Phoenix set to break record for 110-degree days as extreme heat plagues West Coast
ABC News
(PHOENIX) — Extreme late-season heat is plaguing the West Coast from Los Angeles to Seattle with heat alerts issued for more than 65 million Americans across six states.
Phoenix has surpassed 110 degrees 55 times this summer, tying the record set just last year. Phoenix is expected to break that all-time record Thursday as temperatures are forecast to reach near 114 degrees.
Over the last 30 years, Phoenix has seen an average of just 21 days a year over 110 degrees.
There have been 177 heat-related deaths in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and its suburbs, from January through August, according to the Maricopa County Department of Health. The deaths of 436 other people are being investigated as to whether they are heat-related.
Last year, 645 heat-related deaths were recorded in the county, according to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.
Phoenix reached 111 degrees on Wednesday, extending its record for the most consecutive days at 100 degrees or higher to an even 100. The previous record was 76 days at 100 or above.
Elsewhere in the West, record temperatures of 106 degrees are possible in Medford, Oregon; 102 is possible in Portland, Oregon; and 91 degrees is possible in Seattle.
In addition to record heat, a red flag warning has been issued for Washington state, where very low humidity and hot temperatures could help spread wildfires.
Numerous wildfires have been burning in Oregon and some evacuations have been issued.
The hot weather will continue for the West through this weekend.
Long Beach, California, could get close to a record 100 degrees on Saturday and Boise, Idaho, could approach a record 95 degrees on Sunday.
(KIMBERLING CITY, MO) — A Missouri woman was arrested Friday morning in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud Elvis Presley’s family out of millions of dollars and the ownership of Graceland, the Justice Department announced.
Lisa Findley is alleged to have orchestrated the scheme to conduct the sale of Graceland by falsely claiming that Presley’s daughter, prior to her death, had pledged the estate as collateral for a loan she hadn’t repaid, prosecutors said.
“As part of the brazen scheme, we allege that the defendant created numerous false documents and sought to extort a settlement from the Presley family,” the head of DOJ’s criminal division, Nicole Argentieri, said in a statement announcing the arrest.
Findley, 53, of Kimberling City, Missouri, was charged with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, the DOJ said. She is scheduled to make her first appearance later Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. She does not yet have any attorney listed as representing her in online court records.
The criminal complaint, which was unsealed Friday, outlined the alleged scheme, which prosecutors said involved a fake private lender, forged documents and signatures and a fraudulent foreclosure notice for the Graceland estate in Memphis in an attempt to get millions from the Presley family.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Millions of Americans are gearing up to head to the airport or hit the highway for the last long weekend of summer.
Here’s what to know about Labor Day weekend travel:
Air travel
More than 17 million people are forecast to be screened at U.S. airports from Thursday, Aug. 29, to Wednesday, Sept. 4 — an 8.5% increase from last year, the Transportation Security Administration said.
The TSA anticipates Friday, Aug. 30, will be its busiest day with 2.86 million travelers expected.
The TSA’s top 10 busiest travel days ever have all occurred since May.
United Airlines expects this year will be its busiest Labor Day weekend on record, with over 2.9 million passengers poised to fly between Thursday, Aug. 29, and Tuesday, Sept. 3 — up 3% from last year. United predicts Aug. 30 will be its busiest day.
American Airlines predicts this year will be its largest Labor Day operations ever, with over 3.8 million customers anticipated from Aug. 29 to Sept. 3 — up 14% from last year. American says its busiest travel days will be Aug. 29 and Aug. 30.
For Southwest Airlines, Aug. 30 and Sept. 2 are forecast to be peak travel days.
The busiest airports are anticipated to be Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, according to Hopper.
The most searched domestic destinations for Labor Day are New York City, Seattle and Los Angeles, according to Hopper.
Road travel
If you’re hitting the road on Thursday, Aug. 29, the worst time to drive is from 1 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., according to analytics company INRIX.
On Friday, Aug. 30, the worst travel time is from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. On Monday, Sept. 2, the busiest time on the roads will be from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., INRIX said.
AAA said drivers should expect to pay less for gas this year. The national average for gas during Labor Day weekend 2023 was $3.81; this year, prices are expected to be around $3.50.
(NEW YORK) — Hate crime and murder charges have been filed against a New York City parks worker in the fatal July shooting of a Venezuelan migrant, a crime prosecutors described as “premeditated and cold-blooded.”
Elijah Mitchell, a 23-year-old temporary worker for the New York City Parks Department, was indicted Wednesday on charges of second-degree murder as a hate crime, second-degree murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree menacing as a hate crime, and second-degree menacing, according to a statement from Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
Mitchell is accused of gunning down Arturo Jose Rodriguez Marcano in July at Brooklyn’s Stueben Playground, three days after he allegedly threatened the 30-year-old migrant with a handgun during an argument at the park, Gonzalez said in his statement.
“This defendant allegedly came to the location where the victim was staying, armed with a gun, to settle a score,” Gonzalez said in the statement. “This premeditated and cold-blooded homicide is outrageous on many levels, not least because the alleged motive was hatred towards new arrivals to our city.”
Mitchell pleaded not guilty to the charges Wednesday in Brooklyn Supreme Court and a public defender was appointed to represent him. An ABC News request for comment sent to Mitchell’s attorney was not immediately answered. The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation had no comment in response to a similar ABC News request.
The shooting unfolded around 10:40 p.m. on July 21 inside Stueben Playground, prosecutors said.
Mitchell allegedly went to the park looking for Marcano and shot him once in the chest before fleeing the scene on foot, prosecutors said. The mortally wounded victim was taken to Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead.
After he was detained July 29 for questioning about Marcano’s murder, Mitchell allegedly admitted to being at the park the night of the shooting but claimed he did not commit the killing, saying he went there to use the restroom, heard a gunshot and then ran, according to a statement prosecutors say he gave detectives after allegedly waiving his Miranda right to remain silent.
“Hell no, I didn’t have a gun that night,” Mitchell purportedly told detectives, according to his statement to detectives, which prosecutors provided to ABC News on Thursday.
Three days before the shooting, prosecutors allege Mitchell, who claimed to be homeless and living out of his car, got into a heated argument with Rodriguez Marcano at the playground.
“The defendant went to a vehicle, came back and allegedly lifted his shirt to show a gun in his waistband. He was pulled away by other employees,” prosecutors said in a statement.
But Mitchell, according to his statement to detectives, denied threatening Rodriguez Marcan with a gun. He said he was told to leave the park that day by his supervisor when a group of migrants living in the park became upset with him and other parks department employees for trying to clear their homeless encampment as part of their work duties.
“What caused me to leave was that they were being aggressive,” Mitchell purportedly told detectives of the migrants’ reaction, according to his statement to detectives. “They started grabbing weapons and s—. I just went back to the truck. No, I don’t have a gun on me. I don’t do that. I’m positive.”
Mitchell said he harbors no animus toward migrants, but conceded that he and his coworkers were “tired of removing people from the park,” according to his statement to detectives.
“It’s not my problem. It’s not [the] Parks Department’s problem. I go to work, I cut grass, and that’s it. No, I don’t have a problem with migrants,” Mitchell told detectives, according to his statement.
If convicted of the charges, Mitchell faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison, prosecutors said. He is being held in jail on a $2.5 million bond and was ordered to return to court on Oct. 23.
“My office will vigorously prosecute this horrific case, and these enhanced charges send a strong message that hate crimes will never be tolerated in Brooklyn,” Gonzalez said in his statement.
