Army veteran’s nonprofit aids former vets facing food insecurity
ABC News
(BRANDYWINE, Md.) — On 7 acres in Brandywine, Maryland, Peter Scott, a former United States Army counterintelligence agent assigned to Special Forces, is farming to help food-insecure veterans in the D.C. metropolitan region.
“I was at a place in life where I needed to do something and I needed to feel like it was something good after my time in service,” said Scott.
He returned stateside after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“I separated after about 12 years of service. I thought I was fine, but a few years went by and I was not fine,” Scott said. “I reached a moment with my family where it was ‘go get help or get out.’ I decided to go get help.”
After entering an inpatient program for combat PTSD, Scott met other service members who were food insecure. This discovery, along with a newfound passion for gardening, led him to launch Fields4Valor.
Since its inception, Fields4Valor has helped feed more than 500 veterans and their families. According to the Military Family Advisory Network, 1-in-5 active-duty military and veteran families experience food insecurity. And that number is on the rise.
While picking up her weekly bag of groceries from the farm, Shara Simms, a disabled Air Force veteran, expressed her admiration for the honey that is harvested from the honeycombs Scott maintains, calling it “liquid gold.”
Simms said the weekly bags afford her the opportunity to share “fresh fruit and honey that we don’t necessarily get in the stores because it’s extra expensive.”
“We live and die on everybody’s good will,“ said Scott. This year, he estimates approximately 300 volunteers helped on the farm – sometimes sourced from area military installations.
From the garden where rhubarb, kale, peppers, cucumbers and lettuce are grown, to the beehives where honey is extracted to fill jars and made into soaps, to the chicken coop where 120 chickens produce fresh farm eggs – everything is given to veterans.
(NEW YORK) — Dozens of people across the U.S. have contracted E. coli traced to ingredients in McDonald’s Quarter Pounders, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Tuesday.
As a result, McDonald’s announced it has proactively removed two ingredients from stores across two impacted regions, but the company’s leadership team has assured that a majority of other menu items are not impacted, according to the CDC investigation.
What to know about McDonald’s E. coli outbreak
McDonald’s says either fresh, slivered onions or beef patties used for the Quarter Pounder may be behind the outbreak.
If onions are found to be the source of the E. coli outbreak, it would be the first time onions have ever been a carrier for this particular strain of the bacteria, company spokespeople said on Wednesday.
The spokespeople also reiterated that onions used in the Quarter Pounders, as identified by CDC tracing data, came from suppliers that also test for E. coli.
McDonald’s uses multiple suppliers for the slivered onions in the area where the outbreak cluster occurred, but all of the product has been retrieved from stock and it will not be supplying more onions until the investigation is completed.
States impacted by McDonald’s Quarter Pounder E. coli outbreak
So far, one person has died and a total of 49 people from 10 states have fallen ill with a strain known as E. coli O157:H7, which causes a severe intestinal infection in humans.
The person who died was a resident of Mesa County, Colorado, in the western part of the state, according to the county health department.
Most of the cases have been in Colorado, which has 27 reported cases, and Nebraska, which has nine reported cases, according to the CDC.
The other states are Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Ten people have been hospitalized, including a child with complications from hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) — a disease that affects the kidneys.
Number of those sickened in outbreak expected to grow
The number of confirmed cases related to the McDonald’s E. coli outbreak could grow.
The CDC says the investigation is “fast-moving,” with new cases being reported on a rolling basis as the investigation connects people reported being ill and the specific strain of E. coli in this outbreak.
McDonald’s stopped selling the Quarter Pounders in the select states just recently, so there may be more cases that develop. The typical onset of symptoms is 3-4 days, and recently ill people may not be part of the current reporting as it usually takes 3-4 weeks to determine if a sick person is part of an outbreak.
The true number of sick people in this outbreak is likely much higher than the number reported, because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for E. coli.
Investigation into McDonald’s ingredients potentially responsible for illness
Every patient interviewed by the CDC said they ate at McDonald’s before falling ill and most said they ate Quarter Pounder hamburgers, specifically.
It’s not clear which ingredient is responsible for the illnesses, but CDC investigators are focused on two ingredients: fresh, slivered onions and fresh beef patties.
“Heat destroys things like bacteria and viruses but in certain cases, especially when you’re producing massive amounts of food — and you have products that are not going to undergo heat, for example, vegetables — that leads to an opportunity for contamination,” ABC News medical correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton explained.
McDonald’s told the CDC it has removed slivered onions and beef patties used for Quarter Pounder hamburgers from stores in the states where cases have been reported, the federal health agency said. As a result, the CDC said Quarter Pounders won’t be available for sale in some states.
In a statement on Tuesday evening, McDonald’s North America Chief Supply Chain Officer Cesar Piña said that the fast food chain believes the outbreak is linked to slivered onions “used in the Quarter Pounder and sourced by a single supplier that serves three distribution centers.”
“As a result, and in line with our safety protocols, all local restaurants have been instructed to remove this product from their supply and we have paused the distribution of all slivered onions in the impacted area,” the statement read, in part. “We will continue to work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and are committed to providing timely updates as we restore our full menu.”
“The decision to do this is not one we take lightly, and it was made in close consultation with the CDC,” Joe Erlinger, President of McDonald’s USA, said in a statement. “It’s important to note that the majority of states and the majority of menu items are not affected.”
Slivered onions may be linked to strain of E. coli for 1st time
McDonald’s said it is actively working with the CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other health authorities as they investigate.
During the two-week period in which cases were reported, from Sept. 27 to Oct. 11, the fast food chain sells about 1 million Quarter Pounders, making tracing the outbreak complicated, according to company spokespeople.
Because contamination was not linked to a single restaurant, it likely means the outbreak was not caused by the preparation and handling of the food and was likely higher up the chain, the spokespeople said.
If beef patties are behind the contamination, it would mean restaurants failed to cook the food properly to the standard of 175F. However, the slivered onions topping, which are uncooked, are processed at a facility and then sent to McDonald’s.
The company spokespeople said if the slivered onions are identified as the culprit, it would be the first time onions would be a carrier for the O157:H7 strain of E. coli.
McDonald’s said they believe only Quarter Pounders are affected and that case numbers would be much higher if other products were associated with the outbreak.
Currently, one-fifth of McDonald’s stores are not selling Quarter Pounders. Local restaurants customers know if their location is not serving Quarter Pounders, otherwise the product is available, the spokespeople said.
What to know about E. coli symptoms, recovery
Although most E. coli bacteria are harmless and are part of a healthy intestinal tract, some strains of the bacteria can make people sick, according to the CDC.
E. coli symptoms often begin three to four days after ingesting the bacteria and include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea that may be bloody and vomiting.
Most people recover on their own within five to seven days, but some people may develop HUS and require hospitalization.
The CDC urges those who are experiencing severe E. coli symptoms and recently ate a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder to contact their health care provider immediately.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn) — Graceland, the iconic Memphis home of the late Elvis Presley, is one of America’s most recognized residences, only second to the White House. That’s why the announcement of its public auction in May caused shock and confusion among the legendary musician’s fans.
Ultimately, this incident highlighted the rising issue of alleged deed fraud.
The scandal began last spring when Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC filed a lawsuit and announced a foreclosure sale for Graceland, claiming that Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’ daughter who died in 2023, had borrowed $3.8 million and used the property as collateral.
The actor Riley Keough, Lisa Marie’s daughter, responded by filing a countersuit, seeking to enjoin the auction alleging fraud and claiming that Naussany Investments was nonexistent and had no rights to the property. This allegedly criminal plot to steal Graceland from under America’s nose caused outrage among Elvis fans.
The Memphis mansion is significant and widespread because it has been hallowed ground for generations of Elvis fans, from lovestruck teenagers in the 1950s to those inspired by his legacy today.
“People have been trying to take from Elvis since Elvis was Elvis,” Joel Weinshanker, managing partner of Elvis Presley Enterprises, told “GMA3” co-anchor Eva Pilgrim. “Elvis was a human being. He was a really good human being. He treated people really well. He lived here. He loved it here. He died here. He’s buried here. His parents are buried here. His daughter is buried here. Pick on somebody else. Have a heart, have a conscience. And even if you don’t have a heart or have a conscience — know that you won’t get away with it.”
The mansion was also home to Lisa Marie, Elvis’ only child. Her life in the spotlight and tragic death have fascinated the public since the day she was born — as the King of Rock and Roll’s princess.
Shortly after Elvis died in 1977, Lisa Marie became the sole heir to her father’s financially troubled estate, which at the time included only a few million dollars in cash and Graceland. Lisa Marie’s life seemed to stabilize when she married musician Danny Keough at the age of 20.
They had two children, Riley and Benjamin Keough. However, that stability didn’t last. She struggled with drug addiction, marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage, and the tragic 2020. suicide of her son Benjamin.
“We could all feel it coming,” Riley Keough said in Lisa Marie memoir “From here to the Great Unknown.” “We all knew my mom was going to die of a broken heart.”
Lisa Marie fiercely defended her family’s legacy. One of her last actions was to approve director Baz Luhrmann’s Oscar-nominated 2022 film “Elvis,” insisting that it highlight how her father’s musical success was rooted in his appreciation for Black culture.
“He loved gospel music and would sit outside of the blues bars,” Lisa Marie said in an interview with ABC News. “He was influenced by and raised by this. We had this conversation with Baz that it was, you know, shown that that is — that’s where he got his influence from, that’s where it started for him.”
Lisa Marie made her final public appearance at the Golden Globes on Jan. 10, 2023, when Austin Butler won the best actor award for his portrayal of Elvis. Two days later, she died. Her cause of death was reported as complications from bariatric surgery she had undergone several years earlier.
Her funeral was held at Graceland with fans lining the streets, hauntingly reminiscent of how they grieved her father more than 45 years earlier.
“She was buried alongside her father and alongside her son at Graceland,” ABC’s Chris Connelly said. “You know, the home that she loved best.”
In a shocking revelation last May, a secret entity known as Naussany Investments claimed that Lisa Marie used Graceland as collateral to take out a $3.8 million loan and had not repaid it.
Consequently, the mysterious company announced its intention to auction the property off.
“It was not thoroughly implausible to imagine that Graceland might be on the block because of something that Lisa Marie had done when she was in arrears,” Connelly said.
Keough took her role as trustee of the estate seriously, with her lawyer Bradley Russell who filed a countersuit.
In the countersuit, Riley claimed that her mother did not borrow anything and that the loan documents are forgeries.
The investigation into the alleged fraud ranged far from the iconic mansion to Florida, where they an unlikely savior in notary Kimberly Philbrick lives. An alleged fake notary seal emerged as the potential smoking gun.
“We sent our private investigator out to find the notary public who allegedly notarized these documents in 2018 to interview her and to get an affidavit from her saying that this never happened, she never notarized anything,” Russell said.
When a private investigator approached Philbrick at her workplace in Holly Hill, Florida, Philbrick said she was shocked to discover fraud had been committed in her name. She alleged that she knew right away something was off; she swore in an affidavit that it wasn’t her signature.
“Had I ever met Lisa Marie Presley? Did I sign the document? Did I notarize it? No, no, no,” Philbrick said.
Based on Philbrick’s affidavit, Keough’s lawyers hurried into court to prevent the sale of Graceland. A judge issued a temporary injunction the day before it was scheduled to be auctioned.
It took nearly three months longer to locate the alleged mastermind. In mid-August, Lisa Findley was arrested in the Ozarks. She was apprehended on Aug. 16, the 47th anniversary of Elvis’ death. Federal prosecutors charged the Missouri woman with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.
They alleged that Findley exploited the public and tragic events in the Presley family for her personal gain.
Investigators allege that Findley used aliases to create fraudulent loan documents and that she published a fake foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper, announcing plans to auction off Graceland to the highest bidder. Findley has pleaded not guilty and is in jail awaiting trial. She and her attorneys did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Keough expressed her intention to preserve Graceland as both a museum and a home, just as her mother would have wanted.
“Still to this day, people going through the house, and there’s just this, like sort of love that just doesn’t stop,” Keough said on WABC’s Live with Kelly and Mark in 2023. “And I really love that.”
ABC News Studios’ “IMPACT x Nightline: Stealing Graceland” streams on Hulu beginning Thursday, Oct. 31.
ABC News’ Ely Brown, Sasha Pezenik, Jared Kofsky and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump has ambitious plans to utilize U.S. federal lands for the extraction of natural resources.
But Trump – who promised at the Republican National Convention in July to “drill, baby, drill” if he were to be reelected – may not be able to accomplish the vast majority of his plans due to existing protections and the way federal lands are defined, environmental law experts told ABC News.
Trump won’t be able to “just turn on the spigot” for new oil and gas drilling on day one of his administration, Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program, told ABC News.
“Every administration gets to the place where they have to differentiate between the rhetoric that they use in the campaign and the actual challenges when it comes to actually governing,” Stan Meiburg, executive director of Wake Forest University’s Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability, told ABC News.
National parks, wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, military reservations and public-domain lands are owned and managed by the federal government.
Public land is intended to be used for public benefit, but for the last century or so, that definition has sometimes been conflated to also include the extraction of natural resources, such as oil, gas, minerals and timber, according to Peter Colohan, director of federal strategies at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a nonpartisan think tank.
Federal lands are “for the benefit and enjoyment of all people,” Colohan told ABC News, evoking the famous phrase by former President Teddy Roosevelt that’s inscribed on the arch at north entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
Trump carried out what environmentalists widely regarded as an anti-environmental policy regime during his first term, withdrawing from the Paris Agreement to address climate change upon taking office in 2016 – which he has said he plans to do again, reversing President Biden’s Jan. 20, 2021 action to rejoin the agreement – removing clean water and air pollution protections, and fast-tracking environmental reviews of dozens of major energy and infrastructure projects, such as drilling and fuel pipelines, which Trump has said would help boost American energy production and the economy.
During his next term, Trump also has promised to drastically increase fossil fuels production in the U.S., despite the U.S. already producing and exporting a record amount of crude oil under the Biden administration.
“I think it’s an absolute certainty that Trump is going to push to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 19.3 million acres in northeastern Alaska that provides critical habitat to several species, to unfettered oil drilling, as well as areas outside of the refuge along the Alaska coast,” Kierán Suckling, executive director for the Center for Biological Diversity, told ABC News. “He’s been gunning for that for years.”
The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment on this story.
Regulatory challenges
The president and the executive branch may have a “great deal of discretion” over control of public lands and monuments, but existing laws to protect lands like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will be difficult to overturn, Suckling said.
Since the 1970s, a slew of environment regulations have been put in place to protect the U.S. landscape, such as the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, followed by the Clean Water Act in 1972 and the Endangered Species Act in 1973. The Clean Air Act was established in 1963 and has been amended several times since, the first time in 1970.
Because of this legal environmental infrastructure, it would be virtually impossible for Trump to easily or unilaterally change these protections, the experts said. In order for the Trump administration to overturn regulations against use of protected lands for energy production, he would have to present evidence to demonstrate that the proposed actions would not violate existing environmental laws, Suckling said.
“You have to use the best science available and if the science does not support your policy, the law is not going to permit you to do it,” Suckling said.
The day after Trump won reelection, President Joe Biden moved to narrow the scope of the lease in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, signed by Trump in 2017, to limit oil drilling. The Biden administration found “legal deficiencies” in the leases that would have made it possible for the Trump administration to expand fossil fuel production, Colohan said.
The biggest roadblock to Trump’s plans to drill on federally protected lands is whether or not those areas are actually economically competitive, compared to places where people are drilling on private land using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, Meiburg said.
However, most federal lands are not protected, Drew Caputo, vice president of litigation at Earthjustice, told ABC News. For such unprotected lands, it’s possible for Trump to issue an executive order to lease them for energy production. Even so, whenever a decision is being made to lease public land, “there will be a legal battle for sure,” Colohan said, adding that executive orders are “more reversible” than an existing statutory regulation.
Environmental activist resistance
In order for Trump to open federal land for leasing, his administration is required by law to notify the public, with environmental lawyers certain to be ready to challenge him.
“Environmental laws are carefully designed to produce a stable, democratic, scientific outcome,” Suckling said. “You can’t just get in and jump around and do whatever you want, and that’s why the United States has one of the best-protected environments – one of the cleanest, healthiest environments of any nation on earth,”
During Trump’s first term, the Biological Center for Diversity sued his administration 266 times and won about 90% of those actions, Suckling said. Earthjustice filed about 200 lawsuits against the Trump administration and won about 85% of them, according to Caputo.
“We’re going to have to sue their pants off every chance we get,” the Sierra Club’s Manuel said.
The Trump administration will likely face opposition from other stakeholders as well, such as Native American tribes, which could be impacted should federal land be leased for energy extraction, Meiburg said.
Trump’s loss in the 2020 election may have been the speed bump needed to thwart his agenda for federal lands, some experts also said. Now that he’s been reelected four years later, he’s essentially a one-term president and many of his proposed actions could be tied up in litigation for years, Suckling said.
Conversely, had Trump had eight consecutive years in office, it may have afforded him the continuity to enact more sweeping changes regarding use of federal lands, Caputo said. Should the House or Senate flip to Democratic control after the midterm elections, Trump’s agenda would likely be blunted even more, Manuel said.
However, it’s also challenging for land managers and environmental agencies when there’s constant turnover in the regulatory environment because it can slow progress for environmental protections, Colohan said.
All land is under pressure – whether for development, extraction of resources, agricultural use, climate change or biodiversity loss, Colohan said. But federal lands carry the ideal of conservation for the public benefit, recreation, cultural purposes, and for climate mitigation and resilience, he added.
“Those things are the better, the longer-term benefits that come from conservation,” Colohan said. “And so that’s really a choice that’s made by every administration.”
