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June 14 primaries key takeaways: Trump’s political sway renewed as SC ousts one of his critics

June 15, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — As former President Donald Trump’s presidential legacy is tested in Washington this week, with the Jan. 6 hearings dominating Capitol Hill, his political power — and the sway of his election denying — saw a renewed test in the midterm primaries in a handful of states.

Voters took the polls in South Carolina, Nevada, Maine, North Dakota and Texas’ 34 Congressional District Tuesday night, delivering historic turnout numbers and allowing voters to give Republicans who defied the former president a second chance at keeping their jobs, and some Democrats to lose theirs.

Here are some of the key takeaways from Tuesday’s races:

Trump finally lands incumbent ouster

While Trump’s had some success in backing candidates in open races, he’s had major difficulty in knocking off their perch incumbent members of his party who have challenged him in some way, putting aside the score of Trump-scorned Republicans who have decided to not seek re-election.

But finally, on Tuesday, Trump was able to handedly bump one of the most vocal off that list, Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina, rendering him out of a job come November.

Rice was one of the ten Republicans who voted for Trump’s impeachment, a “conservative vote” he told ABC News’ Jon Karl that he would make again in a heartbeat, even if it cost him his job. And lost his job he did, to MAGA-world challenger Russell Fry, who was quick to paint Rice as a traitor to his party. The demographic makeup of Rice’s district, toward the northern border of the state where voters trend far more conservative, may have also contributed to the massive backlash against Rice, pushing folks toward Fry’s direction.

Now, with newly-won swagger, Trump will undoubtedly charge on to defeat another impeachment-vote member of his party, and perhaps his biggest enemy yet, in Wyoming: Rep. Liz Cheney. The question remains: can lightning — and political luck — strike twice?

Nancy Mace’s tightrope walk pays off in Trump proxy war

Totally flipped dynamics greeted South Carolina’s 1st District, where Trump was wholly unsuccessful in booting a challenger in Rep. Nancy Mace, who carried her primary win by at least 10 points. Mace defeated cybersecurity expert Katie Arrington, who beat Rep. Mark Sanford in his primary in 2018 but ultimately lost the race to Rep. Joe Cunningham, who historically flipped the district Democrat during the slate of “blue wave races.”

Arrington bet that voters in the low country would see Mace as something of a flip-flop, first condemning Trump hard after the Capitol insurrection and eventually softening her attacks. But that bet didn’t pay off, partly thanks to a bench of heavy hitter South Carolina endorsements for Mace, including former Gov. Nikki Haley and Trump Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.

Another interesting dynamic in Mace’s race is the endorsement cold war of sorts. The proxy battle between potential 2024 candidates — Haley and Trump — falls squarely in Haley’s camp, the beginning of a nice set up for a highly gossiped about bid for the White House. So far, a good record for Haley, who said in the past she’d bow out of consideration if Trump decides to run. But if Haley notches a few other primary wins, who knows? There may be a spot for her against Trump after all.

Trump seems to be trying to save face a little, saying on Truth Social Tuesday night that Arrington was a “long shot” and Mace will “easily” be able to defeat a Democratic opponent come November.

Big Lie gets big win in Nevada senate race

Voters in Nevada seem to not be scared of a little election denial. Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt’s open-armed embrace of conspiracy surrounding the 2020 presidential election helped him notch a win in the state’s GOP Senate Primary. Laxalt, who hails from a state political dynasty, bested political outsider Sam Brown who tried and failed to paint Laxalt as cozy with party insiders.

Still, a roster of Republican stars, nearly all of whom are rumored to join the crowded contest for president in 2024, backed Laxalt’s bid, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (Laxalt’s former roommate, funnily enough), Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Tom Cotton, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

He’ll see if that flock of support will be enough to kick Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto out of office. She sails to the general election contest with no serious challengers and now must answer not just to Laxalt but to voters increasingly frustrated with the concurrent fallout of the pandemic, inflation and other economic woes that hit the tourist-driven state.

Experts eye fall deals as domestic flight prices skyrocket

June 15, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Prices for flights this summer have skyrocketed at unprecedented rates, and some travel experts say that travelers looking for deals should start planning for fall trips.

Domestic flight prices have jumped by 47% since January, according to an Adobe Analytics report released Thursday. The cost of domestic airfare also increased 6.2% from April to May, the report said.

“We expected to see elevated demand leading into 2022,” Patrick Brown, vice president of growth marketing insights at Adobe, said. “And consumers have been spending at twice the rate that they have over last year, but prices have grown even faster than the demand has grown.”

Brown also said the price increase “hasn’t dampened the demand for travel.”

“Despite the high increases in prices month over month, we’re seeing consumers still booking their travel while they’re looking for other ways to do it and getting creative about when to travel,” Brown said.

However, travel experts said there are still a few ways travelers can find affordable travel options or more room in their travel budget.

Scott Keyes, the founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights, said cheap flights “aren’t gone forever,” but they are for travelers looking to book this summer.

“It’s really too late to get a great deal for your summer travels, but that’s because it’s already June,” Keyes told ABC News.

Keyes said there are still “a ton of deals to be had” for those looking to book fall or winter vacations. For the same seven-day trip from Los Angeles to Maui, waiting a few months could save travelers more than 70%, according to Scott’s Cheap Flights.

“Flights on July 1 through 8 from Los Angeles to Maui are $725 roundtrip,” Keyes said. “But flights from L.A. to Maui on Sept. 1 through 8 are just $161 round trip.”

But Keyes says to get those deals, travelers need to book now.

“My recommendation is book those fall flights now while fares are really cheap and give yourself a trip on the books to look forward to that you get to daydream about,” Keyes said.

For travelers who have already booked flights or are still looking for destinations, the strength of the U.S. dollar could mean more bang for your buck in some foreign destinations, according to Haley Berg, an economist at the booking platform Hopper.

“The dollar has appreciated compared to many local currencies, Mexican pesos is one of them,” Berg said. “So many of those Central American and Caribbean countries might be more attractive to visit this summer than in previous years as well.”

The U.S. dollar’s strength will especially benefit travelers to Europe this summer, where the Euro has depreciated by nearly 15%. Berg said that even though prices for airfare to Europe are up, the dollar parity will help travelers stay in budget.

“When you’re there shopping, staying at hotels, eating out, your dollars will go about 6% further than in 2019,” Berg said.

Study on child hepatitis cases points to prior COVID infection, but experts say too soon to know

June 15, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A new study points to prior COVID-19 infection as a possible culprit for the global wave of severe hepatitis cases among children — though experts caution the true cause is still a medical mystery.

Researchers in Israel added evidence for the theory in a small study published in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, suggesting some children might develop liver inflammation in the weeks after recovering from a mild COVID-19 infection.

While the root cause of the pediatric hepatitis outbreak is still unknown, experts say the leading theories include COVID-19 infection, infection with a common cold virus, or an interplay between the two infections, according to Dr. Alok Patel, a pediatric hospitalist at Stanford Health and an ABC News medical contributor.

In a new twist, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis published Tuesday found that there may not be a spike in cases at all — at least not in the United States. CDC scientists said the number of severe hepatitis cases observed in recent weeks is relatively consistent with pre-pandemic levels, but urged public health authorities to continue to monitor the situation.

“I think it is too early as CDC [is] looking at U.S. data and U.S. has not been hit as hard as other countries like U.K.,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco.

More than 700 children across the globe have been found to have probable cases of severe hepatitis with an unknown cause, officials from the World Health Organization said in a press conference last Wednesday.

At least 38 children have required a liver transplant, and 10 children have died, the WHO says. Additionally, 112 cases are also under investigation, and a total of 34 countries have reported cases to date.

As the mystery deepens, scientists across the globe are racing to understand whether — and why — children are falling ill with severe hepatitis in higher numbers.

Severe hepatitis, or liver inflammation, is often prompted by an infection, but not always. It is unusual among children, and most often seen in adults who have been living with alcoholism or an undiagnosed infection for decades, slowly causing liver damage.

During a global investigation, the WHO found that about two-thirds of children tested positive for a common cold virus called adenovirus 41 — which quickly became one of the leading theories. Only about 12% of children had COVID-19 at the time they developed severe hepatitis.

Because most of the children were too young to be vaccinated, the COVID-19 vaccine was ruled out as a possible cause.

“The latest Israeli study adds just a little gasoline to the fire to try to understand the causes of the mysterious hepatitis in children,” said Chin-Hong.

However, he said the study was too small to be conclusive.

In the study, researchers described five cases of children ranging from 3 months to 13 years old who recovered from COVID-19 and later developed severe liver inflammation, some requiring liver transplants.

If true, this type of delayed reaction to a COVID-19 infection would mirror the rare multi-organ syndrome MIS-C that affects children weeks and sometimes months after COVID-19 infection.

It’s possible children may be experiencing “an autoimmune reaction from a viral infection causing hepatitis, where the child’s immune system attacks their own liver cells in an attempt to combat the virus,” said Dr. Madhu Vennikandam, a gastroenterology fellow at Sparrow Health System.

However, the CDC cautions the cause remains unknown and a global research effort spearheaded by the WHO is ongoing.

“The silver lining in all of this is that vaccines for children under 5 are on the cusp of approval in the U.S.,” said Chin-Hong.

If COVID-19 indeed “has a central role to play in all of this, we should eventually start seeing cases drop,” he said.

Two police officers die of injuries after being shot while responding to call in California

June 15, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(EL MONTE, Calif.) — Two police officers have died after being shot in El Monte, California, Tuesday while responding to a possible stabbing at a motel, authorities said.

The El Monte Police Department said two officers “immediately took gunfire upon arrival” at the Siesta Inn.

The officers were taken to LAC-USC Medical Center, where they died of their injuries, ABC News Los Angeles station KABC-TV reported.

The suspect was also shot and died at the scene, according to KABC.

Neither the police officers nor the suspect have been identified, and additional details about the incident were not immediately available.

“There are no words to describe our grief and devastation by this senseless act as we learned about the passing of two of our police officers,” the city, police department and El Monte Police Officers Association said in a statement. “It weighs heavy on our hearts and we are sending our support to their families. We would also like to thank the El Monte community and our surrounding government agencies for the outpouring support we have received in the last few hours.”

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has taken over the investigation, the El Monte Police Department said.

El Monte is east of Los Angeles.

Miranda Lambert honors mom, grandma with Wanda June Home collection

June 15, 2022 by WDNY Radio

With her new home goods collection, Wanda June Home, Miranda Lambert is paying homage to the generations of women who came before her.

Named after her mother, Beverly June, and her grandmother Wanda Coker, the country star’s kitchen and home decor line is inspired by her own kitchen that marries southwestern flair with farm chic. Products range from vintage striped porcelain dishware to a fringe pillow and flatware displaying phrases like “bless your heart” and “hot stuff.”

“They both taught me everything I know about being a woman and how to make a warm home full of laughter, love and memories. That’s really the heart of my Wanda June Home brand,” Miranda said in a statement about her mother and grandma. “The products are a physical representation of a long line of beautiful memories with amazing women.”

Wanda June Home is available exclusively at Walmart, where the singer’s grandfather used to be a greeter.

HomeGoods store evacuated after armed man makes threats

June 15, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(ATLANTA) — An armed man is in custody after officials say he threatened people inside a HomeGoods store in the Atlanta area.

The HomeGoods in Alpharetta, about 25 miles from Atlanta, was evacuated as were the neighboring businesses, authorities told reporters.

There were no reports of shots fired, the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety said.

“The manager came out of the office and she just told all of us to run,” one HomeGoods employee told ABC Atlanta affiliate WSB-TV.

Authorities said the suspect, who has not been identified, was located in the store and contained at 12:20 p.m. Police said negotiators tried to speak with him.

At 1:28 p.m., authorities announced that the suspect had been taken into custody.

After Trump exits DC hotel, celebrity chef José Andrés returns with new restaurant

June 15, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Celebrity chef José Andrés on Monday announced plans to open a restaurant in the Old Post Office, the Washington landmark which recently reopened as the Waldorf Astoria Washington D.C. after operating for five years as the Trump International Hotel.

“People of DC big news! Today after a dream of 30 years I’m announcing we will open @bazaarbyjose in the Old Post Office!” Andrés tweeted. “Building longer tables in the heart of our nation’s capital, welcoming people from across the city & the world.”

The new restaurant follows Donald Trump’s company agreeing to sell its hotel lease in May.

It’s not the first time Andrés has planned to have a location in the complex — or the first time his career overlapped with Trump. According to The Washington Post, Andrés was in progress on the $7 million Topo Atrio, at Trump International, when Trump launched his 2016 presidential candidacy.

The chef split with Trump after the latter, then a businessman and reality TV show host, announced his campaign at an event in New York where he notoriously disparaged some immigrants.

Andrés subsequently sought to exit their partnership and a legal battle ensued. (It was settled in 2017.)

The chef went on to repeatedly, publicly criticize Trump-the-politician, tweeting in 2017 that Trump’s continued behavior only reaffirmed his decision to pull out of the hotel partnership.

The forthcoming eatery, The Bazaar by José Andrés, has locations in Chicago, Miami’s South Beach and in Las Vegas. It offers a “vibrant mix of sophisticated cuisine” and “playful lounge spaces,” according to the restaurant’s Twitter.

A hotel spokesperson told ABC News they “look forward to sharing more details about new partnerships in the coming months” but that “with a long history of innovation across the culinary industry, Waldorf Astoria creates iconic, award-winning dining experiences at its landmark locations worldwide. We are continuing that tradition with exciting food and beverage concepts at our newest hotel.”

In a video Andrés — whose humanitarian organization World Central Kitchen is also working to provide meals to Ukrainians during the Russian invasion — tweeted with his announcement on Monday, he took in the historic bells of the Old Post Office ringing in the background.

“For whom the bells toll?” he asked. “Well, for a new restaurant by José Andrés at the Old Post Office.”

Photos capture election-night tension at White House as Trump family, aides watch lead fade away

June 15, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A series of photos taken on election night 2020 inside the Trump White House captures the tension as Donald Trump’s family and his top aides track election returns and see Trump’s early lead fade away.

The photos, taken by a White House photographer and published exclusively in the book, Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show, are a visual representation of the testimony of senior Trump advisers who told the House Jan. 6 committee that they did not believe Trump should declare victory on election night.

The photos show Trump’s family and campaign team camped out in the Map Room of the White House.

The room, located in the basement of the White House residence, is where President Franklin Delano Roosevelt tracked the movement of Allied Forces during World War II.

It’s called the Map Room because some of the maps used by FDR are framed and on the walls.

For election night, however, Trump’s political team transformed the room in to a campaign war room, installing large-screen televisions and placing them over FDR’s maps.

The photos capture the apparently pained expressions on the faces of Trump’s inner circle.

According to a source who is shown in at least one of the photos, they were taken as the campaign’s analysts, who had been more confident early in the evening, became concerned Trump could lose.

The photos feature some of Trump’s most prominent advisers, including chief of staff Mark Meadows, campaign manager Bill Stepien, senior strategist Jason Miller, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

Also present are several Trump family members, including Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Lara Trump.

In videotaped testimony released Monday by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, Stepien said Trump was “increasingly unhappy” on election night as votes were counted and he started to lose.

Stepien, Miller and other key aides urged Trump not to declare victory that night.

“My belief, my recommendation was to say that votes were still being counted, it’s too early to tell, too early to call the race,” Stepien said in a clip of his interview with the committee played during Monday’s hearing.

Trump, he said, “thought I was wrong,” and would instead declare victory at the White House early the next morning on the advice of Rudy Giuliani, who Miller said was “definitely intoxicated” on election night.

Giuliani on Tuesday challenged Miller’s testimony and denied being drunk on election night at the White House.

Steve Miller Band’s ‘Abracadabra’ album released 40 years ago today

June 15, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the Steve Miller Band‘s 12th studio album, Abracadabra.

Powered by the chart-topping title track, Abracadabra peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 and was the group’s last album to enjoy significant commercial success in the U.S. The song “Abracadabra” spent two nonconsecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September of ’82. The tune was only one of two tracks that frontman Steve Miller wrote on the album, along with “Give It Up.”

Steve Miller Band drummer Gary Mallaber co-wrote the album’s remaining eight songs, four of which in collaboration with Miller Band guitarist John Massaro.

“Cool Magic” and the aforementioned “Give It Up” were also released as singles, although they only reached #57 and #60, respectively, on the Hot 100.

“Abracadabra” is the Steve Miller Band’s final top-40 hit to date. Its popularity was bolstered by a music video that received heavy airplay on MTV.

The album, which was co-produced by Miller and Mallaber, has been certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales of over 1 million copies in the U.S.

Here’s the full Abracadabra track list:

“Keeps Me Wondering Why”
“Abracadabra”
“Something Special”
“Give It Up”
“Never Say No”
“Things I Told You”
“Young Girl’s Heart”
“Goodbye Love”
“Cool Magic”
“While I’m Waiting”

James Patterson apologizes for saying that white male writers face a “form of racism”

June 15, 2022 by WDNY Radio

James Patterson is apologizing for his statement that white male writers face a “form a racism.”

Taking to Twitter Tuesday, the 75-year-old author wrote, “I apologize for saying white male writers having trouble finding work is a form of racism. I absolutely do not believe that racism is practiced against white writers.”

“Please know that I strongly support a diversity of voices being heard—in literature, in Hollywood, everywhere,” he added.

The apology comes after Patterson expressed his struggle to find work in the film, theater, TV, and publishing industries, calling it “just another form of racism,” in an interview published in The Sunday Times on June 12.

“What’s that all about?” he continued. “Can you get a job? Yes. Is it harder? Yes. It’s even harder for older writers. You don’t meet many 52-year-old white males.”

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