Inducted by Long Island’s own Billy Joel, Bill Medley and the Righteous Brothers joined the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2003. Now 82, Bill sat down to chat with WHLI’s Rob Rush before he plays a show in nearby New Jersey.
Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision for The Society of Singers/AP Images
A Northport man and his family are facing deportation despite legally entering the U.S. Yader Salgado who is from Nicaragua came to the United States after being granted humanitarian parole by the U.S. government.
Salgado received a letter tell him that the program had been terminated and that he and his family must leave the U.S. by April 24. The family has applied for asylum. They are permitted to stay in the country while their case is being evaluated.
By ELAINE KURTENBACH and DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer
Hooters is going bust.
The U.S. restaurant chain, known for chicken wings and its skimpy “Hooters Girls” wait-staff outfits, has filed for bankruptcy protection. HOA Restaurant Group filed the motion for Chapter 11 protection Monday in the North Texas Bankruptcy Court in Dallas.
It’s the latest legacy restaurant chain to run into financial trouble amid high food and labor prices, changing customer tastes and growing competition from newer casual chains like Shake Shack.
Red Lobster, TGI Fridays and Buca di Beppo all filed for bankruptcy protection last year, while the Tex-Mex chain On the Border filed for bankruptcy protection last month.
Under the Hooters bankruptcy plan, 100 company-owned U.S. restaurants would get sold to a group of Hooters franchisees. The franchisees, who include Hooters’ founders, currently operate 14 of the 30 highest-volume Hooters restaurants in the U.S., the company said.
“For many years now, the Hooters brand has been owned by private equity firms and other groups with no history or experience with the Hooters brand,” Neil Kiefer, CEO of the franchise group Hooters Inc., said in a statement. “As a result of these transactions, the Hooters brand will once again be in the hands of highly experienced Hooters franchisees and we will be well-positioned to return this iconic brand to its historic success.”
Hooters said franchisees or licensing partners would continue to operate all existing locations, including those outside the U.S. There are more than 420 Hooters restaurants in 29 countries.
Hooters, based in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded in Clearwater, Florida, in 1983 by six businessmen with no food service experience who claimed they wanted to run a restaurant they couldn’t get kicked out of.
But its business strategy has faced challenges over the years, including lawsuits over hiring only “Hooters Girls” to serve customers. In 2017, the company tried opening a restaurant that didn’t feature servers in tight tops as a test of a different approach to its original concept.
Last year, Hooters agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a race and color discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. According to the lawsuit, a Hooters in North Carolina laid off 43 employees during the COVID pandemic, but recalled primarily white employees and Black employees with lighter skin tones once it began rehiring workers.
The company has also been forced to scale back as its financial woes mounted. In 2019, the Hooters hotel-casino off the Las Vegas Strip was sold to an Indian hotel company and rebranded as the OYO Hotel and Casino. Last year, the company closed around 40 underperforming U.S. locations.
Hooters had sponsored the No. 9 NASCAR car driven by Chase Elliott since 2017, but last year, Hendrick Motorsports ended its ties to the longtime sponsor because it was not meeting its financial commitments.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday that she has directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, following through on the president’s campaign promise to vigorously pursue capital punishment.
It is the first time the Justice Department has sought to bring the death penalty since President Donald Trump returned to office in January with a vow to resume federal executions after they were halted under the previous administration.
“Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” Bondi said in a statement. She described Thompson’s killing as “an act of political violence.”
Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family, faces separate federal and state murder charges after authorities say he gunned down Thompson, 50, outside a Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4 as the executive arrived for UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference.
Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said Tuesday that in seeking the death penalty “the Justice Department has moved from the dysfunctional to the barbaric.”
Mangione “is caught in a high-stakes game of tug-of-war between state and federal prosecutors, except the trophy is a young man’s life,” Friedman Agnifilo said in a statement, vowing to fight all charges against him.
The killing and ensuing five-day manhunt leading to Mangione’s arrest rattled the business community, with some health insurers hastily switching to remote work or online shareholder meetings. It also galvanized health insurance critics — some of whom have rallied around Mangione as a stand-in for frustrations over coverage denials and hefty medical bills.
Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind. Police say the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were scrawled on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase commonly used to describe insurer tactics to avoid paying claims.
Mangione’s federal charges include murder through use of a firearm, which carries the possibility of the death penalty. The state charges carry a maximum punishment of life in prison. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to a state indictment and has not yet been required to enter a plea on the federal charges.
Prosecutors have said the two cases will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state case expected to go to trial first. It wasn’t immediately clear if Bondi’s announcement will change the order.
Mangione was arrested Dec. 9 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of New York City and whisked to Manhattan by plane and helicopter.
Police said Mangione had a 9mm handgun that matched the one used in the shooting and other items including a notebook in which they say he expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives.
Among the entries, prosecutors said, was one from August 2024 that said “the target is insurance” because “it checks every box” and one from October that describes an intent to “wack” an insurance company CEO. UnitedHealthcare, the largest U.S. health insurer, has said Mangione was never a client.
Mangione’s lawyer has said she would seek to suppress some of the evidence.
Former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department filed the federal case against Mangione but left it to Trump and his administration to decide whether to seek the death penalty. Because the federal case had been taking a backseat to the state case, federal prosecutors have yet to seek a grand jury indictment, which is required for capital cases.
Trump oversaw an unprecedented run of 13 executions at the end of his first term and has been an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment. Trump signed an executive order on his first day back in office on Jan. 20 that compels the Justice Department to seek the death penalty in federal cases where applicable.
Bondi’s order comes weeks after she lifted a Biden-era moratorium on federal executions.
Biden campaigned on a pledge to work toward abolishing federal capital punishment but took no major steps to that end. While Attorney General Merrick Garland halted federal executions in 2021, Biden’s Justice Department at the same time fought vigorously to maintain the sentences of death row inmates in many cases.
In his final weeks in office, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life in prison.
The three inmates that remain are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history.
By JULIE WALKER Associated Press
A fire burned down a Long Island cat shelter, killing its founder, who lived there, and at least 59 of the felines he rescued, authorities said.
The fire at the Happy Cat Sanctuary in the hamlet of Medford was reported shortly after 7 a.m. Monday. The cause is under investigation.
The body of founder Christopher Arsenault, 65, was found in a back room, officials said.
“He appeared to be a very caring person,” said Roy Gross, chief of the Suffolk County SPCA. “His life was about the cats.”
An estimated 150 cats are believed to have survived at the facility, which also included outdoor buildings, Gross said. Some of the surviving animals suffered burns and smoke inhalation. The SPCA and other animal rescue groups were working together to arrange care for them.
Arsenault founded Happy Cat in 2006 after the death of his 24-year-old son, Eric, in a motorcycle accident, according to the sanctuary’s website. Arsenault described finding his calling when he came across a colony of 30 sick kittens and nursed them back to health.
At the time of the fire, he was planning to move the sanctuary from Long Island to a farm upstate, Gross said.
“Unfortunately, this disaster happened and now he’s gone,” Gross said. “Right now it’s in the early stages of trying to put all of this together to get these animals cared for.”
The Trump administration has nominated former Long Island Rep. Anthony D’Esposito to serve as inspector general for the Department of Labor.
D’Esposito, served one term as congressman for Long Island’s 4th District. He was defeated in November by Rep. Laura Gillen.
Suffolk County police respond to a hazmat situation at the Homewood Suites by Hilton hotel in Melville Monday afternoon.
An employee at the hotel reportedly accidently spilled pool chemicals. One person was taken to the hospital, and dozens of guests were forced to evacuate.
NEW YORK (AP) — As the trade wars launched by U.S. President Donald Trump continue to escalate, all eyes are on Wednesday.
Trump has repeatedly called April 2 “Liberation Day,” with promises to roll out a set of tariffs, or taxes on imports from other countries, that he says will free the U.S. from a reliance on foreign goods. To do this, Trump has said he’ll impose “reciprocal” tariffs to match the duties that other countries charge on U.S. products.
But a lot remains unknown about how these levies will actually be implemented. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Trump would unveil his plans to place reciprocal tariffs on nearly all American trading partners on Wednesday, but maintained that the details are up to the president to announce.
Since taking office just months ago, Trump has proven to be aggressive with tariff threats, all while creating a sense of whiplash through on-again, off-again trade actions. And it’s possible that we’ll see more delays or confusion this week.
Trump has argued that tariffs protect U.S. industries from unfair foreign competition, raise money for the federal government and provide leverage to demand concessions from other countries. But economists stress that broad tariffs at the rates suggested by Trump could backfire.
Tariffs typically trickle down to the consumer through higher prices — and businesses worldwide also have a lot to lose if their costs rise and their sales fall. Import taxes already in effect, coupled with uncertainty around future trade actions and possible retaliations, have already roiled financial markets and lowered consumer confidence while enveloping many with questions that could delay hiring and investment.
Here’s what you need to know.
What will happen on April 2?
Details around Trump’s plans remain uncertain. Reciprocal tariffs could take the form of product-by-product duties, for example, or more broad “averages” imposed across all goods from each country — or perhaps something else entirely. The rates could reflect what other countries charge as well as their value added taxes and subsidies to domestic companies.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told “Fox News Sunday” that the tariffs could raise $600 billion annually, which would imply an average rate of 20%.
Trump has talked about taxing the European Union, South Korea, Brazil and India, among other countries, through these levies. On Monday, Leavitt said Trump had been presented with several proposals by his advisers. She added that the president would make a final decision, but right now was not contemplating any country-wide exemptions from the tariffs.
Previously-delayed import taxes could take effect very soon. Trump’s month-long delay for many goods from Canada and Mexico, for example, is set to elapse in early April. Earlier this month, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that the extension granted for Mexican imports covered by the USMCA runs through April 2. But further confirmation around a specific date has not been issued since.
Which of Trump’s tariffs are about to start?
Trump has said he will place a 25% tariff on all imports from any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela, which includes the U.S. itself, starting Wednesday — in addition to imposing new tariffs on the South American country.
His 25% tariffs on auto imports will start being collected Thursday, with taxes on fully-imported cars kicking off at midnight. The tariffs are set to expand to applicable auto parts in the following weeks, through May 3.
The White House says it expects to raise $100 billion in revenue annually from these new duties, but economists stress this trade action will upend the auto industry’s global supply chain and lead to higher prices for consumers.
Which tariffs have already gone into effect?
Trump imposed a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports beginning Feb. 4, a levy he later doubled to 20% from March 4 onward. And China has hit back with retaliatory tariffs covering a range of U.S. goods, including a 15% tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas products and 10% tariff on crude oil from the U.S. that took effect Feb 10. China also imposed tariffs of up to 15% on key U.S. farm exports starting March 10.
Trump’s expanded steel and aluminum tariffs went into effect earlier this month, too. Both metals are now taxed at 25% across the board — with Trump’s order to remove steel exemptions and raise aluminum’s levy from his previously-imposed 2018 import taxes taking effect March 12.
Canada and Mexico, America’s two largest trading partners, have also faced steep tariffs. Earlier this month, Trump implemented a partial, month-long delay of his 25% tariffs on both countries — delaying taxes for auto-related imports as well as goods that comply with the 2020 US-Mexico-Canada Agreement until early April.
But other imports are still levied, as well as a lower 10% duty on potash and Canadian energy products. In response to these tariffs, as well as the new steel and aluminum import taxes, Canada has rolled out a series of counter measures amounting to billions of dollars on U.S. goods. Mexico, meanwhile, has yet to formally impose new levies — signaling it may still hope to de-escalate the trade war, although the country previously promised retaliation to Trump’s actions.
Can we expect additional tariffs down the road?
Even more tariffs from Trump are likely, with the president also threatening import taxes on products like copper, lumber, pharmaceutical drugs and computer chips.
And many countries have promised retaliatory measures — if not already imposed them, like Canada. Trump has said he won’t negotiate with other countries on Wednesday’s tariffs until after they’re imposed, though he has said his 25% taxes on auto imports would be permanent.
In response to Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs, the European Union announced measures on U.S. goods worth some 26 billion euros ($28 billion) — to target steel and aluminum products, but also American beef, poultry, bourbon, motorcycles, peanut butter and jeans. The 27-member bloc had intended to roll out this retaliatory trade action in two phases, on Tuesday and April 13, but later said it will delay it until mid-April, without giving a specific date.
We’ll potentially see more retaliatory announcements this week, particularly if Trump confirms more details of sweeping reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday.
March 26, 2025 (Deer Park) — United Way of Long Island is pleased to announce a generous $12,000 contribution from PSEG Long Island to Project Warmth, the region’s only non-governmental emergency fuel fund. This support helped provide heating assistance to over 2,000 families and individuals facing financial hardship across Nassau and Suffolk counties during this past winter. Now in its 30th year, Project Warmth has been a lifeline for more than 30,000 families to keep their homes warm.
“We are grateful for PSEG Long Island’s ongoing support of Project Warmth and its commitment to families, children, veterans, and seniors facing energy insecurity,” said Theresa Regnante, President & CEO of United Way of Long Island. “PSEG’s inclusion of a donation appeal in utility bills—reaching over 600,000 customers—has been instrumental in driving support for Project Warmth and extending security to more families in need. This support is truly game-changing.”
Project Warmth provides emergency heating assistance to eligible households who have exhausted other options, covering all fuel sources, including oil, gas, propane, and electricity. The program is made possible through the generosity of corporate partners like PSEG Long Island, as well as individual donors and community organizations.
“PSEG Long Island is committed to supporting our neighbors, especially during the colder months when heating costs can become overwhelming,” said David Lyons, Interim President and Chief Operating Officer. “By contributing to Project Warmth and encouraging our customers to do the same, we are working together to ensure that families across Long Island have the support they need to stay safe and warm.”
For those receiving assistance, the impact is life-changing. “When my oil tank ran dry during a freezing night, I didn’t know where to turn,” said Barbara, a local Project Warmth senior recipient. “Thanks to United Way and Project Warmth, I was able to get emergency assistance to keep warm. I’m beyond grateful for this support and for companies like PSEG Long Island that make it possible.”
United Way of Long Island urges individuals, businesses, and organizations to join PSEG Long Island in supporting Project Warmth. Donations can be made online at www.unitedwayli.org/projectwarmth or by calling 211 for more information on how to contribute or apply for assistance.
About United Way of Long Island
United Way of Long Island mobilizes communities to action so all can thrive. True to our founding spirit, whenever there is a need in our community, United Way of Long Island is there. We bring a comprehensive approach to every challenge, actively listening and responding to local needs. Our reach
across communities means we can share innovations and scale impact to improve lives. From strengthening local resilience to advancing health, youth opportunity, and financial security, we’re working towards a future where every person in every community can reach their full potential. To learn more, please visit www.unitedwayli.org, call 2.1.1 or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, and Instagram.
PSEG Long Island
PSEG Long Island is committed to providing the people of Long Island and the Rockaways with exceptional customer service, best-in-class reliability and storm response, and a strong level of involvement in the communities in which its employees live and work. PSEG Long Island operates the Long Island Power Authority’s transmission and distribution system under a long-term contract. PSEG Long Island is a subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PSEG) (NYSE:PEG), a publicly traded diversified energy company.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that “I’m not joking” about trying to serve a third term, the clearest indication he is considering ways to breach a constitutional barrier against continuing to lead the country after his second term ends in early 2029.
“There are methods which you could do it,” Trump said in a telephone interview with NBC News from Mar-a-Lago, his private club.
He also said “it is far too early to think about it.”
The 22nd Amendment, added to the Constitution in 1951 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times in a row, says “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”
Any attempt to remain in office would be legally suspect and it is unclear how seriously he might pursue the idea. The comments nonetheless were an extraordinary reflection of the desire to maintain power by a president who had violated democratic traditions four years ago when he tried to overturn the election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
NBC’s Kristen Welker asked Trump if one potential avenue to a third term was having Vice President JD Vance run for the top job and “then pass the baton to you.”
“Well, that’s one,” Trump responded. “But there are others too. There are others.”
“Can you tell me another?” Welker asked.
“No,” Trump replied.
Vance’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Derek Muller, a professor of election law at Notre Dame, noted that the 12th Amendment, which was ratified in 1804, says “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.”
Muller said that indicates that if Trump is not eligible to run for president again because of the 22nd Amendment, he is not eligible to run for vice president, either.
“I don’t think there’s any ‘one weird trick’ to getting around presidential term limits,” Muller said.
In addition, pursuing a third term would require extraordinary acquiescence by federal and state officials, not to mention the courts and voters themselves.
He suggested that Trump is talking about a third term for political reasons to “show as much strength as possible.”
“A lame-duck president like Donald Trump has every incentive in the world to make it seem like he’s not a lame duck,” he said.
Trump, who would be 82 at the end of his second term, was asked whether he would want to keep serving in “the toughest job in the country” at that point.
“Well, I like working,” the president said.
He suggested that Americans would go along with a third term because of his popularity. He falsely claimed to have “the highest poll numbers of any Republican for the last 100 years.”
Gallup data shows President George W. Bush reaching a 90% approval rating after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. His father, President George H.W. Bush, hit 89% following the Gulf War in 1991.
Trump has maxed out at 47% in Gallup data during his second term, despite claiming to be “in the high 70s in many polls, in the real polls.”
Trump has mused before about serving longer than two terms before, generally with jokes to friendly audiences.
“Am I allowed to run again?” he said during a House Republican retreat in January.
Representatives for the congressional leadership — House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York — did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the AP.
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — The question of whether certain DNA evidence can be used in the upcoming trial of a Manhattan architect charged in a string of deaths known as the Gilgo Beach killings is the focus of court hearings that began Friday on Long Island.
Lawyers for Rex Heuermann want DNA tests conducted by Astrea Forensics on hairs recovered from most of the seven victims in the case to be excluded from the trial, saying the California-based lab’s method has never been accepted in a New York court of law.
But an academic expert testifying in the pre-trial hearing in Riverhead court said the type of testing used, known as nuclear DNA, or “whole genome sequencing,” is widely accepted in the scientific community.
Dr. Kelley Harris, a University of Washington professor of genome sciences, described Astrea Forensics’ method as an “elegant and powerful” way to determine whether hair fragments pulled from a crime scene match those taken from suspects.
Heuermann’s attorney, Michael Brown, sought to temper Harris’ testimony, noting during his cross-examination that she had no background in the forensic science used in criminal cases.
He also pressed Harris on her close ties to the co-founder of Astrea Forensics, Dr. Richard Green, who she has coauthored research papers with and considers a colleague.
“She’s the witness for hire, and she was suggested by Dr. Green to be a proponent of this magic, as we call it,” Brown said after the daylong hearing.
He also took aim at Astrea Forensics’ use of the publicly accessible 1,000 Genomes Project, which sequenced the DNA of some 2,500 people worldwide, as the reference pool for comparing hair samples in the case.
“Hopefully the point got across that it has no business being utilized in a criminal court,” Brown said outside court. “The 1,000 Genomes Project has been around for quite a while and it’s never been used in a forensic setting, and the reason they don’t use it as a population reference is because it’s simply not enough people to compare it to.”
The proceedings continue next Wednesday when other experts are expected to testify before Judge Timothy Mazzei renders a decision.
Heuermann, who was dressed in a dark suit, didn’t speak during Friday’s hearing. Asa Ellerup, who reached a divorce settlement with Heuermann on Thursday, was also in court, along with the couple’s daughter and the family’s lawyer.
No trial date has been set for the case, which spans decades of killings on Long Island.
Heuermann’s legal team also wants to break the case into multiple trials over concerns about the “cumulative effect” of the evidence presented by prosecutors. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office has opposed that request. Mazzei is expected to rule on it soon.
Prosecutors argued in legal briefs ahead of the hearing that whole genome sequencing has been accepted in peer-reviewed scientific journals and by federal regulators, paleontologists, virologists and medical communities.
They say the findings by Astrea Forensics were also independently corroborated by another lab’s mitochondrial DNA testing — a methodology long accepted by New York courts.
Since late 2010, police on Long Island have been investigating the deaths of at least 10 people — mostly female sex workers — whose remains were discovered along an isolated highway not far from Gilgo Beach.
Heuermann, who lives in nearby Massapequa Park, was arrested in 2023 and charged in the deaths of three of the victims between 2009 and 2010: Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello and Megan Waterman.
While in custody, he was subsequently charged in the deaths of four other women: Valerie Mack in 2000, Jessica Taylor in 2003, Maureen Brainard-Barnes in 2007 and Sandra Costilla in 1993.
Heuermann has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to all counts.