HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — After Typhoon Sinlaku swept through the area, the U.S. Coast Guard has been actively searching for six individuals aboard a disabled boat off the coast of Guam. The vessel, a 145-foot (44-meter) dry cargo ship named the Mariana, is registered in the U.S.

On April 15, the crew of the Mariana reached out to the Coast Guard, reporting that they had lost the starboard engine and were in need of assistance, according to Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Tibbets. To ensure safety, the Coast Guard initiated a communication schedule with the vessel, checking in every hour.

Unfortunately, contact with the Mariana was lost on the afternoon of April 16. In response, the Coast Guard dispatched an HC-130 Hercules aircraft to search for the crew of six. However, the mission faced challenges due to harsh winds, forcing the aircraft to return to Guam. Search operations were planned to resume at first light on Saturday, Tibbets noted.

The last reported location of the vessel was approximately 125 miles (200 kilometers) north-northwest of Saipan. The nationalities of the crew members remain unknown, leaving a gap in the narrative of the unfolding situation.

Earlier this week, Super Typhoon Sinlaku unleashed its force on the Northern Mariana Islands, resulting in significant damage to the islands of Tinian and Saipan, and causing flash flooding in Guam, home to several American military bases.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and several other federal agencies are ramping up their response to Typhoon Sinlaku as dangerous weather conditions ease and the islands’ shelter-in-place orders begin to lift, Robert Fenton, FEMA regional administrator for Region 9, which includes Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, said Friday.

Fenton said a slew of federal agencies are on the ground to support the local governments, including the Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency, Health and Human Services, and more.

The storm’s sheer size — with typhoon-force winds extending 275 miles (443 kilometers) from its center, according to the U.S. National Weather Service Guam — was unique, Fenton said, and meant island residents were subjected to roughly 48 hours of fierce winds, delaying responders’ ability to assess damage and help communities.

“It slows down our ability to respond to those needs, and I think it’s more physically and mentally impactful to those that have to go through that,” he said.

The scope of damage is still being assessed, but significant impacts to power and water systems are already evident, especially in the Northern Marianas.

“We think this will be a multimonth mission of emergency power,” Fenton said.

The U.S. Coast Guard is “working diligently” to reopen the Port of Guam and the rest of the ports in the area but did not have an exact timeline, Tibbets said, calling it one of their “highest priorities.”

As the Coast Guard continues its search for the missing boat, U.S. Air Force helicopters would be used to assess needs in some of the smaller, more remote and sparsely populated islands of the Northern Marianas, Fenton said.

___

This story has been updated to correct the rank and pronoun for Avery Tibbets. She is Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Tibbets, not Private Third Class Avery Tibbets.

Dianna Russini’s eventful week took an unexpected turn when she stepped into the role of a rescuer, reportedly saving an elderly man and his dog following a car accident in New Jersey on Wednesday.

As reported by Page Six, Russini, who had resigned from her position at The Athletic just a day earlier amid allegations of an affair with NFL coach Mike Vrabel, was driving directly behind the elderly man. The incident occurred when a 17-year-old driver in a Honda Civic made a turn onto a street in the suburban area of Wyckoff and collided with the man’s Jeep.

The impact of the crash caused the 73-year-old man’s 4×4 to overturn, trapping him and his dog inside the vehicle. That’s when Russini sprang into action.

Witnesses at the scene reportedly noted that the NFL reporter quickly reacted by enlisting the help of a tall man to lift her onto the Jeep, allowing her to access the door and assist in freeing the driver and his dog.

Police arrived on the scene shortly thereafter. The Daily Mail has reached out to the Wyckoff Police Department to gather more details about the incident.

It has been quite the week for Russini, who stepped away from her job at The Athletic after she was pictured hugging, lounging poolside and laughing with Vrabel at a $2,500-per-night getaway in Sedona, Arizona.

Dianna Russini rescued an elderly man and his dog from a crash in New Jersey on Wednesday

The reporter allegedly rescued the 73-year-old man and his dog from a flipped-over Jeep

The pair, who are both married, have denied having an affair and instead downplayed what the images appeared to depict.

Yet on Tuesday it was announced that Russini has left The Athletic amid an investigation into the matter, with the under-fire writer hitting out at speculation that is ‘simply unmoored from the facts’ on her way out.

She said in a letter to Athletic Executive Editor Steven Ginsberg: ‘I do so [resign] not because I accept the narrative that has been constructed around this episode, but because I refuse to lend it further oxygen or to let it define me or my career.

‘I have covered the NFL with professionalism and dedication throughout my career, and I stand behind every story I have ever published.’

‘This media frenzy is hurtling forward without regard for the review process The Athletic is trying to complete,’ she added.

‘It continues to escalate, fueled by repeated leaks, and I have no interest in submitting to a public inquiry that has already caused far more damage than I am willing to accept.

‘Rather than allowing this to continue, I have decided to step aside now — before my current contract expires on June 30.’

Russini is not the only female reporter to lose her job in light of the scandal, nevertheless.

Russini was driving right behind the man when a 17-year-old in a Honda Civic (pictured) turned onto a street in suburban Wyckoff and collided with his Jeep

An eyewitness reportedly claimed that the NFL insider ‘ran out and had a tall man put her on top of the Jeep to open the door’

They then rescued the man and his dog from the Jeep before the police arrived at the scene

Russini resigned from The Athletic amid claims she had an affair with NFL coach Mike Vrabel

On Thursday another NFL writer, Crissy Froyd, was fired by USA Today for taking a brutal shot at Russini over her Athletic resignation this week.

In response to her resignation letter, Froyd – who covered the NFL and college football for USA Today SMG – kicked her counterpart while she’s down by commenting: ‘I’m sure you were told to submit this or that you’d get fired instead.

‘Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. We know who you really are and what you’ve been up to for years. It does so much detriment to women in sports who have done things the right way.’

Yet in light of her damning public criticism of Russini, USA Today confirmed in a statement on Thursday that Froyd’s contract has been terminated ‘effective immediately’.

‘Her recent statements do not reflect our commitment to professionalism or uphold our principles of ethical conduct,’ the statement added.

Froyd has reacted to her shock dismissal in an interview with TMZ , admitting it has left her ‘beyond distraught’.

‘I struggle to understand the positioning here after that was published, but that apparently I as an independent contractor cannot make my own statements on my own social media accounts.’

As someone deeply embedded in the New York City public high-school system, I’ve witnessed firsthand the troubling decline in our grading standards.

However, I was genuinely taken aback when I learned about a student at a colleague’s school who managed to receive credit for all his classes despite not attending a single day for an entire semester. Remarkably, he was awarded an English credit solely on the strength of a few poems he penned at home.

While this case might seem extreme, it is far from unique.

The integrity of our schools is being compromised by lenient policies. These measures, supposedly designed to make grading more “equitable,” actually serve as a guise to inflate graduation rates artificially.

In response to these challenges, Kamar Samuels, appointed as the new schools chancellor by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, has offered vague assurances about reintroducing “rigor” into the city’s education system.

If that’s true, he must undo the attendance and grading mess his predecessors have left him.

Ever since the COVID pandemic, the Department of Education has essentially made attendance optional, by forbidding teachers from factoring it into students’ grades. 

It’s a policy that somehow remained after students returned to the classroom, even though it no longer made sense.

Meanwhile, many schools have eliminated zeros and imposed an artificial minimum grade — usually 55% — for all assignments and assessments. 

Some have even eliminated late penalties, allowing work to be turned in months after the due date for full credit.

Taken alone, each policy is damaging.

Combined, they are disastrous. 

Students now can skip months of class and still pass with a minimum of work, especially if they rely on artificial intelligence to complete missed assignments (as many, many do). 

And with no minimum attendance requirement, teachers lack an important check on administrative pressure to inflate passing rates.

Class-cutting has exploded under these perverse incentives, as students pick and choose which classes they feel like attending.

But you’ll have to take my word for it: The DOE-released data shows only the percentage of students present during each school’s daily “attendance” period.

We simply don’t know how often they attend their actual classes.

Just this week I heard from a student I’d never met before, a senior on my roster since the semester began in January, inquiring about doing “makeup” work so she could pass. 

She has an official attendance rate over 90% — so she’s in the building almost every day — but never felt the need to show up in my classroom.