Tag Archives: northeastern united states

US

New Jersey councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour shot and killed, authorities say

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

A 30-year-old councilwoman in the borough of Sayreville, New Jersey, was found shot to death in her car on Wednesday, according to authorities.

Eunice Dwumfour, a Republican councilwoman, was found by police with multiple gunshot wounds ijust after 7 p.m. Wednesday and was pronounced dead on scene, according to Middlesex County officials.

Dwumfour was inside her car near her home when she was shot, according to CNN affiliate WABC. The vehicle then took off down the road and crashed into other parked vehicles, the affiliate reported.

Sayreville Mayor Victoria Kilpatrick said she was “shocked and saddened” to learn of Dwumfour’s death, saying she was “taken from us by a despicable criminal act.” She and Dwumfour worked closely together on the council, she wrote.

“Beyond her dedication to our community, I can share that she was a woman of deep faith and worked hard to integrate her strong Christian beliefs into her daily life as a person and a community leader,” the mayor said. “On a personal note, I can’t adequately express my feeling of sorrow at the loss of a friend.”

Officials said the investigation is ongoing and they do not have a motive at this time. CNN has reached out to the prosecutors and police for more details.

Dwumfour was elected to a three-year term on the six-member borough council in November 2021, according to election results. She also served as a member of the Human Relations Commission, according to the Sayreville website.

Sayreville, located in central New Jersey, has a population of about 45,000 people, according to the US Census.

On the Sayreville GOP website from 2021, Dwumfour asked the public to support her run for the council.

“Like you, Sayreville is my home, I love and cherish this town and it is my desire to help improve the lives of its residents,” she wrote. “In the past few years, we have seen many changes including a worldwide pandemic, but despite all, Sayreville still stands strong because of residents like you.”

“I am fully dedicated to building a better, stronger Sayreville, and with your support, we can create a brighter future for our wonderful town.”

New Jersey Republican Party Chairman Bob Hugin issued a statement expressing his “horror and deepest sorrow” at her killing.

“We will remember Eunice for her steadfast dedication to the community, as well as her deep and abiding Christian faith,” he said.

Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement he was “stunned” by the news of her killing.

“Her career of public service was just beginning, and by all accounts she had already built a reputation as a committed member of the Borough Council who took her responsibility with the utmost diligence and seriousness,” he said. “I send my condolences to Councilwoman Dwumfour’s family and friends, her governing body colleagues, and the entire Sayreville community.”



Read original article here

US

As ice storm continues in the South, the Northeast braces for dangerously frigid temperatures

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

As tens of thousands remain without power in Texas on Thursday amid frigid temperatures and icy roads, the Northeast is bracing for a blast of bitterly cold air that could feel well below freezing.

Texas has been bearing the brunt of a dangerous ice storm that dumped several rounds of sleet and freezing rain, causing life-threatening road conditions in surrounding states including Oklahoma, Arkansas and the Memphis area in Tennessee.

On Wednesday, Texas reported a third person had died during the storm after losing control of her truck on an icy road north of Eldorado. One person was killed in Austin in a 10-car pileup, and another person died after their car rolled over in the Dallas-area city of Arlington, officials said.

And while Thursday is expected to bring some relief from the deadly storm as temperatures slowly rise, the piling of multiple layers of ice and sleet has snapped tree branches and limbs and led to power outages for more than 360,000 homes and businesses in Texas. That means thousands of people likely don’t have proper heating or hot water as ice coats the ground.

Overnight into early Thursday, an additional quarter inch of ice could possibly glaze already slippery roads, particularly in central and northern Texas, southern Oklahoma and Arkansas.

“This will bring storm total ice accretions to over 0.5” for many locations which will raise the risk for significant tree damage and power outages, in addition to icy, dangerous roads. Sleet may also mix in at times with the freezing rain which will increase the chances for icing on the roadways,” the National Weather Service said.

By late Thursday night, the Northeast could begin feeling temperatures below zero from a separate winter storm, prompting officials in several states to announce preparations.

In Connecticut, the governor activated the state’s severe cold weather protocol beginning noon Thursday through the weekend.

“With the kind of severe cold weather that is headed our way, frostbite can develop on exposed skin in under 30 minutes. Spending long periods of time outdoors in these conditions is not only harmful, it can be fatal,” Gov. Ned Lamont said.

The governor added that shelters and warming centers are available across Connecticut, and transportation can be provided when needed.

Similarly, warming centers are expected to be available in Maine, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Vermont, officials said.

In Boston, the mayor declared a cold emergency in the city for Friday through Sunday ahead of the severely cold weather.

“I urge all Boston residents to take precautions, stay warm and safe, and check on your neighbors during this cold emergency,” Mayor Michelle Wu said.

More than 15 million people are expected to be under a wind chill watch or warning in the Northeast beginning either Thursday night or Friday morning through at least Saturday afternoon.

The National Weather Service issues a wind chill warning when the air is expected to feel -25 degrees Fahrenheit or colder.

The impending wind chill alerts would apply to all of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, northern Connecticut, much of eastern and central New York and northeast Pennsylvania.

“The air mass descending on the area Friday into Friday night is the coldest air currently in the Northern Hemisphere,” National Weather Service in Caribou, Maine, warned.

The cold air is on a path to move into the Northeast Thursday night and Friday, with the coldest period coming Friday night and Saturday morning, as temperatures fall below zero.

The northern portion of New England will see temperatures drop to 15 to 25 degrees below zero. Plus, the frigid temperatures will be joined by winds of 25 to 40 mph, making air in areas as far south as New York City feel -10 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Avoid any outdoor activities on Friday and Saturday! Cold temperatures paired with the wind chill factor could lead to potentially life-threatening conditions outdoors,” the New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a post on Facebook Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, northern New York and northern New England will feel like -35 to -50 degrees Fahrenheit with some locations experiencing wind chills as cold as 65 degrees below zero. These extreme conditions can cause frostbite in as little as five minutes.

The cold blast is expected to be brief, with temperatures rising across most of the region by Sunday afternoon.

Read original article here

US

FBI finds no classified documents at Biden’s Delaware vacation home

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

The FBI completed a search of President Joe Biden’s Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, home and no documents with classified markings were found, Biden’s personal attorney said Wednesday.

Bob Bauer, Biden’s attorney, did say the FBI took with them handwritten notes and some materials for further review. The search took three-and-a-half hours.

“The DOJ’s planned search of the President’s Rehoboth residences, conducted in coordination and cooperation with the President’s attorneys, has concluded,” Bauer said. “The search was conducted from 8:30 AM to noon.”

“No documents with classified markings were found,” he said.

Bauer said that like last month’s search of Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, agents “took for further review some materials and handwritten notes that appear to relate to his time as Vice President.”

Bauer confirmed earlier in the morning that investigators were searching the home. The search was planned and had the “full support and cooperation” of Biden, Bauer said.

“Under DOJ’s standard procedures, in the interests of operational security and integrity, it sought to do this work without advance public notice, and we agreed to cooperate,” Bauer said. “The search today is a further step in a thorough and timely DOJ process we will continue to fully support and facilitate. We will have further information at the conclusion of today’s search.”

Reporters positioned in the coastal community observed black sport utility vehicles and sedans arriving to the home mid-morning.

Biden’s personal attorneys previously searched the Rehoboth home on January 11 and found no classified documents.

The FBI search in Rehoboth marks the third known occasion that federal agents have searched properties associated with Biden to look for classified material.

The FBI previously searched Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, turning up what his lawyer described as multiple items containing classified material. That search occurred on January 20. Biden’s attorneys had previously found documents at the Wilmington home and suspended their search of a specific space where additional documents were found. It’s not clear whether the documents the FBI found were in that same space or elsewhere in the house.

The FBI also searched the Washington office of the Penn Biden Center in mid-November after Biden’s attorneys first discovered classified material in a locked closet at the think tank.

None of the searches, including Wednesday’s in Rehoboth, required a warrant, according to people familiar with the matter. Biden’s team has stressed they are cooperating with the Justice Department as its probe of the documents matter proceeds.

Biden purchased his home in Rehoboth after leaving the vice presidency. He and his wife occasionally spend weekends there, most recently from January 20 to 23.

The search comes on the day that the Justice Department announced special counsel Robert Hur officially began his job overseeing the investigation of Biden’s handling of classified documents. Hur takes over for US Attorney John Lausch who conducted an initial review that has since become a full blown criminal investigation.

Hur, who previously served as US attorney in Maryland, was nominated to that position by then-President Donald Trump in 2017. He served in the role until his resignation in 2021. In the job, Hur played a key role in a number of high-profile cases, including a children’s book scandal involving then-Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh that resulted in Pugh being sentenced to three years in prison.

He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate to the US attorney job in 2018, and at the time he received praise from both of Maryland’s Democratic senators, who expressed confidence in his ability to handle critical issues facing the state.

Prior to his time with the DOJ, Hur was a law clerk for Chief Justice William Rehnquist and also clerked for a federal appellate judge, Alex Kozinski.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

Read original article here

US

NYC bike path terror suspect found guilty on all counts

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

Sayfullo Saipov was found guilty of murder by a federal jury for using a rented truck to fatally strike eight people on a New York City bike path on Halloween Day in 2017.

Jurors deliberated about six hours over two days in the case involving the deadliest terrorist attack New York had seen since 9/11 – which left six foreign tourists and two Americans dead.

The same jury will determine whether Saipov is sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty. The vote must be unanimous for the death penalty to be imposed. The penalty phase of the trial is scheduled to begin on February 6.

The trial was the first federal death penalty case heard during the administration of President Joe Biden, who had campaigned against capital punishment at the federal level.

Jury deliberations began Wednesday afternoon after Judge Vernon Broderick read them instructions.

Saipov had pleaded not guilty.

He was convicted Thursday in the Southern District of New York of counts of murder in aid of racketeering activity, assault with a dangerous weapon and attempted murder in aid of racketeering activity, attempted murder in aid of racketeering activity, provision of material support to ISIS, and violence and destruction of a motor vehicle.

In closing arguments, defense attorney David Patton did not dispute the facts of the attack Saipov is accused of committing. But the defense disputed the prosecution’s claim that Saipov was motivated to commit the attack to gain entry to ISIS. Patton argued that the attack was spurred by religious fervor to please his God and “ascend to paradise” in his religion.

Prosecutors told jurors that Saipov carried out the attack to become a member of the terrorist group.

“People who ISIS relies upon to conquer territory and kill non-believers, those are its soldiers. Of course they are part of ISIS. That is common sense,” prosecutor Amanda Leigh Houle said. “An organization engaged in a worldwide war needs its soldiers and its soldiers are part of the group.”

The charges stemmed from the 2017 attack in which Saipov drove a U-Haul truck into cyclists and pedestrians on Manhattan’s West Side bike path. He then crashed the vehicle into a school bus and left the truck while brandishing a pellet gun and paintball gun, authorities said at the time. He was shot by an NYPD officer and taken into custody, officials said.

Investigators said Saipov told them he planned the attack for about a year and was inspired by ISIS videos, according to a criminal complaint.

Saipov became radicalized by consuming extremist content during lengthy solo stints as a long-haul truck driver, his attorney said.

He grew up culturally Muslim in Uzbekistan but was not exposed to any significant amount of religious study, and his family members are not ISIS supporters, Patton said.

Saipov came to the United States from Uzbekistan in 2010 and was living in New Jersey before the attack. He lived with his wife and three children and drove for Uber, according to officials.

Saipov came to the US on a diversity immigrant visa, which allows people from countries with low recent immigration to apply for a visa and green card, according to the Department of Homeland Security. He later became a legal permanent resident, officials said.

Of the eight people killed in the attack, five were from Argentina, two were Americans, and one was from Belgium, police said.

The Argentinians were part of a group celebrating the 30th anniversary of their high school graduation in New York City.

Argentina’s Foreign Affairs Ministry identified them as Hernán Diego Mendoza, Diego Enrique Angelini, Alejandro Damián Pagnucco, Ariel Erlij and Hernán Ferruchi.

Nicholas Cleves, 23, from New York, and Darren Drake, 32, from New Milford, New Jersey, were the two Americans killed.

Ann-Laure Decadt, a 31-year-old Belgian woman, was also among those killed, according to a statement from her husband, Alexander Naessens. Decadt, a mother of two young sons, was on a trip to New York with her two sisters and her mother, Naessens said after the attack.

Read original article here

US

Trump Org. fined $1.6 million after conviction for 17 felonies, including tax fraud

Leave a comment


New York
CNN
 — 

The Trump Organization was fined $1.6 million – the maximum possible penalty – by a New York judge Friday for running a decade-long tax fraud scheme, a symbolic moment because it is the only judgment for a criminal conviction that has come close to former President Donald Trump.

Two Trump entities, The Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp., were convicted last month of 17 felonies, including tax fraud and falsifying business records.

Under New York law, the most the companies can be fined is about $1.6 million, a penalty the Trump Organization can easily afford.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked Judge Juan Merchan to make the Trump Org. pay the maximum fine, though he admitted that it will have a “minimal impact” on a multibillion-dollar company.

“We all know that these corporations cannot go to jail as Allen Weisselberg has,” Steinglass said Friday, referring to the Trump Organization’s long-time chief financial officer who was sentenced to five months in jail earlier this week as part of a deal he reached with prosecutors. “The only way to effectively deter such conduct is to make it as expensive as possible.”

New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, told CNN that the fine against the Trump Org. is important but he also wants lawmakers to raise the fines for companies that break the law.

“It’s important regardless of who the defendant is, because it’s cheating and greed and cheating the taxpayers,” Bragg said. “It obviously becomes more consequential given that it involved the former president’s corporation and CFO. It sends a message – I hope it sends a message to New Yorkers that you know we’re one system of justice and that this kind of conduct, regardless of who you are, won’t be countenanced in Manhattan.”

But, Bragg said, the fine isn’t enough of a penalty.

“It isn’t sufficient. Plain and simple,” Bragg said, saying the law should “reflect what I think many of us see, particularly those who sat through the trial and saw the 13 year you know pattern of deep greed and misconduct laid bare, we should have stiffer penalties for conduct like that.”

The Trump Org. entities have 14 days to pay the fine.

The real estate business is not at risk of being dismantled because there is no mechanism under the law to dissolve the company. No individual will go to jail based on the jury’s verdict. However, a felony conviction could impact the Trump Organization’s reputation and ability to do business or obtain loans or contracts.

Trump and his family were not charged in this case, but the former president was mentioned repeatedly during the trial by prosecutors about his connection to the un-taxed benefits doled out to certain executives, including company-funded apartments, car leases and personal expenses. One prosecutor said Trump “explicitly sanctioned” tax fraud.

One of the jurors told CNN that the jury saw a “culture of fraud,” at the Trump Organization, but referred to Trump as a nondescript “Bob Smith” at times when talking about the company owner’s awareness of the crimes in relation to the charges.

Weisselberg last year pleaded guilty to 15 felonies related to the tax fraud scheme and agreed to testify truthfully against the company at trial.

He remained on paid leave at the Trump Organization, where he was compensated a little more than $1 million a year, until Tuesday when he was sentenced. Weisselberg received a severance package that one person familiar with the deal called “generous.”

Merchan, who sentenced Weisselberg, said at the time that but for the deal he would have given Weisselberg more time in jail after listening to the evidence at trial.

Merchan said he found most “offensive” a $6,000 payroll check Weisselberg had made out to his wife, who never worked for Trump, so she could become eligible for Social Security benefits.

A Trump Org. spokesperson said that Weisselberg “is a victim,” as is the company and former president.

“New York has become the crime and murder capital of the world, yet these politically motivated prosecutors will stop at nothing to get President Trump and continue the never ending witch-hunt which began the day he announced his presidency,” the spokesperson said. “We did nothing wrong and we will appeal this verdict.”

The Manhattan district attorney’s office continues to investigate the company’s business practices.

Prosecutors are conducting a wide-ranging investigation and in recent months their focus has returned to the company’s involvement in hush-money payments made to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels from going public with an affair with Trump just before the 2016 election, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has denied the affair.

Prosecutors are also looking into potential insurance fraud after new material came to light from the New York attorney general’s civil investigation into the accuracy of the Trump Organization’s financial statements, the people said.

The biggest threat currently facing the company could be New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million civil lawsuit, which has alleged Trump, his three eldest children, Weisselberg and others defrauded lenders, insurers and tax authorities by inflating the value of multiple Trump Org. properties for more than a decade.

In addition to money, James, a Democrat, is seeking to permanently bar Trump and the children named in the lawsuit from serving as a director of a business registered in New York state. She is also seeking to cancel the Trump Organization’s corporate certificate, which if granted by a judge, could effectively force the company to cease operations in New York state.

The judge overseeing the lawsuit put an independent monitor in place to review the Trump Organization’s financial statements and business decisions. He recently denied motions to dismiss the case and said he considered sanctioning Trump’s attorneys. The trial is set for October.

Trump has denied wrongdoing and said the lawsuit is politically motivated.

This story has been updated with additional details.

Read original article here

US

Ana Walshe disappearance: Husband of missing Massachusetts mother was accused of threatening to kill her in 2014, police report shows

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

As the sweeping investigation into the disappearance of Ana Walshe continues, newly obtained documents reveal the mother of three told police her husband, Brian Walshe, threatened to kill her and a friend before the couple was married.

Ana Walshe – who has not been seen since around New Year’s – reported the death threat in 2014, telling police that someone said over the phone he “was going to kill (her) and her friend,” according to a DC Metropolitan Police Department incident report obtained by CNN.

The police department confirmed Brian Walshe was the person involved in the report, which was filed by Ana Walshe – then Ana Knipp – when she lived in Washington, DC.

The case was later closed because the victim refused to cooperate in the prosecution, police told CNN.

CNN has reached out to Brian Walshe’s attorney.

Since Ana Walshe, 39, was reported missing by her coworkers on January 4, authorities in the small coastal enclave of Cohasset, Massachusetts, have accused her husband of providing a false timeline of his actions around her disappearance, alleging he intended to hinder their investigation.

Brian Walshe told police he last saw his wife the morning of January 1 when she left to fly to Washington, DC, and said he spent the next two days running errands for his mother and spending time with his children, according to a police affidavit. But police allege he lied about the errands, and prosecutors say he was seen the following day at a Home Depot paying cash for about $450 of cleaning supplies.

The 47-year-old husband was arrested Sunday on a charge of misleading investigators, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

Details of Brian Walshe’s tumultuous legal history have also emerged in recent days, revealing harsh criticisms of him made by a relative and family friends during a 2019 dispute over his father’s will. In affidavits submitted by his father’s nephew and close friends, Brian is described as a dishonest, “very angry and physically violent person.” The two close friends also described him as a “sociopath,” the affidavits show.

CNN has reached out to current and previous attorneys for Brian Walshe regarding the claims but has not heard back.

So far, investigators have uncovered several pieces of potential evidence in his wife’s disappearance: blood and a bloody knife in the family’s basement, according to prosecutors; Brian Walshe’s internet records showing searches for how to dismember and dispose of a body, according to law enforcement sources; and a hacksaw and apparent bloodstains at a trash collection site, law enforcement sources said.

The couple’s three children – between ages 2 and 6 – are in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, according to a spokesperson. Several local families have also offered to take them in so that they can remain together, two of Ana Walshe’s friends, Pamela Bardhi and Natasha Sky, told CNN.

An interfaith prayer vigil was held in Cohasset on Thursday for Ana Walshe and her family, as those close to her grapple with the uncertainty of her disappearance.

“My stomach went upside down,” Ana Walshe’s friend and former colleague Pamela Bardhi said of hearing she was missing.

Walshe is “an absolute radiant spirit, the kind of person that when you walk into a room, you just feel her energy,” Bardhi told CNN’s Don Lemon. “She is all about elevation. She’s a brilliant businesswoman and what I like to call a supermom.”

Bardhi said she understood that Walshe would travel to Washington, DC, during the week for her corporate real estate job and return to her family in Massachusetts on the weekends.

“Personally, I never saw any indication of any issues at home,” Bardhi said.

“She never talked about anything personal,” Bardhi added. “She never talked about pain. She never really talked about her husband much. It was all about her kids and business and elevation and how she could help other people.”

Ana Walshe’s family friend Peter Kirby described her as “a beacon of love and Joy” in a statement to CNN. “She lights up every room. We miss her and are doing everything we can to support her 3 beautiful children.”

In just over a week since Ana Walshe was reported missing, state and local investigators have scoured the town, sifted through heaps of trash and sent several pieces of potential evidence for testing as they try to piece together the facts of the case.

A “number of items” that could be evidence were found in searches north of Boston and sent for forensic testing, Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a statement Tuesday.

Brian Walshe told investigators he ran errands for his mother at two stores in Swampscott, about 15 miles north of Boston, on the day he said he last saw his wife, a police affidavit says. Police, however, allege those trips to the shops never happened.

And while investigators say Brian Walshe’s claim that he spent the next day with his children is accurate, they allege he also made an undisclosed trip to Home Depot where he was seen on surveillance video wearing a surgical mask and surgical gloves and making a cash purchase. Prosecutors said in court Monday that he bought about $450 worth of cleaning supplies, including mops and tarps.

The husband – who must get trips outside his home approved as he awaits sentencing in a prior federal fraud case – made a number of unapproved trips the week of his wife’s disappearance, the affidavit says.

Investigators also say Ana Walshe’s phone pinged near the couple’s house on January 1 and 2, according to prosecutor Lynn Beland, despite her husband’s claim that she left to catch a flight to Washington, DC, the morning of January 1.

On Monday, investigators placed crime scene tape around dumpsters near the home of Brian Walshe’s mother in Swampscott and dug through trash at a transfer station in nearby Peabody, according to a source with direct knowledge of the investigation.

At the Peabody site, they found a hacksaw, torn-up cloth material and what appeared to be bloodstains, law enforcement sources told CNN Tuesday.

Further, a search of the Walshe’s home revealed blood stains and a damaged, bloody knife in the basement, according to Beland. Law enforcement sources told CNN that investigators hope to collect blood samples from the couple’s sons so they have a “direct bloodline” sample to compare against bloodied evidence in the case.

Brian Walshe is being held on a $500,000 cash bail for the charge of misleading investigators and is set to appear in court on February 9.

Read original article here

US

NYC nurses strike ends after tentative deal reached with hospitals

Leave a comment


New York
CNN
 — 

A nurses strike at two private New York City hospital systems has come to an end after 7,000 nurses spent three days on the picket line.

The New York State Nurses Association union reached tentative deals with Mount Sinai Health System and Montefiore Health System, which operates three hospitals in the Bronx that had been struck. The nurses had been arguing that immense staffing shortages have caused widespread burnout, hindering their ability to properly care for their patients.

The union said the deal will provide enforceable “safe staffing ratios” for all inpatient units at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, “so that there will always be enough nurses at the bedside to provide safe patient care, not just on paper.” At Montefiore, the hospital agreed to financial penalties for failing to comply with agreed-upon staffing levels in all units.

Montefiore said the agreement also includes 170 new nursing positions, a 19.1% increase in pay, lifetime health coverage for eligible retirees and adding “significantly more nurses” in the ER.

The deals were announced in the early hours Thursday morning — at 3 a.m. ET for Montefiore and about 30 minutes later at Mount Sinai. The nurses were expected to be back on the job for the 7 a.m. ET shift Thursday, and Montefiore Medical Center said all surgeries and procedures and outpatient appointments for Thursday and after will proceed as scheduled.

Nurses will need to vote to approve the deal before it is finalized. But the union said the tentative deal will help put more nurses to work and allow patients to receive better care.

“Through our unity and by putting it all on the line, we won enforceable safe staffing ratios at both Montefiore and Mount Sinai where nurses went on strike for patient care,” the nurses union said in a statement. “Today, we can return to work with our heads held high, knowing that our victory means safer care for our patients and more sustainable jobs for our profession.”

Mount Sinai called the agreement “fair and responsible.”

“Our proposed agreement is similar to those between NYSNA and eight other New York City hospitals,” Mount Sinai said in a statement. “It is fair and responsible, and it puts patients first.”

“From the outset, we came to the table committed to bargaining in good faith and addressing the issues that were priorities for our nursing staff,” Montefiore said in a statement. “We know this strike impacted everyone – not just our nurses – and we were committed to coming to a resolution as soon as possible to minimize disruption to patient care.”

The hospitals had stayed open during the three-day strike, using higher-cost temporary nursing services to provide care, and transferring other employees to take care of non-medical nursing duties. They had also diverted and transferred some patients to other hospitals and postponed some elective procedures.

The striking nurses have said they are working long hours in unsafe conditions without enough pay – a refrain echoed by several other nurses strikes across the country over the past year. They said the hours and the stress of having too many patients to care for is driving away nurses and creating a worsening crisis in staffing and patient care.

The union representing the nurses had reached tentative agreements offering the same 19% pay hikes at other New York hospitals, avoiding strikes by about 9,000 other nurses spread across seven hospitals in the city. But the nurses at the hospitals that went on strike said the pay raises weren’t the main problem, that the more severe staffing shortages at Mount Sinai and Montefiore needed to be addressed before a deal could be reached.

Both hospitals had criticized the union for going on strike rather than accepting offers they described as similar to those the union accepted at other hospitals in the city.

– CNN’s Chris Isidore contributed to this report

Read original article here

Sports

Damar Hamlin could be released from a Buffalo hospital in the next day or two

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

A week after suffering a cardiac arrest while playing the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin appears to be healthy enough to be released from a Buffalo hospital within 24 to 48 hours, Michael Hughes, senior vice president and chief administrative officer at Kaleida Health, told CNN on Tuesday.

Doctors are finishing tests on Hamlin and are optimistic they will be able to determine whether there were any pre-existing conditions that played a role in Hamlin’s cardiac arrest January 2. The hospital plans to release a written health update on Tuesday.

If doctors’ early findings hold true, Hughes said the injury was strictly caused by blunt force trauma.

Hamlin was transferred from a Cincinnati hospital to the Buffalo hospital on Monday after doctors determined his critical condition had improved to good or fair – surpassing expectations.

“We felt that it was safe and proper to help get him back to the greater Buffalo area,” Dr. Timothy Pritts, chief of surgery at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, said Monday.

Hamlin’s parents flew from Cincinnati back home to Pittsburgh but then flew to Buffalo. They were en route Tuesday from the Buffalo Bills’ practice facility and were expected to arrive at the hospital to see Hamlin soon.

Hamlin, a second-year NFL player, has been regaining strength over the past several days after his sudden collapse after a tackle against the Bengals in Cincinnati.

“He’s certainly on what we consider a very normal to even accelerated trajectory from the life-threatening event that he underwent,” Pritts said, “but he’s making great progress.”

Normal recovery from a cardiac arrest can be measured in weeks to months, Pritts explained. But Hamlin has been beating that timeline at each stage and is neurologically intact.

Still, Pritts said it’s too early to say when Hamlin could get back to normal life or what caused his heart to stop, saying more testing is needed.

Hamlin was sedated and on a ventilator for days after his cardiac arrest. On Friday morning, the breathing tube was removed, and Hamlin began walking with some help by that afternoon, his doctors said Monday.

The safety’s condition was upgraded Monday because his organ systems were stable and he no longer needed intensive nursing or respiratory therapy, doctors said.

“He walks normally,” said Dr. William Knight, a neurovascular critical care expert who treated Hamlin at UC Health. “He is admittedly a little weak. I don’t think that’s of any real surprise after what he went through, just regaining his strength. And that’s part of his recovery process.”

Hamlin’s release Monday meant he could return to Buffalo, which prompted even more encouragement and eagerness for some of his teammates to see him again.

“Super excited that he’s back in Buffalo and what a job that the team of docs and the medical team did out in Cincinnati, and now he’s in great care here in Buffalo. We’re happy to have him back,” Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott told reporters Monday.

After seeing him Monday, McDermott said Hamlin was “tired” but seemed happy. “Happy to be back in Buffalo and around a familiar area to him. I know he’s taking it just one step at a time.”

The coach also said his team has grown since Hamlin was injured, saying such experiences nurture growth.

“We will all have grown as people, and as men in this case,” McDermott said, noting there’s a plan in place for the players and staff to visit Hamlin “at the proper time.”

“Having him nearby will give us more comfort” and inspire the team as it prepares for the postseason, McDermott said.

Although Hamlin was not with the team when they played Sunday against the New England Patriots, his support was definitely felt.

When his team scored a touchdown, Hamlin set off alarms in the ICU, Pritts said.

“When the opening kickoff was run back, he jumped up and down and got out of his chair and set – I think – every alarm off in the ICU in the process, but he was fine, it was just an appropriate reaction to a very exciting play. He very much enjoyed it,” Pritts said.

Hamlin was “beyond excited” Sunday and felt “very supported by the outpouring of love from across the league, especially from the Buffalo area. We’ve learned this week that the Bills mafia is a very real thing,” Pritts added.

The immediate medical response to Hamlin’s collapse helped save his life, and the Buffalo Bills are now encouraging people to learn how to administer CPR.

Assistant athletic trainer Denny Kellington is credited with performing CPR when Hamlin lost his pulse on the field and needed to be revived through resuscitation and defibrillation.

The medical response was part of an emergency action plan that “involves team, independent medical and athletic training staff, equipment and security personnel, and is reviewed prior to every game,” a Monday statement from the Bills read.

The team pledged support for resources including CPR certifications, automated external defibrillator units and guidance developing cardiac emergency response plans within the Buffalo community, according to the statement.

“We encourage all our fans to continue showing your support and take the next step by obtaining CPR certification,” the Bills said.



Read original article here

Sports

Damar Hamlin tweets his thanks after he moves from Cincinnati to Buffalo hospital 7 days after collapse

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

Damar Hamlin was released from the hospital on Monday, a week after the Buffalo Bills safety’s heart stopped and he had to be resuscitated on the field during an NFL game, Dr. William A. Knight said Monday during a video news conference.

Knight said he went with Hamlin to the airport, where he took a flight to Buffalo. Hamlin is in a hospital there, the doctor from the UC Medical Center in Cincinnati said.

“He is doing well and this is the beginning of the next stage of his recovery,” Knight said. “It is entirely too premature to discuss, not only his football; it’s that we’re really focused on his day-to-day recovery.”

Knight said Hamlin met “a number of key milestones” in his recovery, noting the NFL player was up and walking, doing physical and occupational therapy.

“Grateful for the awesome care I received at UCMC. Happy to be back in Buffalo. The docs and nurses at Buffalo General have already made me feel at home!” Hamlin tweeted Monday afternoon.

In another tweet, he thanked the public for their support.

“Watching the world come together around me on Sunday was truly an amazing feeling,” he wrote. “The same love you all have shown me is the same love that I plan to put back into the world n more. Bigger than football!”

Bills head coach Sean McDermott said on a Zoom call with reporters that he was “super excited” to have Hamlin back in town.

He said he and some members of the Bills’ organization went to see Hamlin at the hospital in Buffalo.

“He’s doing well,” he said. “He’s just tired but he seems happy and happy to be back in Buffalo.”

On January 2, Hamlin, a 24-year-old defensive player in his second NFL season, suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

His UC doctors said Monday it’s still too early to know what caused Hamlin’s cardiac arrest and expect he will undergo more tests to determine what happened.

The Bills player on Sunday posted a photo of himself on social media that shows him sitting up in his hospital bed and making a heart sign with his hands while wearing a number 3 hat and a “Love for Damar” shirt.

Hamlin tweeted more than a dozen times reacting to the Bills 35-22 win over the New England Patriots Sunday, and expressed his desire to be out on the field with his teammates.

“It’s GameDay & There’s Nothing I Want More Than To Be Running Out That Tunnel With My Brothers,” he wrote.

Hamlin also watched from his hospital bed Sunday as teams across the NFL honored him during the last games of the regular season, with players, coaches and fans expressing their support with T-shirts, signs and jersey patches featuring his name and his number 3.

At the Bills’ Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, several of Hamlin’s teammates took the field waving flags with his name and jersey number while many in the audience raised heart-shaped signs to pay tribute to the football player.

The day before, the Bills tweeted that Hamlin continues to breathe on his own and his neurological function is excellent, but he was still in critical condition, citing his doctors.

Hamlin collapsed after making a tackle during the first quarter of the Bills’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals last Monday night. He was rushed from the field in an ambulance, leaving players crying and embracing, and unleashing an outpouring of support from fans and others across the country.

The game was initially postponed, then later canceled by the NFL.

Before Sunday’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Bengals, the medical staff who rushed to Hamlin’s aid were honored at Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium – the same field where Hamlin suffered the cardiac arrest.

At New York’s Highmark Stadium, Buffalo Bills wide receiver John Brown gave a game ball to assistant athletic trainer Denny Kellington, the man credited with saving Hamlin’s life by administering critical CPR to the football player – who doctors say lost his pulse on the field had to be immediately revived through resuscitation and defibrillation.

The immediate response of Kellington and other medical personnel was vital to “not just saving his life, but his neurological function,” Dr. Timothy Pritts, one of Hamlin’s doctors at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, has said.

Hamlin was sedated after being taken to the hospital. Doctors announced Thursday that he had started to awaken and he appears neurologically intact, while still critically ill and on a ventilator.

“Did we win?” was Hamlin’s first question upon awakening, according to Pritts, who said he scribbled the question on a clipboard.

On Friday, the Bills said Hamlin’s breathing tube was removed overnight and he had spoken to his teammates via video.

Following the victory over the Patriots on Sunday, Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White said Hamlin texted members of the team prior to Sunday’s game, saying, “I’m thinking about y’all, I’m sorry that I did that to y’all.”

“For him to check on us when he is the person that’s going through what he’s going through – that just shows what type of person he is.”

White said incident Monday’s incident still haunts the six-year NFL veteran.

“To see everything transpire, from the hit, to him getting up, to him falling, to everything – it’s just something that I can’t … unsee. Every time I close my eyes it replays. I tried watching tv and every time the tv goes to commercial, that’s the only thing that comes to my mind,” White said.

During Sunday’s Bills game, the public address announcer read a statement of support for Hamlin and received a roar from the crowd, which included fans in a sea of blue and red who held up signs of support for Hamlin saying “BILLI3VE,” “All the heart for #3,” “Love for Damar,” “Did we win” and “Thank You Medical Staff!”

Several of Hamlin’s teammates, including Josh Allen and Kaiir Elam, took the field waving flags with Hamlin’s name and jersey No. 3.

Then the game began with a bang.

Bills returner Nyhiem Hines took the opening kickoff for a 96-yard touchdown, sending the crowd into euphoria and prompted Hamlin to tweet, “OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Hines said the team needed this win after the events of the past week.

“As a community, I feel like we needed this win. I feel like my brothers in that locker room, we needed some great energy and some great vibes. And we had to win this,” Hines said.

Other teams around the league also paid tribute to Hamlin Sunday.

In Cincinnati, Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, who was involved in the play where Hamlin was injured, wore a “Love for Damar” t-shirt during pregame warmups.

Prior to the start of the game, the stadium’s announcer read a statement that asked fans for a moment of support for Hamlin, his family and the first responders.

The fans in Cincinnati, many with signs supporting Hamlin, cheered loudly. The television broadcast also showed Bengals coach Zac Taylor wearing a “Love for Damar” hoodie during the tribute.

Ahead of the Chargers-Broncos game, Broncos Quarterback Russell Wilson and Chargers safety Derwin James met at midfield, both wearing No. 3, and led a moment of support for Hamlin.



Read original article here

US

Nurses from New York City hospitals set to strike as contract negotiations stall

Leave a comment


New York
CNN
 — 

A walk-out by more than 7,000 nurses at two major New York City hospitals is set to begin at 6 a.m. ET Monday after talks aimed at averting a strike broke down overnight.

Tentative deals had been reached in recent days covering nurses at several hospitals, including two new agreements late Sunday evening. But talks with Mount Sinai hospital in Manhattan and Montefiore in the Bronx failed overnight.

“After bargaining late into the night at Montefiore and Mount Sinai Hospital yesterday, no tentative agreements were reached. Today, more than 7,000 nurses at two hospitals are on strike for fair contracts that improve patient care,” the New York State Nurses Association said in a Monday statement.

Both hospitals said earlier on Monday morning that efforts to reach an agreement were unsuccessful.

“NYSNA leadership walked out of negotiations shortly after 1 a.m. ET, refusing to accept the exact same 19.1% increased wage offer agreed to by eight other hospitals, including two other Mount Sinai Health System campuses, and disregarding the Governor’s solution to avoid a strike,” Lucia Lee, a spokesperson for Mount Sinai, said in a statement to CNN.

Montefiore said it was “a sad day for New York City.”

“Despite Montefiore’s offer of a 19.1% compounded wage increase — the same offer agreed to at the wealthiest of our peer institutions — and a commitment to create over 170 new nursing positions … NYSNA’s leadership has decided to walk away from the bedsides of their patients,” the medical center said in a statement.

The tentative deals reached at other hospitals provide nurses with a combined 19.1% in pay increases over the three-year life of the agreements and includes promises by management to increase staffing to address the union’s major complaint of nurses being overworked and facing burnout.

Mount Sinai and Montefiore said they had agreed to meet the wage demands of the union, but the union claimed that staffing levels remain the sticking point in reaching deals at the two remaining hospitals.

“We need management to come to the table and provide better staffing,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said in a press call Sunday afternoon.

According to Hagans, Montefiore has 760 nursing vacancies, adding that “too often one nurse in the emergency department is responsible for 20 patients instead of the standard of three patients.”

On Sunday evening, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul had urged the management and the union to agree to binding arbitration as a way of avoiding the strike. Although the management of the two hospitals embraced the idea, the union did not.

“We will not give up on our fight to ensure that our patients have enough nurses at the bedside,” the union said in response to Hochul’s arbitration suggestion.

New York Mayor Eric Adams had encouraged all parties on Sunday night to “remain at the bargaining table for however long it takes to reach a voluntary agreement.”

The hospitals have been preparing for a strike since the nurses union gave notice of its plans 10 days ago. The affected hospitals plan on paying temporary “traveling” nurses to fill in where possible and some had already begun transferring patients.

Montefiore released a notice to staff, obtained by CNN, telling nurses how to quit the union and stay on the job if they wanted to continue to care for their patients.

Mount Sinai, which operates two hospitals that reached deals Sunday evening in addition to the one still facing a strike, started transferring infants in the neonatal intensive care unit at the end of this past week. Hospitals facing the possibility of strikes had already taken steps to postpone some elective procedures.

The union says the hospitals will be spending more on hiring temporary nurses at a significantly greater cost. It argues the hospitals should agree to their demands to hire more staff and grant the raises the union is seeking.

“As nurses, our top concern is patient safety,” Hagans said in a statement Friday. “Yet nurses … have been forced to work without enough staff, stretched to our breaking point, sometimes with one nurse in the Emergency Department responsible for 20 patients. That’s not safe for nurses or our patients.”

The hospitals say they are doing what they can to hire more nursing staff.

“Mount Sinai is dismayed by NYSNA’s reckless actions,” Mount Sinai said in a statement Friday. “The union is jeopardizing patients’ care, and it’s forcing valued Mount Sinai nurses to choose between their dedication to patient care and their own livelihoods.”

Nurses at the first hospital to reach a tentative deal, New York-Presbyterian, voted on Saturday. It was a close call with 57% of nurses voting yes and 43% against. The tentative deals reached over the last few days still need to be ratified by rank-and-file union members before they can take effect.

Strikes have become more common nationwide, as tight labor markets and unhappiness with work conditions have prompted unionized employees to flex their muscles more often at the bargaining table.

There were 385 strikes in 2022, up 42% from 270 in 2021, according to the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. The US Labor Department, which tracks only major strikes by 1,000 or more workers, recorded 20 strikes in the first 11 months of 2022, up 33% from the same period in 2021.

Numerous nursing strikes were among the recorded work stoppages, with many unions citing instances of burnout and health problems among members.

Four out of the 20 strikes reported by the Labor Department last year involved nurses unions. The largest was a three-day strike by the 15,000 members of the Minnesota Nurses Association involving 13 hospitals in the state.

— CNN’s Tina Burnside, Artemis Moshtaghian and Ramishah Maruf contributed to this report.

Read original article here