(NEW YORK) — It’ll be a rainy New Year’s Eve in New York City, but dry and warm for much of the country.
Here’s what you need to know:
Rain will hit the Ohio River Valley on Tuesday and then push into the Northeast in the evening.
Detroit and Cleveland will see snow and Pittsburgh can expect rain by the evening.
For those heading to watch the ball drop at Times Square in New York City, intermittent showers are expected throughout the evening. By midnight, there will likely be a drizzle and breezy winds around 20 mph.
But temperatures in Times Square will be much warmer than usual, hovering around 50 degrees.
Portland, Oregon, and Seattle will also see rain on New Year’s Eve, but it’ll be mostly dry for the rest of the country.
Temperatures will be above average across the east on Tuesday, with highs forecast to reach 81 degrees in Miami, 66 degrees in Atlanta, 62 in Washington, D.C., 53 in Boston and 39 in Chicago.
Los Angeles will reach the mid-60s, while the temperature will climb above 70 in Phoenix. Denver will be chilly with highs in the mid-30s.
Erik and Lyle Menendez booking photos taken Oct. 10, 2024. Via CRDC.
(LOS ANGELES) — The resentencing hearing for the Menendez brothers has been postponed nearly two months due to the wildfires impacting Los Angeles County, the county’s lead prosecutor said Friday.
Erik and Lyle Menendez had been scheduled to appear in court in the resentencing case from Jan. 30-31 amid their bid for freedom after being sentenced to life in prison for the murders of their parents.
The hearing will now take place from March 20-21 “due to the impact of recent wildfires on the parties’ extensive preparations for the hearings,” LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s office said in a statement.
Prosecutors and defense counsel met Friday with LA Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic to set a new date for the resentencing hearing, the office said.
The postponement comes as Los Angeles County is battling two devastating wildfires, the Palisades and Eaton fires, that have destroyed thousands of structures. At least 27 people are believed to have died in the fires, which both ignited on Jan. 7.
The fires temporarily impacted the operation of multiple courthouses in Los Angeles County, though all 36 courthouses in the county remain open, according to the LA Superior Court.
Hochman said earlier this month that he has with the Menendez brothers’ relatives but is still reviewing the facts in the case and hasn’t yet decided if he’s in support of the brothers’ bid for freedom.
Erik and Lyle Menendez were convicted in 1996 of the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, who they gunned down in the family’s Beverly Hills home.
The defense claimed the brothers acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse by their father, but prosecutors alleged they killed for money.
Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were 21 and 18 at the time of the crime, respectively, were sentenced to two consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole.
ABC News’ Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
Photo by Chris Melzer/picture alliance via Getty Images
(CENTENNIAL, Colo.) — Colorado pet store suffered its second robbery this month on Friday as thieves faked a medical emergency in order to steal two puppies, according to the owner of the store.
Perfect Pets, located in Centennial, Colorado, has been the target of multiple puppy thefts, with the latest occurring on Friday at approximately 2 p.m., said owner Jens Larsen.
Larsen told ABC News three gentlemen walked into the store, looking “sketchy,” and one of them appeared to be on drugs and “talking belligerent to employees.”
The man suddenly fell to the ground, with other customers and store employees quickly rushing to his side, shown in video surveillance footage.
Larsen said it “looked like he was having a seizure” and an employee began to call 911.
As the other people crowded around the man, Larsen said another man walked toward the back of the store, opened a case of puppies and grabbed two male English bulldogs.
An employee spotted the thief with the two puppies and workers tried to block him from leaving, even tackling his leg before one worker was kicked in the face, Larsen said.
The criminal tripped and fell to the ground, dropping the puppies, but he was able to scoop them up and run away, Larsen told ABC News.
Multiple people chased after him, but were unsuccessful in catching the culprit, Larsen said. The suspect was able to escape in a gold Cadillac Escalade, Larsen said.
“The guy doesn’t care,” Larsen said. “He’s not stealing merchandise, he is stealing living animals and doesn’t seem to really care for their well-being.”
A suspect has been arrested for the theft, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office told ABC News. More details were expected to be released on the theft Monday, law enforcement said.
In the previous theft, Larsen said a woman stole a puppy from the store and hid the pet in a baby stroller on Feb. 12. Another woman then grabbed a puppy and ran out the door moments later. The individuals, who were caught on security camera footage, have still not been caught, Larsen said.
Resale opportunities for the dogs appears to be the motive for these incidents, Larsen said.
Bulldogs, especially French bulldogs, are a common targets for thieves. French bulldog puppies can go for anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000, Tom Sharp, the CEO of American Kennel Club Reunite, told “Nightline” last year.
Larsen said Perfect Pets is offering a $1,000 reward for the return of each dog.
(NEW YORK) — When convicted Delphi, Indiana, killer Richard Allen returns to court for sentencing on Friday, he’s expected to come face-to-face with the victims’ families.
Last month, a jury found Allen guilty on all charges in the double homicide: felony murder for the killing of 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams while attempting to commit kidnapping; felony murder for the killing of 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German while attempting to commit kidnapping; murder for knowingly killing Abby; and murder for knowingly killing Libby.
Allen faces a sentence of 90 to 130 years in prison.
A gag order has prevented the families of Abby and Libby from commenting during or after Allen’s trial. But at sentencing, they’ll get their chance to address Allen through victim impact statements.
When Allen was arrested in 2022 — five years after the 2017 murders — Libby’s grandparents and guardians, Becky and Mike Patty, told ABC News they were grappling with the news that the suspect was living among them in their small town.
“How can somebody do that and then just go on living life like nothing happened?” Mike Patty said.
Law enforcement, prosecutors and defense attorneys have also been under the gag order and have not yet commented on the verdict.
Abby and Libby were walking along a Delphi hiking trail when they were attacked on Feb. 13, 2017. Their throats were slit and their bodies were dumped in the nearby woods.
Moments before the murders, Libby posted a photo of Abby on Snapchat showing her on the Monon High Bridge. After crossing the bridge, the girls saw a man behind them — who became known as “bridge guy” — and Libby started a recording on her phone, according to prosecutors.
As police looked for the suspect, they released footage from Libby’s phone to the public: a grainy image of “bridge guy” and an audio clip of him telling the girls to go “down the hill.”
Allen, a husband and father who worked at the local CVS, was arrested in 2022. He admitted to police he was on the trail that day, but he denied being involved in the crime.
The prosecution’s key physical evidence was a .40-caliber unspent round discovered by the girls’ bodies. Police analysis determined that unspent round was cycled through Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226, prosecutors said.
Another major focus of the trial was Allen’s multiple confessions in jail and his mental health at the time. The defense argued Allen was in a psychotic state when he confessed numerous times to his psychologist, corrections officers and his wife.
