Chicago’s O’Hare airport issues ground stop amid snow, as storm moves east
ABC News
(CHICAGO) — Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport issued a ground stop on Friday, pausing departures amid snowy and icy conditions.
The stop came as the clipper system that brought heavy snow and airport delays to the Upper Midwest on Thursday is moving on Friday morning through the Illinois city.
Up to 10 inches of snow fell in the Upper Midwest on Thursday. Ten states are now on snow alert, stretching from Wisconsin down through the mountains of North Carolina.
A band of moderate snow with low visibility is moving into Chicago just in time for their morning commute.
A dusting to 1 inch is possible, just enough to make the roads very slick and dangerous in the city.
Also this morning, snow is moving through Michigan and Ohio and on its way to the Northeast.
This afternoon and evening the rain and snow will move into the I-95 corridor making roads slick.
Rain and snow will continue for the I-95 corridor into early Saturday morning.
Most areas will see only a dusting, the same as Chicago, but this could be enough to make roads dangerously slick, as temps fall to near freezing.
Locally about 3 to 6 inches of snow are possible in the mountains of West Virginia and into western NY, and northern New England.
Locally more than a foot possible in the highest elevations.
Christmas Eve rain or snow in the Northeast?
Another storm system is expected for Christmas Eve in the Northeast, with rain and snow possible.
Rain and snow could fall along the I-95 corridor on Tuesday, Christmas Eve.
With this storm, the highest chance for accumulating snow will be in upstate NY and in New England. It is too early to say how much snow is possible.
An arctic plunge will move into the Northeast this weekend, as temperatures fall into the teens and single digits Saturday night into Sunday.
Wind chills could be below zero for inland areas and in the single digits even for coastal major cities.
Looking ahead, warmer weather is forecast after Christmas for the Northeast and most of eastern U.S.
(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) — Shots rang out at the Park Plaza Mall in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Black Friday, leaving two people injured, police said in an update Friday evening.
The Little Rock Police Department had initially reported three injuries.
The shooting occurred at 1:44 p.m., according to police.
Two people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, including one with gunshot wounds, police said.
“Initially reported as a potential active aggressor situation, officers quickly determined it was an isolated incident upon arrival,” the Little Rock Police Department said in an update Friday evening.
Police said the incident appears to have stemmed from a “disturbance” between two individuals, which escalated into gunfire.
Shots rang out at the Park Plaza Mall in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Black Friday, leaving two people injured, police said in an update Friday evening.
The Little Rock Police Department had initially reported three injuries.
The shooting occurred at 1:44 p.m., according to police.
Two people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, including one with gunshot wounds, police said.
“Initially reported as a potential active aggressor situation, officers quickly determined it was an isolated incident upon arrival,” the Little Rock Police Department said in an update Friday evening.
Police said the incident appears to have stemmed from a “disturbance” between two individuals, which escalated into gunfire.
Thomas Dickey, defense attorney for Luigi Mangione/ABC News
(NEW YORK) — The defense attorney representing Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, said he has seen “no evidence” linking his client to the killing, adding that “a lot of guns look the same.”
“I have not been made aware of any evidence that links the gun that was found on his person to the crime so these are things that we’re looking to see,” attorney Thomas Dickey told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.
“Today’s another day,” he added. “We’re looking forward to beginning our inquiry as to what evidence may or may not be out there.”
The attorney said Mangione is “taking it as well as he can.”
Mangione, 26, plans to challenge his extradition from Pennsylvania to New York, where he faces a charge of second-degree murder in connection with Thompson’s Dec. 4 outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel.
The Ivy League graduate was arrested on Monday in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and charged in Pennsylvania for allegedly possessing an untraceable “ghost” gun.”
“He has constitutional rights and that’s what he’s doing” in challenging the interstate transfer, Dickey told reporters on Tuesday.
Police officials in New York have not said whether the gun recovered in Pennsylvania is considered a match for the one used in the killing last week, but said it looks similar and that it would undergo ballistic testing.
“A lot of guns look the same,” Dickey said on Wednesday. “If you brought a gun in and said, ‘Well, it looks like that,’ I don’t even know if that evidence would be admissible. So I would argue it wouldn’t be given much weight.”
He also cautioned that anyone speculating on the case should take the potential evidence “in its entirety,” not taking pieces of writing or other evidence “out of context.”
“People put out certain things, parts of different things,” he said. “I think any lawyer involved in this situation would want to see it all.”
Mangione plans to plead not guilty to the charges filed against him in Pennsylvania, Dickey said. A judge in Pennsylvania ordered Mangione held without bail on Tuesday.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it will seek a governor’s warrant to try to force Mangione’s extradition. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement that she’ll sign a request for the governor’s warrant “to ensure this individual is tried and held accountable.”
Dickey said he anticipates that Mangione would also plead not guilty to the second-degree murder charge in New York.
Mangione yelled to the press about “an insult to the intelligence of the American people” as he was physically dragged into the courthouse on Tuesday.
When Mangione was arrested on Monday, he had “written admissions about the crime” with him, according to the New York arrest warrant.
Mangione’s writings, obtained by ABC News, were addressed to the “Feds” and said, “I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.”
He claimed that the U.S. has the most expensive health care system in the world, but ranks about No. 42 in life expectancy. He said UnitedHealthcare “has grown and grown, but as our life expectancy? No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit.”
Whether Mangione has a personal connection to UnitedHealthcare is unknown, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
A UnitedHealth Group spokesperson said in a statement that they hope the arrest “brings some relief to Brian’s family, friends, colleagues and the many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy. We thank law enforcement and will continue to work with them on this investigation.”
ABC News’ Peter Charalambous and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.
(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.
