Latest news with #Breeden
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
12-Year-Old Found Dead After Being Swept Away in Flash Flood Remembered as Always Having a 'Smile on His Face'
Jordan Sims, the 12-year-old boy who went missing during a flash flood in Virginia on May 13, is believed to have died following the discovery of a body The seventh grader "always had a smile on his face," said his aunt Heather Breeden His aunt said Jordan went with his older sister to see the flood waters for himself, then slipped and was carried away by the waterFamily and friends are remembering Jordan Sims for his charisma and cheer. Jordan, the 12-year-old boy who went missing during a flash flood in Virginia on May 13, is believed to have died in the flood after search crews found a body around 8:45 a.m. the next morning, per a statement from Albemarle County Fire Rescue. Following the heartbreaking news, Jordan's aunt Heather Breeden told The Washington Post that her nephew was a funny, athletic and happy young boy. "People could be in a bad mood, and he would just come in there and he would cheer you up," Breeden told the outlet. "He always had a smile on his face." A seventh grader at Henley Middle School in Crozet, Virginia, Jordan loved basketball and golf, video games like Fortnite and Call of Duty and R&B and rap music. Jordan's classmates observed two minutes of silence in his memory, said Breeden's daughter, who is in the same grade as her cousin. Breeden got a glimpse of a poster honoring Jordan, which simply read "Rest in peace, Jordan," and had been signed by many classmates. "Jordan was a valued member of our Henley community. He was bright, kind and deeply loved by classmates and staff alike,' wrote Henley Principal Rick Vrhovac, per the Post. 'His loss is devastating, and we know it will affect every member of our school family in different ways.' Breeden said Jordan had dismissed his grandmother's warning about the floodwaters and went with his older sister to see it for himself. It was then that Jordan slipped, Breeden continued, and the boy fell into the water and was carried out by the water before his sister could help him. After searching on her own on Tuesday, May 12, Breeden joined the search crew on Wednesday morning. She told the Post that Jordan's body was found roughly 500 meters from where he first slipped. 'The rescuers … they did their job, they tried,' Breeden said in an interview, per the Post. PEOPLE reached out to Jordan's family but did not receive an immediate response. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Albemarle County Fire Rescue Chief Dan Eggleston said in a statement that though the body had not been positively identified as of May 14, the discovery was a "heartbreaking outcome." "Our hearts are with the Sims' family and loved ones," said Eggleston. "We are incredibly grateful to our local and regional partners who supported this search effort with urgency, professionalism and care." Read the original article on People
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Yahoo
Sumter County Sheriff's Office in final stages of recovery after Russian ransomware attack
Nine months after a ransomware attack took the Sumter County Sheriff's Office completely offline, 9 Investigates is getting an inside look at the hit the agency took. 9 Investigates first brought you the story last August after a Russian criminal group, Rhysida, claimed responsibility for the cyber-attack. The agency is now in its final phases of recovery. 'Witness statement, victim statements, things of that nature are all having to be re-entered into the computer system as well,' said Michelle Keszey, Sumter County records manager. Keszey in part oversees the large project of typing up, scanning and uploading records from the four months the agency relied on just pen and paper. 'There were approximately 1,500 crash reports that took place during our time down. And she is averaging about 10 a day,' Keszey said. 'Until the system was safe to be scanned in so it kind of just stacked up,' said Sheriff Pat Breeden. Sheriff Breeden took office that November while the agency was still offline. 'Our newer deputies are used to doing everything electronically,' Breeden said. 'Well now we're back to handwriting reports and we're handwriting tickets,' he said, recalling the challenges over the four months. This was after Rhysida claimed to have infiltrated the agency's system in August 2024. 'We started having some problems with our dispatch one night and dispatch is like, some stuff's not working, something's not right,' Breeden said, Authorities later discovered the hackers got in from an external hard drive infected with a virus that an employee brought in. 'We discovered that this had actually been brought in several months prior to the hack and it just kind of sit there in limbo waiting,' Breeden said. Rhysida posted on the dark web, claiming they stole nearly a terabyte of data. They claimed the data would end up on the dark web, if the Sheriff's Office didn't pay their ransom, seven bitcoins or about $425,000. 'How scary of a time was that for you guys?,' Webb asked. 'I was very scared because, you know, we have employees and we have citizens' information,' Breeden said. The Sheriff's Office told us they didn't believe the cybercriminals ever uploaded the stolen records to the dark web. 'They have available for download, they claim 839 gigabytes of data across over 160,000 files,' said Luke Connolly, threat intelligence analyst for Emsisoft. 'That could easily go back decades, especially for a small town sheriff.' Connolly says it's highly likely the hackers had extended access to the Sheriff's Office database based on the amount of data they claim to have released. He says the hackers aren't charging for downloads of the stolen material. Our sources did not download the data that the hacker group claimed to have stolen because of the ethical concerns and also the risk of downloading malware. With that, we don't know what all this data could potentially include, including social security or banking information. The Sheriff's Office says authorities are looking to prosecute the Russian group responsible. Now, the agency is in it's final stages of recovery. Breeden says the most challenging time was when authorities were working to confirm hackers no longer had access to the agency's system-- what the Sheriff described as 'cleaning house.' 'The hardest part was to analyze everything to make sure our systems are now safe to go back online. So, doing that, we have to backlog everything we did in that time period, let's say between August and now. So everything's on paper.' Connolly says the hackers likely were not targeting the Sheriff's Office, but there are records of value in the agency. 'Money, information, you know, they get anything they can because if they can get people's identities, they're looking to do identity theft, they are looking to steal anything they can to make a dollar,' Breeden said. The Sheriff also says they are retraining employees on cybersecurity. They're now almost back to what they were before August 2024, and the Sheriff's Office says they're now even stronger. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
The Independent
10-04-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Trump tariffs likely to hit UK growth, warns Bank of England policymaker
US President Donald Trump's tariffs are likely to hamper economic growth in the UK but it is 'too early to call' the impact they will have on inflation, a Bank of England policymaker has said. Sarah Breeden, the Bank's deputy governor for financial stability, said on Thursday that the trade tariffs 'would be expected to weigh on UK activity'. But the impact on inflation is 'not clear-cut', Ms Breeden said, adding that the hit to demand could bring downward pressure while supply chain disruptions could bring upward pressure to inflation. 'Given all of the uncertainties, I think it's too early to call the overall impact on inflation for the UK, and hence the appropriate monetary policy response at this stage,' she said. Ms Breeden was speaking after Mr Trump put a 90-day pause on many of the trade tariffs he imposed on most countries earlier in the week. The tariffs had previously sent financial markets tumbling, and had prompted increased bets that the Bank would cut interest rates at its next policy meeting in May. The remaining tariffs include a 125% tariff on Chinese goods, and a 10% levy for all countries across the board. Ms Breeden said the new wave of levies marked 'the most significant change in trade policy in a century'. She said uncertainty over trade policy and broader geopolitics can bring 'a chilling effect on business and consumer behaviour, weakening both activity and inflationary pressure'. 'So I would expect tariffs to lower economic activity as barriers to trade inherently weigh on global demand,' Ms Breeden said. Meanwhile, the response of the value of sterling would also have an impact on whether it is inflationary. 'This too is uncertain and will depend heavily on the decisions of other countries to impose counter tariffs, the evolution of the global risk sentiment and developments in financial markets more broadly,' she said. A weaker pound could make it more expensive for the UK to import things, which could further add price pressure. 'So far, sterling has not weakened, but it could change,' Ms Breeden said.
Reuters
10-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
BoE's Breeden says interest rate implications from US tariffs unclear
LONDON, April 10 (Reuters) - Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden said the impact on UK inflation from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs - and the implications for interest rates - remained unclear even if Washington's new policies were likely to lower growth. "Overall, tariffs are likely to lower UK growth," Breeden told an MNI Livestreamed Connect event on Thursday. "Expenditure switching by US consumers away from UK goods, combined with weaker global demand due to potential counter tariffs and supply chain disruptions would be expected to weigh on UK activity," she said. "I think its too early to call the overall impact on inflation for the UK and hence the appropriate monetary policy response at this stage." Breeden said there had been a significant global shift since the Monetary Policy Committee's last meeting in March - when it kept borrowing costs on hold - and the latest developments had a material impact on the economic outlook and risks. The chance of a quarter-point rate cut at the BoE's next scheduled meeting on monetary policy in May was seen at about 84% on Thursday, according to rates futures pricing. On Tuesday, another BoE deputy governor, Clare Lombardelli, also said it was too soon to judge the inflation impact for Britain from Trump's tariffs. Trump said on Wednesday he would temporarily lower the duties he had just imposed on dozens of countries but further ramped up pressure on China.
