Man wanted for allegedly stabbing estranged wife to death outside elementary school
Metropolitan Nashville Police Department
(NASHVILLE) — A man is at large after allegedly stabbing his estranged wife to death outside the elementary school where she worked, Nashville police said.
Niurka Alfonso-Acevedo, 52, was attacked Monday morning outside Chadwell Elementary when she arrived for her custodian job, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department. The stabbing occurred before students had arrived for the school day, police said.
Detectives believe her estranged husband, 54-year-old Candido Raul Rubio-Perez, was lying in wait for her in the parking lot, according to police. He fled the scene after the attack.
A school staff member found Alfonso-Acevedo — who had worked at the school since October — lying in the parking lot and called 911, according to police and the school district.
“Our thoughts are with the victim’s family, friends, and the entire Chadwell Elementary community during this time of loss,” Metro Nashville Public Schools said in a statement.
“There is no ongoing threat to the safety of students or staff,” the school district added.
Rubio-Perez is wanted for criminal homicide, police said.
Anyone with information about Rubio-Perez’s whereabouts is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463. A reward up to $5,000 is available, police said.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to reduce the Department of Education to its essential functions. The directive tells what’s left of the agency to prioritize sending money to school choice programs across America.
These programs — which are also referred to as school vouchers and school freedom — allow parents to take tax dollars allocated for their children to attend public schools and, in most cases, use that money to send them to private schools.
The argument supporting this movement is that private schools often provide a better education for children.
In Tennessee, where supporters of the programs refer to them as scholarships, State House Rep. Todd Warner is a proud product of rural public schools. He’s a self-described “die-hard Republican,” but told ABC News that he believes what some conservatives are currently trying to do to education is wrong.
“Public schools are the backbone of the community,” Warner said. “On Friday nights, Friday night lights, the football game. It’s where everybody comes together. It’s where we tailgate and see each other’s family before the game. It’s where we cheer each other’s children on.”
For the past four years at the Tennessee Statehouse, Warner represented what he refers to as “country folk” from counties so red that Confederate flags continue to fly over a few homes and monuments.
“I’m in favor of reducing the Department of Education on the federal level,” Warner said. “I would love to see President Trump send more money back to the states. I’m good with that, but I don’t want to see that go to the private sector. I want to see it help our public schools.”
Warner is currently working to limit the number of vouchers in Tennessee.
He may have a life size Trump cutout in his office and hang his red hat on the wall above a dead buck, but Warner told ABC News that he doesn’t mind being called a sellout in Nashville because he knows that at home in the district he represents south of the city, his constituents know that isn’t who he is.
“You know, the best memories in life that I have,” Warner said. “Some of them are in the public school, in high school, you know, with those teachers, with those coaches. And it’s that way in a lot of rural Tennessee. I mean, it’s the public school or it’s nothing.”
(PHILADELPHIA) — A medical transport plane, carrying a child, her mother and four other people, crashed in Philadelphia Friday night near a busy mall, killing all aboard and resulting in an untold number of injuries on the ground.
The Learjet 55 crashed near the Roosevelt Mall in northeast Philadelphia around 6:30 p.m. after departing from Northeast Philadelphia Airport, according to authorities.
The exact number of the injured is not yet available, officials said.
“Many people on the ground – in parking lots, on streets, in cars and homes in the area – were injured; the number of injured is yet to be released but the information shared at this time reports that a number of people were transported to Temple University Hospital, Jeans Campus in the Northeast,” the office of Mayor Cherelle Parker said Saturday.
“Right now, we’re just asking for prayers,” Parker told reporters Friday night. She urged residents to stay away from the scene.
In a statement, Shriner’s Hospital said the child had received care from the Philadelphia hospital and was being taken back to her home country of Mexico along with her mother on a contracted air ambulance when the crash happened.
The company that operated the flight, Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, said in a statement there were four crew members on board.
“At this time, we cannot confirm any survivors,” the company said in the statement. “No names are being released at this time until family members have been notified. Our immediate concern is for the patient’s family, our personnel, their families and other victims that may have been hurt on the ground.”
The air ambulance was en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri, according to Flight Radar24 data.
“I regret the death of six Mexicans in the plane crash in Philadelphia, United States,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a statement Saturday. “The consular authorities are in permanent contact with the families; I have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support them in whatever way is required. My solidarity with their loved ones and friends.”
A large fire burned in the wake of the crash, prompting a significant response.
“We heard a loud explosion and then saw the aftermath of flames and smoke,” eyewitness Jimmy Weiss told local ABC station WPVI near the scene.
He added, “It felt like the ground shook .. it was a loud boom. It was startling.”
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.
An NTSB investigator arrived at the scene Friday night with additional team members expected to arrive Saturday.
Temple University Hospital told ABC News it had received six patients hurt in the crash, although it was not clear if they were in the plane or people who were on the ground.
Three of those patients were treated and released and three remain hospitalized in fair condition, the hospital said.
Speaking at a follow-up press briefing Friday night, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said dozens of state troopers and other state personnel were on on hand to offer help and praised local responders and community members.
“We saw neighbor helping neighbor. We saw Pennsylvanians looking out for one another,” he said.
In a statement posted to social media platform Truth Social, President Donald Trump said: “So sad to see the plane go down in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More innocent souls lost. Our people are totally engaged. First Responders are already being given credit for doing a great job. More to follow. God Bless you all.”
Immediately after the crash, the FAA issued a ground stop at Northeast Philadelphia Airport due to “an aircraft incident.”
The FAA had initially reported there were two people on board the aircraft but later corrected that report.
ABC News’ Ayesha Ali and Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.
Deb Cohn-Orbach/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — New York City’s congestion pricing toll generated nearly $50 million in revenue in its first month, officials said Monday, as the Trump administration moves to kill the first-in-the-nation program.
From Jan. 5, the first day of the program, to Jan. 31, tolls from the congestion pricing program generated $48.66 million, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which manages the city’s subways as well as bridges and commuter rails.
The net revenue for that period was $37.5 million when taking into account expenses to run the program, the MTA said.
The program is on track to generate $500 million in net revenue by the end of this year, as initially projected, the MTA said.
“With an initial performance in line with projections, we can confidently move forward with projects that rely on funds from the Congestion Relief Zone,” MTA Chief Financial Officer Kevin Willens said in a statement. “We look forward to seeing similar results in the coming months.”
The update comes after the U.S. Department of Transportation last week said it pulled federal approval of the plan following a review requested by President Donald Trump.
The review found that the “scope of this pilot project as approved exceeds the authority authorized by Congress” under the Federal Highway Administration’s Value Pricing Pilot Program, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday.
Trump celebrated the DOT’s move, saying on his social media platform Truth Social, “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
The MTA said it immediately challenged the Trump administration’s reversal in federal court. The MTA is seeking a declaratory judgment from the court that the DOT’s move is “not proper” and is not turning off the tolls under the program until there’s a court order, Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said Wednesday.
Duffy, who called the plan “unfair,” told CBS News on Wednesday that he’d be open to some form of congestion pricing while questioning the price of the NYC toll.
The congestion pricing plan charges passenger vehicles $9 to access Manhattan below 60th Street during peak hours as part of an effort to ease congestion and raise funds for the city’s public transit system. During peak hours, small trucks and charter buses are charged $14.40 and large trucks and tour buses pay $21.60.
According to the MTA’s findings, 68% of the $48.66 million in revenue generated in January came from passenger vehicles, 22% from taxis and for-hire vehicles, 9% from trucks and 1% from buses and motorcycles.
New York officials have touted the success of the program in easing traffic, with Hochul saying last week that congestion has “dropped dramatically” since the program went into effect last month.
