NASA, SpaceX prepare to launch capsule to bring home Starliner astronauts
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(NEW YORK) — NASA and SpaceX are set to launch a critical mission Saturday to bring home the two astronauts who flew Boeing’s Starliner to the International Space Station.
The SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon will take off with two empty seats and extra spacesuits for Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, who have been in space since June. Wilmore and Williams performed the first crewed test flight of the Starliner and were supposed to be on the ISS for about a week.
NASA and Boeing officials decided to send Starliner back to Earth last month after several mechanical issues, keeping Wilmore and Williams onboard the ISS until February 2025.
The unmanned Starliner landed safely at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in the early hours of Sept. 7.
The Dragon spacecraft was originally scheduled to travel to the ISS with four astronauts for a routine science mission. Astronauts Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov will crew the spacecraft to the ISS.
(ATLANTA) — Two workers were killed and one was injured in an “incident” at Delta Air Lines’ Atlanta Technical Operations Maintenance facility at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the airline said.
Delta did not elaborate on Tuesday morning’s incident, but the airline said it’s “working with local authorities and conducting a full investigation to determine what happened.”
The incident had no impact on airport operations, according to airport officials.
Delta added it’s “heartbroken” and “grateful for the quick action of first responders and medical teams on site.”
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said, “I offer my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased Delta employees. My thoughts are also with those who were injured, and I hope for their swift and full recovery.”
Police, fire and airport teams are at the scene, the mayor said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas talks on Oct. 20, 2022, in his office at City Hall. (Emily Curiel/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) — The Kansas City community is mourning the death of local chef Shaun Brady, whom police said was gunned down while taking out the trash in the parking lot of his restaurant.
The owner of the Brady & Fox restaurant was known for his contributions to the local Irish community and to the Kansas City Irish Festival, which is set to take place this weekend, according to a statement posted to the Kansas City Irish Festival’s Facebook page.
In the wake of the shooting Wednesday night, Mayor Quinton Lucas extended his condolences to Brady’s family and called for change in the city that he says has suffered an increase in violent crime in recent months.
“Like many, I was heartbroken to learn of the death of Shaun Brady. Having met him, I was inspired by the community he was building in Kansas City,” Lucas said in a statement Thursday. “More distress comes in knowing how he died — due to violence arising once more in our community,” Lucas added.
The shooting took place Wednesday around 5:15 p.m. at the Brady & Fox restaurant, also known as Brady’s KC, in the Brookside neighborhood of the Missouri city, the Kansas City Police Department confirmed to ABC News.
A preliminary investigation revealed that the victim was taking out trash when he “observed multiple subjects by a vehicle,” police said. An interaction between the victim and subjects occurred that led to the victim being shot, police added.
Two teenage male suspects were taken into custody within an hour of the deadly shooting and a vehicle was recovered in Midtown, according to police, who further said that the shooting is being investigated as a homicide and the suspects are being held pending further investigation.
In a separate statement posted to Facebook, Mayor Lucas said Brady’s death comes as business owners in the area have spoken out about crime in the area.
“For years now, but more acutely in recent months, business owners in Brookside and Waldo, but also along Prospect, in the Crossroads, and throughout too much of our city have expressed serious concerns about a rise in property and nuisance crimes plaguing their stores, their parking lots, and their customers,” Lucas said in the statement, in part.
Gun violence in Kansas City came into national focus in February when the city’s Super Bowl parade ended in tragedy when one person was killed and 20 injured when shots were fired during a victory gathering outside of Union Station.
Lucas, who was present at the Chiefs’ parade, then called that shooting “an incredible disappointment.”
Kansas City recorded its deadliest year on record in 2023, with the Kansas City Police Department’s daily homicide analysis showing 182 homicides. That’s 12 more than in 2022 and three more than the city’s previous all-time high, which was 179 homicides in 2020.
(WASHINGTON) — A California man convicted of carrying out some of the most extended and brutal assaults against police during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday.
The 20-year prison term for David Dempsey, handed down by senior D.C. District Judge Royce Lamberth, marks the second longest sentence yet for a defendant convicted in connection with the Capitol assault.
With several of Dempsey’s victims from the Capitol Police and D.C. Metropolitan Police in attendance in the courtroom during the trial, prosecutors played multiple videos showing Dempsey at one of the most violent exchanges of the riot near the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol — repeatedly striking, kicking, and throwing object after object at the police line trying to prevent the pro-Trump mob from swarming into the building.
In one video clip, Dempsey repeatedly swung a stolen metal crutch down onto an officer’s helmet, cracking the face shield.
One officer who Dempsey struck testified that he believed he was going to die and that his thoughts began drifting to his family.
Judge Lamberth described Dempsey’s offenses as “exceptionally egregious” before handing down the sentence, which he said was further warranted due to Dempsey’s lengthy criminal history and past instances where he had attacked political opponents during protests in 2019 and 2020.
The judge, a Reagan appointee, said that “fortunately” Dempsey’s efforts to break through the police line were not fruitful, as it would likely have resulted in a “bloodbath” for lawmakers sheltering inside the building.
“David Dempsey is political violence personified,” a prosecutor said in making the case for Dempsey’s harsh sentence.
Prior to receiving his sentence, Dempsey addressed the court and spoke of his “profound sense of regret” for his actions, issuing a personal apology to the police gathered in the room.
After receiving the sentence, however, Dempsey — as he was escorted out by the bailiff — made a hand sign in the air that is commonly associated with “white power” or the white supremacist Groyper movement.
Federal prosecutors have charged more than 1,265 defendants and secured prison sentences for more than 460 people involved in the Capitol attack, according to figures released early this year by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C.
