Latest news with #AirForceVeteran
CBS News
5 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Air traffic controller says he won't fly out of Newark Airport after harrowing equipment failures
Air traffic controller says he won't fly out of Newark Airport after equipment failures Air traffic controller says he won't fly out of Newark Airport after equipment failures Air traffic controller says he won't fly out of Newark Airport after equipment failures A Newark air traffic controller says he's not sure if he'll ever return to the job after several equipment failures caused some air traffic controllers to lose communication with pilots in late April and May. Jonathan Stewart and several of his colleagues who handle Newark's airspace took trauma leave after the harrowing incidents. Stewart said the reason he's unsure whether he'll go back is because of the stress. CBS News New York investigator Tim McNicholas spoke to Stewart in an exclusive interview. "I yelled some choice words, I actually cried a little bit" Stewart says as he tries to de-stress, he's spending more time on his hobbies, like shooting at his favorite range. "I'll tell you, the biggest thing for me was just sleep. Like getting on some sort of regular sleep once the nightmares subsided like a week ago," he said. Stewart says up until about a week ago, he had been having nightmares about plane crashes, triggered by an incident involving two planes that took off from Teterboro and Morristown on May 3. The Air Force veteran says he saw the planes were at risk of a head-on, midair collision and alerted the pilots in time for them to move, but it was far too close for his comfort. "I yelled some choice words. I actually cried a little bit, I'm not gonna lie. I was really angry. Because I don't make mistakes like that," Stewart said. He says he was overworked from staffing shortages and distracted because, even though the radar was working that day, he was also tracking planes using a pen and paper as a precaution. That's because on April 28, before his shift, Stewart's colleagues lost radar and communications with planes in Newark's airspace for 30-90 seconds, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. "What was it like when you got there that day?" McNicholas asked. "It was bad ... There were guys pacing around on the phone trying to figure out what was going on. I walked in, one of the supervisors was talking to himself and sweating profusely," Stewart said. It was one of several concerning equipment failures Newark's air traffic controllers dealt with in late April and May. "It's not fair to blame the Trump administration. It's not fair to blame the Biden administration. If you're gonna blame somebody, you blame Reagan and everybody after him because nobody has done anything meaningful up until this point," Stewart said. "I personally am not gonna fly out of Newark" The FAA says it is taking steps to try to improve air traffic communications and prevent further outages, including a recent software update and a reduction in the airport's flight schedules. Stewart says, after talking with an FAA official this week, he's more optimistic about the agency's plans to hire and train more controllers. "Cautiously optimistic. I personally am not gonna fly out of Newark. To each their own," Stewart said. "Because I'm not satisfied with the level of safety. Until I see it in action and I know for sure that the steps that are being taken will effectively mitigate risks to as little as possible." United States Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said it is safe to fly out of Newark. "Because we have such a great team that focuses day in and day out on the flying public safety," he said on June 2. Stewart says the FAA worsened controller challenges last summer when it relocated Stewart and 23 other Newark Liberty International Airport controllers from a facility on Long Island to Philadelphia. A CBS News New York investigation revealed that move caused 817 Newark flight delays within the first two weeks of the relocation as the controllers settled in. Stewart describes those first two weeks as "chaotic." That rollout has drawn bi-partisan criticism. In early May, Sen. Chuck Schumer said he believed the move to Philadelphia "made the problem worse," and Duffy has said fiber lines should have been laid before the move. Stewart has a more personal criticism. "The way that they did this, you take us away from our families, away from all of our friends, away from our coworkers that we have camaraderie with, that we work well with, and you put us in another state," he said. The FAA says there are currently 14 experienced controllers in training for Newark and the agency hopes to get them fully certified and on the job at various points over the coming months. The agency also hopes to activate a new fiber line in early July to improve Newark's air traffic communications. Stewart says he is not sure if he'll ever feel comfortable returning to work at the FAA. He made sure to clarify multiple times that everything he shared is his opinion, not the FAA's. Stewart says he feels that flying in the U.S. is still, overall, the safest way to travel. The FAA did not respond to CBS News New York's request for comment on this story.
The Independent
29-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Most LGBTQ+ adults feel Americans don't accept transgender people, Pew poll finds
LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. see lower social acceptance for transgender people than those who are lesbian, gay or bisexual, a new Pew Research Center poll found. Pew found that about 6 in 10 LGBTQ+ adults said there is 'a great deal' or 'a fair amount' of social acceptance in the U.S. for gay and lesbian people. Only about 1 in 10 said the same for nonbinary and transgender people — and about half said there was 'not much' or no acceptance at all for transgender people. Giovonni Santiago, a 39-year-old transgender man and Air Force veteran who lives in Northeast Ohio and was not a participant in the survey, said he feels that acceptance for transgender people has declined in the last few years – roughly in step with the rise of state laws banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, regulating which school and public bathrooms transgender people can use and which sports they can play. He said he's seen acceptance get worse nationally, following the lead of some places that were early adopters of restrictions. "They were like the anomaly for ignorance and in hatred, especially towards trans people,' Santiago said. 'But now we see that it's just kind of sweeping the nation, unfortunately.' Still, Santiago said he doesn't fear for his own personal safety — a contrast with most transgender people, who said they have feared for their safety at some point. 'I guess I don't feel it as much because I live a life that most people don't know that I'm trans unless I specifically tell them,' said Santiago, who runs a nonprofit dedicated to supporting transgender youth. The survey of 3,959 LGBTQ+ adults was conducted in January, after President Donald Trump was elected but just before he returned to office and set into motion a series of policies that question the existence of transgender people. On his first day, Trump signed an executive order calling on the government to recognize people as male or female based on the 'biological truth' of their future cells at conception, rather than accept scientific evidence that gender is a spectrum. Since then, he's begun ousting transgender service members from the military, and tried to bar transgender women and girls from sports competitions for females and block federal funding for gender-affirming care for transgender people under 19, among other orders. A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted in May found that about half of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling transgender issues, with a range of views on specific actions. According to the Pew poll, about two-thirds of LGBTQ+ adults said the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationally 10 years ago boosted acceptance of same-sex couples 'a lot more' or 'somewhat more.' The Supreme Court is expected to rule in coming weeks on a major case regarding transgender people — deciding whether Tennessee can enforce a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Transgender people are less likely than gay or lesbian adults to say they're accepted by all their family members. The majority of LGBTQ+ said their siblings and friends accepted them, though the rates were slightly higher among gay or lesbian people. About half of gay and lesbian people said their parents did, compared with about one-third of transgender people. Only about 1 in 10 transgender people reported feeling accepted by their extended family, compared with about 3 in 10 gay or lesbian people. Transgender people are more likely than gay, lesbian or bisexual people to say they feel 'extremely' or "very" connected to a broader LGBTQ+ community and to say that all or most of their friends are also LGBTQ+. Some elements of the experience are similar. About one-third of transgender and lesbian or gay adults said they first felt they might be LGBTQ+ by the time they were 10 and most did by age 13. About half waited until they were at least 18 to first tell someone. Aubrey Campos, 41, runs a taco truck near a hub of LGBTQ+ bars in Fort Worth, Texas, and also serves as a community organizer. She says her parents were supportive when she came out as transgender at about age 12. But the younger trans people she works with often have very different experiences — including some who were kicked out of their homes. 'Now the times are a little bit dark," she said. "This is a time that we to come together and make it brighter and make it known that we aren't going to just disappear.'
Associated Press
29-05-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Most LGBTQ+ adults feel Americans don't accept transgender people, Pew poll finds
LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. see lower social acceptance for transgender people than those who are lesbian, gay or bisexual, a new Pew Research Center poll found. Pew found that about 6 in 10 LGBTQ+ adults said there is 'a great deal' or 'a fair amount' of social acceptance in the U.S. for gay and lesbian people. Only about 1 in 10 said the same for nonbinary and transgender people — and about half said there was 'not much' or no acceptance at all for transgender people. Giovonni Santiago, a 39-year-old transgender man and Air Force veteran who lives in Northeast Ohio and was not a participant in the survey, said he feels that acceptance for transgender people has declined in the last few years – roughly in step with the rise of state laws banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, regulating which school and public bathrooms transgender people can use and which sports they can play. He said he's seen acceptance get worse nationally, following the lead of some places that were early adopters of restrictions. 'They were like the anomaly for ignorance and in hatred, especially towards trans people,' Santiago said. 'But now we see that it's just kind of sweeping the nation, unfortunately.' Still, Santiago said he doesn't fear for his own personal safety — a contrast with most transgender people, who said they have feared for their safety at some point. 'I guess I don't feel it as much because I live a life that most people don't know that I'm trans unless I specifically tell them,' said Santiago, who runs a nonprofit dedicated to supporting transgender youth. The survey of 3,959 LGBTQ+ adults was conducted in January, after President Donald Trump was elected but just before he returned to office and set into motion a series of policies that question the existence of transgender people. On his first day, Trump signed an executive order calling on the government to recognize people as male or female based on the 'biological truth' of their future cells at conception, rather than accept scientific evidence that gender is a spectrum. Since then, he's begun ousting transgender service members from the military, and tried to bar transgender women and girls from sports competitions for females and block federal funding for gender-affirming care for transgender people under 19, among other orders. A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted in May found that about half of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling transgender issues, with a range of views on specific actions. According to the Pew poll, about two-thirds of LGBTQ+ adults said the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationally 10 years ago boosted acceptance of same-sex couples 'a lot more' or 'somewhat more.' The Supreme Court is expected to rule in coming weeks on a major case regarding transgender people — deciding whether Tennessee can enforce a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Transgender people are less likely than gay or lesbian adults to say they're accepted by all their family members. The majority of LGBTQ+ said their siblings and friends accepted them, though the rates were slightly higher among gay or lesbian people. About half of gay and lesbian people said their parents did, compared with about one-third of transgender people. Only about 1 in 10 transgender people reported feeling accepted by their extended family, compared with about 3 in 10 gay or lesbian people. Transgender people are more likely than gay, lesbian or bisexual people to say they feel 'extremely' or 'very' connected to a broader LGBTQ+ community and to say that all or most of their friends are also LGBTQ+. Some elements of the experience are similar. About one-third of transgender and lesbian or gay adults said they first felt they might be LGBTQ+ by the time they were 10 and most did by age 13. About half waited until they were at least 18 to first tell someone. Aubrey Campos, 41, runs a taco truck near a hub of LGBTQ+ bars in Fort Worth, Texas, and also serves as a community organizer. She says her parents were supportive when she came out as transgender at about age 12. But the younger trans people she works with often have very different experiences — including some who were kicked out of their homes. 'Now the times are a little bit dark,' she said. 'This is a time that we to come together and make it brighter and make it known that we aren't going to just disappear.'
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Region marks ultimate sacrifice of veterans on Memorial Day
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — From Williamsburg to Portsmouth, and places throughout Hampton Roads, people paid their respects on Memorial Day to U.S. military members who have died in service to their country. Starting with the oldest in the nation, 'Freedom is not free, so they paid the cost for us to, you know, be here,' said attendee Micheal Stith. 'So we want to thank them for that.' In Virginia Beach, symbols of gratitude were offered in memory of those lost while serving this country during a ceremony happened at Tidewater Veteran's Memorial. Wreaths were placed, and veterans in attendance were able to reflect. 'Memorial Day kind of symbolizes what people [had] to give [so that] you and me and him and everybody else can walk around free,' said Navy veteran Don McAlister. In Norfolk, 'We pause all over America to pay tribute, to honor our fallen heroes, those men and women who lost their lives in service, defending our country, defending our freedom,' said Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander. On the Peninsula, Newport News had an event at Victory Landing Park, sponsored by American Legion Braxton-Perkins Post 25. In Williamsburg, residents at a retirement community also hosted a Memorial Day program in which they remembered the men and women who gave their lives to protect the nation. 'Memorial Day is a very important day for me, from my family connection to the military,' said Air Force veteran Ralph Barrows, 'but also because of all of the friends that I knew and lost in different wars during the during my lifespan.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Trump administration to pay nearly $5M to settle suit over Ashli Babbitt's fatal shooting in Capitol
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has agreed to pay just under $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit that Ashli Babbitt's family filed over her shooting by an officer during the U.S. Capitol riot, according to a person with knowledge of the settlement. The person insisted on anonymity to discuss with The Associated Press terms of a deal that have not been made public. The settlement will resolve the $30 million federal lawsuit that Babbitt's estate filed last year in Washington, D.C. On Jan. 6, 2021, a Capitol police officer shot Babbitt as she tried to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door leading to the Speaker's Lobby. The officer who shot her was cleared of wrongdoing by the U.S. Attorney's office for the District of Columbia, which concluded that he acted in self-defense and in the defense of members of Congress. The Capitol Police also cleared the officer. Settlement terms haven't been disclosed in public court filings. On May 2, lawyers for Babbitt's estate and the Justice Department told a federal judge that they had reached a settlement in principle but were still working out the details before a final agreement could be signed. Justice Department spokespeople and two attorneys for the Babbitt family didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran from San Diego, was unarmed when she was shot by the officer. The lawsuit alleges that the plainclothes officer failed to de-escalate the situation and did not give her any warnings or commands before opening fire. The suit also accused the Capitol Police of negligence, claiming the department should have known that the officer was 'prone to behave in a dangerous or otherwise incompetent manner.' 'Ashli posed no threat to the safety of anyone,' the lawsuit said. The officer said in a televised interview that he fired as a 'last resort.' He said he didn't know if the person jumping through the window was armed when he pulled the trigger. Thousands of people stormed the Capitol after President Donald Trump spoke to a crowd of supporters at his Jan. 6 'Stop the Steal' rally near the White House. More than 100 police officers were injured in the attack. In January, on his first day back in the White House, Trump pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or ordered the dismissal of charges for all of the more than 1,500 people charged with crimes in the riot. ___ Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.
