Category: News Daypop

Josh Kruger, a freelance journalist and former Philadelphia city employee, was shot and killed in his home early Monday. Police responded at about 1:30 a.m. and found Kruger shot seven times in the chest and abdomen. He was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. There have been no arrests in the shooting, andno weapon has been recovered.

The 39-year-old Kruger lived in the city’s Grays Ferry neighborhood was previously employed by the Philadelphia City Paper and Philadelphia Weekly. Kruger also previously worked in communications for the city, first in the mayor’s office and then for the Office of Homeless Services and Department of Health. He had recent worked as a freelance journalist, with bylines in the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Citizen.

District Attorney Larry Krasner said in a statement: “Josh deserved to write the ending of his personal story. As with all homicides, we will be in close contact with the Philadelphia Police as they work to identify the person or persons responsible so that they can be held to account in a court of law. I extend my deepest condolences to Josh’s loved ones and to all those mourning this loss.”

According to Krasner, Kruger was openly queer and often wrote about LGBTQ+ topics, as well as drug abuse and homelessness. The district attorney’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee added in a statement: “Many of us knew Josh Kruger as a comrade who never stopped advocating for queer Philadelphians living on the margins of societ. His struggles mirrored so many of ours — from community rejection, to homelessness, to addiction, to living with HIV, to poverty — and his recovery, survival, and successes showed what’s possible when politicians and elected leaders reject bigotry and work affirmatively to uplift all people.”

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney wrote on X: “Shocked and saddened by Josh Kruger’s death. He cared deeply about our city and its residents, which was evident in his public service and writing. Our administration was fortunate to call him a colleague, and our prayers are with everyone who knew him.”

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North Dakota state senator Doug Larsen, his wife and their two young children were killed when the small plane they were riding crashed in Utah. Republican Senate Majority Leader David Hogue confirmed the fatalities on Monday in an email sent to his fellow senators which was obtained by The Associated Press. Hogue wrote in his email: “Senator Doug Larsen, his wife Amy, and their two young children died in a plane crash last evening in Utah. They were visiting family in Scottsdale and returning home. They stopped to refuel in Utah.”

According to a Grand County Sheriff’s Department statement posted on Facebook, Larsen was the pilot of the plane that crashed Sunday evening, shortly after taking off from Canyonlands Airfield, located about 15 miles north of Moab.  The sheriff’s office said all four people on board the plane were killed, and said in a statement later Monday that the county’s “dispatch center received a report of an isolated incident involving a single aircraft taking off from the Canyonlands Regional Airport and then crashing into the ground.”

The National Transportation Safety Board said in a post on social media that the crash of the single-engine Piper plane was being investigated.  Sheriff’s deputies, Moab County Fire Department personnel and paramedics responded to the crash after a medical aircraft spotted the downed plane, the sheriff’s office said.

An NTSB spokesman earlier said a board investigator was expected to arrive at the scene Monday “to begin to document the scene, examine the aircraft, request any air traffic communications, radar data, weather reports and try to contact any witnesses. Also, the investigator will request maintenance records of the aircraft, and medical records and flight history of the pilot.”

Larsen was a Republican first elected to the North Dakota Senate in 2020. His district comprises Mandan, the city neighboring Bismarck to the west across the Missouri River. Larsen chaired a Senate panel that handled industry and business legislation. He was also a lieutenant colonel in the North Dakota National Guard, and he and his wife, Amy, were business owners. District Republicans will appoint a successor to fill out the remainder of Larsen’s term, through November 2024. His Senate seat is on the ballot next year. Republicans control North Dakota’s Legislature with supermajorities in the House and Senate.

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New York State Police are searching for a 9-year-old girl who they said was abducted Saturday night while she was camping with her family. The girl, Charlotte Sena, was last seen 50 miles north of Albany at Moreau Lake State Park in Saratoga County at approximately 6:15 p.m., wearing an orange tie-dye Pokémon shirt, dark blue pants, black Crocs and a gray bike helmet. According to information provided by police, Charlotte is 4 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 90 pounds, and she has blond hair. Lt. Col. Richard Mazzone told reporters Sunday after an exhaustive search of the park, police had determined it was “quite possible” Charlotte was abducted. The Sena family said in a statement: “We just want her returned safely like any parent would. No tip is too small, please call if you know anything at all.”

State police activated an Amber Alert shortly after 9:30 a.m. local time Sunday which read: ***AMBER ALERT UPDATED DESCRIPTION*** PLEASE SHARE! NYSP has activated AMBER Alert for a child abduction that occurred near Moreau Lake State Park in Gansevoort, NY at about 6:45 PM on 9/30/2023. Anyone with any information should call the NYSP at (518) 457-6811 or dial 911.” Adding: “The child was taken under circumstances that lead police to believe that they are in imminent danger of serious harm and/or death.”

NY Governor Kathy Hochul offered an update Sunday after meeting with the missing girl’s family, promising them officials would find their daughter. Gov. Hochul told reporters that Charlotte and her family were camping only 15 minutes from where she and her sisters were raised. Shortly before she disappeared, Charlotte had been biking around Loop A of the park with family friends and had said she wanted to do one more loop by herself. Fifteen minutes later, when she hadn’t returned, her parents and nearby campers mounted a search. Charlotte’s bike was found on the loop at 6:45 p.m., and two minutes later, her mother called 911 to report her missing. By 7 p.m., state police were at the scene.  Since then, over 100 personnel and 75 law enforcement officials have been deployed in the search, which also includes dogs, two drones, two boats and six underwater rescue teams, said Hochul, who added that a command post had been established at the state park.

Hochul said: “As a mother and as a grandmother, I cannot imagine the pain they’re going through. They shared with me how joyful their little girl is, a fourth grader just recently elected to be a class officer for student council.”  Hochul implored anyone with information or anyone who may have seen anything to call 911: “Hearts are broken here today in New York. Hopefully there will be a reunion. Hopefully, there will be a family that has been traumatized but reunited.”

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Rep. Matt Gaetz said he will try to remove fellow Republican (and longtime nemesis), House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his position this week — his statements coming after McCarthy relied on Democratic support to pass legislation that avoided a government shutdown. In response, McCarthy responded: “So be it. Bring it on. Let’s get over with it and let’s start governing.”

Gaetz, R-Fla, said in a broadcast interview: “I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid … I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy,” adding that McCarthy, R-Calif., was in “brazen, material breach” of agreements he made with House Republicans in January when he ran for speaker. Gaetz said as House rules permit, he would be filing a “motion to vacate the chair.”  Procedural votes could be offered to halt the motion or it could trigger a House floor vote on whether McCarthy should remain speaker. No speaker has ever been removed from office through such a move.

Gaetz had threatened to file his ouster motion if McCarthy worked with Democrats; in light of a potential government shutdown, McCarthy pivoted on Saturday to a bill that would draw Democratic support. Democrats jumped at the chance to keep the government open and both chambers passed the bill by overwhelming margins.  While McCarthy has the support of a large majority of House Republicans, he may need votes from some Democrats to keep his job. When Gaetz was asked how many Republicans he had on board to vote McCarthy out, he replied had enough to ensure that if McCarthy retains the speakership he would “be serving at the pleasure of the Democrats … The only way Kevin McCarthy is speaker of the House at the end of this coming week is if Democrats bail him out.”

However, Gaetz has received noticeable opposition from many House Republicans. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., spoke of Gaetz’s “diatribe of delusional thinking” and said Gaetz was acting for “personal, political reasons.” McCarthy agree, saying that Gaetz was “more interested in securing TV interviews than doing something.” McCarthy added on Sunday that Gaetz would fail and said that Gaetz has been after him since he ran for speaker:  “Yes, I’ll survive,” McCarthy said.

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The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorney generals filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon on Tuesday, alleging that the company has used its power in the marketplace to inflate prices on other platforms, overcharge sellers and stifle competition. The FTC filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington state, backed by the attorneys general of 17 states; Amazon is based in Washington state.

According to a news release, the FTC and states that joined the lawsuit are asking the court to issue a permanent injunction court that they say would prohibit Amazon from engaging in its unlawful conduct.   FTC chairman Lina Khan said in a statement: “Sellers are paying one of every $2 to Amazon. Shoppers are paying higher prices as a result, not just on Amazon but across the internet. And the public as a whole has been deprived of the benefits of open and fair and free competition. And so that’s what this case is really about, and those are the harms that we’re looking to fix .. The complaint sets forth detailed allegations noting how Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them.” 

The FTC alleges that Amazon deters sellers from discounting goods and lowering prices below what is available on Amazon, pushing prices higher across the internet. Kahn also stressed that it showed Amazon had established an unfair advantage: “Each element of Amazon’s monopolistic strategy here is working in tandem, and so the cumulative impact of Amazon’s unlawful conduct is greater than the harm caused by any particular element. So you have a feedback loop between these different practices in a way that amplifies the overall exclusionary effects.”

David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president for global public policy, posted to Amazon’s website: “The practices the FTC is challenging have helped to spur competition and innovation across the retail industry, and have produced greater selection, lower prices, and faster delivery speeds for Amazon customers and greater opportunity for the many businesses that sell in Amazon’s store.”

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Hunter Biden filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday against former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and his former attorney Bob Costello, claiming they caused “total annihilation” of his digital privacy and violated federal and state computer privacy laws through their alleged efforts to hack his devices.

The lawsuit alleges that Giuliani and Costello violated the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in obtaining and sharing the personal information from the laptop, and accuses Giuliani and Robert Costello of spending years “hacking into, tampering with, manipulating, copying, disseminating, and generally obsessing over data that they were given that was taken or stolen from” his devices.

Attorneys for Hunter Biden wrote in the lawsuit: “Plaintiff has demanded Defendants Giuliani and Costello cease their unlawful activities with respect to Plaintiff’s data and return any data in their possession belonging to Plaintiff, but they have refused to do so. Defendants’ statements suggest that their unlawful hacking activities are ongoing today and that, unless stopped, will continue into the future, thereby necessitating this action.”  They also allege that Giuliani has “not only admitted but bragged about downloading data from Plaintiff’s ‘laptop’ (even though he only had a hard drive) onto his own computer; about using his own computer to access, tamper with and manipulate the downloaded data; and about maintaining multiple copies of the data for his and Defendant Costello’s personal use.” The suit accuses Giuliani and Costello of breaking both federal and California state computer privacy laws and asks for a jury trial in the matter.

Ted Goodman, an adviser to Giuliani, denied allegations that the former New York mayor “manipulated” an electronic device belonging to the president’s son: “Hunter Biden has previously refused to admit ownership of the laptop. I’m not surprised he’s now falsely claiming his laptop hard drive was manipulated by Mayor Giuliani, considering the sordid material and potential evidence of crimes on that thing.”.

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Seven customers and one crew member were hospitzliaed after a JetBlue Airlines flight encountered “sudden severe turbulence” early Monday as it neared Florida, the airline said.

JetBlue said in a statement that JetBlue flight 1256 was flying into Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport from Guayaquil, Ecuador when it suddenly experienced turbulence. The plane still landed safely and was met by medical personnel on the ground. Seven customers and one inflight crewmember were transported to the hospital for evaluation and treatment. A statement read: “JetBlue will work to support our customers and crewmembers. The aircraft for this flight has been taken out of service for inspection.” According to FlightAware, the aircraft landed at around 5.30am on Monday.

The airline said it could not comment on the severity of the injuries, and it was not immediately known if the injured were wearing seatbelts. The airline said the Airbus 320 twin-engine plane was taken out of service for inspection.

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During a press conference on Monday, New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez said he would not resign following his indictment on federal bribery charges. Menendez, D-N.J., and his wife, Nadine, were indicted on Friday on allegations of accepting bribes, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, as well as using his position to benefit three New Jersey businessmen and the government of Egypt.

In his first public comments since the three-count federal indictment against him, the 69-year-old Menendez called for the public to wait for more information, dismissing the allegations and defending his record on fighting human rights abuses in Egypt. Menendez said Monday in Union City, where he started his political career: “I recognize this will be the biggest fight yet. But as I have stated throughout this whole process, I firmly believe that when all the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I still will be New Jersey’s senior senator.”

Federal prosecutors in New York alleged the couple received hundreds of thousands of dollars and lavish luxury gifts in exchange for the senator using his influence to benefit three New Jersey business associates and the government of Egypt (the businessmen are also facing charges). Menendez argues that he has “remained steadfast on the side of civil society and human rights defenders in Egypt and everywhere else in the world … If you look at my actions related to Egypt during the period described in this indictment and throughout my whole career, my record is clear and consistent in holding Egypt accountable for its unjust detention of American citizens and others, its human rights abuses, its deepening relationship with Russia and efforts that have eroded the independence of the nation’s judiciary,.”

The indictment also said the FBI found $500,000 of cash kept in envelopes and jacket pockets throughout Menendez’s home during a search last year. The senator said he has withdrawn “thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings” over the last 30 years, “which I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba. This may seem old-fashioned, but these were monies drawn from my personal saving account, based on the income that I had lawfully derived over those 30 years.”

Menendez stepped down from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Friday, with colleagues on both sides of the aisle have called for him to resign from the Senate, including Democrats Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.  However, Menendez said during his press conference: “Instead of waiting for all the facts to be presented, others have rushed to judgment seeking a political opportunity for themselves and those around them. All I ask for in this moment — is to pause and allow for all the facts to be presented.”

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For the first time in NASA history an asteroid sample collected by the agency has touched down on Earth, seven years after launching the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft into space. The capsule flew by Earth Sunday to deliver the pristine sample from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. which will allow scientists the opportunity to learn more about the origins of the solar system.

OSIRIS-REx, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, lifted off in 2016 and began orbiting Bennu in 2018. The spacecraft collected the sample in 2020 and set off on its lengthy return trip to Earth in May 2021. The mission traveled 3.86 billion miles total to Bennu and back.

OSIRIS-REx dropped the sample capsule — containing an estimated 8.8 ounces of asteroid rocks and soil — from a distance of 63,000 miles (102,000 kilometers) above Earth’s surface early Sunday, and entered the planet’s atmosphere at 10:42 a.m. ET while traveling at a speed of about 27,650 miles per hour (44,498 kilometers per hour).

The sample landed in the Defense Department’s Utah Test and Training Range about 10 minutes after entering the atmosphere. NASA administrator Bill Nelson said: “Congratulations to the OSIRIS-REx team. You did it.  It brought something extraordinary, the largest asteroid sample ever received on Earth. This mission proves that NASA does big things, things that inspire us, things that unite us. It wasn’t mission impossible. It was the impossible that became possible.” OSIRIS-REx will continue its tour of the solar system, with the spacecraft set to capture a detailed look at a different asteroid named Apophis.  That mission now has a new name: OSIRIS-APEX (for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-APophis EXplorer).

Details about the sample will be revealed through a NASA broadcast from Johnson Space Center on October 11.  NASA said the science team will not have had time to fully assess the sample, but researchers expect to collect some fine-grained material at the top of canister for a quick analysis that can be shared in October.

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According to a news release, six people, including three children, are dead after a train crashed into their SUV sitting on the tracks at a railroad crossing near Tampa, Fla. on Saturday evening. Hillsborough County Sherif Chad Chronister shared during a press conference that seven people were inside a Cadillac Escalade when the crash happened, with five of the passengers being “violenting ejected” from the vehicle upon impact.

Video on the front of the freight train showed the driver approaching the crossing in the area of Highway 92 and Jim Lefler Circle in Plant City, which reportedly wasn’t signalized. However, instead of yielding at the posted stop sign, Chronister said the driver slowly crawled across the tracks. Sheriff Chronister said: “the conductor of the train did everything he could to try to slow this train down. He signaled these loud train horns that they’re equipped with along with the flashing lights. We know that even from the witness that was parked by the tracks that he also was hitting the horn of his vehicle – all trying to get the driver’s attention and get [them] to stop and look both ways.” Once the train collided with the SUV, the vehicle reportedly catapulted and flipped multiple times before landing a distance away from its origin.

The driver and front passenger were rescued from within the car, according to Chronister, and were taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. It was later announced Sunday morning that the driver died from his injuries and was identified as 52-year-old Jose G. Hernandez. The other victims of the crash were also identified: Enedelia Hernandez, 51; Jakub A. Lopez, 17; Alyssa Hernandez, 17; Anaelia Hernandez, 22; and Julian Hernandez, 9. One passenger remains hospitalized in critical condition and was identified as 23-year-old Guillermo Gama.

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