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22-year-old woman vanishes while documenting cross-country trip with boyfriend

September 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Courtesy Nichole Schmidt and Joseph Petito

(NEW YORK) — A family is desperate for answers after their 22-year-old daughter disappeared while on a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend this summer.

Florida residents Gabby Petito and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, embarked on the journey in July in their white Ford Transit van from New York — where Petito is originally from, her family told ABC News.

The couple had made stops in Colorado and Utah, with Instagram posts showing them at the Mystic Hot Springs in Utah on July 26 and on a large rock structure at Arches National Park in Grand County, Utah, on Aug. 12.

Petito had planned to document the trip on her YouTube channel “Nomadic Statik.” The sole video, posted on Aug. 19, featured an eight-minute compilation of the couple’s adventures so far.

Petito was last seen on Aug. 24 checking out of a hotel with Laundrie in Salt Lake City, her family said. She last spoke to her mother, Nichole Schmidt, on Aug. 24, when she informed her that she and Laundrie were on their way to Grand Teton, Wyoming, and Yellowstone National Park, Schmidt told ABC News.

“She sounded good and excited to continue her trip and excited to start her YouTube channel,” Schmidt said in tears. “She seemed OK.”

Schmidt said she did not think much for the first few days when she had not heard from her daughter. But after those passed, she began to worry.

“A few days is one thing when you’re out camping, but when it starts to become seven, eight, nine, 10 days, that’s a problem,” Schmidt said.

Petito’s last Instagram post on Aug. 25 showed her holding a miniature pumpkin, captioned “Happy Halloween.” The post was not geotagged. Schmidt said she has received two text messages from Petito’s phone since they last spoke, but they did not include any photos or details of the trip, so it is not clear whether Petito actually sent those texts.

Petito’s family is continuing to plead for help in locating their daughter.

“We don’t know where she is,” her father, Joseph Petito, told ABC News.

Laundrie has since returned to the couple’s home in North Port, Florida, with their van, according to authorities. Petito was reported missing by her family to the Suffolk County Police Department in New York on Saturday.

The North Port Police Department in Florida wrote in a statement on Facebook that while there is “no definitive information that a crime took place here in North Port … the circumstances are odd.” Investigators in Florida are actively gathering evidence and details “to assist in finding needed answers,” the police department said. The FBI is also assisting in the investigation.

Laundrie’s family said in a statement that the family hopes Petito is found but did not provide any further comment.

“This is understandably an extremely difficult time for both the Petito family and the Laundrie family,” the statement, released by Steven P. Bertolino, an attorney for the family, read. “It is our understanding that a search has been organized for Miss Petito in or near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. On behalf of the Laundrie family, it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is re-united with her family. On the advice of counsel, the Laundrie family is remaining in the background at this juncture and will have no further comment.”

Petito’s stepmother, Tara Petito, described her as an “amazing artist” who “loved natural beauty.”

“She always tried to smile and make people smile, you know, always enjoying every moment,” Joseph Petito said.

Petito’s family is continuing to plead for help in locating their daughter.

“We don’t know where she is,” her father, Joseph Petito, told ABC News.

Laundrie’s family said in a statement that the family hopes Petito is found but did not provide any further comment.

Petito’s stepmother, Tara Petito, described her as an “amazing artist” who “loved natural beauty.”

“She always tried to smile and make people smile, you know, always enjoying every moment,” Joseph Petito said.

G-Eazy was arrested and charged with assault last week

September 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

G-Eazy was arrested last week in New York City and charged with assault, ABC News has confirmed.

The rapper and his crew got into the fight with two men inside the Boom Boom Room at the Standard Hotel in New York’s trendy Meatpacking District nightclub early Friday morning. A 29-year-old man was hit with a bottle, while a 32-year-old man was punched on the street outside the club.

The two men later reported the assault to police, and G-Eazy was issued a desk appearance ticket yesterday for assault. He will appear in court next month. This didn’t affect the rapper’s weekend, though: He went on to appear at the MTV VMAs on Sunday night in Brooklyn.

In other G-Eazy news, the video for his collaboration with Carlos Santana and chart-topping songwriter Diane Warren, “She’s On Fire,” just dropped on Tuesday. The song appears on Diane’s debut album Diane Warren: The Cave Sessions and Santana’s upcoming album, Blessings & Miracles.

Pop Smoke’s family cleans his gravesite following weekend vandalism

September 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Vandals seriously damaged destroyed Pop Smoke‘s gravesite over the weekend, and on Monday, his family spent the day cleaning the area.

“Whoever you are, you have my attention. Now what!?” his mother, Audrey Jackson, wrote on Instagram with photos and video of the destruction. “We sat and talked to each other and to him,” she added.

TMZ reports that Pop Smoke’s marble plaque, displaying his birth name, Bashar Barakah Jackson, at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, was broken. Police visited the cemetery Sunday afternoon after an employee discovered the crypt was vandalized. Damage is estimated at $500.

The five-time Billboard Music Award winner was shot and killed at age 20 on Feb. 19, 2020 during a home invasion in Los Angeles. Both of his albums, 2020’s Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, and Faith in 2021, which were released after his death, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.

Pop is also featured on Kanye West‘s new Donda album, and on September 30, the late rapper will be honored with the Voice of Hope award at the Songs of Hope gala in Los Angeles

Play Bastille’s “Thelma + Louise” racing game

September 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Bastille has released a racing computer game celebrating the release of the band’s latest single, “Thelma + Louise.”

In the game, you play as a pixelated version of one of the four band members as you race nine other drivers on a desert or city track. It doesn’t appear that you can drive off the Grand Canyon, as seen in the 1991 movie Thelma & Louise, but maybe we haven’t gotten to that level yet.

“Thelma + Louise” the song premiered in August. It’s the third new Bastille song of 2021, following “Distorted Light Beam” and “Give Me the Future.”

Meanwhile, a new Bastille album, the follow-up to 2019’s Doom Days, is in the works.

Watch Tai Verdes & 24kGoldn make lemonade — literally — in new video for “A-O-K”

September 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Last week, Tai Verdes released a new version of his breakout single, “A-O-K” with 24kGoldn. Now the two artists have teamed up for a video full of summer fun.

As Tai sings in the song, “When I see trouble come my way/I be makin’ lemonade” — and that’s just what he and Goldn do in the clip, setting up a lemonade stand, mixing up several pitchers full, and handing them out to appreciative customers.

Goldn uses the refreshing beverage to get on the good side of a beautiful girl who stops by, and soon the two are hanging out in a convertible and walking a dog together. The “Mood” singer and Tai also take a dip in a swimming pool, and dance and sing poolside. A barbecue and pink flamingos complete the summer vibe.

Tai is currently on the road with Quinn XCII and Chelsea Cutler, which will be followed by a headlining tour that starts November 2 in Houston.

Newly discovered fossils named after Gojira

September 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Gojira has inspired the names of a trio of newly discovered fossils.

The fossils are of ophiuroids, or ‘brittle stars,’ found in France, Luxembourg and Austria during the Early Jurassic epoch. They’re called Ophiogojira labadiei, Ophiogojira andreui and Ophioduplantiera noctiluca.

In addition to incorporating Gojira into the names, each fossil also references the individual band members: bassist Jean-Michel Labadie, guitarist Christian Andreu, and frontman and drummer Joe and Mario Duplantier.

An article in the Royal Society Open Science journal explains that Gojira was chosen as inspiration for the fossil names in recognition of the French metal outfit “producing songs of an unfathomable intensity, beautifully dark and heavy, and exploring the abyss of life and death, of human strength and error, and of thriving and yet threatened oceans.”

Fittingly, Gojira’s new album, Fortitude, especially the single “Amazonia,” deals a lot with environmental issues.

By the way, Gojira isn’t the only metal band part of science history. Metallica previously inspired the name of a deep-sea crustacean, while a venomous snake species was named after frontman James Hetfield.

Maren Morris’ “The Bones” is RIAA-certified four times Platinum

September 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Maren Morris proves that “The Bones” are still solid, as the hit song receives new certification.

The crossover smash has been certified four-times Platinum by the RIAA for sales of four million units. “The Bones” made history when it spent 19 consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 2020, designating Maren as the first solo female artist to have a multi-week #1 hit on country radio since 2012. It also charted inside the top 15 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.

Featured on her critically acclaimed sophomore album, Girl, “The Bones” was named Single of the Year and Song of the Year at the 2020 CMA Awards and Song of the Year at the 2021 Academy of Country Music Awards.

Maren’s current single, “To Hell and Back,” is currently ascending into the top 30 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.

Special screenings of The Doors’ ‘Live at the Bowl ’68’ film, with bonus features, scheduled for November

September 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Courtesy of Mercury Studios/Trafalger Releasing

An updated version of the Doors concert film Live at the Bowl ’68, along with bonus content, will be screened in select theaters on November 4 to celebrate the 50th anniversary this year of the band’s classic album, L.A. Woman.

The screening event, dubbed The Doors: Live at the Bowl ’68 Special Edition, will feature the full movie, as well as footage of a new performance by surviving Doors drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger joined by various guest musicians, plus a conversation with Densmore, Krieger and the group’s manager, Jeff Jampol.

Tickets for the screenings go on sale starting September 21 at TheDoorsFilm.com.

Live at the Bowl ’68, which originally was released in 2012, features restored footage of a July 5, 1968, show that The Doors played at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles that’s widely considered to be one of the band’s best performances caught on film. An album featuring select songs from the same concert was released in 1987 under the title Live at the Hollywood Bowl.

The “Special Edition” of Live at the Bowl ’68 boasts a remastered audio mix in Dolby ATMOS and 5.1 surround sound created by longtime Doors engineer Bruce Botnick, who recorded the original Hollywood Bowl show and co-produced L.A. Woman.

“The magic that has been done to enhance the picture and sound quality of this show will make everyone feel as though they have a front-row seat at the Hollywood Bowl,” says Krieger.

As previously reported, an expanded 50th anniversary reissue of L.A. Woman will be released on December 3.

Here’s the full Live at the Bowl ’68 song list:

Show Start/Intro
“When the Music’s Over”
“Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)”
“Back Door Man”
“Five to One”
“Back Door Man” (Reprise)
“The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)”
“Hello, I Love You”
“Moonlight Drive”
“Horse Latitudes”
“A Little Game”
“The Hill Dwellers”
“Spanish Caravan”
“Hey, What Would You Guys Like to Hear?”
“Wake Up!”
“Light My Fire”
“Light My Fire” (Segue)
“The Unkown Soldier”
“The End” (Segue)
“The End”

Norm Macdonald, influential comic and ‘Saturday Night Live’ star, dead at 61

September 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Norm Macdonald, stand-up comic, actor, and one of the most influential and well-remembered anchors on Saturday Night Live‘s “Weekend Update” news desk, has died. He was 61.

His producing partner and friend, Lori Jo Hoekstra, who was with the comedian when he passed away, confirmed Macdonald’s death to ABC News. Macdonald had been privately battling cancer for nearly 10 years, and kept it hidden from fans, friends, and even family.

“He was most proud of his comedy. He never wanted the diagnosis to affect the way the audience or any of his loved ones saw him,” said Hoekstra in a statement. “Norm was a pure comic. He once wrote that ‘a joke should catch someone by surprise, it should never pander.’ He certainly never pandered. Norm will be missed terribly.”

Born in Quebec City, Canada, Macdonald developed a dry style on the stand-up stage, which eventually led him to a 1990 appearance on Star Search, and eventually into the writers room of another stand-up, Roseanne Barr. Macdonald wrote for the sitcom Roseanne in 1992 before landing the Saturday Night Live gig.

In addition to his landmark stint behind the Weekend Update desk — where his constant questions about O.J. Simpson during the latter’s murder trial reportedly landed him in hot water with NBC executives — Macdonald’s imitation of Burt Reynolds also made him a fan favorite.

Macdonald also appeared on the big screen over the years, with roles in his SNL co-stars’ movies like Adam Sandler‘s Billy Madison and Rob Schneider‘s The Animal, as well as voicing a droll dog in Dr. Doolittle with another SNL vet, Eddie Murphy.

David Letterman once called Macdonald his favorite guest. Macdonald — who made his TV stand-up debut on Letterman’s Late Night in 1990 — made a famously tearful appearance on Dave’s final Late Show, in which Norm’s voice cracked when he told Letterman he loved him.

In recent years, Macdonald appeared in the sci-fi comedy series The Orville, and voiced a pigeon on the quirky Mike Tyson Mysteries animated series from 2014 to 2020.

Incarcerated women train service dogs to detect disabling conditions

September 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Natalie Tapio has been living with a chronic seizure disorder, but with her service dog Dexter by her side, managing her condition has become a little easier.

He will alert her when she’s about to seize.

Tapio started experiencing catatonic seizures, a form of epilepsy, in 2014, which caused periods of semi-consciousness that rendered her unable to move. Eventually, she was suffering multiple, potentially debilitating seizures a day, that would happen at any time. Tapio’s doctors soon identified abnormal brainwaves after performing an EEG.

“The seizures were so unpredictable and silent, usually, and so there always has to be someone very attentive close by,” Tapio said. “[My] mom and I were basically inseparable. She would come into the bathroom with me when I needed to bathe or do anything. Really … wherever I went, she went.”

Her life changed three years ago after she learned about seizure alert dogs and eventually met Dexter.

“[Dexter] will alert me and then dial a dog phone, which has my parents’ phone numbers on it, and then [he] retrieves a pouch which will have any necessities for me, like medication, water [and] my cell phone,” she said.

Lisa Tapio, Natalie Tapio’s mother, found out about seizure alert dogs through a family member and began to research them, eventually coming across Little Angels. After Natalie Tapio submitted her medical information, she was accepted into the program.

Once Dexter was paired with Tapio, his first task was learning to paw her leg, alerting her when she was on the verge of a seizure. To do this, Lisa Tapio was asked to collect her daughter’s “seizure scent” by swabbing Natalie’s hands and the inside of her cheeks before, during and after a seizure. Dexter was trained with those scents and in 2018, he was ready to meet his new owner.

Dexter was raised by what some might consider an unlikely group of trainers: inmates at the California Correctional Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, California. Some of the inmates there are volunteers with Pups Uplifting Prisoner’s Spirits, or PUPS. The prison program is run by the non-profit Little Angels Service Dogs, a nationwide team that trains service dogs to help people living with disabilities and disabling conditions.

It was at the prison that ABC News met the group of women, all convicted felons, who’ve been training the dogs that might one day save people’s lives. Many of the women said the program has presented them with an opportunity for personal redemption.

“This isn’t just about training a dog,” said Amy Davis, an inmate at the prison. “[We] are training service dogs that save lives, and it’s about what the service dogs do to us to help us grow and continue to grow, and to heal our own wounds. You can’t be in this program and not grow. It doesn’t work [like that].”

Through the PUPS program, inmates have helped train dogs that have assisted medical technicians, people with autism, people with psychiatric conditions and those who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Dana Froomin, the prison program manager for Little Angels Service Dogs, admitted that she was initially concerned for the dogs safety when she was tasked with starting the PUPS program in 2017. Her concerns waned, she said, when she met the inmates, and has found the work to be rewarding.

The dogs graduate from their training after 12 to 18 months and then are sent to one of two Little Angels ranches in San Diego, California, or New Hampshire. Once they arrive, they go through advanced training to perfect their skills before they are eventually paired with a recipient or released from the program.

Any inmate can apply to participate in the program, says Froomin. Once they submit an application, they are selected based on three main criteria: physical and mental health, commitment level and their interests. Once selected, inmates sign on for a two-year commitment where they care for and train a dog.

“When I got here, I realized that these are women with stories, and they’re heart-wrenching stories, and they were so open and honest,” said Froomin. “It changed me because I realized that the dogs weren’t just changing the recipients’ lives, they were changing [the inmates’] lives, and then they changed mine.”

Inmate Amber Ingram, the lead trainer in the program, believes that PUPS helps her to deal with the guilt and shame she feels after she was convicted for the second-degree murder of her 5-year-old son, Braeden. Ingram said she her son was killed by an abusive boyfriend.

Ingram said that she protects the dogs no matter what and it is her way of not only remembering her son but honoring him, too.

“I can’t allow anything bad to happen to this dog,” she said. “If someone were to want to kick my dog, I’m jumping in front of it.”

To Natalie Tapio, Little Angels and the women at the PUPS program are saving lives, she said.

“People with epilepsy often have this constant kind of cloud over their head or worry in the back of their mind of, ‘When will the next seizure happen? Where will I be? What will I be doing,’” she said. “I don’t need to have that anymore, and so that’s very freeing.”

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