Tropical Storm Francine tracker: Forecast to become hurricane as it approaches Louisiana
(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Francine is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane on Tuesday as it takes aim at the Gulf Coast.
By Tuesday night, Francine is expected to become a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 mph.
Landfall is expected on Wednesday in Louisiana, between Cameron and Morgan City, as a Category 2 hurricane.
Heavy rain and strong winds are already lashing South Padre Island, Texas, on Tuesday morning.
Up to 1 foot of rain is forecast for parts of Louisiana from Tuesday night into Wednesday.
Flash flooding will be a significant threat on Wednesday for New Orleans, Lake Charles and Alexandria, Louisiana as well as Jackson, Mississippi.
Storm surge could reach 10 feet along the Louisiana coast.
By Thursday, flooding rain will spread into the Mississippi River Valley, bringing up to 6 inches of rain to Memphis, Tennessee; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Paducah, Kentucky.
(BOSTON) — A Massachusetts judge has scheduled the retrial in Karen Read’s murder case for early next year, three weeks after declaring a mistrial in the high-profile case.
Read was accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, in January 2022. Prosecutors allege she hit O’Keefe with her car and left him to die in the middle of a snowstorm after the two got into an argument earlier in the day.
Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial in the case on July 1 after the jury said it was unable to reach a unanimous consensus on the fifth day of deliberations. The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office said following the mistrial that it planned to retry the case.
During a status hearing on Monday, Cannone proposed Jan. 14, 2025, for a pretrial conference and Jan. 27, 2025, as the new trial date.
Both parties agreed to the date, although one of the defense attorneys raised a potential concern due to that date’s proximity to another case he has scheduled for trial in January.
Cannone also scheduled a hearing on Aug. 9 for oral arguments on the defense’s motion to dismiss some of the charges.
“I assume whatever I ended up doing on the motion to dismiss will be appealed,” Cannone said, adding that she scheduled the trial date in January 2025 “in an effort to make sure we have plenty of time.”
Read had pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Read’s attorneys have asked the judge to dismiss the charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident when the case goes to trial again.
In court documents filed in the wake of the mistrial, her attorneys wrote that four jurors have come forward to report the jury found Read not guilty of those two charges.
“There was no manifest necessity for a mistrial as to those counts, and therefore the Double Jeopardy protections of the federal and state Constitutions require that those counts not be retried,” Read’s defense attorney Alan Jackson wrote in court documents.
The case has garnered national attention. Large crowds, both in support and against Read, had gathered outside the courthouse ahead of Monday’s hearing.
Read has strenuously denied the allegations, and her lawyers alleged that a fellow police officer was involved in O’Keefe’s death and colluded with others in a cover-up.
Following the initial trial, a Massachusetts State Police officer who was communicating with a Canton police officer during the death investigation was suspended. The Canton police officer — who is the brother of the man who hosted the party at the house where O’Keefe’s body was found outside — was also placed on paid administrative leave, according to Boston ABC affiliate WCVB.
(NEW YORK) — A search is underway in New York City for two suspects, including one dressed all in pink, who allegedly crashed an empty subway train after brazenly walking into a station and stealing it, authorities said.
The theft of the train in the nation’s largest subway system unfolded amid the deployment of additional police officers to the subway system to combat a surge in crime. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul even deployed National Guard troops as part of a five-point plan to protect subway riders.
According to a New York Police Department incident report, the thieves, a man and a woman, stole the empty train just after midnight on Thursday at the Briarwood subway station in the borough of Queens, according to police.
“These two individuals entered an unoccupied train and operated it, causing a collision and damage to the train,” according to the NYPD incident report.
No injuries were reported and the suspects fled the area on foot, according to police.
No arrests have been announced as of Wednesday morning, police said.
The duo was caught on surveillance cameras walking through the empty train at Briarwood station before taking it on a short joy ride, police said.
One of the alleged thieves was described as a woman with a medium build and medium complexion, according to police.
“She was last seen wearing a pink shower cap, a pink sleeveless shirt, pink shorts, and carrying a pink handbag,” according to the incident report.
Her accomplice was described by police as a man with a slim build and light complexion, He was dressed in a blue tank top, red shorts and carrying a black backpack.
It was at least the second theft of a New York City subway train in less than eight months.
On Dec. 30, 2023, a group stole empty trains parked in a restricted area near the Forest Hills-71st Avenue subway station in Queens. Authorities said the group entered the operators’ compartments of two lead train cars before driving them northbound.
Amidst a 45% year-over-year spike in New York City transit crime in January, mostly due to grand larcenies, Hochul deployed 1,000 state workers, including 250 state police troopers and Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police members, to assist the NYPD in enhanced baggage checks at heavily trafficked areas of the subway system.
Hochul also directed the New York National Guard to make 750 members, who are currently part of the Joint Task Force Empire Shield, available to help check subway riders’ bags for weapons.
According to the most recent NYPD crime statistics, transit crime as of Sunday is now down 5.4% from this time in 2023.
(LOS ANGELES) — California officials are asking for help locating a 14-year-old mother, her newborn and her 15-year-old sister-in-law, all of whom haven’t been seen since Sunday night.
Amoria Brown, 14; her daughter Omoria Brown, 3 months old; and Sanaii Brown, 15, were last seen at around 10 p.m. Sunday and were believed to be headed to a high-desert area with family, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The newborn girl suffers from a heart condition and needs daily medication, according to the LAPD.
Amoria Brown is described as Black, 5-foot-4 and about 140 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She was seen wearing a multicolored shirt, gray shorts and gray sandals, according to the LAPD.
Sanaii Brown is Black with brown hair and brown eyes. She is 5-foot-1 and weighs about 150 pounds, the LAPD said.
Police ask anyone with information about the teens and newborn to contact the LAPD at 1-800-222- 8477.