Purdue University’s Boilermaker Special mascot involved in deadly collision
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(WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.) — One person is dead and two others injured after Purdue University’s Boilermaker Special mascot collided with a vehicle on a highway in Indiana, authorities said.
The deadly crash happened Thursday afternoon on U.S. 52 at Wyandotte Road in southeastern Tippecanoe County, several miles southeast of the university.
The Boilermaker Special vehicle was traveling north on the highway when, for a currently unknown reason, it crossed the median and collided with a passenger car traveling south, according to the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office.
The driver of the passenger vehicle died, the sheriff’s office said. The person’s identity has not yet been confirmed, authorities said. No one else was in the vehicle.
Two students who were on the Boilermaker Special were transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said. They have since been treated and released, according to Purdue.
“We can confirm our Boilermaker Special was involved in a serious multi-vehicle accident,” the university said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with all those impacted by the incident.”
The Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office crash reconstruction team is investigating, the sheriff’s office said.
The Boilermaker Special, a vehicle that resembles a Victorian-era steam locomotive, is Purdue’s official mascot. It travels to away football games and can drive up to 75 mph, according to the school.
(KANE COUNTY, Ill.) — Two males, including one juvenile, are facing hate crime charges after allegedly physically attacking a 19-year-old woman and calling her “derogatory” names at a McDonald’s in Illinois, according to the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office.
The incident occurred on May 13, when police responded to a report of a fight at a McDonald’s in Carpentersville, Illinois, which is about an hour outside of Chicago.
Once on the scene, officials determined the incident “involved an aggravated battery against a female victim,” Carpentersville Police Department said.
The female victim, 19-year-old Kady Grass, told ABC News the attack, which led to her suffering a broken nose and bruises on her shoulders, was based on her sexual orientation.
“Even if they don’t agree with the LGBTQ community, they have no right to make it physical or bully you into something. There was no right to do this to me just because they didn’t like that I date women instead of men,” Grass told ABC News last week.
One of the suspects involved in the attack, 19-year-old John Kammrad, was arrested on May 17, and the juvenile — whose “identify is being withheld in accordance with state laws protecting minors’ privacy” — turned himself in to police on May 16, officials said.
On Tuesday, the state’s attorney’s office announced that Kammrad was charged with three counts of aggravated battery, mob action and a hate crime. The juvenile was also charged with a hate crime, in addition to mob action and aggravated battery charges, prosecutors said.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe in public spaces, and no one should be attacked because of their gender identity or sexual orientation, as is alleged in this case. We must make it clear that Kane County is a community that welcomes all,” the county State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser said in a statement.
Grass said the attack began when she and her 13-year-old cousin were grabbing food at the McDonald’s and Grass decided to use the bathroom. Both the restroom stalls were full, so she walked out right away, when one boy out of a group of three began calling her a derogatory name, she told ABC News.
She said she “mumbled” under her breath but walked away and told her cousin to “not give them another reason to talk to us.”
One of the boys, the juvenile who was later charged, approached Grass again, saying they “wanted to fight” her and they should “take it outside,” she said. Grass said she then proceeded to go outside the McDonald’s, but “no one came out.”
When she returned inside to her cousin, she told Grass she overheard the males and said “they have a gun and they are going to kill you.” Grass later found out that it was an “empty threat” as police did not find a gun in the suspects’ possession.
Kammrad then approached Grass and said, “You’re a woman, you’re not tough,” to which Grass replied: “I know I’m a woman, I’m a lesbian,” she told ABC News.
She said she then looked at the juvenile, who “had this look in his eyes” and began to smile at her.
“I had a bad feeling about what was going to happen,” Grass said.
Kammrad proceeded to get close to Grass, so she placed her hand on his chest to signal he should “keep his distance,” she said.
The confrontation then escalated into a physical fight, with one male punching her in the front and the other hitting her in the back, she said. A manager at the McDonald’s attempted to break up the fight, but he also “got hit in the process,” Grass said.
In an attempt to protect herself, Grass closed her eyes and fell to the ground, which led to the two males stomping on her head, causing her to become unconscious, she said.
“They were trying to kill me,” Grass said last week.
She sustained severe injuries and was transported to a local hospital, where “she was treated and subsequently released,” police said.
Grass told ABC News Chicago station WLS on Tuesday that she was “fighting really hard for these hate crime charges.”
Kammrad’s plea setting is scheduled for June 27 at 9 a.m., according to court records. He is currently being held in the DuPage County Jail for “separate, unrelated charges,” officials said.
It was not immediately clear whether Kammrad has appointed an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Lawyers with the Department of Justice accidentally filed a document overnight that outlined a series of legal flaws with the Trump administration’s plan to kill New York City’s congestion pricing tolls.
In an 11-page letter to the Department of Transportation, lawyers with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York wrote that Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy’s attempt to terminate congestion pricing faces “considerable litigation risk” and is “unlikely” to be accepted by the court.
“As discussed below, there is considerable litigation risk in defending the Secretary’s February 19, 2025 decision against plaintiffs’ claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, that the decision was contrary to law, pretextual, procedurally arbitrary and capricious, and violated due process,” the letter said.
According to DOJ lawyers, both of Duffy’s arguments for canceling the program — that the tolls raise revenue rather than prevent congestion and that the program does not offer a toll-free option — are unlikely to convince the court.
DOJ lawyers instead proposed an alternative justification to defend canceling the program, urging the Department of Justice to use regulations set by the Office of Management and Budget to say the program was canceled “as a matter of changed agency priorities.”
“Importantly, DOT can seek termination of the agreement pursuant to the OMB regulations in addition to, and not in place of, defending the rationale laid out in the Secretary’s letter,” the letter said.
In a letter to the judge overseeing the lawsuit challenging congestion pricing, DOJ lawyers on Thursday morning acknowledged the document was “plainly filed in error” and asked to permanently seal the record. They argued the internal legal guidance included in the letter is privileged and should not be considered in the ongoing lawsuit.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said the filing was an “honest error.”
“Unfortunately, an attorney-client privileged document was erroneously filed on the public docket last night,” the spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. “This was a completely honest error and was not intentional in any way. Upon realizing the error, we immediately took steps to have the document removed. We look forward to continuing to vigorously advocate in the best interest of our clients, the DOT and FHWA, in this matter.”
The Metropolitan Transit Authority’s congestion pricing program, the first of its kind in the nation, went into effect in January. Weeks later, with Donald Trump now in office, the Federal Highway Administration terminated approval of the plan, with Duffy saying at the time that the “scope of this pilot project as approved exceeds the authority authorized by Congress.”
In February, the Metropolitan Transit Authority sued over the Trump administration’s attempt to rescind the agreement between the Federal Highway Administration and MTA that authorized the collection of the congestion toll. Lawyers for the MTA argued the termination was unlawful, contradicts the DOT’s own publicly stated policies and seeks to end a program that benefits the public.
“The region’s subways, buses, and commuter railroads — vital lifelines for so many New Yorkers who live in the New York City metropolitan area and beyond — are already benefiting from substantial investments that have been made as a result of the Program,” they argued. “New Yorkers support the Program because it is working.”
New York officials have said they will not turn off the tolls without a court order.
The congestion pricing plan charges passenger vehicles $9 to access Manhattan below 60th Street during peak hours as part of an effort to ease congestion and raise funds for the city’s public transit system. During peak hours, small trucks and charter buses are charged $14.40 and large trucks and tour buses pay $21.60.
(JACKSON, NH) — A 39-year-old man has died in a skiing accident after going off a trail he had been traversing near a ski resort in New Hampshire, police said.
The incident happened on Sunday at the Black Mountain ski area in Jackson, New Hampshire, at approximately 5:51 p.m. when Officer Mike Mosher of the Jackson Police Department responded to a report of a skiing accident from a passerby, according to a statement from the Jackson Police Department.
“The initial report was that a skier had gone off the trail and was seriously injured,” authorities said.
However, when police arrived on the scene, they discovered that the situation was worse than previously reported.
“Mountain ski patrol reported to ‘Upper Maple Slalom’ trail to aid the patient,” police said. “The area of the accident was near the summit. Upon arrival they found an unresponsive adult male with significant injuries on the edge of the snow line to the left of the trail.”
Life saving measures were immediately put into effect as authorities evacuated the man — identified as 39-year-old Eric Page of Bartlett, New Hampshire – to the base area.
“Additional life-saving efforts were provided by Bartlett Jackson ambulance personnel but were unsuccessful and the patient was declared deceased,” police said.
The crash was unwitnessed, according to the Jackson Police Department.
“The New Hampshire medical examiner’s office was notified and ordered the decedent to be taken to Furber and White Funeral Services in North Conway, New Hampshire,” authorities said.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
