Talk of the Town
(ST. PAUL, Minn.) — Former CNN journalist Don Lemon pleaded not guilty on Friday to federal civil rights charges in connection with an incident in which anti-ICE protesters disrupted a service at a Minnesota church.
Lemon appeared in federal court in St. Paul before Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko, following his arrest in Los Angeles last month.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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(DEDHAM, Mass.) — Closing arguments are expected to be delivered Friday in the murder trial of Brian Walshe, a father of three accused of killing and dismembering his wife.
The Massachusetts man is accused of killing his wife, 39-year-old Ana Walshe, around New Year’s Day in 2023. He pleaded guilty last month, ahead of the trial, to lying to police following her disappearance and improperly disposing of her body, though he denies that he killed his wife and has pleaded not guilty to murder. Ana Walshe’s body has not been found.
The defense rested on Thursday without calling any witnesses. Judge Diane Freniere noted in court on Thursday that it appeared that Brian Walshe would testify in his defense, based on the defense’s opening statement. Though he ultimately waived his right.
During the trial’s opening statements last week, defense attorneys said that Brian Walshe found his wife dead in bed on New Year’s Day in 2023 and then panicked and lied to police as they investigated her disappearance — but maintained he did not kill her.
Prosecutors allege Brian Walshe killed and dismembered his wife, then disposed of her remains in dumpsters. The internet history on his devices on Jan. 1, 2023, included searches such as “best way to dispose of a body,” “how long for someone to be missing to inherit,” and “best way to dispose of body parts after a murder,” prosecutors said.
Evidence presented during the two-week trial included surveillance footage of a man believed to be Brian Walshe buying tools and other supplies at a Lowe’s on Jan. 1, 2023. A receipt showed that items, including a hacksaw, utility knife, hammer, snips, Tyvek suit, shoeguards, rags and cleaning supplies totaling $462 were purchased with cash.
Additional surveillance footage presented in court showed someone throwing out trash bags at dumpsters on multiple days in early January.
Several blood-stained items recovered from dumpsters by investigators — including a hacksaw, a piece of rug, a towel, hairs and an unknown tissue — were linked to Ana Walshe through DNA testing, a forensic scientist from the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory testified during the trial.
Blood was also found in the basement of the family’s rental home in Cohasset, another forensic scientist with the crime lab testified.
Ana Walshe was reported missing by her employer on Jan. 4, 2023. Brian Walshe told police at the time that she had a “work emergency” at her job in Washington, D.C. and left their Cohasset home on New Year’s Day, according to video of his interview shown in court.
At the time, Brian Walshe and their three children were living in Massachusetts while he was awaiting sentencing in a federal fraud case after pleading guilty to a scheme to sell counterfeit Andy Warhol paintings.
Ahead of the murder trial, Brian Walshe admitted to lying to police amid her disappearance and improperly disposing of her body. His defense said during opening statements that he panicked after finding her dead in bed, calling her death sudden and unexplained.
Jurors heard testimony, including from a D.C. man with whom Ana Walshe was having an affair, that the mother of three was upset about being away from her children so much, and that there was stress in the marriage. The defense maintained that the couple were happy.
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(NEW YORK) — A suspect wanted in the Nov. 16 shooting of New York Jets player Kris Boyd has been arrested and charged with attempted murder, authorities said on Tuesday.
The suspect, identified as 20-year-old Fredrick Green, was taken into custody on Monday in Buffalo, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Besides attempted murder, Green has been charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the Boyd shooting, the sources said.
U.S. Marshals New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force — comprised of federal, state and local law enforcement members — said in a statement that it worked with New York police detectives “to locate and arrest the suspect, who fled the scene following the shooting.”
Boyd, 29, was shot in the abdomen around 2 a.m. on Nov. 16 in front of the Sei Less restaurant on West 38th Street in Manhattan, the NYPD confirmed to ABC News. Boyd then underwent multiple treatments at Bellevue Hospital for the bullet lodged in his lung.
The shooting appeared to have stemmed from an exchange of words between Boyd, who was with two other Jets players and a friend, and another group “chirping” about their clothes, police sources told ABC News.
On Nov. 19, three days after the shooting, Boyd posted a photo of himself to his Instagram account, saying he was beginning to breathe on his own.
“I’m coming along, starting to breathe on my own now,” Boyd wrote. “Sincerely appreciate everyone!”
Boyd was released from the hospital a few days after being shot, but was forced to briefly return to the hospital due to “health issues,” he wrote in an Instagram post.
Earlier in the investigation, police released two images of a person of interest in the case, but it was not clear on Tuesday whether it was the same person who was arrested in Buffalo.
Boyd, a defensive cornerback and special teams player, paid a visit to the Jets’ team facility on Dec. 3, surprising his teammates, ESPN reported.
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(NEW YORK) — The United States experienced nearly two dozen billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2025, causing at least 276 fatalities and costing a total of $115 billion in damages. For the first time, however, the comprehensive analysis detailing the annual impact of these disasters wasn’t released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Discontinued by the Trump administration in 2025, the Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disaster dataset and accompanying website are now hosted and maintained by Climate Central, a non-profit climate science organization. The group hired Adam Smith, the former lead scientist for NOAA’s U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters program, to continue his work at Climate Central.
Last year, there were 23 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, the third-highest annual total on record, behind 2023 and 2024, according to the new report released Thursday by Climate Central. The past year was also the 15th straight year with 10 or more billion-dollar disasters.
The costliest event of 2025 was the devastating Los Angeles wildfires in January, which caused more than $61 billion in damage, according to the analysis. Severe weather events, including severe thunderstorms and tornado outbreaks, accounted for 91% of all billion-dollar disasters last year, the analysis showed.
A record-breaking 28 billion-dollar disasters occurred in 2023, according to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Extreme weather events, which ranged from severe thunderstorms to hurricanes to wildfires, killed at least 492 people and impacted large swaths of the country.
With data going back to 1980, the Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disaster database is a public record of every significant U.S. weather and climate event that has caused at least $1 billion in damages, adjusted for inflation. Government agencies, insurers, and media outlets frequently rely on the database to report the economic impact of these disasters.
However, last May, NOAA announced that it was retiring the resource, stating there would be no updates beyond calendar year 2024. While all past reports, spanning 1980-2024, will remain accessible on the agency’s website, they will no longer be updated and no new events will be added moving forward. NOAA said that the decision to “retire” the billion-dollar weather and climate disaster product was “in alignment with evolving priorities, statutory mandates, and staffing changes.”
There have been 426 billion-dollar disasters recorded in the United States since 1980, with a total cost exceeding $3.1 trillion, according to Climate Central. The frequency of billion-dollar disasters has increased dramatically since the early 1980s, driven by rising extreme weather events and the growing number of people, homes and businesses in harm’s way.
While climate change may not be directly responsible for causing these disasters, human-amplified climate change is making naturally occurring events more intense and more impactful.
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