Month: August 2025

The man accused of fatally stabbing a couple while they were hiking with two of their daughters at Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas pleaded not guilty to two capital murder charges on Thursday.

Andrew James McGann, a 28-year-old elementary school teacher, was captured and arrested in Springdale, Arkansas after a five-day search.  He was charged with two counts of capital murder in the killing of Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, who were hiking with two of their daughters at Devil’s Den on July 26. The couple’s daughters, who are 7 and 9, were not hurt and are being cared for by family members. Devil’s Den is a 2,500-acre state park about 140 miles northwest of Little Rock, the capital city of Arkansas. The park is surrounded by the Ozark National Forest, and some hiking trails lead into those woods.

According to NBC affiliate KNWA-TV, McGann hardly spoke and showed little emotion during the arraignment, which lasted around 30 minutes. McGann’s lawyers from the county public defender’s office declined to comment. In a brief statement, the Washington County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said that “the state continues to pursue the death penalty” in the case.  He is being held without bond at the Washington County Detention Center until the end of his trial; his next court date was scheduled for Nov. 14.

Investigators believe that Clinton was attacked first, while Cristen brought the kids to safety. Authorities said she then returned to help her husband before being attacked herself.  A witness reported seeing an individual with blood on his face leaving the park’s trail and getting into a black sedan, with a second witness identifying the black sedan as a Kia Stinger. McGann evaded authorities for several days after the Brinks were found dead, before authorities were able to match his car to the car described by the witnesses. He was arrested on July 30 in a barbershop while getting his hair cut in Springdale.

Authorities said that McGann’s DNA was found at the crime scene, and also made statements to investigators “indicating that he had committed these heinous acts.” Arkansas State Police Col. Mike Hagar previously said the killings appeared to be “a completely random event” because there’s “absolutely no indication, no reason whatsoever to believe there was any connection at all” between the Brinks and McGann. A motive for the attack remains unknown.

Officials said McGann recently moved to Arkansas for a new job at an elementary school in the Springdale Public School district, after teaching in various schools throughout Texas and Oklahoma.  McGann passed background checks for his employment by Oklahoma’s Education Department and for the two districts in the state where he taught. Officials also said McGann had no criminal history and no known mental illness history.

Editorial credit: Ozark Obscura / Shutterstock.com

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that his administration is opening a second immigration detention facility dubbed “Deportation Depot.” The new facility in north Florida comes one month after the state opened a detention center in the Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

DeSantis said at a news conference Thursday: “We are authorizing and will be soon opening this new illegal immigration detention, processing and deportation facility here in North Florida. We are calling this the Deportation Depot,” adding that more than 1,300 detainees will be held inside the facility at Baker Correctional Institution in Sanderson, Florida, a temporarily closed state prison about 45 miles west of Jacksonville near Osceola National Forest.

DeSantis added: “We’ve been securing the border, enforcing immigration laws and removing illegal aliens who are in our society now, sending them back to their home country. We have done more on this than any other state by a country mile.”

Last week, a federal judge temporarily halted any further construction on the Alligator Alcatraz facility to prevent possible harm to the sensitive Everglades ecosystem. The state of Florida and the Trump administration can continue to use the facility and house detainees there, but any further construction must be halted for 14 days, per the judge’s order said.

Editorial credit: Juli Hansen / Shutterstock.com

Evacuations are underway in parts of Alaska’s capital of Juneau after a glacial outburst sent water rushing down the Mendenhall River into areas in the region, which is expected to cause major flooding. The flooding is being caused by a “glacier-dammed lake outburst” (GLOF) which occurs when a lake dammed by ice or a glacial deposit gives way and releases heavy amounts of water into river systems further downstream.

The city and borough of Juneau announced that it “is aware of the presence of water in certain areas” and that anyone within the flood zone of the Mendenhall River should evacuate the area. A Facebook post read: “A glacial outburst has occurred at Suicide Basin. The basin is releasing and flooding is expected along the Mendenhall Lake and River.”

Officials have recommended that residents within the 17-foot lake level inundation zone evacuate the area until the water recedes and an “All Clear” message is sent via the wireless emergency alert system.  The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also issued a temporary flight restriction (TFR) around the area.

The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Juneau issued a Flood Warning for the Mendenhall River and said that as of early Wednesday morning, the river was over 15 feet and was continuing to rise: “Our forecast right now, we’re starting to think that we’re going to crest, we were messaging 8 a.m. though 12 p.m., we’re thinking our crest might be closer to 8 in the morning and might be closer to the higher end of the spectrum,” with forecasters estimating that the river was expected to crest between 16.25 feet and 16.75 feet.

Suicide Basin is a side basin of the Mendenhall Glacier above Juneau. Since 2011, the NWS said Suicide Basin has released glacial lake outburst floods that caused inundation along Mendenhall Lake and River annually with a record flooding event taking place on Aug. 6, 2024, that had caused the river to reach a then-record level of 15.99 feet. As of 10 a.m. EDT Wednesday, the river had already reached 16.17 feet and was still rising. The flood warning is scheduled to remain in effect until 12 p.m. EDT on Thursday.

Editorial credit: Janice Chen / Shutterstock.com

On Wednesday, President Trump had a virtual meeting with numerous European Union leaders, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, ahead of his scheduled summit in Alaska on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Organized by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the call on Wednesday included Trump, Zelenskyy (who joined Merz in Berlin), Vice President JD Vance, and several European leaders including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.  Trump joined the call from the White House, writing ahead of the meeting: “Will be speaking to European Leaders in a short while. They are great people who want to see a deal done.”

The EU on Tuesday demanded that the Ukrainian people should determine their own future and that no peace deal with Russia could be decided without Ukraine at the table. Leaders of 26 of 27 European Union nations said in a statement that viable negotiations must be within the framework of a cease-fire or easing of hostilities and warned of the threat the war posed to European and international security. Merz said in an interview over the weekend: “We cannot accept that territorial issues between Russia and America are discussed or even decided over the heads of Europeans, over the heads of Ukrainians. I assume that the American government sees it the same way. That is why there is this close coordination.”

Trump said on Wednesday said after the Alaska meeting, he hopes there will be a second meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy. Asked by a reporter at an event at the Kennedy Center whether there will be consequences for Putin if he doesn’t agree to stop the war after the Friday meeting, Mr. Trump said, “There will be very severe consequences,” but declined to elaborate.

Merz, standing alongside Zelenskyy, told journalists in a press conference after meeting with Mr. Trump: “U.S. President Trump will start discussions with President Putin in Alaska about bringing the war to an end, and important decisions could be reached. We as Europeans are doing everything we can to help set the agenda for that meeting. We’re hoping that Donald Trump has success in that meeting in Anchorage.”

Merz said that he and Zelenskyy had spoken with Mr. Trump together: “In Alaska, security interests of Europe and Ukraine must be protected. That is part of what we discussed with President Trump. We were together on the conditions of this meeting and the goals of this meeting on Friday … We want to make sure that the right chronology happens: that there is a ceasefire and that there is an agreement that is discussed after that. A legal recognition of Russian ownership of this territory cannot happen. There have to be robust security guarantees. The sovereignty of Ukraine has to be respected. Negotiations have to be part of a larger transatlantic strategy, and has to be part of necessary pressure on Russia. If there is no movement on the Russian side, we and the U.S. have to put more pressure on Russia. President Trump knows this position and largely agrees with it, and we had a good conversation with each other. Everything … needs to be discussed with Ukraine”

Zelenskyy thanked Merz and said “everything regarding Ukraine needs to be discussed with Ukraine. We have to be part of this conversation .. President Trump has supported us today, and the U.S. is ready to support us.”  The Ukrainian leader added that he told Trump and the European leaders that “Putin is bluffing,” and that “Putin doesn’t want peace. He wants to occupy our country, and we understand it. Putin cannot fool us. We need to pressure him. Sanctions not only from the U.S., but from the European Union. Together our union of partners can really, really stop Putin’s war. Sanctions and increasing sanctions on Russia if they are not agreeing to a ceasefire — this is very effective and they are working.”

Editorial credit: Joshua Sukoff / Shutterstock.com