Page 8514 – 105.7 WDNY

5 people missing as Dixie Fire continues path of destruction in California

August 7, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(PLUMAS COUNTY, Calif.) — Five people are missing as the Dixie Fire rages on in California, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Saturday.

“We are seeking the public and the media’s assistance is helping us locate the individuals so we can report back to their loved ones,” they said, adding that their investigation unit has already located 21 other individuals who were previously unaccounted for.

The sheriff’s office had said earlier that eight people remained unaccounted for, but five were located and two others reported missing.

“We request if you know where any of these people are to contact them and have them call the Sheriff’s Office at 530-283-6300 to let us know they are safe, so we can report back to the person(s) looking for them,” the police said.

The names of the five unaccounted for individuals are: Danny Sczenski of Greenville, Glen Gallagher of Greenville, Donna Shelton of Chester, Dianne Doppert of Greenville and Lena Rhynes of Greenville, according to the statement. Authorities said Gallagher and Shelton were reported safe, but they have not made contact with them.

Cal Fire public information officer Rick Carhart said Saturday afternoon that four firefighters were injured in the west zone during the morning. They were taken to area hospitals. Three have been released, while one remains in the hospital in stable condition.

The Dixie Fire has been burning near Feather River Canyon for weeks and has now scorched through more than 446,723 acres since it sparked on July 13.

It is 21% contained and is now considered the third-largest fire in California history. More than 5,100 fire personnel are currently working on containing and putting it out, according to Cal Fire.

The downtown neighborhood of Greenville, about 150 miles northeast of Sacramento, has been hit the hardest by the out-of-control fire, with Plumas County Sheriff Todd Johns saying Thursday that “well over 100 homes” and many businesses and historic building have been destroyed by the flames.

At least 31,000 people have been evacuated.

The fire “burnt down our entire downtown. Our historical buildings, families homes, small businesses, and our children’s schools are completely lost,” Plumas County Supervisor Kevin Goss wrote on Facebook.

It is one of 90 large wildfires, many of them uncontained, that are currently burning in the West.

Report: Miami Heat guard Jimmy Butler signs extension with the Heat

August 7, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(MIAMI) — Miami Heat guard Jimmy Butler has signed a 4-year, $184 million extension with the team, keeping him in Miami through the 2025-26 season according to a report by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Butler, 31, was named to the All-NBA Third Team this past season after averaging 21.5 points, 7.1 assists, and 6.9 rebounds per game. He also made the cut for the NBA’s second-team All-Defense last season for the fifth time in his career.

Butler made the All Star Team in the previous season, leading the Heat to the NBA Finals where they would ultimately lose to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Butler’s current deal runs through the upcoming NBA season and he holds a player option for the 2022-23 season.

“Jimmy is the anchor and face of our franchise along with Bam [Adebayo] and Kyle [Lowry],” said Heat President Pat Riley in a statement on the team’s website. “With Jimmy, we get an All-NBA player, an All-NBA Defensive player, tough as nails and a complete player across the board. He’s very deserving of this contract as he continually puts himself at the top of the league at his position. Having him in the HEAT organization has been a great, great coup for us.”

The Heat have made a plethora of roster moves to retool for another run at the Finals. Their front office resigned guard Victor Oladipo on a minimum deal, paid 3-point specialist Duncan Robinson with a contract worth $90 million, and added a versatile defender in P.J. Tucker.

Most importantly, the Heat were able to land veteran point guard Kyle Lowry in a sign-and-trade that sent guard Goran Dragic and forward Precious Achiuwa to the Raptors (although that move is now under investigation by the NBA for tampering, per Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne).

Lynyrd Skynyrd postpones tour dates after Rickey Medlocke contracts COVID-19

August 7, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Lynyrd Skynyrd has postponed four of their concerts because longtime guitarist Rickey Medlocke has tested positive for COVID-19.

In a note to fans, the band says their shows in Canton, OH; Jackson, MI; Atlanta, GA and Cullman AL will no longer go forward. “Rickey is home resting and responding well to treatment. We will continue to update you on his condition,” the note adds.

The Atlanta show on August 13 has been rescheduled to October 23. No word yet on the other dates.

After the Alabama show, the next date on Skynyrd’s Big Wheels Keep on Turning tour is August 20 in Canandaigua, NY. The tour is currently scheduled to wrap up November 19 in Bossier City, LA.

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Video released of daring rescue attempt on sinking Seacor Power ship

August 7, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Coast Guard has released a video that shows a nail-biting race to save lives aboard the tragic Seacor Power — an oil industry boat that capsized off the Louisiana coast in April, killing 13 people.

The video shows a rescue worker suspended from a helicopter searching for survivors in murky and turbulent waters. Towering waves batter the vessel, flooding the boat’s deck.

Three men desperately held onto the side of the 175-foot-long boat during the rescue effort, NOLA reported, with one of the three men describing his harrowing rescue.

“When we first got on scene, I remember them right there waving,” the helicopter’s pilot, Jim Peters told NOLA.

As of Aug. 1, the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board are convening in a series of daily public hearings, expected to last through Aug. 13.

ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.

4,600-year-old pharaoh’s boat makes 48-hour journey to new museum

August 7, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A 4,600-year-old intact wooden boat bearing the name of Fourth Dynasty Egyptian pharaoh, Khufu, was transported to a new museum about 7 kilometers away from Cairo’s Great Pyramid in a 48-hour journey that Egypt’s antiquities ministry described as a “unique archaeological and engineering project.”

The boat, measuring 42 meters in length and weighing 20 tons, was transported from the Great Pyramid to the Grand Egyptian Museum in a “metal cage lifted on a smart remote-control vehicle,” the antiquities ministry said in a statement.

Surrounding roads were sealed off, with residents taking glimpse of the low-key parade through their home windows as the journey concluded in the early hours of Saturday.

“The boat was exhibited inside a museum bearing its name at Giza Plateau, which was not equipped with the latest technological equipment to house and display this magnificent artifact,” the ministry statement read.

“The aim of the transportation project is to protect and preserve the biggest and oldest organic artifact made of wood in the history of humanity for the future generations.”

The subdued event stood in stark contrast to the glittering ceremony Egypt held in April to convey 22 mummies from the 120-year-old Egyptian Museum in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square to the newly inaugurated National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in the old Islamic city of Fustat.

However, Saturday’s procession still looked imposing, with the giant black vehicle decorated with a drawing of the ancient boat and illuminated with fluorescent colors as it roamed through an ancient area housing many of its pharaonic treasures.

The boat was discovered in 1954 at the southern corner of the Great Pyramid, which was built as a tomb for Khufu and is the only surviving wonder of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

“The transportation of Khufu’s first boat is one of the most important, challenging, and unique archaeological and engineering project,” said Atef Moftah, the general supervisor of GEM.

GEM, which Egypt says will be the biggest museum in the world dedicated to a single civilization, is due to open later this year.

Egypt hopes the museum’s inauguration and a series of high-profile discoveries made in recent years will help revive its ailing tourism industry, which makes up around 15% of the country’s gross domestic product.

Gov. Cuomo could face possible misdemeanor: Albany County sheriff

August 7, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Albany County sheriff said during a press conference that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo could face a possible misdemeanor charge following a criminal complaint filed against him this week.

Sheriff Craig Apple told reporters Saturday that the investigation is in its “infant stages” and the complaint made against Cuomo is “criminal in nature” and the alleged conduct was “sexual in nature.” No reports will be released to the public.

The claim was filed Thursday by a former New York State employee who claimed the governor groped her breast at the governor’s state residence in 2020. She is referred to as “Executive Assistant #1” in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ report released Tuesday.

Apple said that authorities sat with the complainant and her lawyer for an hour Thursday.

He said that the county sheriff’s office has reached out to James’ office to request investigative material used in the report, which concluded Cuomo violated state and federal law in sexually harassing at least 11 women.

Apple said next steps include waiting for the attorney general’s investigation material to come in and an interview with the victim. From there, the sheriff’s office will sit with the Albany district attorney’s office to decide whether to move forward with a criminal charge.

When asked what possible charge Cuomo could face, Apple said: “From what I’ve read so far I can say we’re floating around a misdemeanor, but again, that’s just from the attorney general report.”

Cuomo has denied all allegations of sexual harassment.

He responded to the Tuesday report with a video address stating: “I want you to know directly from me that I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances.”

Cuomo’s lawyer, Rita Glavin, has said the groping allegation by Executive Assistant #1 was fabricated.

“He is 63 years old. He has spent 40 years in public life and for him to all of the sudden be accused of a sexual assault of an executive assistant that he really doesn’t know, doesn’t pass muster,” Glavin said in a press conference Friday in response to the complaint.

So far at least five district attorney offices — Manhattan, Albany, Westchester County, Nassau County and Oswego County — have launched investigations into Cuomo for alleged incidents outlined in the report that took place in their jurisdictions.

Following the Saturday press conference, Fabien Levy, the press secretary at the New York State AG office released a statement saying, “We will cooperate fully with the Albany sheriff and turn over all evidence related to this complainant. Similarly, we will cooperate with all law enforcement agencies, as appropriate.”

Senate advances bipartisan infrastructure bill in key test vote

August 7, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — With multiple Republicans joining Democrats in the effort, the bipartisan infrastructure bill cleared another hurdle on its way to passing the Senate on Saturday afternoon.

By a vote of 67-27, the Senate voted to advance the bill toward final passage. It’s not yet clear when the bill will receive a final vote, but Saturday’s vote makes all but certain that it will pass the Senate.

At least 60 votes were necessary to move forward on Saturday, a hurdle easily cleared with 18 Republicans joining all Democrats.

The bill, worth $550 billion in new spending, will address core infrastructure needs. It includes $110 billion in new funds for roads and bridges, $66 billion for rail, $7.5 billion to build out electric vehicle charging stations, $17 billion for ports, $25 billion for airports, $55 billion for clean drinking water, a $65 billion investment in high-speed internet and more.

Passage of the bill will prove a huge success for President Joe Biden, who campaigned on a promise to work across the aisle, and for the lawmakers, both Democratic and Republican, who huddled for weeks in an effort to craft the bill.

The Senate has been working through the weekends to try to finish up this bipartisan bill and move on to work on a second, larger budget bill that Democrats hope will include the remainder of Biden’s American Families Plan priorities.

That bill, set to include funding for housing, health care, child care and more, will likely need to be forced through along party lines. Democratic leadership in both chambers has insisted that both the bipartisan bill and the budget bill must move together.

Once the Senate finishes work on the bipartisan bill, it will head to the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi has threatened to postpone a vote on it until the budget bill is sent her way.

Democrats hold a razor-thin margin in the House, and some progressive Democrats, underwhelmed by the scope of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, have threatened to withhold their support for the bill without a robust budget bill in tandem.

COVID-19 live updates: Over 134,000 cases reported in Florida over the past week

August 7, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.

More than 615,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and over 4.2 million people have died worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 58.4% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC last week, citing new science on the transmissibility of the delta variant, changed its mask guidance to now recommend everyone in areas with substantial or high levels of transmission — vaccinated or not — wear a face covering in public, indoor settings.

Aug 07, 11:41 am
7-day average of daily US vaccinations highest since June

The nation’s current seven-day average of 481,000 new COVID-19 vaccinations a day is the highest rate recorded since June 18, White House COVID Data Director Cyrus Shahpar said.

More young Americans are getting shots as well, with the daily average of 12-to-15-year-olds doubling over the last month.

Aug 07, 10:51 am
Florida reports over 134,000 new COVID-19 cases in past week

Florida’s COVID-19 cases have continued to soar week after week, with 134,506 new virus cases reported over the past week, according to the state Department of Health.

That beats last week’s weekly record of 110,420 new infections.

Now the weekly case positivity rate in the state stands at 18.9%. There were also 175 virus deaths reported over the past week.

-ABC News’ Joshua Hoyos

Aug 06, 11:49 pm
409 positive cases at Tokyo Olympics

As of Saturday, there are 409 positive COVID-19 cases at the Olympics, According to Tokyo 2020’s coronavirus case list.

That is an increase of 22 cases since Friday.

All of the people who tested positive are either Games-concerned personnel, Tokyo 2020 contractors, media or volunteers. One Games-concerned employee was in the Olympic Village at the time of their positive test.

Aug 06, 10:06 pm
Amazon mandates warehouse workers wear masks

Amazon said Friday it was mandating all 900,000 of its warehouse workers wear masks, regardless of whether they are vaccinated.

The company had previously only required unvaccinated workers to wear masks. It blamed the change on the increasing risk presented by the delta variant.

“In response to the concerning spread of new COVID-19 variants in the U.S. and guidance from public health authorities and our own medical experts, we are requiring face coverings indoors regardless of vaccination status,” Amazon said in a statement. “We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to follow local government guidance and work closely with leading medical healthcare professionals, gathering their advice and recommendations as we go forward to ensure our buildings are optimized for the safety of our teams.”

Many companies have taken the added step of requiring vaccinations, including fellow tech giants Google and Facebook.

Aug 06, 6:27 pm
US records highest single-day COVID case total in 6 months

The U.S. has recorded its highest single-day COVID-19 case total in exactly six months with more than 120,000 new cases reported, according to newly updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

The country is now averaging more than 96,000 new cases a day.

Additionally, every single state in the country is reporting “high” (a seven-day new case rate ≥100) or “substantial” (a seven-day new case rate between 50-99.99) community transmission.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

As people flee fires in Greece, those trapped plead for help

August 7, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Firefighters are still battling a large blaze on the island of Evia in Greece, where fires closed in on the beaches, forcing residents to flee via boats and ferries.

More than 1,100 were transported from the island to safety overnight on boats, after authorities issued evacuation alerts in dozens of towns.

People were trapped in villages on the island and calling for help on Greek television on Saturday morning, including a mother and her baby pleading for air tankers to be sent to her home.

Greek authorities reported the first casualties, with two dead including one volunteer and dozens injured. Volunteers rode in on motorcycles to bring water and help put out fires in the suburbs of Athens. A Kryoneri resident called them “a gift from God,” as firefighters are spread thin across the country.

Reinforcement coming in from Europe and the U.S. — 90 helicopters and planes, 23 vehicles and roughly 400 firefighters — are continuing to arrive on Saturday. Residents of Kryoneri, 14 miles north of Athens, were still undecided on what to do and whether to leave their home behind.

“I’m very scared,” Eleni Glibti, a resident of Kryoneri told ABC News. “I don’t know what to do, it’s illegal to be here.”

Sixty-four fires were still active overnight.

Weather conditions slightly improved in north of Athens on Saturday morning, with temperatures dropping to 91 Fahrenheit, giving firefighters a break and allowing them to get control over fires in the Attica region and the north of Athens.

Temperatures are expected to pick back up again next week.

Fires have raged across the Mediterranean for the past 11 days, including in Italy, France and Turkey, where the fires killed at least eight people.

The vast majority of the fires in Turkey had been brought under control on Friday evening, 198 out of 208 fires nationally, per the Turkish Forest and Agricultural Ministry.

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that a total of 252 million tree saplings — three saplings for each citizen — will be planted before the end of the year, as part of the Breath for the Future campaign, launched in 2019 among several countries as part of an environmental effort.

One dead, One critical in shooting near Coors Field in Denver

August 7, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(DENVER) — One person is dead and another is in critical condition following a shooting in Denver, near the Coors Field baseball stadium, Denver police said.

The Denver Police Department responded to the area of 22nd and Blake Streets around 10:30 p.m. on Friday, about 45 minutes after the Colorado Rockies game ended.

Two shooting victims were transferred to the hospital and one adult male was later pronounced dead.

No suspects have been arrested. The investigation is active and ongoing, according to Denver police.

The shooting so close to a baseball stadium comes less than a month after gunfire rang out outside Nationals Park in Washington D.C., which stopped the game and sent panicked fans running for cover.

Three people were injured in the shooting and no arrests have been made.

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