Month: March 2024

A man has been charged in connection with a stabbing attack that left four people dead – including one teenager – and seven others injured Wednesday afternoon in Rockford, Illinois. Rockford is a city of around 150,000 about 60 miles northwest of Chicago.

On Thursday morning, the Rockford Police Department confirmed to ABC News that the suspect, 22-year-old Christian Soto, was arrested as a suspect in the knife attack. Soto faces four counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder, as well as two counts of home invasion with a dangerous weapon. Authorities said that Soto is being held in the Winnebago County Jail.

Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana said that the brutal attack first began during a home invasion near Florence Street and Eggleston Road; a young woman trying to get away was stabbed in the face and hands and seriously wounded, while a Good Samaritan who tried to help the woman also was stabbed. The attacker then went on a rampage in the areas of Holmes Street, Winnetka Drive, and Cleveland Avenue in Rockford, police said. Calls for police and paramedics were soon coming in at multiple scenes in Rockford and surrounding parts of Winnebago County.

Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd said a total of four people were killed, with one critically injured, and four others taken to hospitals, where they remain in stable condition. Redd said not all of the victims were stabbed, but there were no gunshot victims. The victims who were killed include a 15-year-old girl, a 63-year-old woman, a 49-year-old man, and a 22-year-old man.

Police confirmed Thursday, that there were no other offenders involved in the attack, with Mayor Tom McNamara releasing the following statement: “Today, we are shocked by another horrific act of violence against innocent members of our community. We can report that the suspect is in custody and the threat has been neutralized. Now that he is in custody, our primary concern is ensuring that our community members directly impacted by this violence are supported throughout their healing and recovery. We are working with community partners to provide support and services quickly and conveniently to those residents. We will announce those details soon. We have multiple jurisdictions working on multiple crime scenes to develop an understanding of what transpired in an effort to prevent this from happening again. We will continue to provide updates.”

Editorial credit: Fer Gregory / Shutterstock.com

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, 32, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday after he was found guilty on fraud charges related to the downfall of the failed cryptocurrency exchange.

Judge Lewis Kaplan delivered the sentence, calling the defense argument ‘misleading, logically flawed and speculative.’ Kaplan said that Bankman-Fried had obstructed justice and tampered with witnesses in mounting his defense, which he weighed in making his decision on sentencing.

Bankman-Fried  was accused of using customer deposits on the cryptocurrency trading platform FTX, the company he founded, to cover losses at his hedge fund, pay off loans and buy lavish real estate, among other personal expenses.  He was convicted last November on two wire fraud conspiracy counts, two counts of wire fraud, one money-laundering conspiracy count, plus two counts of commodities fraud conspiracy and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The wire fraud and money laundering charges each carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while the other charges carry a maximum sentence of five years each.

Via NBC News, Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement that Bankman-Fried had orchestrated one of the largest frauds in financial history: “Today’s sentence will prevent the defendant from ever again committing fraud and is an important message to others who might be tempted to engage in financial crimes that justice will be swift, and the consequences will be severe.”

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com

Marilyn Lands, a Democratic candidate for a state House seat in Alabama, won a special election on Tuesday, defeating Republican Teddy Powell and  flipping the Republican-held seat. The seat representing Alabama’s 10th district (Madison City) in the state legislature had long been held by Republicans. Lands also ran for the seat in 2022, narrowly losing to her Republican opponent.

As a result of a court ruling in Alabama that threw access to fertility treatments into question, Lands focused her campaign on reproductive rights, including support for access to in vitro fertilization and abortion. Lands, a mental health counselor, said a statement: “Today, Alabama women and families sent a clear message that will be heard in Montgomery and across the nation. Our legislature must repeal Alabama’s no-exceptions abortion ban, fully restore access to IVF, and protect the right to contraception.”

After an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that equated frozen embryos to children, leading to major IVF providers in the state to pause fertility treatments, Lands spoke openly about her own abortion when her pregnancy was nonviable. She ran advertisements on reproductive health care, like contraception and in vitro fertilization.

Heather Williams, president of Democrats’ legislative campaign, called the special election “the first real test, and a harbinger of things to come .. Republicans across the country have been put on notice that there are consequences to attacks on IVF — from the bluest blue state to the reddest red, voters are choosing to fight for their fundamental freedoms by electing Democrats across the country.”

Editorial credit: Donald Walker / Shutterstock.com

Following the takeover of the Walt Disney World theme park resort’s government by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Disney and allies of DeSantis reached a settlement agreement on Wednesday after a court fight over how Walt Disney World is developed in the future.

The board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District –which provides municipal services such as firefighting, planning and mosquito control, for example — was controlled by Disney supporters for most of its five decades.  The board members approved the settlement agreement, ending almost two years of litigation that was sparked by DeSantis’ takeover of the district from Disney supporters following the company’s opposition to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. As punishment for Disney’s opposition to the law, DeSantis took over the governing district through legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature and appointed a new board of supervisors. Disney sued DeSantis and his appointees, claiming the company’s free speech rights were violated for speaking out against the legislation. A federal judge dismissed that lawsuit in January.

Jeff Vahle, president of Walt Disney World Resort, said in a statement Wednesday: “this agreement opens a new chapter of constructive engagement with the new leadership of the district and serves the interests of all parties by enabling significant continued investment and the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunity in the state.”

Under the terms of Wednesday’s settlement agreement, Disney lets stand a determination by the board of DeSantis appointees that the comprehensive plan approved by the Disney supporters before the takeover is null and void. According to the settlement terms, Disney also agrees that a development agreement and restrictive covenants passed before the takeover are also not valid. As such, a comprehensive plan from 2020 will be used with the new board able to make changes to it, and the agreement suggests Disney and the new board will negotiate a new development agreement in the near future.

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/settlement-reached-lawsuit-disney-florida-gov-ron-desantis-108552678

Editorial credit: Andrew Cline / Shutterstock.com

Six construction workers are presumed dead after the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed early Tuesday when a support column was hit by a large container ship that had lost power. Search and rescue operations were suspended at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, as officials transitioned to recovery efforts.

Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath told reporters, confirming that the length of time the workers have been missing, combined with the cold temperature of the water, made rescue unlikely: “At this point, we do not believe we are going to find any of these individuals still alive.”  Col. Roland Butler Jr. and Maryland State Police said conditions in the water, including changing currents, low visibility and sharp metal objects, made it dangerous for divers and first responders.  Divers were to begin recovery operations at 6 a.m. ET Wednesday, Butler Jr. said, adding that officials didn’t know where the victims are located.

Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said in a mid-morning press conference that two other people were rescued from the water, and all eight people were part of a construction crew that was filling potholes on the bridge at the time, employed by local company Brawner Builders. According to news outlets, one of the rescued workers was unhurt, and the other was treated at the University of Maryland Medical Center and has been discharged.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said during a news conference Tuesday that a preliminary investigation pointed to the cause of the crash being “an accident …We haven’t seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack.” Moore said the ship’s crew issued a “mayday” before crashing into the bridge as they confirmed the ship lost power, noting the warning prevented traffic from flowing onto the bridge: “we’re thankful that between the mayday and collapse that we had officials who were able to begin to stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not up on the bridge.”

The MarineTraffic website has identified the involved vessel as the Singapore-flagged cargo ship Dali operated by charter vessel company Synergy Marine Group and chartered by Maersk, carrying Maersk customers’ cargo, the companies said.  The ship was en route to Colombo, Sri Lanka, when the crash occurred. According to a statement from Synergy, there were 22 crew members, including two pilots, aboard the ship, with all crew members Indian nationals. Synergy said it had activated its incident response team and is cooperating with state and federal officials.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, opened in 1977, spans the Patapsco River- a key waterway that serves with the Port of Baltimore as a hub for East Coast shipping. The 1.6-mile span was used by some 31,000 people per day and carried 11.5 million vehicles annually. The Maryland Transportation Authority said all lanes were closed in both directions on I-695, with traffic being detoured to I-95 and I-895. All ship traffic at the port, which is the second-largest seaport in the mid-Atlantic region, has been halted.

Editorial credit: Alexander Briggs / Shutterstock.com

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday that Nicole Shanahan, a donor and California-based attorney and entrepreneur in the San Francisco Bay Area, will be joining his campaign as his vice presidential selection. Kennedy made the announcement at a rally in Shanahan’s hometown of Oakland, saying in part: “I’m so proud to introduce to you the next vice president the United States, my fellow lawyer, a brilliant scientist, technologist, a fierce warrior mom, Nicole Shanahan.”

Shanahan, 38, was thought to be a leading contender as Kennedy’s running mate, in particular due to her campaign funding for Kennedy. Shanahan contributed $4 million to the Kennedy super PAC American Values 2024 and was involved in coordinating the production of an ad highlighting the Kennedy campaign, which aired during the Super Bowl. Said Kennedy of Shanahan: “I wanted a partner who is a gifted administrator, but also possesses the gift of curiosity, an open, inquiring mind and the confidence to change even her strongest opinions in the face of contrary evidence. I wanted someone with a spiritual dimension and compassion and idealism and, above all, a deep love of the United States of America. I found all of those qualities in a woman who grew up right here in Oakland.”

Kennedy’s announcement comes after his campaign threatened legal action against the Nevada Secretary of State’s office over his petition to appear on the ballot after it was reported that the signatures he had gathered could be invalid because his petition did not include a vice presidential candidate. Documents requested from the Nevada office revealed that Kennedy only named himself, without a running mate, on his candidate petition, in violation of the rules, potentially making the signatures collected in the state void.

Earlier this month, Kennedy teased his vice-presidential selection by sharing potential candidates including NFL player Aaron Rodgers, former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, and Mike Rowe, 62, former host of the “Dirty Jobs” TV series.

Editorial credit: Ringo Chiu / Shutterstock.com