(BETHESDA, Md.) — A State Department employee was killed this week while riding her bike in Maryland.
The Montgomery County Police Department confirmed Sarah Joan Langenkamp, 42, was struck by a flatbed truck on the afternoon of Aug. 25 while riding a bicycle at the 5200 block of River Road in Bethesda.
Langenkamp was a diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine. Numerous offices have cited her as the head of the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Section at the embassy.
“We can confirm the death of Foreign Service Officer Sarah J. Langenkamp,” a State Department spokesperson told ABC News on Saturday. “The Department of State extends its deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Ms. Langenkamp.”
“We cannot provide further comments due to privacy and law enforcement sensitivity considerations. We refer you to the Bethesda Police Department for additional information,” the spokesperson said.
Langenkamp’s husband Daniel served at the Kyiv embassy as spokesperson. A CBS News report published earlier this year documented how the Langenkamp’s sons were able to reconnect with them after the family was separated due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Police say they were called to the scene of the accident just after 4 p.m. on Thursday. A preliminary investigation by the Collision Reconstruction Unit found the driver of the vehicle, which was a red 2014 Volvo flatbed truck, and Lagenkamp were both traveling in the same direction when the collision occurred.
The driver, who remains unidentified, was heading east and was turning right into a parking lot at 5244 River Road when they struck Langenkamp, authorities said. Langenkamp was run over by the truck and was pronounced dead at the scene.
River Road was closed as law enforcement, including Montgomery Fire Rescue, responded to the crash.
The investigation remains ongoing, according to the Montgomery County Police Department. The department did not immediately respond to ABC News’s request for additional comment.
Langenkamp is the second State Department employee to be killed in a biking accident this year.
Shawn O’Donnell, a 40-year-old foreign service worker for the agency, was killed after being struck by a Mack cement truck on July 20 in the neighborhood of Foggy Bottom in Washington, D.C.
O’Donnell was one of three people killed in bike crashes in the city in July. Community members gathered outside city hall to demand change, calling on Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser to make her plan for zero traffic deaths by 2024 a reality, ABC News affiliate WJLA reported.
(SAN MATEO COUNTY, Calif.) — A man is lucky to be alive after he fell about 100 feet off of a cliff edge when it reportedly crumbled beneath him as he walked on it.
The incident occurred at around dawn when the unnamed man was walking along cliffs in Moss Beach in San Mateo County, California — approximately 22 miles south of San Francisco — and the cliff edge gave way beneath his feet causing him to fall an estimated 100 feet, according to CAL FIRE San Mateo.
But at 8:30 a.m., a woman who was walking nearby heard the man’s calls for help and was able to alert authorities.
Coastside Fire subsequently arrived and were able to pull the man to safety within 22 minutes of their arrival, CAL FIRE San Mateo said in a tweet along with a short video of the miraculous rescue.
CLIFF RESCUE: The cliff crumbled beneath a man who was walking at dawn in Moss Beach. He fell est. 100 feet & yelled for help. At 8:30am a woman nearby heard his calls. Coastside Fire pulled him to safety within 22 minutes of their arrival. Avoid cliff edges as they are unstable. pic.twitter.com/OCz7W84dra
In the video, about a dozen officers can be seen pulling a series of ropes anchored by a fire engine as the victim, who is accompanied by another officer, are hoisted up the side of the cliff. As they approach the top of the cliff, the unidentified man who fell can be heard communicating with authorities about his condition but appears unsteady on his feet as he is pulled to safety. Authorities did not disclose his current condition.
While the man appeared to be okay at the end of the rescue, CAL FIRE San Mateo had one piece of advice following the incident: “Avoid cliff edges as they are unstable.”
(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) — NASA on Monday will send an unmanned space capsule into the moon’s orbit, marking the initial launch in an ambitious plan to establish a long term presence on the moon for scientific discovery and economic development.
The space capsule, called Artemis 1, will travel for roughly 40 days — reaching as close as 60 miles from the moon, and then 40,000 miles above the moon when orbiting over its dark side — before landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
Vice President Kamala Harris will attend the launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida, the White House said on Friday. At least 100,000 people will also watch on the beaches along Cape Canaveral as the shuttle takes off, Florida tourism officials estimated.
If the launch proves successful, NASA will send a crew to the moon’s orbit on Artemis 2 in 2024. Eventually, the Artemis expedition as a whole could lead to the first crewed space trip to Mars, NASA says.
Here’s everything you need to know about the launch on Monday:
When is the launch?
A two-hour launch window begins on Monday at 8:33 a.m. ET, meaning the launch could take place anytime over the ensuing two-hour period. But the launch may not take place on Monday morning, as NASA abides by a strict set of weather criteria that determine whether a flight can proceed.
Meteorologists with the U.S. Space Force Space Launch Delta 45 predicted a 70% chance of favorable weather conditions for the launch window on Monday morning, according to a NASA blog post on Thursday.
The launch will be postponed, for instance, if the temperature at both 132.5 feet and 257.5 feet exceeds 94.5 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 consecutive minutes. NASA imposes additional weather restrictions, some of which depend on wind and humidity conditions.
If the launch does not take place on Monday, a second two-hour launch wind will begin on Friday, Sept. 2 at 12:38 a.m. ET. If NASA postpones the second launch, a third two-hour window will begin on Monday Sept. 5 at 5:12 p.m. ET.
How do you watch the launch?
ABC News will broadcast the launch live on Monday. Coverage will start at about 8:30 a.m. ET, just as the time window begins. ABC News may not broadcast from the launch if the take off is postponed before the time window starts.
In addition, NASA will broadcast the launch on its website . Eager viewers can watch an ongoing livestream of the launch site on YouTube.
What will the launch event entail?
NASA’s live broadcast of the launch will include celebrity appearances by Jack Black, Chris Evans, and Keke Palmer, as well as a special performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Josh Groban and Herbie Hancock.
The event will also feature a performance of “America the Beautiful” by The Philadelphia Orchestra and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
When is the shuttle coming back?
If the capsule takes off on Monday morning, the mission will last for 42 days, after which the capsule will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on Oct. 10 at 11:53 a.m. ET.
If the capsule takes off during the second launch window, on Sept. 2, the mission will last 39 days with a splashdown in the Pacific on Oct. 11; while a launch during the third window, on Sept. 5, would last 42 days and end on Oct. 17.
What’s next for the Artemis expedition?
On the whole, the Artemis expedition includes four missions, each of which will cost roughly $4.1 billion. In all, the project will cost up to $93 billion by 2025, according to an audit from the NASA Office of the Inspector General.
If Artemis 1 is successful, Artemis 2 will take four astronauts near the moon in 2024. After that, Artemis 3 will take a crewed shuttle for a moon landing. Finally, Artemis 4 will fly to a space station near the moon.
NASA hopes that the Artemis expedition will enable a crewed trip to Mars in the ensuing years.
(TULSA, Okla.) — Descendants of the 1921 Tula Race Massacre are being urged to avoid submitting DNA samples to the city’s investigation project amid privacy concerns which would delay efforts to identify remains found in a mass grave many believe is linked to the tragedy.
Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood was an affluent area known as “Black Wall Street” and was home to 1,200 Black residents and hundreds of Black-owned businesses in the early 1900s. A confrontation between groups of white and Black residents following the arrest of a young Black man named Dick Rowland, who was accused of assaulting a white girl, ended with 35 city blocks being burned to the ground on the evening of May 31, 1921.
Historians believe as many as 300 people were killed as white mobs destroyed homes, businesses, churches, schools, hospitals and other buildings. More than 100 years later, many of the massacre victims’ bodies have never been found.
Experts discovered a mass grave at Oaklawn Cemetery in October 2020. Archaeologists exhumed 19 burials and identified 14 individuals to be used for DNA analysis. Descendants and relatives of massacre victims are being asked to submit their own DNA to help identify the bodies.
The city of Tulsa is working with Utah-based lab Intermountain Forensics to examine the remains. Scientists have been able to extract DNA from two of the 14 individuals so far.
Mayor G.T. Bynum apologized for the Tulsa’s role in the 1921 massacre in May 2021 and his spokesperson Michelle Brooks told ABC News his office is working with the lab to determine if the samples they have will be good enough to take more DNA from or if they will need to re-exhume the bodies.
Justice for Greenwood, a group working to secure reparations on behalf of survivors and descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has cautioned against submitting DNA. They hosted a public town hall Thursday to discuss concerns and answer questions over the DNA testing.
“The city is trying to encourage descendants to feel a sense of buy-in by donating their DNA,” said Eric Miller, an attorney with Justice for Greenwood, during the town hall.
Miller and other members of the group are concerned descendants could be opening themselves or their relatives up to potential criminal prosecution by providing DNA.
“This is information that doesn’t just impact an individual, but impacts whole families. You give your DNA up and you’re dragging your whole family and perhaps your whole community into this mess,” Miller said.
UC Davis law professor Elizabeth Joh, who has written extensively and teaches courses on criminal law and procedure, policing, and surveillance, spoke during the meeting. “What Tulsa does is going to be followed by other communities. States are only beginning to start to look at this issue,” Joh said at the townhall.
Intermountain Forensics Executive Director Deborah Dilley told ABC News she was surprised by the pushback. “We had at least two conversations with Justice for Greenwood,” Dilley said. “They asked a lot of questions about how genetic databases work. But they didn’t ask specifically about our project and how our methodology was on that.”
The lab is asking descendants to upload their DNA profiles to GEDmatch, a genetic genealogy research site. GEDmatch is free and open to the public and match results vary based on which DNA test was used, but typically include the name, email, and degree of relatedness shared between relatives. A “PRO” version of GEDmatch is available to law enforcement agencies working to find DNA matches in criminal cases.
Dilley says anyone participating in the project can choose the level of confidentiality they want. Researchers at Intermountain Forensics will be able to see any genetic matches but will not have access to any raw data or individual genetic profiles.
“We wanted to make sure that everybody understood the different categories,” said Dilley. “And we have some people who said ‘Nope, I want to be absolutely private’ and so we will process those separately.”
Miller says the current privacy options are not enough.
“There’s a high bar of trust to be overcome here and the city has done nothing to assure us of the privacy and security of that information. There’s so many things they could have done,” Miller told ABC News. “When the 9/11 Commission did DNA matching to identify the remains of people killed in the terrorist attack, it created a secure DNA database that was not generally accessible.”
Tulsa officials say the GEDmatch database was the best choice for this project.
“GEDmatch is one of the only two databases that allow comparisons to unidentified human remains. Of those two, GEDmatch is the only one which allows users to opt out of law enforcement searches involving crime scene DNA,” Tulsa Communications Director Michelle Brooks told ABC News.
A spokesperson for GEDmatch says law enforcement is not allowed to use the consumer version of the site per the Terms of Service, but conceded that it could happen.
“We cannot prevent users from choosing to circumvent the Terms of Service,” Brett Williams wrote in an email to ABC News. “However, these violations would almost certainly be discovered during court proceedings by the defense councils in their discovery process.”
Greg Robinson is a member of the city’s Mass Graves Public Oversight Committee and spoke during the town hall.
“Process matters, it matters deeply,” Robinson said at the townhall. “It’s not simply what we’re doing, it’s the way we go about it that will give the confidence that’s needed for us to move forward. How are we supposed to trust that we can actually move toward justice and reparation then reconciliation if we can’t do the investigation part right?”
(FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.) — At least one person has been shot in what police say was a targeted shooting at the Washington County Fair in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The incident occurred at approximately 10:30 p.m. when Fayetteville Police Officers responded to a report of a shooting at the annual Washington County Fair that is taking place this year From August 23 to 27.
“Upon the officers arrival they located one victim, and immediately began to render first aid,” said the Fayetteville Police Department in a statement published on social media. “The victim was then transported to a local medical facility.”
Local media was initially reporting that several other injuries were reported due to a stampede following the shooting but authorities have not yet confirmed this.
The Fayetteville Police Department said that their initial investigation has led them to believe that this was a targeted incident and not a random act of violence but did not elaborate further.
Authorities did confirm, however, that the suspect involved in the shooting was able to flee the scene of the crime and is currently on the loose. It is not clear if police know the identity of the suspect or not.
Officers are currently on the scene and investigating the incident and their investigation is ongoing.
The Washington County Fair was founded in 1857 and is the largest and most established county fair in Arkansas, according to the Washington County Fair Association.
(STURGIS, Mich.) — Abbott is announcing Friday their Sturgis, Michigan plant is restarting production of their largest and most popular infant formula, Similac.
Previously, the troubled plant had only restarted a fragment of its production, after bacterial contamination concerns inside the facility had prompted a months-long voluntary recall and shutdown.
The closure at the largest formula manufacturer in the country ricocheted across the infant formula industry and exacerbated the supply shortage, forcing families to scramble for alternatives in the hyper-concentrated formula market.
Then in June — less than two weeks after it had finally restarted some of its formula production — severe weather and flooding forced the plant to close once again to “assess damage,” “clean and re-sanitize the plant.”
In July, Abbott announced they were opening the lines for their specialty hypoallergenic formula, EleCare, along with some metabolic formulas — but still, not its most popular and widely used Similac.
The company is now announcing it has restarted Similac production, paving the way for an eventual infusion of formula into the U.S. market, once the plant gets back up to full speed — after what has been a months-long scarcity on American grocery shelves.
The discovery of Cronobacter sakazakii bacteria inside Abbott’s Sturgis plant prompted a massive voluntary formula recall in February, after four babies who had consumed Abbott’s formula contracted a Cronobacter infection. Two of the infants subsequently died, although Abbott maintains there has not been conclusive evidence that its formula caused the infant illnesses, since none of the Cronobacter strains found at their plant matched the two samples genetically sequenced from the sickened infants. Ultimately, it was the combined findings of Cronobacter inside Abbott’s plant — along with a pattern of serious operational deficiencies and consumer complaints — which led to its closure.
Now that they are reopening Similac production, Abbott estimates it will take about six weeks for them to begin shipping it to retail locations “as it enters into production, enhanced pre-and post-production testing, and cycles through shipping and retail distribution networks,” a spokesperson said.
Abbott tells ABC News that during its shutdown and systems overhaul, there have been “a couple” instances where they have again found Cronobacter within batches of their formula. In each case, they say they have found it, addressed the issue, and destroyed the affected product.
This is, essentially, the oversight system at work: Cronobacter can be widely found in the environment — but in infants, it can be deadly — which is why rigorous safety and quality control procedures at plants like these are so important, experts have previously told ABC News.
“Restarting a large manufacturing facility after a several-month shut down is a complex process, and it takes time to ensure that equipment, processes and production are functioning smoothly and sustainably,” an Abbott spokesperson said in a statement to be posted tonight on their site. “It’s taken us time to ramp up production consistently to these high standards. There have been – and likely will be – stops and starts from time to time. We’ve experienced events like severe weather, we’ve had to make mechanical adjustments, and we’ve had to discard some early production batches that didn’t meet our standards.”
“As we’ve said, we have a zero-tolerance policy for Cronobacter or any pathogen in our plants. Cronobacter is naturally and commonly found in the environment and our quality systems are designed to find it and destroy it when it’s present, as it sometimes is with all manufacturers. That is why we test for it regularly and take steps to eliminate it if and when we find it, is why we took the steps we did in Sturgis in February, and is what guides our approach today,” the spokesperson said.
“If our quality systems detect the presence of Cronobacter in product testing, we suspend production while we investigate and coordinate closely with the FDA. Since our restart, this has occurred with a couple of batches, and in those cases we found the issue, addressed it and no affected product has been or will be distributed. This confirms our quality systems work.”
(NEW YORK) — Air travel complaints were up nearly 35% in June compared to the month before, according to a report from the Department of Transportation released Friday. Nearly one-third of those complaints were about airline cancellations, delays and other schedule changes.
DOT data shows that 583,584 flights were operated in June, which is down about 1% from flights operated during May. Airlines reported that 73.5% of scheduled flights were on time in June of 2022, which is actually higher than the pre-pandemic on-time data which was 73.3% in June of 2019.
The data showed that 3.1% of airlines’ domestic flights were canceled which is almost double the 1.6% of flights canceled in June 2021.
Some airlines had fewer scheduling problems than others, according to the data.
The most on-time airlines in June were Alaska Airlines, with nearly 79% of flights arriving on time, Delta Air Lines and Hawaiian Airlines. The airlines with the lowest on-time arrivals were Allegiant Air, with only 59% of flights arriving on time, JetBlue Airways and Frontier Airlines.
Hawaiian Airlines had the lowest rate of canceled flights, with only .1% of flights canceled. Alaska Airlines and Frontier Airlines also had a low rate of cancellations, with .7% and 1.1% canceled respectively.
American Airlines reported the highest rate of canceled flights in June, with the carrier canceling 4.4% of scheduled flights, according to the data. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines also had a higher rate of cancellations, with 3.9% and 3.5% of flights canceled respectively.
About a quarter of the complaints regarded refunds from airlines. DOT said that their office has investigated 10 airlines for failing to refund “extreme delays,” and hints that there are ongoing investigations into more airlines.
“Many passengers who were initially denied refunds have since received the required refunds,” the report said. “The Department has taken and will take enforcement action against noncompliant airlines and ticket agents as necessary. [Office of Aviation Consumer Protection] recently concluded its investigation of 10 airlines and is pursuing enforcement action against them for extreme delays in providing refunds for flights the airlines canceled or significantly changed.”
The report added, “The Office is also actively investigating the refund practices of additional airlines flying to, from, or within the United States.”
The data also showed small increases in mishandled baggage, wheelchairs and scooters in June, compared to the previous month.
This report comes after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sent a letter to air carriers last week, calling on them to shape up ahead of the Labor Day travel weekend.
“In the first six months of 2022, roughly 24% of the domestic flights of U.S. airlines have been delayed and 3.2% have been canceled,” Buttigieg said in the letter. “As you know, these aren’t just numbers, these are missed birthday parties, graduations, time with loved ones and important meetings.”
(NEW YORK) — California became the first state in the nation this week to issue a phase-out of gas-powered vehicles — and other states are planning to follow in its footsteps.
After the California Air Resources Board approved Thursday regulations that ban the sale of new gas-engine vehicles by 2035, requiring all new cars to run on electricity or hydrogen, California Gov. Gavin Newsom told ABC News he was confident that more states would do the same to help combat climate change.
He noted that 17 other states have already followed California’s lead and adopted its tailpipe emission standards, which are stricter than the federal government’s.
Among those, 15 have also backed its zero-emission vehicle requirements, with several states already making steps towards adopting the new regulations.
California is uniquely able to set emission standards that are stricter than federal rules, which other states can then follow. The Clear Air Act allows California to enact emission standards for new motor vehicles through a waiver granted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Other states can adopt California’s standards without government approval, as long as they’re identical, according to the EPA.
Under California’s new rules, automakers cannot sell any car, pickup truck, minivan, SUV or other passenger vehicle that emits greenhouse gasses by 2035. Motorists can continue driving gas-fueled vehicles that were bought before the 2035 deadline and will be allowed to purchase used gas-powered vehicles after the rules take effect.
Here’s a look at states that have made steps to adopt California’s zero-emission vehicle standards or similar policies.
Washington
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called California’s ban on new gasoline cars “a critical milestone in our climate fight” and said this week that his state is “ready to adopt California’s regs by the end of this year.” The state legislature had previously committed Washington to adopt rules implement California’s emission standards. This spring, state lawmakers also set a target to phase out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2030 in its $17 billion transportation plan, though it wasn’t a mandate.
This is a critical milestone in our climate fight. Washington set in law a goal for all new car sales to be zero emissions by 2030 and we’re ready to adopt California’s regs by end of this year. https://t.co/r6jchISD7O
Oregon is also looking to adopt California’s “landmark” regulation, the state’s Department of Environmental Quality said Thursday. “Oregon is moving forward with a proposed rule similar to California’s Advanced Clean Cars II regulation, which is vital to help achieve greenhouse gas emission reduction targets across the state and result in improved air quality and public health outcomes,” the department said in a statement. The proposed rule would transition all new light-duty vehicle sales in the state to zero-emission by 2035. Previously the state had set a target to have at least 90% of new vehicles sold annually be zero-emission by 2035.
Massachusetts
Earlier this month, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed a sweeping climate bill into law that includes mandating that all new cars sold in the state be zero-emission starting in 2035, following California’s lead. The law also increases the state rebate for a new electric vehicle, including an additional rebate for low-income earners, and boosts charging infrastructure, among other measures.
New York
Last year, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law that sets a target to have 100% of the passenger cars and trucks sold in the state be zero-emission by 2035, and medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles by 2045.
(FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va.) — A woman was attacked by a man without pants on while she was on a popular trail in Fairfax County Virginia, according to Fairfax County Police.
Officers responded to reports that a man grabbed a woman on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail at 8:12 a.m. Friday, police said in a statement Friday.
The victim was walking east on the trail between Town Center Parkway and the Fairfax County Parkway, near mile marker 18.5, when a man approached her from behind and grabbed her around the waist, police said. She broke free from the man and saw him running toward the 12100 block of Sunset Hills Road with no pants on, according to police.
Officers and the K9 unit searched the area but the man was not found, police said.
Detectives from the Major Crimes Bureau Sex Crimes Squad have assumed the investigation and have canvassed the area looking for surveillance footage near the trail, police said.
Detectives believe the man also may have exposed himself between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. Aug. 3, Aug. 15 and Aug. 18 on the trail near the Fairfax County Parkway, police said.
The man is described as a white or Hispanic man between 5 foot 5 inches to 5 foot 8 inches tall. He is between the ages of 30 and 40 years old, has an athletic build and was wearing a dark-colored head band and a yellow exercise vest, according to police.
Anonymous tipsters are eligible for cash rewards of $100 to $1,000 dollars, police said.
