The wooden deck gave way as a group was posing for a birthday photo.
May 2, 2021, 6:55 PM
• 4 min read
Eleven people were injured, two critically, when an elevated deck of a Tennessee waterfront restaurant collapsed during a birthday party group photo, authorities said.
The joyous festivities turned to a moment of terror on Saturday afternoon in suburban Chattanooga when an outdoor wooden deck at Zois Harbor Lights Restaurant suddenly gave way under the weight of more than 40 people posing for a birthday group photo, according to the Hamilton County Emergency Management Agency.
The episode unfolded around 4 p.m. at the restaurant in Soddy-Daisy overlooking Chickamauga Lake, officials said.
Photos posted online by the Office of Emergency Management showed the large wooden deck caved in and splintered, lying in shambles amid broken railing, toppled support beams and twisted aluminum siding.
Amy Maxwell, spokesperson for the county Emergency Management Agency, told ABC News on Sunday that when the collapse occurred some people were trapped underneath the deck while others walked away with minor injuries.
One of those injured, Sondra Teligades, told ABC affiliate station WTVC in Chattanooga that she heard cracking noises and described panic of free-falling for roughly two stories to the ground at the edge of the lake. Teligades said she was taken to a hospital and treated for a concussion and rib contusions.
Firefighters from Dallas Bay and Soddy-Daisy responded to the scene and began performing first aid on those injured.
Officials said 11 people were taken by ambulance to nearby hospitals. Two patients were critically injured, according to Maxwell.
Maxwell said it was not immediately clear why the deck collapsed.
Maxwell said the Hamilton County Building Codes Department is investigating the incident.
SpaceX‘s Crew Dragon spacecraft, dubbed Resilience, undocked from the International Space Station at 8:35 p.m. ET Saturday. and splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida at about 2:56 a.m. ET Sunday. The return aired live on NASA Television, the NASA App and the agency’s website.
The undocking was moved from Friday due to unfavorable wind speeds forecast at the time of the anticipated splashdown. More ideal conditions are in the forecast for Sunday’s splashdown and recovery, NASA said. The U.S. Coast Guard has established a 10-nautical-mile safety zone around the expected splashdown location.
“We’re continuing to hear good news after good news,” NASA tweeted early Sunday. “The four main parachutes have deployed, slowing the crew’s capsule down for arrival off the coast of Panama City, Florida.”
This was the first nighttime splashdown of a U.S.-crewed spacecraft since Apollo 8’s return on Dec. 27, 1968, in the Pacific Ocean.
“Recovery vessels are on the way to hoist the Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft out of the ocean and place it inside the Dragon nest aboard,” NASA tweeted early on Sunday.
Three NASA astronauts — Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker — and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are making the journey home. They launched into orbit Nov. 15, 2020, in what was the first operational crewed flight for the Crew Dragon capsule as part of NASA’s commercial crew mission, and SpaceX’s second-ever crewed flight to space.
For the past six months, the astronauts have worked on several experiments, including producing food in space by growing radishes in different types of light and soils. They also studied tissue chips that mimic human organs to learn more about how microgravity affects human health and diseases.
The crew was in “great health” for the return flight, NASA said. Ahead of Saturday’s undocking, they were packing science freezers filled with research samples, personal items and emergency hardware in the Resilience spacecraft.
“Coming home soon!” Hopkins, the Crew-1 Dragon resilience commander, tweeted hours before the undocking. “It’s been a great mission with great teams both on the ground and on @Space_Station.”
Glover, the crew’s pilot, expressed “gratitude, wonder, connection” after celebrating his 45th birthday in space on Friday.
“This orbiting laboratory is a true testament to what we can accomplish when we work together as a team,” he said on Twitter. “Crew-1 is ready for our ride home!”
When they landed, the Crew-1 astronauts will have spent 168 days in space. Upon splashdown, they will return to Houston. The Dragon spacecraft will be recovered and return to Cape Canaveral, where it will be inspected and refurbished for future missions.
Crew-1 was the first of six crewed missions NASA and SpaceX plan to fly as part of NASA’s commercial crew mission.
The second mission in the program launched on April 23 from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, with four astronauts aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavor spacecraft, the same one used during the first-ever crewed SpaceX flight last May.
The spacecraft docked at the International Space Station on April 24, after about a 23-hour ride. The Crew-2 astronauts will remain in space until October.
The flights mark a yearslong effort between NASA and the private sector to bring launch capabilities back to U.S. soil and end a dependency on Russia for trips to the International Space Station.
The Crew Dragon is the first spacecraft since the Space Shuttle to be certified by NASA to carry humans.
Three people have been killed, including the shooter, and one person has been left in critical condition after police responded to an active shooter situation at Oneida Casino in Wisconsin on Saturday night.
The initial incident started at the Duck Creek restaurant at the main casino located in Green Bay, near Austin Straubel Airport.
Lt. Kevin Pawoak and Chief Joel Maxam of the Brown County Sheriff’s Office held a press conference a few hours after the shooting and said that some victims were shot inside the Radisson Hotel that is connected to the Oneido Casino.
Authorities confirmed that every agency within Brown County responded to the scene, including Local fire departments and rescue squads, and that DCI is on scene assisting along with the FBI.
Pawoak and Maxam suggested that there is some possible relationship regarding employment with the shooter during the press conference but did not elaborate.
No information of the kind of weapon that was used in the shooting was given but the target was believed to be an employee. It is currently unclear if the shooter was an employee or had a personal relationship with the employee in the restaurant.
Police say the casino was immediately cleared out and that witness statements are still being taken.
Identification of the victims have not been released yet.
Gov. Tony Evers tonight released the following statement regarding the shooting at the Oneida Casino complex.
“Kathy and I were devastated to hear about the shooting at the Oneida Casino complex tonight. Our hearts, thoughts, and support go out to the Oneida Nation, the Ashwaubenon and Green Bay communities, and all those affected by this tragedy,” said Evers. “While we are waiting for more information, we hope and pray those who were injured will recover and are grateful for the first responders who quickly responded to the situation.”
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said on Twitter the situation was contained and there was no longer a threat to the community.
Officials with Oneida Nation said all casino locations would be closed until further notice.
The motive and the suspect are both currently unknown.
May 2, 2021, 8:21 AM
• 4 min read
One person has been killed and six people have been injured in a shooting late Saturday night close to the famous French Quarter in New Orleans.
The incident occurred at approximately 11:42 p.m. at the intersection of Saint Bernard Avenue and North Claiborne Avenue, several blocks north of the French Quarter, when New Orleans Police Department Fifth District officers responded to a call of aggravated battery by shooting in the area.
“Upon arrival, officers discovered five victims suffering with a gunshot wound(s),” the New Orleans Police Department said in a press release obtained by ABC News. “All five people were transported to the hospital for treatment where one of them died. Later, officers learned that two other gunshot victims from this incident arrived at the hospital by private conveyance. There is a total of seven victims in this incident.”
Authorities said that investigators are currently in the process of gathering evidence and information to identify both the suspect and the motive behind the shooting.
“The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office will identify the homicide victim and the official cause of death upon completion of autopsy and notification of family,” said the NOPD.
The NOPD Homicide Unit is in charge of this ongoing investigation and anyone with information is encouraged to contact authorities at 504-658-5300 or call anonymously to Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP.
Rep. Mike Nearman was charged with official misconduct and criminal trespass.
May 1, 2021, 6:54 PM
• 5 min read
A Republican state lawmaker faces charges over allegedly allowing a group of protesters into the Oregon Capitol last year.
Rep. Mike Nearman was charged with official misconduct and criminal trespass, both misdemeanors, by the Marion County district attorney on Friday, after an investigation by the Oregon State Police.
He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 11. ABC News has reached out to Nearman for comment.
A security video of the Dec. 21 incident obtained by ABC Oregon affiliate KATU appears to show Nearman leaving the Capitol in Salem, which was closed to the public due to the pandemic, during a one-day special session. Several protesters, who were rallying that day against the state’s COVID-19 measures, can be seen entering the building and clashing with police.
Three people who gained access through that entryway were arrested, including one man who allegedly sprayed mace at officers, police said.
Democratic House Speaker Tina Kotek, who revealed in January that Nearman was suspected of allowing protesters to enter the Capitol, has called for his resignation.
“Rep. Nearman put every person in the Capitol in serious danger and created fear among Capitol staff and legislators,” Kotek wrote on Twitter Friday. “I called on him to resign in January and renew my call in light of today’s charges.”
Nearman said the House speaker’s motivations were “about politics and not about safety” after she confirmed the investigation into the state Capitol’s breach a day after the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“I hope for due process, and not the mob justice to which Speaker Kotek is subjecting me,” he said in a statement to KATU in January.
“I don’t condone violence nor participate in it,” he said.
The state’s House Conduct Committee voted in January to strip Nearman of his badge allowing him into the Capitol and prohibit him from allowing unauthorized people into the building. He also was required to provide 24-hour notice before arriving at the Capitol and stay in his office unless conducting legislative business in areas like the House floor.
The state Legislative Assembly in March also invoiced Nearman for more than $2,700 for repairs stemming from the December breach, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. The invoice included $365 for an automatic door closer as well as fees for paint and a wall-mounted hand sanitizer dispenser, OPB reported.
Nearman was elected to his fourth term in November.
A suspect sought in the vandalism of four synagogues in a New York City neighborhood has been arrested and charged with “numerous” hate crimes, authorities said.
Jordan Burnette, 29, was charged Saturday with burglary as a hate crime and “also faces numerous charges related to the many acts of vandalism as hate crimes that have taken place in this community,” Jessica Corey, commanding officer of the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force, said during a press briefing.
Burnette was arrested after he allegedly became “uncooperative” and wouldn’t provide his ID while being issued a moving violation ticket for riding a bicycle against the flow of traffic around 3 a.m. Saturday in the Bronx neighborhood of Riverdale, Corey said.
He fit the description of a person sought in a “hate crime criminal mischief pattern” in the neighborhood, Corey said.
Officers canvassed the area where Burnette was stopped and found a van with a broken windshield. Security footage from a nearby home showed Burnette allegedly throwing a rock at the windshield, Corey said.
The same footage also showed him allegedly leaving the parking lot of the Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale, where officers discovered a shed had been broken into.
The groundskeeper for the synagogue told officers the bike that Burnette was riding was allegedly stolen from the shed.
Corey said the investigation is ongoing and did not reveal a motive. It is unclear if Burnette has a lawyer.
Police had previously released surveillance video of one incident of vandalism, which took place on April 24 at about 10:45 p.m. A man wearing a camouflage coat could be seen throwing rocks at the windows of the Young Israel of Riverdale Synagogue in the Bronx, shattering the glass, the New York Police Department said. Additional photos and video of the suspect released by police showed a man wearing what appeared to be the same coat.
Three other synagogues in Riverdale also had broken windows from thrown rocks, police said.
All synagogues in the Riverdale neighborhood had increased security following the acts of vandalism. Authorities said they didn’t expect the increased security to continue at this point.
Political leaders had decried the attacks. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed April 25 to “take swift action against the perpetrators” of the “vile acts.”
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said on Twitter the “heinous, anti-Semitic attacks we saw at 4 places of worship in The Bronx will not be tolerated.”
ABC News’ Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
Three black bears in the area were euthanized “out of an abundance of caution.”
May 1, 2021, 6:26 PM
• 5 min read
A Colorado woman out walking her dogs died of a suspected bear attack, officials said.
The 39-year-old woman was found Friday night by her boyfriend, who went searching for her when he discovered the two dogs alone outside their home in Durango, in southwestern Colorado, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said in a statement Saturday.
He found her body around 9:30 p.m. local time off U.S. Highway 550 near Trimble, north of Durango, and called 911, officials said. The woman and her boyfriend haven’t been publicly identified.
Responding wildlife officers “observed signs of consumption on the body and an abundance of bear scat and hair at the scene,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife said in a statement.
A dog team from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services also searched the area and found a female black bear with two young bears nearby. The bears were euthanized “out of an abundance of caution,” the agency said.
Wildlife officials believe the woman died of a bear attack, though the local coroner’s office will determine the official cause of death. An autopsy will be performed by the La Plata County coroner early next week, officials said.
The Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Wildlife Health Lab in Fort Collins will also perform a necropsy on the three bears, officials said. DNA evidence from the bears and the scene will be sent for testing to the Wyoming Game and Fish Wildlife Forensic & Fish Health Laboratory.
Wildlife officers are still investigating the scene to corroborate a wildlife attack.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials urged the public to avoid the area as the investigation continues and asked people to report any encounter with an aggressive bear to the agency.
“Bear attacks are extremely rare,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife Southwest Region manager Cory Chick said in a statement. “This is a tragic event and a sad reminder that bears are wild and potentially dangerous.”
So far this spring, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it has received several reports of bear sightings and activity in the Durango area, including a bear tearing down a bird feeder and one getting into garbage.
There have been three confirmed fatal bear attacks in Colorado since 1971, according to the wildlife agency. The most recent occurred in 2009, when a 74-year-old woman was killed and partially eaten by a bear or bears at her home near Ouray.
Most bears are active in Colorado from mid-March through early November. Colorado Parks and Wildlife offers tips on what to do if you see one here.
A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that some COVID-19 vaccine reactions, including fainting, dizziness and nausea, were due to anxiety — and not the shots themselves.
The report, published Friday, looked at clusters of events reported to the CDC in dozens of people who received the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine at five mass vaccination sites in early April, before federal health agencies called for a temporary pause on the shot after six people in the U.S. developed a rare blood clot disorder.
Out of 8,624 people who received the J&J dose from April 7 to 9 at the five sites, 64 experienced anxiety-related reactions, none of which were considered serious, the CDC said. Slightly more than half reported light-headedness or dizziness. Excessive sweating was the next most common symptom, followed by fainting, nausea or vomiting, and hypotension.
The majority — 61% — were women, the median age was 36 years and 20% of the patients told vaccination site staff they had a history of fainting associated with receiving injections or an aversion to needles.
Most of the symptoms resolved within 15 minutes with care, such as food and hydration or lying down, while 20% of patients were hospitalized for further evaluation. Four of the sites temporarily suspended vaccination to investigate the reactions.
“Increased awareness of anxiety-related events after vaccination will enable vaccination providers to make an informed decision about continuing vaccination,” the authors of the report said.
The report only looked at anxiety-related reactions after getting the J&J vaccine, though noted that “anxiety-related events can occur after any vaccination.”
“I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding about vaccines and, quite frankly, medicines as well, and the way that they’re going to impact our bodies,” Dr. Joy Gero, the program director of the general adult and behavioral health Intensive Care Unit at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, told ABC News.
When reviewing fainting events after receiving the J&J vaccine reported to the database Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System from March 2 to April 12, the CDC found that there were 8.2 episodes per 100,000 doses. By comparison, the reported rate of fainting after getting the flu vaccine during the 2019-2020 flu season was only 0.05 episodes per 100,000 doses, it found.
For Dr. Tara Sell, a senior associate at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who studies vaccine risk communication, that could mean that the COVID-19 vaccine may be bringing out more injection-adverse people than the flu vaccine.
“You have a population of people who might already be inclined to have some anxiety about vaccines showing up here where they just would skip it for a flu vaccine,” Sell told ABC News.
People may also be nervous about getting a COVID-19 vaccine because it’s new or feeling overwhelmed due to the impact of the pandemic, she said.
“The flu vaccine is very normal, people are very familiar with it, so it doesn’t seem like this big, momentous thing,” she said.
Sell said the report shows how closely the COVID-19 vaccinations are being monitored for safety.
“This happened early in April, and we’re not into May and we have a pretty clear answer on what was happening here,” she said. “I think that’s good.”
Reducing vaccine anxiety
For people who may be prone to anxiety when getting shots, practicing deep breathing and relaxation exercises before you get the vaccination can be “extremely helpful,” Dr. Jeffrey Geller, president of the American Psychiatric Association, told ABC News.
Limiting caffeine intake, staying hydrated, eating well and “being intentional about engaging in self-care” also can help people who are struggling with anxiety, Gero said.
Once you’ve arrived at the location, especially a mass vaccination site, it may be helpful to distract yourself, Gero said, such as listening to music while waiting in line.
People also may want to let the medical team know if they’re anxious, Geller said.
“You shouldn’t keep it to yourself,” he added. “They can be very accommodating.”
While an injection is happening, don’t look, close your eyes and “use imagery to imagine yourself being someplace else,” Geller said.
If those practices won’t suffice, there are treatments that may help people cope with their anxiety or if they have a fear of vaccinations, such as cognitive behavioral therapy or exposure therapy, Geller said.
“As many people as possible should get the COVID injection, and in this situation with COVID, there is no alternative,” he said. “It’s not like the flu where you have a nasal alternative. For COVID, you either get the shot or you don’t get the shot.”
Olivia Davies, a fourth-year student at the Medical College of Wisconsin who will be starting her residency at Massachusetts General Hospital this summer, is a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.
Financial disclosures released by former Secretary of State John Kerry indicate that until March of this year he held hundreds of thousands of dollars of investments in energy-related companies that may end up being affected by policies he’ll help shape as President Joe Biden’s new climate envoy.
An ABC News analysis of his assets show that in recent years, Kerry held stakes in at least three dozen companies related to the energy industry, including firms dealing in electric, oil and gas, and nuclear energy, with shares worth between $204,000 and $960,000. Kerry had also recently held high-ranking positions within firms and entities that could end up being regulated by his climate action policies, filings show.
A certificate of divestiture issued by the Office of Government Ethics on March 8 shows Kerry’s plan to divest from companies that could pose a conflict of interest for his new role as U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, a common measure that newly appointed public officials take to ensure their government duties don’t overlap with their personal interests. New filings obtained by ABC News show that on March 11, he divested between $4 million and $15 million in assets from more than 400 companies, including those energy-sector interests.
“The State Department’s Ethics Office reviewed Special Presidential Envoy Kerry’s assets and investments upon his appointment to identify holdings that could pose a significant risk of a conflict of interest,” a State Department spokesperson wrote in a statement to ABC News. “Special Presidential Envoy Kerry agreed to divest the assets identified by the Ethics Office and has done so.”
Ethics and good-government advocates have warned that even past ties and financial interests may create the appearance of impropriety in an industry that’s so highly regulated by federal guidelines. But experts say divesting from those interests helps mitigate or resolve concerns about conflicts of interests that may arise.
“Conflicts arise when someone acts in a way that affects their financial interest; divesting removes the financial interest part of the equation,” said Delaney Marsco, senior legal counsel of ethics at the Washington-based good government group Campaign Legal Center.
Marsco said it’s not unusual for concerns to arise when a public servant has complex financial holdings, and that Kerry “should be recusing anytime even the appearance of a conflict arises” and “should be constantly consulting with ethics officials when he thinks there could be an issue.”
“He should also be mindful of all the ethics rules that may apply to any former client he may have from his previous work,” Marsco said. Kerry’s disclosure report shows that he served as the chairman of the advisory board for Climate Finance Partners and as the president of the Vietnam Sustainable Energy Corporation.
Among the energy-related companies in which Kerry and his family had held investments prior to March were multinational hydrocarbon exploration company ConocoPhillips, international petroleum refinery company Valero Energy and major gas and electric utility provider Southern Company.
Kerry’s stake in each of these companies was relatively small, with values ranging from $1,001 to $50,000 and totaling between $204,000 and $960,000 at the time he sold those assets in March.
The latest disclosures show that Kerry has significantly reduced his financial interests in the energy sector over the years. Past disclosure filings from his time in Congress and in the Obama administration show that Kerry had owned millions of dollars’ worth of holdings in the oil and gas industry and in other energy-sector companies.
Beyond his stake in the energy industry — which accounts for only a small fraction of his total net worth — disclosures show that Kerry has a diverse portfolio of income and holdings that make him one of the wealthiest members of Biden’s administration.
The bulk of Kerry’s income from the past year came from Bank of America, where he earned a $5 million salary for his role as chair of its Global Advisory Council.
The disclosures indicate Kerry also took in speaking fees of more than $300,000 from an array of corporations, foundations, and educational institutions across the globe, from Deutsche Bank in Germany to Hong Kong-based investment capital firm CSLA Limited. He also made $125,000 in consulting fees from the Rise Fund, a $2 billion “social impact” investment project founded by musician-turned-activist Bono and philanthropist Jeffrey Skoll.
Kerry also reported earning at least $15 million to $65 million from his other investments in the past year, much of it dividends and capital gains from divesting his financial assets, including big shares in major corporations like Alphabet Inc., Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Comcast and Goldman Sachs.
The filing also shows Kerry took out a $1 million loan last year with investment bank BNY Mellon.
The vast majority of Kerry’s holdings, however, lie in a trust belonging to the family of his spouse, Teresa Heinz — an heir to the Heinz food processing empire. The disclosure form notes that neither Kerry nor Heinz exercise any control over the management of the family trust.
In his filing first signed in late January and last revised on March 8, Kerry reported owning at least $41 million in assets with his family, but his current net worth is unclear due to the substantial reallocation of his assets over the past few months and because government disclosure reports only require officials to report their holdings within general numerical ranges.
