LOS ANGELES — The brown felt fedora worn by actor Harrison Ford in the second installment of the Indiana Jones movies sold for $630,000 at auction, film and TV memorabilia company Propstore announced Friday.
The hat featured in 1984’s “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” had been expected to fetch between $250,000 and $500,000, according to the item’s online description.
The fedora comes from the personal collection of the late stunt performer Dean Ferrandini, who also wore it while standing in for Ford as Jones, the dashing archaeologist who really hates snakes.
Keeping the fedora in place during filming was an “ongoing challenge,” Propstore’s expert said in the online description, and foam pieces were inserted to make it fit more snugly.
Created by the Herbert Johnson Hat Company in London, it is made of sable-colored rabbit felt.
Other items sold include an Imperial scout trooper’s white “biker scout” helmet from 1983’s “Return of the Jedi,” which went for $315,000, and a ghost costume worn by stars in the 1996 movie “Scream,” which sold for $270,900,
“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” also featured Kate Capshaw as nightclub singer Willie Scott and Ke Huy Quan as Short Round.
Former U.S. Rep. George Santos is due in court Monday afternoon, where a person familiar with the matter has said the New York Republican is expected to plead guilty to multiple counts in his federal fraud case.
The person could not publicly discuss details of the plea and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Santos and his attorneys did not return requests for comment.
The case has been set to go to trial early next month. The Monday afternoon court date on Long Island was scheduled only on Friday at the request of both prosecutors and Santos’ lawyers. A letter making the request did not specify what it would be about.
Santos has previously pleaded not guilty to a range of alleged financial crimes, including lying to Congress about his wealth, collecting unemployment benefits while actually working and using campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses.
The 36-year-old was once touted as a rising political star after he flipped the suburban district that covers the affluent North Shore of Long Island and a slice of the New York City borough of Queens in 2022.
But his life story began unraveling before he was even sworn into office. At the time, reports emerged that he had lied about having a career at top Wall Street firms and a college degree along with other questions of his biography.
New questions then emerged about his campaign funds.
He was first indicted on federal charges in May 2023, but refused to resign from office. Santos was expelled from Congress after an ethics investigation found “overwhelming evidence” that he had broken the law and exploited his public position for his own profit.
Santos has previously maintained his innocence, though he said in an interview in December that a plea deal with prosecutors was “not off the table.”
Asked if he was afraid of going to prison, he told CBS 2 at the time: “I think everybody should be afraid of going to jail, it’s not a pretty place and uh, I definitely want to work very hard to avoid that as best as possible.”
As the trial date neared in recent weeks, Santos had sought to have a partially anonymous jury, with his lawyers arguing in court papers that “the mere risk of public ridicule could influence the individual jurors ability to decide Santos’ case solely on the facts and law as presented in Court.”
He also wanted potential jurors to fill out a written questionnaire gauging their opinions of him. His lawyers argued the survey was needed because “for all intents and purposes, Santos has already been found guilty in the court of public opinion.”
Judge Joanna Seybert agreed to keep jurors’ identities public but said no to the questionnaire.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, had been seeking to admit as evidence some of the financial falsehoods Santos told during his campaign, including that he’d worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs and that he had operated a family-run firm with approximately $80 million in assets,
Two Santos campaign aides have already pleaded guilty to crimes related to the former congressman’s campaign.
His ex-treasurer, Nancy Marks, pleaded guilty in October to a fraud conspiracy charge, implicating Santos in an alleged scheme to embellish his campaign finance reports with a fake loan and fake donors. A lawyer for Marks said at the time his client would be willing to testify against Santos if asked.
Sam Miele, a former fundraiser for Santos, pleaded guilty a month later to a federal wire fraud charge, admitting he impersonated a high-ranking congressional aide while raising money for Santos’ campaign.
CHICAGO — The 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC) is set to begin Monday, Aug. 19, in Chicago, marking a historic moment for the Democratic Party. Delegates from across the nation will officially throw their support behind Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, following their unconventional rise to the party’s nomination. The four-day event will be packed with speeches from Democratic heavyweights and serve as a rallying cry for the party as it gears up for the upcoming election.
Vice President Harris secured the nomination after garnering the majority of delegate votes during a virtual roll call earlier this month. Her nomination comes as President Joe Biden withdrew from the race following concerns about his age and ability to campaign, effectively passing the torch to Harris. This momentous occasion will culminate with Harris’ acceptance speech on Thursday night.
President Biden is expected to take center stage on Monday evening, delivering a bittersweet address as he reflects on his legacy and the future of the party. His withdrawal from the race came after private and public pressure from Democratic leaders and polling data indicating a widening gap between him and former President Donald Trump. Despite stepping aside, Biden has endorsed Harris, emphasizing her potential to be “one hell of a president.”
In a speech likely to celebrate his administration’s accomplishments—including the Inflation Reduction Act and federal gun reform—Biden is expected to rally Democrats while acknowledging that the future of the party now rests in Harris’ hands. Observers anticipate that Biden will receive a hero’s welcome, with calls for unity and recognition of his policy achievements.
The convention will feature a lineup of notable speakers, including Bernie Sanders, who will focus on lowering healthcare costs and taking on Big Pharma, a key issue for the Harris-Walz ticket. Other prominent figures such as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton will also speak throughout the week, adding to the event’s political gravitas.
The DNC will be held at the United Center, with additional activities at the McCormick Place Convention Center. Democrats are gathering in Chicago, a key stronghold in the party’s 2020 victory, as they look to re-energize their base ahead of November’s election.
ABC News will provide special coverage throughout the convention, with live-streamed events available on platforms including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
Perdue Foods is recalling more than 167,000 pounds of frozen chicken nuggets and tenders because of the possible presence of metal in the products.
The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said Friday that the recalled items were produced on March 23 and shipped to retail locations across the country or sold online. They have a best-by date of March 23, 2025.
The recalled products are:
– 22-ounce packages of Perdue Simply Smart Organics Breaded Chicken Breast Nuggets – 29-ounce packages of Perdue Chicken Breast Tenders – 22-ounce packages of Butcherbox Organic Chicken Breast Nuggets
“We determined the material to be a very thin strand of metal wire that was inadvertently introduced into the manufacturing process,” Jeff Shaw, Perdue’s senior vice president of food safety and quality, said in a news release. “Out of an abundance of caution, we decided to voluntarily recall all of these packages of products.”
If you have these products in your freezer, do not use them; throw them out or return them to the place of purchase.
Perdue Farms via CNN NewsourcePerdue Farms via CNN NewsourcePerdue Chicken Breast Tenders are among the products under recall.Perdue Farms via CNN Newsource
There have not been any confirmed reports of adverse reactions, the USDA says, but consumers who are concerned about an injury or illness should get medical care.
Consumers with questions about the recall can contact Perdue at 866-866-3703, and anyone with food safety questions can call the USDA at 888-674-6854.
HOUSTON, Texas — Eddie Nuñez has agreed to a five-year deal to become athletic director at the University of Houston, the school announced on Saturday.
Nuñez will leave the University of New Mexico for the Cougars and the Big 12 Conference. He was named the Lobos’ athletic director in 2017, and his title was changed to include vice president in 2021.
Nuñez, who played basketball for former coach Billy Donovan and the Florida Gators, also worked for LSU’s athletics department, and will now head a university trying to gain its footing in the clogged Big 12. He will be introduced on Wednesday.
“Eddie Nuñez brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of success during a time of great transformation in college athletics,” Houston president Renu Khator said in a statement. “His leadership will be critical as we continue to elevate our athletics programs, enhance the student-athlete experience, and build on the tremendous momentum at the University of Houston.”
In its first season in the new league, Houston’s football team went 4-8 last year, ending the schedule on a four-game losing streak. After the season, former coach Dana Holgorsen was fired, replaced by Willie Fritz, who led Tulane to a program renaissance.
Nuñez will replace Chris Pezman, who was dismissed after seven years in that post, in June. At the time, in a statement, Khator said, “Chris Pezman ushered our athletics program through a period of incredible transformation, and we are grateful for his leadership over the past six years. He has been a pivotal part of our entry into the Big 12 Conference and championed the success of student athletes on the field and in the classroom.
“This was a difficult but necessary decision as we navigate a paradigm shift in collegiate athletics,” Khator said.
The Cougars open the football season on Aug. 31 vs. UNLV.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A deadly crash that happened early Sunday in Houston’s Midtown area is now being investigated as a homicide by the Houston Police Department. Investigators said a man was trying to run down his partner when he hit and killed someone else.
According to preliminary information provided by witnesses, HPD said at around 3 a.m., the suspect and a woman got into an altercation inside one of the nearby nightclubs before security intervened.
After the two were asked to leave, the man then reportedly got into his car and tried to hit the woman he was arguing with, but ultimately hit someone else, police confirmed.
“The suspect left the establishment and upon leaving, the male got into the vehicle, started driving around, and struck multiple vehicles. It then appears that it was his intention of striking his girlfriend, who was his primary witness, with his motor vehicle,” Sgt. Robert Klementich. (She) was able to get out of the way.”
Klementich said that the man ended up hitting another woman who was walking on the sidewalk in the 2400 block of San Jacinto Street. Investigators confirmed the woman who was hit worked as a nightclub manager.
ABC13 spoke with the victim’s family, who confirmed she worked as a manager for 10 years and was standing outside, closing up for the night, when she was fatally struck.
Officials said she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Houston police said the suspect fled from the crash, and employees of the nightclub tried chasing him down. He was eventually located and detained by police about half a mile away near the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, thanks to information provided by witnesses.
HPD plans to pursue a murder charge against the suspect.
“It’s kind of like if he were to pull out a gun, try shooting his wife, and miss. It’s still his intention to use a deadly weapon. Instead of a 160-grain bullet, he used a 4,000 lb. motor vehicle as his weapon of choice,” Klementich said.
Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a sweeping economic agenda on Friday, vowing to ease inflation, fix the housing market and slash taxes for middle-income families.
The plans include eye-catching proposals such as a ban on grocery price gouging and a $25,000 subsidy for first-time homebuyers.
Economists who spoke to ABC News offered up a mixed assessment of the newly released agenda. Some experts lauded the effort to slow rising costs and restrain corporate power in key sectors, while others criticized what they consider a misguided attempt to override market forces that risks worsening the nation’s debt.
Less than three months before the presidential election, the economy tops lists of voter concerns. Growth is slowingbut remains solid. Price increases have cooled dramatically but remain higher than the Federal Reserve’s target level.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Here’s what to know about how economists assess three key pillars of Harris’ economic plan: fighting inflation, recalibrating the housing market and cutting taxes for families.
Fighting inflation
The campaign aims to rein in price increases for everything from groceries to prescription drugs to homes.
Harris points to the market power of large corporations as a key cause of rapid price increases for essential goods, saying companies use their outsized role in a given market to raise prices without fear of a competitor offering a comparable product at a more affordable price. Consumers, the Harris campaign says, are left with nowhere to turn.
The grocery industry exemplifies the damage caused by mega corporations, according to the campaign. “Extreme consolidation in the food industry has led to higher prices that account for a large part of higher grocery bills,” the campaign said in a statement on Friday.
Grocery store profit margins surged in 2021 and rose even higher two years later, even after price increases had begun to cool, a Federal Trade Commission study in March showed.
To control the price hikes, Harris proposed a federal ban on price gouging for food and groceries. While details remain limited, the plan could resemble price-gouging bans in place in 37 states, which prohibit a sudden spike in prices for scarce goods.
Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collective, in a statement on Friday echoed the Harris campaign’s criticism of the broken market for groceries.
“Price gouging, price fixing, and just plain profiteering are rampant in the food and grocery sector,” Owens said. “There is still more the government can do to reduce food and grocery concentration and stop the cheating that is costing families dearly.”
Some economists, however, rejected the notion of corporate power as an important cause of inflation, saying a limit on price hikes could result in shortages of goods.
“Most of the inflation over the past few years has been caused by increases in costs,” Steven Hamilton, a professor of economics at George Washington University, told ABC News. Hamilton acknowledged that price increases for some groceries may owe to corporate concentration, but said it doesn’t stand as a primary cause of overall inflation.
“You have to be careful not to cherry pick,” Hamilton said.
Michael Jones, an economics professor at the University of Cincinnati, said a government-imposed ceiling on prices could cause stores to run out of goods in times of scarcity.
“If there’s a restriction on the prices that companies can charge for products, they simply won’t supply them,” Jones told ABC News.
People shop at a grocery store, Aug. 14…Show moreSpencer Platt/Getty Images
Fixing the housing market
In recent years, the housing market has suffered from a convergence of high mortgage rates and elevated home prices, shutting out prospective buyers with high costs.
The Harris campaign proposed restoring affordability through a combination of boosting home supply and easing the price pressures for some homebuyers.
Plans to grow the supply of homes include a tax incentive for companies that build starter homes and affordable rental homes, the Harris campaign said. The campaign’s plans to aid buyers feature a $25,000 subsidy for first-time homebuyers.
Economists who spoke to ABC News lauded the Harris campaign’s effort to boost housing supply, but offered differing opinions about the support for homebuyers.
“The reason that housing prices have gone up in most places in America is that supply is limited,” Hamilton, of George Washington University, told ABC News. “That commitment to increase supply is rare among politicians but it’s something that economists should praise.
Some economists said the subsidies for homebuyers threaten to undermine the price cuts achieved through additional supply. If prospective buyers know they’ll receive a subsidy of $25,000 from the government, they’ll boost their asking price by that amount, said Jones, of the University of Cincinnati. As a result, he added, home prices will rise.
“If they have $25,000 more to spend on a house, they’ll submit bids up to $25,000 higher for the home,” Jones said. “That policy in particular is a bad idea because it won’t bring the price of housing down.”
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said the combination of supply growth and homebuyer support could work effectively as long as Harris focuses on boosting supply before she bolsters consumers.
“You’ve got to put the horse before the cart,” Zandi said. “It’s a matter of timing.”
Cutting taxes for middle-class families
The Harris campaign said it aims to keep some money in middle-class consumers’ pockets by reducing their tax burden.
The plans include a restoration of the expanded child tax credit of $3,600 per child that expired in 2022. Harris also proposed an additional, new $6,000 child tax credit for families with a child in the first year of life.
The tax cuts for families drew wide support from economists who spoke to ABC News, though some emphasized the importance of accompanying those proposals with revenue-raising measures that will offset the tax reductions.
“A child tax credit expansion is fantastic and I would fully support it, as long as they find way to pay for it,” said Hamilton, of George Washington University. “This is a policy targeted toward people who really need it, and families who really need it.”
For its part, the Harris campaign said on Friday that it would safeguard the federal government’s financial health, in part by increasing taxes on wealthy individuals as a means of offsetting middle-class tax cuts.
Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president, will “fulfill their commitment to fiscal responsibility, including by asking the wealthiest Americans and largest corporations to pay their fair share,” the campaign said.
Zandi, of Moody’s Analytics, voiced support for the tax cut but also urged caution about the potential loss of tax revenue. If the tax credits end up adding to the national debt, it would undermine the savings for consumers by risking an increase in overall inflation.
“I don’t think you can do anything without it being paid for,” Zandi said. “That would be counterproductive.”
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A large fire at a north Houston flea market that sent a large smoke plume into the air Friday morning has left at least four people injured, according to officials.
The Little York Fire Department responded to the Airline and West Road incident just off I-45. SkyEye flew over the active scene, showing crews battling the heavy smoke across the commercial area, which appeared to be at the Tia Pancha Flea Market.
Fire officials confirmed one firefighter was taken to the hospital for burns and another for heat exhaustion. A fire marshal office employee was also treated for heat exhaustion.
A man who may have been shopping or selling at the market was also hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
As a result of the cleanup, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said that Airline near West would be closed for four to five hours.
Gonzalez said traffic was being rerouted down West Road.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Houston Police Department believes it knows who shot a woman in a neighborhood off Old Spanish Trail on Friday evening, but it didn’t have the suspect in custody.
Police confirmed they were searching for a man accused of the shooting that unfolded in the 2800 block of Renshaw Street in the Gulfgate Riverview/Pine Valley area.
Police told ABC13’s Luke Jones that they had been at the scene since about 5 p.m. but couldn’t provide any other details, including the suspect’s identity.
However, a witness claimed that an ex-boyfriend shot the woman, whose bullet entered her cheek and exited her neck, in the middle of the street. The witness also claimed that the suspect took off in a white Nissan Murano.
If you’re considering a trip to Galveston this weekend, now is the perfect time, as the island is experiencing a rare stretch of crystal-clear blue water along its shores.
Galveston is well known for its constantly shifting water color, which often appears brown or murky due to a combination of factors. However, for those lucky enough to visit during certain conditions, the waters can transform into stunning shades of blue, offering an almost tropical-like experience.
According to Visit Galveston, the water is naturally clear but is often affected by the surrounding landscape and atmospheric conditions. The brownish hue that locals and tourists frequently see is primarily the result of sediment and organic material in the water. Sediment, churned up by currents and winds, can darken the water to shades ranging from murky black to coffee brown, while organic material like phytoplankton can give the water greenish tones.
The clearer, bluer waters make their appearance when conditions are just right—particularly when winds are light, allowing sediment to settle. Without the usual disruptions, Galveston’s water takes on a dazzling blue hue that resembles more distant beach destinations.
Experts recommend heading to the beach on calm days when the wind is minimal to see the waters at their best. Those planning a visit this weekend may be in for a treat, as recent conditions have led to the return of the beautiful blue waters.
For locals and tourists alike, this is a perfect opportunity to enjoy Galveston in a new light, taking in the island’s natural beauty at its finest. Whether you’re looking to swim, relax on the beach, or snap a few stunning photos, now is the time to experience Galveston’s blue waters.
