CBS News
California teacher dies after being bitten by a bat inside her classroom
A central California teacher died last month after she was bitten by a bat that presumably had rabies inside her classroom, officials and a friend of the woman, marking the third such fatality in North America in recent weeks.
In the wake of Leah Seneng’s death on Nov. 22, public health officials are warning the public about the dangers of bats, which are the most common source of human rabies in the U.S. Even though fewer than 10 people in the country die from rabies each year, it is almost always fatal if not treated quickly.
Seneng, 60, found a bat in her classroom in mid-October, her friend Laura Splotch told KFSN-TV. She tried to scoop it up and take it outside but it bit her, Splotch said.
Seneng did not immediately have symptoms of rabies but she fell ill weeks later and was taken to the hospital, where she was put into a medically-induced coma and died days later, Splotch told the TV station.
“It’s devastating to see her in that state, with all the machines hooked up and everything, it was pretty upsetting and scary,” Splotch told KFSN.
According to her Facebook profile, Seneng was an art teacher at Bryant Middle School in Dos Palos, California. The Dos Palos-Oro Loma Joint Unified School District, called Seneng “a dedicated and compassionate educator.”
“We were shocked to learn that Leah’s passing was related to contracting rabies, most likely from being bitten by a bat and we are cooperating with the Merced County Department of Public Health on their investigation,” the school district said in a statement. “We live and work in a community known to have bats and other wildlife around school grounds, and we will continue to help educate our community regarding the dangers associated with coming into direct contact with any wild animal, including bats.”
Merced County confirmed the rabies exposure but, due to privacy laws, did not release the deceased’s name. The California Department of Public Health confirmed that the victim died after contracting rabies.
“Bites from bats can be incredibly small and difficult to see or to detect. It is important to wash your hands and look for any open wounds after touching a wild animal, and to seek immediate medical care if bitten,” CDPH Director Dr. Tomás J. Aragón said in a statement. “It is always safest to leave wild animals alone. Do not approach, touch, or try to feed any animals that you don’t know.”
At least two other people in North America have died of rabies after encountering a bat in recent weeks. Last month, health officials in Canada announced that a child died from rabies after being exposed to a bat in their room. About a week before that, officials announced a U.S. citizen died from rabies after being exposed to a bat in western Minnesota in July.
How is rabies spread and what are the symptoms?
Rabies is a deadly viral infection that attacks the nervous system in humans and animals, causing brain and spinal cord inflammation. It is typically spread to humans through direct contact with the saliva of an infected animal through scratching or biting.
Rabies is commonly found in bats, raccoons, foxes, skunks and some household pets. Without proper and prompt treatment after symptoms appear, rabies is nearly 100 percent fatal in both animals and humans, according to Haldimand and Norfolk Health Services, where the child was admitted.
Treatment has proven to be nearly 100% effective at preventing the disease if someone is exposed, though it must start before symptoms appear.
Bats pose a unique risk because their scratches can be hard to notice due to their small teeth, and bats cannot be vaccinated through provincial programs, health officials said.
If bitten by an animal suspected of carrying the virus, health officials advise washing the wound thoroughly with soap and water for 15 minutes and immediately seeking medical attention.
According to the CDC, the incubation period of rabies may last from weeks to months, depending on the location of exposure, severity of exposure and age.
“The first symptoms of rabies, called prodrome, maybe like the flu, including weakness, discomfort, fever, or headache. There also may be discomfort, prickling, or an itching sensation at the site of the bite. These symptoms may last for several days,” the CDC says.
CBS News
NYPD divers search for UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting weapon in Central Park lake, sources say
NEW YORK — New York City Police Department divers were seen searching the lake in Central Park on Saturday afternoon. Sources tell CBS News New York they were looking for the weapon used in the deadly shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this week outside a Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
The search came one day after police found a backpack in Central Park, which law enforcement officials say they believe belongs to the suspected gunman. Sources told CBS News New York that the backpack contained a jacket, but not the gun police believe was used in the crime. The backpack is now being analyzed at an NYPD forensic lab for possible hair and DNA samples, sources say.
Sources said divers were searching the lake around 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Citizen app video shows police tape on the southern end of the lake in Central Park, in the same area where the backpack was found. Park-goers said they didn’t see officers leave with anything after the dive.
“This corner, like not a big area, but this corner was blocked off with probably five policemen, one van, and then we saw scuba gear and a couple divers getting in, just kind of splashing around, looking only in this area,” a witness named Charlotte D. said.
Police closing in on person of interest in UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting, mayor says
Mayor Eric Adams, who spoke to reporters at a Police Athletic League event in Harlem on Saturday, said police are closing in on finding the person of interest who had been staying at an Upper West Side hostel and was caught on camera without his mask on.
Adams also said police know the suspected gunman’s name, but are not sharing it publicly.
“We don’t want to release that now. If you do, you are basically giving a tip to the person … we’re seeking, and we do not want to give him an upper hand at all. Let him continue to believe he can hide behind the mask,” Adams said.
According to police, the person of interest was seen on camera entering the Port Authority bus terminal in Washington Heights after the shooting Wednesday morning and has now likely left the city.
The investigation is ongoing.
CBS News
LA Galaxy take home record sixth MLS Cup with 2-1 win over New York Red Bulls
Joseph Paintsil and Dejan Joveljic scored in the first half, and the LA Galaxy won their record sixth MLS Cup championship with a 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.
After striking twice in the first 13 minutes of the final with goals from their star forwards, the Galaxy nursed their lead through a scoreless second half to raise their league’s biggest trophy for the first time since 2014.
MLS’ most successful franchise struggled through most of the ensuing decade, even finishing 26th in the 29-team league last year. But the Galaxy turned everything around this season with a high-scoring new lineup that finished second in the Western Conference and then streaked through the playoffs with a whopping 18 goals in five games to win another crown.
Sean Nealis scored for the seventh-seeded Red Bulls, whose improbable charge through the playoffs ended one win shy of its first Cup championship. With the league’s youngest roster, New York fell just short of becoming the lowest-seeded team to win MLS’ playoff tournament under first-year German coach Sandro Schwarz.
Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy made four saves to win his second MLS title in three seasons. He was the MVP of the 2022 MLS Cup Final for the Galaxy’s crosstown rival, Los Angeles FC.
The Galaxy won this title without perhaps their most important player. Riqui Puig, the playmaking midfielder from Barcelona who ran their offense impressively all season long, tore a ligament in his knee last week in the Western Conference final.
Puig watched the game in a suit, but his teammates hadn’t forgotten him: After his replacement, Gastón Brugman, set up LA’s opening goal with a superb pass, Paintsil held up Puig’s jersey to their fans during the celebration.
Paintsil put the Galaxy ahead in the ninth minute when he ran onto that sublime pass from Brugman and pounded home his 14th MLS goal — including four in the playoffs — in the Ghanaian forward’s outstanding first season.
Just four minutes later, Joveljic sprinted past four New York defenders and chipped home the 21st goal of his outstanding year as the Galaxy’s striker.
Nealis got New York on the scoreboard in the 28th minute when he volleyed home a ball that got loose in LA’s penalty area after a corner. The Galaxy’s usually shaky defense gave up another handful of good chances before reaching halftime with a tenuous lead.
The second half was lively, but scoreless. Red Bulls captain Emil Forsberg hit the outside of the post in the 72nd minute, while Gabriel Pec and Galaxy substitute Marco Reus nearly converted chances a few moments later.
The ball got loose again in the Galaxy’s penalty area in the third minute of extra time, but two Red Bulls couldn’t finish. The Galaxy bench rushed onto the field and prematurely celebrated a victory in the seventh minute of injury time, only to be herded back off for another 30 seconds of play.
The Galaxy finished 17-0-3 this season at their frequently renamed suburban stadium, where the sellout crowd of 26,812 for the final included several robust cheering sections of traveling Red Bulls supporters hoping to see their New Jersey-based club’s breakthrough on MLS’ biggest stage.
The Galaxy’s Greg Vanney became the fourth coach to win an MLS title with two clubs. The former Galaxy player also won it all with Toronto in 2017.
The club famous for employing global stars from David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Robbie Keane and Javier “Chicharito” Hernández rebuilt itself this season with lesser-known young talents from around the world.
The Galaxy signed Pec from Brazil and the Ghanaian Paintsil out of Belgium, and the duo combined with incumbent Serbian striker Joveljic to form a potent attack that could outscore almost any MLS opponent.
But the Galaxy also relied heavily on Puig, their Catalan catalyst and one of MLS’ best players. Puig stayed in last week’s game after injuring his knee, and he even delivered the decisive pass to Joveljic for the game’s only goal.
CBS News
Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” go for $28 million at auction
A pair of iconic ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” — and stolen from a museum nearly two decades ago — fetched $28 million in an auction Saturday.
Robert Wilonsky, a vice president with the Dallas-based auction house, told CBS News in an email that, with the buyer’s premium — a commission that the buyer pays — the slippers sold for a total of $32.5 million.
Heritage Auctions had estimated that the slippers would fetch $3 million or more. Online bidding opened last month and by Friday had reached $1.55 million, or $1.91 million including the buyer’s premium, Wilonsky said. Over 800 people were tracking the slippers, and the company’s web page for the auction had hit nearly 43,000 page views by Thursday, he said.
As Rhys Thomas, author of the book, “The Ruby Slippers of Oz,” puts it, the sequined shoes from the beloved 1939 musical have seen “more twists and turns than the Yellow Brick Road.”
They were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 when Terry Jon Martin used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and display case.
Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018. Martin, now 77, who lives near Grand Rapids in northern Minnesota, wasn’t publicly exposed as the thief until he was indicted in May 2023. He pleaded guilty in October 2023. Martin admitted he used a small sledgehammer to break into the museum. He then used the tool to crack the case the slippers were in and take them. He said he didn’t hear any alarm. He took off in his car and kept them in a trailer adjacent to his home.
He was in a wheelchair and on supplementary oxygen when he was sentenced last January to time served because of his poor health.
His attorney, Dane DeKrey, explained ahead of sentencing that Martin, who had a long history of burglary and receiving stolen property, was attempting to pull off “one last score” after an old associate with connections to the mob told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value. But a fence — a person who buys stolen goods — later told him the rubies were just glass, DeKrey said. So Martin got rid of the slippers. The attorney didn’t specify how.
The alleged fence, Jerry Hal Saliterman, 77, of the Minneapolis suburb of Crystal, was indicted in March. He was also in a wheelchair and on oxygen when he made his first court appearance. He’s scheduled to go on trial in January and hasn’t entered a plea, though his attorney has said he’s not guilty.
The shoes were returned in February to memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum. They were one of several pairs that Garland wore during the filming, but only four pairs are known to have survived. In the movie, to return from Oz to Kansas, Dorothy had to click her heels three times and repeat, “There’s no place like home.”
Among those bidding was the Judy Garland Museum. The city of Grand Rapids raised money for the slippers at its annual Judy Garland festival to supplement the $100,000 set aside this year by Minnesota lawmakers to help the museum purchase the slippers.
“The Wizard of Oz” story has gained new attention in recent weeks with the release of the movie “Wicked,” an adaptation of the megahit Broadway musical, a prequel of sorts that reimagines the character of the Wicked Witch of the West.
The auction also included other memorabilia from “The Wizard of Oz,” including a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the original Wicked Witch of the West.