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Little Leaguer seriously injured in fall goes home from hospital: ‘So grateful’

September 21, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A Little League World Series player who was seriously injured after falling from a bunk bed while staying at the Little League World Series Complex in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, is back home in Utah after getting discharged from the hospital.

Easton Oliverson’s parents say they’re thankful to have their 12-year-old home after over a month of uncertainty.

“There were many moments this past few weeks where we didn’t think that he was ever going to be able to come home. We thought our son wasn’t going to make it,” Easton’s father Jace Oliverson told ABC News’ Good Morning America.

Easton, a baseball pitcher and left fielder, had traveled with his Snow Canyon Little League team, which hails from Santa Clara, Utah, to Pennsylvania in August to play in the Little League World Series. On the night of Aug. 15, however, he fell from a bunk bed in one of the league’s dormitories while sleeping and suffered a serious head injury, leading to a fractured skull, broken artery and epidural hematoma, a condition where bleeding occurs between the brain’s dura and the skull.

Little League players, coaches and managers are typically required to stay at the league’s complex. The dormitory where Easton was staying included bunk beds for the players to sleep on, which did not have guard railings. Since the incident, Little League Baseball officials announced they would remove all bunk beds in their dormitories.

“Since 1992, Little League has used institutional-style bunk beds to offer the most space for the players to enjoy their time in the dorms,” the league said in a statement last month. “While these beds do not have guardrails, Little League is unaware of any serious injuries ever occurring during that period of time. Out of an abundance of caution, Little League has made the decision to remove all bunks from within the dorms and have each bed frame individually on the floor.”

A photo of the beds from a parents guide of the facility shows no railings on any of the top bunks.

After the fall, Easton was airlifted to Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital in Danville, Pennsylvania, according to Little League Baseball, and had to receive surgery and treatment in an intensive care unit.

“I was told after the surgery that he was easily 30 to 45 minutes away from passing away,” Jace Oliverson told GMA in August.

While in the hospital, Easton, whose nickname is “Tank,” made big strides toward recovery. His dad told GMA that “doctors were stunned by his progression in a short amount of time.”

At the end of August, Easton was transferred to another hospital in his home state of Utah where he recovered enough to be discharged.

Now that Easton is out of the hospital, his parents remain by his side as he continues to heal.

“We’re so proud of how far he’s come and how hard he has worked. But he definitely has a lot more work to do,” Nancy Oliverson said.

“He’s home and we’re just so blessed and so grateful that he’s still with us and that he’s able to have a road of recovery with everything that this kid has had to go through since Aug. 15,” Jace Oliverson added.

The Oliversons have since filed a lawsuit against Little League Baseball and Savoy Contract Furniture, the company that made the bunk beds.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the family by Duffy + Fulginiti, a Philadelphia-based law firm, claims Little League Baseball “allow[ed] the bed to exist in a dangerous condition” and failed to “inspect the bed,” “have rails on the bed,” and failed to “properly secure the bed,” allowing Easton to fall. It accuses Savoy Contract Furniture of selling “dangerous and defective” furniture that caused Easton “significant and permanent injuries, including internal bleeding among other injuries, some or all of which are permanent in nature.”

The 12-year-old “has suffered in the past and will continue to suffer in the future, aches, pains, trauma, contusions, humiliation, embarrassment, suffering, disfigurement, and/or inconvenience” as a result of the incident, the lawsuit claims.

The suit is seeking “in excess of $50,000” plus “costs, interest, compensatory and punitive damages, and all other damages allowed by law.”

Kevin Fountain, senior director of communications at Little League International, said in a statement to Good Morning America that “it is Little League International’s policy not to comment on pending litigation.”

Savoy Contract Furniture has not issued any public statements on the lawsuit and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.

Toddler found dead in stolen car hours after deadly shooting, police say

September 21, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(HOUSTON) — A toddler was found dead inside a car that was stolen after the child’s father was shot and killed in Houston on Tuesday, police said.

“We are asking for a lot of things from the public right now,” Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite told reporters during a press conference Tuesday night. “First and foremost, to pray for this family. A mother lost her husband and she lost her 2-year-old child today. We are also asking the public’s help in identifying the suspect. He is still at large.”

The Houston Police Department received a 911 call about a shooting in the area of El Camino Rey Del Rey Street and Chimney Rock Road at around 1:46 p.m. local time on Tuesday. Upon arrival, officers found a 38-year-old man who had been shot to death, according to Satterwhite.

Investigators believe the victim was meeting with another man at the location when possibly an argument ensued. The other man took out a gun and shot the victim multiple times before stealing his black SUV and fleeing the scene, Satterwhite said.

That evening, at approximately 6:36 p.m. local time, a woman called 911 to report her husband and 2-year-old son missing. The information she provided was specific enough that police soon realized the shooting victim was her husband, according to Satterwhite.

“We never knew about the child until she called,” he told reporters.

The stolen SUV with the little boy inside was found on Elm Street, more than 10 miles away from the shooting scene. Officers shattered the windows of the locked vehicle to get to the child, then immediately tried to render aid and called for an ambulance, according to Satterwhite.

“Sadly, it was too late. The chid had passed in the car,” he said. “At this time, we don’t know why or how or what the cause of death will be. It could be something like heat exhaustion, we just don’t know. That will be determined later through autopsy.”

Investigators believe the suspect had left the car there, locked up and turned off, with the child in the backseat, according to Satterwhite.

“It’s the hardest thing we do,” he told reporters. “Children are innocent.”

The unidentified suspect, who remains on the loose, is described as a Black man wearing a white t-shirt, black shorts and a black Oakland Raiders cap.

When asked if he had a message for the suspect, Satterwhite said: “Turn yourself in. Turn yourself in now.”

Biden to push for even broader support for Ukraine at UN General Assembly

September 21, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — When he steps up to podium to deliver an address on Wednesday at the United Nation General Assembly, President Joe Biden is expected to cast the defining conflict facing global leaders as a duel between democracy and autocracy, and one with implications for every nation across the world.

The speech will be Biden’s first at the forum since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, offering him the opportunity to condemn the Kremlin in front of an audience of fellow heads of state.

“He’ll offer a firm rebuke of Russia’s unjust war in Ukraine and make a call to the world to continue to stand against the naked aggression that we’ve seen these past several months,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.

“Countries cannot conquer their neighbors by force, cannot seize an acquired territory by force,” he said. “He will speak to every country in the world — those that have joined our broad-based coalition to support Ukraine and those who so far have stood on the sidelines that now is a moment to stand behind the foundational principles of the [UN] charter.”

Thanks to the so-far unshakeable coalition of NATO allies standing behind Kyiv, Sullivan said the president was heading into summit with “the wind at his back,” and would demonstrate the administration’s commitment to offsetting the collateral impacts of the war by pledging more than $100 million to food-security efforts.

As Biden grapples with a series of complicated global issues, the high-stakes summit presents a range of challenges for the administration.

The no shows

Although U.N. General Assembly meetings offer an abundance of opportunity for face-to-face diplomacy — something the president prides himself on — two key players won’t be in attendance: the leaders of Russia and China.

“Our competitors are facing increasingly strong headwinds, and neither President Xi nor President Putin are even showing up for this global gathering,” said Sullivan.

In Russian President Vladimir Putin’s case, the most pressing of those headwinds are losses on the battlefield in Ukraine, according to administration officials.

Ahead of an engagement with his counterpart from the U.K., Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced reports that Moscow plans to hold sham referenda in occupied territories in Ukraine to pave the way to annex the territory and that Putin may move to surge additional troops to help the war effort.

“I think this is also not a surprise this is happening now. We have seen in the last weeks significant gains by Ukraine,” Blinken said. “It’s a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of Russian failure.”

But as a number of other heads of state push for negotiations for peace, the gathering won’t offer a robust opportunity for Biden to pursue that path with the leaders of the countries involved in the conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is in New York, but there are no plans for a meeting with U.S. officials on the books.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also give a speech on Wednesday, but he will do so remotely as the only leader allowed to appear virtually this year.

China’s Xi Jinping’s absence means there’s no chance of an in-person meeting with the president, something that hasn’t happened since Biden took office. And the two have an ever-growing list of differences to discuss.

The past months have seen multiple escalations, with China responding to any step perceived as the U.S. moving towards recognizing Taiwan as a sovereign state with shows of force, a strategy a senior State Department official described as an attempt to normalize military pressure.

While the administration says Washington’s long-standing One China policy remains in effect, Biden also said U.S. troops would defend Taiwan if it were attacked.

The impermanent 5?

Russia’s exalted position as one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council has thrown a significant wrench in the body’s efforts to check its aggression, prompting calls that it should be removed all together.

Biden won’t go quite that far, Sullivan said.

“It is not something that he is going to raise tomorrow, although I think the world can see that when a permanent member acts in this way it strikes at the heart of the U.N. Security Council and so that should lead everyone collectively to put pressure on Moscow to change course,” he said.

But U.S. officials appear to be aligning behind a plan. Instead of subtracting Russia from the permanent members of the council, they may seek to make additions.

A senior State Department official said that Biden would attempt to “reenergize” the push for reform by arguing the arm needs to be “more representative of the world’s population, and filled with countries that are ready to work together.”

The odds of expanding the council appear slim. Reforming its makeup would require amending the U.N. charter, a step that Russia or any other permanent member could veto.

The rest of the agenda

While the war in Ukraine is shaping up to dominate the General Assembly, administration officials have stressed they want to take on other global issues as well.

One pressing matter facing the White House is its push to return to an Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran. Indirect negotiations appear to have stalled again, and officials from both countries appear increasingly pessimistic that the pact can be renewed.

Sullivan said Biden plans to reiterate that the U.S. is open to returning to an agreement, but that he isn’t anticipating any major breakthroughs.

Even a meeting with one of the U.S.’s closest allies has its thorns. Biden will hold his first meeting with the U.K.’s new prime minister, Liz Truss, as the differences between the two’s economic policies become ever apparent.

Recently, Truss said completing a long-awaited trade deal with the U.S. was not a key priority and unlikely to happen anytime soon. But Sullivan said it would be on the president’s list.

“I do think that they will talk about the economic relationship between the U.S. and the U.K.,” Sullivan said, adding they would also hit other areas where Truss and Biden have more in common, such as support for Ukraine and addressing Europe’s energy crisis.

Blake Shelton has a special gift for contestants on his team on ‘The Voice’

September 21, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Blake Shelton has a special gift for members of his team on The Voice this season.

The country superstar took to Twitter to reveal that over the years, it’s become “tradition” for the judges to give a gift to the contestants who pick them as their coach. For season 22, the lucky people who wind up on Blake’s team will be rewarded with a camo print ice chest, complete with The Voice logo and an emblem reading “Team Blake.”

It also features insulated and water proof lining inside. “Perfect for beer and popsicles,” the hitmaker says while modeling the bag.

The ice chest was created by Land’s End, who Blake has also partnered with on a new apparel line.

Deep sea mining, solution to tech world’s mineral demand or potential ecological disaster?

September 21, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — It’s the size of the continental U.S., more than 10,000 feet deep and its recently become the center point in the debate over what’s the best way to build green products without making the environment worse off.

There is still much that is unknown about the Clarion-Clipperton Zone off Mexico’s Pacific coast, but scientists have said that the Pacific abyss is rich in minerals that are critical for renewable batteries and other green technologies.

Even though international regulators are still hammering out the rules and regulations for conducting deep sea mining, one mining executive contended to ABC News that they can extract the critical minerals from the depths of the abyss without harming the seabed.

“I mean, why on Earth shouldn’t we explore new frontiers? We need to mix it up,” Gerard Barron, the CEO of The Metals Company, a Canadian-based firm that is one of 16 companies exploring ways to mine the CCZ, told ABC News.

“The question is, what’s this impact? How can we mitigate those impacts? And how does that compare to the known impacts of land-based activity? And I think that’s a decision that society is going to have to face,” he added.

Oceanography experts, however, warn that we still know little about the ecology this deep under the sea. Even though potential mining could benefit necessary green projects, it could have unforeseen negative effects down the road.

“The worst case scenario for the environment would be driving species extinct before we even know they exist,” Matt Gianni, the co-founder, and the political and policy advisor of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, told ABC News.

The zone is between 12,000 and 18,000 feet deep and is still not fully explored, but scientists have found polymetallic nodules that are millions of years old on the ocean floor and contain nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese. These are key minerals used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, storage units and other major devices.

The U.S. government has deemed cobalt as an essential mineral because of its importance in electric vehicles and many western countries are pushing for a supply chain that relies less on minerals produced by countries like China and Russia.

Barron said that the move to more electric vehicles and non-fossil fuel energy means that the country needs to act immediately to meet the growing demand.

“People haven’t given a lot of thought to where these metals come from and what we’ve woken up to is the fact that getting new mines permanent is really challenging because of the environmental impacts,” he said.

“So, if you want to build an ecosystem that can make American batteries with secure supplies of battery raw materials, then it’s not so easy [to] just imagine up a new mine because all the good ones have been discovered and getting anything permanent is really hard,” he said.

Currently, there is no active mining project within the CCZ, as the International Seabed Authority, an intergovernmental body that oversees “mineral-resources-related activity” in seaboards has not yet signed off on deep sea mining in the zone.

In the meantime, the ISA, which doesn’t yet formally include the U.S., awarded 17 exploration contracts to state sponsors and contractors which are meant to assess mining opportunities in the CCZ seabed.

The Metals Company has three licenses and has already conducted research using sophisticated unmanned underwater tools, such as an automated underwater vehicle.

“They’re actually like rockets that fly on the ocean floor and take really detailed imagery and measurements of everything,” Barron explained.

The company also received approval from the ISA to collect 3,600 tons of nodules while an independent team of scientists studies the potential impact it would have on the surrounding systems.

Barron said his teams have identified 1.6 billion tons of polymetallic nodules in two of its three license areas in the CCZ, which is enough to produce materials for 280 million mid-sized heavy batteries.

He estimated that it would take 30 years to mine the material in CCZ. He said based on his team’s analysis there would be a minor impact on the ecosystem, because they’ve found very little life down there.

“It’s a very low-energy area,” Barron claimed.

Environmental experts, however, argue that the companies looking to mine the seabed are premature in their ecological assessments and they need to reconsider their goals.

Craig Smith, a professor of oceanography at the University of Hawaii, told ABC News that no one will really know what the mining impacts on the CCZ will be until at least one mine has been operating for a decade.

“Because the ecosystems will take millions of years to recover, no site that’s mined will recover before the last site that’s mined,” he told ABC News. “These nodule habitats will not recover.”

One possible effect would be chronic stressors to the ecosystems in the area, according to Smith who compared the issue to a loud concert.

“Many humans enjoy going to a rock concert for an hour but if they were in that noise environment 24/7, they would go deaf,” he explained.

Gianni refuted claims by mining companies the CCZ is a low-energy area with little life. He said the seabed is home to many underwater fauna and flora and there are many more species that haven’t been discovered.

He said there is concern that the mining operations would push sediment into the water and affect the food chain from the smallest fish right up to whales.

“Scientists are saying [the CCZ is] teeming with life…We’re still discovering them,” Gianni said.

He added that because of how the gradual flow of the deep sea’s ecosystem, many of those changes won’t be noticed until many decades later.

“We hope that we should learn by now from our past mistakes,” Gianni said. “There’s a lot of value to keeping it natural, exploring it, understanding what the deep ocean is…rather than just going in blind, extracting metals until we can’t get any more build cars. And then, oops, in 30, 50, [or] 100 years, future generations will say that was a big mistake.”

The concerns about deep sea mining have already prompted companies such as Google and Microsoft to make pledges that they would not use minerals from those kinds of operations.

Gianni’s group is one of many environmental organizations that have called for a moratorium on deep-sea mining, contending that the environmental risks outweigh the ecological rewards.

Barron defended his company’s plans from the criticism and contended that their latest processes will not have long-term negative impacts on the seabed.

In addition, he said his company is taking a hard look at how their presence will affect the CCZ and are willing to amend its plan.

“We’ve always said if the scientific evidence points to the fact that we shouldn’t be doing this, then we stop. That’s part of exploration,” Barron said.

Gianni contended that mining companies are rushing the process because of the increase in demand for rechargeable batteries but said that recycling older minerals will play a key role in reducing the amount of mining in the future.

He argued that more patience would go a long way to solving both environmental issues.

“We need the foresight to say let’s prevent this problem from happening before it starts taking place,” Gianni said.

Jax surprises little girl who sang her song, says fan reactions to “Victoria’s Secret” are “the actual dream”

September 21, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Last month, Jax posted an adorable video of a little Scottish girl named Rosie Mae singing her song “Victoria’s Secret” at summer camp. Now, she’s posted a TikTok detailing how she surprised Rosie Mae and her mom by calling them up, flying them and one of Rosie Mae’s friends to LA and making a video with them. Jax said Rosie Mae’s and others’ reactions to “Victoria’s Secret” have made her completely “shift her priorities.”

The singer said “the obvious feats as a songwriter” — like where the song is on the charts or having a certain number of followers — have been “really hard for me to process because it was so quick.” That’s why, she told ABC Audio, “The only thing that’s really, really made me like super-emotional about this process is getting to see videos like that.”

She noted, “Knowing that I helped a girl that is like way younger than me…I wish I would have had that when I was that age, and there were couple of like pop stars I looked up to and stuff like that. So, like, that’s the actual dream. My priorities actually completely shifted after this song.”

Jax explained that she’s now stopped “stressing out about the numbers” and added, “Honest, it’s singular interactions, like at the airport and in the bathroom at a restaurant…those reactions are what’s keeping me super-inspired.”

“My heart is just beyond, beyond, beyond full right now,” she added. “So it’s really, really cool.”

Taylor Swift announces new series ’Midnights Mayhem With Me’, reveals track name

September 21, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Taylor Swift is getting creative with her upcoming tenth studio album Midnights

In a TikTok shared at midnight Wednesday, the “evermore” singer announced a new series where she’ll reveal the track list for her hotly anticipated album one by one.

“It’s me. Hi,” she began in the video. “I know that I have a habit of dropping cryptic clues and Easter egg when giving you information about new music and I’m not here to deny that, but I am here to defy that. Welcome to a new series I’m calling Midnights Mayhem With Me.“

Pointing to a Bingo cage beside her, the pop star explained, that there are 13 balls inside of the cage each marked with a number representing the 13 tracks on her upcoming project.

“I am going to be using this technologically advanced device to help me allow fate to decide exactly what track titles I’m going to be announcing and in what order,” she said. “So let’s leave it up to fate.”

Taylor then gave the hopper a whirl until the ball with the number 13 rolled out and, as promised, revealed that the title of that track is “Mastermind.”

There was no mention of when fans can expect the remaining episodes.

Midnights is set to be released October 21.

Catch Weezer on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ ahead of ’SZNZ: Autumn’ drop

September 21, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The season is once again changing, which means that Weezer is about to drop a new EP.

Rivers Cuomo and company will drop the latest installment of their SZNZ project, SZNZ: Autumn, this Thursday, September 22, which is the first day of fall.

A new Weezer SZNZ EP also means another performance on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! as part of the band’s “seasonal residency” with the show. You can tune in to watch Wednesday night at 11:35 p.m. ET.

Weezer first launched SZNZ earlier this year with the Spring EP in March, followed by Summer in June. The fourth and final installment, Winter, is due out in December.

In addition to the Kimmel residency, Weezer had also booked a SZNZ-themed Broadway residency for September, but it was canceled due to what Cuomo called “low ticket sales and unbelievably high expenses.”

Here’s the SZNZ: Autumn track list:

“Can’t Dance, Don’t Ask Me”
“Get Off on the Pain”
“What Happens After You”
“Francesca”
“Should She Stay or Should She Go”
“Tastes Like Pain”
“Run, Raven, Run”

Omarion offers keys to wellness in his new book

September 21, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Mental health has been a constant trending topic during the pandemic, and now Omarion is offering his keys to wellness in his new book.

The former B2K lead singer published Unbothered: The Power of Choosing Joy, on September 13. This is his second book, following O in 2005.

“Being unbothered is about emotional intelligence, unbothered is giving yourself space to create the life that you want instead of reacting to life,” the “Post to Be” singer tells Rolling Out. “Being thoughtless, responding to life, and being thoughtful. That’s what being unbothered is all about. I have journal prompts, mantras, yantras, and affirmations. This book is what I would call the power for people that want to create wellness in their life.”

In Unbothered, Omarion shows how he has centered his life around holistic wellness, detailing the practices he uses including breathing exercises, meditation, yoga, dancing, and ancient mantras.

Omarion says his book provides a guide on how to improve mental health.

“This is a full circle moment for me because, through all of the ups and downs as artists, you have to ask yourself, ‘Why am I going through this?’ For it to manifest into a book and a tool that not only I use, but that can be useful to someone else is an amazing feeling,” he continues.

After over 20 years as a recording artist, Omarion says the book is one of the most intense projects of his career.

“It took me a year and a half to write this book, so this is the densest work that I’ve ever done,“ the BET and Soul Train Music award winner says. “So to be able to inspire, which is the highest human act, feels good.”

As Luke Combs scores another #1 hit, he’s “real thankful” for his team behind-the-scenes

September 21, 2022 by WDNY Radio

As Luke Combs‘ career continues to skyrocket, he’s intentional about keeping trustworthy people around him, especially the songwriters he’s been working with since the start of his career.

Since moving to Nashville in 2014, Luke continues to work with the same songwriters that he did when he was an unknown artist, including Ray Fulcher, Randy Montana and Dan and Randy Isbell. Noting that his circle of songwriting collaborators is close-knit, Luke says that he feels grateful to have that sense of consistency in his life.

“I’m lucky that those people have been really talented and willing to share their ideas with me and share their songs and stories with me and be willing to go out of their way to make time to write with me, especially when they didn’t have any reason to, other than that they believed in what I was doing or believed in my voice or my shows,” Luke expresses. “So I would really give all the credit to those folks.”

In addition to his writing partners, the hitmaker also acknowledges the team of people behind-the-scenes who’ve made his career a success, sharing that the only pressure he feels is to honor their hard work and dedication.

“There’s so many other people that make this thing tick, and I think those people hardly ever get the credit that they deserve. I’m the guy that gets to be on the interviews and on the album covers, but there should be 250 faces on the front of that thing to make it happen,” he says. “I’m real thankful for those people and the only pressure I would feel is to continue to make those people proud.”

Luke achieved his 14th consecutive #1 hit this week with “The Kind of Love We Make.”

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