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Baseball player who died in New York plane crash with family hit a grand slam in his final game, coach says

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Baseball player who died in New York plane crash with family hit a grand slam in his final game, coach says

One of the five Georgia family members who died last weekend in a small plane crash in upstate New York hit a grand slam during the last baseball game he played in while visiting Cooperstown, his coach has revealed. 

Frank Tumminia Jr., identified by the Times Union newspaper as the coach of 12-year-old James “JR” VanEpps, wrote in a Facebook post that “his parents were too modest and humble to post about his athletic dominance so that is my job today as coach.” 

“In his last game in Cooperstown NY, where youth athletes’ dreams are made with storybook backgrounds and brackets full of several dozen teams… JR Van Epps crushed a GRAND SLAM,” Tumminia said. 

“Today and for as long as I live I will teach the living testimony of JR. A piece of me left with him… I will remember him as the ultimate human,” he added. 

FAMILY WHO DIED IN NEW YORK PLANE CRASH WAS FLYING THROUGH AREA OF ‘STORM ACTIVITY,’ NTSB REVEALS 

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James VanEpps, 12, Laura VanEpps, 43, Ryan VanEpps, 42, and Harrison VanEpps, 10, were killed in a plane crash in New York Sunday, authorities said. (Courtesy)

A National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson revealed to Fox News Digital on Tuesday that the plane that VanEpps was traveling in passed through an area of “storm activity” on Sunday afternoon before crashing. 

The spokesperson said flight tracking data for the single-engine Piper PA-46 aircraft “was lost about 12 minutes after departure” from Alfred S. Nader Regional Airport in Oneonta. 

“Preliminary information indicates that the plane was flying from Oneonta, New York to Charleston, West Virginia when it crashed under unknown circumstances,” the NTSB spokesperson added. “Meteorological data shows storm activity along the flight path.”  

FAMILY DIES IN NEW YORK PLANE CRASH FOLLOWING COOPERSTOWN BASEBALL TOURNAMENT: POLICE   

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A Piper PA-46-310P plane, similar to the one involved in the crash in New York on Sunday, June 30. (aviation-images.com/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

New York State Police on Monday identified the five victims in the crash as James VanEpps, Harrison VanEpps, 10, Ryan VanEpps, 42, Laura VanEpps, 43, and Roger Beggs, 76. 

“All of the passengers are family members from the state of Georgia and were in Cooperstown, NY for a baseball tournament,” police said, noting that the plane went down in the town of Masonville as it was heading back to Atlanta, with a stopover in West Virginia. 

A single-engine Piper PA-46 crashed near Sidney, New York, on Sunday afternoon. Authorities are seen responding to the crash site.  (WICZ)

 

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The NTSB said Tuesday that the debris path from the wreckage is about a mile long and that “all major portions of the plane” have been found except for the rudder.   

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Boston, MA

Smoke on the water: Saturday’s rain may clear the air for World Cup final

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Smoke on the water: Saturday’s rain may clear the air for World Cup final


Smoke from the Canadian wildfires that engulfed the Northeast United States in a haze hardly let up in Greater Boston.

But Saturday’s rain may have cleared the skies just in time for the World Cup final in New Jersey on Sunday.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection issued an air quality alert that the fine particles from smoke across the entire state averaged at a level “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups,” which includes people “with lung or heart disease, older adults, and children.”

Fine particulates that are 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter (PM2.5) were tracked at a level of 130, which the agency rates as in the middle of the 101-150 “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups,” at multiple locations in the city and in nearby municipalities.

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The U.S. Air Quality Index also recorded a 130 rating for much of the region but the city itself was rated at 166 near South Station, with nearby locations including Quincy, Chelsea, and Lynn hovering around 160 PM2.5. This concentration falls under the “Unhealthy” category.

Similar warnings were issued throughout much of the country Saturday.

At MetLife Stadium, where the World Cup final is scheduled to take place, the sky was the same thick, soupy gray it has been for days, even after a drenching thunderstorm prompted warnings of flash flooding and forced the Spanish national team to suspend its last outdoor training session ahead of the clash with Argentina.

Saturday’s storm front will largely move the smoke out of the Northeast before the final between Spain and Argentina, said Tyler Roys, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather.

“There could be some lingering smoke that would make things hazy, but very faint,” Roys said. “In terms of the thickest smoke, the smoke that has really been eye-popping and leads to poor air quality, that is not expected across New York City or much of the Northeast.”

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The air quality index shows an improvement from unhealthy air for sensitive groups on Saturday to “moderate” air quality Sunday in East Rutherford, which means little to no health risk for the general public.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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Pittsburg, PA

Through rain and wildfire smoke, Picklesburgh 2026 draws smaller crowds

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Through rain and wildfire smoke, Picklesburgh 2026 draws smaller crowds






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Connecticut

Connecticut woman charged with sexual coercion of 13-year-old Long Island boy

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Connecticut woman charged with sexual coercion of 13-year-old Long Island boy


A Connecticut woman allegedly coerced a 13-year-old Long Island boy to send her a sexually explicit video of himself and later picked up the boy and brought him to her home where she attempted to engage in sexual activity, according federal prosecutors.

Amily Colon, 31, was arrested Friday on a federal criminal complaint for alleged sexual coercion of a minor she met online, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Connecticut announced. 

Colon, who identified herself as “Alice,” was ordered detained Friday after appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas O. Farrish in Hartford, Connecticut.

The defendant allegedly communicated with the boy through the Discord app and prosecutors said the conversations became sexually explicit. Colon allegedly sent sexually explicit images and videos of herself to the victim.

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On June 26, Colon traveled to Long Island, picked up the boy and brought him to her Wethersfield, Connecticut, home. She brought him back to Long Island the next day and dropped him off a few blocks from his home, prosecutors said. Colon denied any sexual acts occurred, according to a motion for detention pending trial.

A criminal complaint outlining the allegations remained sealed as of Saturday morning, according to federal court records. Colon was represented at Friday’s court appearance by a public defender who could not immediately be reached for comment Saturday. The records did not indicate whether Colon entered a plea.

The FBI located social media posts and journal entries “that raise significant concerns regarding the danger she poses to the community and children in particular,” according to the motion.

Colon allegedly admitted owning the Discord account and communicating with the victim as well as picking him up in New York. She also allegedly admitted to prosecutors that she engaged with other minors online between 13 and 16 years old and that law enforcement would find child pornography on her cellphone, according to the motion.

Colon faces charges of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and transportation of a minor to engage in sexual activity. She faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life, according to federal prosecutors.

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Suffolk County police assisted in the investigation along with the FBI’s child exploitation task force’s in New Haven and Long Island as well as the Wethersfield Police Department.

Suffolk police deferred any questions on the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and could not comment on whether the boy had been reported missing while in Connecticut.

Discord, a communications platform with video, voice and text capabilities, states it has “zero-tolerance policy for child sexual abuse material” and the company in 2023 announced it developed new software to detect illicit material.

It’s unclear whether the company alerted law enforcement in this case.

A probable cause hearing is scheduled for July 31.

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Cases of child exploitation can be reported to cybertipline.com. And for information on Project Safe Childhood, which aims to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, visit justice.gov/psc.



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