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Four dead, including two former police officers on the run, following traffic stop

November 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(SMITHSBURG, Md.) — Four people were pronounced dead following an attempted traffic stop in Maryland, as a manhunt was underway in the state for two former police officers who were considered armed and dangerous. On Thursday night, police confirmed two of the deceased were the former officers.

Three passengers were pronounced dead at the scene in Smithsburg late Thursday afternoon, including a female driver, an adult man and one child, according to Maryland State Police.

A fourth passenger, another child, was medevacked to a local hospital and pronounced dead, police said.

All four appeared to have been shot, Elena Russo, a spokesperson for Maryland State Police, said during a press briefing. The car had run off the road and hit a fence line, she said.

Maryland State Police said in a statement later Thursday that they were able to identify the deceased individuals.

The woman in the front seat of the car was Tia Bynum, 35, a former Baltimore County police officer. She was pronounced dead on the scene by emergency medical service personnel. “Bynum was wanted by the Baltimore County Police Department and considered armed and dangerous,” they said. The man in the back seat was identified as Robert Vicosa, 41, also a former police officer. He was also pronounced dead on the scene and was previously wanted for committing multiple felony crimes in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

“Police believe the two juveniles located in the back seat were Vicosa’s children,” the police department said. One was pronounced dead at the scene and the other was transported by police to Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown, where she was also pronounced dead.

Both adults and both children have been transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for autopsy, police said.

“This is a complex incident. It is going to take time,” Russo said. “We are really working hard to understand what occurred.”

Russo would not confirm Thursday afternoon if the deadly incident was related to the manhunt for former Baltimore County police officers Vicosa and Bynum, who were being sought for an alleged kidnapping and armed robbery that occurred Wednesday in Baltimore County, Maryland. Vicosa has also been accused of stealing a car in York County, Pennsylvania, and fleeing with his two young daughters earlier this week.

Russo did say that investigators believe the Smithsburg incident is potentially related to two incidents in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

“The Pennsylvania State Police were attempting a traffic stop on a car that matched the description of a suspect vehicle involved in an incident in Baltimore County,” Russo said.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan appeared to reference the incident in a statement on Twitter Thursday night, calling it a “horrific tragedy.”

“We are grieving tonight over the unfathomable loss of two innocent children in what is clearly a horrific tragedy and heinous crime,” he said. “Maryland State Police have begun what will be a thorough investigation into today’s events.”

Authorities began searching for Vicosa after he allegedly held a woman at gunpoint at a home in York County, stole her car and fled with his two daughters, ages 6 and 7, police in York County said. The stolen car was found in Red Lion, Pennsylvania, police said.

On Wednesday afternoon, Vicosa and Bynum allegedly committed a kidnapping and robbery in the Cockeysville, Maryland, area, the Baltimore County Police Department said.

Vicosa was allegedly armed with a semi-automatic handgun, police said, adding that his daughters were present during the robbery.

The suspects allegedly carjacked a man and forced him to drive them, before releasing the victim unharmed, Baltimore County Police Chief Melissa Hyatt said.

Baltimore County police said Vicosa was fired in August for several disciplinary violations, according to records obtained by Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, ABC affiliate WHTM. Police said Bynum, who was in the criminal investigations bureau, is currently suspended and stripped of police powers.

Vicosa and Bynum were believed to have been “armed with at least one handgun and possibly several semi-automatic rifles,” police said in a public alert Thursday morning.

Hyatt began her remarks at a news conference Thursday morning with a personal plea to Bynum.

“Our priority is the safety and well-being of [Vicosa’s daughters] Giana and Aaminah. Please get these two innocent and precious children to a safe location,” Hyatt said. “We want to work with you on a safe and peaceful resolution.”

She urged both suspects to “peacefully surrender to authorities.”

COVID-19 live updates: Masks cut virus incidence by 53%, new analysis finds

November 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.1 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 768,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Just 68.9% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Nov 19, 6:35 am
Austria to enter full lockdown, make vaccination mandatory

Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced Friday that the country will go into a full nationwide lockdown to curb a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections.

“We do not want a fifth wave,” Schallenberg warned.

The lockdown will begin Monday and last for at least 10 days before the situation is reassessed. If the number of new COVID-19 cases has not dropped significantly, the lockdown can be extended to a maximum of 20 days.

Under the restrictions, people will be told to work from home, non-essential shops will close and public gatherings will be canceled. Schools will remain open for students who require in-person learning, but parents have been asked to keep their children at home if possible.

COVID-19 vaccination will also become mandatory by law in Austria, starting on Feb. 1.

It’s the first country in Europe to make COVID-19 vaccines compulsory and the first to reimpose a full lockdown this winter, as the continent grapples with rising infections.

The Austrian government had initially imposed a nationwide lockdown only for the unvaccinated that began last Monday.

Nov 18, 9:11 pm
Masks cut COVID-19 incidence by 53%, new analysis finds

Mask-wearing cuts COVID-19 incidence by 53%, according to a new analysis that pooled results from multiple studies.

The analysis, published Thursday in the medical journal The BMJ, found that mask-wearing, social distancing and hand-washing were all effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19.

The bulk of the studies included in the analysis were conducted before mass vaccinations. The researchers, who were from several universities in Australia, Scotland and China, said that more studies are needed to understand the effectiveness of these public health measures in the context of widespread vaccination coverage.

-ABC News’ Guy Davies, Esra Demirel and Sony Salzman

Nov 18, 2:19 pm
Northeast, Midwest see biggest jump in cases, hospitalizations

The Northeast and Midwest are seeing the largest jump in cases and hospitalizations, according to federal data.

Twenty-seven states have seen at least a 10% jump in daily cases over the last two weeks: Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, New York City, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Eighteen states have seen at least a 10% increase in hospital admissions over the last week: Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Nov 18, 12:27 pm
Florida governor signs legislation prohibiting private employer vaccine mandates

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed legislation that prohibits private employer vaccine mandates and says employers that violate the ruling will be fined.

The legislation also states educational institutions can’t require students to be vaccinated; school districts can’t have face mask policies or quarantine healthy students; and families can “sue violating school districts.”

“Nobody should lose their job due to heavy-handed COVID mandates,” DeSantis, a Republican, said in a statement.

Scoreboard roundup — 11/18/21

November 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Miami 112, Washington 97
Golden State 104, Cleveland 89
Memphis 120, LA Clippers 108
Minnesota 115, San Antonio 90
Philadelphia 103, Denver 89
Utah 119, Toronto 103

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Pittsburgh 6, Montreal 0
Calgary 5, Buffalo 0
Toronto 2, NY Rangers 1
Florida 4, New Jersey 1
Tampa Bay 4, Philadelphia 3 (SO)
St. Louis 4, San Jose 1
Minnesota 7, Dallas 2
Columbus 5, Arizona 4 (SO)
Edmonton 2, Winnipeg 1 (SO)
Vegas 5, Detroit 2
Carolina 2, Anaheim 1
Nashville at Ottawa (Postponed)

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
New England 25, Atlanta 0

TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Kansas 88, Stony Brook 59
Xavier 71, Ohio St. 65
St. Bonaventure 67, Boise St. 61
Florida 81, Milwaukee 45

“Let the battle begin!” says New Edition, as they face off against New Kids on the Block this Sunday on the AMAs

November 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

On the American Music Awards this Sunday night on ABC, New Kids on the Block and New Edition — hailing, respectively, from the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston — will pay tribute to their hometown while facing off against each other hit for hit. New Edition‘s Ronnie DeVoe and Michael Bivins say this is something both acts have wanted to do for years.

“It’s going to be amazing — the AMAs are giving us a nice amount of time to be able to showcase our talents,” Ronnie tells ABC Audio. “And we’re able to do that in conjunction with our partners from Dorchester.”

He adds, “[F]or, at least, probably…15 years, we’ve been trying to put the mash-up together, and now is the time!”

In fact, Ronnie and Michael say that if you’ve been waiting for New Edition to take on another group in an episode of the hugely popular web series Verzuz, well, this is pretty much it.

“This is the Verzuz right here!” exclaims Ronnie. “This is like, you know, Apollo Creed and Rocky getting ready to go down on the AMAs!”

Either way, New Edition is giving the people what they want: Their performance will include not just the group’s five original members — Ronnie, Mike, Ricky Bell, Bobby Brown and Ralph Tresvant — but also Johnny Gill, who joined the group in 1987.

“Oh, yeah, we wouldn’t have it any other way,” Ronnie says. “That’s the New Edition that people have been waiting to see since 2017, when [our biopic] came out, and there was this big expectation for the rollout at that time.”

“We’re in a really good space as a crew,” he adds. “So let the battle begin!”

The 2021 American Music Awards, hosted by Cardi B, airs Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Papa Roach earns career-first ‘Billboard’ chart feat with “Kill the Noise” single

November 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Papa Roach may be over 20 years into their career, but the “Last Resort” rockers are still racking up career-firsts.

The band’s current single, “Kill the Noise,” has hit number one on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. While Jacoby Shaddix and company have certainly achieved that feat before — six times, in fact — this is the first time the Roach has led Mainstream Rock Airplay twice in one calendar year.

Prior to the ascension of “Kill the Noise,” the Papa Roach song “The Ending” spent a week at number one this past March.

“Kill the Noise” is set to appear on the next Papa Roach album, the follow-up to 2019’s Who Do You Trust? The record is also expected to include the singles “Swerve,” featuring FEVER 333‘s Jason Aalon Butler and rapper Sueco, and “Dying to Believe.”

The currently untitled album is due out in 2022.

HBO’s 2021 Rock Hall induction special premieres Saturday; Go-Go’s drummer says event was “just magnificent”

November 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony took place on October 30 in at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, and a TV special featuring highlights of the event premieres this Saturday, November 20, on HBO and HBO Max.

Among this year’s honorees were The Go-Go’s, the first all-female band to play their own instruments ever to be inducted. Go-Go’s drummer Gina Schock tells ABC Audio that getting to take part in the ceremony and the associated induction events was “just magnificent.”

Schock says it was exciting enough just finding out her band was going to be nominated, but “when you get there, your mind is blown by the enormity of it all.”

As she explains, “You’re there in front of all your peers, and it’s the industry recognizing you, basically, in a way that they haven’t [before].”

Schock says that the real focus of the event for her band was playing for their fans.

The Go-Go’s performed three of their biggest hits at the ceremony — “Vacation,” “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat” — and Gina recalls, “[I]t was cool, because when we played, everybody stood up, everybody was dancing and everybody was singing. And it really was just an incredible feeling.”

Actress Drew Barrymore gave the induction speech welcoming The Go-Go’s into the Rock Hall. Schock says some questioned her why Barrymore was picked to honor the band, but Gina notes, “[T]here couldn’t be a better person inducting us, ’cause Drew’s like a real fan. She’s been a fan since she’s been a kid.”

Schock says another highlight for her was getting to meet Paul McCartney, who was on hand to induct the Foo Fighters.

Among this year’s other inductees were Todd Rundgren, Tina Turner, Carole King and Jay-Z.

David Bowie film created from hours of rare concert footage coming from director Brett Morgen

November 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

A top-secret David Bowie film project being put together by director Brett Morgen from thousands of hours of rare performance footage of the late rock legend is nearing completion, sources have confirmed to Variety.

Morgen, whose previous films include the 2012 Rolling Stones documentary Crossfire Hurricane and 2015’s Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, has been working on the as-yet-untitled Bowie movie for four years.

Variety reports that a source close to the production describes the flick as “neither documentary nor biography, but an immersive cinematic experience built, in part, upon thousands of hours of never before seen material.”

According to sources, in addition to directing, Morgen is involved in the writing, editing and production of the movie, which will focus on live performance footage. The filmmaker also is said to be considering releasing the film in IMAX theaters.

Bowie’s longtime producer Tony Visconti is serving as the movie’s music producer, while the Oscar-winning sound team that worked on the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody is mixing and designing the film.

Morgen personally acquired the rights to use the Bowie footage, and the project is being made with the full cooperation of David’s estate.

Variety notes that the film could possibly get its premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, which is scheduled kick off January 20, less than two weeks after the fifth anniversary of Bowie’s death and what would’ve been his 75th birthday.

Last month, Bowie’s estate launched a planned yearlong celebration commemorating the 75th anniversary of his birth. David was born on January 8, 1947, and died on January 10, 2016, at age 69.

‘King Richard’ cast hopes to inspire others with powerful story about love and family

November 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

King Richard, the highly anticipated story of Venus and Serena Williams and the plan their father, Richard Williams, had to make them tennis champions hits theaters today.

The film stars Will Smith as the title character and Reinaldo Marcus Green, who directed the film, tells ABC Audio that his movie explores how Richard is a complicated man.

“Look, nobody’s perfect. But I think there is no doubt that that man loved his kids and gave a tremendous amount of time and commitment to their story and to who they are as a family,” he explained.

Venus and Serena’s mother, Oracene Williams, is played by Aunjanue Ellis and she shared the movie is a powerful story about love and family and she hopes it will inspire others.

Recalling one of her “favorite scenes” in King Richard where “Will says to Venus that she’s not just representing her, she’s representing…all the little black girls in the world,” Ellis gets emotional and shares, “I mean, that’s the movie for me.”

It’s not all rainbows and blue skies though, viewers will also see that life wasn’t easy for the family.

“We see that struggle play out for them early on in the film,” says Green. “Five girls living in one bedroom, five girls taking a really tiny VW bus, five girls hanging posters and picking up balls and what that’s like as a family.”

Ultimately, Green says it was important to make a story about an inspirational African-American family who loves and supports each other.

“There’s a huge generation of kids out there that need to see themselves, should see themselves, are worth it,” he declares. “And I think stories like this tell us that we’re worth it. And it’s through hard work and dedication, not through anything else.”

How to watch the longest partial lunar eclipse since 1440

November 18, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Skywatchers, the longest partial lunar eclipse since 1440 will take place Friday, and you’ll have the chance to view a historic cosmic wonder in the sky.

The partial eclipse is the longest of its kind, and NASA estimates it will not occur again for another 648 years.

This partial lunar eclipse will reach its highest point at 4:03 a.m. ET, for those on the East Coast and 1:03 a.m. PT, for those on West Coast. North America, South America, Eastern Asia, Australia and the Pacific region will be able to see at least part of it.

NASA predicts the eclipse will last for 3 hours, 28 minutes and 23 seconds.

The moon is pictured above Suva in Fiji on May 26, 2021, during a total lunar eclipse as stargazers across the Pacific casted their eyes skyward to witness a rare “Super Blood Moon.”
In a lunar eclipse, the sun, Earth and moon align, and the moon moves into Earth’s shadow.

This time, viewers can expect to see the moon turn red and about 99.1% of the moon will be in the Earth’s umbra, according to NASA.

NASA said the best way to see the eclipse is with binoculars or a telescope to bring out the color, but you can also go outside and just look up.

The longest total eclipse will take place on Nov. 8, 2022.

Rejecting environmentalists’ pleas, Biden administration plows ahead with oil lease auction

November 18, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration auctioned off large swaths of federally owned waters in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, raking in hundreds of millions of dollars from oil and gas companies eager to begin drilling — while stoking the ire of environmental groups.

The auction was held less than two weeks after President Joe Biden pushed countries around the world to make collective sacrifices for the sake of the planet at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

The timing was not lost on environmental groups, who called for a halt to Wednesday’s auction — and are now slamming the Biden administration for allowing it to happen.

“Today I woke up enraged, but not surprised, that Biden would choose to cater to fossil fuel corporations over our futures,” said Varshini Prakash, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, an environment-focused political group. “It speaks volumes that days after COP26 … he is approving major lease sales in the Gulf rather than doing everything in his power to stop extracting more fossil fuels.”

Wednesday’s auction yielded hundreds of bids from more than 30 oil and gas companies — including ExxonMobil, Shell, and Chevron — who collectively dished out nearly $200 million for drilling rights in 1.7 million acres of the oil-rich Gulf.

Fossil fuel extraction of this type contributes to toxic gas emissions that are responsible for climate change — a reality at odds with Biden’s pledge to halve U.S. emissions by 2030.

The situation has put Biden administration officials on the defensive. Earlier this week, Interior Department Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau spoke at a panel discussion sponsored by the University of Chicago and tried to deflect criticism of the auction, describing it as a legal requirement engineered by the Trump administration.

“The fact is, the upcoming oil lease sale … is part of the legacy system that we’re here to reform,” he said Monday.

Beaudreau did not directly address a question about why the administration had not done more to prevent the auction from taking place, but instead sought to cast blame on the Trump administration, which initially scheduled the lease sale.

“The administrative process for that lease sale had been completed during the previous administration,” Beaudreau said. “It is not the way that we would prefer to do business.”

Biden promised to end new drilling on federal lands during his presidential campaign, and in his first week in office he issued an executive order pausing the lease sales, pending a review of their environmental impact.

In June, however, a federal judge ordered the resumption of the lease sales, siding with 13 states that sued the administration for overstepping its authority.

The administration appealed the judge’s ruling, but environmental groups say the appeal came too late to impact this lease sale.

Beaudreau said the judge’s ruling left the administration “in a situation of, while we are fully committed to reforming the oil and gas program … we have to deal with the litigation, and we have to deal with the terms that we inherited from the previous administration.”

“It’s beyond frustrating that the administration is forced choose between two awful options: a massive court-mandated and climate-damaging lease sale or violating a court order and having a cabinet Secretary held in contempt of court,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “We absolutely must accelerate reform of the leasing program.”

Other environmental groups were not so satisfied with the administration’s explanation.

On Monday, protesters in New Orleans gathered to voice their discontent with the sale. In Washington, D.C., activists projected messages onto the Interior Department building, including “The Gulf is Not For Sale” and “Biden: Keep Your Promise.”

Environmental organizations also collected more than 100,000 signatures on a petition calling on Biden to uphold his commitment to ending new leasing for offshore oil and gas, which it planned to share with the administration.

A coalition of environmental groups is suing the administration to prevent the oil leases from taking effect, which the government said will occur on Jan. 1.

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