New Orleans Saints, NFL announce $1M donation to Bourbon Street victims
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(NEW ORLEANS) — The New Orleans Saints and the NFL announced Saturday that they will donate $1 million to the victims of the New Year’s Day truck ramming attack on Bourbon Street that killed 14 people and injured dozens of others.
“Our community has experienced an unimaginable tragedy and our collective hearts are broken as we mourn for the victims and survivors on the New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans,” Saints owner Gayle Benson said in a statement.
The team will be working with the Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) and United Way to help distribute $500,000 to organizations that are providing support to the victims and their families.
The NFL Foundation, the league’s philanthropic arm, said it would match the team’s donation.
“The NFL is committed to standing with the resilient community of New Orleans during this difficult time,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.
As of Saturday, 13 of the 14 victims have been publicly identified. Their ages range from 18 to 63, according to officials.
(NEW YORK CITY) — As people across a large section of the U.S. mainland were breaking out T-shirts and shorts Wednesday amid record-breaking high temperatures, several inches of snow blanketed the mountaintops of Hawaii and residents across the Great Plains were bracing for possible tornadoes.
The U.S. forecast for Wednesday offered a smorgasbord from balmy to severe weather heading into the Halloween weekend.
As firefighters in Colorado battled wildfires and meteorologists issued red-flag fire danger warnings, high elevations of Hawaii’s Big Island resembled the Rocky Mountains in winter.
Several inches of snow blanketed the summits of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, the tallest peaks in Hawaii and part of the state’s Volcanoes National Park.
“Due to winter weather conditions, the summit is currently closed for both day and overnight use, and permits for Mauna Loa Summit Cabin are temporarily on hold,” the Volcanoes National Park said in a statement on its Facebook page.
Meanwhile, in the actual Rockies, a major storm system moving in is expected to bring up to a foot of fresh October snow. But elsewhere in Colorado, firefighters were dealing with what investigators suspect is a “human-caused” wildfire that spread to 166 acres near the town of Divide and was 60% contained on Wednesday.
The wintry weather expected for the Rockies was countered by record-breaking temperatures across a large part of the nation from Detroit, where it’s forecast to get up to 80 degrees on Wednesday. In Laredo, Texas, the temperature is expected to hit 94, which would set a new daily record.
On Tuesday, daily temperature records were broken in Austin, Texas, where it hit 90 degrees; Chicago, where the temperature soared to 82, tying a record; and Cleveland, Ohio, which reached 78 and also tied a record.
Detroit on Tuesday reached a record-breaking 79 degrees. Green Bay, Wisconsin, reached 82 degrees Tuesday, surpassing a record for the day set in 1937.
Parts of the Northeast could see the warmest Halloween on record, officials said.
In the Heartland, which has also been experiencing high temperatures this week, severe weather moving in could spawn a few strong tornadoes Wednesday afternoon and into the evening from Texas to Iowa.
The National Weather Service is also warning of an enhanced risk of severe thunderstorms Wednesday for portions of eastern Kansas, northeast Oklahoma and northwest Missouri.
“Severe thunderstorms capable of producing large hail, damaging wind gusts, and a few tornadoes, are expected today into tonight across the middle Missouri Valley and central/southern Plains, including parts of eastern Kansas and Oklahoma into Missouri,” the NWS said in a detailed outlook it issued Wednesday.
(UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa.) — The dangerous search for a missing grandmother who officials believe fell into a deep sinkhole in Pennsylvania is now considered a recovery effort, police said Wednesday.
A challenging excavation has been underway at an abandoned coal mine in Unity Township since Tuesday when police said Elizabeth Pollard was reported missing after she was not heard from after searching for her cat.
The sinkhole is believed to be tied to the mine and formed while Pollard was walking in the area, officials said.
Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani said authorities are “virtually positive” that she is in the mine, though do not believe she could still be alive at this stage based on the conditions underground, including the level of oxygen.
“I know we had a lot of hopes,” Limani said during a press briefing Wednesday evening, calling the development “difficult.”
“Unless it’s a miracle, most likely it’s recovery,” Limani said, later noting that it’s “definitely recovery” at this stage.
Rescue crews have been pumping oxygen into the mine, though it’s “lower than what you’d want for someone to try and sustain their life,” he said.
Cameras and sound devices have not found any signs of life that would warrant them to try to push ahead with urgency at the risk posed to search crews, he said.
He said authorities have had an “emotional” conversation with Pollard’s family to update them on the shift to a recovery effort.
“It feels like we failed,” an emotional Limani said. “But if somebody else gets hurt, I think it would be worse.”
Limani said crews will continue to work to recover Pollard and are preparing for inclement weather to resume the search on Thursday.
“We’re not quitting,” he said. “We are going to continue to work through this. It’s just taken longer than we thought. And the mine is just not in good condition.”
Pollard was last seen Monday evening, police said. Her vehicle was located shortly before 3 a.m. Tuesday with her 5-year-old granddaughter safe inside, though Pollard was nowhere to be seen, police said.
While searching for Pollard in the area, troopers found an apparent sinkhole with an opening about the “size of a manhole” 15 to 20 feet away from the vehicle, according to Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani.
Local firefighters, a technical rescue team and the state’s Bureau of Mine Safety worked alongside an excavation team to remove dirt to access the sinkhole, Limani said.
Search crews were able to make entry into the mine area, though the integrity of the mine has been compromised by the water they are using to break up the ground, Limani said. Parts of the mine have started to buckle and collapse, he said.
“We’re afraid we’re going to make it worse if try to continue to plow forward with the techniques that we were using,” he said.
The area where the sinkhole formed has a “very thin layer of earth” and appears to have been deteriorating “for a long time,” Limani said. Other areas near the sinkhole have been deemed unsafe and will be quarantined off with round-the-clock police surveillance, Limani said.
The mine last operated in 1952, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. The depth to the coal seam in this area is approximately 20 feet, a department spokesperson said.
Once the scene is clear, the department will investigate the site “to determine if this issue is the result of historic mine subsidence,” the spokesperson said.
(LAS VEGAS) — Authorities are investigating a Tesla Cybertruck explosion on Wednesday outside the Trump Las Vegas hotel in Nevada as a possible act of terror, an official said.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said it was investigating a fire at the entrance to the tower. The public was told to avoid the area, though the police noted the fire had been put out.
The driver pulled into the valet area of the hotel and the vehicle exploded, according to an official. The driver was killed and, so far, the only casualty from the incident. Seven bystanders had minor injuries, authorities said.
Investigators do not know what caused the blast, such as whether something was wrong with the vehicle or whether something external prompted it. Determining what was behind the explosion is the key focus of the probe.
An official briefed on the probe told ABC News that the Tesla Cybertruck had a load of fireworks-style mortars onboard. Investigators were urgently working to determine a motive and whether the driver intended to set off an explosion and why.
Until a motive is determined and other possibilities are ruled out, police are treating the explosion like a possible criminal act and a possible act of terror. Evidence collection and investigation are ongoing.
Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News that the Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas was rented on the Turo App — the same app sources said was used to rent the pickup truck used in the overnight attack in New Orleans.
As police continue to investigate whether what took place was a malicious act, the city sheriff said he does not believe there is any further threat to the community.
“We believe everything is safe now,” said Sheriff Kevin McMahill.
But he did warn the public to stay away, saying, “We don’t know what we don’t know.”
The property is the subject of frequent threats and heightened security given its connection to President-elect Donald Trump.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and a close ally of Trump, said on Wednesday afternoon that the “whole Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now.”
“Will post more information as soon as we learn anything,” Musk wrote on X, which he also owns. “We’ve never seen anything like this.”
Musk later posted on X: “We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself.” It’s not known if Musk’s claim has been independently verified.
An official briefed on the investigation told ABC News “this was not a lithium battery” blast, as some have speculated online. There have been instances in the past of battery compartments in Tesla vehicles spontaneously catching fire.
Eric Trump, his son and the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, posted on social media about the incident.
“Earlier today, a reported electric vehicle fire occurred in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas,” he wrote. “The safety and well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Las Vegas Fire Department and local law enforcement for their swift response and professionalism.”
The hotel also issued a statement on X suggesting the car involved was electric.
“Earlier today a reported electric vehicle fire occurred in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas,” the hotel wrote. “The safety & well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority. We extend our gratitude to the Las Vegas Fire Department and local law enforcement for their swift response.”
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the fire and explosion near the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas and has directed his team to offer any federal assistance needed, the White House said.
