Young Irishman (30s) killed in road accident in US
The man, who was a native of Co Donegal, was struck by a car in the early hours of Sunday morning (local US time) in a suburb of California.
Advertisement
The man is in his mid-30s and has been living in the country for a number of years.
He has a partner and is also a father of young children.
His immediate family in Co Donegal have been informed of his death.
However, his name has not been released publicly until all family members have been informed of his tragic passing.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has been contacted for a comment on the tragic incident.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
Explosion tears roof off Domino's Pizza after car crashes into restaurant
This is the moment a car crashed into a Domino's Pizza in Utah on Saturday night (5 July), triggering a massive explosion that tore the roof off the building. Herriman Police confirmed in a statement on social media that the vehicle crash had caused an explosion and structural fire in the area. No injuries were immediately reported. Footage filmed from inside a moving vehicle shows smoke rising from behind buildings before a huge blast erupts, sending a fireball into the air and damaging nearby properties. The Unified Fire Authority also shared a video on Facebook showing firefighters working to extinguish the blaze, confirming: 'A powerful explosion destroyed one business and caused significant damage to two others.'
Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Nantucket property wars after man 'cuts down neighbor's trees'
A property feud has erupted on a wealthy Massachusetts island after a brazen neighbor allegedly chopped down someone's 50-year-old trees to carve out an 'ocean view' for himself. Patricia Belford, 80, has accused Jonathan Jacoby, 55, of breaking onto her Nantucket property and cutting down 16 trees without her permission in February. According to a $1.4 million lawsuit, Jacoby removed decades-old cherry, cedar and Leyland Cypress trees from the home 'with the specific purpose of improving the ocean view from his own property' - which he is trying to sell. Belford and Jacoby are next-door neighbors sharing a property line, but most of the trees taken down were far from that border, Belford says. Jacoby has been accused of doing the unauthorized landscaping to make his stunning 4,491-square-foot beach compound at 3 Tautemo Way more appealing to potential buyers. In its Zillow description, the contemporary home, listed at just under $10 million, has 'sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean' and Hummock Pond. Hummock Pond, a salt-water pond on the southwestern part of Nantucket, and Cisco Beach are just fractions of a mile away from Tautemo Way. And the only things inhibiting those 'sweeping views' of the nearby bodies of water were apparently the trees the Belfords planted in the 1970s. When the trees were slashed, Matt Erisman, the property manager of Belford's $4.2 million home, notified the Nantucket Police Department (NPD), prompting an investigation. Belford herself does not live at the property, located at 1 Tautemo Way, but in an assisted living facility, according to the Nantucket Current. Jacoby's former landscaper, Krasimir Kirilov, voluntarily told investigators Jacoby was responsible. In a police statement submitted as lawsuit evidence, Kirilov said Jacoby reached out to him for help cleaning up landscaping work he was going to do on his own. Once he realized the work was not on Jacoby's property, Kirilov refused the offer. 'The NPD concluded that Jacoby entered the property knowingly and willfully and cut the trees for his own personal benefit,' the lawsuit reads about the ongoing investigation. Nantucket Police Lieutenant Angus MacVicar told the Nantucket Current there are pending charges against Jacoby. Belford, who is suing on behalf of her family's trust, argued the trees added not only privacy, but value to her home - with a nursey estimating they each could cost thousands of dollars. 'Based on the number of trees removed, the replacement cost alone exceeds $486,000,' the document, filed on June 23, states. 'This does not account for the historic value, loss of screening, increased noise, reduction in overall property value. Jacoby's actions were not only economically damaging but also emotionally devastating for Belford.' Nantucket has become a hot spot for wealthy vacationers looking for a beach getaway. The average home price on the ritzy Massachusetts island was roughly $4.5 million as of May 2025, according to Only about 14,200 people live on Nantucket year-round - compared to the more than 80,000 that swarm the island for the summer, according to US Census data. It is unclear if Jacoby lives in Nantucket fulltime, and his lawyer did respond to the Current's request for comment. 'The way I feel is that I am confident once all of the facts and evidence have been presented, that justice will be served,' Erisman told the outlet. 'However, much of what has been taken from the Belfords is irreplaceable, and it's sickening.' The Daily Mail has reached out to Belford and Jacoby for comment.
The Guardian
33 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Michigan utility aided sabotage of Covid lockdown policies, documents reveal
Newly released court documents show power utility DTE Energy knowingly contributed $100,000 to a dark money non-profit that helped sabotage Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer's Covid lockdown policies. The documents contradict previous DTE statements that claimed the utility was not involved with the donation. In January 2023, the Guardian detailed how a DTE-affiliated dark money non-profit financially contributed to the successful repeal of Whitmer's emergency order powers. The campaign, coordinated with state Republican leadership, helped bring about an end to Covid lockdowns and policies. Peter Ternes, then a DTE Energy spokesperson, twice emphatically denied the company's involvement. In late 2022, he told a Guardian reporter, 'DTE unequivocally is not financially supporting' the campaign to kill Whitmer's emergency order powers, led by Unlock Michigan, and made an almost identical statement when asked in 2020. New emails, however, show a DTE employee coordinated the $100,000 contribution. The dark money non-profit and Unlock Michigan leadership referred to it as a 'DTE donation' and '$100,000 DTE check', emails show. The emails are part of a criminal case over alleged Unlock Michigan campaign finance violations and are not directly related to DTE. The 'revelatory' emails illuminate how DTE 'deploys dark money in Michigan', said Karlee Weinmann, research and communications manager with the utility industry watchdog Energy and Policy Institute. The group detailed the emails in a new report. 'The emails raise questions about the appropriateness of DTE's political spending and activity,' Weinmann added. Michigan was a global flashpoint in the cultural and political fight over how governments should handle Covid. Whitmer's lockdowns were effective at controlling the virus's spread, but rightwing opposition to the restrictions culminated with multiple demonstrations and armed protesters storming the state legislature in mid-2020. While the Covid restrictions are over, dark money groups remain powerful players in state and national politics, and the emails show how lax transparency laws shield them as they move funding for politicians or causes. Utilities generally opposed lockdowns in 2020, industry observers have said. During the first wave of Covid restrictions, many voluntarily stopped or were required to cease shutting off service to financially struggling customers. Sources initially alerted a Guardian reporter to the donation around the time it was made in late 2020, but no public record of it was available at the time. Internal Revenue Service records confirming the donation became public in late 2021. They show the funds went from a DTE-affiliated dark money group, Michigan Energy First (MEF), to another dark money non-profit called Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility (MCRF). The latter served as a primary funder of the Unlock Michigan campaign, donating about $1.8m in 2020. Though DTE lobbyists served on MEF's board, then DTE spokesperson Ternes had steadfastly insisted it was a separate entity and there was no coordination between the two. Ternes also said DTE did not give donations to MEF. In an email sent on Wednesday, DTE spokesperson Jill Wilmot conceded that the company gave money to MEF, representing a shift from its past statements. Still, DTE denied that it knew what MEF did with the donation. 'While DTE has contributed to Michigan Energy First (MEF) in the past, we can't speak on behalf of MEF or the contributions the organization makes,' the spokesperson said. However, the new emails show DTE did know how MEF would spend the money. The company's corporate and government affairs chief of staff, Pam Headley, in 2020 facilitated the $100,000 donation from MEF to MCFR, emails show. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion MEF's board president at the time was Renze Hoeksema, a now-retired DTE lobbyist. Headley was a DTE employee with no known role with MEF. Headley sent an email from her DTE email account during business hours to MCFR with the subject line 'RE: Contribution from Michigan Energy First'. The email shows how Headley coordinated the DTE donation: 'Renze asked me to let you know that today the Michigan Energy First Board approved a $100,000 contribution to Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility.' She included a request for an invoice and closed out the email with her DTE email signature. The criminal filings also include emails between MCFR and Republican Senate leadership working with Unlock Michigan. They refer to the donation as being from DTE Energy. One email states, 'I think I'm getting the $100,000 tomorrow from DTE.' Another from the following day states, 'Unlock Michigan update: $100,000 DTE check arrived today.' In 2022, DTE's Ternes told the Guardian: 'DTE has worked hand-in-hand with the governor to protect our customers, employees and the public throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The actions taken by the state have slowed Covid transmission and death rates.' The utility industry widely uses dark money to influence policy across the country, and the donations have been at the center of recent scandals, including two in neighboring Ohio. MEF also donates millions each election cycle to a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including to Whitmer's affiliated Pac. The donations show DTE 'has power and wields influence over parts of people's lives that they don't want DTE to have influence over', said Eli Day, communications director for the We the People Action Fund, which has been involved in utility affordability campaigns. Donations like this are made through dark money channels because companies know their political donations would generate blowback, Day added. 'Ordinary people who are outraged can have a real impact and change their lives for the better, and DTE is terrified of that,' he said.
