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NBC News
2 days ago
- General
- NBC News
After a jet crashed into their neighborhood, some survivors say their emotional recovery is stunted by living so close to a busy airport. Ariana Drehsler for NBC News; AP U.S. news A jet crashed into their neighborhood. Now they live in dread below an active flight path. 'We hold our breath now every time a plane goes over,' said Srujana McCarty, who was sleeping when the private jet hit her family's San Diego home.
June 8, 2025, 7:00 AM EDT By Melissa Chan Srujana McCarty shields her head with her hands when an aircraft flies overhead. It's an involuntary reaction now, much like how her neighbors Aislyn Maupin and Renee Rivera freeze up and fixate on passing planes and jets until they're out of sight. They know it's improbable for an aircraft to plummet from the sky above them. But one did two weeks ago as they slept. On May 22, a pilot attempting to land a private jet at an airport nearby struck power lines and crashed into their San Diego military housing neighborhood, killing all six passengers on board, officials said. While the lives on the ground were spared, the disaster displaced dozens of families and shattered their sense of safety. McCarty's and Rivera's children still see the phantom flames down their hallways and streets. 'It's a new fear unlocked,' McCarty said. The survivors are trying to recover. But they live below an active flight path about 2 miles from the airport. About every 30 minutes, an aircraft roars above and brings them back to the morning fire roused them out of bed. 'It terrifies me knowing that we have planes coming over here all day, all the time,' Rivera said. 'It's a lot to be reminded of every single day.' 'Everything on fire all at once' On the night of the crash, before McCarty and her husband, Ben, went to sleep, they tucked in their two young sons, put their dogs in crates, locked their doors and set the alarm. 'Everything was set up for their safety,' said Ben McCarty, 33, who has served in the Navy for 13 years. Stillness fell over Murphy Canyon, home to more than 4,900 Navy families in one of the largest military housing complexes in the world. Then, just before 4 a.m., a Cessna 550 Citation jet slammed into the front yard of the McCartys' home, partially collapsing their roof and thrusting one of their trucks into the living room. Waves of heat from the fire instantly penetrated their bedroom, jolting them awake. 'The impact rushed over me,' Ben McCarty said. 'I felt like this strong wind or force, the heat.' Srujana McCarty, 32, let out a nightmarish shriek. But outside, the deafening booms from exploding cars and the panicked voices of other neighbors screaming to find their children drowned her out. The couple grabbed their sons, ages 2 and 4, and their dogs. The path to the front door was blocked by fire. The wall where their wedding photos hung was crumbling and burning, so the family fled out the back. Next door, Maupin was in a deep sleep when her 14-year-old daughter barged into her bedroom, screaming about a fire outside of her open window. In disbelief, Maupin looked outside and found a hellscape. 'The whole street was just in flames,' she said. Jet fuel snaked down the street, setting every vehicle in its path ablaze, law enforcement officials said. 'Everything on fire all at once,' San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl told reporters. 'It was pretty horrific to see.' Maupin said people were knocking on doors, telling people their homes were on fire. 'People were pushing us and telling us we had to go this way,' she said. Maupin and her daughter helped their neighbors evacuate, each taking a baby to safeguard. Maupin remembers seeing a young woman, standing alone in the middle of the street, paralyzed in fear. 'People were screaming, 'Where are my kids?'' she said. 'Things are exploding everywhere.' Nearby, Rivera heard banging on her front door. She had seen the light from the explosion but thought it must have been lightning. 'I never in a million years thought a plane hit the ground,' she said. Half asleep, Rivera, 28, herded her 2-year-old asthmatic daughter, grandmother, two dogs and two guinea pigs into a car. As she drove away, she thought of all the children in the neighborhood. Her heart sank, thinking there was no way everyone in the neighborhood would survive. But miraculously no one on the ground was killed. 'Seeing it happen firsthand right in front of you,' she said, 'it changes everything.' McCarty replays each moment of her family's escape when she suddenly wakes up every morning around 3:45 a.m. at roughly the time of the crash. The sleepless nights are hard, but so are the days when planes seem to be constantly flying overhead. 'We hold our breath now every time a plane goes over,' she said. The McCartys are staying in a temporary house in the same military housing community until they're able to move into a new unit in about a week. They had only one plea for those tasked with their relocation. 'We asked to get out of the flight path,' Ben McCarty said. 'It was the No. 1 priority for both of us — anywhere away from the flight path.' Their neighbor, Thomas Lawrence, said his three young children had the same request. 'We had to change streets because they didn't want to live close to the scene of the crash anymore,' he said. 'It was unanimous. Even I didn't want to go back either.' Life under a flight path The Navy families live in the shadow of Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport, which primarily serves small aircraft and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to its website. The airport sees more than 386,000 takeoffs and landings a year. The six passengers aboard the private jet were headed there from New Jersey, the National Transportation Safety Board said. Their cross-country flight was about 2 miles southeast of the airfield when, amid dense fog, the jet struck high-tension power lines and went down around 3:47 a.m., officials said. There were no survivors aboard. Music talent agent Dave Shapiro, 42, was killed, as were two employees of his Sound Talent Group, Kendall Fortner, 24, and Emma Huke, 25, according to the city's medical examiner's office. The crash also killed Daniel Williams, 39, a drummer for the band The Devil Wears Prada; Dominic Damian, 41, a software engineer; and Celina Kenyon, 36, a photographer. The cause of the crash is under investigation. A spokesperson for the NTSB said the agency expects to release its preliminary report in the next few weeks. In the immediate aftermath, it displaced about 100 residents, Wahl, the police chief, said. About 39 families were temporarily relocated, and two homes were significantly damaged, according to Gail Miller, chief operating officer of Liberty Military Housing, which provides homes for the families. Miller said the housing provider worked closely with the families to determine their preferences, recognizing that many would not want to return to their original units. Today, Miller said, 31 families have either returned to their original home in Murphy Canyon or have accepted a new home in the same community or elsewhere. The crash was the latest in a string of deadly aviation accidents this year that has sparked fear and unease. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said the skies are safe, pointing to 35 million annual flights that occur in the U.S. with very few incidents. An NBC News analysis of federal data also shows that incidents and deaths on flights have not been rising compared with previous years, and that the number of deaths aboard aircraft in the U.S. is also on the decline. Still, for survivors triggered by the sight of an aircraft, the statistics do little to ease anxieties. In the aftermath of some cases of aviation trauma, constant exposure to planes and jets can be helpful in overcoming fears, but for others, the overexposure can prevent recovery, said Jessica Auslander, a North Carolina-based psychologist with the Centre for Aviation Psychology. 'The brain becomes hypervigilant for any other future signs of danger, to protect ourselves,' she said. 'It has basically learned, hey, this is possible. How can we keep ourselves safe?' Symptoms are most intense in the first few weeks after the incident but generally ease within one to three months, Auslander said. To help get the families back on their feet, the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society said it has provided more than $80,000 in emergency assistance to more than 80 families affected by the crash. The funds have gone toward insurance deductibles, uniform replacement, temporary housing costs, food and household essentials, said retired Navy Rear Adm. Dawn Cutler, the nonprofit's chief operations officer. 'It's going to be a road to recovery,' Cutler said. For the families beginning to settle into their new homes, the emotional healing comes next. Maupin grew up in the area by the airport, desensitized to planes. Now, when one passes, she says, 'everything stops and I just dissociate.' 'It's hard to conceptualize knowing you were so close to no longer being here anymore,' she said. Rivera closes her eyes when she has to drive by the scene of the crash to leave the area. But her 2-year-old daughter stares directly at it. 'She says there's fire, there's fire everywhere,' Rivera said, adding that her daughter will begin seeing a therapist. The McCartys, too, said they plan to seek counseling. 'We've somehow shut down and went numb just so we can move on,' Srujana McCarty said. Her husband said the crash has left him feeling helpless. When they were looking for their replacement home, he said, his family's protection was the only thing that mattered. 'We didn't look if the kitchen was big,' he said. 'We looked in the backyard and said, where is the escape route?' Melissa Chan Melissa Chan is a reporter for NBC News Digital with a focus on veterans' issues, mental health in the military and gun violence.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
Danville Police, Vermilion County Sheriff's deputies honor fallen officers
As part of National Police Week, the Danville Police Department and Vermilion County Sheriff's Department came together Wednesday, May 14, at Sunset Memorial Park, along with members of the public, to honor three DPD officers killed in the line of duty. At the annual Police Memorial Service, members of the VCSD's Honor Guard presented the colors. Vickie McCarty, chaplain for the DPD, opened the memorial service with remarks about the importance of honoring officers and especially those killed in the line of duty. 'The real heroes of our communities are front-liners, and they wear badges, not capes. A simple thank you today just doesn't seem enough,' McCarty said. 'You are some of the bravest people in the world for your courage and your dedication to duty. Thank you for your example of sacrifice. Thank you for your determination. Thank you for your bravery and fortitude,' McCarty said. 'The difference you make makes all the difference.' Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr. read the names of three fallen officers being honored, including Patrolman August Lind, Officer David Farnsworth, and Sergeant Myron G. Deckard, as well as their 'end of watch' — the day they were killed. Lind died April 10, 1908 of gunshot wounds he received a few days earlier when trying to stop a burglary. He served for 20 years, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page website. Farnsworth died Jan. 27, 1976 while in the line of duty. After pulling over two brothers in a traffic stop, Farnsworth was beaten to death with his flashlight. He had previously served in the Vietnam War. Deckard died Wednesday, June 6, 2001 while transporting a prisoner from Montgomery County to Vermilion County. The prisoner broke free and shot Deckard with his own handgun. He had served the VCSD for 32 years. Williams quoted a scripture from the Bible before thanking those officers present for their willingness to risk their lives in the line of duty. 'That's what you all have pledged to do, to go into dangerous situations with people that you don't know and take good care of them, to help people in their greatest hour of need. So for that, we honor you as we honor these men,' Williams said. DPD Chief Christopher Yates and VCSD Sheriff Patrick Hartshorn later presented red, white, and blue wreaths for the fallen officers. Though both groups have held individual memorial ceremonies for decades, 20 years ago they joined forces to honor their fallen together, Hartshorn said. 'Sunset built this space just for police and fire, so once it was built we came together and that's probably been 20-some years that we've been doing it together here at the memorial,' Hartshorn said. After a rifle salute by the DPD's Honor Guard, and 'Taps,' played by an officer with VCSD, Todd Hitt played 'Amazing Grace' on bagpipes for a final reflection before the VCSD retired the colors.
USA Today
14-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Matt McCarty odds to win the 2025 PGA Championship
Matt McCarty odds to win the 2025 PGA Championship PGA Championship details and info Date: May 15-18, 2025 May 15-18, 2025 Course: Quail Hollow Club Quail Hollow Club Location: Charlotte, NC Charlotte, NC Previous Winner: Xander Schauffele How to watch the PGA Championship Thursday: ESPN, The Golf Channel ESPN, The Golf Channel Friday: ESPN, The Golf Channel ESPN, The Golf Channel Saturday: CBS (KBAK-Bakersfield, CA), ESPN, NBC (WBGH-Binghamton, NY) CBS (KBAK-Bakersfield, CA), ESPN, NBC (WBGH-Binghamton, NY) Sunday: CBS (KBAK-Bakersfield, CA), ESPN, NBC (WBGH-Binghamton, NY), NBC (WBIR- Knoxville, TN) Watch golf on Fubo! McCarty odds to win the PGA Championship PGA odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Tuesday at 9:08 PM ET. For a full list of sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub. McCarty odds to finish in the top 5 at the PGA Championship McCarty odds to finish in the top 10 at the PGA Championship Other betting markets for McCarty at the PGA Championship McCarty recent performances McCarty has played 12 tournaments this season, with zero top-10 finishes. McCarty has finished in the top 20 three times in his past four events. McCarty will try to extend his streak of made cuts to eight by qualifying for the weekend in this tournament.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Towns with tax caps can override them with simple majorities. Republicans want to change that.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways Some Republicans in Concord argue that the tax cap override is too easy to meet. And they're pushing for legislation to make it harder. (Getty Images) Twelve years ago, residents in the town of Alstead were hit with sticker shock. In one year, property taxes had increased from $22.46 per $1,000 of valuation to $26.80, a 20 percent increase. There was a reason: The select board had 'artificially' lowered the tax rate in the prior year with unassigned funds, recalls Joel McCarty, the current chairman — and it did not do so in the next year, causing the increase. But voters were unhappy and took matters into their own hands. At the 2014 town meeting, they voted to impose a tax cap on the select board, prohibiting the body from proposing any budget that would raise taxes by 3% or more. Over the years, McCarty and the other select board members have followed the constraint when proposing budgets. And, over the years, Alstead residents have frequently overridden the limit at town meetings, approving warrant articles that raise taxes anyway. 'How often does this happen? Every single year,' McCarty added. 'And that's because our voters are wise and they understand that they are part of the process.' This year, some Republicans in Concord argue that the tax cap override is too easy to meet. And they're pushing for legislation to make it harder. House Bill 200 would require residents in towns that have tax caps to vote by a three-fifths majority — or 60% of a vote — to pass any appropriation that would put the town over its tax cap. Currently, those residents need only a simple majority to do so. Supporters of the bill, which passed the House, 195-165, and is currently being considered by the Senate, say it would make tax caps more effective. They argue it is unfair that a town must get a supermajority vote to adopt a tax cap but can override it with a simple majority. 'A lot of constituents are shocked when they understand how a tax cap really works,' said Rep. Diane Pauer, a Brookline Republican, speaking to the Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee. 'It doesn't really do anything. So this bill seeks to put teeth in the tax cap.' And proponents point to rising property tax rates across the state and argue that residents should have stronger tools to keep taxes under control. Some residents who might be hurt by tax increases might not be able to make it to town meeting to vote against them, and the supermajority threshold would require more community buy-in. 'Since the purpose of a tax cap is to restrain taxation, it is therefore reasonable to require a supermajority to override it,' Pauer said. 'And that also indicates that the voters support any increased spending.' Currently, just six towns have passed tax caps. HB 200 would not apply to cities, which have their own statute dictating how they can add tax caps. But among the towns with tax caps, some disagree with the supermajority proposal. 'Sounds like the Legislature doesn't have a lot of faith in the judgment of the voters,' said McCarty. McCarty and other officials say the proposed supermajority requirement could create too high a burden for an override and could hinder residents' democratic power to control their own spending. To them, the supermajority requirement could block important purchases that fall outside the budget requirement but that a majority of residents support. The New Hampshire Municipal Association has opposed the bill, arguing it legislates power away from voters. 'A tax cap is basically a limitation on the governing body members … it's not a limitation on the voters,' said Margaret Byrnes, executive director of the NHMA, in an interview. 'House Bill 200 turns that on its head by saying that the voters too have to go through extra hoops in order to override the tax cap.' Tax cap wins and losses Many cities, such as Manchester, Nashua, Dover, Rochester, and Somersworth, have tax caps. But they're rarer among towns. Before the 2025 town meeting, five New Hampshire towns had caps in place, according to records from the Department of Revenue Administration: Alstead, Litchfield, Middleton, Milton, and Nottingham. This year, residents in some towns attempted to pass their own tax caps, to mixed results. One town, Brentwood, passed a cap that prohibits the select board from proposing a budget that raises taxes more than 4% above the previous year — with 61% voting yes. But in other towns, the effort fell short. Residents in two towns, Brookline and Mont Vernon, tabled their tax cap warrant articles. In Lancaster, 21% of voters supported the proposal; in Moultonborough, 9.8% supported it; and in New Boston, 46% did. New Boston's tax cap proposal was defeated after the select board announced it had proposed a budget within a self-imposed 5% cap on increased spending. The Municipal Association argues that if the Legislature is going to pass the tax cap voting threshold bill, it should add in a provision that requires those towns that have passed the tax cap to hold a new vote on whether they want to continue having one, with the new limits. The current bill does not require that and would apply to tax cap towns 60 days after passage. '(We would advocate) for voters to be given the chance to say yes or no — whether they still want a tax cap in light of the changes,' said Byrnes. The supermajority divide Alstead voters frequently spend above the tax cap. They did it as recently as the 2025 town meeting. 'The selectmen stayed under the 4% cap, and the voters said, 'Well, you know, that's nice, that was a good effort, but we need to spend more money on the things that are important to us,'' McCarty recalled. 'And they wound up raising the tax rate by a slightly more than 8%.' But in other towns with tax caps, residents appear happy with the limits. In Nottingham, this year was the first that residents overrode their tax cap, according to Tim Dabrieo, chairman of the board of selectmen. The reason: a $10,000 appropriation for a town newsletter, passed through a warrant article. 'There's a lot of people in town that just aren't happy about any taxes,' Dabrieo said. '…The actual tax rate hasn't actually increased above inflation any year. But people feel (it) when they see an operating budget that's large and increasing every year.' Middleton has had a tax cap for years, and Timothy Cremmen, the chairman of the select board, cannot recall a year that voters have voted to override it. 'We're able to fund most things,' he said. 'Sometimes it's a little tight, but certainly we're able to find a way to make it all work.' The limit imposes healthy guidelines on the select board's budgeting process, Cremmen says, even if it often demands tough decisions on spending priorities. 'When we're trying to plan something out, that's when it gets tough trying to figure out,' Cremmen said. 'So, OK, we need money for road spending. We need money for the fire department. We need money for the police department, and we need to put together money for repairs on town hall. 'It's like constantly trying to pick who your favorite child is.' Yet even though tax cap hasn't been an issue recently, Cremmen said he appreciates the current majority vote to override. It makes it easier for the select board to come to voters with a bigger spending proposal in the future. That kind of special request might become more necessary in the future, as towns absorb the loss of COVID-19 relief funding and broader federal and state funding cuts. But a supermajority would be a higher bar to meet, especially in low-turnout town meetings. 'You need more people for it. And for most towns, you don't get a lot of people showing up, which means that you'll get a group of nine people showing up, making all decisions,' said Cremmen, speaking in his personal capacity and not as a representative of the board. Pauer and other supporters of the bill have countered that the three-fifths majority threshold matches what cities must meet to set their tax caps. It also aligns with the required three-fifths threshold for a town to pass a long-term bond request. During the Senate hearing, Sen. Tim Lang, a Sanbornton Republican, seemed sympathetic to that view. '(It takes) three-fifths of people to establish a tax cap, and then only 50% plus one to override the tax cap. Do you think those ratios are appropriate?' Lang said. But to McCarty, the supermajority requirement for bonding is natural because it binds the town and its voters for years into the future. The annual town budgets should be passed by majority votes, he said. 'You know what, our budgets are made locally, by a 50% plus one majority,' McCarty said. 'We've been doing that for 250 years now. What is driving anybody's idea that we should change that and make it more difficult for people to decide how to spend their own tax dollars?'
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Yahoo
Racine man gets 3½ years behind bars in Los Angeles 'swatting' spree
A Racine man will serve the next 3½ years in federal prison for his role in a week-long "swatting" spree that relied on Ring cameras to livestream law enforcement response at homes in Los Angeles. Kya Christian Nelson, 23, pleaded guilty on Jan. 23 to conspiracy and two counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information. On May 1, he was sentenced to 44 months behind bars in the case by U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt in Los Angeles. Nelson has been in federal custody since August 2024 and previously was serving a prison sentence in Kentucky after being convicted in state court there in an unrelated case. Between Nov. 7 and Nov. 13, 2020, Nelson and his co-conspirators gained access to home security door cameras sold by Santa Monica, California-based Ring LLC, Bilal A. Essayli, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement. More: SWAT team response to Milwaukee neighborhood leads to brief standoff with empty pickup truck They would get the username and password information for Yahoo! email accounts belonging to various victims nationwide without their authorization. The group would phone in fake emergency calls to authorities in the Los Angeles suburbs that were designed to elicit an armed police response, in an activity known as "swatting." They would then livestream the events on social media as things unfolded. Nelson and co-conspirators used the Ring devices to taunt responding law enforcement officers during several of the swatting incidents, Essayli said. For example, on Nov. 11, 2020, Nelson was illegally in possession of the Yahoo! email and Ring device login credentials of a person living in Oxnard, California, and he used those credentials to access the victim's Ring account without permission, authorities said. Nelson or a co-conspirator made a bogus call to local police claiming to be a child inside a home reporting that their father was wielding a handgun at the residence. Another fake call, made by Nelson, reported shots fired at a victim's residence. The calls prompted police officers to make an emergency response to the house and to clear the residents from the home at gunpoint. "(Nelson) and his co-conspirators went on a digital crime spree, terrorizing innocent people around the country from behind their keyboards," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. "While (Nelson) was safe behind his keyboard, he subjected others to real danger." More: 'Threat actor' from Europe manipulated minor on Discord to 'swat call' Brookfield Elementary James Thomas Andrew McCarty, 22, of Kayenta, Arizona, was sentenced in June 2024 to seven years for both his role in the case, and on additional charges in Arizona, the Department of Justice said in a statement. McCarty pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy as Nelson in connection with the Ring swatting incidents. McCarty admitted to also illegally accessing a victim's Ring camera in Florida and making a call to the North Port Florida Police Department. In that call, he purported to be a man who had just killed his wife, was holding a hostage and had rigged explosives to the home. Court records show McCarty livestreamed the law enforcement response and posted a message on social media taking credit for the incident. The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Khaldoun Shobaki, of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section, prosecuted the matter. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Racine man gets sentenced in Los Angeles 'swatting' spree
