Neil A. Carousso produces and co-hosts WCBS Newsradio 880’s Small Business Spotlight series with Joe Connolly. Click here to watch the weekly video segments featuring advice for business owners on survival, recovery and growth opportunities.
“Never Forget” is not just a catchy phrase or a popular hashtag, but it is a way Americans, particularly New Yorkers and those personally affected with the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, cope with the daily reminder of the world we live in 15 years in the aftermath of the worst attack on United States soil.
We will never forget the 2,997 people who were killed on that clear Tuesday morning – 2,753 of whom died at the World Trade Center in New York City – 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York Police Department officers, 37 Port Authority police officers, 1,402 employees in Tower One and 614 employees in Tower Two.
We will never forget the 189 people who died at The Pentagon between the 64 people on board Flight 77 and the 125 Pentagon personnel.
We will never forget the 44 brave men and women on board Flight 93 who voted on a plan to fight the four al-Qaeda hijackers in what President George W. Bush described as the “first counter offensive of the war on terror.” As they called their loved ones, the passengers on Flight 93 made it their mission to prevent the further loss of life, trying to gain control of the plane and ultimately crashing into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It is believed the terrorists planned on targeting the White House or the Capitol Building.
Every 9/11 is a sobering reminder that we are a target to those who oppose American culture, freedom and sovereignty. New Yorkers, under the leadership of Mayor Rudy Giuliani, slowly recovered, as Giuliani urged city residents to try to get back to work and to their daily routines. But, there was a vacancy in the heart and soul of the city and country, the smell of Ground Zero unescapable and the fog of war looming in front of Lady Liberty.
Therefore, we must never forget 9/11, we must never become complacent in security and we must respect and thank our heroes – the police and firefighters who were the first responders and protected us 15 years ago and each and every day as well as the brave men and women who have served and continue to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. We must fight to secure our freedoms, symbolized by the beautiful Freedom Tower and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Lower Manhattan and guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution against a radical Islamic terrorist threat and any terrorism threat to our country.
NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) — A pedestrian was hit and killed in Newark early Friday morning, August 19 during a police chase.
The young woman was walking on the sidewalk with two friends on Washington Street near Court Street around 2:30 a.m. when she was struck Friday night.
Amid a mess of car parts and broken glass and twisted metal were candles and balloons in a memorial to a woman whose only mistake was to walk down the block.
“Everybody loved her,” said Yvonne Willis, the victim’s aunt.
Chynna Willis’ devastated mother just had to see for herself, the spot where an out-of-control car flew off University Avenue and crushed the 24-year-old, who may not even have seen it coming.
“He had to hit her so hard from the impact her sneakers flew off,” Yvonne said.
“I heard the skidding and then I heard the boom,” a witness said.
It happened at 2:30 in the morning as prosecutors say Newark police were chasing a suspect driving a Dodge Charger, when he careened around a curve and jumped the curb. Eyewitnesses say cops were right behind him.
“It was three cars back to back like in a movie, the lights blazing and everything,” said Crystal Warner, an eyewitness.
“Cars on top of the fence, people screaming, hollering,” said Eugene Antwine, an eyewitness.
“My daughter was pinned they said, under the hood of the car,” her mother said.
Willis wound up so deep in the wreckage, at first it seemed like she’d been in the car.
As for the driver, police got him right away.
“One person was like walking really fast, walking down the street and cops caught him right away,” Warner said.
Prosecutors identified him as 45-year-old Ken Gunther. They won’t say why cops had been chasing him, though sources say they found a large quantity of drugs in his car.
Chynna’s family is demanding an explanation.
“I blame the cops for chasing him because whatever he did, I’m quite sure it wasn’t that serious,” Yvonne said.
“Was the drugs worth you all taking her life? Because we will never get her back,” said Shaanna Willis, the victim’s cousin.
Gunther sustained minor injuries and was treated and released from University Hospital. He has been charged with one count of eluding and one count of resisting arrest, but more charges are expected.
The investigation is active and ongoing.
Josh Einiger from WABC-TV New York contributed to this reporting.
Last weekend, Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey, Jr. were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the second New York Mets and Seattle Mariners players, respectfully, to be represented in Cooperstown. I co-hosted a “Long Island Community Spotlight Special” with Basia of WRHU-FM in New York and executive produced and hosted “WRHU’s 3rd Annual Hall of Fame Live Special with Neil A. Carousso” from the induction ceremony, both airing on induction day, Sunday, July 24 as we celebrated America’s Pastime. Guests of the “Live Special” include former Mets manager Bobby Valentine, Kenny Albert of Fox Sports, WFAN’s Mike Francesa and Howie Rose, the voice of the Mets.
Featured image photo credits: Mike Piazza (Jeff Haynes/AFP/Getty Images) Ken Griffey Jr. (Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
Millennials, defined as individuals who reach adulthood around year 2000, have been closely watching the 2016 presidential campaigns. Many were mobilized by Senator Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) message of a “future to believe in” while not trusting now Presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton because of her history taking large sums of money from corporations and countries for the Clinton Foundation and for speeches.
On July 5, FBI Director Jim Comey laid out a scathing report of the agency’s investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private e-mail server, actually multiple servers, which Comey revealed, to the American people.
“One hundred and ten emails in 52 e-mail chains have been determined by the owning agency to have contained classified information at the time they were sent or received,” Comey said in front of a national television audience. “Eight of those chains contained information.”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has denied using a private e-mail server multiple times including a March 10 press conference, two Democratic presidential debates and under oath in front of the U.S. House Select Committee on Benghazi on October 22, 2015
“There was nothing marked classified on my e-mails, either sent or received,” Clinton said under oath in response to questioning from Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH).
Clinton had also been caught in hostile questioning from Rep. Jordan regarding her blaming of the September 11, 2012 Benghazi attack on a video when she told her daughter, Chelsea, and the Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil within 24 hours that it was, in fact, a terrorist attack. Four Americans including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens died in Benghazi, Libya.
Millennials react to the campaign, specifically discuss whether or not they trust Mrs. Clinton. A recent New York Times/CBS News Poll indicates Clinton’s “not honest and untrustworthy” numbers are at an all-time high 67 percent, up 5 percent from last month.
New York, NY — Donald Trump introduced Governor Mike Pence (R-IA) on Saturday morning at the New York Hilton Midtown. Trump said Pence was his “first choice” because he was impressed by Pence’s record in Indiana which includes over 150,000 new private sector jobs, 32,000 school choice scholarships and the 2nd lowest unemployment among veterans in the nation.
The Republican National Convention begins Monday in Cleveland, OH where Trump and Pence are expected to be officially billed on the Republican ticket.