Search underway for girl swept away in ocean: Officials
(LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.) — A search is underway for a girl who was swept away in the ocean in Southern California, officials said.
The incident unfolded at about 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday near Treasure Island Beach in Laguna Beach, city officials said. The girl was with her mother and a sibling near the shoreline when they were swept into the ocean by powerful water conditions, officials said.
Bystanders ran into the water and were able to rescue the mother and one of her children, but the other child remains missing, officials said.
The Coast Guard, the Laguna Beach Marine Safety Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Harbor Patrol are involved in the search, officials said.
The booking photo for Karmelo Anthony. (Frisco Police Department)
(FRISCO, Texas) — A teen was found guilty of murder over the fatal stabbing of another teen at a high school track meet last year and sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Karmelo Anthony, 19, was indicted on first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a track meet in Frisco, Texas, in April 2025.
Prosecutors called the stabbing “senseless” and “plain and simple murder,” while the defense argued that Anthony acted in self-defense.
Following the announcement of the jury’s announcement, Metcalf’s parents and his twin brother delivered emotional victim impact statements, addressing Anthony directly.
“We will never know what our future could have been,” Meghan Metcalf, Austin Metcalf’s mother, said, according to WFAA. “For journalists, activists, this is a story. For our family, this is our reality.”
Jeff Metcalf, Austin Metcalf’s father, said his son’s death destroyed the person he used to be.
“People think grief is sadness, it is not. It is rage. Pure unfiltered rage,” he said, as he slammed his fist on a table, according to WFAA.
The jury began deliberating midday Tuesday before reaching the guilty murder verdict in three hours, according to a court spokesperson. The jurors also could have considered manslaughter, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years.
The same jury reached a decision on the sentence after several more hours of deliberation on Tuesday.
After being remanded to the custody of the sheriff’s office, Anthony could be seen crying when he returned to the court for the punishment phase, according to ABC Dallas affiliate WFAA, which was in the courtroom for the trial.
Anthony’s mother was the only person to take the stand during the punishment phase, asking the jurors to show him mercy as he is sorry for what he did, WFAA reported. The judge said that Anthony waived his right to testify during the punishment phase, according to the station.
The murder charge carried a sentence of five years to life in prison. The state agreed to allow jurors to consider “sudden passion,” which, if proven, would have limited the sentence from two to 20 years, according to WFAA. The defense argued that Anthony was overwhelmed by a strong emotion and acted before having time to calm down.
The deadly stabbing occurred at a Frisco Independent School District stadium on April 2, 2025, during a track and field competition involving multiple schools in the district.
Police said Metcalf, an 11th grader at Frisco Memorial High School, was stabbed during an altercation under his school’s tent in the stadium bleachers. Witnesses said the two got into an argument over Anthony, a then-17-year-old student at Frisco Centennial High School, being under Metcalf’s school tent during the rainy track meet.
Jurors heard testimony over four days at the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas. Anthony did not take the stand in his own defense.
Judge John Roach imposed a gag order in the case, restricting what those involved can say, and barred any electronics from the courtroom during the trial due to the attention the case has garnered.
Collin County First Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye told jurors that the stabbing was not self-defense but “unjustified” murder, according to WFAA.
In his closing argument on Tuesday, Wirskye claimed that Anthony provoked Metcalf, questioned why the defendant didn’t walk away and called the stabbing disproportionate.
“You don’t get to meet a shove with a stab — especially if you provoke a shove,” Wirskye told jurors, according to WFAA.
Defense attorney Mike Howard told jurors that Anthony had gone to the Memorial tent to get out of the rain when Metcalf confronted him and told him to leave, WFAA reported. Howard said Anthony “acted in fear and chaos” after Metcalf pushed him, and stabbed the other teen in self-defense, according to WFAA.
During his closing argument on Tuesday, Howard said Metcalf had “no legal right” to use force on Anthony, WFAA reported. In response to contentions that Anthony could have just left, the defense attorney said, “I am sure he wishes he did,” according to WFAA.
Multiple students who were at the track meet that day testified that they saw Metcalf push Anthony, who was seated on the bleacher, with some describing it as a two-handed push, like a “lineman move,” while others said it was a one-handed “small shove,” WFAA reported.
One witness testified that Anthony was asked to leave the tent about 15 times, according to WFAA. Some recalled Anthony saying, “Touch me and see what happens,” during the altercation, which witnesses said lasted about four to six minutes, according to WFAA. Another witness quoted Metcalf as telling Anthony, “I’m not going to fight you,” the station reported.
Surveillance footage from the track meet played in court did not show the stabbing, and some of the witnesses were asked to demonstrate the incident, according to WFAA.
After the stabbing, witnesses said Anthony jogged away from the tent, and a coach who spoke to him on the track testified that he said, “He put his hands on me. I stabbed him,” according to WFAA.
A pocket knife used in the stabbing was found on the bleachers, police said. Collin County Medical Examiner Dr. Elizabeth Ventura testified that Metcalf was stabbed on the left side of his chest, and the knife perforated his right ventricle, according to WFAA.
Several people spoke during the trial of the efforts to save Metcalf. A football coach who was helping at the track meet testified that he put pressure on the stab wound, and Memorial’s athletic trainer said she did CPR until paramedics arrived, according to WFAA.
“Everybody was praying,” Memorial High School head track coach Robert Starr said in emotional testimony, according to WFAA. “I just knew Austin was gone.”
Metcalf was transported to an area hospital, where he was ultimately pronounced dead, police said.
Frisco ISD reacted to the verdict, saying in a statement, “We respect the judicial process and will continue to support our students with compassion and care.”
“We know this trial has brought strong emotions and deep grief, and we ask that our community continue to support each other with respect, sensitivity and understanding,” the statement continued.
A sign points the way to Brigham and Women’s Hospital June 3, 2001 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Darren McCollester/Getty Images)
(BOSTON) –Nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Mass General Brigham home care clinicians took to the streets Wednesday morning for a strike set to involve roughly 4,500 workers, according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
The strike would be the largest nurse and healthcare professional strike in Massachusetts history, according to a Massachusetts Nurses Association press release.
“At both bargaining tables, the nurses and clinicians made significant efforts to compromise and offered to continue negotiating to avoid a strike,” the association wrote in a statement. “MGB refused to improve its proposals and declined opportunities to continue bargaining.”
The nurses’ strike, which was scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. Wednesday, is set to last one day and be followed by a lockout imposed by Mass General Brigham, the association said.
The work stoppage is now expected to last until 7:59 a.m. on July 15, according to the hospital.
Mass General Brigham home care clinicians plan to strike for seven days beginning at 8 a.m. on the same day, according to the union.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital said it will continue to provide high-quality patient care throughout the work stoppage, along with its outpatient centers, though picketing may cause heavier traffic than normal.
Temporary clinicians are being brought in to support patients during the work stoppage, and patients should keep their scheduled appointments unless advised otherwise by their care teams, the hospital said.
The union said it is seeking more competitive wage increases that keep pace with the rising cost of living, among other demands. It cited data from the MassINC Policy Center, which said the income needed to maintain a middle-class standard of living for a family of four in Massachusetts jumped 50% from 2020 to 2024.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital said in a statement that Brigham nurses are “among the highest compensated in the market.”
Scott Sperling, Mass General Brigham board chair and co-CEO of a private equity firm, wrote to the association in an email on Sunday night, stating that a “substantial effort” has been made to find common ground, according to the association’s press release.
On Tuesday, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey released a joint statement encouraging both sides to resume negotiations.
“A strike and lockout of this scale would cause serious disruption across the Greater Boston region, and the possibility that patient care could be impacted through diversions, delays, or other emergency measures is deeply concerning to the communities we represent,” the statement said.
Illustration of Legionella pneumophila bacteria (Roger Harriss/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Health officials in New York City said they are investigating a cluster of Legionnaires’ disease.
As of July 6, 23 cases of Legionnaires’ disease have been confirmed in two of Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighborhoods, according to the New York City Department of Health. So far, no deaths have been associated with the cluster.
In a notice to the two neighborhoods — Carnegie Hill and Yorkville — the department said it believes the likely source of the bacteria is a cooling tower in the area, which sprays a mist that contains the bacteria.
The health department said there is no issue with any building’s plumbing system and that residents in the affected areas can continue to drink tap water, bathe, shower, cook and use their air conditioners.
“All cooling towers in [the] area are being sampled and tested in the NYC Public Health Lab,” Mark Levine, the city’s comptroller, wrote in a post on X on Sunday evening. “It unfortunately takes several weeks for cultures to grow.”
Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by inhaling the Legionella bacteria in small droplets of water mixed in the air or contaminated water accidentally going into the lungs.
The bacteria are found naturally in freshwater but amounts generally don’t lead to disease. The bacteria typically grow best in warm water and in warm to hot temperatures, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The disease does not generally spread from person to person, but infections can occur if the bacteria get into a building’s water supply, including in shower heads, sink faucets, hot water tanks, heaters, cooling towers and other plumbing systems.
Legionnaires’ disease has increased in prevalence over the last decade, reaching a peak of 2.71 cases per 100,000 in 2018, the CDC said. Cases dropped during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and then rebounded in 2021.
Although most people recover from Legionnaires’ disease with antibiotics, certain patients — including those who are immunocompromised or who suffer from chronic lung diseases — can develop complications that can be fatal.
About one out of every 10 people who develop Legionnaires’ disease will die due to complications, according to the CDC. Among those who develop Legionnaires’ disease during a stay in a healthcare facility, about one out of every four people will die, the federal health agency added.
The NYC health department said anyone who lives or works in the affected areas — or has visited since late June — and is experiencing flu-like symptoms should contact a healthcare provider immediately. The ZIP codes for the areas are 10028, 10128, and 10075.
