Penn State student shot dead near his home in Philadelphia, police say
William Schmidt, 22, was shot and killed about one block from his home in South Philadelphia, June 6, 2026. (WPVI)
(PHILADELPHIA) — Officials at Penn State University said they’re “heartbroken” after a student was shot and killed about one block from his home in Philadelphia.
William Schmidt, 22, was shot at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday and officers found him lying in the road with a gunshot wound to his chest, according to Philadelphia police.
Schmidt was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:47 a.m., police said.
Authorities have not announced any arrests or any motive.
Schmidt was studying digital journalism and media at Penn State World Campus, the university said.
“We are heartbroken over the tragic death of William Schmidt, and we share our deepest condolences with his family and friends,” a Penn State spokesperson said in a statement.
Police urge anyone with information to call the homicide unit at 215-686-3334 or submit an anonymous tip at 215-686-TIPS.
The vast empty plains stretch to the horizon in Springfield, Colorado, the county seat of Baca County, on May 10, 2026. Baca County has received only .78 inches of rain since Jan. 1, 2026. (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Farms all over the country are bracing for the impact of drought after months of little precipitation, experts told ABC News.
More than 60% of the continental United States has been under moderate drought or worse conditions since April 7, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
The nation as a whole has experienced a dry, warm period that began in the early autumn of 2025 and has pushed into recent weeks, Brad Rippey, a U.S. Department of Agriculture meteorologist, told ABC News.
Long-term drought trends have put Midwest crops at risk
Farms in the Midwest that produce winter wheat have been especially impacted, Rippey said. The largest region that produces winter wheat — the Great Plains stretching from Montana to Texas — has been hit the hardest by drought as well as some spring freezes, Rippey added.
Up to 44% of this year’s winter wheat is rated as very poor to poor, according to the latest data from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), released on Tuesday. Nebraska is at the top of the list, with 82% of its winter wheat crop rated very poor to poor, but states like Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas are experiencing high rates of poor crop as well, according to the NASS.
While there was good moisture when the winter wheat was planted in the fall, extremely dry conditions from the beginning of March through the first half of May prevented optimal growing conditions, Brad Fuller, president of the Western Horizons Corporation and a consulting agronomist to many farms in Kansas, told ABC News.
Agriculture experts are expecting a 32% abandonment of winter wheat in the U.S. this year, according to the USDA’s Wheat Outlook. Such a high abandonment rate has only happened once since the Dust Bowl era in 1933 — in 2022 when drought conditions were at record highs, Riddey said.
The issues have also extended to the cattle industry due to poor rangeland and pasture conditions as a result of the dry conditions, Riddey said.
“A lot of the rangeland and pastures out in the middle section of the country are also in pretty rough shape heading into the key hay production season,” Riddey said.
Farmers in the Midwest are holding out hope for the spring-planted crops. But conditions were so dry in recent weeks that some growers skipped planting crops like corn or sorghum, Fuller said.
“We’ve had places in southwest Kansas that have gone well over 200 days without more than a half an inch of rain,” he said.
Farms in the West could be at risk as well
The West is facing dry, hot conditions in the near future, coming off “devastatingly” warm months in March and April, Riddey said. To exacerbate the situation, some reservoirs — especially Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the largest in the country — are experiencing low water levels due to the lack of snowpack during the winter.
These reservoirs are crucial for farms in the West that supply the rest of the country, Steven Fassnacht, a professor of snow hydrology at Colorado State University, told ABC News. About 75% of the nation’s lettuce and leafy greens are grown in California, according to the state’s Department of Food and Agriculture.
When there’s less surface water, farmers in California will turn to groundwater, Amanda Fencl, director of climate science for the Union of Concerned Scientists, told ABC News. But overuse of groundwater can decrease the water quality and lower the groundwater table, causing the land above it to sink. Overuse of groundwater can also alter the soil moisture, making it drier and lower, Fassnacht said.
Lake Mead could reach a record-low level of 1,036 feet of elevation in 2026, according to the 24-month study released by the Bureau of Reclamation last week. Lake Powell is also projected to drop to a new record-low level in the coming months, surpassing the previous record of around 3,520 feet set in 2023, Cody Moser, senior hydrologist at the Colorado River Basin Forecast Center, said during a webinar on May 7. The Colorado River basin as a whole is currently sitting at 49% of storage of its historic average, Riddey said.
“There are a lot of pieces of pie for that limited Western water,” Riddey said.
Small, family-run farms would be most impacted by water shortages, Fencl said. They may be faced with having to take certain crops out of production or changing which crops they decide to harvest.
Drought conditions typically lead to lower yields and loss in profits, Fencl added.
What will climate conditions be like in the near future?
While it has been raining in the Midwest in recent days, it’s not nearly enough to make up for the dry conditions over the last eight months, Riddey said.
“It’s not going to recover from just a couple of rain events,” he said. “It will take some time.”
But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Monsoon season is expected to start in early July and last through August and September. After that, the development of El Niño conditions in October will bring more drought relief into the fall, winter and spring of 2027, Riddey said.
“All indications are we should see a pretty active monsoon that could provide some relief, but we have to get between now and monsoon onset,” he said.
The NASA logo is displayed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on October 15, 2025 in La Canada Flintridge, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A newly discovered asteroid will pass within about 56,000 miles of Earth on Monday, significantly closer than the distance between Earth and the moon.
There is no need to worry or cancel any plans, however. Current calculations show no evidence that the object will hit Earth.
The asteroid was identified several days ago by astronomers at five observatories, including Farpoint Observatory in Wabaunsee County, Kansas, and Mount Lemmon Observatory in Arizona’s Santa Catalina Mountains.
The asteroid, designated 2026 JH2, is likely between 50 and 100 feet across, according to estimates from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. That estimate is based on how bright the object appears and how much light scientists think its surface reflects.
Astronomers are still working to better understand the asteroid’s orbit and physical characteristics. So far, the object has been tracked only 24 times over several days. While its trajectory is still being refined, current calculations show no impact risk.
The asteroid is considered an Apollo-class near-Earth object.
“These asteroids have an orbit that is larger than Earth’s orbit around the Sun and their path crosses Earth’s orbit,” according to NASA.
The Virtual Telescope Project plans to stream the encounter live beginning at 5:45 p.m. ET on Monday.
A NYPD civilian supervisor illegally used her access to private police databases to supply attorneys with names of car accident victims in exchange for thousands in cash and gifts. (Gardiner Anderson for New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A former NYPD detective pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of misconduct and receipt of unlawful gratuities after he sent inappropriate messages to two women and had sex with a woman shortly after she was arrested.
Matthew Lambert resigned from the NYPD in December 2025. He was sentenced to two years’ probation and is no longer eligible to be a police officer elsewhere in New York state.
“The defendant’s disturbing conduct is unacceptable for a member of law enforcement,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a statement announcing the guilty plea.
In March 2024, while investigating a missing package, Lambert texted the victim, “Not to be inappropriate, but do people tell you that you look way younger than you are.” He also sent a message saying, “Celebration drinks when this is over?” and “If you say no, I’m still gonna work hard on your case. I promise.”
The woman eventually blocked Lambert’s phone number. Lambert and his lawyer did not answer questions going into and out of court.
During a separate investigation, Lambert texted an assault victim, “You are absolutely beautiful. I was shocked when I met you. I mean no disrespect to you and your relationship. I’m saying this in a respectful way. If that’s even possible.”
In May 2024, Lambert arrested a woman for petit larceny and told her he could “probably” issue her a desk appearance ticket and release her from custody.
Lambert also showed her a picture of his penis and, as they walked out of the station house, said, “I told you I was going to get you out,” prosecutors said.
Later that day, Lambert texted the woman, “If you want I could come say hello. Up to you. You tell me if you want me to.”
Lambert drove to the woman’s house, and they had sex in his car. Afterward, he sent additional texts, including “You’re so cool,” and “Thanks for hanging out.”
“In addition to sending extremely inappropriate messages to victims while he was investigating their cases, he abused his power to engage in a sexual encounter with a woman he had arrested just hours earlier. This is not how anyone should be treated – whether a victim, witness, or person accused of a crime,” Bragg said.
