(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a request from Mark Meadows, the one-time chief of staff to former President Donald Trump, to move his Georgia election interference case into federal court.
Meadows was charged alongside Trump and 18 others last year in the Fulton County racketeering case over their alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state. Meadows and the others pleaded not guilty to all charges, and four defendants subsequently took plea deals.
Meadows for months has sought to move his case into federal court based on a law that calls for the removal of criminal proceedings when someone is charged for actions they allegedly took as a federal official acting “under color” of their office.
Meadows had argued to the Supreme Court that a lower court erred when it rejected Meadows’ request to move the case out of state court and into federal court, in part by pointing to the court’s recent landmark ruling granting Trump some immunity for official acts.
“Just as immunity protection for former officers is critical to ensuring that current and future officers are not deterred from enthusiastic service, so too is the promise of a federal forum in which to litigate that defense,” the 47-page filing states.
Both a lower court and appeals court have rejected that claim, with one judge writing that Meadows’ actions charged in the indictment “were taken on behalf of the Trump campaign” and were not his official duties.
The Fulton County election interference case is largely on pause pending an appeal of ruling that allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to remain on the case after Judge Scott McAfee declined to disqualify her due to a “significant appearance of impropriety” stemming from a romantic relationship between her and a prosecutor on her staff.
A spokesperson for the DA’s office recently declined to comment when asked by ABC News for their views on the future of the case, given Trump’s reelection last week.
(GREEN LAKE, Wis.) — A husband and father of three who vanished at a Wisconsin lake this summer may have faked his own death and fled to Eastern Europe, authorities said, and the sheriff is now urging the missing man to come forward.
“Our most important thing, for us, is to know that you’re safe,” Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said in his message to Ryan Borgwardt. “We can talk through all this and we can work things out.”
The case began on the morning of Aug. 12, when authorities learned Borgwardt, 45, hadn’t returned home and was last known to be on Green Lake, according to the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Borgwardt last texted his wife on the night of Aug. 11, saying he was turning his kayak around and heading to shore soon, Podoll said.
Officials discovered Borgwardt’s overturned kayak and life jacket in the lake, authorities said, and they later found his fishing rod and tackle box.
Responders believed the missing dad drowned and they scoured the lake using divers, drones, sonar and cadaver K-9s, officials said.
“The search continued for about 54 days, with no sign of Ryan,” the sheriff said during a news conference on Friday. “Near daily drone searches were completed. And Bruce’s Legacy [a volunteer search organization] methodically searched approximately 1,500 acres. … Keith Cormican, [who leads] Bruce’s Legacy, sifted through hours and hours of sonar data and images.”
“Keith’s expertise and equipment led us to believe either something very odd occurred and Ryan was outside the area that had been searched, or something else had occurred,” the sheriff said.
The case took a turn in October when investigators discovered Borgwardt’s name had been checked by law enforcement in Canada on Aug. 13, the sheriff said.
Authorities also learned Borgwardt had been communicating with a woman from Uzbekistan, the sheriff said.
Other behavior included clearing his browsers the day he disappeared, inquiries about moving funds to foreign banks, getting a new life insurance policy, obtaining a new passport and replacing his laptop hard drive, the sheriff said.
“I was totally shocked,” Podoll told ABC News on Monday. “It was just unbelievable that we would have a case like this where some party actually staged his death.”
Authorities have stopped searching the lake.
“As far as we know, he’s someplace in Eastern Europe,” the sheriff told ABC News.
Investigators are “looking into what charges could be filed,” Podoll said, adding, “that’s a work in progress.”
Authorities hope to pursue restitution for the expenses of the search, the sheriff’s office said.
“He wasted a lot of my time and it cost me a lot of money,” Cormican of Bruce’s Legacy said.
Podoll said it’s not clear if Borgwardt was given help, and he urged anyone with information to come forward.
Podoll praised Borgwardt’s wife, whom he said was not involved, calling her “a very, very strong lady.”
“I was there when the sheriff broke the news to the whole family. And it was pretty, pretty heart-wrenching to see,” Cormican told ABC News. “I feel horrible for the family. They’re the ones that are going to really struggle.”
ABC News’ Karolina Rivas contributed to this report.
Mark Brown, president and CEO of Tuskegee University in Alabama, speaks at a news conference on Nov. 11, 2024, to announce changes being made at the school to tighten security in the wake of a mass shooting that left a teenager dead and 16 other people injured. Image via ABC News.
(TUSKEGEE, Ala.) — The president of Tuskegee University in Alabama announced Monday that the school is being closed to outsiders and that its security chief has been fired in the wake of a mass shooting Sunday on campus.
The barrage of gunfire left a teenager dead and injured 16 other people attending an unsanctioned homecoming event, officials said.
Mark Brown, president and CEO of the historically black university, announced the changes as the investigation of the mass shooting continued Monday and the local sheriff warned those responsible for the shooting that “we are going to find you.”
“The Tuskegee University community is heartbroken by what happened on our campus Sunday morning,” Brown said during a news conference Monday afternoon.
Moving forward, no one will be allowed on the Tuskegee campus without authorized permission or a school-issued identification badge, he said.
“Tuskegee University is no longer an open campus,” Brown said. “Effective immediately, we require IDs for everyone to be displayed to enter campus and worn at all times while on campus.”
Earlier Monday, the university hired a new campus security leader “and relieved our previous security chief of his duties,” Brown said. He did not take questions or elaborate on why the security chief was being replaced.
“Our new campus security chief and ultimately his team will complete a full review, including all implementations of new security procedures,” Brown said.
He said Sunday’s shooting erupted at the event that was “not approved in advance and in no way was sanctioned by the university.”
“Nonetheless, it happened on our campus and we take full responsibility,” Brown said.
The deadly barrage of gunfire erupted between 11:30 p.m. Saturday and midnight Sunday in a parking lot that was packed with people on campus to celebrate the university’s 100th homecoming, Macon County Sheriff Andre Brunson told ABC News.
The person killed in the shooting was identified as 18-year-old La’Tavion Johnson by the Macon County Coroner’s Office. University officials said Johnson was not a Tuskegee University student.
At least 16 other people, including students, were injured during the shooting, including 12 who suffered gunshot wounds, according to police.
Several videos posted on social media and verified by ABC News captured what sounded like automatic gunfire and showed people diving to the ground or taking cover in vehicles.
Brunson said numerous shots were fired during the incident.
“I would say that with the amount of shots that were fired, there’s going to be multiple shooters,” Brunson said.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, which is leading the investigation, announced Sunday evening that one person had been arrested. Authorities said Jaquez Myrick, 25, of Montgomery, Alabama, was taken into custody while trying to leave the campus after the shooting and faces federal charges of possession of a handgun with a machine gun conversion device.
State police have yet to determine if Myrick was one of the gunmen who opened fire.
No suspect has been charged directly with the shooting.
“I want to say one thing to the people that were shooting: We’re going to make sure we find you. We’re not going to let them disrupt what we do here in Tuskegee.”
Brown said the shooting occurred despite numerous steps the university took before homecoming week to make the festivities safe, including hiring 70 additional law enforcement officers from throughout Alabama and Georgia to help campus and local law enforcement with crowd control.
Brown said efforts were made through social media and advertising to advise visitors that weapons and drugs are prohibited on campus and that visitors could only use clear bags to carry their possessions.
“We did entry checks at all officially sponsored events, some random and some 100% checks,” Brown said. “However, the general campus remained open and we did not, nor could we, have planned for security at an event that was not approved in advance or officially sanctioned by the university.”
Brunson said he and deputies from his department had been at the campus all day and into the night Saturday, assisting university police and the Tuskegee Police Department with security.
He said he was driving back to the school after taking a break when the shooting occurred.
“First of all, it was just chaotic,” Brunson said of what he observed when he arrived at the campus.
He said officers were told an active shooter was held up in a dorm and raced there, running past injured victims, only to learn there was no shooter at the dorm.
“We had to immediately go there. You have to take out the threat first and we found out that it wasn’t that case at that time,” Brunson said. “As we were running to that dorm, trying to get to the active shooter, we saw people hurt, we saw people laying down, people asking for help. But we had to tell them, we’ll be back.”
Brown said he eventually went back to help give first aid to injured victims, including those suffering from gunshot wounds.
“Being there and seeing the faces of the students, seeing the anger and the hurt, being afraid and all of that all into one, it was just a horrific scene,” Brunson said. “I sympathize with the students because you shouldn’t have seen anything like this.”
ABC News’ Faith Abubey and Matt Foster contributed to this report.
(YEMASSEE, S.C.) — More than half of the rhesus macaque monkeys that escaped from a South Carolina lab have been recovered.
As of Monday evening, 30 of the 43 furry runaways, that broke loose Wednesday from the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center in Yemasee, have now successfully been captured.
“Efforts to safely capture the remaining primates will continue throughout the evening and as long as necessary, ” a spokesperson for the Yemassee Police Department said.
A team of veterinarians, which have been brought in to conduct wellness exams, said all the recovered primates are in good health.
“As the monkeys are recaptured, they are given snacks. A favorite is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” police said.
Yemasee officials said that “a significant number” of the escaped primates were located in a facility near where the rescued animal was found and were “jumping back and forth over the facility’s fence.”
“Alpha Genesis management and staff are on-site, actively feeding and monitoring the animals, and they will continue these efforts throughout the weekend,” the town’s officials said in a statement.
“The primates continue to interact with their companions inside the facility, which is a positive sign,” they added.
Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard said the monkeys were having a nap Saturday afternoon.
“They are coming down to the ground a bit more now. It is a slow process,” he said.
The creatures escaped when a new employee at the Alpha Genesis center left the door to their enclosure open, Yemassee Town Administrator Matthew Garnes said during a briefing Thursday with town officials.
The primates are all very young females weighing 6 to 7 pounds each who have never been tested, according to police. There is no public health threat, police said.
Recovery efforts will continue until all the monkeys are recovered, police said, and requested the public call 911 if they spot any of the remaining animals.
“We thank the public for their cooperation in avoiding the area and kindly ask that drones not be used in the vicinity,” police said.
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.
(PALM BEACH, Fla.) — Kai Trump, President-elect Donald Trump’s 17-year-old granddaughter, released an “Election Night Vlog” on her YouTube channel Monday afternoon, where she took viewers behind the scenes into her family’s experience awaiting results on election night.
“I’m ready to party it up tonight, and hopefully we can catch a dub,” Kai Trump said, tapping into Gen-Z slang.
She provided an inside look into the viral family photo taken in Mar-a-Lago on election night, with footage featuring Trump talking about “dark MAGA” hats and insisting on including surrogate Elon Musk in the shot.
“Elon? You have to have a picture with your boy,” Trump said. “You have to get Elon with his boy. Gorgeous, perfect boy.”
Early in the evening, the family was seated around four TV screens displaying ABC News, Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC newscasts as they eagerly awaited for results to filter in. Trump could be briefly seen sitting silently facing the TV screens.
“He’s up right now 20 Electoral College votes, so I think that’s pretty solid,” Kai said, describing the newscast results at the moment.
Providing a more casual, lighthearted glimpse into night, Kai also recorded herself getting her hair and makeup done, picking out her outfit, and taking selfies with family members.
Additional shots featured Kai driving to Mar-a-Lago and the Palm Beach County Convention Center, cracking jokes with a friend about Nutella, and singing along to “Money, Money, Money” from the “Mamma Mia” soundtrack — what she said was her go-to song whenever she pulls into Mar-a-Lago. The crowd could also be seen emulating Trump’s signature dance moves.
In addition to these lighter moments, Kai also opened up about the emotional aspect of the night, particularly in terms of her nerves.
“The past five days, I have been so nervous, like I feel like I’ve had butterflies in my stomach for so long,” she said, in addition to later expressing her anxieties by “stress-eating” sweet treats. Later in the video, she explains how she began “tearing up” when Pennsylvania was called for Trump.
Towards the end of the vlog, Kai announced that they were headed to say hello to Vice President-elect JD Vance, though the footage did not feature him. Melania Trump was also not seen or mentioned in the video.
While Kai did not record Trump’s ultimate victory or the celebratory events/reactions following the results, she later filmed a one-on-one explaining her admiration of her grandfather.
“I just finished playing 18 holes with him. It was his first time playing in probably 90 days or more,” she said, before recapping the sentimental value of Election Night. “It’s his last time running, so it was so special for him to win,” she said.
The oldest daughter of Donald Trump Jr., Kai recently stepped into the public eye after delivering a speech at the Republican National Convention in July in which she described Trump as a “normal grandpa” who is “very caring and loving.”
Kai’s YouTube channel, which has 133k subscribers, consists of additional vlogs featuring her golf skills and other behind-the-scenes glimpses into her life. She is also active on TikTok with 934.7k followers.
(NEW YORK) — Many teenagers and college students reported being among those who received racist text messages sent to phone numbers across the U.S. last week.
The texts, which tell the user they’re going to be taken to a plantation to “pick cotton,” have been reported in at least 24 states, plus Washington, D.C, and primarily appeared to target Black users from teenagers to adults, according to investigators in several states.
“I don’t understand why there’s so much hate in this world,” Nicole Nuñez, whose 15-year-old son attends a Los Angeles charter school, told ABC7. “I don’t understand why they don’t like us because of the color of our skin.”
TextNow, a mobile provider that allows people to create phone numbers for free, said Friday that it discovered “one or more” of its users allegedly sent out racist text messages and that the service quickly shut down the accounts. The text messaging service told ABC News that they were cooperating with law enforcement and condemned the messages.
Some of the messages address the recipients by name.
The TextNow representative said once the accounts that were allegedly behind the texts were reported, the accounts were disabled in less than an hour.
Los Angeles Superintendent Alberto Carvalho addressed the many students in his district that reported receiving the messages.
“We are aware of racist and incendiary texts that are being sent to students nationwide, including to some of our students,” Carvalho said in a statement acquired by ABC News. “We unequivocally condemn this hateful and threatening rhetoric. We are investigating this situation. If you receive one of these messages students and families should contact their school for support.”
One text message reviewed by ABC News read, “You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. Be ready at 12 pm sharp with your belongings. Our executive slaves will come get you in a brown van. Be prepared to be searched down once you’ve enter the plantation. You are in plantation group W.”
As of Saturday, the texts were reported by authorities in California, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, Tennessee, Indiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C.
At least five students at Fisk University, a historically Black institution in Nashville, received the offensive text messages, the university told ABC News in a statement. Some told the school that their peers had received the texts as well, it noted.
“We are aware of disturbing and offensive messages circulating on social media, appearing to target members of our community,” Fisk University said in its statement. “These messages, which suggest threats of violence and intimidation, are deeply unsettling. However, we want to assure you that these are likely the work of an automated bot or malicious actors with no real intentions or credibility.”
Local and federal investigators, including the FBI, said they were looking into the messages and urged anyone who received them to contact the authorities. The probes are ongoing.
A senior law enforcement official told ABC News that it has not been determined if the source of the racist texts is domestic or foreign, but efforts are underway to determine their origin.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a video statement posted on X Friday that “some” of the racist text messages “can be traced back to a VPN in Poland.”
“At this time, they have found no original source — meaning they could have originated from any bad actor state in the region or the world. We will continue to investigate,” Murrill said.
Murrill told ABC News that, in addition to the messages being “vile” and “racist,” they could also contain malware.
“City officials, pastors, democratic clubs, need to speak up and speak out and cannot be silent if you are silent it suggests you are complicit with evil,” Brown said, according to ABC7.
Carryn Freeman, who runs a non-profit near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, said that she and some of friends’ children received the texts. Their parents are angry and want to know what to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again, she said.
“I got mad that my friends’ children were receiving this, 15 year olds who are having to process very overt pre-Jim Crow, transatlantic slave trade level racism in their text messages,” Freeman told ABC News on Friday. “Then they have to go to school the next day.”
ABC News’ Pierre Thomas, Abby Cruz, Luke Barr and Emmanuelle Saliba contributed to this report.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office released this photo of Steven Douglas Lloyd. Monroe County Sheriff’s Office
(COLUMBIA, S.C.) — A suspect who allegedly killed a man and made the death appear to have happened in a fall from a cliff — all in a bid to steal the victim’s identity — has been captured following a weekslong manhunt, authorities said.
Nicholas Wayne Hamlett, 45, was taken into custody on Sunday in Columbia, South Carolina, authorities said.
Hamlett had been sought following the death of a man on a scenic highway in Tellico Plains, Tennessee, last month.
Hamlett allegedly called 911 on Oct. 18 to report that he had fallen off a cliff while running from a bear and was injured, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. He identified himself by a different name on the call, according to the sheriff’s office.
The call was pinged to the area of Cherohala Skyway. During a search of the area, the body of a man with identification matching the name given by Hamlett on the 911 call was found on his person, the sheriff’s office said.
Detectives with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, however, determined that was not the deceased person’s identity, and that the victim had been murdered, the sheriff’s office said.
The identification found on the victim had been stolen and used on multiple occasions, according to the sheriff’s office. Investigators determined that Hamlett, who is also wanted out of Alabama on a parole violation, had been using that stolen identity, the sheriff’s office said.
The deceased person did not have injuries consistent with a fall or bear attack, according to Monroe County Sheriff Tommy Jones II. The Knox County Regional Forensic Center determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma, Jones said.
Last week, authorities identified the victim of the murder on the Cherohala Skyway in Tellico Plains as Steven Douglas Lloyd, 34, of Knoxville, Tennessee.
Hamlett allegedly had befriended the victim and “lured him into a wooded area to take Steven’s life and his identity,” the sheriff’s office said. Hamlett had known the victim for several months, according to Jones.
“Steven was known to leave home and live on the streets, but kept in contact with his family,” the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “Steven loved the outdoors and was so helpful when it came to others. The family was shocked to learn that their beloved son’s life had been taken by someone that Steven trusted.”
Amid the search for Hamlett, authorities warned that the murder suspect should be considered armed and dangerous.
The manhunt was brought to an end on Sunday when an employee at a hospital in Columbia recognized Hamlett and alerted authorities, according to the Columbia Police Department.
His identification was verified by the FBI through fingerprints, according to Jones.
It is unclear why Hamlett was at a hospital.
No further details are being released at this time, Jones said.
Hamlett has charges pending for first-degree murder out of Monroe County and parole violation out of Alabama, the sheriff said.
Sheriff Bill Franklin of Elmore County, Alabama, told Knoxville ABC affiliate WATE that Hamlett had pleaded guilty to attempted murder and assault in 2011 and was on parole for that charge.
Arrangements are being made with Tennessee authorities for Hamlett’s extradition to Monroe County, Columbia police said.
It is unclear if Hamlett has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
Hamlett was known to have ties to multiple states, and his wanted poster had been shared nationwide.
“The sharing of Hamett’s wanted poster led the public, whom is our most valuable resource, to act as our eyes and ears,” Jones said in a statement on Sunday. “After observing Hamlett at a local hospital, a good citizen alerted the authorities and brought this manhunt to a peaceful end.”
(DELPHI, Ind.) — Delphi, Indiana, resident Richard Allen was found guilty on all charges on Monday in the double murders of best friends Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14.
The jury’s verdict came on the fourth day of deliberations in the high-profile case that shocked the nation.
Allen was stoic in court and did not react to the verdict, but his mother and wife sobbed.
Allen was convicted of felony murder for the killing of Abigail Williams while attempting to commit kidnapping; felony murder for the killing of Liberty German while attempting to commit kidnapping; murder for knowingly killing Abigail Williams; and murder for knowingly killing Liberty German.
Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 20.
Abby and Libby were killed on a local hiking trail on Feb. 13, 2017. The girls’ throats were slit and they were dumped in a wooded area near the trail. Their bodies were found the next day.
As police hunted for a culprit, they released a clip of the unknown suspect’s voice — a recording of him saying “down the hill” — which was recovered from Libby’s phone. Police also released a grainy image of the suspect on the trail: a man who became known as “bridge guy.”
Allen, who was arrested for murder in 2022, admitted to police he was on the trail that day, but he denied any involvement in the crime.
Allen’s multiple confessions while in jail and his mental health at the time became a major focus of the trial.
The defense argues Allen was in a psychotic state when he made numerous confessions to corrections officers, his wife and a psychologist.
The prosecution’s key evidence is police analysis of Allen’s gun, which determined that a .40-caliber unspent round discovered by the girls’ bodies was cycled through Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226. But the defense rejects the accuracy of that testing, calling it an “apples to oranges” comparison, because the technician compared the initial round — which had been cycled, not fired — to a bullet fired from Allen’s gun.
No DNA was found at the site to tie Allen or anyone else to the crime scene, a forensic scientist testified.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK CITY) — A wildfire raging on the border of New York and New Jersey exploded overnight to 5,000 acres, prompting officials on Monday to postpone one of the oldest Veterans Day Parades in the nation.
As firefighters battled the Jennings Creek Fire straddling the border between Orange County, New York, and Passaic County, New Jersey, organizers of the 80th annual West Milford, New York, Veterans Day Parade, announced the event will be delayed until Nov. 24, due to the ongoing emergency.
“I cannot in good conscience detract from all the hard work our firefighters, police officers, first responders, DPW personnel and our community leaders are currently facing in dealing with wildfires along the East Shore area,” Rudy Hass, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7198 in West Milford, said in a statement.
Hass said many firefighters battling the Jennings Creek Fire are military veterans.
“Right now we need to keep them in our thoughts as they spend many hours, day and night, doing all they can in order to protect our great communities in that area,” Hass said.
The blaze broke out Saturday and burned drought-parched wildland stretching from the West Milford in Passaic County, New Jersey, to the Sterling Forest State Park in New York’s Orange County, and on both the New York and New Jersey sides of Greenwood Lake, officials said.
Despite the first measurable rain in the area in more than a month, the fire grew from about 2,500 acres on Sunday to over 5,000 acres, or about 4.7 square miles, by Monday morning, according to the New York Forest Fire Service.
The fire has burned about 2,500 acres on the New York and New Jersey sides of the fire, a forest ranger for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said at a news conference Monday.
Firefighters made progress battling the fire Sunday night, increasing containment from 0% to 20%, officials said.
At least 25 structures remain threatened by the conflagration, including eight historic structures in New Jersey’s Long Pond Ironworks State Park, a historic 175-acre village where iron was produced during the Revolutionary War, officials said.
A New York State Parks and Recreation aid was killed on Saturday helping the battle the Jennings Creek Fire, officials said. The deceased parks employee was identified Sunday by the New York State Police as 18-year-old Dariel Vasquez.
The New York and New Jersey forest services have teamed up to fight the fire on both sides of the state line.
Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus said numerous residents living near the fire have complied with voluntary evacuations.
“We had about 40 homes and residents that move out voluntarily, we really didn’t have to encourage them too much because they saw out their windows a major firestorm coming their way,” Neuhaus told ABC New York station WABC.
While Sunday’s light rainstorm was welcomed on the fire line, the precipitation did little to extinguish the fire, officials said. Overnight, about 0.25 inches of rain fell across the fire area.
“This provided an opportunity to rest several of the crews who have been working non-stop to contain this fire,” the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said in a social media post on Monday morning. “Today, crews are back on scene and will continue to improve containment lines and address area of concern.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Chief Bill Donnelly of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said at a news conference Sunday that it could take crews until the end of this week to extinguish the blaze.
The fire came amid blustery winds and drought conditions in New York and New Jersey, which before Sunday hadn’t seen any rain in more than a month, officials said.
Since Oct. 1, New Jersey firefighters have responded to 537 wildfires that have consumed 4,500 acres, including about 40 fires that ignited between Friday and Saturday, according to Donnelly. Forest Ranger Jeremy Oldroyd, of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, said New York fire crews have battled 60 wildfires since Oct. 1, and they have burned 2,100 acres.
At one point over the weekend, New Jersey firefighters were simultaneously battling at least six significant brush fires that ignited across the state, including a second large wildfire in Passaic County.
The “Cannonball 3” fire began on Friday afternoon near Passaic County’s Pompton Lake and grew to 181 acres. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service announced Sunday afternoon that firefighters had achieved 100% containment on the fire.
Another wildfire in New Jersey — the Shotgun Fire — started Wednesday and burned 350 acres of the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area in Jackson Township before firefighters gained control of the blaze, officials said. Officials said the cause of the fire was arson.
Investigators concluded the fire began behind a berm at the Central Jersey Rifle & Pistol Club in Jackson, New Jersey, and was caused by magnesium shards of a “Dragon’s Breath” 12-gauge shotgun round, which ignited materials on the berm. Firing incendiary or tracer ammunition is illegal in New Jersey, authorities said.
Richard Shashaty, 37, of Brick Township, surrendered to the police on Saturday. He was charged with arson and violation of regulatory provisions relating to firearms, officials said Saturday.
(EL SEGUNDO, Calif.) — Mattel has apologized after boxes for some of its new dolls from the movie “Wicked” included a link to a pornographic website.
The packages for the dolls were printed with a web address to an adult film site with the same name as the upcoming movie musical starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
Customers who noticed the mistake shared images of the toy boxes on social media.
Mattel has apologized for the boxes, describing the link as a “misprint.”
“Mattel was made aware of a misprint on the packaging of the Mattel Wicked collection dolls, primarily sold in the U.S., which intended to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com landing page. We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to remedy this,” the toy company said in a statement.
“Parents are advised that the misprinted, incorrect website is not appropriate for children. Consumers who already have the product are advised to discard the product packaging or obscure the link and may contact Mattel Customer Service for further information,” the company added.
