New Jersey
News Wrap: 2 killed in New Jersey after vehicle swept away in flash flood
William Brangham:
As residents clean up from the storms, forecasters say the weather is set to improve across much of the region, though more storms are possible in parts of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic through the end of the week.
In Texas, search efforts are ongoing for those still missing after the deadly Fourth of July flooding. At least 132 people are known to have died, with the vast majority of those in Kerr County. Officials say 101 people are still unaccounted for as officials look to drain reservoirs to search for victims.
Rainfall this week has hampered recovery operations and a flood watch remains in effect for parts of South Central Texas, which includes Kerr County.
Turning to Gaza, health officials say Israeli airstrikes overnight killed at least 93 people, including dozens of women and children. One strike hit the Shati refugee camp in the north. Hospital officials there say a Hamas politician was killed along with a couple and their six children. Israel did not comment on that attack, but it frequently blames Hamas for civilian deaths, saying its militants hide in populated areas.
Syria’s defense minister announced a cease-fire today after sectarian clashes killed dozens of people in the country’s south. The truce came shortly after government forces entered a vital city in the southern Suwayda province. The fighting began with kidnappings and attacks between local bedouin tribes and fighters from the Druze minority group.
Officials say more than 30 people were killed yesterday. A U.K.-based monitor says at least 135 people died over two days. Neighboring Israel had launched strikes on the area, saying they were aimed at supporting the Druze and preventing further fighting near its own border.
A judge in the U.K. sentenced two men today to more than four years in prison for cutting down England’s iconic Sycamore Gap Tree. Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were convicted of two counts each of criminal damage, one for cutting down the tree, as seen in this grainy video that was used as evidence, and the other for damaging the ancient Hadrian’s Wall, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The tree stood for nearly 150 years before it was chopped down in 2023 in what prosecutors called a moronic mission.
A team of private astronauts is safely back on earth after a nearly three-week visit to the International Space Station.
How to protect your NJ home from wind: Video
Here’s how to windproof your home to minimize damage, and what to do if a tree falls on your property as a result of the weather
A severe thunderstorm watch looms over North Jersey on the evening of June 12 after days of extreme heat.
Nation Weather Service New York declared a severe thunderstorm watch for numerous North Jersey counties including Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Essex, Morris and Sussex among other Central Jersey and New York counties. The watch is in effect until 9 p.m., according to the NWS statement.
In an hourly forecast from The Weather Channel for Paramus, there is a 74% chance of thunderstorms at 7 p.m.
High temperatures reached past 90 degrees in many parts of North Jersey on June 11 and June 12 as a heat advisory also remains in effect until 8 p.m., said NWS New York.
“Dangerous heat is expected to continue across much of our region through today, with several record highs likely to be challenged again. High temperatures are forecast to peak into the low to mid 90s across most of the area,” the National Weather Service said Friday.
A Heat Advisory is in effect until 8 p.m. across the state except for Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties.
PHILADELPHIA – Philip McPherson II, a 37-year-old from Riverside, New Jersey, was sentenced Thursday, June 11, to 78 months in prison for his role in a 2022 plane crash in Lehigh County that killed a student pilot, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Sentencing and charges for fatal Lehigh Valley crash
What we know:
United States District Judge John M. Gallagher sentenced McPherson to 78 months in prison, three years of supervised release, a $5,000 fine, a $4,300 special assessment, and $19,530 in restitution. Judge Gallagher also barred McPherson from working in the aviation industry.
McPherson pleaded guilty in October to involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, obstruction of an administrative proceeding, and 40 counts of serving as an airman without a certificate.
The backstory:
Court filings show that on September 28, 2022, McPherson took off from Queen City Airport in Allentown as the pilot-in-command with student pilot K.K. and crashed shortly after, resulting in K.K.’s death.
Prosecutors said McPherson acted with gross negligence, knowing he was not competent to fly as pilot-in-command. He had two prior crashes, nearly a third, and failed a reexamination for his pilot’s certificate in September 2021.
McPherson voluntarily surrendered his pilot’s certificate in October 2021 and let his Temporary Airman Certificate expire in November 2021, acknowledging his inability to meet FAA standards.
He admitted to flying with passengers without a valid FAA pilot’s certificate between October 12, 2021, and September 20, 2022.
Investigators from the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, FAA, and Salisbury Township Police Department worked on the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Schopf and Special Assistant United States Attorney Marie Miller.
What we don’t know:
Authorities have not released further details about the circumstances leading up to the crash.
The Source: Information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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