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NEW YORK (AP) — 2021 was the deadliest year in U.S. history, and new data and research are offering more insights into how it got that bad.
The main reason for the increase in deaths? COVID-19, said Robert Anderson, who oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s work on death statistics.
The agency this month quietly updated its provisional death tally. It showed there were 3.465 million deaths last year, or about 80,000 more than 2020’s record-setting total.
Early last year, some experts were optimistic that 2021 would not be as bad as the first year of the pandemic — partly because effective COVID-19 vaccines had finally become available.
“We were wrong, unfortunately,” said Noreen Goldman, a Princeton University researcher.
COVID-19 deaths rose in 2021 — to more than 415,000, up from 351,000 the year before — as new coronavirus variants emerged and an unexpectedly large numbers of Americans refused to get vaccinated or were hesitant to wear masks, experts said.
The coronavirus is not solely to blame. Preliminary CDC data also shows the crude death rate for cancer rose slightly, and rates continued to increase for diabetes, chronic liver disease and stroke.
Drug overdose deaths also continued to rise. The CDC does not yet have a tally for 2021 overdose deaths, because it can take weeks of lab work and investigation to identify them. But provisional data through October suggests the nation is on track to see at least 105,000 overdose deaths in 2021 — up from 93,000 the year before.
New research released Tuesday showed a particularly large jump in overdose deaths among 14- to 18-year-olds.
Adolescent overdose death counts were fairly constant for most of the last decade, at around 500 a year, according to the paper published by the Journal of the American Medical Association. They almost doubled in 2020, to 954, and the researchers estimated that the total hit nearly 1,150 last year.
Joseph Friedman, a UCLA researcher who was the paper’s lead author, called the spike “unprecedented.”
Those teen overdose deaths were only around 1% of the U.S. total. But adolescents experienced a greater relative increase than the overall population, even though surveys suggest drug use among teens is down.
Experts attributed the spike to fentanyl, a highly lethal drug that has been cut into heroin for several years. More recently it’s also been pressed into counterfeit pills resembling prescription drugs that teens sometimes abuse.
National death trends affect life expectancy — an estimate of the average number of years a baby born in a given year might expect to live.
With rare exceptions, U.S. life expectancy has reliably inched up year after year. But the CDC’s life expectancy estimate for 2020 was about 77 years — more than a year and a half lower than what it was in 2019.
The CDC has not yet reported its calculation for 2021. But Goldman and some other researchers have been making their own estimates, presented in papers that have not yet been published in peer-reviewed journals.
Those researchers think U.S. life expectancy dropped another five or six months in 2021 — putting it back to where it was 20 years ago.
A loss of more than two years of life expectancy over the last two years “is mammoth,” Goldman said.
One study looked at death data in the U.S. and 19 other high-income countries. The U.S. fared the worst.
“What happened in the U.S. is less about the variants than the levels of resistance to vaccination and the public’s rejection of practices, such as masking and mandates, to reduce viral transmission,” one of the study’s authors, Dr. Steven Woolf of Virginia Commonwealth University, said in a statement.
Some experts are skeptical that life expectancy will quickly bounce back. They worry about long-term complications of COVID-19 that may hasten the deaths of people with chronic health problems.
Preliminary — and incomplete — CDC data suggest there were at least 805,000 U.S. deaths in about the first three months of this year. That’s well below the same period last year, but higher than the comparable period in 2020.
“We may end up with a ‘new normal’ that’s a little higher than it was before,” Anderson said.
The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.wane.com/news/national-world/covid-19-overdoses-pushed-us-to-highest-death-total-ever/ | 2022-04-12T17:43:24 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/national-world/covid-19-overdoses-pushed-us-to-highest-death-total-ever/ |
(NEXSTAR) — Netflix unveiled its latest feature on Monday: the Double Thumbs Up, which the streaming giant says allows users tell its algorithm they love (not like) certain shows and movies.
But how does a Double Thumbs Up change your recommendations versus a Thumbs Up?
Netflix’s Director of Product Innovation Christine Doig-Cardet writes: “Consider Double Thumbs Up as a way to fine-tune your recommendations to see even more series or films influenced by what you love. A Thumbs Up still lets us know what you liked, so we use this response to make similar recommendations. But a Double Thumbs Up tells us what you loved and helps us get even more specific with your recommendations.”
Doig-Cardet explains Thumbs Up will push content that’s similar in genre or mood to the top of your recommendations, while Double Thumbs Up would prioritize content starring a show’s specific actors and creators.
Netflix’s top film last week was the Ryan Reynolds sci-fi action movie “The Adam Project.” With Netflix’s Double Thumbs Up, if you double-liked this movie you might see more Reynolds action movies (the 2019 Michael Bay thriller “6 Underground” and 2011’s critically panned “Green Lantern” adaptation) or more show episodes/movies involving “The Adam Project” director Shawn Levy (“Stranger Things” and “Shadow and Bone”). | https://www.wane.com/news/what-does-netflixs-new-double-thumbs-up-do/ | 2022-04-12T17:43:30 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/what-does-netflixs-new-double-thumbs-up-do/ |
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Colts have taken another step at solidifying their special teams unit by agreeing to terms with veteran Brandon King.
There has been no official announcement from the team but IndyStar’s Joel Erickson reported the addition, citing King’s agent.
King, 28, was part of two world championships with the New England Patriots as a core special teams contributor. He has appeared in 73 games, and has been on the field for 1,390 special teams snaps and just two as a defensive back.
King’s addition is the latest move to reinforce special teams. Previously, the team signed safety Armani Watts, who was a core special teams player with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The moves counter the losses of two free agents. George Odum, a 2020 first-team All-Pro, signed with the San Francisco 49ers and Matthew Adams was reunited with Matt Eberflus in Chicago.
King helped the Patriots win Super Bowls after the 2016 and 2018 seasons, and enjoyed a personal comeback after missing 2019-20 with a torn quadriceps. He suffered the injury in the 2019 training camp and it lingered to the extent he spent 2020 on the physically unable to perform list.
Last season, King returned to appear in 16 of 17 games and was on the field for a career-high 307 special teams snaps. He had 10 special teams tackles, the fourth time he reached double figures.
King’s teammates recognized his return by selecting him recipient of the Patriots’ Ed Block Courage Award. | https://www.wane.com/sports/indianapolis-colts/colts-add-former-patriots-special-teams-ace-brandon-king/ | 2022-04-12T17:43:36 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/sports/indianapolis-colts/colts-add-former-patriots-special-teams-ace-brandon-king/ |
The New Mexico Division of Vocational Rehabilitation is trying something new to hire 16 people across the state: an all-virtual Rapid Hire event on April 27.
Division Director Tina Tawater believes DVR is the first state agency to do an all-virtual event where candidates never have to leave their homes to apply, get interviewed and, possibly, be offered a job.
Applications opened April 4, and people can apply until 5 p.m. at the end of the event, which runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Jobs include vocational rehabilitation counselors and technicians, positions in finance and information technology, and an executive assistant. Openings are in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Española, Farmington and Roswell. All positions are filled in the southwestern quadrant of the state, Tawater said.
Annual pay for these jobs ranges from $28,249 to $59,553.
Job seekers can apply at dvr.cynaptx.com/external/careerfair/260 and upload their résumés, references and transcripts (depending on the job) and schedule an interview time for April 27.
“HR will review résumés to make sure they qualify,” Tawater said. “We will interview everyone who applies [and qualifies] before 5 p.m. on April 27.”
Interviews will last 15 minutes. Each job will have at least two interviewers.
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New Mexico has made strides in increasing voter turnout, expanding access to the polls and ensuring voter integrity, officials and advocates told members of Congress on Monday.
But they said the state still faces challenges in maintaining fair voting practices.
Chief among the concerns: the potential for voter intimidation tactics and the spread of false information to discourage people from going to the polls.
“That is the biggest battle of our generation,” said U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, a New Mexico Democrat.
She was one of several U.S. House members who took part in an elections subcommittee field hearing at the state Capitol.
She and fellow Democratic Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico attended the hearing and called for changes to Senate filibuster rules that have been instrumental in blocking voting rights legislation in Washington.
In January, Senate Democrats fell short of the 60 votes needed to push past a Republican filibuster of the House-approved Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, which would make Election Day a national holiday, ensure access to early voting and mail-in ballots, and enable the Justice Department to intervene in states with a history of voter interference, among other changes.
The issue of voter rights has been at the front and center of national politics following the 2020 presidential election, in which then-President Donald Trump and his supporters alleged the election results putting Joe Biden ahead were fraudulent.
Monday’s hearing, which included testimony from New Mexico-based voter advocacy groups and Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, addressed ways to improve voter access to the polls, especially on tribal lands.
Native American residents have a number of Election Day obstacles, said Ahtza Dawn Chavez, executive director of the nonprofit Native American Voters Alliance Education Project. She listed “geographical isolation, poor or nonexistent roads, technological problems, homelessness” and nontraditional mailing addresses — as well as discrimination.
She urged congressional leaders to help alleviate these problems and to clarify and strengthen election laws to help voters in tribal communities.
Toulouse Oliver asked subcommittee members to help increase funding for the Secretary of State’s Office to improve election cybersecurity and security at polling sites.
She also cited some of the initiatives the state has taken to improve voter access and participation: online voter registration, same-day voter registration and allowing 17-year-olds to register to vote if they will turn 18 before the next general election.
Two recent efforts to strengthen voter rights in the state failed during this year’s regular legislative session. One of the bills would have restored felons’ right to vote upon their release, allowed voters to receive an absentee ballot for every election without having to request one each time and would have allowed New Mexicans without a state-issued identification to register to vote online with a Social Security number. It also would have allowed 17-year-olds to vote in local elections.
When it comes to the spread of election misinformation, Toulouse Oliver told the congressional subcommittee more can be done at the federal level “to collectively figure out how to make sure these lies are not tolerated and they do not continue to propagate. That is the most dangerous piece of what we are dealing with here.”
Heather Ferguson, executive director of the nonprofit Common Cause New Mexico, spoke of an October 2020 incident her organization investigated in which a caravan of vehicles blocked access to early voting polling sites in Albuquerque. She said similar reports emerged in Farmington and Santa Fe.
“We can anticipate more,” Ferguson said, adding, “We need greater protection, specific criminal legislation that will make it a crime.”
Monday’s hearing was chaired by U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a Democrat from North Carolina, who spoke of voter suppression tactics dating to at least the 1960s.
Only Democratic members of the subcommittee participated in the hearing. Toulouse Oliver and Leger Fernández both said Republican members were invited but declined.
Butterfield offered to allow Republican members to weigh in on the hearing virtually, but that wasn’t enough for one New Mexico woman in the audience, who stood up to protest the lack of Republican input.
Marcie May of Albuquerque said as a poll challenger she had concerns about voter intimidation and election fraud that could hurt Republicans. She said she worries the state might eliminate poll challenger positions and argued Democrats are making an issue out of it because they “know people don’t like their failed policies.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/elections-subcommittee-talks-about-voting-in-n-m/article_746b25de-b843-11ec-9522-2fb66c7f4368.html | 2022-04-12T17:44:16 | 1 | https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/elections-subcommittee-talks-about-voting-in-n-m/article_746b25de-b843-11ec-9522-2fb66c7f4368.html |
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham often has referred to her mother, Sonja Lujan, as a tireless advocate for disabled children and an inspiration for her career.
Lujan, 82, died Sunday of natural causes in hospice care at the governor’s mansion in Santa Fe, the Governor’s Office said in a news release Monday.
The governor paid tribute to her mother, calling Lujan a role model — particularly as she cared for her physically disabled daughter Kimberly, who died at 21.
“My mother was truly one of a kind,” Lujan Grisham said in the statement. “Like so many caring and devoted mothers, she became a dedicated advocate for my sister Kimberly and children with disabilities across the country simply because there was no other choice.
“She worked to right every wrong and fought for the best standard of care, refusing to back down when she knew there was more that could be done,” Lujan Grisham added. “Her tenacity and determination in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges has inspired me every single day of my adult life.”
According to information provided by the Governor’s Office, Lujan was born Sonja Lee Jackson on Jan. 18, 1940, in Brazil, Ind. Her father served in the U.S. Air Force, and she often lived abroad when he was stationed overseas.
In 1959, she married Llewellyn Eugene “Buddy” Lujan, a U.S. Air Force veteran and dentist who was known for providing free community dental care to the poor. He died in 2011.
Lujan Grisham said in a 2013 Politico interview her parents fought “to protect their family. … That inspired me to want to make a difference not only for us but for other families.”
State Sen. Pete Campos, D-Las Vegas, said he recalled the Lujan family, including Sonja, “always being involved in the community. It was a very strong, supportive family of our governor.”
Sonja Lujan, he said, “would not get discouraged.”
Kimberly Lujan’s childhood challenges included a brain tumor and blindness, disabling conditions that pushed her mother into advocacy work. Her efforts to find a prekindergarten program for Kimberly in the early 1970s helped fuel the start of New Vistas, a 51-year-old local nonprofit that works to provide an array of services for people with disabilities.
Mary Russell, the first executive director of New Vistas, said Sonja Lujan was “determined. She was certainly an advocate in this field.”
Lujan was a member of the Santa Fe Junior Women’s Club, Russell said, which at that time had a mission of helping to fulfill unmet needs in the community.
Women in the club helped spearhead New Vistas.
“Kimberly and Sonja Lujan were the reason we went in that direction,” Russell said.
As a mother, Sonja Lujan “was determined to find something suitable for her daughter [Kimberly] so she could be with other children at that age, starting preschool and having the experiences that we now expect if you have a child who has a disability.”
Lujan Grisham often referred to her mother during the coronavirus pandemic, speaking of her own personal pain in not being able to visit with Lujan at an assisted living facility in Albuquerque due to the public health orders.
She posted annual Mother’s Day salutations to Lujan, including one with a photo of her visiting her mother in 2021, after the most severe health restrictions were lifted.
She wrote in one Mother’s Day Facebook post, “My mother is the embodiment of a strong, New Mexican woman and I’m so proud to be her daughter.”
House Speaker Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, wrote in an email Monday, “My heart goes out to Governor Lujan Grisham and her family as they grieve the death of her mother, Sonja Lujan. I know how difficult it is to lose a parent. I also know that Sonja’s fighting spirit lives on in Michelle’s determination to make life better for the people of our state.”
Sonja Lujan also is survived by a son, Gregory Lujan, who lives in Santa Fe and works in the hospitality business. | https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/governors-mother-an-advocate-for-children-with-disabilities-dies-at-82/article_61da633e-b9b6-11ec-a0fd-0b3bb6d06764.html | 2022-04-12T17:44:22 | 0 | https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/governors-mother-an-advocate-for-children-with-disabilities-dies-at-82/article_61da633e-b9b6-11ec-a0fd-0b3bb6d06764.html |
After a two-year hiatus, thousands of pilgrims are expected to take to the highways of Northern New Mexico on foot in order to reach El Santuario de Chimayó by Good Friday.
The return of one of the area’s most cherished traditions is a far cry from the disappointment left by the coronavirus pandemic, when only a trickle of pilgrims made their way to the Chimayó shrine in 2020 and 2021. The walk usually draws tens of thousands from throughout the state and beyond who come to pray at the small Catholic church and collect soil some believe holds special healing properties.
Against the backdrop of recent tragedies on New Mexico roads, public safety officials are asking drivers and pedestrians to step up safety precautions along highways and roads leading to Chimayó.
In early March, a Santa Fe police officer and a retired Las Vegas, N.M., firefighter were killed during the chase of a wrong-way driver on Interstate 25.
There have been other wrong-way incidents on New Mexico freeways since the fatal crash.
State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Marisa Maez said such risks always worry officials, particularly when pedestrians and drivers are closely mingled.
“You’re crossing different modes of transportation, and it does increase the risk of injury,” she said.
The Transportation Department will make sweeps on the shoulders of U.S. 84/285 and N.M. 503 and N.M. 76 leading to Chimayó this week, Maez said. Pedestrian traffic is set to be heaviest on Good Friday.
The department also is providing temporary portable lighting structures, trash receptacles and traffic signage that will warn vehicles to proceed with caution.
Maez said drivers should be prepared for traffic delays along those roads throughout the week.
“Slow down, move over,” Maez said. “Give those walkers room; don’t go flying by them at 70 miles per hour.”
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office will conduct a sobriety checkpoint in the northern portion of the county Thursday evening, when pedestrian traffic along major roads is likely to be high.
Heightened patrols are expected to continue through the weekend.
“If you’re driving, please be extra careful and be more observant of pedestrians while traveling along the route of the pilgrimage,” sheriff’s office spokesman Juan Ríos wrote in a news release on the event.
Sheriff’s deputies are urging pedestrians to wear light-colored clothing during the day and reflective materials if they are walking at night. Deputies will be distributing glow sticks along the pilgrimage route on Thursday evening.
New Mexico State Police will have officers on site Friday at El Santuario de Chimayó for traffic control and security. The agency did not respond to an email request for comment.
Sheriff’s deputies from Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties will offer traffic control as well, and two medical units along with a first aid station will be available along N.M. 503.
Santa Fe County is distributing 37 portable toilets along the route. | https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/pilgrimage-to-el-santuario-de-chimay-is-back/article_43d9c450-b9a8-11ec-aabb-777b49613ea2.html | 2022-04-12T17:44:28 | 1 | https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/pilgrimage-to-el-santuario-de-chimay-is-back/article_43d9c450-b9a8-11ec-aabb-777b49613ea2.html |
Santa Fe police arrested a man suspected of attempting to use a power drill to break into a Guadalupe Street business Sunday morning.
A series of burglaries in recent weeks have frustrated business owners in the Guadalupe and Railyard districts downtown.
While some business owners said they were glad to hear a suspect had been jailed, they were skeptical about whether the break-ins would stop and disheartened to hear the man had been arrested several times on suspicion of burglaries in and around the city in the past four months.
According to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court, a security guard had apprehended Edgar Guzman, 26, of Santa Fe, after finding him and another man trying to break a lock at the Double Take consignment shop on South Guadalupe Street.
Guzman faces charges of aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon and possession of burglary tools. He was still held in the Santa Fe County jail Monday, jail logs showed.
It’s unclear if police suspect he is tied to any of the other recent costly downtown break-ins.
The Santa Fe Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Cindy Cornelson, who owns Smash Bangles on Montezuma Street, said she was happy to hear about an arrest being made but was a “little concerned” about whether it would lead to a lull in break-ins.
She said her business is one of two at Guadalupe Station that has not yet suffered a break-in.
“What is interesting is that their M.O. for all of these robberies, from Canyon Road to here, [is] they are just going around using a crowbar to get in,” she said.
In Guzman’s case, the criminal complaint says a security guard with Asset Solutions saw him and another man using a power drill to break into the lock at Double Take. Guzman also was carrying a large black knife, about $400 in cash and other “burglary tools,” according to the complaint.
Guzman admitted to trying to break into Double Take to get money or find items to sell, the complaint says, but told police he was not involved with other break-ins reported in downtown over the “past few days.”
He also refused to tell police who was with him when he was apprehended. The unknown suspect was able to escape on foot.
Double Take was closed Monday, and owners could not be reached for comment.
Patrick Lambert, who co-owns the Cowgirl BBQ restaurant next door, said he was frustrated to learn Sunday’s arrest was the third for Guzman since December.
Despite a diligent effort to safeguard the restaurant from break-ins, Lambert said, thieves continue to try find “new ways” to burglarize it, causing over $5,000 in damages in recent months.
He said a “stronger message” has to be sent to deter similar crimes.
“They are arrested, and they are on the street the next day,” Lambert said.
Guzman was arrested in December on suspicion of trying to steal over $200,000 worth of jewelry from the Momeni Gallery off Old Santa Fe Trail.
He was found in the gallery’s courtyard around 3:15 a.m. with a black backpack holding Southwestern-style jewelry and cash, and a large “bayonet-style knife,” a criminal complaint says.
The case was dismissed in February without prejudice, which means it could be refiled, court records show.
Later in February, Guzman was arrested again, this time on suspicion of using a piece of metal to break into a store on Johnson Street and fleeing on a bike with a safe, according to court records.
Police were able to follow bike tracks in the snow to a tent near the Guadalupe District, where they found Guzman, the complaint says.
Guzman confessed to breaking into the store and taking the safe, according to the complaint. He later took police to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, where he had dumped the safe, the complaint said.
He was booked and released the same day.
A month later, a bench warrant was issued for Guzman’s arrest because he was accused of failing to appear for hearing.
Michael Motley, who runs a graphic design business in a studio above Double Take, was baffled by Guzman’s criminal background and quick releases from jail.
“You hear it all the time — some guy with 70 DWIs and the judge lets him go,” he said. “I just don’t understand sometimes. Why?”
Lambert said he’s most concerned about the people he has worked with over the past 25 to 30 years.
“There has been a lot of financial damage, but what we are talking about more is having a healthy business district for all of us,” he said. “It’s not just about the money.” | https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/suspect-arrested-in-guadalupe-street-break-in/article_364fc1f4-b9b2-11ec-bc44-d704d45d6955.html | 2022-04-12T17:44:34 | 0 | https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/suspect-arrested-in-guadalupe-street-break-in/article_364fc1f4-b9b2-11ec-bc44-d704d45d6955.html |
RFP - gifted and talented teacher
Gifted endorsed, "we still we need to provide gifted and talented services,"
-speech and language, physical therapists as well - or we go out to RFP for employment services
"Let's try to go this route, and see if we can get a contracted person. Typically it's a special education teacher. We went out to RFP - basically as needed gifted teacher
-successful in that method, those services to those gifted teachers
-pool of applicants, teacher shortage everywhere, one or two days a week
-pre-k teachers, morning and afternoon. Our kind of thinking there was maybe we'll get part time in the morning.
"Really trying to think outside of the box, what if we have,"
-full time person, so if we can find someone who is two or three people, different days of the week and mornings or afternoons
-90 day wait, retirement. Don't want a full-time job, one or two days a week.
-regular education teachers, in hind sight, nurses
"literally shortage of counselors," - didn't person every day.
"It really was just a way to think outside the box, and see if we had any takers around - one or two days
-full time teachers, full time teachers with both -- back pocket in case we needed to
"In case we need to piecemeal it sometime down our road,"
-RFPs for a certain number of days — expires friday, don't know if we've gotten anything in on it. Relook at it, parttime, that situation
RFP - contracted positions, - we would have to determine the hourly pay. "It's a little bit different from substitutes,"
-we don't pay any benefits, not our intent. "Our intent is to keep that seperate,"
-healthcare & sick leave, contracted pieces you don't
-it's contracted, substitute can choose to not answer your phone (not a consistent person,) - hoping we can get, two days a week, a little consistency.
No substitute pool, number of applicants we're getting for. Substitute pool, from years, I just know we don't have a huge amount of substitutes to pull from.
- substitutes, national guard people - have had them show up, had them and placed them in different schools and different positions.
"Definitely grateful, for every day they came -- we could always,
-some additional applicants, because of the fees, health and wellness director
"Messaged that about the waiving of the fees, we're accepting applications. I do believe we did get - I renewed my substitute license," - waiting for me, fee was waived
"I don't think that was are thinking on it in subsequent conversations, how do we keep that pay comprable, based on need. Submitted applications. Aren't getting applications, what that will look like. We're still going to work on those based on supply and demand (takers - get that route,)
-gifted teacher, based on number of days and hours, and need
-market rate, employment agencies that you will
get emails from these types of agencies - my experience is those agencies
-RFP, cut out that middle man
-go out to those types of companies: CES. Ancillary positions. Employment shortages, these companies springing up and pushing out,
HR Director:
7 administrative positions, teaching positions: 13 positions, 5 counselor positions, 1 librarian, nurses district wide, social workers district wide, school psychologist, multiple busdrivers, cooks custodians, educational assistants, athletic coaches
2 principals decided to retire, stay out 90 days
district admin, cafeteria food service director, system principal
- more than normal, about what's
-not an exact number - k-12 200
RFP - contracted position, board position, amount of contract. Board approval
-started with gifted situation, kind of our discussions were 'let's see what,"
RFP - intentions of checking with HR — email, any
interest approach, "we'll
-chat, we're - later
managers - they should, we have the manager from aspen c
467-4509 (Liz Ruiz) Teresa (467-1609)
Liz Ruiz,
NEA
"Like, time ago, way back - we were a part of it. One day, they gave a bonus to the schools and managers were left out.
"We were always part of the union. Ever since then, we've had to fight and beg for our rights."
-$2,000 retention bonus.
"We never left through the pandemic," "We were always the ones in the front lines."
-some of them that didn;t get the money right way
cqshier and cashier
-talk there, concerns
-go meet - her school, after school - 2:30
earlier, 2:30 p.m., kids coming
505-920-1794 (liv turner) - aspen | https://www.santafenewmexican.com/notw/article_c8c7697e-ba75-11ec-ad77-839148313738.html | 2022-04-12T17:44:40 | 1 | https://www.santafenewmexican.com/notw/article_c8c7697e-ba75-11ec-ad77-839148313738.html |
Alabama elementary school principal accused of ‘excessive paddling’ of student
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF/Gray News) - An Alabama elementary school principal is on leave for paddling a child too much according to authorities.
In a letter obtained by WAFF from the district’s attorney, the principal of Hazelwood Elementary in Lawrence County, Alabama, is accused of using a wooden paddle on a child ten times in a row.
Corporal punishment is legal in the state of Alabama, meaning using paddling as a form of punishment is allowed. But there is a line, which Lawrence County Schools Superintendent Jon Bret Smith says was crossed.
A letter sent to Hazelwood Principal Dr. Datie Priest accuses her of paddling a third-grade student ten times in a row one time and five times in a row during a separate incident.
According to WAFF’s news partners at the Decatur Daily, Smith has said no more than three licks at a time is allowed.
The letter goes on to say Priest told Lawrence County School board members about the paddling on March 11.
She was then placed on detached duty.
Smith says Priest later told him and another supervisor that the child was given a choice of “two licks by his teacher or ten by me and it’s my personal belief that he would not take a paddling from a white teacher.”
Vice president for the Alabama NAACP Bobby Diggs said the organization recommended Priest for the principal position and stands by her, despite the accusations.
“The NAACP remains perplexed that the accusations against Priest were in her personnel file but accusations against Ron Rikard (principal at East Lawrence High School) were not in his file at the central office,” said Diggs. “It is in our opinion that the superintendent is being bias{ed} and discriminatory in the treatment of the two principals.”
Smith said he cannot comment on personnel issues.
State law also requires a student receive a written slip after a paddling. Smith said the student was not given one. The letter includes a few other accusations including leaving work early and mismanaging funds.
Priest is currently on paid administrative leave. However, the school district may not renew her contract, according to the Decatur Daily.
Copyright 2022 WAFF via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/12/alabama-elementary-school-principal-accused-excessive-paddling-student/ | 2022-04-12T17:50:41 | 1 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/12/alabama-elementary-school-principal-accused-excessive-paddling-student/ |
Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $302 million in pelvic mesh case
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A California appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that Johnson & Johnson must pay penalties to the state for deceptively marketing pelvic mesh implants for women, but reduced the amount by $42 million to $302 million.
Johnson & Johnson had appealed in 2020 after Superior Court Judge Eddie Sturgeon assessed the $344 million in penalties against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon.
Sturgeon found after a non-jury trial that the company made misleading and potentially harmful statements in hundreds of thousands of advertisements and instructional brochures for nearly two decades.
California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal issued a ruling Monday that $42 million in penalties assessed for the company’s sales pitches to doctors were unjustified because there was no evidence of what the sales representatives actually said.
But the appeals court said Sturgeon received ample evidence that Ethicon knowingly deceived both physicians and patients about the risks posed by its products, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Ryan Carbain, a Johnson & Johnson spokesperson, told the Chronicle that the company would appeal the appeals court ruling to the state Supreme Court.
The instructions for use in all of the company’s pelvic mesh implant packages “falsified or omitted the full range, severity, duration, and cause of complications associated with Ethicon’s pelvic mesh products, as well as the potential irreversibility and catastrophic consequences,” Presiding Justice Judith McConnell of the appeals court said in a 3-0 ruling upholding the $302 million in penalties.
She rejected the company’s claim that the fine was excessive, saying it amounted to less than 1% of Johnson & Johnson’s net worth of $70.4 billion.
The products, also called transvaginal mesh, are synthetic and surgically implanted through the vagina of women whose pelvic organs have sagged or who suffered from stress urinary incontinence when they cough, sneeze or lift heavy objects.
Many women have sued the New Jersey-based company alleging that the mesh caused severe pain, bleeding, infections, discomfort during intercourse and the need for removal surgery.
The condition is estimated to affect 3% to 17% of women, and it sometimes becomes severe after age 70.
Johnson & Johnson, the world’s biggest maker of health care products, is contesting other lawsuits over drug side effects, its role in the U.S. opioid epidemic and allegations its baby powder caused cancer in some users.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/12/johnson-johnson-ordered-pay-302-million-pelvic-mesh-case/ | 2022-04-12T17:50:48 | 1 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/12/johnson-johnson-ordered-pay-302-million-pelvic-mesh-case/ |
NFL’s Washington Commanders may have broken financial laws, House panel says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission saying it found evidence the NFL’s Washington Commanders engaged in potentially unlawful financial conduct for more than a decade by withholding ticket revenue from visiting teams and refundable deposits from fans.
In the letter obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, the committee outlined through the testimony of former employees and access to emails and documents a pattern of financial impropriety by owner Dan Snyder and team executives. At one point in 2016, the committee said the team retained up to $5 million from 2,000 season-ticket holders while also concealing sharable revenue from the league.
One former employee testified before Congress saying the team had two separate financial books — one with underreported ticket revenue that went to the NFL — and the full, complete picture. According to testimony, Snyder was aware of the numbers shared with the league while also being privy to the actual data.
The business practice was known as “juice” inside Washington’s front office. And, if correct, it could spell significant trouble for Snyder and the Commanders.
Ticket revenue is shared among all 32 NFL teams, with 40% of it deposited in a visiting team fund. Such money is among the pillars of the league’s revenue-sharing commitment.
A team spokeswoman said there was no new comment and referred to the statement from March 31: “The team categorically denies any suggestion of financial impropriety of any kind at any time.”
“We adhere to strict internal processes that are consistent with industry and accounting standards, are audited annually by a globally respected independent auditing firm, and are also subject to regular audits by the NFL. We continue to cooperate fully with the Committee’s work.”
The league did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The committee is sharing documents with the FTC while requesting the commission take any action necessary to make sure the money is returned to its rightful owners.
Congress launched an investigation into the team’s workplace misconduct after the league did not release a report detailing the findings of an independent probe into the matter. After testimony from former employees, that investigation expanded to the organization’s finances.
Lawyers Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who represent more than 40 former employees, including some who testified, called the letter “damning.”
“It’s clear that the team’s misconduct goes well beyond the sexual harassment and abuse of employees already documented and has also impacted the bottom line of the NFL, other NFL owners, and the team’s fans,” they said in a statement. “We are proud of our many clients who have come forward at great personal risk to reveal the truth and bring us closer to total transparency about the full extent of the dysfunction at the Washington Commanders.”
___
Associated Press reporter Farnoush Amiri contributed.
___
More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://apnews.com/hub/pro-32 and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/12/nfls-washington-commanders-may-have-broken-financial-laws-house-panel-says/ | 2022-04-12T17:50:55 | 0 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/12/nfls-washington-commanders-may-have-broken-financial-laws-house-panel-says/ |
NY lieutenant governor arrested in federal corruption investigation
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin was arrested Tuesday in a federal corruption investigation, creating a political crisis for Gov. Kathy Hochul seven months after she selected Benjamin as a partner to make a fresh start in an office already rocked by scandal.
Benjamin, a Democrat, was accused in an indictment of participating in a scheme to obtain campaign contributions from a real estate developer in exchange for Benjamin’s agreement to use his influence as a state senator to get a $50,000 grant of state funds for a nonprofit organization the developer controlled.
Facing charges including bribery, fraud, conspiracy and falsification of records, Benjamin pleaded not guilty Tuesday at an initial appearance in Manhattan federal court. He was released and bail was set at $250,000.
Two lawyers representing Benjamin did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Hochul in September plucked Benjamin, then a state lawmaker, to serve as second-in-command when she became governor, taking over for Democrat Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo resigned amid allegations he sexually harassed 11 women, which he denied.
Hochul, also a Democrat, was Cuomo’s lieutenant governor. She is now running for governor in this year’s election, with Benjamin as a running mate.
Hochul, who appeared at a New York City news conference Tuesday regarding a shooting on the subway, said she would speak about Benjamin later in the day.
“We’ll have a statement out there. I have not had a chance to speak to him. I was doing media interviews this morning. But this is not the place but I will be addressing it very shortly,” Hochul said.
Two months after Benjamin became lieutenant governor, a real estate developer who steered campaign contributions toward Benjamin’s failed bid for New York City comptroller was indicted. Federal authorities accused Gerald Migdol of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft in illegally giving donations to Benjamin’s campaign.
The indictment said Benjamin, formerly a state senator from Harlem, and others acting at his direction or on his behalf also engaged in a series of lies and deceptions to cover up the scheme that stretched from 2019 to 2021.
They falsified campaign donor forms, misled municipal regulators and provided false information in vetting forms Benjamin submitted while he was being considered to be appointed as lieutenant governor, the indictment said.
Prosecutors had previously not made any accusations against Benjamin, and his campaign said at the time of Migdol’s arrest that it had forfeited any improper donations as soon as they were discovered.
More recently, reports came out saying subpoenas had been issued to Benjamin regarding the financial issues even before Hochul picked him as lieutenant governor.
Republican chairman Nick Langworthy said in a prepared statement that “Hochul chose a dirty politician to serve as her partner in government and running mate.”
“Brian Benjamin’s shady dealings and corruption were well-documented, but Hochul turned a blind eye and put him a heartbeat away from the governorship,” Langworthy said.
Hochul said Monday at a press conference she didn’t know of the subpoenas when she tapped Benjamin to be her No. 2.
She said last week she had the “utmost confidence” in Benjamin.
“This is an independent investigation related to other people and he’s fully cooperating. He is my running mate,” Hocuhl said Thursday at a press conference.
Republican minority legislative leaders — Senate Leader Rob Ortt and Assembly Leader Will Barclay — called on Benjamin to resign.
“Kathy Hochul and Senate Democrats might tolerate this corruption, but New Yorkers don’t and neither do I,” Ortt said. “I’m calling on Gov. Hochul and Senate Democrats to stop hiding from the truth and join me in demanding Brian Benjamin’s resignation.”
Spokespeople for Hochul, Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie didn’t immediately provide comment Tuesday when asked if Benjamin should resign.
If Benjamin resigns, he would still likely appear on the ballot for the 2022 gubernatorial Democratic primary even if Hochul picks a new lieutenant governor, according to state elections law.
“There are only three ways to get off the ballot: death, declination or disqualification,” State board of elections spokesperson John Conklin said in an email.
Benjamin was the state’s second Black lieutenant governor. During his state Legislature career, he emphasized criminal justice reform and affordable housing. His district included most of central Harlem, where he was born and raised by Caribbean immigrant parents.
He has a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Brown University and a master’s of business administration from Harvard Business School, and worked as a developer of affordable housing.
___
Hays reported from New York. Associated Press writers Deepti Hajela and Larry Neumeister contributed from New York and Michael Hill contributed from Albany.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/12/ny-lieutenant-governor-arrested-federal-corruption-investigation/ | 2022-04-12T17:51:08 | 0 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/12/ny-lieutenant-governor-arrested-federal-corruption-investigation/ |
VIDEO: Man arrested after child escapes attempted kidnapping, police say
ORLANDO, Fla. (Gray News) – A man in Florida was arrested Tuesday after attempting to kidnap a child, police said.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that 37-year-old Vinh Nguyen approached and grabbed a child Monday morning in the Azalea Park neighborhood in Orlando and tried to lure the child into his vehicle.
The sheriff’s office said the child was able to get away and Nguyen took off. Following a tip from the public, detectives arrested Nguyen on Tuesday morning.
Nguyen has been charged with false imprisonment, luring or enticing of a child, and battery.
Detectives are continuing to investigate and want to know if there may be other victims of Nguyen. If you have any information, please call the Central Florida Crime Line at 1-800-423-8477.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/12/video-man-arrested-after-child-escapes-attempted-kidnapping-police-say/ | 2022-04-12T17:51:14 | 0 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/12/video-man-arrested-after-child-escapes-attempted-kidnapping-police-say/ |
OLIN, N.C. (WTVD) -- A school resource officer in Iredell County saves a student's life with the Heimlich maneuver.
Authorities say a 13-year-old girl was choking on a piece of candy when Deputy Alan Josey, who was working at North Iredell Middle School, was alerted to the emergency. Josey found the 7th grade student on the floor, got her up, and performed the Heimlich maneuver causing the candy to pop out.
The school has said the girl was not seriously hurt and is expected to be okay. | https://abc11.com/north-iredell-middle-school-alan-josey-sro-saves-student-deputy-save-choking/11741217/ | 2022-04-12T17:52:41 | 1 | https://abc11.com/north-iredell-middle-school-alan-josey-sro-saves-student-deputy-save-choking/11741217/ |
Dairy Queen is getting ready for summer earlier than ever with a brand new drink made for sipping poolside on a hot day.
The new Poolside Punch Twisty Misty Slush features ice-cold layers of blue raspberry and pink punch flavors twisted together, which DQ says tastes like summer in a cup and can transport you to a tropical cabana or poolside resort regardless of where you’ll be spending your summer.
Dairy Queen doesn’t say how long the new drink will be on the menu, but it’s safe to say it will be sticking around at least into the summer.
The Poolside Punch Twisty Misty Slush looks like any other slushy, but is definitely the most colorful one we’ve ever seen!
TikTok account @dairy_queen_ma posted a video showing how this Misty is made, with a fruity punch flavor going in first, followed by misty slush, then blue raspberry flavor and even more slush. It is then mixed together, which creates a blend of red, blue and purple.
@dairy_queen_ma NEW Poolside Punch Twisty Misty #dairyqueen #dq #dqtreats #twistymisty #DeserveADrPepperDuet #OscarsAtHome #WomenOwnedBusiness #foodtok #fyp #SeeHerGreatness
While the Poolside Punch Twisty Misty Slush is clearly made for summer, it’s actually on Dairy Queen’s new spring menu, which also includes a S’mores Shake and new dipped cone flavor.
The S’mores Shake is made with marshmallow, graham and chocolatey shavings blended with DQ’s vanilla soft serve, while the new Fruity Blast Dipped Cone is a creamy vanilla soft-serve cone dipped in a light purple coating that’s flavored like fruity cereal.
While they’re obviously known for their desserts, DQ also has a pretty extensive food menu, including a new line of burgers to pair with your ice cream treats this summer.
The new Signature Stackburgers come in five flavor varieties as one-third pound doubles and one-half pound triples. Along with a cheeseburger, the Two Cheese Deluxe and Bacon Two Cheese Deluxe, the menu also includes a Loaded A.1. with A.1. steak sauce, creamy peppercorn sauce, thick-cut Applewood smoked bacon, American cheese and onion rings, and the FlameThrower, which has fiery FlameThrower sauce, pepper jack cheese, jalapeno bacon, tomato and lettuce.
Which new DQ treat are you most excited to try this spring and summer?
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories. | https://www.wmar2news.com/dairy-queens-new-poolside-punch-summery-treat | 2022-04-12T17:56:12 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/dairy-queens-new-poolside-punch-summery-treat |
It's National Grilled Cheese day, and Cabot cheeses make for the perfect ooey, gooey sandwich.
Cabot Creamery is a farmer owned cooperative with a hundred-year history. The coop is supported by more than 700 farming families who provide milk for products and also act as owners of the company. The farmers have a commitment to quality products and a passion for their communities. Cabot Creamery is a certified B Corp.
Grilled cheese starts with the perfect buttered bread. Check out Cabot's full library of recipes, including Pesto Arugula Grilled Cheese, Cheddar Pear Panini, and more here. | https://www.wmar2news.com/middaymaryland/cabot-creamery-national-grilled-cheese-day | 2022-04-12T17:56:15 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/middaymaryland/cabot-creamery-national-grilled-cheese-day |
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The annual Annapolis Pride Parade and Festival events were postponed two years in a row due to Covid concerns but the long-awaited event is coming back June 4.
During a reception Saturday Annapolis Pride announced the 2022 logo and theme, 'Many faces, One Pride.'
Board chair Joe Toolan said, “Now more than ever it is important that we recognize that while each story is unique, we are in our own ways advocating for and pushing for a more inclusive Annapolis. When we all come together with each other we are powerful. Our collective impact is unstoppable.”
They also announced this year’s group of parade Grand Marshals including Abbie Ellicott, leader of the Coalition for LGBTQ+ Students; Drake Smith, former Anne Arundel County Board of Education student member; and Billie Hoard, Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) sponsor at Chesapeake High School in Pasadena.
The parade route will take place along West Street, from Amos Garrett Boulevard to Calvert Street. The festival will be held on West Street between Calvert Street and Church Circle, and in The Peoples Park on Calvert Street next to the Whitmore parking garage and adjacent parking lots. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/annapolis-pride-events-are-coming-back-after-2-years-postponed | 2022-04-12T17:56:18 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/annapolis-pride-events-are-coming-back-after-2-years-postponed |
OCEAN CITY, Md. — A new owner is taking over the shuttered, original Phillips Crab House in Ocean City.
The Phillips family sold the Philadelphia Avenue location last year, after more than 65 years in business - but now it's coming back as a new seafood restaurant.
An owner of the Ocean City restaurant Fast Eddie's posted on Facebook today that the Phillips location will now become Union Chesapeake Seafood House.
The new owner wrote: "Union Chesapeake Seafood House will not veer far from Bryce and Shirley’s legendary concept. The upstairs will feature an All You Can Eat Seafood, Prime Rib & Blue Crab Buffet! The downstairs will be a full-service restaurant/crab house specializing in the finest Seafood that Maryland has to offer. Once again, it's truly an honor and a blessing to be a part of keeping this building standing in Ocean City. We love this town; we love this business! Union Chesapeake Seafood House, coming soon!"
The Facebook post that the restaurant is now hiring and employee housing is available. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/former-phillips-crab-house-in-ocean-city-to-become-new-seafood-restaurant | 2022-04-12T17:56:19 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/former-phillips-crab-house-in-ocean-city-to-become-new-seafood-restaurant |
COCKEYSVILLE, Md — Baltimore County Police are just announcing a shooting that took place overnight Saturday in Cockeysville.
Shots rang out around 1am in the 500 block of Cranbrook Road.
On scene, officers found no victim but later a man walked into an area hospital with a gunshot wound.
Police say he is still hospitalized in critical condition.
No word yet on any potential motive or suspects.
Anyone with information should call detectives at 410-307-2020. You could be eligible for a $2000 reward. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/man-remains-hospitalized-in-critical-condition-after-being-shot-saturday-in-cockeysville | 2022-04-12T17:56:19 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/man-remains-hospitalized-in-critical-condition-after-being-shot-saturday-in-cockeysville |
BALTIMORE — The WNBA draft was Monday night and two Baltimore natives had their dreams come true.
Delaware shooting guard Jasmine Dickey and Michigan State point guard Nia Clouden will continue their basketball careers at the pro level after both being selected in the top 30.
Dickey graduated from Catonsville High School before moving on to Delaware where she becomes the third Blue Hen drafted in WNBA history. She would go on to lead Delaware to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2013.
She was also named Ms. Maryland Basketball in 2017. Dickey finished her collegiate career with 1,981 career points,1,038 rebounds and 48 double-doubles.
Clouden is from Owings Mills and went to high school at Saint Frances Academy. She was named to the Big 10 all conference team three times during her career at Michigan State.
She also led her team in her scoring and is number two in all-time career points with 1,882.
The Connecticut Sun selected her 12th overall. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/two-baltimore-natives-drafted-to-the-wnba-in-mondays-draft | 2022-04-12T17:56:32 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/two-baltimore-natives-drafted-to-the-wnba-in-mondays-draft |
Families with transgender teens have sued the state of Alabama to overturn a law that makes it a crime for doctors to treat trans youth under 19 with puberty blockers or hormones.
The newly signed law also prohibits gender transition surgeries, although doctors told lawmakers those are not performed on minors in Alabama.
Two separate suits were filed Monday by the Southern Poverty Law Center and ACLU of Alabama.
Both suits aim to block the law.
The lawsuits were filed three days after Republican Governor Kay Ivey signed the measure into law.
The law will go into effect on May 8 unless blocked by the court.
Violations will be punishable by up to 10 years in prison. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/civil-rights-groups-challenge-alabama-law-banning-transgender-treatment | 2022-04-12T17:56:38 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/civil-rights-groups-challenge-alabama-law-banning-transgender-treatment |
HYATTSVILLE, Md. — To bring a song to life, a musician’s smooth sounds meet a sound engineer’s high tech.
From the inside, it may look like it’s happening in a typical recording studio – but from the outside, it’s far from it.
The song recordings are all taking place on four wheels.
“This is so cool, man,” said guitarist Quintin Knox. “I want one.”
Painted bright red on its exterior, American University’s Humanities Truck is a mobile recording studio that is helping to capture local music, which may otherwise not get recorded.
“Our engineer, Neil [Perry], worked at The Hit Factory in New York for over 20 years, where he recorded David Bowie and Mariah Carey and Prince,” said Aram Sinnreich, a professor at American University. “We're trying to take a sonic snapshot.”
He came up with the recording music program called “Out of Their Shells.” For several months now, the Humanities Truck – a converted food truck -- has been rolling into communities and musicians’ lives, allowing them to record their music for free.
“The idea is musicians - we've all been locked up in our homes for two years now, not playing shows, not going to recording studios, not being able to interact with our communities,” Simmreich said, “and this truck is kind of pulling people out of their shells.”
One of those coming out of their shell is Ronald Scott.
“It sounded really, really good,” he said.
Scott, along with the musicians, are part of the band called “Raw.” He wrote the song getting recorded, called “I like it Raw.”
“The fact that we've been shut down for so long, this is almost like sort of a busting out, if you will,” Scott said.
Inside the soundproof truck, saxophonist Sharon Thomas lays down her track for the song.
“This is the first time that I have recorded in a van,” she said. “It's pretty cool, though!”
Sinnreich says he would like to see the program expand to musicians in more states, with the idea of giving as many different musical styles as possible a chance to shine.
“We're also recording Ethiopian music. We're recording Muslim Women's music. We're recording jazz and hip hop and kids’ music,” he said.
And the sound quality?
“Awesome,” Scott said, after listening to the recordings through a set of headphones. “I was very pleased with it.”
It’s a reaction that is music to the ears of those making it happen.
“I want to give the musicians a sense of hope for the future, a sense that there's life after COVID and that they can jump start their musical lives again,” Sinnreich said.
As musicians reach for a new beginning, it gives them a chance to hit the right note once more. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/food-truck-turned-mobile-recording-studio-opens-doors-to-musicians | 2022-04-12T17:56:44 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/food-truck-turned-mobile-recording-studio-opens-doors-to-musicians |
KOB Web Staff, Brianna Wilson
Created: April 12, 2022 10:27 AM
BELEN, N.M. – The 'Big Hole Fire' has now burned 850 acres and claimed at least one home in the far-southern part of the Albuquerque metro.
Officials confirmed Tuesday morning there were 19 structures – including the home – involved in the fire but a cause is unknown.
Crews made progress overnight but did not provide a definite containment percentage due to heavy wind gusts. Gusts are expected to pick up again Tuesday afternoon and make conditions unpredictable. Roads are currently reopened but the conditions may shut them down again.
The fire reportedly goes from Romancita Road to Gabaldon Road – on both sides of the bosque – and is expected to push forward.
The Bureau of Land Management has taken command of the fire. Resources from throughout the state are responding – including Bernalillo County and Albuquerque fire crews – and more than 100 people have been assigned to the fire as they work to set up containment areas and chase spot fires.
A firefighter sustained minor injuries while responding to the fire but they are recovering at home.
As of Tuesday morning, there are no areas being evacuated but people closely impacted by smoke are urged to evacuate. People with breathing issues are also encouraged to evacuate.
A nursing home was voluntarily evacuated Monday to the Belen Recreation Center due to concerns over respiratory issues. Residents in the areas of Blue Sky Road, Las Chapulinas and Nighthawk Road were also encouraged to evacuate to the recreation center.
Plans are in place to evacuate schools if needed. Schools were given the option to open Tuesday but some decided to do remote learning.
Any animals that crews pick up will be held with the Valencia County Sheriff's Posse until their respective owners claim them.
Red flag warnings and wind alerts are posted statewide as conditions will remain warm, windy and dry. Gusts between 50 and 65 MPH will be common and the strongest winds will arrive with a cold front, causing areas of blowing dust and reduced visibility.
Officials are warning people not to burn any weeds or trash – and avoid welding or grinding – until red flag conditions lift.
Copyright 2022 - KOB-TV LLC, A Hubbard Broadcasting Company | https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/big-hole-fire-in-the-south-metro-now-at-850-acres/6444351/?cat=500 | 2022-04-12T17:56:45 | 1 | https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/big-hole-fire-in-the-south-metro-now-at-850-acres/6444351/?cat=500 |
Krispy Kreme knows gas prices are soaring, so they are offering a way to sweeten your "pump day."
Over the next four weeks beginning April 13, Krispy Kreme will sell a dozen glazed doughnuts for the price as the national average cost of a gallon of gas.
This week's deal will cost customers $4.11.
"Prices will be updated weekly, so check back each Tuesday to know that week’s offer price," the company said.
The offer is redeemable in-store, the drive-thru, and online pickup.
The sweet deal will take place every Wednesday until May 4. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/krispy-kreme-sells-dozen-doughnuts-for-same-price-as-gallon-of-gas | 2022-04-12T17:56:50 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/krispy-kreme-sells-dozen-doughnuts-for-same-price-as-gallon-of-gas |
Steve Stucker
Updated: April 12, 2022 10:47 AM
Created: April 12, 2022 07:13 AM
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – If you are an allergy sufferer, be sure to stay indoors as much as possible today as winds and dry conditions will be kicking allergens and irritants from the state's wildfires.
Strong to damaging westerly wind gusts between 50 and 65 MPH will be common in the area Tuesday. The area is expected to face blowing dust and reduced visibility as a cold front blows through and ushers in cooler temperatures and some precipitation.
Wind advisories and warnings are posted throughout the state, as well as red flag warnings.
Steve Stucker has the full Tuesday morning forecast. Click the video above to view Steve's forecast.
Copyright 2022 - KOB-TV LLC, A Hubbard Broadcasting Company | https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/fire-danger-allergens-kicking-up-as-temps-and-winds-rise-tuesday/6444154/?cat=500 | 2022-04-12T17:56:52 | 0 | https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/fire-danger-allergens-kicking-up-as-temps-and-winds-rise-tuesday/6444154/?cat=500 |
Joey and Katie Mims might be the middle-class model. They are raising a son and they found a home in the city they love: Lincoln, Nebraska.
Jobs and homes are two areas that recently have presented Lincoln and other cities with an unusual issue.
Lincoln ranks at the top of a list measuring labor market tightness. In cities like Provo, Utah, and Lexington, Kentucky, the number of job openings is more than double the number of unemployed individuals. In Lincoln, it’s nearly four-to-one.
“We’re a largely rural state, so as people go to college and move out of those communities, people aren’t coming back in. And so, we have a lot of people moving out of our state and they’re trying to figure out ways to bring people into our state,” Joey Mims said.
For the past year, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts has tried to find ways to essentially force people to work.
Last fall, the state spent $10 million in federal CARES Act funds on a national ad campaign to convince folks to move there.
Wayne Mortensen runs NeighborWorks Lincoln, a nonprofit that aims to empower homeowners.
“You can’t fill jobs and bring people to Nebraska with housing you don’t have,” Mortenson said.
Lincoln, like many mid-sized cities, doesn’t have enough affordable housing to support the middle-class employees they’d like to lure.
“In our area, anything that goes up for sale is either purchased by an investment company and turned into a rental or is upgraded and flipped and sold for twice what a family just starting out can afford,” Katie said.
Dr. Roger Tutterow, an economics professor at Kennesaw State in Georgia, said times are tough for a lot of people right now.
“If you're in a tight labor market and a tight housing market, it's a tough combination because you may look at a city where there's a great employment opportunity, but if you can't find the housing that's appropriate in terms of affordability or location or suitability, then that may discourage you from migrating," he said.
Joey and Katie had jobs. But in the Lincoln market, they couldn’t find a home until receiving assistance from NeighborWorks.
“Our story isn’t unique, but it means so much to us that I want other people to have the same experience,” Joey said. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/middle-class-faces-lack-of-housing | 2022-04-12T17:56:56 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/middle-class-faces-lack-of-housing |
KOB 4
Updated: April 12, 2022 08:19 AM
Created: April 12, 2022 07:11 AM
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – College is a time filled with events requiring formal attire but many students – especially student-athletes – are crunched for time on shoestring budgets and can't afford formal clothing.
Locker 505 is helping out New Mexico Highland student-athletes with their annual gala Wednesday. The organization is donating dresses and other formal wear to student-athletes who can't afford it. They'll be making a delivery to the campus around 11 a.m. Wednesday and are seeking the community's donations.
Fred Slow, the delivery coordinator for Locker 505 and the gala's MC, was joined by Locker 505 Executive Director Kim Kerschen for an interview Tuesday morning with Danielle Todesco.
Click the video above to view the interview.
Copyright 2022 - KOB-TV LLC, A Hubbard Broadcasting Company | https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/locker-505-to-host-formal-wear-drive-supporting-college-students/6444153/?cat=500 | 2022-04-12T17:56:58 | 1 | https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/locker-505-to-host-formal-wear-drive-supporting-college-students/6444153/?cat=500 |
Cellphone provider Nokia said it is no longer conducting new business in Russia as it joins a growing list of Western companies to stop doing business in the country.
Nokia said continuing its presence in Russia would “not be possible” as Russia continues its war against Ukraine.
“For humanitarian reasons, Western governments have expressed concerns about the risk of critical telecommunication network infrastructure in Russia failing,” Nokia said. “They have also emphasized the importance of ensuring the continued flow of information and access to the internet which provides outside perspectives to the Russian people. Therefore, as we exit we will aim to provide the necessary support to maintain the networks and are applying for the relevant licenses to enable this support in compliance with current sanctions.”
Nokia said it has stopped deliveries to Russia and is moving out its research and development.
The company said the Russian market accounts for less than 2% of its net sales. Nokia said with strong demand in other regions, it is not expecting the decision to impact its financial outlook for the year. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/nokia-halts-new-business-in-russia | 2022-04-12T17:57:02 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/nokia-halts-new-business-in-russia |
ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands — Holland America is volunteering one of its ships to temporarily house Ukrainian refugees.
The Volendam will dock in the Dutch city of Rotterdam for three months to provide shelter for about 1,500 Ukrainians.
Holland America will provide three hot meals a day to refugees, as well as internet access and other necessities.
To accommodate refugees, the cruise line will cancel three voyages that were scheduled for the Volendam.
Guests will be accommodated on other itineraries.
Service will resume on July 3.
“We are in a unique position to accommodate the immediate need for food and housing, so we felt it was very important to work with the City of Rotterdam and charter this ship,” said Gus Antorcha, president of Holland America Line in a statement.
The Dutch government has pledged to house 50,000 refugees from Ukraine.
The government reached out to the cruise line in March to ask if a ship could be used to house Ukrainians.
So far, 100 Ukrainians have boarded the ship.
More are expected in the coming days. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/russia-ukraine-conflict/cruise-ship-in-the-netherlands-will-house-1-500-ukrainian-refugees | 2022-04-12T17:57:08 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/russia-ukraine-conflict/cruise-ship-in-the-netherlands-will-house-1-500-ukrainian-refugees |
BRNO, Czech Republic (AP) — Since Russia launched its brutal attack against Ukraine, Ukrainians living across the Czech Republic have been arriving in the second largest Czech city of Brno.
They have come for courses designed to teach them skills to safely handle lethal rifles while being able to inflict damage on their enemy.
At least 130 men and women have so far undergone free-of-charge training on how to fight the aggressor.
The Associated Press reported that the training is being provided by security company CS Solutions.
The owner of CS Solutions, Michal Ratajsky, told the news outlet that he's doing this as “our contribution to the help for Ukrainians."
Besides money being raised through a crowdfunding campaign to help them buy ammunition, the company provides everything else, including experienced instructors, weapons, and the shooting range, the AP reported.
Other than shooting, the courses give them the basics about guns, movement around the battlefield, and a lesson in providing first aid.
Soon, they may put those skills to the test in the war zone that their country has become. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/russia-ukraine-conflict/czechs-provide-free-shooting-training-for-local-ukrainians | 2022-04-12T17:57:14 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/russia-ukraine-conflict/czechs-provide-free-shooting-training-for-local-ukrainians |
BEIJING (AP) — Some residents of Shanghai have been allowed out of their homes as the city of 25 million eases a two-week-old shutdown.
That came after a video posted online showed what was said to be people who ran out of food breaking into a supermarket.
The online news outlet The Paper said about 6.6 million people will be allowed to go outdoors.
The government said some markets and pharmacies would reopen.
A health official warned Shanghai doesn't have the virus under control despite easing restrictions. China has a strict zero-COVID policy, which aims to eliminate the virus rather than adapt and live with it.
Washington announced all “non-emergency U.S. government employees” would be withdrawn from its Shanghai Consulate. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/shanghai-eases-2-week-shutdown-letting-some-residents-out | 2022-04-12T17:57:20 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/shanghai-eases-2-week-shutdown-letting-some-residents-out |
A Ukrainian soldier posted pics of a lost dog to Facebook last week, trying to reunite the pup with his people. And it looks like it worked!
Newsweek reports that Andriy Smirnov posted the photos while in Bucha, a suburb of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. The town has sustained major damage from Russian attacks, and Smirnov shared that he found the dog — a small tan-and-white husky — roaming the desolate streets.
“Bucha, such a little one running around the house,” he wrote. “There are no owners, we will look for them.”
The post was shared more than 7,000 times. Not long after, a woman named Marina commented on it, saying that this was her dog and that her children had been crying for him.
“When the shelling began, our beloved pet dog Yukki got spooked and ran away,” Marina told Newsweek. “We looked for him, but to no avail.”
Then Marina and her three children made the tough decision to leave Bucha without Yukki. She said the dog eventually returned home, but the family’s house was hit by a rocket. A neighbor who stayed in town eventually found Yukki and cared for him, but the dog bolted again in another round of shelling.
Bucha lost running water, electricity, gas and internet in early March. It’s also a site of alleged war crimes against civilians.
“Then a miracle happened,” Marina said. “He was found by a soldier named Andriy Smirnov. He is with him now and is taken care of. We are waiting for a call from Andriy who will let us know when it is safe to come back and return Yukki to our family.”
A post on a personal page notes that, as of two days ago, a member of the family was expecting to make an appointment with the soldier so they could prove ownership and pick up the pup.
In the meantime, Yukki seems pretty comfortable with Smirnov — the soldier posted some additional pics of the pup snuggling up with him. He noted in the post that the saga isn’t quite finished, as he wants to make sure the dog goes to the right owners.
This is just a little bit of good news in a sad time — and not the only feel-good story involving a dog in Ukraine. Nessie, another husky from Bucha, was also separated from her owner, found by military volunteers from Belarus, and posted about on social media. The two were eventually reunited.
We love to see it!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories. | https://www.wmar2news.com/soldier-reunite-lost-husky-ukrainian-owners | 2022-04-12T17:57:26 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/soldier-reunite-lost-husky-ukrainian-owners |
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission saying it found evidence the NFL's Washington Commanders engaged in unlawful financial conduct.
The committee says the team withheld ticket revenue from visiting teams and refundable ticket deposits from season-ticket holders.
In the letter, which was obtained by the Associated Press, the committee said up to $5 million was retained by the team in 2016 from 2,000 season-ticket holders and they also concealed from the league sharable revenue.
During their testimony before Congress, a former employee said two separate financial books were kept by the team, with the league receiving one with underreported ticket revenue and the other containing everything, the AP reported.
According to the news outlet, the former employee added that owner Dan Snyder knew what was being shared with the league's office and what the actual data was, too.
The committee said emails, documents, and statements made by former employees indicate team executives and Snyder engaged in "a troubling, long-running, and potentially unlawful pattern of financial conduct."
The committee is sharing documents with the FTC while requesting the commission take any action necessary to make sure the money is returned to its rightful owners. | https://www.wmar2news.com/sports/congress-tells-ftc-commanders-may-have-broken-financial-laws | 2022-04-12T17:57:32 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/sports/congress-tells-ftc-commanders-may-have-broken-financial-laws |
After the Rev. Charles Jackson retired from his ministry with the AME Church in September, he filed a written request to cash in on his pension that he had contributed to throughout his 24-year career. But that request was denied.
It turned out the church paused payments to him and thousands of other retired ministers who contributed to that fund throughout their decades-long careers. On October 7, the church’s Department of Retirement Services, which manages the fund, announced a “comprehensive audit” after it had “reported a material loss in the value of one or more of its departmental investments.”
Jackson, who served the AME Church for 24 years, is now one of several Orlando-area pastors joining in a class-action lawsuit against the church and its financial partners, which reportedly lost as much as $90 million from that fund, which also helped pay for “hardship requests.”
The lawsuit was filed March 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, where the AME Church is headquartered.
“I lost my best friend,” said Jackson, formerly of Mt. Tabor AME Church in Altamonte Springs. “I thought the church would take care of us and whatever they promised us they would hold fast to. We found that was not the case.”
According to the federal complaint, the fund was managed by the Rev. Dr. Jerome Harris, who held that position from 2000 until his retirement in July. The value of the fund was worth approximately $125 million by the end of Harris’ tenure, but the Rev. James Miller “discovered the Fund shortfall shortly after” Harris stepped down.
The lawsuit also claims the losses are believed to “exceed 60% of the Fund” because of irresponsible investments, which led to the church’s governing body discussing “borrowing $45 million or selling church property to replace at least some of the missing money.”
“It is our intention with this lawsuit to use the power of discovery to understand exactly how much money was lost, who was involved and how they were involved,” said Greg Francis of Boca Raton-based law firm Osborne & Francis, which represents Jackson. “These pastors have worked all their lives dedicated to their respective communities and now at the age of retirement they’re not being afforded those funds.”
Lawyers for the AME Church did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
Jackson’s lawsuit was filed at the same time as other lawsuits in Maryland in Virginia, with other retired ministers making similar allegations.
Church officials called the missing retirement funds “a possible financial crime” after a report by the Wall Street Journal in March about the investigation.
“We continue to actively work with federal authorities who are investigating this matter and recover any misappropriated funds,” the AME Church said in a March 30 statement, which added that it is committed to making every fund participant whole by restoring their full investment plus interest.”
Among the allegations are breach of contract and unjust enrichment after pension savings belonging to Jackson and others weren’t disbursed, according to the complaint. It also accuses the church and others of having “intentionally lied and misled” ministers about how the money was being spent, “knowing full well [they] would lose their investments, be left penniless and as a result suffer severe emotional distress.”
According to court records, Harris had been sued in July 2006 over claims of mismanaged annuity but that case was later dismissed.
creyes-rios@orlandosentinel.com | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/crime/os-ne-orlando-pastors-ame-church-lawsuit-retirement-fund-20220412-mkezdthizjabfpv6ord2ibu67e-story.html | 2022-04-12T17:59:13 | 0 | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/crime/os-ne-orlando-pastors-ame-church-lawsuit-retirement-fund-20220412-mkezdthizjabfpv6ord2ibu67e-story.html |
A state judge has given the green light to a 24-hour waiting period for abortions, effective immediately, in what advocates called yet another blow to abortion rights in Florida.
The 2015 law creating the waiting period, signed by then-Gov. Rick Scott, had been in limbo for seven years as its constitutionality was debated in the courts.
The law requires women to show up in person for one appointment and then return no sooner than 24 hours later to undergo the abortion.
In a ruling issued Friday, Leon Circuit Court Judge Angela Dempsey upheld the law and rejected requests from the plaintiffs, clinic operator Gainesville Woman Care LLC, and the group Medical Students for Choice, to hold off on a decision or delay its implementation until April 30 to allow time to reschedule appointments.
“This court’s ruling merely puts the people of Florida in the same position as the people of a majority of States,” Dempsey wrote. “This is hardly the sort of irreparable harm that would justify the extraordinary remedy [the] plaintiffs seek.”
The decision continued high-profile victories for abortion opponents in Florida, including a law passed during this year’s legislative session that would prevent most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Other changes in recent years have included requiring parental consent before minors can have abortions.
In her ruling, Dempsey, a Gov. Jeb Bush appointee, added, “plaintiffs can point to no evidence that these laws have prevented any women — let alone all women — who desire an abortion from obtaining one.”
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, disagreed.
“This is incredibly damaging for women in Florida,” said Eskamani, formerly of Planned Parenthood. “You have to remember that many of Florida counties do not have an abortion provider.
“If you live in Brevard County, for example, you are driving upwards of an hour, if not more to get to a clinic,” she said. “They’re going to have to find additional transportation if they don’t have a car, time off work, more child care coverage if they already have children. And you couple that with a 15-week abortion ban, and this is going to be one of the most dangerous years for women’s health in the state of Florida in our history.”
Eskamani also criticized the assumption of the ruling that women who make the decision to end the pregnancy have not thought hard about it.
“Again, that’s not the case, since it’s a very intimate and personal decision,” she said. “Just the harm and trauma that these women experience where they’re being told that, ‘You’re not ready to make this decision, you have to go home and think about it,’ when there’s no medical evidence to support that claim.”
While the Legislature and Scott approved the law, it immediately drew a legal challenge. Leon Circuit Judge Charles Francis issued a temporary injunction against it, a move that was later backed by the Supreme Court.
That prevented the law from being enforced as the legal fight continued in circuit court and the 1st District Court of Appeal.
In 2018, Circuit Judge Terry Lewis issued a summary judgment that said the law was unconstitutional. But that decision was overturned in 2019 by a panel of the Tallahassee-based appeals court, sending the dispute back to circuit court.
Dempsey issued her summary judgment ruling Friday in favor of the state, after calling off a trial that had been scheduled this month.
While the state Supreme Court in 2017 backed the temporary injunction against the law, the court has become far more conservative during the past three years because of appointments made by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
News Service of Florida contributed to this report. | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-ne-florida-abortion-waiting-period-20220412-msbeg3bhrzaozdkqq5oph3s7jq-story.html | 2022-04-12T17:59:19 | 0 | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-ne-florida-abortion-waiting-period-20220412-msbeg3bhrzaozdkqq5oph3s7jq-story.html |
MEMPHIS, TENN. (WREG) — A report from the Nashville Humane Association shows the director of a Tennessee animal shelter admitted to shooting animals instead of putting them down with drugs.
In the report from January, Terry Kissell, of the Lauderdale County Animal Shelter, told a Humane Association employee that he had been shooting animals to euthanize them because their paperwork had issues and their euthanasia solution was expired.
A detective with the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department said he began investigating the shelter in Ripley, Tennessee, in March after he received a complaint about six dogs being shot at the facility. However, he could not find any evidence, and charges were never filed.
Detective Micah Middlebrook said that Kissell admitted to shooting and killing one dog but said he did it because the dog was aggressive and charged him.
At least two rescue groups said the husky was very friendly and not vicious.
“It was not aggressive. It was Snowball,” said Amber Reynolds with Halfway Home Animal Rescue. “I have pictures of him hugging me, loving on me.”
The Lauderdale Animal Shelter was temporarily closed in 2015, and a part-time employee was suspended after a local rescue group found a live puppy in a freezer.
Debbie Flowers with Ripley Animal Rescue said she came to the shelter to take pictures of puppies and heard several had been euthanized. Flowers said she checked the freezer and noticed one still had a pulse.
Reynolds said last week, she found one dead puppy and two live puppies in a dark, cold closet at the Lauderdale County Shelter and was told the dead puppy was put in the closet because it was dying.
“It was colder than it was outside,” said Reynolds. “The puppies didn’t have a blanket. They were just lying on the plastic crate floor.”
Lauderdale County Mayor Maurice Gaines said he didn’t know about any puppies being left in a closet and said 99% of the claims made against the shelter were false.
“I think there was an issue where a vicious dog was put down,” said Gaines. “He was investigated. Everything was dropped.”
Rescue workers said they found out dogs were being shot after Kissell was suspended and said an employee who shared pictures of Kissell with the dog and gun was fired.
The mayor would not say if Kissell had been temporarily removed from his job.
In the report, the Humane Association employee said all of the dogs in the shelter appeared to be in good health. However, she said the kennels and dogs were wet, and the shelter had no medical records to prove the dogs had been vaccinated or de-wormed.
CASA Transport and Halfway Home both rescue dogs regularly and say the kennels are sprayed down with water while the dogs are inside them and that some dogs have not been out of their cages in several months.
“Things we see are urine burns on the dogs that we pull because there aren’t beds. They are lying on the wet floor in their own feces and urine most of the time,” said Brittnie Battle with CASA Transport.
Battle said she has tried to rescue as many dogs as possible but says she has been banned from the shelter since posting a Tik Tok video asking the community to support their local shelter.
“We are pulling dogs every week. So unless we are able to do that, those dogs stay there,” said Battle. “Him shutting us out is a death sentence for the rest of the animals coming in.”
Requests for comment from the mayor about the report from the Nashville Humane Association have not immediately been answered. | https://www.wfla.com/news/animals/tennessee-shelter-put-down-dogs-by-shooting-them-report-says/ | 2022-04-12T17:59:24 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/news/animals/tennessee-shelter-put-down-dogs-by-shooting-them-report-says/ |
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Vladimir Putin vowed Tuesday that Russia’s bloody offensive in Ukraine would continue until its goals are fulfilled and insisted the campaign was going as planned, despite a major withdrawal in the face of stiff Ukrainian opposition and significant losses.
Russian troops, thwarted in their push toward Ukraine’s capital, are now focusing on the eastern Donbas region, where Ukraine said Tuesday it was investigating a claim that a poisonous substance had been dropped on its troops. It was not clear what the substance might be, but Western officials warned that any use of chemical weapons by Russia would be a serious escalation of the already devastating war.
Russia invaded on Feb. 24, with the goal, according to Western officials, of taking Kyiv, toppling the government and installing a Moscow-friendly regime. In the six weeks since, Russia’s ground advance stalled, its forces lost potentially thousands of fighters and the military stands accused of killing civilians and other atrocities.
Putin insisted Tuesday that his invasion aimed to protect people in parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed rebels and to “ensure Russia’s own security.”
He said Russia “had no other choice” but to launch what he calls a “special military operation,” and vowed it would “continue until its full completion and the fulfillment of the tasks that have been set.”
For now, Putin’s forces are gearing up for a major offensive in the Donbas, which has been torn by fighting between Russian-allied separatists and Ukrainian forces since 2014, and where Russia has recognized the separatists’ claims of independence. Military strategists say Russian leaders appear to hope local support, logistics and terrain in the region favor Russia’s larger and better-armed military, potentially allowing its troops to finally turn the tide in their favor.
In Mariupol, a strategic port city in the Donbas, a Ukrainian regiment defending a steel mill claimed a drone dropped a poisonous substance on the city. It indicated there were no serious injuries. The assertion by the Azov Regiment, a far-right group now part of the Ukrainian military, could not be independently verified.
It came after a Russia-allied separatist official appeared to urge the use of chemical weapons, telling Russian state TV on Monday that separatist forces should seize the plant by first blocking all the exits. “And then we’ll use chemical troops to smoke them out of there,” the official, Eduard Basurin, said. He denied Tuesday that separatist forces had used chemical weapons in Mariupol.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said officials were investigating, and it was possible phosphorus munitions — which cause horrendous burns but are not classed as chemical weapons — had been used in Mariupol.
Much of the city has been razed in weeks of pummeling by Russian troops. The mayor said Monday that the siege has left more than 10,000 civilians dead, their corpses “carpeted through the streets.” Mayor Vadym Boychenko said the death toll in Mariupol alone could surpass 20,000 and gave new details of allegations by Ukrainian officials that Russian forces have brought mobile cremation equipment to dispose of the corpses.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, acknowledged the challenges Ukrainian troops face in Mariupol. He said on Twitter that they remain blocked and are having issues with supplies, while Zelenskyy and Ukrainian generals “do everything possible (and impossible) to find a solution and help our guys.”
“For more than 1.5 months our defenders protect the city from (Russian) troops, which are 10+ times larger,” Podolyak said in a tweet. “They’re fighting under the bombs for each meter of the city. They make (Russia) pay an exorbitant price.”
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the use of chemical weapons “would be a callous escalation in this conflict,” while Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said it would be a “wholesale breach of international law.”
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement that the U.S. could not confirm the drone report. But he noted the administration’s persistent concerns “about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine.”
Britain, meanwhile, has warned that Russia may use phosphorus bombs — whose use in civilian areas is banned under international law — in Mariupol.
In the face of stiff resistance by Ukrainian forces bolstered by Western weapons, Russian forces have increasingly relied on bombarding cities, flattening many urban areas and leaving thousands of people dead. The war has also driven more than 10 million Ukrainians from their homes — including nearly two-thirds of all children.
Moscow’s retreat from cities and towns around the capital, Kyiv, led to the discovery of large numbers of apparently massacred civilians, prompting widespread condemnation and accusations that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine.
Reports have primarily focused on the northwestern suburbs such as Bucha, but Ukraine’s prosecutor-general’s office said Tuesday that it was also looking into events in the Brovary district, which lies to the northeast.
The prosecutor’s office said the bodies of six civilians had been found with gunshot wounds in a basement in the village of Shevchenkove and that Russian forces were believed to be responsible.
Prosecutors are also investigating allegations that Russian forces fired on a convoy of civilians trying to leave by car from the village of Peremoha in the Brovary district, killing four people, including a 13-year-old boy. In another attack near Bucha, five people were killed, including two children, when a car was fired upon, prosecutors said.
Putin falsely claimed Tuesday that Ukraine’s accusation that hundreds of civilians were killed by Russian troops in the town of Bucha were “fake.” Associated Press reporters saw dozens of bodies in and around the town, some with hands bound who appeared to have been shot at close range.
The Russian leader spoke at the Vostochny space launch facility in the country’s Far East, during his first known foray outside Moscow since the war began. He also said that foreign powers wouldn’t succeed in isolating Russia.
He said that Russia’s economy and financial system withstood the blow from what he called the Western sanctions “blitz” and claimed they would backfire by driving up prices for essentials such as fertilizer, leading to food shortages and increase migration flows to the West.
Addressing the pace of the campaign, Putin said Russia was proceeding “calmly and rhythmically” because it wanted to “achieve the planned goals while minimizing the losses.”
While building up forces in the east, Russia continued to strike targets across Ukraine in a bid to wear down the country’s defenses. Russia’s defense ministry said Tuesday that it used used air- and sea-launched missiles to destroy an ammunition depot and airplane hangar at Starokostiantyniv in the western Khmelnytskyi region and an ammunition depot near Kyiv. | https://www.wfla.com/news/international/putin-vows-to-press-invasion-until-russias-goals-are-met/ | 2022-04-12T17:59:30 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/news/international/putin-vows-to-press-invasion-until-russias-goals-are-met/ |
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — St. Petersburg police have identified a man who was found dead on a road in St. Petersburg Sunday morning.
Police said they found the victim on Melrose Avenue after getting a call about a bleeding man at the scene.
When they arrived, the victim was already dead from his injuries, according to St. Petersburg police. The death was later deemed a homicide.
In a Tuesday press release, police said the victim was identified as 60-year-old Vernon Gene Williams.
Williams’ death is still under investigation. If you know anything, call the St. Petersburg Police Department at 727-893-7780 or text SPPD plus your tip to TIP411. | https://www.wfla.com/news/pinellas-county/body-found-on-st-pete-road-identified/ | 2022-04-12T17:59:36 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/news/pinellas-county/body-found-on-st-pete-road-identified/ |
SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) – A yellow Labrador retriever bred to be a service dog has “changed careers” and is still on her mission to help others in Sarasota.
Sophie is a 2-year-old pup, bred at Palmetto’s Southeastern Guide Dogs to become a service dog. A problem with her optic nerve stopped her from being able to serve.
Sophie was adopted by Carol Sanders and her family, who knew she needed to continue her mission to help others.
Visitors to Serenity Place, the behavioral health unit at HCA Florida Sarasota Doctors Hospital, have been restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Nurses know patients need visitors to help with recovery and if humans can’t visit, perhaps man’s best friend can fill the void,” a representative from the hospital said in a press release.
“Visitors help with healing and reduce the anxiety of being in the hospital. Our patients all test negative for COVID-19 before they can be admitted and because they are in group settings, we have to take extra precautions,” said Janice McKendrick, MSN, RN Director of Behavioral Health at Sarasota Doctors Hospital. “We needed a way to still include visitors and that’s when Sophie came to the rescue.”
Sophie and Sanders visit the unit once or twice a week. The hospital said on a recent visit, Sophie visited a group therapy room and snuggled with patients, pausing for kisses and back rubs.
The pup leaves rooms full of laughter and smiles when she visits therapy sessions. Despite her medical condition, Sophie is still able to help.
“Sophie couldn’t be a service dog, so she had a career change. As soon as we pull into the parking lot of the hospital her tail starts wagging,” said Sanders. “She gets her joy from making others happy.” | https://www.wfla.com/news/sarasota-county/2-year-old-pup-changes-careers-still-helping-others-in-sarasota/ | 2022-04-12T17:59:42 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/news/sarasota-county/2-year-old-pup-changes-careers-still-helping-others-in-sarasota/ |
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The Richmond Performing Arts Alliance’s (RPAA) third annual “Women Take the Stage” luncheon will take place today at 12:30 p.m. It will feature a special appearance by The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actress Daphne Maxwell Reid as celebrity moderator.
Organized by the RPAA Women’s Leadership Council, the event will also feature a dynamic panel of Richmond women that includes award-winning author Sadeqa Johnson, ballerina Maggie Small, and actress Scottie Thompson.
8News anchor Deanna Allbrittin will serve as the luncheon’s master of ceremonies. The panelists will lead a discussion about “embracing the what-ifs.”
It takes place in the Carpenter Theatre at the Dominion Energy Center at 600 E Grace Street in Richmond.
You can watch the event live on this page at 12:30 p.m. | https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/richmond/watch-live-daphne-maxwell-reid-moderates-3rd-annual-women-take-the-stage-luncheon/ | 2022-04-12T18:03:07 | 0 | https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/richmond/watch-live-daphne-maxwell-reid-moderates-3rd-annual-women-take-the-stage-luncheon/ |
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Gov. Glenn Youngkin believes Virginia should establish misdemeanor penalties for people found with more than two ounces of marijuana on them.
The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), the General Assembly’s nonpartisan watchdog agency, made a similar recommendation in a report last year before Virginia’s legalization law went into effect.
Youngkin proposed that Virginia establish intermediary misdemeanor penalties for possession of more than two ounces in an amendment to a bill from state Sen. Emmett Hanger (R-Augusta). The legislation orders the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority’s board of directors to develop regulations that outlaw the “production and sale of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products that depict or are in the shape of a human, animal, vehicle, or fruit.”
Starting in July 2021, people 21 and over in Virginia were allowed to possess up to an ounce for personal use but could face a $25 civil penalty if caught with more. The penalty for possessing more than a pound is far more severe, with those convicted possibly facing a 10-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine.
“We suggest you consider establishing a misdemeanor public possession limit that’s lower than the current one-pound felony limit,” Mark Gribbin, JLARC’s chief legislative analyst who worked on the report, said during a June 2021 presentation of the report.
Gribbin explained that other states with legalized marijuana have created misdemeanor possession charges for amounts between an ounce and a pound, typically ranging from one to two and a half ounces.
“If you want to be on the least punitive end of the legalized states, the misdemeanor amount could be set at around two and a half to five ounces,” he suggested last year.
Youngkin made another change to Sen. Hanger’s bill that would prohibit people under the age of 21 from buying CBD products. Lawmakers will vote on Youngkin’s amendment to the bill and others on April 27.
The General Assembly can pass the bill with the amendments with a majority vote or pass the original bill into law with a two-thirds vote in the House of Delegates and Virginia Senate. If the governor’s changes are rejected without a two-thirds majority, Youngkin could veto the bill or sign it into law.
During this year’s General Assembly session, Virginia Democrats proposed legislation to speed up recreational marijuana sales in Virginia but House Republicans rejected the effort. | https://www.wric.com/news/politics/capitol-connection/youngkin-proposes-penalties-for-people-with-more-than-two-ounces-of-marijuana/ | 2022-04-12T18:03:13 | 0 | https://www.wric.com/news/politics/capitol-connection/youngkin-proposes-penalties-for-people-with-more-than-two-ounces-of-marijuana/ |
NEW YORK (WRIC) — 16 people were injured, at least 10 of them were shot and 5 are in critical condition following a Brooklyn subway station shooting Tuesday morning.
At around 8:30 a.m., New York Fire Department responded to reports of smoke at the 36th Street station in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood.
Upon arrival, first responders found that at least five people had been shot and more than 16 people were injured.
According to reports from multiple law enforcement sources, the suspect who fled the scene was wearing a construction vest and a gas mask.
Fire and police officials were originally investigating reports of an explosion but the police department has since tweeted that there were “no active explosive devices at this time.” There were, however, multiple smoke devices found at the scene, according to mayoral spokesperson Fabien Levy.
In a press release later in the afternoon, New York City officials explained that the shooting had happened in the subway car, not on the platform.
At least 11 people are being treated at two local hospitals. The injuries range from gunshot wounds, smoke inhalation, shrapnel and general injuries sustained from the resulting panic.
A train rider’s video shows smoke and people pouring out of a subway car. Wails erupt as passengers run for an exit as a few others limp off the train. One falls to the platform, and a person hollers, “Someone call 911!” In other videos and photos from the scene, people tend to bloodied passengers lying on the platform, some amid what appear to be small puddles of blood, and another person is on the floor of a subway car.
Commissioner Keechant Sewell added that the attack was not being investigated as terrorism, but that she was “not ruling out anything.” Police are still searching for the shooter.
The Associate Press contributed to this report. | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/at-least-5-people-shot-photos-from-the-new-york-subway-station-shooting/ | 2022-04-12T18:03:19 | 1 | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/at-least-5-people-shot-photos-from-the-new-york-subway-station-shooting/ |
LURAY, Va. (WRIC) — The 35th annual Shenandoah National Park Wildflower Weekend will take place May 14 and 15, celebrating spring wildflowers and nature-themed art.
The National Park Service said in a press release that they will host guided tours through the park and a variety of programs that focus on the diversity and importance of the hundreds of species of flowering plants that are protected by the park, along with other seasonal changes.
Special features for this year’s event include a botanical art workshop by watercolor artist Betty Gatewood and a wildflower photography workshop led by Ann and Rob Simpson.
There will also be a presentation by Shenandoah National Park’s current Artist-in-Residence, Jillian Sico.
No art experience is necessary, all materials will be provided and all programs are free. Both adults and children are welcome in all of the activities.
No reservations are needed, but there is a $30 park entrance fee, which is good for seven days.
For more information about spring in Shenandoah and the complete Wildflower Weekend schedule of programs, click here.
Regularly scheduled weekend Ranger programs will still be taking place as well.
Those unable to attend can watch virtual wildflower walks from 2021 here. | https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/wildflower-weekend-coming-up-at-shenandoah-national-park/ | 2022-04-12T18:03:25 | 1 | https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/wildflower-weekend-coming-up-at-shenandoah-national-park/ |
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – El Paso County officials and the governor of Texas have a much different take on life on the border post-Title 42.
Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday warned border sheriffs of an impending immigration and public safety catastrophe once the Biden administration lifts the public health order that has allowed border agents to swiftly expel 1.7 million unauthorized migrants since March 2020.
But when Abbott left the Texas Border Sheriffs Coalition meeting at the DoubleTree Hotel in El Paso, County Judge Ricardo Samaniego scoffed at such a dire prediction.
“He says Border Patrol drops them off in border communities; that’s only happened once in El Paso, in 2018,” Samaniego said. “After that, we coordinated (with Border Patrol) and they never dropped off people in our community.”
Samaniego said El Paso has witnessed the arrival of 300,000 migrants in the past three and a half years without that posing a strain on the county or its resources. He said things have gone smoothly thanks to good communication with the Border Patrol, stakeholders from local nonprofits and government officials in Juarez, Mexico.
“We want him to work with the plan we’ve been working off for three and a half years […] They (the State of Texas) should enhance existing programs, not create another program. That doesn’t make sense,” Samaniego said.
Abbott highlighted the Biden administration’s worst-case scenario of up to 18,000 migrants coming across the border every day once Title 42 ends. “I think whatever is being anticipated, whatever strategies are being put in place, it’s probably not going to enough to deal with the volume of people who are coming across the border,” the governor said.
But El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles says Far West Texas is unlikely to see such a surge.
“Here in El Paso, we don’t anticipate a significant increase in the numbers … the migration has mostly been in the counties east and then south of us,” Wiles said. “We have been working with Border Patrol and (Texas Department of Public Safety) in anticipation of what actually could happen. But, quite frankly, we don’t anticipate the same numbers in this region.”
According to the latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics, the El Paso Sector is fifth nationwide in terms of migrant apprehensions in fiscal year 2022. The Rio Grande Valley sector has more than double the number of apprehensions and Del Rio has almost twice as many as El Paso.
Samaniego said coping with whatever comes on May 23 will depend on good communication between local governments, federal agencies and a third, key partner.
“If we work with Juarez (Mexico), if Juarez can hold them off for a little bit and have their shelters ready, that’s what we should be doing,” he said. “And we’ve done that before where they actually call us and say, ‘we’re going to have 300 show up at the border.’ So, there’s a way to handle this through collaboration.”
The migrant surge of late 2018 proved a challenge, with no one controlling access to U.S. ports of entry on the Mexican side. The state of Chihuahua in early 2019 began keeping a list on a first-come, first-served basis of migrants wanting to present themselves for asylum to prevent chaos on the Mexican side of international bridges.
Samaniego praised such regional collaboration and wishes the same was true of communication with Abbott.
“The mayor, he’s never gotten a call from the governor … He (Abbott) today mistook Mayor (Oscar) Leeser for the county judge. We are one of the most robust communities in all of Texas and on the border and he can’t recognize who the county judge and the mayor are. That says a lot,” Samaniego said.
The county judge said he would like to have a conversation with Abbott about what El Paso needs to pitch in managing migration challenges in the state.
“We get almost 200 people a day just on buses from Del Rio, we are getting people coming in. […] We need the flights to go out a little faster. We’re already working with Las Cruces, Albuquerque, San Antonio where we can channel,” Samaniego said. “We need to be able to sit down with him (Abbott) and say, ‘this is what El Paso needs, this is what could help us to make it better.’ Just being concerned that we’re going to be overwhelmed and creating some irrational thing about moving people all the way to Washington doesn’t make sense.” | https://www.cenlanow.com/border-report-tour/county-judge-wants-abbotts-support-on-successful-migration-efforts/ | 2022-04-12T18:04:54 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/border-report-tour/county-judge-wants-abbotts-support-on-successful-migration-efforts/ |
TIJUANA (Border Report) — For the first time since the pandemic began, no new COVID-19 related cases or deaths were reported in the state of Baja California, Secretary of Health Adrián Medina Amarillas said Monday.
Medina Amarillas said the outlook for the entire state is looking very favorable.
“It’s a good day with this historic statistic. A lot of people have worked hard for this including Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, residents of the state and health department personnel,” he said. “The available vaccines have kept the spread down, but we need to continue on the path of taking precautions and preventive measures.”
Medina Amarillas said as of Monday and through the end of the month, the state will continue its drive to offer vaccinations at all hospitals and health centers supported by the state including booster shots for anyone who wants them.
“As we reach this new stage, we need to get everyone to one of these vaccination points making it easy for those who haven’t gotten the vaccine to get it.”
Medina Amarillas said while no new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, 214 active cases remain, including 122 in Tijuana and 31 in Mexicali, Baja California’s capital city.
Since the pandemic began, 133,743 confirmed cases have been reported in Baja California along with 12,080 deaths. | https://www.cenlanow.com/border-report-tour/first-time-in-two-years-no-new-covid-19-related-cases-or-deaths-reported-in-tijuana-and-baja-california/ | 2022-04-12T18:05:00 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/border-report-tour/first-time-in-two-years-no-new-covid-19-related-cases-or-deaths-reported-in-tijuana-and-baja-california/ |
SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — As Ukrainian refugees continue to trickle into California from Mexico, there is a constant flow of materials and supplies that is being dropped off for them.
Aside from food and water, even wheelchairs are being brought to Ped West, one of the pedestrian crossings at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
On Monday, tables were covered with doughnuts, muffins and buckets filled with KFC fried chicken, and kids could be seen eating Pringles and slurping from the ever-popular Cup O’ Noodles.
The items are offered to Ukrainian migrants as soon as they venture out of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility.
The unsolicited donations are being brought to the border crossing by mostly average residents who just want to help.
And migrants are taking note.
One Ukrainian woman named Tatiana said she felt “American love.”
She and her 5-year-old daughter crossed the border on Monday morning and were waiting for a relative to pick them up and drive them to the Los Angeles area.
Tatiana is reportedly like most Ukrainians who are entering the U.S. through this border crossing. They have relatives north of the border who are driving down to pick them up.
California has one of the largest Ukrainian American populations in the country.
Some of the migrants are being driven to San Diego’s international airport to board flights across North America.
The transportation is being arranged on whiteboards that have been laid out by the volunteers offering rides to not only the airport, but the Amtrak train station and bus depot in downtown San Diego.
And now, a group called Samaritan’s Purse based in North Carolina has set up shop to lend more support to the migrants.
The organization says it provides help to victims of famine, natural disasters, poverty and war.
Off-camera one of its volunteers said that’s why they’re here, but are also involved in Ukraine and Moldova.
President Biden has said he will allow 100,000 Ukrainian refugees to enter the country. | https://www.cenlanow.com/border-report-tour/ukrainian-migrants-feel-american-love-as-donations-pile-up-at-california-port-of-entry/ | 2022-04-12T18:05:06 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/border-report-tour/ukrainian-migrants-feel-american-love-as-donations-pile-up-at-california-port-of-entry/ |
(The Hill) – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions imposed on Moscow are contributing to surging global prices that Americans are feeling throughout the economy, particularly at the grocery store and the gas pump.
Russia’s status as a major exporter of raw materials, especially oil and natural gas, along with Ukraine’s position as a key agricultural supplier to regions including Africa and the Middle East, make the conflict between the two countries a flashpoint for commodity prices, which were already on the rise due to the pandemic.
“These countries export a lot of raw materials,” William Reinsch, a former undersecretary of Commerce who now serves as international business analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in an interview. “They tend to have a world price. And so when supply is constricted, the consequence for Americans is that the price goes up because it goes up everywhere.”
New consumer price index (CPI) data to be released Tuesday by the Labor Department is likely to show another sharp jump in both monthly and annual inflation. Consumer prices rose by 7.9 percent in the year ending in February, and signs of high inflation in March are mounting.
On Friday, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations recorded a 12.6 percent increase in its benchmark food price index from February to March, an uptick it described as a “giant leap.” The March numbers represent all-time highs for cereal grains, vegetable oils and meats, while the sugar and dairy sectors also saw major gains.
The FAO cereal price index in particular saw a 17.1 percent increase from February to March, marking its highest level since 1990. The increase was “largely driven by conflict-related export disruptions from Ukraine and, to a lesser extent, the Russian Federation,” according to an FAO assessment.
The global numbers are consistent with the situation in the United States, where food prices spiked 7.9 percent in February compared to the previous year, the largest 12-month increase since July 1981, according to consumer data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The February food-at-home index, which looks at prices relating to domestic food preparation, was up nearly 9 percent in the same period, while wholesale prices for goods jumped 2.4 percent in February, the largest advance since data was first calculated in 2009.
The war in Ukraine also accelerated a steady rise in oil prices driven largely by the recovery from the pandemic. Fuel oil prices rose 6.7 percent and gas prices rose 6.6 percent in February alone, according to the CPI as crude oil prices rose toward $100 per barrel.
The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude peaked near $130 on March 8 before falling to roughly $94 on Monday, but gasoline prices have not fallen nearly as fast. A gallon of regular unleaded gas costs roughly $4.10, according to the AAA national average, down just 20 cents from a month ago.
While inflation-adjusted gas prices are still below the peaks seen in the wake of the Great Recession, higher energy costs can hit consumers harder than inflation in other sectors. Higher gas prices are not only difficult to avoid for drivers but can also increase transportation costs for store-bought goods.
Beyond the cumulative effects of rising commodity prices, which can ripple through the economy and become magnified as they work their way up global production pipelines, Russia does produce certain goods that U.S. companies, and by extension the nation’s consumers, use directly.
“Palladium, vanadium and titanium are three such goods,” said Reinsch.
Palladium is a component in catalytic converters, which convert toxic gasses produced by internal combustion engines into less toxic pollutants. Vanadium is added to steel to make it stronger, and titanium has numerous applications including aircraft shells.
“There are others who produce these products,” Reinsch said. “But again, it’s supply chain interruptions, and we have to scramble around to find them from other places.”
Blame game
As more Americans feel the sting of inflation, the upswing in prices has emerged as a major campaign issue ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, with Republicans and Democrats taking turns placing blame for the upward trend in costs.
Republicans have blamed rising inflation on Democratic-backed policies, including the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that President Biden signed into law in March 2021, about a year after former President Trump signed a bipartisan $2 trillion coronavirus relief package.
A number of Democrats have, in turn, placed blame on corporations and market concentration, accusing larger companies of taking advantage of economic conditions to increase costs.
By contrast, experts have pointed to a combination of factors that have contributed to the higher price stickers.
“Part of it is supply chain disruptions because of the pandemic. We can’t get the goods that we got before, for instance, like computer chips, and so on,” Desmond Lachman, a senior fellow for the American Enterprise Institute, told The Hill.
“But it was also the case that budget policy was too loose, and monetary policy was too loose. So we had all three things pushing in the same direction,” he said.
Ben Page, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, also told The Hill that stimulative fiscal policy contributed to inflation but added he wouldn’t call it the “root cause for most of the inflation.”
“I think the way that you can see that it’s not purely driven by U.S. policy is that it’s not just a U.S. phenomenon,” Page said. “The increased inflation is something that we’ve seen across the world, or certainly across the developed world.”
In recent weeks, countries such as China, Egypt and France have seen rising inflation rates, a trend experts said is exacerbated by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Sanctions impact
The U.S. has joined allies in unleashing a spate of sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
Rachel Ziemba, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told The Hill many of the sanctions have been aimed at raising costs for Russia and restricting how its government accesses the global financial system.
“So, limiting their bank’s ability to the government’s ability to use global banks,” Ziemba continued. “And the sanctions program was set up in a way that tried to use the areas of asymmetry that would hurt Russia more than it would hurt the U.S. and Europe.” Russia installs new general as it prepares next move Energy & Environment — How Russian sanctions could hasten energy switch
On the flip side, Ziemba said some of the impacts the U.S. has seen as a result of the sanctions have been “sort of indirect,” while Russia has faced more payment challenges.
“The other issue, of course, the Biden administration is trying to do what they can to alleviate some of these costs. The challenges are we’re in a tight market … and I do think one of the challenges is going to be that a number of the producers of particularly oil and gas don’t make decisions quickly to change their production,” Ziemba said.
“I think that’s where the debates with sort of countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE [United Arab Emirates] have been reluctant to deviate from their go-slow additional supply policy have been disappointing to the administration,” she added. | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/heres-how-the-russia-ukraine-war-is-driving-up-prices/ | 2022-04-12T18:05:13 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/heres-how-the-russia-ukraine-war-is-driving-up-prices/ |
NIPTON, Calif. (KLAS) – The whole town of Nipton, California has once again been sold, according to the realtor who represented the property.
Many of the sale details are not yet being made public, including the price. Nexstar’s KLAS has been able to confirm it was bought by a group out of Las Vegas. In late 2020, the tiny town was listed for $2.75 million.
Nipton has railroad tracks on one side and a massive Joshua tree forest on the other in the Mojave National Preserve. The tiny desert town attracts stargazers, motorcycle riders, photographers, railroad buffs, and others seeking to escape city life, if just for a day.
The town currently has a population of 15 – 20 people. It has been sold several times before. In 2017 it was bought by a large cannabis company for $5 million. The company tried to rebrand it as Magical Nipton. The company had ambitious plans to turn it into a cannabis retreat. It spent a lot of money on infrastructure, built several eco-cabins, comfy teepees for visitors, installed massive public art pieces, and did restoration work on some of the historic structures. But the cannabis retreat didn’t materialize, so the town reverted to its previous owner.
That was Roxanne Lang. She and her late husband Jerry Freeman worked and lived in Ivanpah Valley for over 50 years. Freeman came to Nipton in the 1960s on the Union Pacific Railroad line from Los Angeles.
Nipton was first founded in 1905, a few months before Las Vegas was founded. And similar to Las Vegas, Nipton came into existence when the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad arrived. It was the crossroads for two different wagon trails and a mining camp and it became a center for area cattle ranchers, including Hollywood royalty Rex Bell and Clara Bow.
The two owned the Walking Box Ranch just down the road and now the hotel has the Clara B room. And yes, some say the hotel is also haunted and claim they have felt Bow’s presence in her namesake room.
Freeman was staking gold mining claims on the weekend when he was in graduate school at the University of California Los Angeles and had previously earned a geology degree from Cal Tech. It took him 20 years to establish a publicly-traded gold mining company, Vanderbilt Gold, in Ivanpah Valley. He then started growing jojoba, which is also known as goat nut, deer nut, or pignut, and bio-mass fuel plants in the 1980s.
During this time he purchased Nipton, which led to him convincing Lang to leave her home in Malibu and head east. Land said Freeman’s vision for Nipton was sustainability. He did this by building a solar plant for the community, the first in Ivanpah Valley.
At one point in time, Nipton was called the most energy-independent town in America and was featured in a New York Times article about going green.
Freeman passed away in 2016. The inscription on his tombstone tells his story: Visionary Extraordinaire, Builder of teepees, towns and treasures. Captain of the desert and the sea.
Nipton is located about 65 miles south of Las Vegas. | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/tiny-california-town-with-less-than-two-dozen-residents-sells-again/ | 2022-04-12T18:05:19 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/tiny-california-town-with-less-than-two-dozen-residents-sells-again/ |
OPELIKA, Ala. (WRBL) – A 13-year-old Opelika youth has died in the hospital after suffering a gunshot wound Monday afternoon, April 11. The shooting is under investigation.
Around 4:30c Opelika Police Department received a call of a gunshot victim in the 300 Block of Wittel Avenue. First responders arrived on the scene and located the 13-year-old victim suffering from a single gunshot wound. Paramedics began life-saving measures at the scene before transporting the victim to East Alabama Medical Center where they succumbed to their injuries at 5:15 p.m.
This incident remains under investigation by the Opelika Police Department. If you have any information, please contact the Detective Division at (334) 705-5220 or the Secret Witness Hotline at (334) 745-8665. Tips can be submitted through the Opelika Police Mobile App. You can remain anonymous. | https://www.cenlanow.com/crime/13-year-old-opelika-child-killed-in-shooting-police-investigating/ | 2022-04-12T18:05:25 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/crime/13-year-old-opelika-child-killed-in-shooting-police-investigating/ |
NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY) A New Iberia woman was attacked and severely beaten over the weekend inside a local restaurant, police said.
It happened late Friday on Admiral Doyle Drive.
According to New Iberia police, video footage shows four women attacking and beating another woman inside the restaurant and into the parking lot.
Diners inside the restaurant were in shock and did not intervene, police said.
The four women are now wanted on multiple charges including attempted first degree murder.
They have been identified as:
- Taylin McCoy, 23
- Leotia Davis, 29
- Kayla Warner, 31
- Leetra Davis, 31
They face charges of attempted first degree murder, aggravated battery, and inciting a felony criminal conspiracy.
Anyone knowing the whereabouts of the women is asked to contact the New Iberia Police Department at (337) 369-2306 or the Iberia Parish Crime Stoppers at (337) 364-TIPS. | https://www.cenlanow.com/crime/new-iberia-woman-gets-attacked-inside-restaurant-four-suspects-sought/ | 2022-04-12T18:05:31 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/crime/new-iberia-woman-gets-attacked-inside-restaurant-four-suspects-sought/ |
BOUTTE, La. (BRPROUD) – The St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office was called to a Burger King on Highway 90 around 10 p.m. on Tuesday, March 29.
SCPSO needs your help identifying and or finding the person responsible for almost running over a female employee.
The initial investigation centered around “a report of a male subject causing a disturbance through the drive-thru window,” according to the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators found that cash register had been damaged before the suspect returned to a pickup truck which is pictured below.
The pickup truck is described this way:
- Red or maroon Dodge Ram
- Possibly a 2015 model
- Has tinted windows
SCPSO says, “As the male subject was leaving the parking lot, he attempted to hit a female employee with his pickup truck.”
The employee was not struck and there were no reported injuries related to this incident.
The suspect left the scene and now investigators are asking for the public’s help with this case.
“The male subject is described as a Hispanic male with multiple tattoos on his face,” according to the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office.
The Burger King is located at 14157 Highway 90.
If you know who this person is or where they are located, please call Detective Amanda Buchanan with the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office at (985) 783-6807, (985) 783-1135 or abuchanan@stcharlessheriff.org. | https://www.cenlanow.com/crime/scpso-hispanic-man-accused-of-causing-trouble-at-burger-king-drive-thru-window-trying-to-run-over-employee/ | 2022-04-12T18:05:38 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/crime/scpso-hispanic-man-accused-of-causing-trouble-at-burger-king-drive-thru-window-trying-to-run-over-employee/ |
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – Three suspected catalytic converter thieves evaded Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies during a high-speed chase up to the Santa Clarita Valley early Saturday morning, but were brought into custody after they crashed into a deputy involved in an unrelated pursuit.
The suspects were caught on a security camera targeting homes in the middle of the night and stealing catalytic converters. The homeowner did not want to be identified but said it appeared four men were involved, including two lookout drivers.
Sheriff’s deputies eventually located a minivan believed to be connected to the catalytic converter thefts that was driving on the 5 Freeway in Valencia. Authorities pursued the driver but the chase was called off after the driver took off at dangerous speeds.
A short time later, deputies responded to a call from Burbank police regarding a suspected stolen vehicle and another pursuit began on the 5 Freeway, this time in Newhall. The call was unrelated to the catalytic converter thefts, LASD said.
While assisting Burbank police, a crash occurred involving a sheriff’s deputy vehicle and the suspects from the earlier pursuit. Inside the suspects’ vehicle, officers said they found at least eight catalytic converters.
All three of the suspects were taken to a local hospital, along with the deputy involved in the crash, but no serious injuries were reported by authorities.
Authorities encourage residents to do what they can to prevent catalytic converter thefts. Some steps you can take include getting your catalytic converter etched, installing cameras on your property, and parking in well-lit areas or in a garage if possible. | https://www.cenlanow.com/crime/suspected-catalytic-converter-thieves-crash-into-deputy-on-unrelated-chase/ | 2022-04-12T18:05:44 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/crime/suspected-catalytic-converter-thieves-crash-into-deputy-on-unrelated-chase/ |
CHICAGO (WGN) – Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett has released a new song in which he again claims to be innocent of lying to Chicago police about a racist and homophobic attack in 2019.
Smollett, who was found guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct last December, had been sentenced to serve 150 days in jail following his conviction in March. He was released after six nights pending an appeal of his conviction.
On Friday, the embattled actor once again declared his innocence in a snippet of a song called “Thank You God,” which he shared to his 4.4 million followers on Instagram. In the minute-and-a-half-long clip, he claims that the authorities are “hell bent on not solving the crime” and downplaying the “elements of race and trans and homophobia that’s straight taking lives.”
In the song, Smollett says: “Some people searching for fame, some people chasing that clout, just remember this, this ain’t that situation, you think I’m stupid enough to kill my reputation?”
The singer/songwriter adds: “Y’all better look at someone else, you got the wrong one.”
In his Instagram post, Smollett also claimed that all proceeds from the song will be donated to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Illinois Innocence Project, and STB (Secure the Bag) Safety.
After a jury found Smollett guilty, Cook County Judge James Linn sentenced the actor to 150 days in jail with 30 months probation. Linn also ordered Smollett to pay the city just over $120,000 in restitution and pay an additional $25,000 fine.
Smollett has remained silent since walking out of Cook County Jail on March 16. | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/jussie-smollett-claims-innocence-in-new-song-thank-you-god-after-jail-release/ | 2022-04-12T18:05:50 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/jussie-smollett-claims-innocence-in-new-song-thank-you-god-after-jail-release/ |
What do we know about “stealth omicron” so far?
It’s an extra-contagious version of the omicron variant, but it doesn’t seem to cause more severe disease.
Since it was first identified in November, BA.2 has been spreading around the globe, driving new surges in parts of Asia and Europe. It’s now the dominant coronavirus version in the U.S. and more than five dozen other countries.
It was given the “stealth” nickname because it looks like the earlier delta variant on certain PCR tests, says Kristen Coleman at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. The original omicron, by contrast, is easy to differentiate from delta because of a genetic quirk.
In rare cases, early research indicates BA.2 can infect people even if they’ve already had an omicron infection. COVID-19 vaccines appear just as effective against both kinds of omicron, offering strong protection against severe illness and death.
Health officials also are tracking other variants including XE — a combination of BA.2 and BA.1, the original omicron — that was first identified in January in the United Kingdom. The World Health Organization is keeping tabs on XE but has not yet deemed it a variant of concern or interest. | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/coronavirus/stealth-omicron-what-we-know-so-far/ | 2022-04-12T18:05:58 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/coronavirus/stealth-omicron-what-we-know-so-far/ |
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Marketing changes by major COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers have people asking: What is Spikevax? What is Comirnaty?
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Spikevax is simply a new name for a product the public is already familiar with — the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Comirnaty is also just a new name for a familiar product — the Pfizer-BoiNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
“The vaccine has been known as the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, and will now be marketed as Spikevax, for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 18 years of age and older,” an online FDA publication said. “The vaccine that has been known as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine will now be marketed as Comirnaty, for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 16 years of age and older.
The change is the result of the full approval of the vaccines by the FDA, which has previously only allowed their use on an emergency basis.
On March 29, the FDA authorized a second booster dose of the two vaccines for older and immunocompromised individuals. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has set up a website, Vaccines.gov, to help individuals find COVID-19 vaccines and boosters in their area. | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/coronavirus/what-are-spikevax-and-comirnaty/ | 2022-04-12T18:06:04 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/coronavirus/what-are-spikevax-and-comirnaty/ |
ALEXANDRIA, La. (April 12, 2022) — As part of the ongoing effort to clean and beautify Alexandria, and in conjunction with Keep Louisiana Beautiful Love the Boot Week, the City of Alexandria is sponsoring a Citywide Cleanup Day on Saturday, April 23.
“We are encouraging everyone to join with us to help clean up litter throughout Alexandria,” said Alexandria Mayor Jeff Hall. “This is our home, and I know we all take pride in making Alexandria as attractive as possible for our residents and for those who come to Alexandria to work and visit.”
Activities will start at 9 a.m. at Bringhurst Field where City workers will distribute garbage bags for groups and individuals taking part in the cleanup. Snacks will also be available and groups can learn more about the City’s Adopt-A-Street program and get tips on keeping their neighborhoods clean.
In order to adequately plan for the number of garbage bags to bring and to assist in scheduling sanitation crews to collect the trash gathered during the clean-up, participating groups and individuals are asked to register online https://www.eventbrite.com/e/citywide-clean-up-registration-319704694347.
“We are encouraging neighborhood groups, Boy and Girl Scout troops, civic clubs, church groups and individual families to sign up and join us in this community-wide event,” said Interim Public Works Director Sandra Washington. “Groups can clean up their own neighborhoods or choose a location provided by the City. Sanitation Department workers, Streets Department employees and other City workers will be helping as well and will collect what the residents gather.”
In addition to the Love the Boot cleanup day, the City offers an ongoing Adopt-A-Street program for groups, organizations and individuals to maintain ½-mile sections of roadway throughout the year. To recognize participants, the City provides road signs designating the street as adopted by the organization or the individual. In addition, the City provides each organization or individual with up to 10 cleanup kits which include yellow safety vests, grabber hand tools, trash bags, gloves, hand sanitizer, and a reusable tote bag for the supplies.
For more information on the City’s Adopt-A-Street program, visit the city website at www.cityofalexandriala.com/adopt-street to download the Program Guide and get application forms. Additional information is available by email to adoptastreet@cityofalex.com or by calling 318-441-6032.
Sponsored by Keep Louisiana Beautiful, Love the Boot Week is dedicated to cleanup and beautification events across the state April 18-24. Keep Louisiana Beautiful is the state’s leading anti-litter and beautification organization focused on bringing people together to build and sustain vibrant, clean communities. You can learn more about Love The Boot week at www.keeplouisianabeautiful.org/love-the-boot/. | https://www.cenlanow.com/local-news/city-sponsoring-citywide-cleanup-day-april-23/ | 2022-04-12T18:06:10 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/local-news/city-sponsoring-citywide-cleanup-day-april-23/ |
DELPHI, Ind. (WXIN) – Investigators are asking for tips in the 2017 slayings of two Delphi, Indiana girls after a new social media profile tied to a possible suspect surfaced.
The account, created under the name “anthony_shots,” may hold answers in the slayings of Abigail Williams and Liberty German. On Feb. 13, 2017, the two best friends went for a walk on the remote historic trails of Delphi, Indiana.
The next day, their bodies were found. For years, the best evidence police had of the girl’s killer came from video on Libby’s cellphone that captured both an image of a man approaching her on the High Bridge and a recording as the man told the girls to go down the hill.
Several suspects have emerged over the last five years, but it’s in interviews with the most recent potential suspect where answers in the cold case could be taking shape. In August of 2020, 27-year-old Kegan Kline, of Peru, was arrested on 30 counts of child solicitation, child exploitation and possession of child porn.
But to Libby, Kline may have been known by another name: his online persona Anthony Shots, the social media account that used fake pictures of a male model to solicit nude photos of teenage girls between 2016 and 2017. Kline admitted to police the anthony_shots account was used to talk to underage girls. He told police he’d find girls, both people he knew and didn’t know, on Instagram and ask them to message him on Snapchat or other apps.
Transcripts of an interview police had with Kline reveal that the account was interacting with Libby German the day she and Abby Williams were killed. Also in the transcripts, Kline said he gave the password to the account “to a lot of people.” In another interview, Kline said his father had access to the account.
On Monday, the Indiana State Police said investigators are looking to expand the list of social media applications used by “anthony_shots.”
The Delphi Double Homicide Task Force says the profile was used on the social media platform that once went by the name of Yellow. It is now called Yubo.
This app was designed as a social networking site to make new online friends when it launched in 2017. However, The Irish Times reports it came under fire among child protection experts who dubbed it “Tinder for kids,” warning it could be a potential “free-for-all for sexual predators.” It has since been rebranded as Yubo.
The task force is asking anyone who communicated with the anthony_shots profile on the app to contact the task force at abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com or 765-822-3535.
Kline has not been criminally charged in connection with the murders and ISP hasn’t said he’s a suspect.
WGN’s Andy Koval contributed to this report. | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/another-fake-profile-linked-to-delphi-murders-of-2-teens/ | 2022-04-12T18:06:16 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/another-fake-profile-linked-to-delphi-murders-of-2-teens/ |
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Two license plates passed Ohio’s censors at the state’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles this year, while other plates with similar sentiments were rejected.
Patricia Ritchie took a photo of the JAN 6 DC plate in Chillicothe. She said in an email to WCMH:
“I was shocked to see an Ohio vanity license tag clearly supporting the January 6th insurrection, a shameful event that has resulted in many participants being charged with crimes — misdemeanors and felonies –including charges of seditious conspiracy against the United States Government.”
“How this could be approved by the Ohio BMV is beyond me. I was also disturbed that anyone would drive around blatantly showing such disrespect for the rule of law, but I guess that’s where we live now.”
A second person snapped a picture of a truck that had the plate B1DNSUX. He didn’t want to be named but asked: “I would like to know if the BMV still reviews vanity plate requests for inappropriate content?”
That person said that he once was asked to sit on the license plate review committee – and although he did not have time to do that, he was shocked this plate got through.
“The committee was so hard-nosed about everything,” he recalled. “Do they even have that committee anymore?”
This isn’t the first time political opinions have circumvented the censors. In 2017, an Ohio woman was able to get a covfefe license plate, based on then-President Donald Trump’s mysterious tweeted typo.
A spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Public Safety confirmed the plates were in circulation. Repeated requests as to how plates are refused or approved did not receive a reply.
There was also no reply as to why these two plates were approved for circulation while hundreds of others, such as FKB1DN, were not. | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/b1dnsux-and-jan-6-dc-license-plates-spotted-on-ohio-roads/ | 2022-04-12T18:06:23 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/b1dnsux-and-jan-6-dc-license-plates-spotted-on-ohio-roads/ |
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The New Mexico teen who threw her newborn baby in a dumpster is now asking a judge to allow her to see the boy. Her attorneys have filed a motion to review conditions of release and are asking for more than just visitation.
“This wasn’t someone driving to the hospital, driving to a clinic, driving to a friend’s, driving to someone to seek help. She knew what she was doing at the time,” said a prosecutor during a preliminary hearing for Alexis Avila on February 28.
During that hearing, the judge declared there was enough evidence to go to trial for child abuse. It was January 7 when good Samaritans found the baby boy in a dumpster in Hobbs.
“In my 27 years of doing this, I have never seen anyone, child or adult, have a temperature that was not read with a digital thermometer,” prosecutors said during the hearing. They argued Avila’s actions were intentional in harming the infant.
Meanwhile, Avila’s defense attorneys made the case that she shouldn’t face felony child abuse with great bodily harm since the baby survived. Now, her attorneys are asking to grant permission for Avila to have supervised visits with the boy who lives with his teenage dad.
The night of her arrest, she was already asking to get the boy back. “If the baby is okay, I want it,” said Avila.
Her attorneys state she is attending counseling and is in parenting classes. They also say she completed her high school diploma requirement and has been accepted to a college where she’ll study psychology.
The boy’s father didn’t even know that she was still pregnant when she gave birth. Prosecutors are going to fight this. The only part of the motion they currently agree with is to allow Alexis Avila to be in her backyard while on house arrest.
Alexis Avila would also like to court to grant her permission to have contact with family members who are under the age of 10. No date has been set to hear this motion. | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/hobbs-teen-wants-visitation-with-baby-shes-accused-of-tossing-in-dumpster/ | 2022-04-12T18:06:29 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/hobbs-teen-wants-visitation-with-baby-shes-accused-of-tossing-in-dumpster/ |
SUNSET PARK, Brooklyn (PIX11) — More than a dozen people were injured including at least 10 who were shot in a subway station attack in Brooklyn Tuesday morning, officials said.
The suspect was still on the loose on Tuesday afternoon. On a northbound train just before 8:25 a.m., the man put on a gas mask, pulled out a canister and opened fire as smoke filled the train, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said.
At least 20 people were injured, officials said. At least 10 had gunshot wounds. Five of the victims were in critical condition. A witness saw a wounded teen. She said he’d been shot in the knee.
The incident was not being investigated as a terror attack, officials said. None of the injuries were life threatening.
FDNY said a call came in at around 8:27 a.m. for smoke coming in the 36th Street subway station in Sunset Park. Upon arrival, responders found the victims and several undetonated devices at the same location.
Three patients are being treated at Methodist Hospital, according to PIX11’s Anthony DiLorenzo. A woman sustained a gunshot wound to the back and the other two sustained a leg and head injury, respectively.
David Koeppel, the on-site contact for NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, told PIX11’s Rebecca Solomon that 20 patients made their way to the hospital for treatment; all were in stable condition.
Koeppel added the patients came into the hospital throughout the morning for minor injuries including smoke inhalation. Those did not suffer gunshot wounds or injuries from shrapnel.
Officials said the suspect was seen leaving wearing a neon construction vest and a gas mask. Police described the suspect as weighing 160 to 200 pounds and 5 feet, 5 inches tall.
City officials advise everyone to stay away from the area. Students attending schools near the scene have been placed on a shelter-in-place order.
Police said there were no active explosive devices. The scene continues to be active. The MTA said police were sweeping all of South Brooklyn.
Image from the scene following a shooting at a subway station in Brooklyn (PIX11) Image from the scene following a shooting at a subway station in Brooklyn (PIX11) First responders are in Sunset Park, Brooklyn where multiple people were found shot and injured. (PIX11)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams was not at the scene. He was recently diagnosed with COVID.
“We will not allow New Yorkers to be terrorized, even by a single individual,” he said. “The NYPD is searching for the suspect at large and we will find him. We ask the public to come forward with any information that may help us in this investigation.”
Adams, a Democrat a little over 100 days into his term, has made cracking down on crime — especially on the subways — a focus of his early administration, pledging to send more police officers into stations and platforms for regular patrols. It wasn’t immediately clear whether officers had already been inside the station when the shootings occurred.
Warning: The video below contains graphic footage that may be disturbing to some.
DRAMATIC VIDEO: Multiple people were shot at the 36th street subway station in Brooklyn Tuesday morning, officials said. MTA said police are sweeping all of South Brooklyn as they continue to search for the suspect. pic.twitter.com/15xqGbcayM
— PIX11 News (@PIX11News) April 12, 2022
This is a developing story; check back for updates.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/multiple-shot-13-injured-found-in-brooklyn-subway-station-officials-say/ | 2022-04-12T18:06:35 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/multiple-shot-13-injured-found-in-brooklyn-subway-station-officials-say/ |
ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) — New York State Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin has been taken into custody on campaign finance charges. According to ABC News, a press conference at noon will unseal an indictment charging Benjamin with bribery and related offenses.
NEWS10 has obtained a copy of the federal indictment from the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York. It alleges that Benjamin schemed to obtain campaign contributions from a real estate developer in exchange for a $50,000 state grant. He reportedly offered his official authority and influence in the New York State Senate to funnel the funds.
The indictment characterized it as “a bribery scheme using public funds for his own corrupt purposes.” Take a look at the document below:
Benjamin, whose seven months in the role were overshadowed by probes into a previous campaign, was arrested Tuesday in a federal corruption investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s office said Benjamin was arrested on charges of bribery, honest services wire fraud, and falsification of records.
Formerly a state senator from New York City’s Harlem, Benjamin joined the administration of Gov. Kathy Hochul in September, chosen by her to fill her former job a couple of weeks after she stepped into the governorship following the resignation of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo over sexual harassment allegations. But just over two months later, a real estate developer who steered campaign contributions toward Benjamin’s failed bid for New York City comptroller was indicted.
Federal authorities accused Gerald Migdol of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft in illegally giving donations to Benjamin’s campaign. Prosecutors had previously not made any accusations against Benjamin, and his campaign said at the time of Migdol’s arrest that it had forfeited any improper donations as soon as they were discovered.
More recently, reports came out saying subpoenas had been issued to Benjamin regarding the financial issues even before Hochul picked him as lieutenant governor. Despite her saying she didn’t know of the subpoenas at the time, Hochul proclaimed her support for Benjamin, and he said he had told state police as they went through the process of vetting him.
“I have utmost confidence in my lieutenant governor,” Hochul said during a Thursday press conference. “This is an independent investigation related to other people and he’s fully cooperating. He is my running mate.”
Benjamin was the state’s second Black lieutenant governor. During his state Legislature career, the Democrat emphasized criminal justice reform and affordable housing. His district included most of central Harlem, where he was born and raised by Caribbean immigrant parents. He has a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Brown University and a master’s of business administration from Harvard Business School and worked as a developer of affordable housing.
According to the New York Times, Benjamin will be appearing in Manhattan federal court. He reportedly surrendered to authorities to face the charges in connection with a past campaign.
Requests for comment have not been returned by Benjamin’s office, Hochul’s office, or the office of State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. Stick with WTEN for more on this story as it develops.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/new-york-lt-gov-benjamin-arrested/ | 2022-04-12T18:06:42 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/new-york-lt-gov-benjamin-arrested/ |
NEW YORK CITY (NEXSTAR) – Ten people were shot on Tuesday morning during an attack in a subway car in Brooklyn, where officials said they also found “several undetonated devices,” according to police and fire officials in New York City.
Suspect opened fire on N train
At a press conference on Tuesday, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the suspect — who remains at large — was riding the N train at approximately 8:24 a.m. when he put on a gas mask and detonated a smoke canister. He opened fire as the train filled with smoke, hitting people both in the subway car and on the platform at the 36th Street subway station in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Sunset Park, according to Sewell.
10 people shot, 16 injured
The FDNY first got reports of smoke coming from the subway station at around 8:30 a.m. First responders arrived to find at least five people had been shot, but a representative who spoke with Nexstar’s WPIX said the number of shooting victims was likely higher. At a press conference following the attack, the FDNY confirmed 10 people were shot, and five were in critical but stable condition.
Six others were said to be injured, according FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanaugh, but the extent of their injuries was not specified. Kavanaugh said some of the other victims may have suffered from “panic”-induced injuries or smoke inhalation.
The victims were being treated at local hospitals, including NYU Langone and Methodist, the FDNY told Nexstar. None of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening.
Suspect wore gas mask, green vest
At Tuesday’s press conference, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell confirmed the victim had worn a gas mask and a green “construction-type vest” over a gray hooded sweatshirt. Sewell declined to say if the suspect was attempting to pass as an MTA or city employee.
The suspect is described as a Black male, approximately 5-feet, 5-inches, with a “heavy build,” Sewell said.
Police are currently asking the public for assistance or tips, “no matter how insignificant,” that may lead to the suspect’s identification and arrest, she said. Anyone with information is being urged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
His motive is currently unclear, Sewell said.
No ‘explosive devices’ on NYC subway trains
The FDNY said Tuesday morning that “several undetonated devices” were found at the station, but the NYPD later wrote on Twitter that there none were active.
At the press conference, Sewell stated that there were “no known explosive devices” on the city’s trains..
The incident is not currently being investigated as an act of terrorism, but Sewell said police are not ruling out the possiblity.
Startling video emerges on social media
Footage believed to be taken at the 36th Subway Station appeared to show panicked NYC commuters rushing to exit a train on Tuesday morning. In one video, which began circulating on social media shortly after the attack, passengers flee train cars that appeared to be filling with smoke or gas.
One person looked to be hobbling from the train on an injured foot, the video shows. The rider then layed down on the subway platform.
An MTA employee over the loudspeaker could also be heard instructing passengers to quickly board a different train, located across the platform.
NYC’s Department of Emergency Management warned the public to expect delays, disruptions and cancellations due to the investigation, especially on and D, N or R trains in either direction. Commuters are being told to avoid the area, which continues to be an active crime scene.
President Biden briefed on situation
White House officials said Tuesday morning that President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation in Brooklyn. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also confirmed the White House was in touch with NYC Mayor Eric Adams and the city’s police commissioner “to offer assistance.”
The mayor’s office is asking New Yorkers to avoid the station and the surrounding area during the city’s investigation.
“While we gather more information, we ask New Yorkers to stay away from this area for their safety and so that first responders can help those in need and investigate,” the mayor’s press secretary tweeted.
New Yorkers ‘sick and tired,’ gov says
At Tuesday’s press conference, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would devote the full resources of the state to fight “surging crime.”
“It has to end and it ends now,” she said. “We are sick and tired of reading headlines about crime, whether they’re mass shootings, or the loss of a teenage girl or a 13-year-old. It has to stop,”
The NYPD and FDNY said additional briefings would be held later on Tuesday. | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/nyc-subway-shooting-what-we-know-about-the-suspect-victims/ | 2022-04-12T18:06:48 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/nyc-subway-shooting-what-we-know-about-the-suspect-victims/ |
(The Hill) — Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) says he hasn’t decided whether to run for re-election in 2024, when he could be on the same ballot as Donald Trump if the former president seeks another bid for the White House.
Romney has cast several high-profile votes putting him at odds with the GOP base — including two votes to convict former Trump on impeachment charges. He became the first senator in history to convict a president of his own party in an impeachment trial in 2020.
Just last week, Romney was one of only three Republicans to vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.
Trump is less popular among Republicans in Utah than other states but still handily beat Biden there by 20 points, 58.1 percent to 37.6 percent, in 2020.
Romney told The Hill that he hasn’t given much thought to running for a second term.
“I’m going to cross that bridge down the road. I haven’t given a lot of attention yet,” he said following his vote for Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the court. The other two GOP “yes” votes came from Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska).
Romney, 75, hasn’t spent much energy on fundraising. His Senate campaign account reported $473,000 in cash on hand at the end of 2021 — only $215,000 more than what he reported after winning his Senate seat in 2018.
Romney could face a challenge from Republican state Attorney General Sean Reyes, who supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) also may make a bid for Romney’s seat.
“I think that’s why he is giving this some pause. He will have a tough race with the Republican nomination process,” said Richard Davis, a professor emeritus of political science at Brigham Young University.
Davis said that Romney’s vote for Jackson, whom the senator praised as “a person of honor,” would likely be an issue in a future primary.
Romney is considered unlikely to win the Republican nomination at the state party convention, which is dominated by activists, so he would likely have to collect enough petition signatures to bypass the convention and advance to a primary.
Political experts and strategists say a primary election would provide more favorable ground to Romney than a convention, pointing to his performance in 2018.
Romney narrowly lost to state Rep. Mike Kennedy at the 2018 state convention but went on to handily win that year’s primary.
Davis said both Chaffetz and Reyes would be tough primary rivals for Romney.
“Either one of them would be a formidable opponent for Romney within the Republican Party because he has made himself persona non grata with many of the conservative Republicans,” Davis. “He’s actually more popular with Democrats and independents than he is with Republicans right now. So getting past the Republican primary would be a tough one.”
Davis said Romney could run and win as an independent or as a centrist candidate for the United Utah Party, which formed in 2017.
Romney’s uneasy relationship with Utah conservatives was underscored by his decision not to endorse fellow Republican Sen. Mike Lee, who is running for re-election this year.
“I don’t think endorsements make any difference in a race to speak of,” Romney told reporters. “People in the race are my friends. I usually try and avoid situations where they’ve been friends. I may endorse and I may not, but I really haven’t given it any thought at this point.”
Romney was personally recruited to the Senate by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in 2017, and has become an influential member after only three years in the chamber.
He helped negotiate last year’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment Act and this month hammered out a compromise $10 billion COVID relief bill with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Few senators of either party have resumes as impressive as Romney’s. He amassed a fortune as the co-founder of Bain Capital before becoming elected governor of Massachusetts, where he enacted sweeping healthcare reform that later became the template for the Affordable Care Act.
He ran a credible campaign for president in 2008 and won the GOP nomination for president in 2012, though he lost to President Barack Obama by 4 percent of the popular vote and more than 100 electoral votes.
Romney is now winning plaudits for identifying Russia as “our number one geopolitical foe” in 2012 when he was the Republican nominee, an assessment that Obama scoffed at in 2020 but now looks prescient.
That could give Romney, a member of the Foreign Relations panel, a strong rationale to run for another term as the United States continues to figure out its role and relationship in the rapidly changing international political environment.
U.S. leadership of the North America Treaty Organization has become more important since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February and U.S. relations with China, a rising global power, appear as unpredictable as ever.
“If he runs for re-election in a couple years, I got a good slogan for him: ‘He was right about Russia,’” said Vin Weber, a Republican strategist who served as an advisor to Romney’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.
Weber said he thinks Romney will run for another term given his deep commitment to public service, his interest in foreign affairs and the new challenges facing the nation in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
“Mitt Romney is incredibly dedicated to public service,” said Weber, who described it as a “very deep, multi-generational family commitment.”
“I guess I would be surprised if he would hang it up and just go back to private life,” Weber said.
A Deseret News/Hinkley Institute of Politics poll published last month showed that Romney enjoys a strong job approval rating in the state, with 51 percent of Republicans, 51 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of unaffiliated voters giving him a positive rating.
Weber said that while Trump’s critics in the GOP “are a little bit marginalized,” it doesn’t pose an insurmountable obstacle to Romney winning a second term.
“I think that’s an overstated phenomenon,” he said, of the view that Trump’s critics don’t have a promising future in Republican politics.
Davis, the BYU political science professor emeritus, said Romney’s three years in Washington have been “enormously impactful.”
“He has become sort of the undesirable conscience of the Republican Party. They don’t want this conscience but he is it. To vote twice to convict the president of his own party is just something nobody else in Senate history has done,” he said. It’s highly unusual.”
James Curry, a professor of political science at the University of Utah, noted that Trump isn’t as popular with Republicans in Utah as he is in other states.
In the 2016 election, Trump failed to win more than 50 percent of the state’s vote in the general election. Evan McMullin, the independent candidate that year, won 21 percent of the vote, while Hillary Clinton won 27 percent, holding Trump to 45 percent.
“I think he actually has a better chance of re-election than the conventional wisdom has been,” he said. “Utah Republicans on the whole are less favorable towards Trump.
“Moderate LDS voters who register Republicans, who are pretty loyal Republicans, are pretty uncomfortable with Trump’s brand of Republican politics, with the perceived moral character of the candidate,” he said, referring to the Mormon Church or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “LDS Republicans tend to be pretty pro-immigrant, pro-refugee, and you have a candidate in Trump who made [his] signature issues to be on the opposite side of that.” | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/romney-now-a-gop-maverick-undecided-on-future-in-politics/ | 2022-04-12T18:06:54 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/romney-now-a-gop-maverick-undecided-on-future-in-politics/ |
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Target is holding its biannual car seat trade-in event next week for families to bring an old, expired or damaged car seat to be recycled for a coupon.
Car seats can be traded in from April 18 through April 30 at any Target store. Drop-off boxes will be located near guest services.
Those trading in will receive a 20% off coupon on their Target app or Target Circle account, which can be redeemed through May 14. The coupon applies to new car seats, strollers, and select baby gear.
According to The Bump, those using a car seat for a child can tell if it is expired by looking for a small, white sticker somewhere on the seat with the date the seat expires. The website said other brands have information imprinted somewhere on the plastic shell of the seat. The Bump also offers information on where to find the date, listed by brand.
Materials from old car seats will be recycled by Waste Management.
Target hosts its car seat trade-in twice a year. A total of 1.7 million car seats have been recycled through Target since 2016, amounting to 25.4 million pounds of materials.
More information can be found on the company’s website. | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/targets-car-seat-trade-in-returns-how-to-get-your-free-coupon/ | 2022-04-12T18:07:01 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/targets-car-seat-trade-in-returns-how-to-get-your-free-coupon/ |
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Two women are charged in connection to three missing Springfield boys.
Brittany Barnes, and her wife, Ceairah Beverly, are charged with three counts of Felony Interference with Custody.
According to court reports, the children were under the guardianship of their grandmother, Audrey Beverly, when Brittany Barnes and Ceairah Beverly picked the 3 boys up for an unsupervised visit on March 23rd.
The children’s grandmother, Audrey Beverly, had a verbal agreement that the two women would take the boys to their scheduled court appearance set for that day, but when neither the children nor the women arrived, the court attempted to contact them and find out where they were.
Court documents said Audrey Beverly is the custodial guardian of the children.
Court documents show the children were removed from Barnes’ and Beverly’s custody in January after allegations of drug use, criminal activity by the parents, lack of supervision, and lack of school attendance.
According to Missouri State Highway Patrol, on Thursday, March 31, the children’s EBT/food stamp cards were used at a WalMart in Queen Creek, Arizona.
Ceairah is a white woman, who is 30, 5’2″, and 170 pounds. Beverly has brown hair and brown eyes. Brittany Barnes is a 30-year-old white female with brown hair, and blue eyes, and weighs 130 pounds.
Ryder Green, 10, Resean Green, 9, and Ramello Green, 8, are believed to be in the Tucson, Arizona area, where Barnes’ mother, Shelby Tackett-Barnes, lives.
Below are descriptions of the three missing children:
- Ramello, 8, is a black male, 4’3” tall, 74 pounds with brown hair and eyes.
- Resean, 9, is a black male, 4’4” tall, 77 pounds with brown hair and eyes.
- Ryder, 10, is a black male, 4’9” 116 pounds with brown hair and eyes.
Tackett-Barnes initially cooperated with police and said she knew what hotel Barnes and the children were staying in. However, court documents show when she discovered the children would be brought back to Greene County and placed into state custody, she refused to say where the children were.
On April 6, police made contact with Tackett-Barnes and attempted to facilitate the surrender of the children, but police said she responded by saying she did not know where the children were and that she had limited contact with her daughter.
Tackett-Barnes later said the children were no longer in Arizona and that Barnes had hired an attorney to “sue everyone for taking her kids,” according to police reports.
Tackett-Barnes said her daughter had not broken any laws and therefore didn’t need to disclose her location. She also indicated that her daughter was now an Arizona resident, so she may still be in the state.
Arizona authorities and local FBI partners are helping with the case.
Anyone with information is asked to immediately dial 911 to contact the nearest law enforcement agency or call the Springfield Police Department at 417-864-1810. | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/women-face-charges-in-connection-to-3-missing-boys/ | 2022-04-12T18:07:07 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/women-face-charges-in-connection-to-3-missing-boys/ |
The New Orleans Saints made a bold move last week – and they may not be done.
The Saints traded several picks, including next year’s first-round pick to acquire picks 16 and 19 this year from Philadelphia.
Will they use one of those picks on a quarterback?
I don’t think so.
This looks like a win-now proposition for the Saints.
And you know what? If so, I think it is solid logic.
The Saints have a talented nucleus of good young players. Remember, with Alvin Kamara last year, New Orleans was nine wins, and four losses.
I think the Saints think they can win now, and if so, they are correct. | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/geaux-black-and-gold/ed-itorial-bold-moves-point-saints-toward-immediate-success/ | 2022-04-12T18:07:13 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/geaux-black-and-gold/ed-itorial-bold-moves-point-saints-toward-immediate-success/ |
BATON ROUGE – Seimone Augustus, a generational player who made a transformational impact on LSU Women’s Basketball, will become the first female student-athlete in school history with her own statue, the university announced Monday.
Augustus, LSU’s most decorated female student-athlete, will join three other Tiger greats – Bob Pettit, Shaquille O’Neil and Pete Maravich – with statues outside the Maravich Assembly Center. Already cast, the Maravich statue will be unveiled in the coming months.
“A Seimone Augustus statue is befitting for a student-athlete whose talents, accomplishments, and impact will forever stand the test of time,” LSU Director of Athletics Scott Woodward said. “Seimone came to LSU as one of the most heralded recruits in school history, and she left a legacy on our campus, our state, and the sport of basketball that will never fade.
“Seimone was a singular talent who inspired basketball players across the world and helped transform LSU women’s basketball team into a national powerhouse. She will long be remembered as LSU’s greatest female student-athlete, and we are honored to recognize Seimone as one of the most iconic athletes to ever wear purple and gold.”
No other LSU women’s basketball player impacted her team and sport more than Augustus. The Baton Rouge native and 2005 graduate of LSU helped lead the Tigers to three consecutive Final Four appearances and was named both National Player of the Year and SEC Player of the Year twice. She’s also a two-time recipient of the Wooden Award and the Honda Award – the two most prestigious honors in women’s college basketball.
“Seimone Augustus is one of the greatest players in the history of our game. She has been successful at every level of basketball and what she did for this program and this university deserves to be recognized. I am proud we are able to honor Seimone with a statue where our fans will forever be able to reflect on her impact and greatness,” LSU Head Women’s Basketball Coach Kim Mulkey said.
She earned three first team All-America honors and earned the 2006 NCAA Class Award, which is given to the nation’s premier senior student-athlete based on achievement in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition.
Augustus’ No. 33 jersey has hung from the rafters of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center since Jan. 26, 2010, when she became the first LSU female student-athlete to have her jersey retired.
Augustus is one of only five Tigers to top the 2,000-point mark, and she ended her career with 2,702 points, the second-highest total in program history.
In 140 games, Augustus and the Tigers went 121-19 and finished each season ranked among the top five teams in the nation. LSU lost back-to-back games only one time during her career, and the 121 victories stand as the most-ever for the program over a four-year span.
The Augustus effect helped LSU’s popularity in women’s basketball reach an all-time high as the Tigers averaged 5,227 fans for the 59 home games during her four-year career. Augustus and her teammates played before five of the six largest crowds to ever fill the Maravich Assembly Center, which included 15,233 against Tennessee in 2005 and 15,217 against the Lady Vols in 2003.
Augustus was selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx. In her 15-year WNBA career, Augustus won four championships and was named MVP of the 2011 WNBA Finals. The 2006 WNBA Rookie of the Year, Augustus earned All-WNBA first team honors in 2012 and was a second team selection five times. She was an eight-time All-Star.
In 391 regular-season WNBA games, Augustus scored over 6,000 points and ranks among the league’s Top 10 all-time scorers.
On the world’s stage, Augustus won three gold medals (2008, 2012, 2016) as a member of the United States Olympic Team.
To help celebrate Augustus you can contribute to the LSU Greats Statue Fund through the Tiger Athletic Foundation. To support the construction of the statue honoring her legacy, click HERE to donate today!
(Release via LSU Athletics) | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/geaux-nation/lsu-to-honor-basketball-legend-seimone-augustus-with-statue-on-campus/ | 2022-04-12T18:07:20 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/geaux-nation/lsu-to-honor-basketball-legend-seimone-augustus-with-statue-on-campus/ |
Baton Rouge, La. – Both the LSU women’s and men’s track and field teams moved up in the national rankings released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Monday. The men moved up six spots to the No. 3 spot, while the LSU women were bumped up four spots to the No. 5 ranking.
Eleven marks registered by LSU at the Joe May Invitational last weekend rank in the top 10 nationally to help the boost in the rankings.
Dorian Camel announced himself as a candidate to possibly be entered in four events once the NCAA postseason rolls around. He’s been a mainstay on both of LSU’s 4×100 meter and 4×400 meter relay while also competing strongly in the 100 and 200 meters. On Saturday, he ran a windy time of 10.12 seconds in the 100 meters to rank No. 6 nationally; he also clocked a personal best readout of 20.31 seconds in the 200 meters to move up to No. 6 in the nation. Teammate Da’Marcus Fleming is up there in the top 10 of the 100 meters as well with a windy time of 10.14 to rank No. 9 nationally.
Favour Ofili played a part in three more of LSU’s season bests from Saturday. First she anchored LSU’s 4×100 meter relay of Alia Armstrong, Leah Phillips, Tionna Beard-Brown, and herself to a time of 42.69 that moved LSU up to No. 3 on the national list. She then ran the fastest 100 meter time of her life with a readout of 11.00 seconds flat to rate No. 4 on the national list; it’s the fifth fastest 100 meter dash ever run by a Nigerian. She then closed out the day on LSU’s 4×400 meter relay of herself, Amber Anning, Michaela Rose, and Garriel White that clocked a time of 3:29.88 to rank No. 7 on the national list.
John Meyer and Jake Norris both collected national top 10 marks in the throws for LSU. Meyer opened up his LSU outdoor career with a throw of 65’ 2.25” (19.87 meters) to rank No. 3 in the NCAA, and Norris tossed the hammer a season best of 230’ 4” (70.20 meters) to rank seventh.
The women’s high jump trio of Abigail O’Donoghue, Nyagoa Bayak, and Morgan Smalls all went up and over a bar of 6’ (1.83 meters) for season bests to rank tied for 10th nationally. LSU has six other national top 10 marks that can be viewed below.
Top 10 National Rankings
Alia Armstrong – No. 1 – 100m Hurdles – 12.33w
Eric Edwards Jr. – No. 1 – 110m Hurdles – 13.24w
Lisa Gunnarsson – No. 1 – Pole Vault – 15’ 3” (4.65m)
Tzuriel Pedigo – No. 2 – Javelin – 253’ 9” (77.34m)
Sean Dixon-Bodie – No. 4 – Triple Jump – 53’ 0.25” (16.16m)
Amber Anning – No. 6 – 400 Meters – 52.08
LSU Rankings
LSU Women – No. 3 – March 28
LSU Men – No. 7 – March 28
LSU Women – No. 9 – April 4
LSU Men – No. 9 – April 4
LSU Women – No. 5 – April 11
LSU Men – No. 3 – April 11
(Report via LSU Athletics) | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/geaux-nation/ustfccca-rankings-april-11-2022/ | 2022-04-12T18:07:26 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/geaux-nation/ustfccca-rankings-april-11-2022/ |
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – As the legal battle over Louisiana regulations requiring extensive training and licensing to legally braid hair in Louisiana drags on, natural hair braiders in the Black community remain in a difficult position between embracing their culture and facing potential fines.
Chendria Powell of Shreveport is in this position. She has been braiding since she was 14. Over the last ten years, she has honed her skills and mastered braiding techniques on the heads of family and friends.
“The best part about it for me is my clients look on their face after they get it, they’re happy,” Powell said.
No matter how good her work is or satisfied her clients are, the Louisiana Board of Cosmetology says Powell and other braiders must complete 500 hours of training and an exam in order to get an “alternative hair design” permit before she can do professionally what she has done for friends and family for a decade.
That process takes months and thousands of dollars in tuition fees to complete.
“Right now, it’s a process for me to get in school and finish. So right now I really don’t know,” Powell said.
Powell says she is not against the licensing requirements. She understands that braiders are providing a hair care service and so there must be some learning and preparation but she isn’t sold on the 500-hour requirement. Neither are the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that appears headed for trial in the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge.
Filed in 2019 with support from a nonprofit public-interest law firm, the Institute for Justice (IJ), the lawsuit against the Louisiana Board of Cosmetology notes that only one of more than 50 cosmetology schools in the state currently offers an alternative hair design curriculum.
“And actually obtaining the necessary permit is virtually impossible,” the suit claims. “A braider living in the New Orleans area would be required to stop working and travel more than four hours each way to Monroe in order to complete 600 hours of courses at the only school that actually offers the alternative hair design instruction.”
The suit asserts such training and licensing is not necessary, and requiring it oversteps the constitutional line.
“Plaintiffs-and all hair braiders throughout Louisiana-are required to endure hundreds of hours of unnecessary training and complete a practical examination, to legally do the very job they have been doing for years or decades,” the suit alleges.
Not all states have a licensing requirement, and not all state licensing requirements are equal. There are 20 states that have no training or licensing required. Oregon requires an online module and exam. States that do require cosmetology board certifications range in the number of hours required from 16 hours in Florida to 2,100 hours in South Dakota.
“In Louisiana’s neighboring states-Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi, braiders are free to practice their trade without formal training or prior approval from the government,” the lawsuit notes. “Twenty-seven states require no license for hair braiding. Another 15 states have specialty licenses less burdensome than Louisiana’s. In fact, eight of those licenses require 50 hours or less of training.”
A trial date in the suit has not been set. | https://www.cenlanow.com/state-news/licensing-regulations-leave-louisiana-braiders-in-limbo/ | 2022-04-12T18:07:32 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/state-news/licensing-regulations-leave-louisiana-braiders-in-limbo/ |
EVANGELINE PARISH, La. (KLFY) – Senator Bill Cassidy traveled to Evangeline Parish to announce funding to build broadband infrastructure.
The theme of the day was opportunity; opportunity for Evangeline Parish to grow and for Ville Platte to go from worst to first when it comes to high-speed, reliable internet, and the abundance of opportunities broadband expansion will bring to the students in the parish.
“This announcement is about you, about helping you achieve your potential,” Cassidy said.
Monday, history was made at Ville Platte High School. According to Ville Platte Mayor Jennifer Vidrine, Monday marked the first time a sitting United States Senator visited the school.
Senator Cassidy visited the rural town to announce that the National Telecommunication and Information Administration will fund a $29.9 million grant to build broadband infrastructure in the parish along with Acadia and St. Landry parishes.
“$30 dollars coming in to bring high-speed broadband internet not just to the school but all other towns. This is the inflection point the parish starts to take off,” Cassidy explained.
Ville Platte currently has the fifth slowest internet speed in the nation. “You don’t realize it right now but this will be one of the greatest days in Evangeline Parish history,” Cassidy said.
This grant will expand broadband service to over 22,000 households, nearly 4,000 businesses, 19 schools, and 4 hospitals in Evangeline, Acadia, and St. Landry parishes. It will provide speeds up to one gigabyte per second, with an option of 100 megabytes for $60 a month or less.
“This is the point in which you can say the potential of each of you is now more likely to be realized,” explained Cassidy. | https://www.cenlanow.com/state-news/senator-bill-cassidy-in-evangeline-parish-to-talk-broadband-infrastructure/ | 2022-04-12T18:07:38 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/state-news/senator-bill-cassidy-in-evangeline-parish-to-talk-broadband-infrastructure/ |
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) joined morning news anchor, Jezzamine Wolk, to discuss various aspects of his most recent legislative agenda, including helping ease the pain of rising gas prices and inflation for his constituents, as well as the fight against illegal immigration.
Cassidy said he was in Shreveport visiting the Port of Caddo-Bossier, as well as speaking to various groups. The Senator said he was using this trip as an opportunity to tour the state that he is “honored” to represent.
Wolk asked him about specific areas he is working to help his constituents, starting with gas prices. According to AAA.com, the average regular gas price in the state of Louisiana reached its highest record last month on March 11th at $4.15, beating its previous record of $4.01 in 2008.
When asked how Cassidy is helping combat the pain at the pump, he told FOX 33, “We are pushing the Biden administration to allow the American people to produce our own natural resources.”
“We’ve got enough natural oil that we can lower our fuel bill, lower our gasoline price, and we can help our allies in Europe as they try to ween themselves off of Russian energy.”
The Senator also brought up how he believes this will help create more jobs and ease inflation.
Cassidy was also asked about Louisiana’s role in the fight against immigration.
“You may say we’re not on the front line of immigration. I can promise you we’re on the front line of people dying from overdoses,” Cassidy responded. “If we control that border, not only do we stop folks coming here illegally, we also stop the illegal flow of drugs.”
Click the video to listen to the interview in its entirety. | https://www.cenlanow.com/state-news/senator-cassidy-discusses-gas-prices-inflation-immigration/ | 2022-04-12T18:07:45 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/state-news/senator-cassidy-discusses-gas-prices-inflation-immigration/ |
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — On Monday, the UNO Survey Research Center released the results of an April 2022 survey on the job approval of Gov. John Bel Edwards and U.S. Senators Kennedy and Cassidy.
325 registered voters in the state of Louisiana were interviewed over the phone. The registered voters were randomly selected for the sample from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s voter file.
According to the survey, less than 40% of respondents approve of Governor Edwards’ job performance.
One-third of registered voters in the state gave Senator John Kennedy a positive job approval rating according to the survey.
Additionally, one-third of respondents disapprove of the job performance of Senator Bill
Cassidy.
Here is the full document released by UNO:
The survey response rate was 7% according to the data received by UNO researchers. | https://www.cenlanow.com/state-news/uno-survey-research-center-releases-results-of-the-april-2022-survey-on-job-approval-of-gov-edwards/ | 2022-04-12T18:07:51 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/state-news/uno-survey-research-center-releases-results-of-the-april-2022-survey-on-job-approval-of-gov-edwards/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is visiting corn-rich Iowa on Tuesday to announce he’ll suspend a federal rule preventing the sale of higher ethanol blend gasoline this summer as his administration tries to tamp down prices at the pump that have spiked during Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Most gasoline sold in the U.S. is blended with 10% ethanol. The Environmental Protection Agency will issue an emergency waiver to allow widespread sale of 15% ethanol blend that is usually prohibited between June 1 and Sept. 15 because of concerns that it adds to smog in high temperatures.
Senior Biden administration officials said the move will save drivers an average of 10 cents per gallon at 2,300 gas stations. Industry groups say most of those stations are in the Midwest and the South, including Texas.
Biden is to announce the move at a biofuel company in Menlo, west of Des Moines. Iowa is the country’s largest producer of corn, key to producing ethanol.
The waiver is another effort to help ease global energy markets that have been rocked since Russia invaded Ukraine. Last month, the president announced the U.S. will release 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve over the next six months. His administration said that has helped to slightly reduce gas prices lately, after they climbed to an average of about $4.23 a gallon by the end of March, compared with $2.87 at the same time a year ago, according to AAA.
Members of Congress from both parties, as well as industry groups, had urged Biden to grant the E15 waiver.
“Homegrown Iowa biofuels provide a quick and clean solution for lowering prices at the pump and bolstering production would help us become energy independent once again,″ said Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley. He was among nine Republican and seven Democratic senators from Midwestern states who sent Biden a letter last month urging him to allow year-round E15 sales.
The trip will be Biden’s first as president to Iowa, where his 2020 presidential campaign limped to a fourth-place finish in the state’s technologically glitchy caucus.
After bouncing back to win the Democratic nomination, Biden returned for a rally at the Iowa state fairgrounds four days before Election Day 2020, only to see Donald Trump win the state by 8 percentage points.
Biden heads back to the state at a moment when he’s facing yet more political peril. He’s saddled with sagging approval ratings and inflation at a 40-year high while his party faces the prospect of big midterm election losses that could cost it control of Congress.
The president also planned to promote his economic plans to help rural families struggling with higher costs, while highlighting the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law enacted last fall. The law includes money to improve internet access, as well as for modernizing wastewater systems, reducing flooding threats and improving roads and bridges, drinking water and electric grids in sparsely populated areas.
“Part of it is showing up in communities of all sizes, regardless of the results of the last election,” said Jesse Harris, who was a senior adviser to Biden’s 2020 campaign in Iowa and directed get out the vote and early voting efforts for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008.
Harris said most presidents who visit Iowa typically go to the state’s largest cities. Hitting an area like Menlo, part of Guthrie County, which backed Trump over Biden by 35 percentage points in 2020, “does speak to the importance the administration places on infrastructure broadly but also infrastructure in rural and smaller communities.”
The Biden administration plans to spend the coming weeks pushing billions of dollars in funding for rural areas. Cabinet members and other senior officials will travel the country to help communities get access to money available as part of the infrastructure package.
“The president is not making this trip through a political prism,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “He’s making this trip because Iowa is a rural state in the country that would benefit greatly from the president’s policies.”
Still, administration officials have long suggested that Biden travel more to promote an economy that is rebounding from the setbacks of the coronavirus pandemic. The number of Americans collecting unemployment has fallen to the lowest levels since 1970, for example.
But much of the positive jobs news nationally has been overshadowed by surging gas, food and housing prices that have pushed consumer inflation to 7.9% over the past year ending in February. That’s the sharpest spike since 1982. Inflation figures for March, due out Tuesday, are likely to bring more bad news for the Biden administration.
“Maybe a trip back to Iowa will be just what Joe Biden needs to understand what his reckless spending, big government policies are doing to our country,” Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement.
After Iowa, Biden will visit Greensboro, North Carolina, on Thursday.
Psaki blamed Russia’s war in Ukraine for helping to drive up gas prices and said the administration expects the consumer price index for March to be “extremely elevated” in large part because of it.
The EPA has lifted seasonal restrictions on E15 in the past, including after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The Trump administration allowed for selling E15 in the summer months two years later but had the rule struck down by a federal appeals court. | https://www.cenlanow.com/washington-dc/biden-waiving-ethanol-rule-to-try-and-help-lower-gasoline-prices/ | 2022-04-12T18:07:58 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/washington-dc/biden-waiving-ethanol-rule-to-try-and-help-lower-gasoline-prices/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation soared over the past year at its fastest pace in more than 40 years, with costs for food, gasoline, housing and other necessities squeezing American consumers and wiping out the pay raises that many people have received.
The Labor Department said Tuesday that its consumer price index jumped 8.5% in March from 12 months earlier — the biggest year-over-year increase since December 1981. Prices have been driven up by bottlenecked supply chains, robust consumer demand and disruptions to global food and energy markets worsened by Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The government’s report also showed that inflation rose 1.2% from February to March, up from a 0.8% increase from January to February.
The March inflation numbers were the first to capture the full surge in gasoline prices that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Moscow’s brutal attacks have triggered far-reaching Western sanctions against the Russian economy and have disrupted global food and energy markets. According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of gasoline — $4.10 — is up 43% from a year ago, though it has fallen back in the past couple of weeks.
The escalation of energy prices has led to higher transportation costs for the shipment of goods and components across the economy, which, in turn, has contributed to higher prices for consumers.
The latest evidence of accelerating prices will solidify expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates aggressively in the coming months to try to slow borrowing and spending and tame inflation. The financial markets now foresee much steeper rate hikes this year than Fed officials had signaled as recently as last month.
Even before Russia’s war further spurred price increases, robust consumer spending, steady pay raises and chronic supply shortages had sent U.S. consumer inflation to its highest level in four decades. In addition, housing costs, which make up about a third of the consumer price index, have escalated, a trend that seems unlikely to reverse anytime soon.
Economists point out that as the economy has emerged from the depths of the pandemic, consumers have been gradually broadening their spending beyond goods to include more services. A result is that high inflation, which at first had reflected mainly a shortage of goods — from cars and furniture to electronics and sports equipment — has been emerging in services, too, like travel, health care and entertainment.
The expected fast pace of the Fed’s rate increases will make loans sharply more expensive for consumers and businesses. Mortgage rates, in particular, though not directly influenced by the Fed, have rocketed higher in recent weeks, making home buying more expensive. Many economists say they worry that the Fed has waited too long to begin raising rates and might end up acting so aggressively as to trigger a recession.
For now, the economy as a whole remains solid, with unemployment near 50-year lows and job openings near record highs. Still, rocketing inflation, with its impact on Americans’ daily lives, is posing a political threat to President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies as they seek to keep control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
Economists generally express doubt that even the sharp rate hikes that are expected from the Fed will manage to reduce inflation anywhere near the central bank’s 2% annual target by the end of this year. Tilley, Wilmington Trust economist, said he expects year-over-year consumer inflation to still be 4.5% by the end of 2020. Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he had forecast a much lower 3% rate.
Inflation, which had been largely under control for four decades, began to accelerate last spring as the U.S. and global economies rebounded with unexpected speed and strength from the brief but devastating coronavirus recession that began in the spring of 2020.
The recovery, fueled by huge infusions of government spending and super-low interest rates, caught businesses by surprise, forcing them to scramble to meet surging customer demand. Factories, ports and freight yards struggled to keep up, leading to chronic shipping delays and price spikes.
Critics also blame, in part, the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion March 2021 stimulus program, which included $1,400 relief checks for most households, for helping overheat an already sizzling economy.
Many Americans have been receiving pay increases, but the pace of inflation has more than wiped out those gains for most people. In February, after accounting for inflation, average hourly wages fell 2.5% from a year earlier. It was the 11th straight monthly drop in inflation-adjusted wages. | https://www.cenlanow.com/washington-dc/us-inflation-soars-to-40-year-high-jumping-8-5-in-past-year/ | 2022-04-12T18:08:05 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/washington-dc/us-inflation-soars-to-40-year-high-jumping-8-5-in-past-year/ |
Timekeeping isn't Rihanna's strong suit, and that goes for the pregnancy she's been sharing with the world as well.
“Planning? I wouldn’t say planning," she told Vogue about her upcoming motherhood. “But certainly not planning against it. I don’t know when I ovulate or any of that type of (expletive). We just had fun. And then it was just there on the test.”
Now in her third trimester, the music star, and fashion and beauty mogul hasn't exactly been hiding under a maternity tent since she and boyfriend A$AP Rocky announced they were expecting in late January via a wintry New York street photo shoot. Since, she's made the fashion week rounds in Milan and Paris wearing a range of belly-bearing couture.
If it’s not something she would have put on pre-pregnancy, Rihanna said, it’s not something on her list now.
“My body is doing incredible things right now, and I’m not going to be ashamed of that," she said. "This time should feel celebratory. Because why should you be hiding your pregnancy?”
The cover interview, out Tuesday, has 34-year-old Rihanna in a lacy red Alaïa bodysuit and long gloves. It's just one of the numerous rule-breaking designer looks she's been wearing in celebration of her bump.
So how is she feeling about the next part, where she actually gives birth and scheduling possibly kicks in?
Entertainment News
Rihanna wishes all of her closest loved ones could be in the room, but that seems unlikely under COVID-19 rules. She didn't disclose where she'll be headed for labor and delivery — or when she's due for that matter.
“Maybe I’ll just have a party bus parked outside or something,” she said. And what frightens her the most? “Postpartum depression. Will I feel out of control emotionally? Those are the stories I hear from other women that scare me.” | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/rihanna-opens-up-about-unplanned-pregnancy-fears-of-postpartum-depression/3642569/ | 2022-04-12T18:10:05 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/rihanna-opens-up-about-unplanned-pregnancy-fears-of-postpartum-depression/3642569/ |
George To The RescueGeorge Oliphant's surprise renovations for deserving families facing unique challenges | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/the-scene/george-to-the-rescue/optimum-connected-the-kelly-family-with-fast-and-reliable-internet/3642537/ | 2022-04-12T18:10:17 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/the-scene/george-to-the-rescue/optimum-connected-the-kelly-family-with-fast-and-reliable-internet/3642537/ |
On the 16th anniversary of a New Jersey law that banned indoor smoking in most public places — except in casinos — hundreds of Atlantic City casino workers called on state lawmakers Tuesday to ban smoking in the gambling halls.
The push comes at a crucial time for the Atlantic City casino industry as it tries mightily to regain lost business from the coronavirus pandemic, and braces for the opening of one or more additional casinos in New York City, which will compete for many of Atlantic City's customers.
Phil Murphy, New Jersey's Democratic governor, has promised to sign the ban if it is passed, and an unusually high number of legislators have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill.
But it faces strong opposition from the casinos and from the main casino labor union in Atlantic City, which fear widespread job losses if smoking is banned in the casinos.
About 250 casino workers gathered in a park near the ocean Tuesday to call on lawmakers to pass a bill that would end the casinos' exemption from the indoor smoking law.
They say they have endured years of breathing in second-hand smoke, watching colleagues die and becoming sick themselves.
“Sixteen years ago the state of New Jersey left us behind in the smoke,” said Lamont White, a dealer at the Borgata casino. “We are not numbers; we are people.”
Business
The casino industry opposes the measure, saying it will cost jobs and revenue amid an uneven recovery from the coronavirus pandemic when only two casinos have surpassed the level of profitability they enjoyed before the pandemic began.
Nicole Vitola, another Borgata dealer, said it has been galling to see friends fall ill in workplaces that lack the same health protections that other industries enjoy.
“It's been 16 years of cancer diagnoses, 16 years of watching our beloved co-workers die,” she said. “We keep hearing, ‘Now is not the time.’ When is it going to be the right time to care about us?”
The Casino Association of New Jersey, the trade group for Atlantic City's nine casinos, recently commissioned a report predicting widespread job losses and revenue declines if smoking were banned in Atlantic City.
“Atlantic City has yet to see growth from pre-pandemic levels,” association president Joe Lupo said. “Employment at our casinos is at a 20-year low, with less than 50% of the workforce from 2003. Visitation to Atlantic City is at a 20-year low, while gas prices and tolls are increasing.
“And land-based casino revenue remains at an almost 50% decrease from our peak in 2006,” he added. “Adding a smoking ban could cause a devastating effect to the community and state.”
Casino workers vehemently dispute the findings of that report, and say it does not take into account a likely improvement in business conditions in the years after a smoking ban is enacted, as gamblers become used to a smoke-free environment.
In a letter sent Monday to state Senate President Nicholas Scutari, Bob McDevitt, president of Local 54 of the Unite Here casino workers union, urged lawmakers not to pass a smoking ban.
“While we want to ensure that our members work in a safe work environment, banning smoking in New Jersey casinos would mean lost jobs for our union and throughout the state, and lost tax revenues and less money for senior programs,” he wrote.
Earlier this month, state gambling regulators released figures showing that Atlantic City casinos collectively exceeded the levels of gross operating profit that they enjoyed before the pandemic broke out in 2020.
But virtually all that improvement came from the two newest casinos in the market, Hard Rock and Ocean, with the other seven remaining flat since the start of the pandemic.
The bill has not yet had a hearing in the state Legislature, although it continues to gather support from lawmakers of both parties. It has 28 co-sponsors in the Assembly and 15 in the senate, including majorities of the health committees in both houses.
“The whole world has figured out how to eat outside and smoke outside,” said Assemblywoman Claire Swift, a Republican. “The nine casinos can figure it out.”
“We know this bill would pass today with flying colors if it got put to the floor,” said Pete Naccarelli, a Borgata dealer. “Soon I will be thankful because I will be working in a smoke-free environment like everyone else in the state of New Jersey.” | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/business/atlantic-city-casino-workers-feel-smoking-ban-is-in-reach/3642489/ | 2022-04-12T18:10:37 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/business/atlantic-city-casino-workers-feel-smoking-ban-is-in-reach/3642489/ |
Alabama elementary school principal accused of ‘excessive paddling’ of student
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF/Gray News) - An Alabama elementary school principal is on leave for paddling a child too much according to authorities.
In a letter obtained by WAFF from the district’s attorney, the principal of Hazelwood Elementary in Lawrence County, Alabama, is accused of using a wooden paddle on a child ten times in a row.
Corporal punishment is legal in the state of Alabama, meaning using paddling as a form of punishment is allowed. But there is a line, which Lawrence County Schools Superintendent Jon Bret Smith says was crossed.
A letter sent to Hazelwood Principal Dr. Datie Priest accuses her of paddling a third-grade student ten times in a row one time and five times in a row during a separate incident.
According to WAFF’s news partners at the Decatur Daily, Smith has said no more than three licks at a time is allowed.
The letter goes on to say Priest told Lawrence County School board members about the paddling on March 11.
She was then placed on detached duty.
Smith says Priest later told him and another supervisor that the child was given a choice of “two licks by his teacher or ten by me and it’s my personal belief that he would not take a paddling from a white teacher.”
Vice president for the Alabama NAACP Bobby Diggs said the organization recommended Priest for the principal position and stands by her, despite the accusations.
“The NAACP remains perplexed that the accusations against Priest were in her personnel file but accusations against Ron Rikard (principal at East Lawrence High School) were not in his file at the central office,” said Diggs. “It is in our opinion that the superintendent is being bias{ed} and discriminatory in the treatment of the two principals.”
Smith said he cannot comment on personnel issues.
State law also requires a student receive a written slip after a paddling. Smith said the student was not given one. The letter includes a few other accusations including leaving work early and mismanaging funds.
Priest is currently on paid administrative leave. However, the school district may not renew her contract, according to the Decatur Daily.
Copyright 2022 WAFF via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/12/alabama-elementary-school-principal-accused-excessive-paddling-student/ | 2022-04-12T18:10:43 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/12/alabama-elementary-school-principal-accused-excessive-paddling-student/ |
Fla. man accused of masturbating, exposing self on flight to Boston
A Florida man is accused of masturbating and exposing his genitals to a 21-year-old woman seated next to him on a flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Boston, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts said.
Donald Robinson, 76, of Bonita Springs, was arrested Sunday morning at Boston Logan International Airport. He is charged with one count of lewd, indecent and obscene acts.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, Robinson masturbated and exposed his penis to the woman during Friday's flight.
The criminal complaint said Robinson then placed his hand on the woman's thigh without her consent.
Shortly after takeoff, the woman recorded a 24-second video showing Robinson fondling himself through his pants, prosecutors allege. A short time later, they said, the woman looked over and saw Robinson's genitals.
MORE: Man charged with battery after assaulting airline employee | Woman accused of punching airline employee
About five minutes before landing, Robinson put his hand on the woman's thigh, prosecutors claim. When the woman asked Robinson why he was touching her, he removed his hand and looked out the window, prosecutors said.
The woman got the attention of another passenger on the plane and displayed a message on her phone that read, "Hi, this man assaulted me and touched my leg and is masturbating."
Although the woman tried to inform a flight attendant about it, she wasn't able to point him out because the deplaning process had already begun, but surveillance video showed Robinson repeatedly looking back in the direction from which he came while on his way to the baggage carousel level, prosecutors said.
Scripps Only Content 2022 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/12/fla-man-accused-masturbating-exposing-self-flight-boston/ | 2022-04-12T18:10:50 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/12/fla-man-accused-masturbating-exposing-self-flight-boston/ |
New York politicians took to social media as police searched for a man who opened fire on a subway train during the Tuesday morning commute in Brooklyn.
At least 10 people were reported shot and multiple others were injured. The suspected gunman, who officials say was wearing a gas mask construction vest, remains on the loose.
The shooting happened around 8:30 a.m. at the 36th Street and Fourth Avenue station in Sunset Park.
As news of the shooting began to spread, local senators, representatives, and political figures sent their thoughts and prayers to those affected.
Brooklyn Subway Shooting
During a press conference on Tuesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the increasing violence in New York must stop.
"We say no more," Hochul demanded. No more mass shootings. No more disrupting lives. No more creating heartbreak for people just trying to live their lives as normal New Yorkers."
While some took to the podium, others took to social media.
“I'm closely monitoring the situation this morning at the 36th Street station in Sunset Park in our beloved Brooklyn,” New York Sen. Chuck Schumer tweeted. “I'm praying for all the victims, their families, all those impacted.”
Rep. Jerry Nadler, who serves parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan, said he was “horrified” by the attack.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, and other politicians who serve the New York state said they were closely monitoring the shooting and thanked the first responders on scene.
In one video posted on social media, passengers screamed while scrambled to exit the train where the shooting reportedly occurred as smoke began to fill the subway station.
Law enforcement officials say a man set off some sort of smoke device inside a train car before opening fire.
This is a developing breaking news story. Check back for the latest.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/new-york-politicians-react-to-brooklyn-subway-shooting/3642470/ | 2022-04-12T18:10:57 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/new-york-politicians-react-to-brooklyn-subway-shooting/3642470/ |
Appeals court: Johnson & Johnson must pay $302 million in pelvic mesh case
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A California appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that Johnson & Johnson must pay penalties to the state for deceptively marketing pelvic mesh implants for women, but reduced the amount by $42 million to $302 million.
Johnson & Johnson had appealed in 2020 after Superior Court Judge Eddie Sturgeon assessed the $344 million in penalties against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon.
Sturgeon found after a non-jury trial that the company made misleading and potentially harmful statements in hundreds of thousands of advertisements and instructional brochures for nearly two decades.
California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal issued a ruling Monday that $42 million in penalties assessed for the company’s sales pitches to doctors were unjustified because there was no evidence of what the sales representatives actually said.
But the appeals court said Sturgeon received ample evidence that Ethicon knowingly deceived both physicians and patients about the risks posed by its products, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Ryan Carbain, a Johnson & Johnson spokesperson, told the Chronicle that the company would appeal the appeals court ruling to the state Supreme Court.
The instructions for use in all of the company’s pelvic mesh implant packages “falsified or omitted the full range, severity, duration, and cause of complications associated with Ethicon’s pelvic mesh products, as well as the potential irreversibility and catastrophic consequences,” Presiding Justice Judith McConnell of the appeals court said in a 3-0 ruling upholding the $302 million in penalties.
She rejected the company’s claim that the fine was excessive, saying it amounted to less than 1% of Johnson & Johnson’s net worth of $70.4 billion.
The products, also called transvaginal mesh, are synthetic and surgically implanted through the vagina of women whose pelvic organs have sagged or who suffered from stress urinary incontinence when they cough, sneeze or lift heavy objects.
Many women have sued the New Jersey-based company alleging that the mesh caused severe pain, bleeding, infections, discomfort during intercourse and the need for removal surgery.
The condition is estimated to affect 3% to 17% of women, and it sometimes becomes severe after age 70.
Johnson & Johnson, the world’s biggest maker of health care products, is contesting other lawsuits over drug side effects, its role in the U.S. opioid epidemic and allegations its baby powder caused cancer in some users.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/12/johnson-johnson-ordered-pay-302-million-pelvic-mesh-case/ | 2022-04-12T18:10:57 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/12/johnson-johnson-ordered-pay-302-million-pelvic-mesh-case/ |
For latest on the Brooklyn subway shooting, click here.
At least 10 Brooklyn subway riders were shot Tuesday by a man wearing a gas mask and a green construction vest who tossed a smoke canister in the train car to distract the rush hour crowd before opening fire, officials and law enforcement sources said.
The shooter remained on the loose more than three hours after he opened fire on the train at the 36th Street and Fourth Avenue station in Sunset Park around 8:30 a.m.
The 36th Street station where the shooting happened has about 9,000 people pass through that stop on an average weekday as of February 2022, according to the MTA. It was 13,000 before the pandemic, which plunged subway ridership citywide.
BROOKLYN SUBWAY SHOOTING
The NYPD warned New Yorkers to avoid the area and to expect emergency vehicles and delays. Power was shut off on the N/R Line from 59 Street to Atlantic Avenue and major delays were reported on the B, D, F, N, Q and R lines. W service is suspended.
No trains were stuck in between stations, officials said. However, the shooting led to widespread chaos amongst New Yorkers during the morning commute, and into the afternoon, as they tried to make sense of what was going on.
With this in mind, the New York City Unified Victim Identification System (UVIS) was activated in response to the NYPD activity located near 36th Street and 4th Avenue in Brooklyn.
If you are concerned about the welfare of someone who may have been affected by the event and are unable to contact them, please call 311. From outside of NYC, you may call 212-639-9675. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nyc-activates-system-to-locate-loved-ones-following-brooklyn-subway-shooting/3642548/ | 2022-04-12T18:11:03 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nyc-activates-system-to-locate-loved-ones-following-brooklyn-subway-shooting/3642548/ |
NFL’s Washington Commanders may have broken financial laws, House panel says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission saying it found evidence the NFL’s Washington Commanders engaged in potentially unlawful financial conduct for more than a decade by withholding ticket revenue from visiting teams and refundable deposits from fans.
In the letter obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, the committee outlined through the testimony of former employees and access to emails and documents a pattern of financial impropriety by owner Dan Snyder and team executives. At one point in 2016, the committee said the team retained up to $5 million from 2,000 season-ticket holders while also concealing sharable revenue from the league.
One former employee testified before Congress saying the team had two separate financial books — one with underreported ticket revenue that went to the NFL — and the full, complete picture. According to testimony, Snyder was aware of the numbers shared with the league while also being privy to the actual data.
The business practice was known as “juice” inside Washington’s front office. And, if correct, it could spell significant trouble for Snyder and the Commanders.
Ticket revenue is shared among all 32 NFL teams, with 40% of it deposited in a visiting team fund. Such money is among the pillars of the league’s revenue-sharing commitment.
A team spokeswoman said there was no new comment and referred to the statement from March 31: “The team categorically denies any suggestion of financial impropriety of any kind at any time.”
“We adhere to strict internal processes that are consistent with industry and accounting standards, are audited annually by a globally respected independent auditing firm, and are also subject to regular audits by the NFL. We continue to cooperate fully with the Committee’s work.”
The league did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The committee is sharing documents with the FTC while requesting the commission take any action necessary to make sure the money is returned to its rightful owners.
Congress launched an investigation into the team’s workplace misconduct after the league did not release a report detailing the findings of an independent probe into the matter. After testimony from former employees, that investigation expanded to the organization’s finances.
Lawyers Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who represent more than 40 former employees, including some who testified, called the letter “damning.”
“It’s clear that the team’s misconduct goes well beyond the sexual harassment and abuse of employees already documented and has also impacted the bottom line of the NFL, other NFL owners, and the team’s fans,” they said in a statement. “We are proud of our many clients who have come forward at great personal risk to reveal the truth and bring us closer to total transparency about the full extent of the dysfunction at the Washington Commanders.”
___
Associated Press reporter Farnoush Amiri contributed.
___
More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://apnews.com/hub/pro-32 and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/12/nfls-washington-commanders-may-have-broken-financial-laws-house-panel-says/ | 2022-04-12T18:11:04 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/12/nfls-washington-commanders-may-have-broken-financial-laws-house-panel-says/ |
NY lieutenant governor arrested in federal corruption investigation
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin was arrested Tuesday in a federal corruption investigation, creating a political crisis for Gov. Kathy Hochul seven months after she selected Benjamin as a partner to make a fresh start in an office already rocked by scandal.
Benjamin, a Democrat, was accused in an indictment of participating in a scheme to obtain campaign contributions from a real estate developer in exchange for Benjamin’s agreement to use his influence as a state senator to get a $50,000 grant of state funds for a nonprofit organization the developer controlled.
Facing charges including bribery, fraud, conspiracy and falsification of records, Benjamin pleaded not guilty Tuesday at an initial appearance in Manhattan federal court. He was released and bail was set at $250,000.
Two lawyers representing Benjamin did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Hochul in September plucked Benjamin, then a state lawmaker, to serve as second-in-command when she became governor, taking over for Democrat Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo resigned amid allegations he sexually harassed 11 women, which he denied.
Hochul, also a Democrat, was Cuomo’s lieutenant governor. She is now running for governor in this year’s election, with Benjamin as a running mate.
Hochul, who appeared at a New York City news conference Tuesday regarding a shooting on the subway, said she would speak about Benjamin later in the day.
“We’ll have a statement out there. I have not had a chance to speak to him. I was doing media interviews this morning. But this is not the place but I will be addressing it very shortly,” Hochul said.
Two months after Benjamin became lieutenant governor, a real estate developer who steered campaign contributions toward Benjamin’s failed bid for New York City comptroller was indicted. Federal authorities accused Gerald Migdol of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft in illegally giving donations to Benjamin’s campaign.
The indictment said Benjamin, formerly a state senator from Harlem, and others acting at his direction or on his behalf also engaged in a series of lies and deceptions to cover up the scheme that stretched from 2019 to 2021.
They falsified campaign donor forms, misled municipal regulators and provided false information in vetting forms Benjamin submitted while he was being considered to be appointed as lieutenant governor, the indictment said.
Prosecutors had previously not made any accusations against Benjamin, and his campaign said at the time of Migdol’s arrest that it had forfeited any improper donations as soon as they were discovered.
More recently, reports came out saying subpoenas had been issued to Benjamin regarding the financial issues even before Hochul picked him as lieutenant governor.
Republican chairman Nick Langworthy said in a prepared statement that “Hochul chose a dirty politician to serve as her partner in government and running mate.”
“Brian Benjamin’s shady dealings and corruption were well-documented, but Hochul turned a blind eye and put him a heartbeat away from the governorship,” Langworthy said.
Hochul said Monday at a press conference she didn’t know of the subpoenas when she tapped Benjamin to be her No. 2.
She said last week she had the “utmost confidence” in Benjamin.
“This is an independent investigation related to other people and he’s fully cooperating. He is my running mate,” Hocuhl said Thursday at a press conference.
Republican minority legislative leaders — Senate Leader Rob Ortt and Assembly Leader Will Barclay — called on Benjamin to resign.
“Kathy Hochul and Senate Democrats might tolerate this corruption, but New Yorkers don’t and neither do I,” Ortt said. “I’m calling on Gov. Hochul and Senate Democrats to stop hiding from the truth and join me in demanding Brian Benjamin’s resignation.”
Spokespeople for Hochul, Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie didn’t immediately provide comment Tuesday when asked if Benjamin should resign.
If Benjamin resigns, he would still likely appear on the ballot for the 2022 gubernatorial Democratic primary even if Hochul picks a new lieutenant governor, according to state elections law.
“There are only three ways to get off the ballot: death, declination or disqualification,” State board of elections spokesperson John Conklin said in an email.
Benjamin was the state’s second Black lieutenant governor. During his state Legislature career, he emphasized criminal justice reform and affordable housing. His district included most of central Harlem, where he was born and raised by Caribbean immigrant parents.
He has a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Brown University and a master’s of business administration from Harvard Business School, and worked as a developer of affordable housing.
___
Hays reported from New York. Associated Press writers Deepti Hajela and Larry Neumeister contributed from New York and Michael Hill contributed from Albany.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/12/ny-lieutenant-governor-arrested-federal-corruption-investigation/ | 2022-04-12T18:11:15 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/12/ny-lieutenant-governor-arrested-federal-corruption-investigation/ |
VIDEO: Man arrested after child escapes attempted kidnapping, police say
ORLANDO, Fla. (Gray News) – A man in Florida was arrested Tuesday after attempting to kidnap a child, police said.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that 37-year-old Vinh Nguyen approached and grabbed a child Monday morning in the Azalea Park neighborhood in Orlando and tried to lure the child into his vehicle.
The sheriff’s office said the child was able to get away and Nguyen took off. Following a tip from the public, detectives arrested Nguyen on Tuesday morning.
Nguyen has been charged with false imprisonment, luring or enticing of a child, and battery.
Detectives are continuing to investigate and want to know if there may be other victims of Nguyen. If you have any information, please call the Central Florida Crime Line at 1-800-423-8477.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/12/video-man-arrested-after-child-escapes-attempted-kidnapping-police-say/ | 2022-04-12T18:11:22 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/12/video-man-arrested-after-child-escapes-attempted-kidnapping-police-say/ |
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is suing TransUnion and one of its long-time executives alleging that the credit company completely “disregarded” a previous order from five years ago to stop selling dubious credit-related products and marketing.
TransUnion entered into an agreement with the CFPB in 2017, agreeing to pay $13.9 million in restitution and $3 million in civil penalties, saying it would stop trying to sell customers credit monitoring subscription products and would provide an clear way for a customer to cancel a subscription if they no longer wanted it.
Instead of taking actions to stop these practices, the CFPB alleged Tuesday that TransUnion executive John Danaher looked for ways to keep the subscription revenues flowing. This included keeping a vague “checkbox” on the TransUnion website that signed customers up for products that they may not have wanted. This often happened when a customer used annualcreditreport.com, the Federal Government's portal that gives every American access to their credit report from each of the bureaus free once a year.
The CFPB says that roughly 18% of TransUnion's annual revenue came from these services, which means it would have been a substantial hit to the Chicago company's bottom line if it were to stop the program entirely.
“TransUnion is an out-of-control repeat offender that believes it is above the law,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said. “I am concerned that TransUnion’s leadership is either unwilling or incapable of operating its businesses lawfully.”
In a prepared statement TransUnion called the CFPB's lawsuit “meritless” and said that the CFPB refused to meet with TransUnion to resolve this matter in the weeks and months leading up to the suit.
“We have been in compliance with our obligations and we remain in compliance with the consent order today,” the company said. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/feds-sue-transunion-over-credit-agencys-deceptive-subscription-practices/3642535/ | 2022-04-12T18:11:26 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/feds-sue-transunion-over-credit-agencys-deceptive-subscription-practices/3642535/ |
Luka Doncic out indefinitely with calf strain originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
An MRI confirmed Dallas Mavericks All-Star Luka Doncic has a left calf strain, and there is no timetable for his return, the Mavs announced on Tuesday.
Dallas is set to host the Utah Jazz in Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Playoffs on Saturday. The Mavericks are not required to list Doncic's status for that game until Friday at 6 p.m. ET (h/t Marc Stein).
Doncic suffered the injury in the third quarter of Dallas' regular-season finale against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
Doncic averaged 28.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.7 assists in 65 regular-season games, leading Dallas in all three categories. The Mavericks went 44-21 in games Doncic played and were 8-9 without him in the lineup. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/luka-doncic-out-indefinitely-with-calf-strain/3642487/ | 2022-04-12T18:11:54 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/luka-doncic-out-indefinitely-with-calf-strain/3642487/ |
New York City law enforcement officials are piecing together the sequence of a shooting in the New York City subway system Tuesday morning, partly through a video showing passengers scrambling to safety from a train where the attack began.
The video begins inside a N train pulling into a station in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, and passengers bunched up against the door, apparently trying to get out as quickly as possible.
At least 10 people were shot, 5 critically, and several more injured in the chaos, according to the New York Fire Department.
When the doors open at the at 36th Street and Fourth Avenue station, passengers hurry from the train, some screaming, as smoke pours onto the platform.
According to law enforcement, a man set off some sort of smoke device inside the the third car of the northbound train and started shooting.
In the video, a wounded passenger is being helped off of the train, while other people flee toward the subway exit. Still others escape by jumping onto a waiting R train across the platform and taking it to the next station.
The gunman was said to be wearing a gas mask and orange construction vest.
Police were searching for him in subway tunnels Tuesday morning, based on reports from some witnesses that he might have jumped to the tracks. They were also combing through video footage from the subway system and the neighborhood. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/video-shows-passengers-fleeing-to-safety-in-new-york-city-subway-attack/3642315/ | 2022-04-12T18:12:00 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/video-shows-passengers-fleeing-to-safety-in-new-york-city-subway-attack/3642315/ |
HOUSTON — A man disguised in scrubs died after being shot during an attempted home invasion, according to the Houston Police Department.
The incident happened around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 12500 block of Cooperstown Drive in southeast Houston.
Police said an older woman reported hearing a knock at her door when she saw the man dressed to look like a nurse or home health care worker on her porch.
Police said he tried to use that look to get in the home, instead of forcing entry.
When the disguise didn't work on a woman inside the home, she called her son for help, according to police.
The son told officers he rushed home and found by that time he arrived, the man had broken in the door.
HPD said the son shot and killed the intruder as he was trying to breaking into their house.
"It doesn't look like there's any relation at all, it was just a random thing," HPD Lt. J.P. Horelica said. "The home health care that dropped on the original radio was part a ruse to try to gain entry in the home. When that didn't work, he tried to force entry in there." | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/crime/houston-texas-crime-fatal-home-invasion-cooperstown-drive/285-e7cafcca-9bf2-4219-94f7-2fe35ac84fac | 2022-04-12T18:13:36 | 0 | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/crime/houston-texas-crime-fatal-home-invasion-cooperstown-drive/285-e7cafcca-9bf2-4219-94f7-2fe35ac84fac |
SEQUOYAH COUNTY, Okla. — It was a rainy night in the summer of 2021 when two men stopped their car to help a stranded driver near Vian. Instead of a "thank you," they were both shot.
The suspect accused of the shooting is due back in court on May 31.
The victims continue being kind after knowing their lives will never be the same.
"I was former law enforcement," Derek Riggs said. "One of the big things that you always fear, especially in law enforcement, is getting shot."
That fear became a reality on July 17, 2021
Derek Riggs and Jake Myers were driving on I-40 when they saw a stranded driver. Out of the kindness of their hearts, they drove the man to the Love's Convenience Store in Vian. Surveillance video captured them buying the man, Lee King, a gallon of gas. They even got him a bottle of water, but something felt off.
"I was really uncomfortable," Riggs said. "There was just a really dark feeling with this guy in the backseat."
They took King back to his car. Myers went to get the gas container out of their trunk, but the hatch was locked. That's when Riggs said he noticed King had a gun in the backseat and tried grabbing it from him. When Myers got back into the car, he says King started firing. Riggs was shot first.
"I knew that I was being shot," Riggs said. "I just couldn't feel it. I couldn't feel any pain or anything because I think my adrenaline had kicked in. My fight or flight had kicked in, and I'm just trying to survive."
Riggs says he was shot twice in the abdomen and once in the leg. There is still a bullet hole in his gas pedal that reminds him of that day, every day.
"All in all, I think I was probably in the hospital for about a month," he said. "I spent time in inpatient doing rehab, trying to learn to walk again."
Myers was shot in the jaw and has had several surgeries to heal his wounds.
"They came in and took a piece of my fibula bone from my leg and rebuilt my jaw," he explained.
He's getting his first dental implant surgery Tuesday, April 12.
According to the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation, King carjacked and shot a woman in Oklahoma City earlier that day. Riggs and Myers often wonder how they survived, but they now think they understand why this happened to them.
"I think it was to get somebody off the streets that didn't need to be on the streets," Myers said.
The biggest lesson they've learned is to trust your gut.
"I did feel a little anxious all day long," Myers said. "Something was wrong, but I couldn't figure it out."
Riggs added, "It changed us forever."
As Myers undergoes dental implant surgery, Riggs will likely need shoulder surgery soon. He dislocated it trying to grab the gun during the altercation and has had issues with it ever since.
Meantime, King is due back in court on May 31. He's charged with two counts of shooting with intent to kill and one count of maiming.
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To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com. | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/vian-shooting-victims-hitchhiker-oklahoma-interstate-40/527-952cc4ae-f4a9-41c3-a7e0-f0a1ca877b7e | 2022-04-12T18:13:43 | 0 | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/vian-shooting-victims-hitchhiker-oklahoma-interstate-40/527-952cc4ae-f4a9-41c3-a7e0-f0a1ca877b7e |
NEW YORK — 2021 was the deadliest year in U.S. history, and new data and research are offering more insights into how it got that bad.
The main reason for the increase in deaths? COVID-19, said Robert Anderson, who oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s work on death statistics.
The agency this month quietly updated its provisional death tally. It showed there were 3.465 million deaths last year, or about 80,000 more than 2020′s record-setting total.
Early last year, some experts were optimistic that 2021 would not be as bad as the first year of the pandemic — partly because effective COVID-19 vaccines had finally become available.
“We were wrong, unfortunately,” said Noreen Goldman, a Princeton University researcher.
COVID-19 deaths rose in 2021 — to more than 415,000, up from 351,000 the year before — as new coronavirus variants emerged and an unexpectedly large numbers of Americans refused to get vaccinated or were hesitant to wear masks, experts said.
The coronavirus is not solely to blame. Preliminary CDC data also shows the crude death rate for cancer rose slightly, and rates continued to increase for diabetes, chronic liver disease and stroke.
Drug overdose deaths also continued to rise. The CDC does not yet have a tally for 2021 overdose deaths, because it can take weeks of lab work and investigation to identify them. But provisional data through October suggests the nation is on track to see at least 105,000 overdose deaths in 2021 — up from 93,000 the year before.
New research released Tuesday showed a particularly large jump in overdose deaths among 14- to 18-year-olds.
Adolescent overdose death counts were fairly constant for most of the last decade, at around 500 a year, according to the paper published by the Journal of the American Medical Association. They almost doubled in 2020, to 954, and the researchers estimated that the total hit nearly 1,150 last year.
Joseph Friedman, a UCLA researcher who was the paper’s lead author, called the spike “unprecedented.”
Those teen overdose deaths were only around 1% of the U.S. total. But adolescents experienced a greater relative increase than the overall population, even though surveys suggest drug use among teens is down.
Experts attributed the spike to fentanyl, a highly lethal drug that has been cut into heroin for several years. More recently it’s also been pressed into counterfeit pills resembling prescription drugs that teens sometimes abuse.
National death trends affect life expectancy — an estimate of the average number of years a baby born in a given year might expect to live.
With rare exceptions, U.S. life expectancy has reliably inched up year after year. But the CDC’s life expectancy estimate for 2020 was about 77 years — more than a year and a half lower than what it was in 2019.
The CDC has not yet reported its calculation for 2021. But Goldman and some other researchers have been making their own estimates, presented in papers that have not yet been published in peer-reviewed journals.
Those researchers think U.S. life expectancy dropped another five or six months in 2021 — putting it back to where it was 20 years ago.
A loss of more than two years of life expectancy over the last two years “is mammoth,” Goldman said.
One study looked at death data in the U.S. and 19 other high-income countries. The U.S. fared the worst.
“What happened in the U.S. is less about the variants than the levels of resistance to vaccination and the public’s rejection of practices, such as masking and mandates, to reduce viral transmission,” one of the study’s authors, Dr. Steven Woolf of Virginia Commonwealth University, said in a statement.
Some experts are skeptical that life expectancy will quickly bounce back. They worry about long-term complications of COVID-19 that may hasten the deaths of people with chronic health problems.
Preliminary — and incomplete — CDC data suggest there were at least 805,000 U.S. deaths in about the first three months of this year. That’s well below the same period last year, but higher than the comparable period in 2020.
“We may end up with a ‘new normal’ that’s a little higher than it was before,” Anderson said.
The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/coronavirus/ct-aud-nw-covid-overdose-deaths-20220412-qfu4dvbg4jcdjoluywiorzhzw4-story.html | 2022-04-12T18:16:16 | 0 | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/coronavirus/ct-aud-nw-covid-overdose-deaths-20220412-qfu4dvbg4jcdjoluywiorzhzw4-story.html |
Spring has sprung in Florida, bringing with it warmer temperatures, beautiful blooms, pollen wafting through the air and the Easter season. As the holiday weekend approaches, Orlando-area churches, businesses and attractions are hosting families for Easter egg hunts and activities.
Here are some ideas for ways to celebrate Easter in Central Florida.
Easter egg hunts
- The City of Ocoee holds its Glow in the Dark Easter Egg Hunt event at the Jim Beech Recreation Center with a glow zone, bubbles, a game truck and more. The free event is recommended for ages 2-12 on April 15 at 1820 A.D. Mims Road in Ocoee. The following morning, families can gather at the center for breakfast with the Easter Bunny ($7 per person) and then a free “Eggstravaganza” egg hunt with events beginning at 9 a.m. April 16. Those interested should email twise@ocoee.org or call 407-905-3180 to reserve a spot for these events. More information: ocoee.org
- The Magic 107.7 Easter Egg Hunt brings a walk-through “EGGSperience” for kids to hop down the bunny trail and hunt for hidden eggs. Each child will receive a checklist and once all the eggs are found, they will turn in their completed sheet for a goody bag. The free festivities are 9:30 a.m.-noon April 16 at 155 W. Warren Ave. in Longwood. The same morning, there will be seatings for a “Bunny Breakfast” beginning at 9 a.m. with sausage patties, pancakes, beverages and Easter Bunny photo ops for $9 per adult and $7 per child ages 3-10. More information: magicegghunt.com
- Faith Assembly of God has a range of activities geared toward children on each of its three campuses including an activity zone, a cookout and back-to-back Easter egg hunts every 30 minutes. The festivities take place 10 a.m.-1 p.m. April 16. The campuses are at 9307 Curry Ford Road and 2740 E. Michigan St. in Orlando, 2641 Red Bug Lake Road in Casselberry; faithassembly.org
Disney World hotels' Easter egg displays that star chocolate, film characters, Mary Blair at Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Beach Club
- Central Florida Zoo will provide a “Hippity Hop Adventure” with the Easter Bunny and a trail with chances for collecting eggs, making crafts and playing games. The Easter Bunny will be available for photo ops with young ones. Festivities take place 9 a.m.-4 p.m. April 16 and are included with zoo admission at 3755 W. Seminole Blvd. in Sanford. More information: centralfloridazoo.org
- CrossLife Church in Oviedo brings children 5th grade and younger an “EGGstravagant” afternoon of games, inflatables, Easter egg hunts, entertainment, snow-cones and more. The free event takes place 11 a.m.-2 p.m. April 16 at 45 W. Broadway St. in Oviedo. More information: crosslifechurch.com
- Central Florida’s Visitor Information Center in Davenport hosts an Easter event with kid-friendly activities, giveaways and egg hunts at the top of each hour. There will be chances for visitors to win special prizes during the festivities 9 a.m.-noon April 16 at 101 Adventure Court in Davenport. More information: visitcentralflorida.org
- Church At The Cross welcomes families for kid-friendly festivities including inflatables, face painting, balloon animals and an Easter egg hunt for children grades Kindergarten through 5th grade. This experience is available at 11:30 a.m. April 17 at 700 Good Homes Road in Orlando. More information: catcorlando.com
Family-friendly events
- Eat, Pray, Swim at Lucky’s Lake Swim is a Central Florida tradition dating back at least a decade. The sunrise service begins at 6:58 a.m. April 17, followed by a one-kilometer open-water swim and a pancake breakfast. The swim, of course, is not required of all worshippers. Bring a lawn chair and blankets for the event at 6645 Lake Cane Drive in Orlando. More information: luckyslakeswim.com
- Gaylord Palms Resort brings families a variety of events and activities to usher in the spring season. Visitors can find a light display and “Eggspression Garden,” a cookie decorating experience and animal encounters from Wild Florida. During select times on Easter Sunday, young ones can experience a meet and greet with the Easter Bunny. Spring festivities take place now through May 8 at 6000 West Osceola Parkway in Kissimmee. More information: marriott.com
- Margaritaville Resort Orlando will welcome resort guests and daytime visitors for a range of Easter activities. Families can opt for a “Fins Up Bunny Hop 5K Fun Run and Walk” at 9 a.m. April 16 or have photos taken with the Easter Bunny in the resort’s lobby at select times through April 17. Guests can also opt for an Easter egg hunt at 10 a.m. April 17 or schedule Easter basket deliveries at select times April 17 at 8000 Fins Up Circle in Kissimmee. More information: margaritavilleresorts.com
- ICON Park gives visitors the chance to have their photo taken with the Easter Bunny, and every child who visits the Easter Bunny will receive a souvenir button for a complimentary ride on The Wheel. Additional guests can purchase tickets at a 50 percent discount. The experience costs $20 per session and is available 10 a.m.-8 p.m. daily through April 16 at 8375 International Drive in Orlando. Advanced reservations are recommended. More information: iconparkorlando.com
Did I miss any Easter events? Find me on Twitter @PConnPie, Instagram @PConnPie or send me an email: pconnolly@orlandosentinel.com. | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/events/os-et-easter-weekend-orlando-egg-hunts-events-2022-20220412-qrkgcrpqsbcgfhgxp5pgw2diei-story.html | 2022-04-12T18:16:22 | 1 | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/events/os-et-easter-weekend-orlando-egg-hunts-events-2022-20220412-qrkgcrpqsbcgfhgxp5pgw2diei-story.html |
“Good morning! Happy morning!” Rabbi Avraham Wolff exclaimed, with a big smile, as he walked into the Chabad synagogue in Odesa on a recent morning.
Russian missiles had just struck an oil refinery in the Ukrainian city, turning the sky charcoal gray. Hundreds were lining up outside his synagogue hoping to receive a kilo of matzah each for their Passover dinner tables. The unleavened flatbread, imperative at the ritual meal known as a Seder, is now hard to find in war-torn Ukraine amid the war and a crippling food shortage.
But the rabbi wanted no challenge to get him down — be it the lack of matzah or that he was missing his wife and children who had fled the Black Sea port for Berlin days ago.
“I need to smile for my community,” Wolff said. “We need humor. We need hope.”
Tens of thousands of Ukrainian Jews have fled while about 80% remain in Ukraine, according to estimates from Chabad, one of the largest Hasidic Jewish organizations in the world. Inside and outside Ukraine, a nation steeped in Jewish history and heritage, people are preparing to celebrate Passover, which begins sundown on April 15. It’s been a challenge, to say the least.
The holiday marks the liberation of Jewish people from slavery in ancient Egypt, and their exodus under the leadership of Moses. The story is taking on special meaning for thousands of Jewish Ukrainian refugees who are living a dramatic story in real time.
Chabad, which has deep roots and a wide network in Ukraine, and other groups such as the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and the Jewish Federations of North America, have mobilized to help Ukrainian Jews celebrate Passover wherever they have sought refuge. In Ukraine, Chabad plans 52 public Seders welcoming about 9,000 people.
In Odesa, Wolff is preparing to host two large Seders – one in early evening at the Chabad synagogue for families with young children and a later Seder at a hotel where participants can stay the night, obeying a 9 p.m. curfew.
He’s been waving in trucks loaded with Passover supplies – matzah from Israel, milk from France, meat from Britain.
“We may not all be together, but it’s going to be an unforgettable Passover,” Wolff said. “This year, we celebrate as one big Jewish family around the world.”
JDC, which has evacuated more than 11,600 Jews from Ukraine, has shipped more than 2 tons of matzah, over 400 bottles of grape juice and over 700 pounds of kosher Passover food for refugees in Poland, Moldova, Hungary and Romania, said Chen Tzuk, the organization’s director of operations in Europe, Asia and Africa. In Ukraine, their social service centers and corps of volunteers are distributing nearly 16 tons of matzah to elderly Jews and families in need, she said.
“Passover is something familiar and basic for Jewish people,” Tzuk said. “For refugees who have left everything behind, it’s important to be able celebrate this holiday with honor and dignity.”
JDC is organizing in-person Seders in countries bordering Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, she said, and is facilitating online Seders where it’s too dangerous to gather in person.
The Jewish Federations of North America has set up a volunteer hub in support of refugees fleeing Ukraine; it’s a partnership with the Jewish Agency for Israel, the JDC and IsraAID. Russian-speaking volunteers, such as Alina Spaulding, will help organize a Seder for 100 refugees at a hotel in Budapest.
Spaulding, a resident of Greensboro, North Carolina, fled Kharkiv, Ukraine, as a 5-year-old in the 1970s with her parents. She said the war has rekindled strong connections to Ukraine.
“My mom showed me a photo of me with my grandpa on a street that was recently bombed,” Spaulding said. “We talked about the university in Kharkiv where my mom and dad went, which was also hit. Suddenly, it all felt so personal.”
Spaulding believes spending Passover with refugees will be “an experience to remember.”
“Part of the magic of Passover is finding your own story,” she said. “We’re in the middle of a modern-day exodus. I can’t even imagine the stories I will hear.”
Celebrating a holiday can give people a rush of hope and happiness even in grim situations, said Rabbi Jacob Biderman, who leads Chabad activities throughout Austria, including a center in Vienna that is sheltering about 800 Ukrainian Jews. Days after refugees reached his center, Biderman led a joyous celebration of Purim, a festival commemorating the deliverance of Jews from a planned massacre in ancient Persia.
“The look on their faces changed from sorrow to joy... Their eyes lit up,” Biderman said. “It gave them a sense of normalcy, dignity and the belief that their spiritual life is something no one can take away from them.”
That fueled Biderman’s determination to provide a memorable Passover Seder for the refugees.
Dr. Yaacov Gaissinovitch, his wife, Elizabeth, and their three children – ages 11, 8 and 4 – will be part of that celebration. They fled the Ukrainian city of Dnipro by car on Friday, March 4. Gaissinovitch, a urologist and mohel who performs the Jewish rite of circumcision, said it pained him, as an observant Jew, to drive on Shabbat – a forbidden act on the day of rest and prayer except when lives are at stake.
“I drove nonstop for 12 hours to Moldova to save us all,” he said. “We sang all the Shabbat songs in the car. It was very, very hard.”
In Dnipro, Gaissinovitch had his offices in the sprawling Menorah Center, which serves as a center of Jewish life, housing a synagogue, shops, restaurants, museums and the office of the city’s chief rabbi.
After a month of being severed from everything familiar, the Chabad center in Vienna has been a blessing, Gaissinovitch said.
“We’ve been accepted here very warmly,” he said. “After being disconnected for days, the children have been able to see that our life hasn’t stopped.”
A similar community at the Chabad center in Berlin is housing about 1,000 refugees, including Rabbi Avraham Wolff’s wife and children from Odesa. The center plans to host eight Seders citywide and has distributed matzah and other food to community members. Refugees, including 120 children from an Odesa orphanage who arrived in Berlin along with Wolff’s family, distributed the items to locals, said Yehuda Teichtal, the chief rabbi of Berlin.
“To me, this is extremely touching,” he said. “That people on the receiving end are able to give and not be viewed as victims. It’s empowering and energizing.”
As they prepare for Passover, Teichtal, Biderman and Wolff said they have been inspired by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who was among the most influential global leaders in Judaism in modern times. April 5 marked the Rebbe’s 120th birth anniversary, a special number in Jewish tradition.
“The Rebbe built a strong foundation (in Ukraine) so we’re able to do what we’re doing now,” Wolff said.
Schneerson grew up in Ukraine during a challenging time in the former Soviet Union, Teichtal said.
“In spite of all the darkness, his focus was selflessness, dedication, love for all humanity and the unwavering faith that we are going to overcome,” Teichtal said.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/ct-aud-nw-jews-ukraine-passover-20220412-4fjgzztqhvdsnf6zninezrxdfq-story.html | 2022-04-12T18:16:28 | 1 | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/ct-aud-nw-jews-ukraine-passover-20220412-4fjgzztqhvdsnf6zninezrxdfq-story.html |
For the past six years, the 10-acre Desert Yacht Club — a 1946 Chris Craft cruiser anchored on a rocky hilltop amid retro trailers near Joshua Tree, California — has been Alessandro Giuliano’s primary source of inspiration, social interaction and income. The off-the-grid glamping site has appeared in the Italian version of Rolling Stone, on lists of epic luxury camping experiences and in films. Giuliano designed everything, including his walk-the-plank setup, which encourages his guests to wobble 2 feet above actual sharks’ teeth to facilitate their imaginations.
Around three months ago, amid tensions with neighbors and a shift in how the Joshua Tree area in southeastern California regulates short-term rentals and glamping facilities, the 47-year-old Italian artist pulled his last listing off an online booking platform. In order to get a permit — which would satisfy newly enforced rules in San Bernardino County that prohibit renting out most glamping setups on Airbnb, Hipcamp and Vrbo — he’d have to disassemble the club and build a traditional house. This is infuriating, he said, because he cannot drive anywhere in the region without seeing new luxury modernist rentals, whose owners have no trouble obtaining permits.
“You put someone out in the desert in a fancy house with a big flat-screen TV and a fireplace on the screen instead of a real fire,” he said, standing in front of his empty Desert Yacht Club. “This is not what I moved here for.” He’s equally resentful of a new wave of visitors that seems to be more interested in mirrored glass and private pools than the desert itself.
Tensions over visitors, some of whom will, inevitably, want to claim a piece of the desert themselves, has been a part of the area’s story for years. But as the pandemic has boosted Joshua Tree’s allure for travelers, transplants and investors, it has magnified old conflicts and created new conundrums.
Desert lovers have long been renovating cabins and setting up glamping facilities for visitors. The pandemic has supersized that pattern, fueling a sort of gold rush through which investors from Los Angeles, New York, China and elsewhere are rushing in, not just to renovate properties, but to buy land to build homes explicitly for Airbnb and Vrbo.
The pace of growth is staggering. Demand for short-term rentals surged by 54% between 2019 and 2021, making Joshua Tree one of the top two fastest-growing markets in California and one of the top 25 fastest-growing markets in the United States, according to data from AirDNA, a company that collects and analyzes data from Airbnb and Vrbo. Joshua Tree and the nearby town of Yucca Valley issued 958 permits in 2021, more than nine times as many as they did in 2019, according to San Bernardino County and Yucca Valley data. As of March, there were 2,043 listings in Joshua Tree and Yucca Valley on Airbnb and Vrbo, more than twice as many as four years ago, according to AirDNA (1,818 are on Airbnb, though some are cross-listed).
Over the past two years, the price of the average home rose more in Joshua Tree and nearby Landers and Twentynine Palms than in any other part of California, according to an analysis by The San Francisco Chronicle. One real estate agent who works in Joshua Tree said that plots are now selling for quadruple 2019 prices.
It’s the same story that has played out in destinations like Miami Beach, New York City and Barcelona, with a Mojave Desert twist. Yes, on social media and in public forums you’ll find similar debates about short-term rentals and rising rents. Recently, some parts of the region have begun requiring noise monitoring devices and capped the percentage of homes that can become short-term rentals — familiar moves from the managing-Airbnb playbook. But equally divisive is what all the construction and rules are doing to the beautifully odd trees and the spirit of the place.
“This is the future look of the American West,” said Chris Hanley, producer of the movies “American Psycho” and “Spring Breakers,” who owns the Invisible House, a rectangular prism covered in mirrored glass that disappears into the landscape when viewed from the right angle. Unlike Giuliano, Hanley believes that modern architecture is good for the area’s creative evolution. For $3,000 to $6,000 a night, guests — who recently included singer Demi Lovato and Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb — can swim in the indoor pool that stretches from the kitchen to the rear bedroom.
How a $40,000 plot of land becomes short-term rental gold
I’m standing inside a nearly completed house destined for Airbnb that’s exuding strong villa-in-Bali energy. Or maybe it’s Tulum. It’s hard to believe that just two years ago this was an empty plot selling for around $40,000. If it wasn’t for the Joshua trees, their branches jutting out like characters in a Dr. Seuss book around the soon-to-be completed pool, I would not place us in the high desert.
“Wow, Joe, this is beautiful,” says J. Ovier Alvarez, a team leader for Coldwell Banker who sold Zhuo Zhang, aka Joe, the land, as we walk past an electric fireplace embedded in a wall of gray marbled tiles to the bedroom, which features a regal 9-foot-tall headboard. Alvarez had been driving me around the area when Zhang spotted us and invited us in.
“We love art and architecture, you have the space for it here,” said Zhang a few days later as he and his sister, Yihong Zhang, showed us mock-ups for a new compound: four Airbnbs, each with its own pool, that will spell XOXO from above. We were standing inside “the floating box,” designed to appear as if it’s levitating. Once these and 31 other homes are completed, Somewhere, their property management and development company, will own around 40 rentals. The current nine, which go for $250 to $1,500 a night, are booked around 90% of the time.
This is impressive considering that just five years ago, the siblings moved to California from Shenzhen, China, without a clear plan, other than that they were ready to move on from advertising and commercial photography (him) and overseeing real estate matters for Walmart Asia (her).
But then they stumbled upon Joshua Tree. “It’s a good place to start our American dream,” Yihong Zhang said.
The rise of “high desert boho”
A dream also brought Giuliano, the Desert Yacht captain, to Joshua Tree. In 2013, the installation artist visited and became smitten with the idea of creating art in the desert. He liked that the land he purchased in 2014 lacked electricity or water hookups. He also liked that there were so many artists and musicians.
“It felt like there was a movement starting to take hold,” he said.
In fact, Joshua Tree has been drawing artists, musicians, architectural experimentalists, self-identified “weirdos” and others seeking inspiration and self-actualization for decades.
But part of what was different when Giuliano towed a 48-foot boat from Pismo Beach, California, to the top of his hill in 2016 was the way that many transplants were funding their dreams — by putting glamping setups or cabins on home-sharing websites. Quickly, Giuliano had more requests for his vintage trailers and canvas tents than he could handle.
Around that time, something else was changing that would set the stage for the rental gold rush: an appetite for an emerging aesthetic that some called “high desert boho” or “the Joshua Tree Look” on Instagram.
“In 2017 we started to feel like ‘wow, there is really something here,’” said Sara Combs, half of the husband-wife interior design duo behind the Joshua Tree House, a 1949 hacienda-style home about 9 miles east of the Desert Yacht Club. The house, which they renovated in a palette of neutrals, now has more than 300,000 followers on Instagram, a store for “shopping your room” and spinoff inns in Tucson, Arizona, and soon, Marfa, Texas.
By 2018, there were so many renovated Joshua Tree rentals with the same metal cowboy tubs and wicker swings that an Instagram account emerged to mock them. Photos of these carefully curated spaces drew a new type of visitor, encouraging still more short-term rentals.
There was a sense, going into the pandemic, that this new desert economy could make dreams come true. You could come up with something weird or ultramodern, build it and get your money back through Airbnb, several developers said.
You could also move to the desert, build a stage next to a Joshua tree and start hosting free drive-in concerts after COVID canceled your violinist husband’s tour. Next thing you know you’d have 50 people there weekly, and, annoyingly, guests at a nearby glamping setup — the Desert Yacht Club — zooming by on your private road. This is what happened to Jacqueline Herrera, the owner of the Mon Petit Mojave ranch.
Shards in the dream
Inklings that the gold rush might be spiraling out of control came at different points for various players. Residents who complained about newcomers treating the desert like it was some kind of Wild West playground had been annoyed long before the rise of the Airbnb-Instagram economy. Stories of investors pushing out long-term renters — or sometimes squatters — had also been circulating.
But as the pandemic turbocharged development, it became harder to ignore these and other issues, like the fact that the new construction — paired with climate change and fires — threatened to drive the Joshua trees into extinction, said Brendan Cummings, conservation director for the Center for Biological Diversity, which fights for imperiled species.
“Joshua Tree is booming because of the Joshua tree,” said Cummings, who successfully petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission to temporarily protect western Joshua trees under the state’s Endangered Species Act in September 2020. In June, the commission will decide whether to make the classification permanent. Several construction and real estate groups object to the policy, which requires obtaining a state permit before trimming, moving or building within 10 feet of a tree to avoid a $25,000 fine.
“Forty percent of Joshua trees are on private land,” said Cummings, a resident, who went years without fearing for the ubiquitous trees. But when science demonstrated that they were struggling as their habitat became a “cash cow,” his view shifted.
For Herrera, the problems became apparent the week that a “sculpture artist over in a yacht in the middle of the desert” sued her so that he and his guests could take a shortcut on a dirt road that runs across her 15-acre property.
The sculpture artist was the Desert Yacht captain, Giuliano.
In hour five of a seven-hour open forum on short-term rentals in San Bernardino County held in February, I heard Herrera, 35, tell her story. Three weeks later, she stepped out of her Tesla and showed me the dirt road, which begins at a paved thoroughfare and leads up a rocky hill to the Desert Yacht Club.
Initially, Herrera, who works in content marketing in Palm Springs, and her husband, Jeremie Levi Samson, a professional violinist from Paris, got along well with their Italian neighbor, who explained that he often used the road that ran along the border of their two parcels. He could continue to use it, Herrera told him.
But once the pandemic concert series started, Herrera realized that Giuliano’s 30 guests were also going to cross their land, sometimes in the middle of concerts.
“If it was just him, we wouldn’t have a problem,” she said. “But it’s all these party people coming and going and drinking. It’s chaos.”
In January of last year, after the Herreras began telling his guests they were trespassing, Giuliano sued them.
In some ways their conflict is typical of tensions throughout the region. San Bernardino County received just eight complaints involving short-term rentals in 2019. By 2020, that figure had skyrocketed to 439 before falling to 362 in 2021. Recent community meetings have been punctuated with stories about noisy visitors and overzealous residents threatening to show up with guns.
Suing his neighbors wasn’t personal, Giuliano explained when I tracked him down. In fact, instituting the procedure to get a prescriptive easement — or access to an unofficial road after you’ve consistently used it for five years — is not uncommon. It’s what a lawyer advised him, he said, since there is no official road to his property; even another route — a longer, circuitous path — requires trespassing, he said.
But then the couple countersued in February 2021, and that, said Giuliano, was when he realized that his desert dream might be over. He’d again have this suspicion when he was served with a property violation involving a New Year’s Eve party that his guests were planning. Another violation involving noise had come around the same time he’d gotten a letter from the county telling him that he needed a short-term rental permit or he’d be fined.
He was in a challenging situation, Giuliano said, because there is no clear-cut way to get a permit that allows for renting unconventional structures like trailers or even allowing guests to set up tents. Until the pandemic drove up complaints, no one enforced the rule, he said, something that the county confirmed.
Hundreds of other private campgrounds in the area are now in a similar predicament, according to Mason Smith, the head of government & community relations for Hipcamp, a sort of Airbnb for outdoorsy stays.
The county can’t permit tents, yurts and Airstream camps the same way they do houses because they raise the potential for “safety problems,” said David Wert, a spokesperson for the county. “When someone sets up a bunch of teepees in the desert and invite people to stay there, where do they go to the bathroom?” he asked.
The root of the problem
The community is continuing to grapple with whether short-term rentals are helping or hurting the area. In early summer, San Bernardino’s board of supervisors is expected to announce modified rules. The county, which sets policies in Joshua Tree, is not expected to limit the percentage of housing stock that can become short-term rentals like the town of Yucca Valley recently did.
For its part, Airbnb says that short-term rentals give “residents a way to supplement their income, creating tens of thousands of jobs, and generating tax revenue statewide.” The company noted that since 2018, it has been collecting the 7% occupancy tax and handing it over to San Bernardino County. (Vrbo did not respond to a request for comment.)
But some, like Herrera, worry that luxury rentals are pushing out families and creating a “ghost town” feel.
Tonya Hansel, 36, who has been living in the area since she was 4, shares this concern. For the past eight years, she has been cleaning short-term rentals. She often works seven days a week to make ends meet. Still, when it comes to seeing her 14-year-old daughter, it’s better than her previous gig as a body piercer, she said.
But last month, she lost the thing that allowed her family to survive on $65 to $150 a cleaning: her $575-a-month rent.
In 2014, when she moved into her two-bedroom apartment on the north side of downtown Joshua Tree, there were only a handful of short-term rentals nearby, but they were in nicer neighborhoods.
But then investors began to see her neighborhood as prime lodging territory. At first, as renovators outnumbered heavy drug users, “it cleaned up the neighborhood,” she said. But then it became eerie as she realized that the families she used to run into were gone and that virtually every house was a short-term rental with “the same white, black and gray paint, shiny fence and fairy lights.”
These didn’t seem to be owned by the “jumble of artists and weirdos” — like her client Giuliano of the Desert Yacht Club. Rather they seemed to be owned by people who saw rentals as “easy money.”
In January, Hansel learned that her lease would be terminated in 60 days because her landlord was remodeling. It’s impossible to find a place, she said in February, as she began packing up, “because it’s either an Airbnb or it’s three times what I can afford.”
At the last minute, she found a temporary $800 one-bedroom in Landers, about 15 miles from Joshua Tree. It’s not ideal, Hansel said, noting that her daughter can no longer walk to school. But, she said, “we’re safe for now.”
c.2022 The New York Times Company | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/ct-aud-nw-nyt-joshua-tree-airbnbs-20220412-5zedfqozrjfxdlezyyc7o6koue-story.html | 2022-04-12T18:16:35 | 0 | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/ct-aud-nw-nyt-joshua-tree-airbnbs-20220412-5zedfqozrjfxdlezyyc7o6koue-story.html |
Chris Grier and his staff deserve a round of applause for how they built the Miami Dolphins roster this offseason.
It’s been a while since the team’s depth chart hasn’t had multiple needs heading into the NFL draft.
But Grier, the Dolphins’ general manager and top football executive, seemingly assembled a versatile and deep roster courtesy of the offseason moves, which included trading for Pro Bowl players Tyreek Hill and Terron Armstead, and re-signing most of the key pieces from last year’s defense.
Here’s a look at the team’s top five positions of need heading into the draft on April 28-30:
Inside linebacker: Elandon Roberts’ career history hints he’s a two-down linebacker considering he’s struggled in pass coverage and that Jerome Baker thrived playing outside linebacker last season. If Baker remains in the same role he played the second half of last season, the Dolphins need to find an inside linebacker who has good run-game instincts and pass coverage skills.
Edge rusher: Emmanuel Ogbah is Miami’s second-best defender, but the Dolphins need to find someone reliable to put opposite him. Jaelan Phillips, Miami’s 2021 first-round pick, thrived when the Dolphins scrapped their plans to make him an outside linebacker and used the former Hurricanes standout strictly as a pass rusher. Behind those two there’s only linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel and two developmental projects in Daeshon Hall and Darius Hodge as edge players.
Center: Michael Deiter started eight games at center last season, but hasn’t proven he’s an NFL starter in three seasons. While Grier seems committed to seeing this former third-round pick remain a starter, competition never hurt anyone. And seeing that Deiter, who missed half of the 2021 season with a foot injury, is entering the final season of his rookie deal it would benefit the Dolphins to be forward thinking by adding a young, developmental center.
Cornerback: Xavien Howard and Byron Jones are one of the best cornerback duos in the NFL and Nik Needham is a young, developing player. But Needham has struggled at times playing nickel cornerback, which relies heavily on quickness and physicality. It would benefit the Dolphins to find a true nickel back to develop, especially since Needham is playing on a one-year deal.
Nose tackle: The Dolphins struggled when Raekwon Davis missed four games last season due to a knee injury and during the handful of games he played while he was still recovering. It’s clear that Miami needs to add a better nose tackle than John Jenkins, someone who can be developed into a rotational player and potential starter since five defensive linemen have contracts that expire over the next two seasons. | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/fl-sp-dolphins-2022-nfl-draft-needs-20220412-7fnyjmh5snfq7lil3qh3rfio6y-story.html | 2022-04-12T18:16:41 | 1 | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/fl-sp-dolphins-2022-nfl-draft-needs-20220412-7fnyjmh5snfq7lil3qh3rfio6y-story.html |
Alabama elementary school principal accused of ‘excessive paddling’ of student
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF/Gray News) - An Alabama elementary school principal is on leave for paddling a child too much according to authorities.
In a letter obtained by WAFF from the district’s attorney, the principal of Hazelwood Elementary in Lawrence County, Alabama, is accused of using a wooden paddle on a child ten times in a row.
Corporal punishment is legal in the state of Alabama, meaning using paddling as a form of punishment is allowed. But there is a line, which Lawrence County Schools Superintendent Jon Bret Smith says was crossed.
A letter sent to Hazelwood Principal Dr. Datie Priest accuses her of paddling a third-grade student ten times in a row one time and five times in a row during a separate incident.
According to WAFF’s news partners at the Decatur Daily, Smith has said no more than three licks at a time is allowed.
The letter goes on to say Priest told Lawrence County School board members about the paddling on March 11.
She was then placed on detached duty.
Smith says Priest later told him and another supervisor that the child was given a choice of “two licks by his teacher or ten by me and it’s my personal belief that he would not take a paddling from a white teacher.”
Vice president for the Alabama NAACP Bobby Diggs said the organization recommended Priest for the principal position and stands by her, despite the accusations.
“The NAACP remains perplexed that the accusations against Priest were in her personnel file but accusations against Ron Rikard (principal at East Lawrence High School) were not in his file at the central office,” said Diggs. “It is in our opinion that the superintendent is being bias{ed} and discriminatory in the treatment of the two principals.”
Smith said he cannot comment on personnel issues.
State law also requires a student receive a written slip after a paddling. Smith said the student was not given one. The letter includes a few other accusations including leaving work early and mismanaging funds.
Priest is currently on paid administrative leave. However, the school district may not renew her contract, according to the Decatur Daily.
Copyright 2022 WAFF via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/12/alabama-elementary-school-principal-accused-excessive-paddling-student/ | 2022-04-12T18:22:18 | 1 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/12/alabama-elementary-school-principal-accused-excessive-paddling-student/ |
Appeals court: Johnson & Johnson must pay $302 million in pelvic mesh case
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A California appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that Johnson & Johnson must pay penalties to the state for deceptively marketing pelvic mesh implants for women, but reduced the amount by $42 million to $302 million.
Johnson & Johnson had appealed in 2020 after Superior Court Judge Eddie Sturgeon assessed the $344 million in penalties against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon.
Sturgeon found after a non-jury trial that the company made misleading and potentially harmful statements in hundreds of thousands of advertisements and instructional brochures for nearly two decades.
California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal issued a ruling Monday that $42 million in penalties assessed for the company’s sales pitches to doctors were unjustified because there was no evidence of what the sales representatives actually said.
But the appeals court said Sturgeon received ample evidence that Ethicon knowingly deceived both physicians and patients about the risks posed by its products, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Ryan Carbain, a Johnson & Johnson spokesperson, told the Chronicle that the company would appeal the appeals court ruling to the state Supreme Court.
The instructions for use in all of the company’s pelvic mesh implant packages “falsified or omitted the full range, severity, duration, and cause of complications associated with Ethicon’s pelvic mesh products, as well as the potential irreversibility and catastrophic consequences,” Presiding Justice Judith McConnell of the appeals court said in a 3-0 ruling upholding the $302 million in penalties.
She rejected the company’s claim that the fine was excessive, saying it amounted to less than 1% of Johnson & Johnson’s net worth of $70.4 billion.
The products, also called transvaginal mesh, are synthetic and surgically implanted through the vagina of women whose pelvic organs have sagged or who suffered from stress urinary incontinence when they cough, sneeze or lift heavy objects.
Many women have sued the New Jersey-based company alleging that the mesh caused severe pain, bleeding, infections, discomfort during intercourse and the need for removal surgery.
The condition is estimated to affect 3% to 17% of women, and it sometimes becomes severe after age 70.
Johnson & Johnson, the world’s biggest maker of health care products, is contesting other lawsuits over drug side effects, its role in the U.S. opioid epidemic and allegations its baby powder caused cancer in some users.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/12/johnson-johnson-ordered-pay-302-million-pelvic-mesh-case/ | 2022-04-12T18:22:25 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/12/johnson-johnson-ordered-pay-302-million-pelvic-mesh-case/ |
NFL’s Washington Commanders may have broken financial laws, House panel says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission saying it found evidence the NFL’s Washington Commanders engaged in potentially unlawful financial conduct for more than a decade by withholding ticket revenue from visiting teams and refundable deposits from fans.
In the letter obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, the committee outlined through the testimony of former employees and access to emails and documents a pattern of financial impropriety by owner Dan Snyder and team executives. At one point in 2016, the committee said the team retained up to $5 million from 2,000 season-ticket holders while also concealing sharable revenue from the league.
One former employee testified before Congress saying the team had two separate financial books — one with underreported ticket revenue that went to the NFL — and the full, complete picture. According to testimony, Snyder was aware of the numbers shared with the league while also being privy to the actual data.
The business practice was known as “juice” inside Washington’s front office. And, if correct, it could spell significant trouble for Snyder and the Commanders.
Ticket revenue is shared among all 32 NFL teams, with 40% of it deposited in a visiting team fund. Such money is among the pillars of the league’s revenue-sharing commitment.
A team spokeswoman said there was no new comment and referred to the statement from March 31: “The team categorically denies any suggestion of financial impropriety of any kind at any time.”
“We adhere to strict internal processes that are consistent with industry and accounting standards, are audited annually by a globally respected independent auditing firm, and are also subject to regular audits by the NFL. We continue to cooperate fully with the Committee’s work.”
The league did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The committee is sharing documents with the FTC while requesting the commission take any action necessary to make sure the money is returned to its rightful owners.
Congress launched an investigation into the team’s workplace misconduct after the league did not release a report detailing the findings of an independent probe into the matter. After testimony from former employees, that investigation expanded to the organization’s finances.
Lawyers Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who represent more than 40 former employees, including some who testified, called the letter “damning.”
“It’s clear that the team’s misconduct goes well beyond the sexual harassment and abuse of employees already documented and has also impacted the bottom line of the NFL, other NFL owners, and the team’s fans,” they said in a statement. “We are proud of our many clients who have come forward at great personal risk to reveal the truth and bring us closer to total transparency about the full extent of the dysfunction at the Washington Commanders.”
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Associated Press reporter Farnoush Amiri contributed.
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Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/12/nfls-washington-commanders-may-have-broken-financial-laws-house-panel-says/ | 2022-04-12T18:22:32 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/12/nfls-washington-commanders-may-have-broken-financial-laws-house-panel-says/ |
NY lieutenant governor arrested in federal corruption investigation
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin was arrested Tuesday in a federal corruption investigation, creating a political crisis for Gov. Kathy Hochul seven months after she selected Benjamin as a partner to make a fresh start in an office already rocked by scandal.
Benjamin, a Democrat, was accused in an indictment of participating in a scheme to obtain campaign contributions from a real estate developer in exchange for Benjamin’s agreement to use his influence as a state senator to get a $50,000 grant of state funds for a nonprofit organization the developer controlled.
Facing charges including bribery, fraud, conspiracy and falsification of records, Benjamin pleaded not guilty Tuesday at an initial appearance in Manhattan federal court. He was released and bail was set at $250,000.
Two lawyers representing Benjamin did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Hochul in September plucked Benjamin, then a state lawmaker, to serve as second-in-command when she became governor, taking over for Democrat Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo resigned amid allegations he sexually harassed 11 women, which he denied.
Hochul, also a Democrat, was Cuomo’s lieutenant governor. She is now running for governor in this year’s election, with Benjamin as a running mate.
Hochul, who appeared at a New York City news conference Tuesday regarding a shooting on the subway, said she would speak about Benjamin later in the day.
“We’ll have a statement out there. I have not had a chance to speak to him. I was doing media interviews this morning. But this is not the place but I will be addressing it very shortly,” Hochul said.
Two months after Benjamin became lieutenant governor, a real estate developer who steered campaign contributions toward Benjamin’s failed bid for New York City comptroller was indicted. Federal authorities accused Gerald Migdol of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft in illegally giving donations to Benjamin’s campaign.
The indictment said Benjamin, formerly a state senator from Harlem, and others acting at his direction or on his behalf also engaged in a series of lies and deceptions to cover up the scheme that stretched from 2019 to 2021.
They falsified campaign donor forms, misled municipal regulators and provided false information in vetting forms Benjamin submitted while he was being considered to be appointed as lieutenant governor, the indictment said.
Prosecutors had previously not made any accusations against Benjamin, and his campaign said at the time of Migdol’s arrest that it had forfeited any improper donations as soon as they were discovered.
More recently, reports came out saying subpoenas had been issued to Benjamin regarding the financial issues even before Hochul picked him as lieutenant governor.
Republican chairman Nick Langworthy said in a prepared statement that “Hochul chose a dirty politician to serve as her partner in government and running mate.”
“Brian Benjamin’s shady dealings and corruption were well-documented, but Hochul turned a blind eye and put him a heartbeat away from the governorship,” Langworthy said.
Hochul said Monday at a press conference she didn’t know of the subpoenas when she tapped Benjamin to be her No. 2.
She said last week she had the “utmost confidence” in Benjamin.
“This is an independent investigation related to other people and he’s fully cooperating. He is my running mate,” Hocuhl said Thursday at a press conference.
Republican minority legislative leaders — Senate Leader Rob Ortt and Assembly Leader Will Barclay — called on Benjamin to resign.
“Kathy Hochul and Senate Democrats might tolerate this corruption, but New Yorkers don’t and neither do I,” Ortt said. “I’m calling on Gov. Hochul and Senate Democrats to stop hiding from the truth and join me in demanding Brian Benjamin’s resignation.”
Spokespeople for Hochul, Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie didn’t immediately provide comment Tuesday when asked if Benjamin should resign.
If Benjamin resigns, he would still likely appear on the ballot for the 2022 gubernatorial Democratic primary even if Hochul picks a new lieutenant governor, according to state elections law.
“There are only three ways to get off the ballot: death, declination or disqualification,” State board of elections spokesperson John Conklin said in an email.
Benjamin was the state’s second Black lieutenant governor. During his state Legislature career, he emphasized criminal justice reform and affordable housing. His district included most of central Harlem, where he was born and raised by Caribbean immigrant parents.
He has a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Brown University and a master’s of business administration from Harvard Business School, and worked as a developer of affordable housing.
The scandal is the latest in a long history of lawmakers and other Albany leaders who’ve been engulfed in allegations of wrongdoing.
Cuomo’s resignation as governor came not only amid allegations of sexual harassment but that his administration misrepresented the number of New Yorkers who died in nursing homes from COVID-19.
In 2008, then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution investigation.
Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, one of the most powerful figures in state government, resigned in 2015 after he was arrested on federal corruption charges. His conviction ended a four-decade career in the Assembly. After his first conviction was thrown out, he was convicted again in 2018. He died in federal custody in January.
Former Republican state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who for a time shared power with Silver, was convicted of extortion, wire fraud and bribery. Skelos’ case moved through the courts around the same time as Silver’s.
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Hays reported from New York. Associated Press writers Deepti Hajela and Larry Neumeister contributed from New York and Michael Hill contributed from Albany.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/12/ny-lieutenant-governor-arrested-federal-corruption-investigation/ | 2022-04-12T18:22:38 | 1 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/12/ny-lieutenant-governor-arrested-federal-corruption-investigation/ |