Category: National

(NEW YORK) — Thunderstorms are in the forecast Saturday across parts of the central United States as a summer-like pattern continues to deliver hot temperatures and scattered severe weather.

The highest risk for severe weather on Saturday is along the New Mexico-Texas border, with damaging winds, large hail and a few tornadoes possible between Albuquerque and Amarillo. A Flood Watch has been issued for parts of New Mexico and the Texas panhandle.

There is another area extending from Kansas to Wisconsin that may be producing strong to severe thunderstorms later, with damaging winds being the main threat. Flash flooding could be an issue as well, with 1″-3″ of rain across parts of the Midwest over the next 2 days.

Offshore storm affecting Northeast

A pesky storm system has parked itself off the coast of eastern Massachusetts, drenching Cape Cod and Nantucket with up to 4 inches of rain during the last few days.

Coastal Flood Alerts are in effect for several locations along the east coast, due to the combination of astronomical high tide and the rough surf from this offshore storm.

Minor coastal flooding of 1 to 2 feet is possible this weekend during high tide from the Mid-Atlantic into the Northeast. The storm will slowly pull away by early next week.

In the tropics

The chances for our next tropical system in the Gulf of Mexico are increasing, with a 60% likelihood for development as we head through next week.

The potential storm hasn’t even formed yet, but a storm is expected to take shape around the middle or end of next week, bringing a heavy rain threat to the Gulf Coast.

It is still far too early to determine potential impacts, but residents along the Gulf Coast should be monitoring this over the next several days.

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(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — Lisa Findley, the Missouri woman facing federal charges in connection with an alleged attempt to illegally auction off Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate, will remain locked up while her case is pending.

Findley, 53, appeared in U.S. District Court in Memphis Friday afternoon for the second week in a row for what was expected to be a detention hearing, but public defender Tyrone Paylor told Magistrate Judge Annie Christoff that Findley would be waiving her right to the hearing.

Christoff asked Findley if she understood that this meant that she would remain in custody.

“Yes,” replied Findley, who sat at the edge of the jury box, handcuffed and wearing jail-issued clothing.

Findley was arrested in Missouri on Aug. 16 on charges of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. She was transported to Tennessee several weeks ago.

Paylor formally entered a not guilty plea on Findley’s behalf Friday. He declined to comment to reporters as he left the courtroom.

Federal prosecutors allege that Findley formed a “brazen scheme” to try to “extort a settlement from the Presley family.”

She allegedly forged the signatures of Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley’s late daughter, and Florida notary Kimberly Philbrick on documents that claimed Lisa Marie took out a $3.8 million loan from a purported company called Naussany Investments prior to her death and listed Graceland as collateral.

Naussany Investments, an unregistered entity that Findley is accused of creating, filed public notices in May stating that it would auction off Graceland at the front of the Shelby County Courthouse.

A Shelby County chancellor issued a temporary injunction at the time that prevented such an auction from taking place, citing an affidavit from Philbrick that stated that her signature was forged and that she never met Lisa Marie.

Philbrick testified before a federal grand jury in August and also spoke exclusively to ABC News, telling GMA3 anchor Eva Pilgrim that she had no idea how her name became associated with the attempt to sell Graceland.

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(SELMA, Texas) — A man initially interviewed as a witness at the scene of a murder has now been arrested over a year later in the apparent road rage slaying, authorities in Texas announced.

Jacob Daniel Serna, 29, was arrested on Thursday for the murder of Joseph Banales, according to police in Selma, located about 20 miles outside of San Antonio.

The case began on April 15, 2023, when Selma police said they responded to a single-car crash and found Banales shot in the head and slumped over his steering wheel.

Banales, a nursing student and Army ROTC member at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, was declared dead at the scene, police said.

Witnesses said Banales tried to merge into another lane and almost hit a dark blue or black sports car with a loud exhaust system, according to the probable cause affidavit. The sports car slowed down, then spend up along the driver’s side of Banales’ car, witnesses said. Then Banales’ car swerved into another lane and crashed into the center median, and the sports car fled, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Banales was on the phone with his girlfriend at the time; she told police she heard what sounded like a loud exhaust system driving by quickly, then a crash, the document said.

Serna and his wife were at the scene when officers arrived, police said. Officer dashboard camera captured Serna standing over Banales’ body, the probable cause affidavit said.

Serna — who drove a blue Ford Mustang sports car — and his wife were interviewed several times, and their stories changed over time, according to police.

Initially, Serna’s wife told police she saw a blue sports car — similar to the color of their car — in the lane next to Banales, the probable cause affidavit said. Serna told police he didn’t see anything and his wife saw the crash, according to the probable cause affidavit.

This July, police interviewed Serna’s wife again. The Sernas are now separated, according to the probable cause affidavit, and she said her husband had sped up to get a better look at the potential suspect’s car, but the suspect’s car was driving too fast, and that’s when the crash happened, the document said.

On Thursday, police interviewed Serna’s wife again. She admitted her husband shot the victim after her husband “became angry that Banales had nearly changed lanes into his blue Mustang,” police said in a statement on Friday.

She said her husband pulled his pistol out of the glove box, loaded the weapon and fired, according to the probable cause affidavit.

She said she made her husband turn around and drive back to the scene, according to the probable cause affidavit.

During the investigation, police zeroed-in on cellphone records to help determine “who could have been driving a blue sports car at the crime scene,” police said in a statement.

The probe, which included searching license plate reader databases, “revealed only one vehicle matching the description of a blue sports car with loud exhaust” — Serna’s car, police said.

“Google Geo-Fence records show Serna’s Google activity pinging in the area at the same time investigators believe the shooting happened,” police added.

Serna has been booked into the Bexar County Jail, police said.

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(HARRISBURG, Penn.) — Three Mile Island, the shuttered Pennsylvania nuclear power plant that was the site of a 1979 reactor accident that remains the worst commercial nuclear power plant accident in U.S. history, is reopening to generate power for artificial intelligence.

Constellation Energy will restart Three Mile Island Unit 1, one of the facility’s pressurized water reactors, for the launch of the Crane Clean Energy Center, which will generate nuclear energy purchased by Microsoft to power the company’s AI data center, the companies announced on Friday.

Under the agreement between the two companies, Microsoft will purchase energy from the plant as part of its goal to help power its data centers with carbon-free energy.

“This agreement is a major milestone in Microsoft’s efforts to help decarbonize the grid in support of our commitment to become carbon negative. Microsoft continues to collaborate with energy providers to develop carbon-free energy sources to help meet the grids’ capacity and reliability needs,” said Microsoft Vice President of Energy Bobby Hollis in a statement.

The power purchase agreement “makes sense” because it ensures a stable revenue source for the power plant while providing 24/7 emission-free electricity for the data center, Jacopo Buongiorno, professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), told ABC News.

The move is also “further confirmation” of the economic and environmental value of using existing nuclear power plants to meet decarbonization goals in the U.S., Buongiorno said.

“Since building a new nuclear power plant can be so time consuming and expensive, extending the license of current plants or refurbishing and restarting those that have been recently shutdown is a very attractive proposition,” Buongiorno said via email.

The Crane Clean Energy Center (CCEC) is expected to create 3,400 direct and indirect jobs and add more than 800 megawatts of carbon-free electricity to the grid, according to a study commissioned by the Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council.

“The CCEC will support thousands of family-sustaining jobs for decades to come,” said Rob Bair, president of the Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades Council, in a statement. “It will help make Pennsylvania a leader in attracting and retaining the types of reliable, clean energy jobs that will define the future.”

Three Mile Island, located on the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was shuttered in 2019 for economic reasons, according to Constellation Energy. Owner Exelon Corp said in 2017 that the closing was due to lack of financial rescue from the state.

On March 28, 1979, the Unit 2 reactor core at the Three Mile Island plant partially melted down when equipment malfunctions, compounded by human operator errors, caused a water pump failure that resulted in a loss of coolant to the reactor, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The Unit 1 reactor is adjacent to Unit 2, which was shut down after the 1979 accident and is in the process of being decommissioned by its owner, Energy Solutions, according to Constellation Energy.

Public support for the restart of Three Mile Island is strong, with residents favoring it by a more than 2-1 margin, as long as funding for the restart doesn’t require increased taxes or electricity rates, according to a recent poll conducted by Susquehanna Polling & Research.

The nuclear energy industry plays a “critical role” in providing safe and reliable carbon-free energy, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement.

“My Administration will continue to work to cut energy costs and ensure the reliability of our energy grid so that Pennsylvanians can have access to affordable power made right here in Pennsylvania for years to come – and the Crane Clean Energy Center will help us achieve those goals,” Shapiro said.

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(PAWLET, Vt.) — A son has been arrested for the murder of his father, his father’s wife and her teenage son, who were found shot to death at their Vermont home, police announced Friday.

The triple homicide was discovered early Sunday. Officers responded to a report of a “suspicious person” and the investigation led them to a home in the town of Pawlet, Vermont State Police said.

Inside they found the three deceased victims — Brian Crossman Sr., 46, who was a Pawlet government official; his wife, Erica Crossman, 41; and her son and his stepson, Colin Taft, 13, police said. They were killed sometime early Sunday morning inside their home, police said.

Crossman Sr.’s son — Brian Crossman Jr., 23, of Granville, New York — now faces counts of aggravated murder in connection with the fatal shootings of his father, stepmother and stepbrother, Vermont State Police said Friday.

“The Vermont State Police investigation identified significant evidence that linked Crossman Jr. to the killings, including digital information, statements, injuries, and various interviews,” Vermont State Police said in a statement.

New York State Police located Crossman Jr. and took him into custody. He is being detained without bail pending an appearance before a judge in New York to initiate proceedings for his extradition to Vermont, police said.

Police have not released any details on an alleged motive in the killings.

He was set to appear in court in Glens Falls, New York, Friday afternoon. It is unclear if he has an attorney at this time.

It is unclear when he will return to Vermont, police said.

All three family members died from gunshot wounds and their deaths have been ruled as homicides by the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, police said. Crossman Sr. was shot in the head and torso, Erica Crossman was shot in the head and her son had multiple gunshot wounds, police said.

Crossman Sr. had joined the Pawlet Select Board this year, where he served as a liaison to buildings and development and to the town’s highway department, according to the town’s website.

Pawlet Select Board Chair Mike Beecher remembered him as a “friend and neighbor” and a “hardworking community member.”

“This tragedy that struck him and his family has also hit our community hard, and we are shaken and grieving,” Beecher said in a statement Tuesday. “Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this devastating loss. The town of Pawlet will work to get through this as we always get through hard times, by supporting each other and doing our best to carry on.”

Pawlet, a town of about 1,400 people, is located in western Vermont on the New York state line.

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(IRVINE, Calif.) — Eight firefighters were hurt — including two critically — when the fire truck they were in rolled over while returning from a 12-hour shift battling the Airport Fire wildfire, one of several large blazes raging in Southern California, officials said.

The truck crashed on State Route 241 in Irvine just before 7 p.m. Thursday, Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy said.

The California Highway Patrol told ABC Los Angeles station KABC that a car in front of the truck swerved to avoid hitting a ladder that was in one of the lanes, causing the fire truck to swerve, lose control and overturn after hitting the guard rail. No other cars were involved in the crash, Fennessy said.

Six firefighters were taken to trauma centers in conditions ranging from “stable to critical,” Fennessy said at a news conference Friday. Two firefighters were treated at Hoag Hospital Irvine and have since been released, he said.

Of the six taken to trauma centers, two were admitted in critical condition and are in the intensive care unit on Friday, Dr. Humberto Sauri told reporters. One is considered “critical but stable” and the other’s condition is “quite critical,” he said.

Four of the eight firefighters “are more seriously injured than the others,” Fennessy said.

Fennessy called the crash “devastating” and a “huge tragedy for our family.”

Firefighters have been battling the Airport Fire “non-stop” since Sept. 9, Fennessy said.

He said this team of firefighters was responsible for removing fuel from the path of fire.

The crash remains under investigation by the highway patrol.

Fennessy said, “What I’ve heard was that the crew carrier, you know, the crew buggy, as we call them, did swerve for whatever reason, and did roll several times.”

“They’re heavy vehicles,” he said. “They’re very top-heavy. So it wouldn’t take much, you know, at speed, you know, for them to roll over.”

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(NEW YORK) — As the Earth’s temperature continues to rise, lives could be at stake. A new study found deaths related to extreme temperatures may triple by the middle of the century, hitting minority communities the hardest.

University of Pennsylvania researchers looked at the relationship between average temperatures and number of deaths across counties in the United States between 2008 and 2019, according to the study published in JAMA Network Open on Friday. Currently, there are just over 8,000 annual temperature-related deaths in the country.

But just a single additional day of extreme heat in a month could increase these numbers.

“For years, we have been chronically underestimating the number of heat-related deaths … because they are so complicated,” Gaurab Basu, MD, director of education and policy at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told ABC News. “The methodologies they’re using, and the outcomes of this paper are more in line with what we believe is actually the impact of heat on mortality.”

To arrive at their estimates, the team used established climate models to predict future deaths from the heat or cold between 2036 and 2065. They ran these predictions through two potential scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions.

“The lower emissions scenario represents what we think might happen to the greenhouse gas emission trajectory if currently proposed climate policies are enacted,” Sameed Khatana, MD, the study’s lead author and assistant professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, said. “The higher emissions scenario represents business as usual––what would happen if the economy continued to be very dependent on fuels.”

By 2065, the researchers predict that deaths from extreme temperatures could reach 19,300 in the lower greenhouse gas emissions scenario, and 26,500 with higher emissions––a 134% and 222% increase, respectively.

Hispanic and Black communities would fare the worst, the study suggested. Hispanic adults could see a 527% rise in temperature-related deaths and non-Hispanic Black adults could see a 278% increase.

“It’s critical to understand that a warming planet is dangerous to all of us. But climate change and heat-related impacts on health are very disproportionate and very inequitably distributed,” Basu said.

Khatana noted that part of the disproportionate burden on minority communities stems from projected population shifts. Minority and non-White populations are expected to grow faster than white populations.

However, even after accounting for this, significant differences in temperature-related deaths remain for a variety of reasons.

Minority populations often work longer hours in the heat, live in areas with less green space and more pollution, and lack adequate home cooling.

Researchers urge targeted solutions to address these disparities.

“We have to analyze the ways in which communities of color are vulnerable to exposures, to heat, because of a lack of resources and because of the kind of occupations and disempowered positions they are in,” Basu said. “We need to start there.”

Khatana emphasized the importance of staying hopeful when considering the future of climate change.

“We should think about the steps we can take to lower our carbon footprint,” he said. “We found that, even though in both [greenhouse gas] scenarios, there is an increase in extreme temperature-associated deaths, the increase is lower when the trajectory of emission increases is lower as well.”

“But no one should pretend that there’s a simple solution. Climate change is a very complex issue that requires a concerted effort at multiple levels.”

Anokhi Saklecha, M.D., is an internal medicine resident at Yale New Haven Health and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

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(IRVINE, Calif.) — Eight firefighters were injured when the fire truck they were driving in rolled over as it returned from battling the Airport Fire wildfire, one of several large blazes raging in Southern California.

The vehicle crashed while traveling north at about 6:50 p.m. on State Route 241 near Portola Parkway in Irvine, California, Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy said. Other vehicles weren’t involved with the crash, he added.

The injured were taken to four different hospitals, Fennessy said. Seven were transported by ambulances and one was airlifted by helicopter from the scene, he added. Two of the injured were in stable condition at Hoag Hospital Irvine and six were taken to trauma centers, he said.

The firefighters, which he described as a “hand crew,” had just wrapped up a 12-hour shift fighting the wildfire, he said.

“We’ll be here for our firefighters, and we ask that you pray for our firefighters and their families,” Fennessy said during a press conference. “All the families have been notified, and this is the beginning of a long road for many of those firefighters and our fire department.”

The California Highway Patrol told ABC News’ Los Angeles station KABC that a vehicle driving in front of the truck swerved to avoid hitting a ladder that was in one of the lanes, causing the fire vehicle to swerve, lose control and overturn after hitting the guard rail.

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(WHITESBURG, Ky.) — Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Stines has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a Kentucky District Judge Kevin Mullins, who was killed in his chambers on Thursday, according to police.

Mullins, who presided over Letcher County, was shot and killed at the Letcher County Courthouse, Kentucky State Police said.

Stines has been arrested and charged with murder in the judge’s death, state police said.

A 911 caller reported shots being fired inside the courthouse shortly before 3 p.m. ET, state police said.

Responding officers and emergency personnel found Mullins, 54, with multiple gunshot wounds, state police said. He had been shot in his chambers, according to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

At a Thursday night news conference, officials said lifesaving measures were taken, but Mullins died at the scene.

Stines, 43, allegedly shot Mullins “following an argument inside the courthouse,” Kentucky State Police said in a statement. At the news conference, officials said they had not determined if Stines used his “duty” weapon.

He was taken into custody without incident and has been charged with one count of first-degree murder.

He was taken to a detention center, officials said Thursday night. Stines is cooperating with the authorities conducting the investigation, officials also said. It is unclear if Stines has an attorney at this time.

There are no reports of any additional injuries in the incident, Kentucky State Police Trooper Matt Gayheart told Johnson City, Tennessee, ABC affiliate WJHL.

A motive remains under investigation, he told the station.

“It is an isolated incident, and there is no threat to the public right now,” Gayheart told WJHL.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said his office will collaborate with the Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 27th Judicial Circuit, Jackie Steele, as special prosecutors in the case.

“We will fully investigate and pursue justice,” he said in a statement.

The Kentucky Court of Justice said in a statement Thursday it is in contact with law enforcement agencies, including the Kentucky State Police, and is “offering our full support during this difficult time.”

“While the investigation is ongoing, we are committed to providing assistance in any way that we can,” the statement continued. “Our deepest sympathies go out to all those impacted by this tragic event, and our thoughts and prayers are with the community during this challenging time.”

According to an order by Letcher County Judge/Executive Terry Adams, the courthouse will be closed on Friday.

Laurance B. VanMeter, chief justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court, said in a statement he was “shocked by this act of violence,” adding that the “court system is shaken by this news.”

“My prayers are with his family and the Letcher County community as they try to process and mourn this tragic loss. I ask for respect and privacy on their behalf,” he said.

Mullins had served as district court judge for Kentucky’s 47th District Court, which presides over Letcher County, since 2009, when he was appointed by then-Gov. Steve Beshear.

He was a graduate of the University of Kentucky and earned his law degree from the University of Louisville.

ABC News’ Victoria Arancio, Jack Date, Darren Reynolds and Leah Sarnoff contributed to this report.

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(FORT BLISS, Texas) — Travis King, the U.S. Army private who ran across the border from South Korea to North Korea last year will plead guilty on Friday at a general court martial hearing being held at Fort Bliss, Texas.

“He faces 14 charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice but will plead guilty to five, including desertion, while the remaining charges will be withdrawn and dismissed by the Army,” his attorney Franklin Rosenblatt said in a statement issued Thursday.

“Travis will provide an account of his actions, respond to the military judge’s questions about his decision to plead guilty, and receive his sentence,” Rosenblatt added.

The plea deal was first disclosed by Rosenblatt on August 26 after initial discussions with prosecutors began in mid-July .

At the time a spokesperson for the Office of Special Trial Counsel confirmed to ABC News that if King’s guilty plea is accepted by the presiding judge he would be sentenced King pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement. It is unclear how much prison time King could face as part of the plea deal that will be presented to the judge on Friday.

If the judge does not accept the guilty plea, the judge can rule that the case be litigated in a contested court-martial.

In July 2023, King crossed into North Korea, triggering an international incident when he was held by North Korean authorities for more than two months after he dashed into North Korea at the Joint Security Area at the Demilitarized Zone between North Korea and South Korea.

Prior to joining the tour group that brought him to the DMZ King had escaped from his Army escort at the airport where he was to have boarded a flight to the United States after having just been released by South Korean authorities following his detention on assault charges.

Upon his release in September King returned to the United States where he was immediately placed in a military reintegration program at the Brooke Army Medical Center that is offered to American civilians and military personnel who have been detained overseas as hostages or involuntarily.

During his stay the Army declined to comment on whether King might face disciplinary action, saying their priority was his physical and mental well-being.

But in October military prosecutors filed eight criminal charges against King.

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