the company sells legal products and he doesn’t know how the suspect found the company.

“We sell firearms to law-abiding citizens upon approval from the Illinois State police,” Rioux said.

Turnipseed is asking for an unspecified amount in damages from Smith & Wesson and an injunction that “prohibits Smith & Wesson from falsely representing its products as being commonly used by, endorsed by, or associated with United States military/law enforcement personnel and unfairly and unlawfully targeting youth in their marketing,” according to a copy of the lawsuit.

Turnipseed is also asking for damages from the accused shooter and his father.

Robert Crimo Jr., the suspect’s father, told ABC News in July he is not culpable in the shooting, saying he had spent time with his son before the shooting and was “shocked.”

The lawsuit accuses the suspected shooter of assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress for the military-style assault designed to injure, maim, or kill a large number of people at the Highland Park parade.

Turnipseed is requesting damages from the accused shooter’s father for negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress for allegedly facilitating his son’s ability to purchase a rifle despite knowing his propensity and desire to commit mass violence.

While the suit does not specify how much Turnipseed is looking to collect in damages, damages in the jurisdiction the suit was filed in must exceed $50,000, according to Scharg.

Scharg said the medical costs Turnipseed has incurred and will continue to exceed that threshold.

Suspects identified in rapper PNB Rock’s fatal shooting

September 29, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES) — Police identified suspects on Wednesday who they say are connected to the fatal shooting of rapper PNB Rock during a Sept. 12 robbery in South Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Police Department’s South Bureau Homicide Division identified Freddie Lee Trone as a suspect and urged the public for assistance in locating Trone, who is believed to be armed and dangerous.

Police told Los Angeles ABC station KABC-TV that officers also arrested two of Trone’s family members who are believed to be connected with the murder. Shauntel Trone, 32, was booked for accessory to murder, while Freddie Lee Trone’s 17 year-old son was booked for murder, law enforcement sources told KABC. It is unclear if any of the suspects have retained attorneys at this time.

PNB Rock, whose legal name was Rakim Allen, was fatally shot during a robbery at Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles while dining with his girlfriend. According to police, a suspect demanded jewelry and other valuables from Allen and his girlfriend Stephanie Sibounheuang before getting into a struggle with the rapper and opening fire.

The Philadelphia-born rapper was a force on the East Coast and collaborated with some of the biggest artists in the hip-hop industry as an artist and a producer. He was 30 years old when he died.

Hip-hop stars from Drake and Young Thug, to Meek Mill and Nicki Minaj posted tributes to Allen on social media, with some reflecting on the violence that has continued to plague the hip-hop community.

According to social media posts, Allen’s location at Roscoe’s was reportedly tagged on social media in a since-deleted message. Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that the LAPD is investigating whether the geotagged post led to the attack.

PNB Rock was an independent artist who gained popularity on the SoundCloud platform and released a number of hits that charted on the Billboard Hot 100. He was featured in XXL Magazine’s Freshman Class of rappers to watch in 2017.

Biden admin: 300K barrels of diesel arriving to help power Puerto Rico after Fiona

September 29, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration said Wednesday it had granted approval of a limited exemption in federal regulations on cabotage — or the transport of goods — in order to allow a foreign ship to bring 300,000 barrels of diesel to Puerto Rico days after Hurricane Fiona battered the U.S. territory.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement on Wednesday that the approval for the Jones Act waiver for Puerto Rico was “in response to urgent and immediate needs of” the island as it recovers from Fiona, which officials have said killed multiple people there.

“I have approved a temporary and targeted Jones Act waiver to ensure that the people of Puerto Rico have sufficient diesel to run generators needed for electricity and the functioning critical facilities as they recover from Hurricane Fiona,” Mayorkas said. “The decision to approve the waiver was made in consultation with the Departments of Transportation, Energy, and Defense to assess the justification for the waiver request and based on input from the Governor of Puerto Rico and others on the ground supporting recovery efforts.”

On Tuesday, Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi requested in a letter to President Joe Biden that the Jones Act be waived amid the emergency on the island after Fiona. Pierluisi warned that a shortage of fuel would have an impact on government operations, security and public health.

“Diesel supplies continue to decrease at a higher rate than previously anticipated, and shortages have been reported around the island,” he wrote.

The Jones Act has been waived during previous hurricanes, such as Maria in 2017. This new waiver comes more than a week after Fiona made landfall in Puerto Rico. (A separate hurricane, Ian, made landfall in Florida on Wednesday.)

The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, best known as the Jones Act, requires that all goods transported to Puerto Rico and other American ports be aboard a ship built in the U.S., owned and crewed by Americans and flying the U.S. flag.

The Marshall Islands-flagged ship that is bringing Puerto Rico diesel was hired by British Petroleum. BP had applied for a Jones Act exemption since Sept. 20.

“When U.S. flagged vessels are not available to meet national defense requirements, the Department of Homeland Security may grant a waiver to the Jones Act if the proposed shipments are in the interest of national defense and after careful evaluation of the issue,” according to DHS.

In his statement, Mayorkas noted that, despite waivers during emergencies, the Jones Act is vital to maintaining the strength of America’s shipbuilding and maritime industries.

The Biden administration previously committed its resources to assisting Puerto Rico during and after Fiona.

The island has still been recovering from the effects of Hurricane Maria almost exactly five years ago — a disaster that led to intense scrutiny of the federal government’s response under then-President Donald Trump.

Hidden Epidemic: Schools, parents, police scramble as US fentanyl crisis worsens

September 29, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Twenty-year-old Charlie told ABC News’ Nightline that he’s lucky to be alive after he nearly became one of the thousands of people across the country who lost their lives to fentanyl.

The Southern California college student, who asked not to reveal his real name, was at a party in August when he thought he was taking a party drug, but it turned out to be the synthetic opioid. A friend was able to get help and quickly administered Narcan, a medicine used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, saving his life.

“Thank God that I was surrounded with the people that were there. Thank God my friends were there and thank God that I have smart friends,” Charlie told Nightline.

Charlie’s story is becoming all too common in America as parents, school officials and parents are scrambling to get ahead of the epidemic and prevent more deaths.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fentanyl was the leading cause of the record number of drug poisonings and overdose deaths in the country last year. More than 71,000 overdose deaths were linked to synthetic opioids like fentanyl, according to the CDC.

Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies have been on high alert, not only monitoring calls of overdoses but also stopping the flow of the drug into communities.

On Tuesday, the Department of Justice and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency announced it seized an estimated 10 million fentanyl-laced pills and 82 pounds of fentanyl powder motor crews across all 50 states.

“That is enough to kill 36 million Americans,” Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters Tuesday.

Anne Milgram, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency Administrator, told reporters Tuesday that two Mexican cartels, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (JNGC), “are responsible for virtually all of the fentanyl and they currently dominate the worldwide fentanyl distribution and supply chain.”

Another hurdle for authorities is brightly colored “rainbow fentanyl” pills that are the same as regular fentanyl but that could be mistaken for candy. They have been seized in at least 20 states since February, according to federal investigators.

Milgram added that agents are seeing fentanyl-laced pills disguised as regular drugs like OxyContin and Percocet.

Laura Brinker and Matt White, of San Diego, told Nightline that their 17-year-old son Connor White died last year from fentanyl poisoning when he thought he was taking Percocet.

“It was not a dozen pills in a bag. It was one pill…that was taken,” Brinker told Nightline.

Brinker and her husband called for more awareness and education about the crisis.

“There’s got to be other means and other ways that we’re educating our children and in a very, very serious way, not just don’t do drugs,” she said.

Alberto Carvalho, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, told Nightline that the crisis is getting worse in his schools.

“I cannot quantify it but I can tell it’s much bigger, much more disturbing than what’s reported,” he said of the fentanyl crisis in Los Angeles schools.

Two weeks, ago 15-year-old Melanie Ramos was found dead on the floor of the girls bathroom after school hours from a fentanyl overdose. A 15-year-old boy, who is being investigated for allegedly selling her synthetic opioid, was arrested in connection with her death.

Days after Ramos’ death, Carvalho announced that Narcan would be available at all K through 12 schools, and nurses and other staff will be trained on administering the drug.

“It’s a sad new reality but consider the alternative. I think the presence of Narcan in our schools is a life-saving necessity at this point,” he said.

In addition to the schools, non-profit groups have been hard at work spreading education on the dangers of fentanyl and providing tools to help prevent overdoses.

Madeline Hilliard, the founder of Team Awareness Combating Overdose (TACO), said her organization is also providing free test strips that can indicate if a drug is fentanyl in disguise. She said while there is some perception that the strips encourage more drug use, they save lives.

“What we see is when people use fentanyl test strips…they’re now aware that fentanyl is a risk,” Hilliard told Nightline.

Charlie, who is helping TACO with their awareness, said he too is urging young people to be cautious.

“It’s inevitable that college students are going to come across these drugs. It’s just becoming more and more integrated into drugs across the country,” he said.

Hilaree Nelson: Outdoors community mourns ski mountaineer after death on Manaslu

September 29, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The outdoors community is grieving the sudden loss of ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson, a legend of extreme feats who died after a small avalanche coming down from the peak of the world’s eighth highest mountain.

“Pray for her family and community, which is broadly stretched across our planet,” her partner, Jim Morrison, wrote Wednesday. “I’m devastated by the loss of her.”

Nelson and Morrison were attempting to ski down Manaslu on Monday when she triggered a small avalanche, according to Morrison, that took her “down a narrow snow slope.” Search efforts located her body Wednesday.

“They say don’t meet your heros [sic]. She was one of the very few I’ve met over the years who lived up to the hype,” skier Lynsey Dyer wrote Wednesday, adding that Nelson “was kind and humble and beautiful and so strong.”

Nelson, 49, was an epic ski mountaineer who made a career climbing the world’s biggest peaks — and skiing down them. Expeditions took her across the globe, working with and meeting many different athletes along the way, many of whom shared tributes, memories and love for Morrison and for Nelson’s two children.

“Hils showed us all a way to push and strive and fight for the big goals and the life she loved, while always finding joy and meaning even in failures,” mountaineer Adrian Ballinger, who attempted the first ski descent of Makalu with her in 2015, wrote.

Mountaineer Garrett Madison wrote that he met Nelson in 2012, when she became the first woman to summit mounts Everest and Lhotse within 24 hours.

“Her stoke, reverence and care for the mountains, & her teammates, was deep and contagious,” he said.

Rock climber Renan Ozturk reminisced on an expedition in the Burmese Himalayas where they faced many challenges.

“Yes, she was unbelievably strong on the mountain carrying more weight than anyone, but it was also the way she carried herself during the hard moments in between… uplifting everyone around her and finding laughter even within the hardship,” he wrote.

Nelson was also remembered fondly in her home community of Telluride, Colorado, with snowboarder Lucas Foster calling her “a regular face around town, a badass skier that literally changed the game, regular mom dropping her kids off at skate camp.”

While Nelson was a groundbreaking athlete across genders, she held a special significance for the women who were inspired by her, particularly athletes considering motherhood.

Skier Evelina Nilsson recalled meeting her at an athlete summit for The North Face, for which Nelson served as team captain: “I remember how deeply moved and inspired I was of everyone but especially you and @kitdski. Seeing incredible super moms/humans who paved the way for all the next generations. Leading by example.”

“Hilaree was a force to be remembered not for this accident or even the physical mountains she climbed and so expertly skied down, but for unapologetically paving the way for women in this space to be everything they want to be,” rock climber Emily Harrington wrote. “She broke ground and shattered expectations with a unique combination of grace and grit only a true leader possesses.”

Harrington, who is pregnant with her first child with mountaineer Ballinger, wrote that Nelson was one of the first she told about her pregnancy as they were going on an expedition this past April in Baffin Island, Canada. She said Nelson encouraged her, as a fellow woman “who chose motherhood AND a career of adventure.”

Snowboarder Leanne Pelosi shared that Nelson was also one of the first people she told when she found out she was pregnant.

“It’s hard to put into words how much impact Hilaree had on us all, but these stories of how she influenced anyone from the top athlete in the world to the people she worked with allows us to celebrate her life and her legacy,” she wrote.

It is a particularly tragic month in the mountaineering community. Lower down on Manaslu, an avalanche struck more than a dozen climbers, killing one and prompting group efforts for successful rescue operations over Monday and Tuesday.

Many of these efforts, including the search for Nelson, were led by members of Elite Exped, including legend Nims Purja. Purja had shared that three Elite Exped members, Ashok Wenjha Rai, Karsang Tenjing Sherpa and Tsewang Sherpa, were killed in a fire last week at the company’s headquarters in Kathmandu.

“This week has been so hard for so many — our thoughts and prayers are with the families of our dear brothers — as well as our dear friends — who lost loved ones this week,” Purja wrote on Wednesday. “The mountain community is tight knit and that’s why it’s so important to look after and care for each other.”

Hurricane Ian’s path echoes destructive 2004 Hurricane Charley

September 29, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — When he saw the latest path for Hurricane Ian, Kevin Doyle, a bar owner in Punta Gorda, Florida, said his heart sank and he had a flashback to 2004 when Hurricane Charley destroyed his business and much of his coastal town.

Ian is taking a similar path of Charley, which caused $16 billion in damage and, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, killed 18 people.

“The difference with Charley was it was extremely fast and destructive and this is going to be slow and destructive. So, it’s going to be worse than Charley,” Doyle told ABC News Wednesday morning.

Doyle rode out Charley in his bar, the Celtic Ray Public House. This time he is taking no chances. He and his wife have evacuated to the east coast of Florida, while his son, who is a co-owner of the bar, is holding down the fort in Punta Gorda.

Hurricane Ian first made landfall in Florida on Wednesday afternoon, before making a second landfall just south of Punta Gorda as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds estimated at 145 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Chaley made landfall in Punta Gorda on the afternoon of Aug. 13, 2004, causing a 7-foot storm surge in nearby Fort Myers.

“The building was basically destroyed,” Doyle said of his bar. “Then we found out the following morning there was no insurance on it. We were renting at the time.”

A 40-year resident of Punta Gorda, Doyle said he and his family decided to stay and rebuild, realizing another destructive storm could hit someday. Now that day has come.

Many of Doyle’s neighbors who lost homes and businesses have rebuilt, adding new roofs designed to withstand a major hurricane. Punta Gorda has become a model for how to hurricane-proof a city, Doyle said.

Doyle said that following Charley, he bought the wrecked, roofless building that housed his bar and spent seven years rebuilding it.

“I think everybody learned their lesson from that one,” Doyle said. “When we rebuilt, we went over the codes with everything. It’s like a fortress now.”

He said Ian will be the first big test to see how prepared Punta Gorda is to withstand what is expected to be the most devastating storm to hit the area since Charley.

“I’m not going to predict anything at all,” Doyle said. “I’m just going to wait and see what’s left when it all goes away.”

Search underway after vessel carrying dozens of migrants sinks amid Hurricane Ian

September 29, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for over a dozen migrants after their vessel sank off the coast of Florida as Hurricane Ian was moving through the region, authorities said.

U.S. Border Patrol agents responded Wednesday to a migrant landing in Stock Island in the Florida Keys, Chief Patrol Agent Walter Slosar said on Twitter.

Four Cuban migrants had swam to shore after their vessel sank “due to inclement weather,” Slosar said.

The U.S. Coast Guard began a search and rescue mission for an additional 23 people, Slosar said.

Crews have so far rescued three people in the water about 2 miles south of Boca Chica, the U.S. Coast Guard Southeast said.

“They were brought to the local hospital for symptoms of exhaustion and dehydration. Air crews are still searching,” the Coast Guard said in an update on Twitter.

The rescue efforts are underway amid dangerous weather conditions from Hurricane Ian. The storm made landfall on Florida’s west coast Wednesday afternoon as a major Category 4 hurricane, bringing with it powerful winds and life-threatening storm surge.

The hurricane’s landfall was at about 3:05 p.m. ET near Cayo Costa, an island off the coast of Fort Myers.

The entire Florida Peninsula is under either a hurricane or tropical storm warning due to Hurricane Ian.

The storm is forecast to bring the threat of heavy rains and catastrophic storm surge as it moves through Florida.

The rescue mission comes a day after seven migrants from Cuba were taken into custody after making landfall at Pompano Beach, north of Fort Lauderdale, according to Slosar.

“Do not risk your life by attempting this journey at sea,” he said on Twitter. “Storm surge along with King tide can create treacherous sea conditions even after a storm passes.”

What Hurricane Ian means for food and gas prices

September 29, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As elevated prices for oil and gas strain U.S. households, the country faces a weather event that some fear will send the costs of these essentials even higher: Hurricane Ian.

The category 4 hurricane on Wednesday sustained wind speeds of 150 miles per hour as it made landfall on Florida’s west coast.

Speaking at an event in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, President Joe Biden warned oil and gas companies against raising prices amid the storm.

“Do not, let me repeat, do not use this as an excuse to raise gasoline prices or gouge the American people,” he said.

Americans need not worry about price increases for gasoline as a result of the hurricane, industry analysts told ABC News, noting that the path of the storm has averted key oil-producing states, such as Texas and New Orleans.

The storm will not cause widespread food price hikes, either, since Florida isn’t a major producer of food, analysts said. However, the state is a top exporter of citrus fruit — such as oranges and grapefruits — which could experience price hikes depending on the extent of damage, an analyst said.

Here’s what to know about the impact Hurricane Ian will have on gas and food prices:

The impact of Hurricane Ian on gas prices

Hurricane Ian will not affect gasoline prices, industry analysts said.

“I don’t think it’ll have any impact at all,” Andy Lipow, a longtime oil analyst and president of Lipow Oil Associates, told ABC News.

Florida, the analysts said, simply doesn’t produce much oil. The state doesn’t host any oil refineries and accounts for about 6,000 barrels of oil production each day, Lipow estimated. That output makes up a tiny fraction of overall U.S. oil production, which amounts to 11.8 million barrels per day, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported this month.

“Just as a matter of geography, there is no direct effect on the oil and gas market,” Pavel Molchanov, a senior energy analyst at Raymond James, told ABC News. “Florida is not an energy-producing state in the way Texas and Louisiana are.”

Hurricane Ian did cause temporary disruption of major oil platforms in the gulf of Mexico, however. As a precaution, BP and Chevron on Monday cut production at offshore oil platforms, evacuating personnel as the storm grew in strength, Lipow said.

Those facilities produce 485,000 barrels per day and represent 27% of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico but less than 5% of overall U.S. oil production, Lipow said.

But the disruption is temporary. BP began working to return personnel to its offshore platforms on Tuesday, the company said.

“Once they get the people out there, it’s back to production within a day,” Lipow said.

The effect of Hurricane Ian on food prices

Similarly, the hurricane won’t cause large-scale hikes in food prices, since Florida doesn’t play a major role in the sector, industry analysts said.

“It’s just one state in the union and a state that really does not produce a lot of food,” Kenneth Scott Zuckerberg, lead economist for grain and farm supply with CoBank, told ABC News. “In the grand scheme of things, this is well within the context of what happens in the agricultural sector.”

However, the state does factor significantly in the production of two items: fertilizer and citrus fruit, the analysts said.

Phosphate, a key ingredient of fertilizer, is mined and manufactured in the Tampa Bay-area, where a single company, Mosaic, produces 50% of North American phosphate fertilizer, the company says.

Damage to phosphate-related facilities could disrupt the tight market for fertilizer, but farmers typically accept smaller profit margins rather than pass the cost increases along to consumers, Zuckerberg said.

Another top export in Florida, citrus fruit, accounts for 70% of such foods produced in the U.S. Oranges, grapefruits, tangerines and the juices derived from them could undergo a hike in prices in a matter of weeks if the hurricane damages crops, said Arlan Suderman, a chief commodities analyst for financial services firm StoneX.

“The market is anticipatory,” Suderman told ABC News. “As soon as the hurricane goes through and they make an assessment, they’ll be pricing in expectations.”

If damage to citrus trees proves significant, Suderman said, the recovery of the citrus supply could take “several years.”

Serena Williams says mom mode is why she didn’t want her daughter at her tennis matches

September 29, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Serena Williams says the reason she’d rather her 5-year-old daughter, Olympia, stay home during her tennis matches was so she wouldn’t be distracted.

She means it in a loving way, of course, afraid that she’d naturally hop into mom mode if her daughter was present and might worry about what was happening off the court versus on it.

“Well, I just was worried I’d get distracted because I would be like, ‘Wait, is she drinking? Is she doing this?'” Williams explains to host Drew Barrymore in a clip from The Drew Barrymore Show.

“She came to a match once, like super brief, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, is she wearing sun cream?’ It’s nuts. So, I would get stressed out and be like, ‘Wait a minute, oh my goodness, I’ve got to serve. This makes no sense.'”

The tennis legend says she didn’t have her daughter at matches until this summer, when Olympia rooted for her mama from the stands at what may have been Williams’ final U.S. Open.

The toddler paid homage to her mother by rocking her hair in braids with white beads, similar to how Williams had her hair styled when she won her first U.S. Open in 1999. Olympia also matched her mom’s outfit, wearing an all black Nike dress.

“Apparently she was saying like, ‘Go Mama, I’m so proud of you,’ and I was like, ‘What?’” Williams recalls to Barrymore.

“So then she comes back after I had lost in Cincinnati, she came back and she’s like, ‘It’s OK, Mama, you just have to do what you feel,’ and I literally wanted to cry. It was like, ‘Do what you feel. Do what your heart tells you.’ It was the sweetest thing ever,” Williams said.

Shania Twain isn’t worried about catching flak for her topless single cover art: “You can’t please everybody”

September 29, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Shania Twain gets back to the basics of fun, day-seizing, life-affirming joy in her peppy new single, “Waking Up Dreaming.” The song, which came out last Friday, is Shania’s first new release in five years and the start of a new album chapter, she tells The Sun.

The country legend has been famous for striking visual statements since the start of his career, and with “Waking Up Dreaming,” she’s as creative as ever. This time around, she chose a tasteful, conservative topless photo for the single’s cover art.

“I styled that photograph myself,” says Shania, who wears stiletto boots and a cowboy hat in the image.

“It was all about taking off the bra, taking off the shirt, tying the shirt around my waist,” she continues. “This is a statement of being comfortable in my own skin and just being really myself.”

And if some of her fans get upset by her choice to bear a little more skin, well, Shania says that’s just fine.

“I never really get angry with criticism,” she adds. “You can’t please everybody, that’s normal.”

Shania’s not the only woman in country music who’s shown some skin — and caught flak for it. In 2019, the genre’s more conservative fans were scandalized by Maren Morris’ decision to pose for Playboy. But there was a precedent for Maren’s feature in the magazine: Who could forget Dolly Parton’s iconic Playboy spread from 1978?

Dolly recently recreated her Playboy look — complete with bunny ears and bowtie — for her husband Carl Dean’s birthday.

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