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FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (WRIC) — The Fredericksburg Police department arrested a suspect who they say has been charged with arson, unlawful entry, trespassing and vandalism.
According to Fredericksburg Police, a 911 call came from the Virginia Outdoors Center at around 7:30 p.m. describing a suspicious man wandering the property with a large blade.
When officers got to the scene, they found the suspicious man with a large butcher knife and tried to talk to him. The man then went into the Virginia Outdoors Center and barricaded himself inside the building alone.
Officers set up a perimeter around the building and tried to deescalate the situation while the Crisis Negotiation Team and Special Equipment Tactical Team were on their way. When the Crisis Negotiation Team arrived, they took over communications with the suspect and while doing so, he was seen inside gathering more sharp objects.
After several hours of asking the suspect to leave the building voluntarily, the Special Equipment Tactial Team went in a discovered he had started a fire inside.
The suspect, identified as 32-year-old Gary Wood, Jr. was arrested and the fire was extinguished. Wood was charged with arson, tresspassing, unlawful entry and destruction of property. He was held at Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond. | https://www.wric.com/news/crime/spotsylvania-man-arrested-for-arson-after-standoff-with-police/ | 2022-04-14T22:19:39 | 1 | https://www.wric.com/news/crime/spotsylvania-man-arrested-for-arson-after-standoff-with-police/ |
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — All City offices, including City Hall, will be closed Friday, April 15.
The City said that the closure will be for the Spring Holiday. All branches of the Richmond Public Library are included in the Friday closure, and will reopen Saturday, April 16.
All Parks, Recreation & Community facilities offices, department of public works offices and city community centers will also be closed April 15.
City offices will resume normal operating hours on Monday, April 18.
Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC) will be closed Sunday, April 17. RACC Shelter offers adoptions by appointment Sunday through Friday and is open to the public Saturdays from Noon until 5 p.m.
Click here for more information on the closures. | https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/richmond/richmond-city-offices-parks-libraries-closed-for-spring-holiday/ | 2022-04-14T22:19:46 | 1 | https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/richmond/richmond-city-offices-parks-libraries-closed-for-spring-holiday/ |
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Congressman Donald McEachin delivered two checks totaling more than $1.3 million to Virginia Commonwealth University Thursday.
Almost one million will be going towards VCU’s “RVA Gun Violence Prevention Framework,” helping to establish a public health response to violence in the city.
$400,000 will go towards recruiting, training, and supporting high-quality early childhood teachers.
“High quality, early childhood education has been shown to dramatically enhance youth’s cognitive, psychological, and emotional development and better prepare them for their primary education,” said Rep. McEachin in a release.
VCU President, Dr. Michael Rao, said the funds will help the community as it changes.
“As we’ve seen in the last couple of years, the needs of Americans are changing rapidly. And so for that reason we are committed, and this is our vision, to put the needs of our students and our patients first.”
Congressman McEachin said the funding is just one solution to help fight gun violence and promote public health in Richmond. | https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/richmond/vcu-receives-more-than-1-3-million-for-teachers-gun-violence-prevention/ | 2022-04-14T22:19:52 | 1 | https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/richmond/vcu-receives-more-than-1-3-million-for-teachers-gun-violence-prevention/ |
Florida high school senior gets into 27 schools, including Ivy League
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG//Gray News) - A senior at a Florida high school has been admitted into all of the 27 schools he applied to. Among those include multiple Ivy League universities such as Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Jonathan Walker said he is ecstatic about his future.
“That’s such a rare thing to occur, but the fact that it did happen, I’m so excited about it,” Walker told WJHG.
The 18-year-old is in the International Baccalaureate Program, which means he completed college-level classes in his junior and senior years of high school. The program covers all subjects and gives students college credits after they complete multiple assessments.
He also loves sports and is on the school’s football team. Besides extracurricular activities and making time for a social life, Walker is also an inventor. He said he wants to help people, so he created a device that helps the deaf and blind. It’s currently in the process of being patented.
Walker said he made sure to take his time during the application process.
“It’s really just like writing a set of essays for one college and then tweaking them specifically for the colleges,” Walker said.
His advice for students applying to colleges is to make sure they are passionate and put in the hard work.
“Keep grinding no matter what,” Walker said.
Walker has received scholarship offers totaling over $4 million from all the schools. He is still deciding which school he will attend.
Copyright 2022 WJHG via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/florida-high-school-senior-gets-into-27-schools-including-ivy-league/ | 2022-04-14T22:19:57 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/florida-high-school-senior-gets-into-27-schools-including-ivy-league/ |
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The Library of Virginia was one of the lucky recipients of over $33 million spread across almost 300 humanities projects across the country.
The Library’s project “War, Remembrance, and the Power of Records: Digitizing the Library of Virginia’s WWII Separation Notices” received a $315,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities on Wednesday, April 13.
The money will go towards the Library’s efforts to digitize 250,000 separation notices of WWII-era Virginia service members, making them accessible online.
“We are sincerely grateful for the support and recognition of this collection’s national importance by NEH,” said Scott Dodson, Executive Director of the Library of Virginia Foundation in a release. “As the Commonwealth of Virginia’s oldest institution dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing Virginia’s history and culture, we are thrilled to make these records accessible and searchable for family members, historians, and the public.”
The Virginia WWII Separation Notices Collection contains records of men and women who were discharged from the armed forces between 1942 and 1950. The notices include personal information such as date and place of birth, physical description, race, marital status, and civilian occupation of each individual, as well as armed forces job position details.
The project is estimated to take three years, and the Library plans to work with community groups, family members, school groups, educators and more to uncover details and fill in gaps in the stories of the individuals, helping to learn more about the people of that era of history. | https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/library-of-virginia-receives-315000-grant-to-help-get-digital/ | 2022-04-14T22:19:58 | 0 | https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/library-of-virginia-receives-315000-grant-to-help-get-digital/ |
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GRAPHIC: Husband of Food Network star pleads guilty in 3-year-old’s beating death
GRAPHIC WARNING: The details of this story may disturb some readers.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina/Gray News) – The husband of a Food Network star pleaded guilty Thursday to charges in the death of the couple’s 3-year-old foster daughter.
Jerry “Austin” Robinson pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting homicide by child abuse in the death of Victoria “Tori” Smith.
Prosecutors say Tori died in January 2021 after she was beaten by Ariel Robinson, the winner of season 20 of Food Network’s “Worst Cooks in America.”
Jerry Robinson will remain on house arrest until his wife’s trial.
Prosecutors said Jerry Robinson claims he never physically hurt Tori but told investigators Ariel Robinson would beat the child with different items, including a belt.
Ariel Robinson was angry with Tori the night before her death because she vomited on herself on the way to church, Jerry Robinson told investigators. The next morning, he said Ariel Robinson was frustrated with Tori for not eating her pancakes fast enough.
He described hearing Ariel Robinson giving Tori a “whooping” with a belt that was audible from outside the home. According to prosecutors, when Jerry Robinson went inside, he saw his wife standing over Tori with the belt, saying, “You don’t get to tell me when you’re done.”
Jerry Robinson claims he told his wife, “You’ve gone too far. You went too far this time.” He went to CVS to buy liquid Tylenol to try to bring Tori’s bruising down, attorneys said, and then gave the child an Epsom salt bath.
Jerry Robinson called 911 hours later, and when first responders arrived at the home, Tori was in cardiac arrest.
Jerry Robinson’s attorney asked the judge to take his cooperation with the investigation into account when considering sentencing. He faces 10 to 20 years minimum in prison. He will be sentenced after Ariel Robinson’s trial.
Ariel Robinson will go to trial on May 9.
Prosecutors asked for body camera footage from when first responders responded to the 911 call to be admissible in court during Ariel Robinson’s trial. The body camera footage captures first responders’ “horrified” reactions when they found the bruising on Tori’s body, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Ariel Robinson told first responders the bruising on Tori’s abdomen was caused by the force she used trying to do CPR. She claimed the bruising on Tori’s legs was caused by her then-7-year-old brother, according to prosecutors.
However, Ariel Robinson’s attorney has pushed for the body camera footage to be inadmissible since she was not read her Miranda Rights on the scene at the time.
The judge will decide Friday whether the body camera footage is admissible in Ariel Robinson’s trial.
Copyright 2022 WHNS via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/graphic-husband-food-network-star-pleads-guilty-3-year-olds-beating-death/ | 2022-04-14T22:20:04 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/graphic-husband-food-network-star-pleads-guilty-3-year-olds-beating-death/ |
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Inflation, rising fuel costs impacting landscapers
With higher prices on food, rent, and gas—inflation is impacting everyone.
Maínor Sargento owns M.S. Landscaping in Palm Beach County.
Like many Latino entrepreneurs who often rely on gasoline-fueled machinery, current fuel costs are severely impacting his business operation costs and bottom-line profits.
“There has been a 30% increase in costs,” said Sargento, “because all of the equipment we use to cut the grass and to do garden work uses gas.”
He even had to reduce his number of clients to cut costs.
“For Long distance locations, I had to cut it off from my list. I had to revise my schedule to be able to work and not travel far for just one client,” said Sargento. “At times, I did have to cancel some.”
Florida’s gas average is just over four dollars, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
In Palm Beach County, gas is $4.24. In Martin County, it’s $4.09. In St. Lucie and Indian River Counties, gas is just over $4.
“I think there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but I am not so sure how soon it’s going to be,” said William Luther.
Luther, an economics professor at Florida Atlantic University, says locally owned businesses could see low profits in the short term because of the rise in costs.
“To avoid suffering those lower profits in the longer term,” he said, “they will have to raise their prices in line with the general level of inflation that’s prevailing in the economy.”
Luther says people should still expect to see prices continue to rise in the next year or so, and prices of services are no different.
Sargento says he’s holding off raising his landscaping price, at least for now.
“It wouldn’t be unfair to apply it but it all depends,” he said, “it’s a balance.”
Scripps Only Content 2022 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/inflation-rising-fuel-costs-impacting-landscapers/ | 2022-04-14T22:20:10 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/inflation-rising-fuel-costs-impacting-landscapers/ |
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Mosquito spraying on Hutchison Island to begin April 18
Published: Apr. 14, 2022 at 5:11 PM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
Residents living on Hutchinson Island can expect an aerial mosquito spraying mission beginning Monday.
The St. Lucie County's Mosquito Control District will spread larvacide, via small plane, over mangrove marshes on north and south Hutchinson Island.
The spray mission will happen Monday through April 22, weather permitting.
These aerial missions are necessary to prevent large, adult mosquito populations, typically caused by tidal exchange in salt marshes.
For a list of mosquito fogging maps and schedules, click here.
Scripps Only Content 2022 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/mosquito-spraying-hutchison-island-begin-april-18/ | 2022-04-14T22:20:16 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/mosquito-spraying-hutchison-island-begin-april-18/ |
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New Jersey to start recreational marijuana sales April 21
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Recreational marijuana sales in New Jersey for those 21 and older will begin April 21, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said Thursday.
Murphy’s announcement on Twitter comes just three days after state regulators green lighted permits for seven facilities that already sell medical cannabis to begin retailing recreational marijuana.
“This is a historic step in our work to create a new cannabis industry,” Murphy said.
The news comes about a year after the state’s regulatory commission started operating, and a year and a half after voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot question to permit recreational marijuana for people 21 and older.
New Jersey is one of 18 states, along with the District of Columbia, that have legalized recreational marijuana. There also are 37 states, including New Jersey, that have legalized medical marijuana.
Three of the seven facilities, known as alternative treatment centers, are in the northern part of the state. Three are in the south, and one is in central New Jersey.
To get approval, the centers agreed that the coming influx of recreational buyers won’t interrupt access for patients. The facilities said they would reserve parking spaces for patients as well as keep hours specifically for patients only.
There are about 130,000 medical marijuana patients in the state, with an estimated roughly 800,000 potential recreational consumers, and fewer than 800,000 estimated “tourism” consumers, according to the commission.
The alternative treatment centers that already had medical cannabis retail sales are getting a head start in the recreational market, but regulators have attached strings to their advantage. The centers have to meet social equity standards, such as providing technical knowledge to new marijuana businesses, especially social equity applicants — those located in economically struggling parts of the state or people who have had cannabis-related offenses.
“We remain committed to social equity,” Cannabis Regulatory Commission Chair Dianna Houenou said in a statement. “We promised to build this market on the pillars of social equity and safety. Ultimately, we hope to see businesses and a workforce that reflect the diversity of the state.”
How much tax revenue New Jersey gets from recreational marijuana isn’t clear. Murphy’s fiscal year 2023 budget, which is pending before the Democrat-led Legislature, estimates revenues of just $19 million in a nearly $49 billion budget. In 2019, as legalization of recreational marijuana was still just pending before voters, he had estimated about $60 million in revenue.
Legislation governing the recreational market calls for the 6.625% sales tax to apply, with 70% of the proceeds going to areas disproportionately affected by marijuana-related arrests. Black residents were likelier — up to three times as much — to face marijuana charges than white residents. Towns can also levy a tax of up to 2%.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/new-jersey-start-recreational-marijuana-sales-april-21/ | 2022-04-14T22:20:22 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/new-jersey-start-recreational-marijuana-sales-april-21/ |
Palm Beach County restaurants navigate rising food costs
Historic inflation numbers are driving up the costs of goods everywhere. Supply chain issues and global events are only adding to the problem.
So, how are Palm Beach County restaurants adapting to the higher costs?
These days at Casa D'Angelo in Boca Raton, you might see different flavors with daily specials being tweaked just a little bit.
"Having those specials allows us the flexibility to not be locked in to having a product or having to remove it from the menu," said Jason Sobel, vice president of finance at Casa D'Angelo Restaurant Group.
The restaurant is raising prices to keep up with inflation.
"A steak that we used to pay anywhere between $25 to $30 a pound is now $50 a pound," Sobel said.
This is leaving a bitter taste in their mouths.
"It's frustrating as a business because you rely on projections and data and things are just completely out of whack right now," Sobel said "So, it's tough to do what we need to do."
But for Casa D’Angelo, it's about quality, not the price.
"Our customers understand when they are coming here that they are getting the finest quality anywhere around," Sobel said. "We don't want to have any restraints on what we can serve them. We will never compromise on that."
Meanwhile, at El Camino Mexican restaurant in Delray Beach, they're vowing to keep their prices the same not only on their menu but also on their daily happy hour specials.
"We didn't change any product," said Francis Lake, vice president of operations at El Camino restaurants. "We stayed tried and true to our ingredients. That's been the simple recipe."
Instead of increasing prices, El Camino is adapting, keeping their $5 drink and food specials and working with suppliers.
"We've made strong partnerships with our local vendors that provide those to us, so we've been able to lock in pricing," Lake said
They say with added catering and to-go orders, they have been able to offset raising prices.
"We recognize our guests by passing on the value continuously, so it was easy for us to adapt with the rising costs," Lake said.
Both restaurants said they plan to closely monitor the markets to ensure customers are getting what they are paying for.
Scripps Only Content 2022 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/palm-beach-county-restaurants-navigate-rising-food-costs/ | 2022-04-14T22:20:29 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/palm-beach-county-restaurants-navigate-rising-food-costs/ |
Police: 183 animals found in man’s freezer, some frozen alive
GOLDEN VALLEY, Ariz. (Gray News) - An Arizona man is facing animal cruelty charges after authorities found numerous dead animals in his freezer.
The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said a woman reported that Michael Patrick Turland, 43, hadn’t returned snakes she’d lent him for breeding and that several animals, including hers, were located in his freezer.
According to police, the property owner told the woman that a freezer full of dead animals was found in the garage while they were cleaning after Turland and his wife, Brooklyn Beck, had left the state.
Deputies and Animal Control officers entered the property and said they located the freezer, which contained approximately 183 frozen animals of different breeds.
According to the sheriff’s office, dogs, turtles, lizards, birds, snakes and rabbits were among the animals found in the freezer. Several of the animals also appeared to have been frozen alive due to their body positioning.
On April 13, deputies were notified that Turland returned to the residence, where he was then taken into custody.
Police said the 43-year-old eventually admitted to placing some of the animals in the freezer when they were still alive.
Turland was arrested on 94 counts of animal cruelty. He was taken to the Mohave County Adult Detention Facility in Kingman, Ariz.
The sheriff’s office said it is also looking to speak to Turland’s wife regarding the incident.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/police-183-animals-found-mans-freezer-some-frozen-alive/ | 2022-04-14T22:20:35 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/police-183-animals-found-mans-freezer-some-frozen-alive/ |
Repairs at Tequesta residential building could take time
Residents in Tequesta remain out of their homes Thursday until emergency repairs are made to a residential building that was evacuated three weeks ago. Those repairs could take time.
WPTV is taking a closer look at the damage and speaking with a structural engineer who said this is very serious and did not happen overnight.
New close-up images show concrete separating and the severe cracking on columns at Tequesta Cove, an apartment building on the Intracoastal, now evacuated and deemed unsafe.
"This would have been an issue that manifested over time," said Ben Messerschmidt, a forensics engineer who investigates structural defects and corrosion.
He analyzed the photos.
"You'll notice that you have it vertically and also coming in towards the center of the column," Messerschmidt said.
He said the damage likely started as hair-line cracks and expanded over time with South Florida's elements.
"The more salt air, the wetting and drying effects of humidity, that moisture once it gets into that hair-line crack is going to expand that crack," Messerschmidt said.
People living in the building were evacuated three weeks ago after engineers found significant deterioration and cracking on the building's columns.
"They immediately took action to evacuate the residents. Their well-being and safety was a top priority at that point," said Mayor Molly Young.
Now emergency work is underway as engineers take a comprehensive look at the whole building.
Safety measures were discussed in Palm Beach County in the wake of the Surfside Building collapse, but talks were paused, wanting the state to take the lead on building inspection rules.
But now, nearly 10 months later, condo reform legislation has still not been passed at the state level.
Tequesta's mayor said building officials in Palm Beach County are now regrouping and restarting those conversations about building recertifications.
"I think it's going to be an important process and I really look forward to working with the county and building officials for a potential recertification process," Young said.
We're told that meeting is set for Monday and the goal is to share information to potentially propose an up-to-date building safety inspection program.
Scripps Only Content 2022 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/repairs-tequesta-residential-building-could-take-time/ | 2022-04-14T22:20:42 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/repairs-tequesta-residential-building-could-take-time/ |
Softball umpire speaks after parent attack leaves her with severe nerve damage
LAUREL, Miss. (WDAM/Gray News) - An umpire in Mississippi is speaking out while she recovers from being punched in the face after a softball game for 12-year-old children.
Kristie Moore was filling in for an umpire who got sick, something she said she has been doing for several years with 10 years of experience calling games.
However, during this game, the coach asked one of the athlete’s mothers to leave the game for excessive cursing. Instead of going home, the woman is accused of waiting to confront Moore after the game, punching her and then running away.
Moore told WDAM that the parent became irate after a call she made at second base, but the coaches and other officials had no opposition to the call.
The 10-year umpire said abuse to referees, whether physical or verbal, is becoming too familiar and leading to an umpire shortage.
“This is not a Laurel thing or a Mississippi thing,” Moore said. “This is a nationwide thing for officials across the board. It’s harder and harder, every weekend because of the abuse that umpires and officials across the board are experiencing.”
According to police, the parent in question, Kiara Thomas, was arrested after the incident and charged with simple assault.
Moore said she wants people to understand that umpires are just human.
“Officials in any sport are expected to be perfect and we’re not,” Moore said. “We never will be.”
Moore experienced a severe contusion and nerve damage in her left eye, but it won’t stop her from umpiring.
She hopes that her story will bring awareness to the umpire shortage and brings consequences for similar actions.
“There definitely needs to be stricter consequences and laws to stop and to deter this from happening to anyone else,” Moore said.
Earlier this year, a bill was introduced in the legislature that would make assaulting a referee or umpire a felony as aggravated assault. That bill, however, did not make the calendar.
Moore said she hopes after this incident lawmakers will take a second look at the bill.
Copyright 2022 WDAM via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/softball-umpire-speaks-out-after-parent-attack-leaves-her-with-severe-nerve-damage/ | 2022-04-14T22:20:48 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/softball-umpire-speaks-out-after-parent-attack-leaves-her-with-severe-nerve-damage/ |
Texas lawmakers respond as second bus of immigrants arrives in DC
A second bus of undocumented immigrants arrived in Washington from Texas Thursday. According to Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas), it’s part of his response to President Biden’s decision to end Title 42 expulsions.
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - A second bus of undocumented immigrants arrived in Washington from Texas Thursday. According to Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas), it’s part of his response to President Biden’s decision to end Title 42 expulsions.
Some Texas lawmakers support Gov. Abbott’s plan, but some of their colleagues are calling the bus trip a political stunt.
Noting that Texas is bearing the burden of an unsecured border, Gov. Greg Abbott began bussing migrants, who are awaiting deportation trials to Washington D.C.
Two buses have arrived so far, filled with only those who, according to Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), volunteered for the trip.
“[It] wouldn’t surprise me if we take people to Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, but we’re trying to move people to where they want to go as an option,” Sessions said. “I support what the governor is doing.”
But it’s the location: Washington D.C., that feeds into concerns that the bus trips are purely political.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) said the governor is using the trips to make a political point, though he does agree with Abbott on some facets of immigration, such as his push to keep Title 42.
“He’s trying to get publicity. But, you know, that’s the whole key I think people need to understand that, that we at the border, we’re the ones that see the whole thing. We’re the ones who see the migrants,” Cuellar said.
Politically, this is all part of broader conflict at the border. Immigration has been one of the most divisive issues between the primary parties and it remains so, as the next election cycle nears.
Title 42 was first written decades ago to prevent sick immigrants from crossing the U.S. border. It was enforced during the coronavirus pandemic, but now, it’s set to end next month.
Copyright 2022 Gray DC. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/texas-lawmakers-respond-second-bus-immigrants-arrives-dc/ | 2022-04-14T22:20:57 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/texas-lawmakers-respond-second-bus-immigrants-arrives-dc/ |
DECATUR COUNTY, Ind. — The National Weather Service on Thursday confirmed that a tornado formed during Wednesday’s storms in Decatur County.
An EF0 tornado reached maximum winds of 84 miles per hour about three miles west of Millhousen, per NWS. It lasted only 2 minutes but caused some damage.
It was the fifth tornado of the year in Indiana. | https://fox59.com/indiana-news/brief-tornado-caused-damage-in-decatur-co-national-weather-service-confirms/ | 2022-04-14T22:20:58 | 1 | https://fox59.com/indiana-news/brief-tornado-caused-damage-in-decatur-co-national-weather-service-confirms/ |
MEXICO CITY (Border Report) — The 11 American gun manufacturers being sued by the Mexican government are asking the judge in the case to throw out the legal action saying it violates the First and Second Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Mexico is claiming negligence and lack of control in connection with the manufacturing, marketing and sale of weapons made in the United States that end up in Mexico, guns that have been connected to crimes south of the border.
Lawyers representing the gun makers argued the case is frivolous saying it’s absurd to blame their clients for crimes that happen in other countries.
The case was filed in U. S. District Court, District of Massachusetts last August.
Smith & Wesson along with 10 other companies are accused of aiding and abetting an increase in violence in Mexico.
Five months ago, the defendants requested a similar notion to dismiss the case claiming Mexico has no right to file such a case because the gun makers are protected under what’s called “procedural immunity” since their products are legally manufactured and sold in the United States.
In response, lawyers representing Mexico say the problem is “repetitive and systematic” with more and more guns ending up south of the border.
The judge in the case, F. Dennis Saylor, reportedly asked the plaintiff’s counsel why other countries haven’t filed similar claims and lawsuits involving crimes that occur outside the U.S.
Lawyers for Mexico responded that the suit does not go “against the First Amendment, nor does it question American values,” and that it simply “asks for gun manufacturers to sell and distribute their guns to responsible customers according to the laws in the United States.”
They also told the court there is evidence guns are being brought to Mexico in an illegal manner and then turned over to drug cartels.
“All the defendants actively and systematically facilitate gun trafficking into Mexico,” said one of Mexico’s lawyers.
After the hearing, Alejandro Celorio, legal advisor for Mexico’s Foreign Relations Office, said they are optimistic the judge will allow the case to run its course through trial.
“Our legal arguments are sufficient, robust and solid for the judge to take into consideration, we hope he will allow us to continue into the next phase of the case,” said Celorio.
Celorio also stated the Mexican government is not in a position now to accept an out-of-court settlement in the case.
According to the Mexican government, every year more than half a million weapons are imported to Mexico from the United States with almost 70 percent of the guns having been made by the firms being sued including Beretta U.S.A., Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Colt and Glock Incorporated. | https://www.cenlanow.com/border-report-tour/american-gun-manufacturers-ask-judge-to-throw-out-lawsuit-filed-by-mexico/ | 2022-04-14T22:20:58 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/border-report-tour/american-gun-manufacturers-ask-judge-to-throw-out-lawsuit-filed-by-mexico/ |
DELAWARE COUNTY, Ind. — The mother of a child who was nearly killed by a traumatic brain injury in March is facing charges.
The charges come one week after Hannah Hart’s now ex-boyfriend Andrew Scott was arrested in connection with the same case. He was arrested on April 6 for neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury. Now, Hart faces the same charge.
In this case, the Gaston Police Department responded to a home after an 18-month-old was unresponsive. The toddler was flown to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis where he was rushed into surgery for a craniotomy.
An evaluation at the hospital determined the toddler had injuries that happened shortly before he became unconscious. He also suffered fractures to several vertebrae, which were classified as non-accidental. The injuries sustained by the toddler will likely require ongoing physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy.
Court documents show the door was closed when Scott was in the room with the toddler, and there was no surveillance equipment or baby monitors. It’s unclear exactly what happened that led to his acute injuries.
The probable cause affidavit in Hart’s arrest says she moved in with Scott around January 23 after having known him for a very short time. Multiple people said the toddler didn’t like Scott.
While Hart told investigators that she confronted Scott multiple times about his aggressiveness with the toddler, the court document in her case alleges she dismissed injuries that he sustained since they moved in together.
In the court document, witnesses told investigators they pointed out bruises to the toddler on different occasions. The document alleges she dismissed them. The document also states she told investigators that he just fell down a lot.
During the same timeframe, the document states multiple people observed ruptured blood vessels in the toddler’s eye. One of the witnesses told investigators that they approached Hart about taking the toddler to the doctor for the injury, but she did not seek medical treatment. Another witness said Hart told them that the toddler cried so much that he ruptured a vessel in his eye.
The court document goes on to say since being born in August of 2020, Hart has missed or rescheduled 10 welfare child checks with the toddler’s pediatrician. The toddler had not been seen by a pediatrician since September 9 of 2021.
While living with Scott, the document states multiple people said Hart was not attentive to the toddler. They also said they heard Hart tell the toddler that she wished she never had kids.
Hart’s mother told investigators that she had been the primary caregiver for the toddler until Hart moved in with Scott. The court document states that the grandmother provided clothing, food, necessitates and a motherly influence to the toddler.
After Hart moved in with Scott, the document states there was a time where Hart denied the toddler’s grandmother from seeing him. A majority of the toddler’s belongings were still at the grandmother’s house.
The grandmother told investigators she noticed a negative change in the toddler and offered to keep him, but was declined by Hart. After the toddler was taken to Riley following the injury, the document quotes medical notes from the hospital showing the grandmother remained attentive to the toddler’s needs.
“Grandmother ( ▇▇▇ ) has been interacting with patient and is quick to come to the patient bedside when alarms go off,” the document quoted. “Mother (Hannah Hart) sat in chair on phone. Mother has not had any interactions with the patient and asks very little questions to the current patient care.”
Police searched Hart’s phone and the document states that while the toddler was at the hospital, Hart was allegedly taking nude photographs, leaving to go shopping, and buying a weed pen. The document also says Hart left the hospital for numerous consecutive days, during which the toddler needed medical treatment but she was not reachable to give consent.
The document concludes with while Hart said she was not comfortable with Scott watching the toddler, she failed to take any action to protect him. This failure to remove the toddler from Scott resulted in catastrophic injuries. | https://fox59.com/indiana-news/mother-of-traumatically-injured-delaware-co-toddler-now-faces-charges/ | 2022-04-14T22:21:04 | 1 | https://fox59.com/indiana-news/mother-of-traumatically-injured-delaware-co-toddler-now-faces-charges/ |
SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The number of migrant expulsions into Baja California remained high during the first two months of this year, a pattern that began in 2021, according to Colegio de la Frontera, a prominent collegiate think tank based in Tijuana.
It says on average, 385 migrants are being expelled every day from the U.S. into Baja California border cities such as Tijuana and Mexicali.
Researcher Juan Antonio Del Monte Madrigal said that in January and February, there were 22,252 total expulsions, which accounted for more than half of all ejections along the southern border.
He said the elevated numbers are a result of U.S. immigration policies such as Title 42, which allows U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to almost immediately expel migrants back to Mexico after being apprehended for illegally crossing the border.
Title 42 began under the Trump administration after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a directive to turn back migrants as a way to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
This notion was never proven to be accurate.
The White House has said it will rescind this measure on May 23.
“These are called recurring events given that Title 42 doesn’t allow time for immigration documentation to be recorded,” said Del Monte Madrigal. “This means the same person just tries to cross the border over and over.”
Del Monte Madrigal and his team documented one man who was expelled 14 times.
“It’s not like there were 1.7 million people expelled last year, it was total expulsions, some are recurring,” he said.
In recent weeks, the overall number of expelled migrants has gone down, said Patrick Murphy, director of Casa del Migrante, one of the biggest migrant shelters in Tijuana.
Murphy was quoted recently, stating they had seen a 50 percent drop in the number of migrants, not counting Ukrainian refugees.
“Most migrants now in Tijuana are from Central America and Haiti,” Murphy said last week.
Both Murphy and Del Monte Madrigal expect a higher number of migrants coming into Tijuana and other border cities as the elimination of Title 42 gets closer.
Tijuana migrant activist Jose Moreno Mena said many asylum-seekers believe their time is near.
“This is creating a hope within many international migrants that they will qualify for asylum and it’s likely we will have a lot more migrants at the border,” said Moreno Mena. “There will be many crossings since people know they won’t be sent back immediately while others will seek asylum at ports of entry trying to exercise their right to asylum in the United States.” | https://www.cenlanow.com/border-report-tour/expulsions-through-baja-california-remain-high-ahead-of-title-42-rollback/ | 2022-04-14T22:21:05 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/border-report-tour/expulsions-through-baja-california-remain-high-ahead-of-title-42-rollback/ |
INDIANAPOLIS — A man charged this week with 10 robberies in Marion County would have been in prison for a 2020 robbery if it weren’t for a plea deal, court docs show.
Donta Allen, 24, was charged with robbery and an unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon in 2020. However, a plea deal got him time served, four years home detention with GPS monitoring and three years of non-reporting probation.
Now, Allen has been charged with 10 counts of armed robbery, 10 counts of criminal confinement and escape. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said he was found with aluminum foil wrapped around his GPS monitor.
The dates and locations Allen is accused of robbing are:
- March 25: Disc Replay at 8210 Rockville Road
- March 27: GameStop at 3269 W. 86th Street
- March 27: Auto Zone at 4606 E. County Line Road
- April 2: GameStop at 4525 Lafayette Road
- April 2: Auto Zone at 7455 Michigan Road
- April 3: Disc Replay at 9739 E. Washington Street (Allen)
- April 5: Disc Replay at 7317 US 31 South
- April 5: Auto Zone at 8525 Southeastern Avenue
- April 5: Auto Zone at 6055 E. 82nd Street
- April 8: GameStop at 6905 S. Emerson Avenue
FOX59 asked the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office for an interview regarding the 2021 plea agreement for the 2020 crimes. The office could not accommodate an interview Thursday, but a spokesperson sent the following statement:
“Both investigations involving the defendant faced evidentiary challenges from the beginning that became more significant to the integrity of those cases as they progressed. Despite those challenges, prosecutors were able to secure major felony convictions for each case.”
Marion County Prosecutor’s Office
MCPO Spokesperson Michael Leffler said both cases involved “challenges regarding identification concerns.” Leffler said there were identification issues in the robbery case which, generally speaking, “these issues can involve or include witnesses, victims, law enforcement, photo arrays, security footage, photos, etc. and can happen at any time during an investigation.”
Leffler said in the SVF case, the body camera footage “contradicted” some details in the probable cause affidavit.
Former Deputy Prosecutor Aaron Freeman, who is a state senator, said it is common for prosecutors to agree to plea deals because of evidentiary issues.
“We’re going to take what we can get, given the limitations of the evidence,” Freeman explained.
The 2021 plea agreement gave Allen four years of home detention with a GPS monitor. It allowed him to plead to a lesser felony charge for the robbery case, bringing it from level 3 to a level 5. In this case, he got time served and then non-reporting probation, which means he does not have to report regularly to the probation department.
“When you’re talking about a level 3 you’re talking about somebody armed with a deadly weapon, threatening to kill somebody or harm them in a very serious way, and taking property of theirs,” Freeman said. “For example, if there’s evidentiary issues like the witness would say at the deposition, ‘well I thought they had a gun or I thought they had a knife, or I thought whatever it is, but I really don’t know that or I really can’t say that,’ that’s a situation where the lesser included of an armed robbery is a robbery. Then you just get to, I took your stuff in your presence. Like that would be a level 5 for example.”
Allen’s criminal history shows guilty pleas for gun crimes, robberies and possession of marijuana over the course of six years. Freeman said criminal histories must be taken into account when entering into a plea agreement.
“Here you’ve got a pattern,” Freeman said. “What is, in my view, a pattern of criminal conduct that in my opinion, the prosecutor should say, look, once is once, but this is four times.”
As for the judges, Freeman said they are only able to accept or reject plea deals.
“The judge’s job is to either accept or reject the plea agreement,” Freeman said. “If the defendant asks the court to accept the plea agreement, the judge has to sentence them completely within the confines of the agreement. So the judge can’t make the sentence worse or the sentence less. So, judges are constrained to the four corners of that document.” | https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/2021-plea-deal-allowed-suspect-charged-with-10-robberies-to-stay-out-of-prison/ | 2022-04-14T22:21:10 | 0 | https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/2021-plea-deal-allowed-suspect-charged-with-10-robberies-to-stay-out-of-prison/ |
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The Mexican Foreign Ministry is asking Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to “find alternatives” to additional border truck inspections that have reduced binational commerce to one-third of its normal flow.
Abbott last week directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to step up inspections of trucks coming across from Mexico; this has resulted in delays of up to 12 hours for manufactured goods, parts and produce crossing the border.
“The Foreign Ministry opposes this state measure that does significant harm to the trade between our two countries. As an unavoidable consequence of this measure, businesses in Mexico and the United States are losing competitiveness and significant revenues,” the ministry said in a statement Wednesday.
Abbott ordered enhanced border inspections, concerned that an immigration crisis – unauthorized migrant flows are reaching record levels at the Southern border – is straining the resources of Texas communities and putting citizens at risk. The last straw was the Biden administration announcing the end of Title 42, a public health order allowing border agents to immediately expel newly arrived migrants.
In Juarez, where 330 factories produce billions of dollars in parts and manufactured goods for U.S., European and Asian countries, traffic snarls at border crossings are “holding hostage” $100 million in cargo per day, according to the Chamber of Industry and Manufacturing.
The trade association’s president, Thor Salayandia, on Wednesday urged its members to write to Abbott explaining the economic harm DPS inspections are causing and demanding they be scaled back.
“This will hurt investment. The bottlenecks (at commercial ports of entry) could stymie new investment. Juarez’s attraction is its production and logistics […] this is a crisis because deliveries are delayed,” Salayandia said, adding that in a worst-case scenario, “this could lead to work stoppages” at the factories.
The trade group and the foreign ministry said the additional inspections (U.S. Customs and Border Protection already inspects every truck coming over from Mexico) threaten a $440 billion regional trade relationship.
“Strengthening supply chains in North America is a top foreign policy priority for both countries,” the ministry said. “The Mexican government has entered into communication with the U.S. Embassy, the Department of State, Homeland Security and the office of the Governor of Texas to fully restore trade and find alternatives that ensure security in our shared border without harming binational trade.”
Abbott on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding with Samuel Garcia, the governor of Nuevo Leon, to cut back on DPS inspections at a shared border crossing. Abbott said the stepped-up truck checks would continue elsewhere until Mexican governors follow Garcia’s lead and enact enhanced security measures south of the border to prevent human trafficking and drug smuggling and ensure Mexican trucks are safe to drive.
The enhanced checks continued in El Paso, where the average wait for trucks to cross over from Mexico was between four and five hours on Wednesday.
Chihuahua Gov. Maru Campos earlier in the day said her state has made substantial public safety improvements in the past few months and plans to deploy 4,000 “smart” cameras that, among other things, would be able to track trucks from industrial parks to ports of entry.
Meantime, Mexican truckers have no choice but to endure the waits.
“I’ve been stuck in the same place for 90 minutes,” one trucker said while idling in line. “It’s a bad situation. There’s no place to go to the bathroom and the burrito sellers already left.” | https://www.cenlanow.com/border-report-tour/mexico-calls-on-texas-to-end-stepped-up-border-inspections/ | 2022-04-14T22:21:12 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/border-report-tour/mexico-calls-on-texas-to-end-stepped-up-border-inspections/ |
INDIANAPOLIS — Authorities confirm 29-year-old Lance McGee was released from jail hours after he was arrested and charged with a string of robberies because of a computer glitch.
McGee faces nine counts of aiding, inducing or causing armed robbery. The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office tells us, “A computer error falsely notified Sheriff’s Office staff that charges would not be filed. We are continuing to investigate the circumstances of this incident.”
The prosecutor’s office said it was not a spelling error. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said it is standard procedure to release a person when deputies receive this notification.
According to IMPD, McGee and Donta Allen, also charged, were involved in a series of armed robberies across the city from March 25 through April 8, when they were arrested following a robbery at the GameStop located at 6905 S. Emerson Ave.
This is a developing story and will be updated. | https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/computer-glitch-leads-to-accused-indy-serial-robbers-wrongful-release/ | 2022-04-14T22:21:17 | 0 | https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/computer-glitch-leads-to-accused-indy-serial-robbers-wrongful-release/ |
(The Hill) – The interest rate for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hit a ten-year high of 5 percent Thursday, continuing steep inclines that started last December in a U.S. housing market where values are surging.
The rate on the most popular U.S. mortgage has climbed nearly 2 points from 3 percent a year ago, according to the latest numbers from government-mortgage administrator Freddie Mac. The last time the 30-year fixed rate mortgage hit 5 percent was February 2011.
Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.17 percent this week, up from 3.91 percent last week and 2.35 percent a year ago.
“This week, mortgage rates averaged five percent for the first time in over a decade,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “As Americans contend with historically high inflation, the combination of rising mortgage rates, elevated home prices and tight inventory are making the pursuit of homeownership the most expensive in a generation.”
Adjustable rate mortgages have also spiked, with the 5-year standard Treasury-indexed mortgage averaging 3.69 percent, up from 2.8 percent last year.
As a result of the spiking rates, the mortgage market is experiencing a dip of activity, according to information from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) trade group, as potential homeowners reconsider buying houses and investing in real estate.
A mortgage market index from the MBA shows loan application volumes decreased 1.3 percent compared to a week earlier. Home refinancing application volumes dipped 5 percent on the week and were down 62 percent compared to the previous year.
“The rapid increase in rates, caused by a much more rapid pace of rate hikes and balance sheet reduction from the Federal Reserve, is in response to the booming job market and inflation being at a 40-year high,” Mike Fratantoni, an economist with the MBA, said in a statement. “The jump in mortgage rates will slow the housing market and further reduce refinance demand the rest of this year. Higher home prices and rates as well as ongoing supply constraints are now expected to lead to an annual decline in existing home sales.”
In addition to high interest rates, home sales are also facing elevated prices in the real estate market due to the pandemic, as well as supply shortages for building materials as part of larger supply chain disruptions that are contributing to inflation.
“Elevated inflation continues to push up mortgage rates,” Nadia Evangelou, an economist with the National Association of Realtors (NAR), said in a statement. The higher rates “added about $400 to the monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home. This means that potential buyers need to spend more of their budget on housing to buy the typical home.”
Wage data released this week by the Department of Labor saw real earnings decrease by 2.7 percent from March of last year. The change in earnings combined with a dip of 0.9 percent in the length of the average workweek resulted in a 3.6-percent decrease in real average weekly earnings over the last year.
“Comparing inflation with real wage growth since 2008, this is the first time that inflation has risen so much faster than wages,” Evangelou said. “With rising borrowing costs, expect about 16 million households to be priced out of the market this year. As a result, NAR forecasts home sales activity to drop about 10 percent in 2022.”
Housing affordability declined in February, according to an index compiled by NAR. Compared to a year ago, the group found the average mortgage payment increased by more than 30 percent, while median family income rose by only 3.6 percent.
To combat inflation, some analysts have suggested the Federal Reserve could increase interest rates by as many as six times this year, bringing the Federal Funds rate as high as 1.9 percent by the end of the year. The risk of such a hike is a contraction in the economy, but with inflation as a driver of recession itself, most analysts see the Fed as not having much of a choice.
“The twin shocks of the war in Ukraine and the build-up of momentum in elevated U.S. and Europe inflation will lead to a recession in the U.S. and a growth recession in the euro area within the next two years,” researchers at Deutsche Bank forecasted earlier this month.
“More troubling, especially in the U.S., are signs that the underlying drivers of inflation have broadened, emanating from very tight labor market conditions and spreading from goods to services,” the company said. “The forecast is for inflation to recede to more desired levels over the next several years assuming there are no other geopolitical or other supply shocks and that central banks take action, just in time, to keep inflation expectations anchored. Should these assumptions prove incorrect, inflation pressure, central bank tightening, and economic downturns could all be more intense than baseline projections.” | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/mortgage-rates-top-5-percent-for-the-first-time-in-a-decade/ | 2022-04-14T22:21:18 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/mortgage-rates-top-5-percent-for-the-first-time-in-a-decade/ |
KENILWORTH, La. (WGNO) — An Alabama woman is wanted in St. Bernard Parish after police say she threatened someone at gunpoint and robbed them of their belongings.
The SBSO has issued an arrest warrant for 26-year-old Kiana Wilson of Birmingham in connection to a robbery that occurred at a Kenilworth home.
According to Sheriff James Pohlmann, the case dates back to April 9 after detectives learned Wilson, along with an unknown Black man, committed a battery at the victim’s home, stolen items from them, and threatened them at gunpoint.
Wilson is described as a 5’5 White woman with dark hair and weighs about 150 pounds.
Anyone who knows where Wilson, has information about the man who was with her, or knows more about the incident is urged to contact the SBSO at (504) 271-2501 or the Criminal Investigations Bureau’s tip hotline at (504) 271-TIPS (8477).
Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crimestoppers by filling out an online form or calling 504-822-1111 or toll-free 1-877-903-STOP. | https://www.cenlanow.com/crime/alabama-woman-wanted-in-connection-to-st-bernard-parish-robbery/ | 2022-04-14T22:21:25 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/crime/alabama-woman-wanted-in-connection-to-st-bernard-parish-robbery/ |
(KTLA) – The Los Angeles Police Department has tied at least 17 gangs from South L.A. to the surge of “follow-home” robberies targeting people who wear jewelry or drive luxury vehicles throughout the city, officials said Tuesday.
Police said they noticed a sudden increase in violent armed robberies that involve victims being followed from places like Melrose Avenue, downtown L.A.’s Jewelry District or high-end Hollywood restaurants and nightclubs.
Many of the robberies involve armed assailants, with shots fired in nearly two dozen of the reported incidents.
LAPD formed a task force late last year to investigate these “follow-home” or “follow-off” robberies.
Capt. Jonathan Tippet told the civilian Police Commission on Tuesday that the phenomenon was almost unheard of before last year.
“In my 34 years in the LAPD, I have never seen this type of criminal behavior in such large groups, coordinating to conduct attacks on unsuspecting citizens to take their property,” LAPD Capt. Jonathan Tippet said.
People have been tackled, kicked, beaten, punched and pistol-whipped in the head during these robberies. “It is a miracle that more deaths have not occurred,” Tippet said.
Some of the robberies have, however, been deadly.
In one case, a man was shot while trying to defend his girlfriend when robbers tried to forcibly remove her watch and jewelry, police said.
“Extremely coordinated” robbery crews
LAPD noticed a spike in these types of violent robberies between September and October, with detectives noticing a pattern: vehicles of multiple armed suspects were working in a coordinated effort to rob victims of their high-end cars or jewelry.
Tippet said investigators reviewing video surveillance of the robberies noticed that the crews are “extremely coordinated.”
The robbers are oftentimes in contact with each other, sometimes with “spotters” inside businesses watching for victims and letting crew members outside know who to keep an eye on, the captain explained.
Several vehicles are typically involved, with robbers coming out of the cars in large groups, usually armed.
Tippet said that many of the robberies start off violently, with attackers not allowing time for the victims to comply with demands for their watches or jewelry.
A total of 51 of these violent armed robberies were identified in that two-month period between September and October.
LAPD seeing resurgence after robberies decrease for a few months
Typically, LAPD would try to identify everyone involved before trying to take down crews. But “due to the crisis,” investigators started operating differently, the captain said.
Police made quick arrests as soon as suspects were identified, and used the information they got from search warrants and interviews to find other crew members. LAPD says this strategy helped disrupt the crews and, for a while, reduced the number of robberies on L.A.’s streets.
L.A. went from a high of 26 of these robberies during a two-week period in November, to seven during the most recent two-week period, according to the captain.
“We had some months where the velocity dropped quite a bit and we started working on the follow-up,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore said.
But there has been a “resurgence” in recent days, Moore added.
In the 48 hours before Tuesday, five additional incidents were reported. One of them involved robbers striking a woman with a car as she tried to run away from them while they chased her to take her watch.
Are gangs working together?
As of April, the LAPD task force has identified a total of 221 “follow-home” or “follow-off” robberies in the city of Los Angeles, Tippet told commissioners.
And it doesn’t appear to be one coordinated effort.
“These gangs are from the South Los Angeles area and many of them are rivals from different sects, indicating that they’re not working together,” Tippet said.
LAPD has placed surveillance cameras throughout the city to try find the robbers, and served dozens of search warrants, seizing a total of 45 guns from suspects.
“This has been a major undertaking, however, I’m confident that we are slowing this trend down,” Tippet said.
Have there been arrests?
The follow-home robbery task force has so far made dozens of arrests, including four on suspicion of murder and six for attempted murder.
But in some cases, robbery suspects are released from custody, only to take part in more robberies, according to police.
In one case, a robbery suspect named Cheyenne Hale was arrested in connection with a violent armed robbery in downtown L.A. that involved a victim who was tackled to the ground before a group of men stripped him of his watch and left him lying in the gutter, according to police.
Hale is already out on bail, Tippet said.
Another suspect, Matthew Adams, was arrested on suspicion of robbery then released on bond in January. Now, he’s in custody again in connection with another seven robberies, according to police.
How to protect yourself
Tippet said a lot of the robberies are happening between midnight and 4 a.m., but there have been robberies happening in broad daylight, too.
“It’s just individuals that are willing to do brazen robberies in the middle of downtown L.A. in daylight. So you can’t even say anymore not to not to go out late at night,” Tippet said.
Chief Moore said the brazen and arrogant nature of the crimes “shocks ones senses.”
“Be mindful of your surroundings and be mindful that today — unlike previous earlier periods in the last five or 10 years — you’re being targeted. You’re being targeted by individuals who find a ready market in the Internet to resell these goods.”
Here are some more tips from LAPD about protecting yourself from so-called follow-home robbers:
- Be careful while out with visible expensive jewelry.
- Traveling in groups and remaining in well-lit areas can help deter robbers.
- Always be aware of your surroundings and pay attention to those around you.
- After shopping, make it a habit to take a different route home and pay attention to vehicles and pedestrians behind you.
- If you think you are being followed, change your route and call the police.
- If approached by a robber, especially if the person has a firearm, the department encourages victims not to resist. “No property is worth the risk of loss of life,” LAPD says. | https://www.cenlanow.com/crime/lapd-at-least-17-gangs-behind-recent-spate-of-extremely-coordinated-follow-home-robberies/ | 2022-04-14T22:21:32 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/crime/lapd-at-least-17-gangs-behind-recent-spate-of-extremely-coordinated-follow-home-robberies/ |
NATCHEZ, Miss. (KTVE/KARD) — On Tuesday, April 12, 2022, at approximately 2:11 AM, Natchez Police were issued a BOLO alert for a silver Lexus that was involved in a alleged kidnapping. According to witnesses, a female was allegedly forced into the vehicle by a male suspect after whispering to them to call police.
As officers searched for the vehicle, they spotted the car and initiated a traffic stop. According to authorities, the female passenger/victim mouthed “help me” to officers as they approached the vehicle.
The victim was immediately removed from the vehicle and officers made contact with the driver/suspect and he was identified as 22-year-old Cartrell Frye. Frye was placed under arrest and transported to the Natchez Police Department where he was interviewed about the kidnapping allegations.
Frye was then charged with Kidnapping. | https://www.cenlanow.com/crime/mississippi-man-arrested-for-kidnapping-victim-mouthed-help-me-to-officers-in-vehicle/ | 2022-04-14T22:21:39 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/crime/mississippi-man-arrested-for-kidnapping-victim-mouthed-help-me-to-officers-in-vehicle/ |
(The Hill) — The Republican National Committee (RNC) voted Thursday to withdraw from the commission responsible for organizing presidential debates, taking a line from former President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly leveled accusations of anti-Republican bias against the group.
The unanimous vote by the RNC effectively bars its presidential nominees from participating in events organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has run such debates since 1988.
In a statement released shortly after the vote, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said that the GOP would “find newer, better debate platforms to ensure that future nominees are not forced to go through the biased CPD in order to make their case to the American people.”
“Debates are an important part of the democratic process, and the RNC is committed to free and fair debates,” she said. “The Commission on Presidential Debates is biased and has refused to enact simple and commonsense reforms to help ensure fair debates including hosting debates before voting begins and selecting moderators who have never worked for candidates on the debate stage.”
Thursday’s vote makes good on a threat that the RNC has been holding over the CPD for months. In another escalatory step, the RNC warned the commission last month against fundraising off the idea that the next GOP nominee will participate in the 2024 debates.
The CPD was founded in 1987 with the sponsorship of both major political parties. And while both Democrats and Republicans have complained occasionally over the years about how the commission handles debates, antipathy toward the group has grown among Republicans in recent years amid Trump’s criticism of the commission.
Should Trump mount another bid for the White House in 2024 and secure the GOP nomination, the RNC rule change virtually guarantees that he won’t participate in the traditional debate calendar.
Of course, if Republicans tap someone else for the nomination, the party could always change its rules again, and the eventual nominee will likely have the ultimate say on whether to participate. | https://www.cenlanow.com/election/gop-votes-to-withdraw-from-presidential-debate-panel/ | 2022-04-14T22:21:45 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/election/gop-votes-to-withdraw-from-presidential-debate-panel/ |
BROUSSARD, La. (KLFY) — It looks like a jet crash in the middle of a field off Beau Pre Rd. near Broussard. Police presence in the area adds to the effect.
Fortunately for all, it’s not real.
After a short flurry of rumors and messages on social media today, Lafayette Police confirmed that what appears as a plane crash in a field is actually a movie set, featuring Morgan Freeman.
Freeman is in town filming a sci-fi thriller called “57 Seconds,” and the actor has been spotted several times locally by residents, according to The Daily Advertiser. The “plane” is actually a prop set being used in the movie.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the title of the film refers to a mysterious ring that allows the bearer to travel 57 seconds into the past at a time. | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/not-a-plane-crash-aircraft-in-field-in-broussard-a-prop-for-morgan-freeman-movie/ | 2022-04-14T22:21:52 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/not-a-plane-crash-aircraft-in-field-in-broussard-a-prop-for-morgan-freeman-movie/ |
ALEXANDRIA – LSUA’s Department of English and Humanities and the staff of the Jongleur are proud to announce the winners of the 2021-22 LSUA Art and Writing Contest!
The Jongleur, a campus student literary magazine that has been around for over 30 years, was created for the benefit of LSUA supporters, faculty, and staff and is an annual publication of student work exclusively that is chosen, formatted, edited, and produced by a student staff with the assistance of two faculty members.
The staff of the Jongleur has held the LSUA Art and Writing Contest to give students a platform, encouragement, and reward for artistic and academic endeavors, and secure submissions to the journal. There are four categories to which students submit work: art, poetry, photography, and fiction.
“Each year, I am astonished and awed at the amount of talent and skill these students exhibit,” says Eric Alai, LSUA instructor of English. “What is interesting to me is that many of the poems and stories are not written for any class, but simply by students pursuing writing in their spare time. As a creative writer, I am inspired and energized by their contributions personally.”
Winners each received a certificate and cash awards donated by the College of Liberal Arts faculty. The winners are as follows:
Art:
1st: “Little Boy in Water” Ashlyn Lucas
2nd: “Party in the Night” Gavin Bridges
3rd: “Paper Bag” Megan Hale
Honorable Mention 1: “Planet” Elijah Liniger
Honorable Mention 2: “Dripping Abstract” Beth Broussard
Poetry:
1st: “Nastic Movements” Austin Souphanthalop
2nd: “Mr. Nightingale” Ji’Bril Harris
3rd: “Fire and Water” Moriah Dorsey
Honorable mention 1: “The Things that Surround Us” Austin Monk
Honorable mention 2: “Algebra” Mattila Wiley
Photography:
1st: “Spark Tree” Gabriell Guillory
2nd: “Lonely Barn” Jade Mayeux
3rd: “Black and White Ship” Kalli Parker
Honorable mention 1: “Rainy Pointy Plant” Emily Ducote
Honorable mention 2: “Glowing Lantern” Kalli Parker
Fiction:
1st: “Red Roses” Elizabeth Elliot
2nd: “Red Nightmare” Tanek Mouser
3rd: “Behind the Curtain” Kristina Fuller
Honorable Mention 1: “Pans on Aisle 5” Tanek Mouser
Honorable Mention 2: “Bury the Hatchet” Tanek Mouser
Congratulations from the Staff of the Jongleur!
Written by LSUA Division of Strategic Communication
Images – art by Ashley Lucas and Gabrielle Guillory | https://www.cenlanow.com/local-news/lsua-announces-winners-of-the-2021-22-art-and-writing-contest/ | 2022-04-14T22:21:58 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/local-news/lsua-announces-winners-of-the-2021-22-art-and-writing-contest/ |
NEW YORK (PIX11) — Frank R. James, the man accused of shooting 10 subway riders in Brooklyn on Tuesday, appeared in court on Thursday and was ordered held without bail.
During his arraignment, prosecutors alleged James, 62, terrified the “entire city” when he allegedly put on a gas mask, set off smoke bombs and fired a gun 33 times onboard an N train in Sunset Park during Tuesday morning’s rush-hour commute.
James was arrested Wednesday on the Lower East Side after he called the NYPD CrimeStoppers tip line on himself, according to law enforcement sources. Investigators were still examining the possible motive in the attack.
James spoke only to answer “yes” to standard questions during the brief proceeding in a federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday He faces federal terrorism charges. The specific charge applies to attacks on mass transit systems, but there’s currently no evidence linking James to terror organizations, officials said.
“The defendant terrifyingly opened fire on passengers on a crowded subway train, interrupting their morning commute in a way the city hasn’t seen in more than 20 years,” Assistant U.S. attorney Sara K. Winik said. “The defendant’s attack was premeditated, was carefully planned, and it caused terror among the victims and our entire city.”
James’ lawyer, Mia Eisner-Grynberg, agreed to his being held without bail, at least for now. His attorneys could seek bail later on.
“What happened in the New York City subway system on Tuesday was a tragedy. It is a blessing that it was not worse,” James’ lawyer said. “We are all still learning about what happened on that train and we caution against a rush to judgment. What we do know is this: Yesterday, Mr. James saw his photograph on the news. He called CrimeStoppers to help. He told them where he was. Initial press and police reports in cases like this one are often inaccurate. Mr. James is entitled to a fair trial and we will ensure that he receives one.”
At the request of James’ lawyers, Magistrate Roanne Mann said she would ask the federal Bureau of Prisons to provide James with “psychiatric attention,” as well as magnesium tablets for leg cramps, at the federal lockup in Brooklyn where he’s being held.
During the investigation, police and agents searched homes connected to James in Philadelphia and a storage unit in Wisconsin.
James faces up to life in prison if he’s convicted, prosecutors said.
He allegedly put on a gas mask on a northbound N train just before 8:25 a.m. Tuesday, then pulled out two canisters and opened fire as smoke filled the train, police said. Seven men and three women were shot. James allegedly fired 33 times.
Police said James has a criminal history. He was arrested multiple times from 1992-1998, including multiple times in New York and three times in New Jersey | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/brooklyn-subway-attack-suspect-frank-james-held-without-bail/ | 2022-04-14T22:22:04 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/brooklyn-subway-attack-suspect-frank-james-held-without-bail/ |
OPELIKA, Ala. (WRBL) – Inside the Lee County Justice Center a jury has decided Rick Ennis is guilty of the Capital Murder, Kidnapping, and Burglary in the slaying of 24-year-old Lori Ann Slesinski nearly 16 years ago in Auburn.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case
Prosecutors say Ennis was romantically obsessed with Slesinski and killed her when she refused to be more than friends.
Forensic investigators testified the defendant’s semen and presumptive blood were inside Slesinski’s mobile home. Investigators located a phone – missing its long chord – in her bedroom, and a rolled cigarette with Ennis’ DNA near Slesinski’s burned vehicle.
Ennis was the last person known to be with Slesinski when she alive, and when questioned after Lori vanished detectives took pictures of fresh scratches on his arms and hands. Prosecutors said located in his car – a murder’s tool kit – cleaning supplies, a knife, and handcuffs.
Ennis testified in his own defense, saying he was good friends with Lori and they had consensual sex. He maintains he did not kill her. He says the scratches came from his dog. His defense team claims investigators bungled evidence in the case and can not prove beyond a reasonable doubt Ennis is the killer. Ennis says the last time he spoke with Lori she was supposed to meet with a drug dealer to sell the marijuana the duo had been growing together.
A body has never been located.
News 3 is in the courtroom and will keep you updated as the verdict has now been reached and the details on the sentencing phase are determined. | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/jury-finds-derrill-ennis-guilty-of-capital-murder-in-2006-slaying-of-auburn-grad/ | 2022-04-14T22:22:11 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/jury-finds-derrill-ennis-guilty-of-capital-murder-in-2006-slaying-of-auburn-grad/ |
(NEXSTAR) — Are you looking to rent instead of buying a home during the hot housing market? You may not find much relief: Since March 2020, the national average rent has jumped nearly 20%, according to a new rental report released Thursday.
Last month marked the eighth in a row in which rent growth has reached double-digits, Realtor.com found. The average rent for the nation’s 50 largest metros even reached a new high at $1,807. That marks a year-over-year average rent increase of 17%.
While rent in many of the largest metros has risen relatively as much as the national average, some have been hit harder than others.
Among those is the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla., area, where rent has spiked by more than 57% since March 2020, Realtor.com’s report shows. Hardly any other market was hit as hard. Two other Florida markets — Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater — saw the closest rates of change in the average rent price at 35% and 31%, respectively.
Despite having the greatest year-over-year change in rent, none of the above have the highest overall median rent. That title belongs, unsurprisingly, to a metro in another sunny state: California.
Among the 50 metros evaluated, just three have overall median rents at $3,000 a month or more, and they’re all in California. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara has the highest at $3,075. Close behind are San Diego-Carlsbad at $3,016 and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim at $3,000. (Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach isn’t far behind with a median rent of $2,988.)
Of the top 10 metros with the highest rent prices, seven are either in California or Florida. Of the 10 markets that have seen the largest year-over-year increase in rent, eight are within traditionally warmer states (Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, and Texas).
On the other end, Detroit-Warren-Dearborn is the only metro to report a year-over-year rent increase of less than 1% with 0.70%. The next closest rate is that of a fellow Midwestern metro — Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington — at 5.3%.
Overall, cities within the Midwest and the Rust Belt — Minnesota south to Missouri and Illinois, then east along the Great Lakes to Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New York — have seen the smallest increase in rent prices since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. That includes Cleveland, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and St. Louis, all of which have seen rent prices rise by less than 10%. Of the 25 metros where rent has increased by less than 15% since March 2020, 14 are in the Midwest and Rust Belt.
Oklahoma City, Okla., has the lowest median rental rate at just $943 — and it’s the only metro with a median rental rate that doesn’t surpass $1,000. Metros in the Midwest and Rust Belt widely have the lowest median rents, making up 14 of the 25 least expensive metros.
Here’s the full list of rent changes since March 2020, courtesy of Realtor.com:
There is a bit of relief for renters, though. According to Realtor.com, the rate at which rent prices are growing is slowing and has remained in the same range since January. | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/rent-is-up-by-15-in-some-cities-heres-where-its-worse/ | 2022-04-14T22:22:18 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/rent-is-up-by-15-in-some-cities-heres-where-its-worse/ |
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WJZY) — It was a weekend trip for Alexcia Powell, Brittany Gilliard and family to a North Carolina amusement park for some family time.
But a relaxing day turned into a stressful one as people watched the Electro-Spin ride get stuck midair at Carowinds, a 407-acre amusement park in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“We were on a boat ride that was across from it, and as we were getting off, we heard people screaming,” said Powell, who witnessed the incident.
Powell and Gilliard said they can’t remember how long people were stuck in the air, but in video they recorded, you can see many hanging in their seats.
“It looked terrifying,” added Gilliard. “I was terrified for them.”
“People were terrified,” Powell agreed while recounting the incident. “It was quite horrifying to watch because that could have been anyone on there.”
A spokesperson for Carowinds sent WJZY a statement saying, “Safety and security of our guests and associates is our top priority. Unfortunately, while we work hard to provide the best experience possible, attractions may not always be operational.”
“It kind of deterred us from wanting to get on any other rides for that exact reason,” Powell said. “Like what if we get on and we get stuck upside down or midway through a loop? You never know.”
This is not the first time people have been stuck on a ride at the amusement park. Nearly 100 people were suspended high in the air for over two hours on the ride Windseeker.
The two videos of the Electro-Spin have been shared over 7,000 times on Facebook and viewed nearly 8,000 times on Twitter, with many people saying they may not ride again.
“It was crazy how big of an effect those videos had on people,” Powell said.
Powell and Gilliard said after witnessing the incident, they will still go back to Carowinds, but only to the water park. | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/terrifying-amusement-park-ride-stalls-midair-with-people-onboard/ | 2022-04-14T22:22:24 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/terrifying-amusement-park-ride-stalls-midair-with-people-onboard/ |
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — USS The Sullivans is slowly going underwater.
“This morning, the USS The Sullivans took on water and is partially sinking due to a major hull breach,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown says. “Efforts are underway to evaluate the situation and take appropriate action to preserve this critical piece of our nation’s naval heritage. The Department of Public Works and the Buffalo Fire Department are on site and coordinating with the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Servicemen’s Park staff to determine the next course of action.”
The Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park is temporarily closing off the museum and all ships to the public. Naval Park President Paul Marzello says it’s a tough day for veterans and the park itself.
“It’s a tough day for anybody who has put their time, effort, sweat into making sure that this park can sustain operations and keep and preserve these ships for another generation,” Marzello said. “We are confident that we are going to be able to correct the situation. It doesn’t look very good. But we are going to be back on this as soon as we can find out what is the cause.”
Marzello says some sort of incident took place Wednesday night, and it’s not clear if it was a seam split or a puncture. But his confidence remains, and there’s good reason for it, as Marzello says the rate of water being pumped out exceeds the amount that’s coming in.
“There is no chance that the ship actually going to sink,” Marzello says.
During a conference Thursday afternoon, Marzello said 13,000 gallons of water were being pumped out of USS The Sullivans every minute.
“Failure is not an option,” Marzello says.
It’s been just over 79 years since USS The Sullivans was launched. In recent years, it’s desperately been in need of repairs to keep it from taking on more water. Earlier this month, Congressman Brian Higgins made an announcement about $490,000 in federal funding that had been awarded to the Naval Park.
Saving The Sullivans has been an ongoing effort, with support coming from multiple sources, including at least 25 states and seven countries. After the Naval Park raised $1 million to keep it shipshape, another fundraiser took place last month at Seneca One Tower.
Work to fix the ship started in August but stopped two months later. The plan was to continue the work this Monday.
Named for the five Sullivan brothers who were killed in World War II, Higgins calls USS The Sullivans “a critical piece of our maritime history that deserves to be preserved long into the future.”
“As the decommissioned ship shows its age, this funding will ensure that necessary repairs can be completed so it can continue to be toured and enjoyed by veterans, visitors, and community members for many years to come,” Higgins said of the previously announced federal funding.
USS The Sullivans was commissioned in 1943 and later decommissioned in 1965. Earning 11 battle stars over more than two decades, the ship was used in World War II, the Korean War and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Today, it sits at the Buffalo Waterfront and Marzello says there’s a lot of cleanup to be done in the days ahead. Anyone looking to help keep the ship above water can make a donation here.
(A live look at USS The Sullivans can be see below, via News 4’s Tower Cam)
- Rent is up by 15% in some cities: Here’s where it’s worse
- Farmerville Police and Monroe Police recover vehicle from Lake D’Arbonne, driver taken to medical facility
- Mortgage rates top 5 percent for the first time in a decade
- MISSING: 15-year-old last seen at Sunset treatment center
- What do parents need to know about formula shortage? | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/uss-the-sullivans-is-partially-sinking/ | 2022-04-14T22:22:30 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/uss-the-sullivans-is-partially-sinking/ |
(NewsNation) — Inflation, supply chain issues and product recalls have caused a baby formula shortage affecting families across the U.S.
Recently, federal regulators warned consumers to stop using powdered infant formula from Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis, Michigan, facility after it was linked to a cluster of illnesses and two deaths. Abbott recalled the formula and was later found to have failed to maintain sanitary conditions and procedures at its manufacturing plant.
While some stores are rationing stock, manufacturers are ramping up production to make up the difference — but it could take weeks for them to catch up.
If parents can’t find the brand of baby formula they typically use, Dr. Payal D. Adhikari, a Chicago-based pediatrician, said it is OK to switch between brands if the baby is healthy.
“I really do recommend parents do that from the beginning because of this issue. If you run out of formula, if you’re traveling, you can’t get that same formula, you want your babies to be flexible and not be particularly stuck to a specific brand of formula,” Adhikari said. “The younger they are, the easier it is to just introduce multiple types of formula to make them flexible.”
Adhikari recommends that parents who are worried they won’t get their original formula start mixing the formula they already have with another brand so finicky babies can get the same flavor.
“If your baby has a digestive issue, that’s something you should really discuss with your pediatrician to see what other brands could be comparable,” Adhikari said.
What parents should never do, Adhikari said, is make their own formula from scratch.
“This is a very medical school no-no,” Adhikari said. “Formulas are very, very specific in what nutrients they have. So I absolutely do not recommend making your own formula at home.”
When it gets to the point where shelves are empty, Adhikari said, there are plenty of online brands people can buy. | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/what-do-parents-need-to-know-about-formula-shortage/ | 2022-04-14T22:22:36 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/what-do-parents-need-to-know-about-formula-shortage/ |
(The Hill) – Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told activists on Wednesday that President Biden and his senior advisers are warming up to the idea of forgiving student debt, insisting they are closer to pulling the trigger “than ever before.”
Schumer, who has repeatedly called for canceling up to $50,000 in student debt per borrower, predicted that’s where the president and his administration will ultimately land.
“I have talked personally to the president on this issue a whole bunch of times. I have told him that this is more important than just about anything else that he can do on his own,” he told the State of Student Debt Summit in a virtual event Wednesday.
“We’re making progress folks. We are making progress. The White House seems more open to it than ever before,” he said.
The Department of Education announced last week that it would extend the pause on federal student loan repayment, interest and collections through August.
But Schumer says that doesn’t go far enough and that that Biden is getting closer to agreeing with him.
“Don’t get me wrong, the pause is a good thing, but it ain’t enough. It ain’t close to enough,” he said.
He argued that families will face an average monthly student debt payment of $393 when the pause is lifted.
“That is so much money. How does anybody live knowing every month I got to pay this $400?” he said. “So the pause has stopped that, but make no mistake about it. This pause isn’t going to stay forever and the canceling of student debt is the way to go.”
Schumer said he has weighed in hard with Biden about the importance of canceling this type of debt.
“You get out of college and you have all this debt,” he said. “I have told the president this is one of the most important things he can do to help our economy. We all want the economy to grow. We all want people to have good lives, where you can provide for yourself and your family.”
Schumer signaled he would support canceling even more than $50,000 in student debt per borrower.
“We want our young people to realize that they can have a good future. One of the best, very best, top-of-the-list ways to do it is by canceling student debt, by getting rid of the $50,000, even going higher after that,” he said. McCarthy faces grumbles from right over Biden impeachment remarksVideos show what led up to police officer shooting dead Black man in Grand Rapids
Biden has said he’s willing to cancel up to $10,000 in student debt per borrower, but he wants Congress to pass legislation to do so, which he would then sign.
The administration said last month that it would forgive about $6 billion in student loans through changes made to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
The administration has also forgiven the debts of students who say they were defrauded by for-profit colleges such as ITT Technical Institute and DeVry University. | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/white-house-closer-to-canceling-student-debt-than-ever-before-schumer-says/ | 2022-04-14T22:22:42 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/white-house-closer-to-canceling-student-debt-than-ever-before-schumer-says/ |
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – The LSU Tigers posted a solid opening round in the team qualifying portion of the Southeastern Conference Women’s Golf Championships at the Greystone Country Club Legacy Course here Wednesday.
The Tigers posted a 3-over par round of 291 with a consistent run of counting scores – 72, 73, 73,73 – with a fifth score of 74.
LSU is fourth, three shots behind first-round leader Auburn at even par 288. South Carolina and Florida are tied for second at 1-over par 289. It is three shots back to Ole Miss in fifth at 4-over 292 and four more shots back to Arkansas in sixth at 8-over par. The final spots in the top eight are held by Vanderbilt in seventh (+10) with Georgia and Texas A&M tied for eighth at 11-over par.
While the course played completely different from a year ago when it was extremely gettable, this year the Legacy Course showed some teeth in the opening round thanks to a steady 15-18 mile wind that gusted near 25 at various points in the round.
It made the back nine play significantly harder and made greens in regulation and par putts that much more important.
The top eight teams at the end of 54 holes will advance to the match play portion of the tournament that will determine the league champion, Saturday and Sunday. The individual champion will be crowned on Friday at the end of the stroke play portion of the tournament.
LSU got off to a great start with six birdies on the first three holes when wind conditions were a little less severe and turned at 1-under. The Tigers remained at or close to the lead most of the way, posting 4-over on the back nine and did not have a score higher than bogey on the cards.
“I feel like each tournament we haven’t gotten off to the fastest start,” said LSU Coach Garrett Runion. “That’s one of the things we have talked about. Then to see us birdie four of our five birdie the first hole and a couple of more birdies after that. One I was glad to see that happen and two, I was thinking we were keeping it going from last year.
“The back nine the wind picked up a little more. It is a tougher nine. It’s a little bit more of a hang on type nine. They played well. They made a lot of pars. Our goal is to not make anything worse than a bogey and we did that today. We played the par 3s exceptionally well. We could have probably played the par 5s a little bit better but we will take it where we are at right now.”
LSU led the field in scoring on the par 3 holes at 3-under par, getting six birdies on those holes. LSU’s +7 on the par 4 holes was third best in the field on the opening day. The Tigers recorded 12 birdies today, T3 in the 14-team league field and was third best in total parts at 61.
Ingrid Lindblad, who was second in last year’s championship, put herself again in position with an even par round of 72. Lindblad had birdies on the first and third holes in the round and had just one bogey on the back nine to stand at in a tie for eighth place.
Marina Escobar Domingo of Florida is the leader at 5-under par 67 with eight birdies on her card, including four of the first six holes. She is one clear of Julie Gregg of Arkansas at 4-under 68 with Chiara Tamburlini of Ole Miss and Megan Schofill of Auburn tied for third at 2-under 70.
In all, seven golfers broke par on the opening day.
Carla Tejedo, Elsa Svensson and Jessica Bailey all shot 1-over par 73s with the freshman Svensson and the senior Bailey making their SEC debuts over the course. They are in a big group tied for 11th place.
“Our two rookies on the SEC championships they played well,” said Coach Runion. “The moment wasn’t too big for them. It was really two very solid rounds. I was very impressed with them. They played well with the magnitude of the event.”
Tejedo had four birdies on her round, Bailey three and Svensson two.
Latanna Stone had a solid round of 2-over 74 with one birdie on her card.
“I’m very pleased with where we are out,” the coach said of his Tigers. “You can’t win it on the first day, but you can definitely kind of play yourself out of it. We are in the right position after day one. There are a few teams that kind of separated themselves and we are right there with those teams. The goal (Thursday) is to play better than we did (Wednesday). That’s been our goal each tournament to play better the next day.”
LSU will go off again at 8:50 a.m. on Thursday with Arkansas and Ole Miss. The second round live scoring will be available on Golfstat.com and updates throughout the round on Twitter @LSUWomensGolf.
SEC Women’s Golf Championships
Greystone Country Club – Legacy Course
Team Results (Par 288)
1 Auburn 288 E; 2 South Carolina 289 +1; 2 Florida 289 +1; 4. LSU 291 +3; 5. Ole Miss 292 +4; 6. Arkansas 296 +8; 7. Vanderbilt 298 +10; 8. Georgia 299 +11; 8. Texas A&M 299 +11; 10. Kentucky 300 +12; 11. Alabama 302 +14; 12. Mississippi State 305 +17; 12. Tennessee 305 +17; 14. Missouri 306 +18.
LSU Scores (Par 71)
T8. Ingrid Lindblad 72 E
T11. Carla Tejedo 73 +1
T11. Elsa Svensson 73 +1
T11. Jessica Bailey 73 +1
T22. Latanna Stone 74 +2
(Press release via LSU Athletics) | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/geaux-nation/lsu-womens-golf-posts-solid-round-at-sec-championships/ | 2022-04-14T22:22:48 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/geaux-nation/lsu-womens-golf-posts-solid-round-at-sec-championships/ |
UNION PARISH, La. (KTVE/KARD) — On Wednesday, April 13, 2022, the Farmerville Police Department and Monroe Police Department recovered a submerged vehicle from Lake D’Arbonne. According to Farmerville Police, the vehicle was in the lake due to a medical emergency that resulted into a vehicle accident.
The driver of the vehicle was taken to a medical facility for observation. | https://www.cenlanow.com/state-news/farmerville-police-and-monroe-police-recover-vehicle-from-lake-darbonne-driver-taken-to-medical-facility/ | 2022-04-14T22:22:54 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/state-news/farmerville-police-and-monroe-police-recover-vehicle-from-lake-darbonne-driver-taken-to-medical-facility/ |
SUNSET, La. (KLFY) — St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s (SLPSO) deputies are searching for a missing 15-year-old boy who was last seen at Acadian Treatment Center on Choctaw Rd. in Sunset.
Logan Terry, 15, stands around 5’9″ tall and weighs approximately 139 lbs., according to SLPSO Deputy Chief Eddie Thibodeaux. Terry was last seen wearing a grey hoodie and dark pants with a hole in one of the knees. He does not have a vehicle or phone and is listed as a missing person. He takes medication and needs to be found immediately, said Thibodeaux.
Call Crime Stoppers at 337-948-TIPS or dial **TIPS on any mobile phone if you have information. | https://www.cenlanow.com/state-news/missing-15-year-old-last-seen-at-sunset-treatment-center/ | 2022-04-14T22:23:00 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/state-news/missing-15-year-old-last-seen-at-sunset-treatment-center/ |
Flint mayor appoints Arnold Brown as new city services manager
FLINT, Mich. (WNEM) - The city of Flint has a new city services manager.
Mayor Sheldon Neely announced Thursday that Arnold Brown has taken over the position.
Brown is coming back to work at the city of Flint, having previously served in multiple positions over 25 years.
“We are happy to have Arnold back with us to serve the residents of Flint,” Neeley said. “As we work to use the additional received funding, having his expertise is needed to maximize greater outcomes in areas such as blight for the residents of the great City of Flint.”
“I’m happy to get another opportunity to serve the residents in my hometown,” Brown said. “This work is a passion for me and I look forward to working together with the services staff staff, administration, council, residents, and community partners.”
Before coming back to Flint, Brown previously served the City of Clio schools as a maintenance coordinator. He oversaw building repairs, heating and cooling maintenance and repairs, maintenance of athletic fields, snow plowing and mowing.
He also previously served as superintendent in the Department of Public Services for the City of Clio. In that role, he managed the daily operations in the provision of municipal services to the residents of Clio.
Copyright 2022 WNEM. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/flint-mayor-appoints-arnold-brown-new-city-services-manager/ | 2022-04-14T22:25:19 | 1 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/flint-mayor-appoints-arnold-brown-new-city-services-manager/ |
Florida high school senior gets into 27 schools, including Ivy League
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG//Gray News) - A senior at a Florida high school has been admitted into all of the 27 schools he applied to. Among those include multiple Ivy League universities such as Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Jonathan Walker said he is ecstatic about his future.
“That’s such a rare thing to occur, but the fact that it did happen, I’m so excited about it,” Walker told WJHG.
The 18-year-old is in the International Baccalaureate Program, which means he completed college-level classes in his junior and senior years of high school. The program covers all subjects and gives students college credits after they complete multiple assessments.
He also loves sports and is on the school’s football team. Besides extracurricular activities and making time for a social life, Walker is also an inventor. He said he wants to help people, so he created a device that helps the deaf and blind. It’s currently in the process of being patented.
Walker said he made sure to take his time during the application process.
“It’s really just like writing a set of essays for one college and then tweaking them specifically for the colleges,” Walker said.
His advice for students applying to colleges is to make sure they are passionate and put in the hard work.
“Keep grinding no matter what,” Walker said.
Walker has received scholarship offers totaling over $4 million from all the schools. He is still deciding which school he will attend.
Copyright 2022 WJHG via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/florida-high-school-senior-gets-into-27-schools-including-ivy-league/ | 2022-04-14T22:25:26 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/florida-high-school-senior-gets-into-27-schools-including-ivy-league/ |
Governor’s office: More than $900 million in auto insurance refunds returned to eligible Michigan drivers
LANSING, Mich. (WNEM) - Michigan drivers are starting to receive their auto insurance refund checks.
According to Governor Gretchen Whitmer, nearly a third of eligible Michiganders have received their $400 auto refund checks from the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association.
Whitmer announced the checks going into Michigan mailboxes last December after it was discovered there was a $3 million surplus in funds from the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association.
To be eligible for a refund, Michiganders must have had a car, motorcycle, or RV that was insured to drive legally on Michigan roads as of 11:59 p.m. Oct. 31, 2021.
The refunds are $400 per vehicle or $80 per historic vehicle and must be sent in the form of a paper check or an ACH deposit no later than May 9, 2022.
The Governor’s office said drivers who do not receive their refunds by the deadline should contact their auto insurer or agent.
Copyright 2022 WNEM. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/governors-office-more-than-900-million-auto-insurance-refunds-returned-eligible-michigan-drivers/ | 2022-04-14T22:25:33 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/governors-office-more-than-900-million-auto-insurance-refunds-returned-eligible-michigan-drivers/ |
Dick Bremer arrived in Fort Myers, Fla., on a Sunday in March and walked into the Twins’ clubhouse for the first time in more than two years the next morning. In the 45 minutes he was working the clubhouse, he had 15 conversations with players, coaches and staff members.
The types of conversations that provide color and detail for broadcasts. The types of conversations that help enlighten the broadcaster on the everyday ins and outs of the team. The types of conversations he was missing over the course of the the past two years.
“Most of it was stuff I could then take into the next broadcast, right? And that’s what the viewers deserve, someone who has that ability to connect with the players because the numbers are all online,” Bremer, the Twins’ longtime television play-by-play announcer, said. “I think as broadcasting has evolved, that connection is even more important now than it’s ever been.”
And yet for the past two years, broadcasters have been robbed of the ability to make those connections, kept out of clubhouses and off the road because of COVID-19. Twins broadcasters have resumed travel this season, and for the first time since 2019, will call a road game on site on Friday at Fenway Park when the Twins take on the Red Sox at 1:10 p.m.
While the Twins’ television and radio crews have made jaunts down to spring training in the past couple years, the trip to Fenway marks a return to normalcy for the group of Twins announcers.
And they couldn’t be more ready for it.
“It’s great for our audience,” radio play-by-play announcer Cory Provus said. “It’s great for our fanbase that we can once again tell stories without relying on other people, that we can go out and build relationships and have interactions with guys that we couldn’t do just face to face the past two years. It’s a vital part of the gig, so I’m excited to get back on the road.”
Beginning in July 2020, when the truncated 60-game season began, when the team would hit the road, the Twins’ television and radio crews would show up at Target Field and call games from afar.
It wasn’t all bad. For Provus, the benefit of a travel schedule reduced to nothing meant days and weeks spent with his wife, Dana, and their two children that he wouldn’t have otherwise gotten. But between technical mishaps, miscalling plays and a distance from the players and coaches on the field, the job was anything but easy.
“I’ll say this upfront, 47 years of broadcasting and there’s nothing I am prouder of than being part of an industry that was able to put those games on the air under the circumstances that we had to work with,” Bremer said. “But it was like doing the games in black and white and now we’ll be able to do them in color again.”
When the Twins were in Kansas City or Baltimore or Seattle, Bremer and his partner du jour would sit at Target Field, watching the feed on a television screen in their booth. Same goes for Provus and his broadcast partner, Dan Gladden, next door.
There was a time last season when the club was in Chicago and second baseman Jorge Polanco hit a ball that Bremer believed he saw go foul. He announced it as such, but seconds later, when he saw Polanco heading toward second as part of his home run trot, Bremer realized his mistake.
It was embarrassing, he said, but given the feed he had, he had called the situation as best he could. Moments like that, for the most part, were few and far between.
“I know a lot of viewers couldn’t tell that we weren’t there, but we could tell, and it makes all the difference in the world,” Bremer said. “Regardless of what your job is, if you feel you can do your job well, you’re going to do it better. But when you don’t feel you can do it well, the joy of the job diminishes because of that.”
Calling games from thousands of miles away provided one set of challenges. A lack of connection with players, coaches and other decision-makers was another.
Provus, as a young broadcaster in Chicago years ago, received a piece of advice from longtime Bears radio announcer Jeff Joniak that has stuck with him. The gist of it: find something that listeners haven’t read, seen or heard elsewhere and bring them fresh content.
He took that advice to heart. While he still had access to manager Rocco Baldelli and others over Zoom, trying to find unique content — it didn’t have to be a big scoop, but rather a nugget of information that listeners would enjoy — to broadcast over the airwaves was difficult.
“You could not do that,” Provus said. “Now we can, and that was something that I’m looking forward to doing again, just interacting with people, decision-makers, players, all the stuff and doing what we can to try to provide the fresh content each and every day.”
And the primary beneficiary of broadcasters having that type of access back and traveling once more, Bremer said, is not himself, but rather the viewers and listeners who will be tuning into a richer, more information-packed broadcast.
“If you love baseball, Fenway Park is always a sentimental journey anyway, but it’ll be extra special this year because things that we maybe took for granted all those years, we’ll never take for granted again and being there at that historic ballpark, to be there in person again, that’ll be really special,” Bremer said. | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/after-two-long-years-twins-broadcasters-relish-return-of-travel/ | 2022-04-14T22:25:39 | 1 | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/after-two-long-years-twins-broadcasters-relish-return-of-travel/ |
GRAPHIC: Husband of Food Network star pleads guilty in 3-year-old’s beating death
GRAPHIC WARNING: The details of this story may disturb some readers.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina/Gray News) – The husband of a Food Network star pleaded guilty Thursday to charges in the death of the couple’s 3-year-old foster daughter.
Jerry “Austin” Robinson pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting homicide by child abuse in the death of Victoria “Tori” Smith.
Prosecutors say Tori died in January 2021 after she was beaten by Ariel Robinson, the winner of season 20 of Food Network’s “Worst Cooks in America.”
Jerry Robinson will remain on house arrest until his wife’s trial.
Prosecutors said Jerry Robinson claims he never physically hurt Tori but told investigators Ariel Robinson would beat the child with different items, including a belt.
Ariel Robinson was angry with Tori the night before her death because she vomited on herself on the way to church, Jerry Robinson told investigators. The next morning, he said Ariel Robinson was frustrated with Tori for not eating her pancakes fast enough.
He described hearing Ariel Robinson giving Tori a “whooping” with a belt that was audible from outside the home. According to prosecutors, when Jerry Robinson went inside, he saw his wife standing over Tori with the belt, saying, “You don’t get to tell me when you’re done.”
Jerry Robinson claims he told his wife, “You’ve gone too far. You went too far this time.” He went to CVS to buy liquid Tylenol to try to bring Tori’s bruising down, attorneys said, and then gave the child an Epsom salt bath.
Jerry Robinson called 911 hours later, and when first responders arrived at the home, Tori was in cardiac arrest.
Jerry Robinson’s attorney asked the judge to take his cooperation with the investigation into account when considering sentencing. He faces 10 to 20 years minimum in prison. He will be sentenced after Ariel Robinson’s trial.
Ariel Robinson will go to trial on May 9.
Prosecutors asked for body camera footage from when first responders responded to the 911 call to be admissible in court during Ariel Robinson’s trial. The body camera footage captures first responders’ “horrified” reactions when they found the bruising on Tori’s body, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Ariel Robinson told first responders the bruising on Tori’s abdomen was caused by the force she used trying to do CPR. She claimed the bruising on Tori’s legs was caused by her then-7-year-old brother, according to prosecutors.
However, Ariel Robinson’s attorney has pushed for the body camera footage to be inadmissible since she was not read her Miranda Rights on the scene at the time.
The judge will decide Friday whether the body camera footage is admissible in Ariel Robinson’s trial.
Copyright 2022 WHNS via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/graphic-husband-food-network-star-pleads-guilty-3-year-olds-beating-death/ | 2022-04-14T22:25:39 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/graphic-husband-food-network-star-pleads-guilty-3-year-olds-beating-death/ |
By ERIC TUCKER and FARNOUSH AMIRI
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Miller, who served as a top aide to President Donald Trump, was being questioned Thursday by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Miller was a senior adviser for policy during the Trump administration and a central figure in many of the Republican’s decisions. He had resisted previous efforts by the committee, filing a lawsuit last month seeking to quash a subpoena for his phone records.
The people familiar with his scheduled committee appearance spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private testimony. The interview took place virtually, according to one of the people. A spokesperson for the committee said the panel had no comment, and Miller did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Miller is the latest in a series of sit-downs the committee has scored with those in Trump’s inner circle as lawmakers move closer to the former president by questioning people who were with him on the day of the attack or were his confidants in the weeks leading up to it.
His appearance comes weeks after Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, also agreed to sit down with congressional investigators, months after the committee had first reached out.
Members of the panel said Kushner’s testimony in late March, which lasted more than six hours, was helpful. Ivanka Trump, who was with her father in the White House on Jan. 6, was questioned for eight hours last week as congressional investigators tried to piece together her father’s failed effort to delay the certification of the 2020 election results.
The nine-member panel subpoenaed the former Trump adviser in November along with Steve Bannon and former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the panel’s chairman, said at the time that Miller was aware of and had participated in “efforts to spread false information about alleged voter fraud” and had encouraged state legislatures to alter the outcome of the 2020 election by appointing alternate electors.
Thompson has also said that Miller helped prepare Trump’s remarks for a rally on the Ellipse that preceded the insurrection and was with Trump when he spoke.
The House voted last week to hold former Trump advisers Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino in contempt for their monthlong refusal to comply with subpoenas. The move was the third time the panel has referred people in the former president’s orbit to the Justice Department for potential prosecution for contempt. The first two referrals, sent late last year, were for former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Bannon.
The contempt referral against Bannon resulted in an indictment, with a trial set to start in July. The Justice Department has been slower to decide whether to prosecute Meadows, much to the committee’s frustration.
By agreeing to cooperate, Miller appears to be looking to avoid the fate of those former advisers and administration officials.
For the committee, comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans, the central facts of the insurrection are known, but what members are hoping to do with the more than 850 interviews and over 100,000 documents is fill in the remaining gaps about the attack on the Capitol. Lawmakers say they are committed to presenting a full accounting to ensure it never happens again.
The panel is examining every aspect of the riot, including what Trump was doing while it unfolded and any connections between the White House and the Trump supporters who broke into the Capitol building.
Members plan to release information in the coming months as the committee begins to hold public hearings and eventually release a series of reports on the insurrection. While there have been discussions about the possibility of eventually pursuing a criminal referral against Trump, lawmakers have not made a final decision.
___
Associated Press writer Nomaan Merchant in Washington contributed to this report. | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/ap-sources-trump-aide-stephen-miller-speaks-to-1-6-panel/ | 2022-04-14T22:25:45 | 0 | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/ap-sources-trump-aide-stephen-miller-speaks-to-1-6-panel/ |
New Jersey to start recreational marijuana sales April 21
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Recreational marijuana sales in New Jersey for those 21 and older will begin April 21, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said Thursday.
Murphy’s announcement on Twitter comes just three days after state regulators green lighted permits for seven facilities that already sell medical cannabis to begin retailing recreational marijuana.
“This is a historic step in our work to create a new cannabis industry,” Murphy said.
The news comes about a year after the state’s regulatory commission started operating, and a year and a half after voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot question to permit recreational marijuana for people 21 and older.
New Jersey is one of 18 states, along with the District of Columbia, that have legalized recreational marijuana. There also are 37 states, including New Jersey, that have legalized medical marijuana.
Three of the seven facilities, known as alternative treatment centers, are in the northern part of the state. Three are in the south, and one is in central New Jersey.
To get approval, the centers agreed that the coming influx of recreational buyers won’t interrupt access for patients. The facilities said they would reserve parking spaces for patients as well as keep hours specifically for patients only.
There are about 130,000 medical marijuana patients in the state, with an estimated roughly 800,000 potential recreational consumers, and fewer than 800,000 estimated “tourism” consumers, according to the commission.
The alternative treatment centers that already had medical cannabis retail sales are getting a head start in the recreational market, but regulators have attached strings to their advantage. The centers have to meet social equity standards, such as providing technical knowledge to new marijuana businesses, especially social equity applicants — those located in economically struggling parts of the state or people who have had cannabis-related offenses.
“We remain committed to social equity,” Cannabis Regulatory Commission Chair Dianna Houenou said in a statement. “We promised to build this market on the pillars of social equity and safety. Ultimately, we hope to see businesses and a workforce that reflect the diversity of the state.”
How much tax revenue New Jersey gets from recreational marijuana isn’t clear. Murphy’s fiscal year 2023 budget, which is pending before the Democrat-led Legislature, estimates revenues of just $19 million in a nearly $49 billion budget. In 2019, as legalization of recreational marijuana was still just pending before voters, he had estimated about $60 million in revenue.
Legislation governing the recreational market calls for the 6.625% sales tax to apply, with 70% of the proceeds going to areas disproportionately affected by marijuana-related arrests. Black residents were likelier — up to three times as much — to face marijuana charges than white residents. Towns can also levy a tax of up to 2%.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/new-jersey-start-recreational-marijuana-sales-april-21/ | 2022-04-14T22:25:46 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/new-jersey-start-recreational-marijuana-sales-april-21/ |
In the center of it all, still the most important player on the court, Jimmy Butler prepared for the coming stage by going one-on-one against 6-foot-4 reserve Javonte Smart, backing in for an easy basket.
This was after video session, after practice, after a team meeting Thursday where those the word, “champions,” was mentioned more than a few times and those owning a ring were noted.
The 6-8 Udonis Haslem then stepped on the court. Butler, at 6-7, used a first step and dribble to create an open jumper. Enter the smaller Smart again. Swish. Then the bigger Haslem. The ball bounces off the rim.
“Come on,’ Butler says in a forceful way heard across the Heat practice court.
Butler talks of winning like a hungry man talks of food, and he’s about to step on the defining stage of his career. But he’s the kind of player for whom talk only covers so much.
For some it does more. For some it writes a path or offers leadership. The first question to Butler is about the Heat’s No. 1 seed being undervalued across basketball, as if it wasn’t fully respected.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he says, a smile and nod saying otherwise.
There’s no pushing Butler into anything, not a comment or middle age. For the moment — this coming playoff moment — he’s the one writing what happens.
Who is Butler? Where does he fit in the NBA hierarchy? Two years ago, he said, “I’m locked in,’ before the playoff run of his career, an inspiring assault that helped the Heat to the NBA Finals.
Last year, he said, “I’m stupidly locked in,’ before being part of the Heat’s meltdown while swept by Milwaukee. He shot 29.7 percent.
“Not at all,’ he answers about that last year motivating him. “We don’t get too caught up in the past. We don’t get too caught up on the future, either.
“We know our goal is winning 16 games,’ he says of the four playoff series needed to the title. “We’ve got to get the first, the second, then all the way down the line.”
He said this still sweating from those extra shots, the ones against a little-used reserve who’s trying to form a career and a little-used veteran with whom Butler publicly fought a few weeks back.
This is what families do, fight and make up, fight and turn the battle outward. Butler has fought with teammates everywhere he’s been: Chicago, Minnesota, Philadelphia.
The difference is the fight is for one idea with the Heat. They were reminded of that in the team meeting when all those who have won a title were noticed. Butler ticks through the names: Team president Pat Riley, coach Erik Spoelstra, Lowry, P.J. Tucker, Haslem.
“I know we all want to win a championship,’ he said. “That’s our goal. That’s why Coach Pat put his roster together.”
Maybe they make that run. Certainly they’ll be a tough out. Butler is in the middle of all that, physically, psychologically, perpetually.
The Heat’s No. 1 seed paid worthwhile dividends, too. On Sunday, they’ll open play against a proper eighth seed in Cleveland or Atlanta, depending on their remaining play-in game. Advance and they’d get Philadelphia or Toronto rather than the expected Milwaukee.
The Heat added pit bulls like Lowry and Tucker for this time of year and was open to the development of little-knowns like Max Strus and Caleb Martin. They still don’t have a top-10 player on their team. But they have a few in the tier below that. Enough?
So much still centers on Butler.
“We’ve been a great team all year long,’ he said. “But now’s the time we talk about. When we had this team meeting, a lot of championship talk happened, but I really, really, really think we have a good shot at this.”
All those players with rings in the team meeting, Butler isn’t one of them. It’s that time of year. He says what several players around the league are this week: “We’re going to find a way to get 16 wins.”
() | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/dave-hyde-jimmy-butler-ready-to-step-into-miami-heat-playoffs-define-himself/ | 2022-04-14T22:25:51 | 0 | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/dave-hyde-jimmy-butler-ready-to-step-into-miami-heat-playoffs-define-himself/ |
Our wind dies down later this evening, picks right back up Friday
SAGINAW, Mich. (WNEM) - It’s been nice to see the sun for our Thursday, but as is often the case in our Michigan spring, it came with a catch.
Winds have been quite gusty this afternoon, with MBS Airport in Saginaw even registering a gust near 60 mph. Thankfully, winds are expected to die down quickly this evening below advisory levels, but signs are pointing to another windy day on Friday.
This Evening & Overnight
If you can manage or deal with the wind, your evening plans tonight should be just fine. We’ve had a few clouds develop with the heating of the day, but there’s still plenty of sun out there in between, and that should last through sunset (around 8:18 PM).
Some showers are also showing up on radar tonight, however, much of this likely isn’t reaching the ground. In the low chance that it does, it may amount to a few sprinkles.
Winds will remain breezy overnight, but should quickly fall out of advisory range to gusts between 20-30 miles per hour or so around sunset and onward.
Temperatures have been much cooler in the 40s and 50s today, and those will gradually cool off into the 30s for overnight lows under generally partly cloudy skies.
Friday
We’ll have a chance to start with some sunshine on Friday, but will likely add some cloud cover as the day goes along. Some breaks of sun between those clouds will remain possible, but we have a chance to be a bit more gray for the afternoon.
As we close out the workweek, it appears we’ll be between two systems on Friday, one to our north and one to our south. Right now, it appears most of the area will remain dry for Friday. However we’ll be close enough to include at least a chance of showers in your forecast tomorrow. The best chances will reside in our southern counties, as well as our far northern areas. Any precipitation Friday would be very light around 0.10 or less.
Highs on Friday will be a mix of 40s and low 50s, coolest in the northwest near Houghton Lake and warmest in the southeast near Flint.
Winds on Friday will continue to be a big story, although the top-end of the gust range will be borderline for a Wind Advisory. Expect gusts around 35 to 45 miles per hour on Friday, with more of a west southwesterly direction. Sustained winds will be closer to 15 to 25 miles per hour.
Weekend Outlook
A few light snow showers or flurries are possible early Saturday, but these shouldn’t be too problematic for us. Most areas won’t even see a snow shower. Skies are expected to feature some sunshine in the early morning, before clouding up quickly late in the morning.
The bigger story on Saturday will likely be the cooler than average temperatures once again, with highs in the middle 30s to low 40s.
Clearing skies take over Saturday night into Sunday, just in time for Easter on Sunday. Expect plenty of sunshine through the day, and highs to rebound mostly into the middle 40s after starting the day in the middle to upper 20s. Sunshine is expected through the day, with a light wind that will turn east southeasterly through the morning.
Copyright 2022 WNEM. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/our-wind-dies-down-later-this-evening-picks-right-back-up-friday/ | 2022-04-14T22:25:55 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/our-wind-dies-down-later-this-evening-picks-right-back-up-friday/ |
By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, MATT O’BRIEN and TOM KRISHER
In 10 days, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has gone from popular Twitter contributor and critic to the company’s largest individual shareholder to a would-be owner of the social platform — a whirlwind of activity that could change the service dramatically given the sometimes whimsical billionaire’s self-identification as a free-speech absolutist.
Twitter revealed in a securities filing Thursday that Musk has offered to buy the company outright for more than $43 billion, saying the social media platform “needs to be transformed as a private company” in order to build trust with its users.
“I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk said in the filing. “I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form.”
Later in the day, during an onstage interview at the TED 2022 conference, he went even broader: “Having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”
Since it burst onto the scene in 2006, Twitter has been home to flourishing social and political commentary, shared news, scandal gossip, cat memes and dress color arguments. But it has also provided a platform for viral misinformation and lies, bullying and hate speech and gangs of trolls who can shout down posters they disagree with by unleashing tidal waves of vile images, threats and similar acts of online aggression.
Twitter has devoted a substantial amount of effort to stanching the latter while preserving the former — though not always in ways that satisfy most users. Like other platforms, it has established restrictions on tweets that threaten violence, incite hatred, bully others and spread misinformation. Such rules drove Twitter’s decision to ban former President Donald Trump following the 2021 Capitol insurrection.
Twitter has also become a destination for brands and advertisers, many of whom prefer stronger content restrictions, and a megaphone for high-profile figures like Trump and Musk, who’s used it to rally supporters and promote business ventures.
Musk, who described Twitter as a “de facto town square,” detailed some specific potential changes Thursday — like favoring temporary rather than permanent bans — but has mostly described his aim in broad and abstract terms.
He said he wanted to open up the “black box” of artificial intelligence technology driving Twitter’s feed so that people would have more transparency about why some tweets might go viral and others might disappear. “I wouldn’t personally be in there editing tweets,” he said, “but you would know if something was done to promote, demote or otherwise affect a tweet.”
The billionaire has been a vocal critic of Twitter, mostly over his stated belief that it falls short on free-speech principles. The social media platform has angered followers of Trump and other right-wing political figures who’ve had their accounts suspended for violating its content standards on violence, hate or harmful misinformation. Musk has described himself as a “free-speech absolutist” but is also known for blocking other Twitter users who question or disagree with him.
While Twitter’s user base remains much smaller than those of rivals such as Facebook and TikTok, the service is popular with celebrities, world leaders, journalists and intellectuals. Musk himself has more than 81 million followers, rivaling pop stars such as Lady Gaga.
Twitter shares closed at $45.08, down just under 2%, well below Musk’s offer of $54.20 per share. That’s generally a sign that some investors doubt the deal will go through. The stock remains down from its 52-week high of about $73.
Musk called that price his final offer, although he provided no details on financing. The offer is non-binding and subject to financing and other conditions.
Twitter said it will decide whether accepting the offer is in the best interests of shareholders. It’s unclear, though, just how Twitter’s board will react after evaluating the offer. It likely will negotiate, seeking a higher price per share, or it may want provisions to ensure that the board remains independent of Musk, said John Coffee, a professor at Columbia University’s law school and head of its corporate governance center.
The board could adopt “poison pill” provisions to offer more shares and dilute the value of Musk’s holdings, if Musk’s stake grows to 10% or 15%, Coffee said. Even then, Musk could still take over the company with a proxy fight by voting out the current directors.
At the TED conference, Musk said he has the money. “I could technically afford it,” he said to laughs.
Should Musk go through with his takeover attempt, he likely could raise the roughly $43 billion he needs, possibly by borrowing billions using his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX as collateral.
Most of Musk’s fortune, estimated by Forbes to be nearly $265 billion, is tied up in shares of Tesla. The company allows executive officers to use shares as collateral for loans, but limits the borrowing to 25% of the value of the pledged shares.
Data provider FactSet says Musk owns 172.6 million shares worth $176.47 billion. Just over 51% of his stake already is pledged as collateral, according to a Tesla proxy statement. That means Musk could use the remaining stake to borrow about $21.5 billion. He also could borrow on his stake in privately held SpaceX.
Musk revealed in regulatory filings over recent weeks that he’d been buying Twitter shares in almost daily batches starting Jan. 31, ending up with a stake of about 9%. Only Vanguard Group controls more Twitter shares. A lawsuit filed Tuesday in New York federal court alleged Musk illegally delayed disclosing his stake in the social media company so he could buy more shares at lower prices.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could punish Musk for hurting other investors by taking too long to disclose his buying up of Twitter shares, but it’s unlikely that it will do anything to stop a takeover, said Chester Spatt, a former SEC chief economist.
“This is going to play out reasonably quickly,” said Spatt, now a finance professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
Jacob Frenkel, a former SEC enforcement attorney now with the Dickinson Wright law firm in Washington, said it is difficult to prove an investor’s intent in disclosure cases. “The mere fact of the violation around the disclosure does not mean that there was fraud,” Frenkel said.
However, there is “plenty of fodder for an investigation” into whether anyone with knowledge of Musk’s share purchases traded in the stock before Musk’s public disclosures, Frenkel said.
After Musk announced his stake, Twitter quickly offered him a seat on its board on the condition that he not own more than 14.9% of the company’s outstanding stock. But the company said five days later that he’d declined. The decision coincided with a barrage of now-deleted and not-always-serious tweets from Musk proposing major changes to the company, such as dropping ads — its chief source of revenue — and transforming its San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter.
The turnabout led CEO Parag Agrawal to warn employees earlier this week that “there will be distractions ahead” and to “tune out the noise and stay focused on the work.”
Twitter hasn’t done as well as its social media rivals and lost money last year. The company reported a net loss of $221 million for 2021 largely tied to the settlement of a lawsuit by shareholders who said the company misled investors about how much its user base was growing and how much users interacted with its platform. Its co-founder Jack Dorsey resigned as CEO in late November and was replaced by Agrawal.
“I’m not saying I have all the answers here, but I do think that we want to be just very reluctant to delete things and just be very cautious with permanent bans,” Musk said. “It won’t be perfect,” he said, but there should be a perception and reality that speech is “as free as reasonably possible.” | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/elon-musk-wants-to-buy-twitter-make-it-maximally-trusted/ | 2022-04-14T22:25:57 | 0 | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/elon-musk-wants-to-buy-twitter-make-it-maximally-trusted/ |
Oxford High School students in favor of hiring independent safety expert
OXFORD, Mich. (WNEM) - Thursday Oxford residents gathered to discuss the current school safety plan following the deadly November shooting inside the high school.
The group is calling for the school to hire a new independent school safety expert and to create an updated plan before next school year.
11th grader Griffen Jones left no doubt about how he feels.
“I feel Oxford has failed in keeping the student body safe. They have failed to show that they care about us as people and individuals. They’ve added almost nothing since we’ve returned back. Every day I pray that whatever conversation I have with my friends or anyone else isn’t my last with them, or my last conversation ever. Every day I pray that I won’t die on the high school floor because of the lack of caring they have shown towards me, and my friends, the whole student body, and teachers,” Jones said.
Jones survived the shooting at the high school that left four of his classmates dead and seven others injured last November. Now he worries about it happening again.
“I hate waking up certain days because of the anxiety and stress and lack of safety and the thought gets to me sometimes in class and I can’t focus,” Jones said.
Jones said many students don’t feel safe. He believes school administrators are trying to sweep the tragic events of that November day under the rug.
“It feels like they’re trying to forget it happened. They took the students names who passed away off like certain boards on the school like sport records, took down memorials. So, if you technically weren’t there that day and you had no clue what happened, you wouldn’t know,” Jones said.
Jones is part of a group that wants the school district to hire a new independent school safety expert and start a public and transparent update of Oxford’s school safety plans where parents and students can offer input.
They want the plan implemented prior to the 2022-2023 school year. The group claims attempts to convey their concerns and demands to school administrators have been met with little to no response.
“The fact that I have to take a day off school to come up here and say this speech is half the problem. I shouldn’t have to miss school to feel safe,” Jones said.
Copyright 2022 WNEM. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/oxford-high-school-students-favor-hiring-independent-safety-expert/ | 2022-04-14T22:25:59 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/oxford-high-school-students-favor-hiring-independent-safety-expert/ |
Knocking off the reigning NBA champions is never a simple task. The Chicago Bulls, don’t have an easy road to a first-round playoff win against the Milwaukee Bucks. After going 0-4 in the season series, the Bulls are hoping to reverse the pattern in the postseason.
Here are three keys for the Bulls as they prepare for Game 1 on Sunday in Milwaukee.
1. Slow down Giannis Antentokounmpo
Antentokounmpo is the obvious focus for the Bulls — and any other team facing the Bucks. In the week leading up to Game 1, Bulls players didn’t feel the need to break down Antentokounmpo’s skill set.
“Everybody knows about Giannis,” guard Alex Caruso said. “You don’t have to say anything about that.”
Antentokounmpo’s size and agility make him a threat anywhere on the court. He’s listed as a shooting guard and a power forward on any given day and averaged 29.9 points and 11.4 rebounds this season. There is no stopping Antentokounmpo, but the Bulls need to do their best to slow him.
The Bulls haven’t had an answer for the two-time NBA MVP. Centers Nikola Vučević and Tristan Thompson weren’t quick enough to match Antentokounmpo from the arc to the rim. Javonte Green poured energy and athleticism into matchups with Antentokounmpo, but it was too easy for the Bucks to exploit the 6-inch height disparity between the two.
In the playoffs, power forward Patrick Williams might be a solution for the Bulls. With a 7-foot wingspan and explosiveness, Williams possesses the physical ability to dog Antentokounmpo defensively. The question is whether Williams is ready to match the physicality of the reigning NBA Finals MVP.
Williams faced Antentokounmpo twice late this season in 28-point and 21-point blowouts. Those games weren’t a good sample of the matchup. Williams played only 18 minutes in the first game while working under a minutes restriction after returning from a five-month injury absence. Antentokounmpo didn’t even take a shot in the first quarter of the second game before tapping out early in the fourth to enjoy the rest of the win from the bench.
After being challenged to be more aggressive in the first weeks following his return from injury, Williams exploded in confidence in the final three games of the season. It will be important for the Bulls to help Williams carry that intensity into Sunday, when he will take his first real crack at Antentokounmpo.
2. Keep the ball under control
Although the Bucks took a defensive slide after the All-Star break, they still can dominate games through their defense, which is anchored by guards Jrue Holiday and Wesley Matthews.
The Bulls struggled against the Bucks defense this season, averaging 101.5 points (10.1 below their average). While many teams began to double team DeMar DeRozan in the final third of the season, the Bucks were content to leave one of their primary defenders on the Bulls’ leading scorer.
With Holiday and Matthews hunting for steals, ball protection will be critical. The Bulls averaged 12.8 turnovers, the sixth-most in the league. And without Lonzo Ball, they don’t have an experienced option at point guard. Rookie Ayo Dosunmu took charge of the role after Ball’s injury, and Caruso replaced him as the starter in the final two weeks. The position will remain in their hands in the playoffs.
Dosunmu’s growth at point guard has been immense for the Bulls, but he’s still inexperienced entering his first professional postseason. Caruso brings a more seasoned touch to the position, but ongoing back spasms cast uncertainty over his potential availability — especially if the series goes long.
Although the pair will bring the ball up the court, ball protection applies to the entire roster. The Bucks devour momentum swings, and the Bulls will dig themselves into a hole if they give up too many transition opportunities.
3. Take advantage of 3-point opportunities
Although the Bucks can be smothering on defense, their focus on the paint creates a major gap that the Bulls could exploit. The Bucks rank fourth in the NBA in points allowed in the paint (43.6), but that is built off a compromise — giving up more 3-point attempts than any other team.
Opponents average 40.6 attempts from behind the arc against the Bucks, who sacrifice those long-range opportunities to crowd the paint and eliminate shots at the rim and second-chance points. (In comparison, teams attempt 31.9 3-pointers per game against the Bulls.)
Strong outside shooting also could pull the Bucks out of their typical shape, forcing them to contest behind the arc to free up cut-and-slashes to the basket. This doesn’t necessarily play to the Bulls strengths. The Bulls took 28.8 3-pointers per game in the regular season, less than any other team. Without Ball, they’re missing one of their top catch-and-shoot players from long range.
But the Bulls also are the fourth-most accurate team from 3-point range, shooting 36.9%. Guards Coby White (38.5%) and Zach LaVine (38.9%) can add pop from behind the arc. If the Bulls can catch a hot streak from 3-point range, they’ll have an opening to create holes in the rest of the Bucks defense.
() | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/nba-playoffs-3-keys-for-the-chicago-bulls-against-the-milwaukee-bucks-including-slowing-giannis-antetokounmpo/ | 2022-04-14T22:26:03 | 1 | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/nba-playoffs-3-keys-for-the-chicago-bulls-against-the-milwaukee-bucks-including-slowing-giannis-antetokounmpo/ |
Police: 183 animals found in man’s freezer, some frozen alive
GOLDEN VALLEY, Ariz. (Gray News) - An Arizona man is facing animal cruelty charges after authorities found numerous dead animals in his freezer.
The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said a woman reported that Michael Patrick Turland, 43, hadn’t returned snakes she’d lent him for breeding and that several animals, including hers, were located in his freezer.
According to police, the property owner told the woman that a freezer full of dead animals was found in the garage while they were cleaning after Turland and his wife, Brooklyn Beck, had left the state.
Deputies and Animal Control officers entered the property and said they located the freezer, which contained approximately 183 frozen animals of different breeds.
According to the sheriff’s office, dogs, turtles, lizards, birds, snakes and rabbits were among the animals found in the freezer. Several of the animals also appeared to have been frozen alive due to their body positioning.
On April 13, deputies were notified that Turland returned to the residence, where he was then taken into custody.
Police said the 43-year-old eventually admitted to placing some of the animals in the freezer when they were still alive.
Turland was arrested on 94 counts of animal cruelty. He was taken to the Mohave County Adult Detention Facility in Kingman, Ariz.
The sheriff’s office said it is also looking to speak to Turland’s wife regarding the incident.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/police-183-animals-found-mans-freezer-some-frozen-alive/ | 2022-04-14T22:26:05 | 1 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/police-183-animals-found-mans-freezer-some-frozen-alive/ |
Once again, Nets head coach Steve Nash said injured star Ben Simmons is still a ways away from making his season debut.
And once again, a series of reputable reports suggest otherwise.
Quite frankly, no one knows what to believe as it pertains to Simmons, the 25-year-old Australian All-Star forward who has been recovering from a herniated disk in his lower back. Simmons was still limited to only individual rehab work at Thursday’s practice at Brooklyn’s HSS Training Facility.
“He’s still not working with the group, so to speak,” Nash said after practice. “He’s with the group, watching, observing, taking everything in, but his physical plan is still individual.”
Nets veteran guard Goran Dragic arrived at Nets practice early on Thursday and said Simmons was not at the facility while the team played pickup and practiced.
That makes it near impossible to believe Simmons could be ready to take the floor in 11 days, which is the timeline The Athletic’s Shams Charania provided on Thursday, and even more impossible to believe that Simmons could ramp-up to playing five-on-five basketball by the end of the next, which is what ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Thursday morning on “Get Up.”
Both Windhorst and Charania are now reporting Simmons can make his Nets debut at some point after Game 3 of the Nets’ upcoming first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics. Charania gave a specific window between Games 4 and 6 of the series, which would be sometime between April 25 and 29.
“For seven, eight weeks now, I’ve heard nothing but pessimism on the Ben Simmons front, and that has switched dramatically in the last few days,” Windhorst said on ESPN Thursday morning. “So right now I have to report that it is possible we will see Ben Simmons in this series against the Celtics.”
The reports, however, contradict what Nash has told the public. He said Simmons still has not started sprinting. Nash said Simmons is doing exercises in the water and has been using the Anti-Gravity AlterG Treadmill, but the star forward has not progressed beyond individual work and needs to get to one-on-one, two-on-two and eventually to five-on-five.
As of Thursday, Nash remained noncommittal as to whether or not he expects to see Simmons on the floor this season. If he returns, the Nets will welcome him with open arms, but if not, they will forge ahead without him.
“Yeah, I think that’s it. I mean, it’s up to Ben’s back,” Nash said after practice. “You know, it’s not up to me, any of us other than his back and how we can help that resolve. There’s a chance Ben comes back, there’s a chance he doesn’t come back.
“So I think for us, we’ve got to focus on the group, support Ben and his journey to get back on the floor, but at the same time, we don’t have time to lose focus on the group that’s playing.”
Kevin Durant said it’s easier for him not to expect Simmons is going to return any time soon.
“I’m not putting any pressure on Ben to come out there and hoop,” Durant said after Thursday’s practice. “So I’m not expecting him to do anything but just to get his body right and get healthy as fast as he can. So in my mind, I’m preparing as if we’re playing with the team we have.”
He also said he’s not thinking about what it would look like with Simmons on the floor alongside the other Nets starters.
“We all know what type of player Ben is,” Durant added. “You can put together scenarios in your mind on your own on what it’ll look like, but I’m not gonna go there because we’re just taking it a day at a time.”
Nash, however, previously told the Daily News he sees the comparison between Simmons and Golden State Warriors’ star Draymond Green. Nash doubled-down on that comparison on Thursday.
“Absolutely. I think that’s Ben’s brilliance,” he said. “You look at the athlete that he is, the ability to handle and pass, rebound, defend, push and transition. That’s a lot of skills, and a lot of ways that he can affect the game.”
Thinking like that, however, is putting the cart before the horse, and despite reports suggesting Simmons could make a debut in the first round, the star forward has benchmarks he must clear before he can take the floor. Nash has to coach the team he has in front of him while also keeping tabs on Simmons’ progress.
“Ben’s a franchise cornerstone, but right now, it’s about supporting him physically and mentally to get back on the floor and coaching the group to put his best foot forward in the first few games of the series at least,” he said. “Internally, we’re not sitting here saying Ben’s returning in this series. We’ll see what happens.”
() | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/reports-say-ben-simmons-is-going-to-be-ready-during-first-round-series-nets-say-not-so-fast/ | 2022-04-14T22:26:09 | 1 | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/reports-say-ben-simmons-is-going-to-be-ready-during-first-round-series-nets-say-not-so-fast/ |
Sheriff: 1 injured in Clare Co. after motorcycle crashes into bus
Published: Apr. 14, 2022 at 5:29 PM EDT|Updated: 55 minutes ago
CLARE CO., Mich. (WNEM) - The Clare County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a crash after a man on a motorcycle crashed into the back of a school bus.
On Thursday at about 3:15 p.m., deputies responded to the crash on Townline near Grant.
A school bus going eastbound on Townline had stopped in the road because a tree fell in front of them. A 60-year-old Harrison man on a motorcycle crashed into the back of the bus, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office said no one on the bus was injured. The Harrison man was taken to MidMicigan Medical Center in Midland for treatment.
Copyright 2022 WNEM. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/sheriff-1-injured-clare-co-after-motorcycle-crashes-into-bus/ | 2022-04-14T22:26:12 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/sheriff-1-injured-clare-co-after-motorcycle-crashes-into-bus/ |
By ADAM SCHRECK
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, a guided-missile cruiser that became a potent target of Ukrainian defiance in the opening days of the war, sank Thursday after it was heavily damaged in the latest setback for Moscow’s invasion.
Ukrainian officials said their forces hit the vessel with missiles, while Russia acknowledged a fire aboard the Moskva but no attack. U.S. and other Western officials could not confirm what caused the blaze.
The loss of the warship named for the Russian capital is a devastating symbolic defeat for Moscow as its troops regroup for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine after retreating from much of the north, including the capital, Kyiv.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the ship sank in a storm while being towed to a port. Russia earlier said the flames on the ship, which would typically have 500 sailors aboard, forced the entire crew to evacuate. Later it said the blaze had been contained.
The ship had the capacity to carry 16 long-range cruise missiles, and its removal reduces Russia’s firepower in the Black Sea. It’s also a blow to Russian prestige in a war already widely seen as a historic blunder. Now entering its eighth week, Russia’s invasion has stalled because of resistance from Ukrainian fighters bolstered by weapons and other aid sent by Western nations.
During the first days of the war, the Moskva was reportedly the warship that called on Ukrainian soldiers stationed on Snake Island in the Black Sea to surrender in a standoff. In a widely circulated recording, a soldier responded: “Russian warship, go (expletive) yourself.”
The Associated Press could not independently verify the incident, but Ukraine and its supporters consider it an iconic moment of defiance. The country recently unveiled a postage stamp commemorating it.
The news of the flagship’s damage overshadowed Russian claims of advances in the southern port city of Mariupol, where Moscow’s forces have been battling the Ukrainians since the early days of the invasion in some of the heaviest fighting of the war — at a horrific cost to civilians.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Wednesday that 1,026 Ukrainian troops surrendered at a metals factory in the city. But Vadym Denysenko, adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, rejected the claim, telling Current Time TV that “the battle over the seaport is still ongoing today.”
It was unclear how many forces were still defending Mariupol.
Russian state television broadcast footage that it said was from Mariupol showing dozens of men in camouflage walking with their hands up and carrying others on stretchers. One man held a white flag.
Mariupol has been the scene of the some the war’s worst suffering. Dwindling numbers of Ukrainian defenders are holding out against a Russian siege that has trapped well over 100,000 civilians in desperate need of food, water and heating.
The mayor said Monday that more than 10,000 civilians have died in the siege, and that the death toll could surpass 20,000. Weeks of attacks and privation left bodies “carpeted through the streets,” he said.
Mariupol’s capture is critical for Russia because it would allow its forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the eastern Donbas region, Ukraine’s industrial heartland and the target of the coming offensive.
The Russian military continues to move helicopters and other equipment together for such an effort, according to a senior U.S. defense official, and it will likely add more ground combat units “over coming days.” But it’s still unclear when Russia could launch a bigger offensive in the Donbas.
Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukraine in the Donbas since 2014, the same year Russia seized Crimea. Russia has recognized the independence of the rebel regions in the Donbas.
The loss of the Moskva could delay any new, wide-ranging offensive.
Maksym Marchenko, the governor of the Odesa region, across the Black Sea to the northwest of Sevastopol, said the Ukrainians struck the ship with two Neptune missiles and caused “serious damage.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said ammunition on board detonated as a result of a fire, without saying what caused the blaze. It said the “main missile weapons” were not damaged. In addition to the cruise missiles, the warship also had air-defense missiles and other guns.
The Neptune is an anti-ship missile that was recently developed by Ukraine and based on an earlier Soviet design. The launchers are mounted on trucks stationed near the coast, and, according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, the missiles can hit targets up to 280 kilometers (175 miles) away. That would have put the Moskva within range, based on where it was when the fire began.
Launched as the Slava in 1979, the cruiser saw service in the Cold War and during conflicts in Georgia and Syria, and helped conduct peacetime scientific research with the United States. During the Cold War, it carried nuclear weapons.
In 1989, the Slava was supposed to host a meeting off Malta between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President George H.W. Bush, but gale-force winds moved the talks to the docked cruiser Maxim Gorky.
On Thursday, other Russian ships that were also in the northern Black Sea moved further south after the Moskva caught fire, said a senior U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal military assessments.
Before the Moskva sank, Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, told The Associated Press its removal would mean “ we can only have a sigh of relief because this means that fewer missiles will reach Ukrainian cities.”
The U.S. was not able to confirm Ukraine’s claims of striking the warship, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday. Still, he called it “a big blow to Russia.”
“They’ve had to kind of choose between two stories: One story is that it was just incompetence, and the other was that they came under attack, and neither is a particularly good outcome for them,” Sullivan told the Economic Club of Washington.
Russia invaded on Feb. 24 and has lost potentially thousands of fighters. The conflict has killed untold numbers of Ukrainian civilians and forced millions more to flee.
It’s also further inflated prices at grocery stores and gasoline pumps, while dragging on the global economy. The head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday that the war helped push the organization to downgrade economic forecasts for 143 countries.
Also Thursday, Russian authorities accused Ukraine of sending two low-flying military helicopters across the border and firing on residential buildings in the village of Klimovo in Russia’s Bryansk region, some 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the frontier. Russia’s Investigative Committee said seven people, including a toddler, were wounded.
Russia’s state security service had earlier said Ukrainian forces fired mortar rounds at a border post in Bryansk as refugees were crossing, forcing them to flee.
The reports could not be independently verified. Earlier this month, Ukrainian security officials denied that Kyiv was behind an air strike on an oil depot in the Russian city of Belgorod, some 55 kilometers (35 miles) from the border.
___
Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.
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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/russias-damaged-black-sea-flagship-sinks-in-latest-setback/ | 2022-04-14T22:26:16 | 0 | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/russias-damaged-black-sea-flagship-sinks-in-latest-setback/ |
Softball umpire speaks after parent attack leaves her with severe nerve damage
LAUREL, Miss. (WDAM/Gray News) - An umpire in Mississippi is speaking out while she recovers from being punched in the face after a softball game for 12-year-old children.
Kristie Moore was filling in for an umpire who got sick, something she said she has been doing for several years with 10 years of experience calling games.
However, during this game, the coach asked one of the athlete’s mothers to leave the game for excessive cursing. Instead of going home, the woman is accused of waiting to confront Moore after the game, punching her and then running away.
Moore told WDAM that the parent became irate after a call she made at second base, but the coaches and other officials had no opposition to the call.
The 10-year umpire said abuse to referees, whether physical or verbal, is becoming too familiar and leading to an umpire shortage.
“This is not a Laurel thing or a Mississippi thing,” Moore said. “This is a nationwide thing for officials across the board. It’s harder and harder, every weekend because of the abuse that umpires and officials across the board are experiencing.”
According to police, the parent in question, Kiara Thomas, was arrested after the incident and charged with simple assault.
Moore said she wants people to understand that umpires are just human.
“Officials in any sport are expected to be perfect and we’re not,” Moore said. “We never will be.”
Moore experienced a severe contusion and nerve damage in her left eye, but it won’t stop her from umpiring.
She hopes that her story will bring awareness to the umpire shortage and brings consequences for similar actions.
“There definitely needs to be stricter consequences and laws to stop and to deter this from happening to anyone else,” Moore said.
Earlier this year, a bill was introduced in the legislature that would make assaulting a referee or umpire a felony as aggravated assault. That bill, however, did not make the calendar.
Moore said she hopes after this incident lawmakers will take a second look at the bill.
Copyright 2022 WDAM via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/softball-umpire-speaks-out-after-parent-attack-leaves-her-with-severe-nerve-damage/ | 2022-04-14T22:26:18 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/softball-umpire-speaks-out-after-parent-attack-leaves-her-with-severe-nerve-damage/ |
Private settlements have been reached in two federal lawsuits against Roseville Area Schools and a former second-grade teacher accused of discriminating against her Black students.
The lawsuits accused Geraldine Cook of making the four to six Black students in her class sit apart from their peers in 2019.
Stephanie Smith said Cook grabbed her daughter’s arm and pulled hard enough to rip her shirt sleeve, according to the lawsuits.
Kirsten Lindsey said Cook choked her son after he gargled water, then forced him to walk to the principal’s office with his hands behind his back, the lawsuits say.
Lawyers for the two women said the school district knew for years that students were unsafe in Cook’s classroom but failed to protect them.
“Roseville Area Schools knew that one of its second grade teachers was discriminating against her African-American students and lashing out at them in disturbing and unsafe ways. Despite this knowledge, it did nothing to protect those students, allowing the teacher to stay in the classroom with minimal supervision,” attorney Sam Kramer wrote in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in 2020.
Cook, now 58, taught at Harambee Elementary, a year-round racial integration school.
According to Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board records obtained by the Pioneer Press, the school district was told in April 2015 that Cook “had placed her hands on students and yelled at students in anger or frustration.”
In the months and years that followed, the records show the district learned Cook had grabbed a child by the arm, causing the student to fall; tapped a student on the head with a stack of papers; placed her hands on a student; and physically moved a student into a bus seat.
It wasn’t until October 2019, when Cook reportedly “pushed a student into a wall with both of her hands, causing the student to hit his head on the wall and become dizzy” that Roseville placed Cook on administrative leave for two weeks, then told her she’d be fired if she did not resign, the records show.
Cook resigned her job on Dec. 2, 2019, and agreed to give up her teaching license the following summer.
Court records indicate the lawsuits filed by Smith and Lindsey both were resolved with private settlements; one case was closed this week, the other in January.
“Roseville Area Schools is pleased the parties were able to resolve this matter,” the district said in a statement to the Pioneer Press. “The school district looks forward to serving its families and continuing in its mission to provide quality teaching and learning with equity in all we do.”
Attorneys for Cook and the plaintiffs did not respond to requests for comment Thursday. | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/settlements-reached-in-race-discrimination-lawsuits-against-roseville-area-schools-former-teacher/ | 2022-04-14T22:26:22 | 0 | https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/14/settlements-reached-in-race-discrimination-lawsuits-against-roseville-area-schools-former-teacher/ |
Texas lawmakers respond as second bus of immigrants arrives in DC
A second bus of undocumented immigrants arrived in Washington from Texas Thursday. According to Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas), it’s part of his response to President Biden’s decision to end Title 42 expulsions.
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - A second bus of undocumented immigrants arrived in Washington from Texas Thursday. According to Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas), it’s part of his response to President Biden’s decision to end Title 42 expulsions.
Some Texas lawmakers support Gov. Abbott’s plan, but some of their colleagues are calling the bus trip a political stunt.
Noting that Texas is bearing the burden of an unsecured border, Gov. Greg Abbott began bussing migrants, who are awaiting deportation trials to Washington D.C.
Two buses have arrived so far, filled with only those who, according to Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), volunteered for the trip.
“[It] wouldn’t surprise me if we take people to Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, but we’re trying to move people to where they want to go as an option,” Sessions said. “I support what the governor is doing.”
But it’s the location: Washington D.C., that feeds into concerns that the bus trips are purely political.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) said the governor is using the trips to make a political point, though he does agree with Abbott on some facets of immigration, such as his push to keep Title 42.
“He’s trying to get publicity. But, you know, that’s the whole key I think people need to understand that, that we at the border, we’re the ones that see the whole thing. We’re the ones who see the migrants,” Cuellar said.
Politically, this is all part of broader conflict at the border. Immigration has been one of the most divisive issues between the primary parties and it remains so, as the next election cycle nears.
Title 42 was first written decades ago to prevent sick immigrants from crossing the U.S. border. It was enforced during the coronavirus pandemic, but now, it’s set to end next month.
Copyright 2022 Gray DC. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/texas-lawmakers-respond-second-bus-immigrants-arrives-dc/ | 2022-04-14T22:26:26 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/14/texas-lawmakers-respond-second-bus-immigrants-arrives-dc/ |
Pfizer said Thursday it wants to expand its COVID-19 booster shots to healthy elementary-age kids.
U.S. health authorities already urge everyone 12 and older to get one booster dose for the best protection against the newest variants -- and recently gave the option of a second booster to those 50 and older.
Now Pfizer says new data shows healthy 5- to 11-year-olds could benefit from another kid-sized shot.
In a small study, 140 youngsters who'd already gotten two shots were given a booster six months later, and researchers found the extra shot generally revved up their immune response. But a closer look at 30 of the children found a 36-fold increase in virus-fighting antibodies, levels high enough to fight the super-contagious omicron variant, Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said in a press release.
The data has not been published or vetted by independent experts.
Pfizer tested the kid booster while omicron was surging this winter. While COVID-19 cases now are at much lower levels in the U.S., in recent weeks an even more contagious version of omicron, called BA.2, has become the dominant type locally and around the world.
In the coming days, the companies plan to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize a booster for healthy 5- to 11-year-olds. They also plan to share the data with European and other regulators.
Vaccinations are generally less effective against the omicron variant than earlier versions of the coronavirus -- but they do still offer strong protection against severe disease. While COVID-19 is a bigger threat to adults, youngsters can get seriously ill. But regulators will have to decide if healthy elementary-age kids really need a booster, and if so, when.
The Pfizer shots are the only vaccine available to U.S. children. Those ages 5 to 11 receive one-third of the dose given to everyone 12 and older. Just over a quarter in the younger age group have gotten two doses since vaccination opened to them in November, shortly before omicron struck.
The U.S. hasn't yet allowed vaccinations for children under 5. But certain 5- to 11-year-olds -- those with severely weakened immune systems -- already are supposed to get three doses, to give that high-risk group a better chance of responding.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Pfizer to seek COVID-19 booster for healthy 5- to 11-year-olds
Pfizer said new data shows its kid-sized booster could help healthy elementary-aged children rev up virus-fighting antibodies.
COVID-19 VACCINE | https://abc11.com/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-covid-19-booster-shot-coronavirus-boosters-kid-vaccines/11748658/ | 2022-04-14T22:28:41 | 1 | https://abc11.com/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-covid-19-booster-shot-coronavirus-boosters-kid-vaccines/11748658/ |
NEW YORK CITY -- The NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: behind all those shots, all that achievement, is 50 years of Title IX.
The legislation, signed in 1972, was aimed at leveling the playing field for the female sex.
"The early lobbyists for the bill were not thinking about sports, they were thinking about broader educational access," says Laura Mogulesu. "But sports very quickly became a flashpoint."
Mogulescu is one of the curators of an exhibition set to open in May at the New York Historical Society called Title IX: Activism On and Off the Field.
"If you look at the number of girls and women who became interested in athletics, those numbers just increased so much in the last 50 years," she said.
That growth was fostered in part by more schools offering sports for girls, particularly at the collegiate level, making it possible for girls not just to compete, but to pursue professional careers.
The exhibit highlights some of those incredible successes: clothing from Serena Williams, toys depicting female athletes and a Wheaties box featuring Mia Hamm.
And then there's what Title IX has done for women in terms of education.
"The numbers of women who've graduated from college and graduate school have vastly increased," Mogulescu said. "And following that, there is also an increase of women in professional careers."
The actual Title IX legislation is just 37 words, 37 words that changed so much. But so few words continue to require continued advocacy.
"Something that's come clear in the exhibition is that its protections and enforcements are very dependent on presidential administrations," said Mogelescu. "So the work of activism is never really done... in terms of ensuring everyone has access to education."
This year's 50-year anniversary, therefore, is a time to reflect on the progress - but also a time to note the inequities that still exist and need to be addressed.
ABC Owned Television Stations and ABC's Localish present 50 inspiring stories from around the country for Fifty/50, as part of The Walt Disney Company's monumental initiative highlighting the 50th anniversary of the passing of Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any educational institution that receives federal funding, and gave women the equal opportunity to play.
The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ESPN, Localish and this station.
Special exhibition in New York City marks 50 years of Title IX
Copyright © 2022 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved. | https://abc11.com/title-ix-exhibition-ny-historical-society-what-is-1972/11747514/ | 2022-04-14T22:28:47 | 1 | https://abc11.com/title-ix-exhibition-ny-historical-society-what-is-1972/11747514/ |
Want more state education news? Sign up for The Alabama Education Lab’s free, weekly newsletter, Ed Chat.
Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday signed the 2023 Education Trust Fund budget, which hands potentially big raises to teachers and bumps funding for Alabama math coaches, reading and Pre-K.
The record $8.3 billion education budget sends raises up to 21% for experienced teachers. The budget also provides a one-time bonus for retirees, in an effort to make teaching more attractive.
“We are covering the spread in education – from adding Pre-K classrooms to providing math coaches to funding after school programs, we are making sure Alabama does not accept the status quo and to ensure every student can have a bright future,” Ivey said in a statement. “Our teachers are getting a well-deserved pay increase, and we are recognizing, rewarding and retaining experienced teachers.”
According to the new state pay plan,
- Teachers with a bachelor’s degree and 0-8 years experience would get a 4% raise, to a minimum of $49,780.
Percent increases and pay floors increase with experience, to a top level at:
- Teachers with a bachelor’s degree and 35 years experience would get a 20.8% raise, to $66,424.
Local school districts may offer additional pay and percent increases. See the full state salary schedules here.
The legislature also passed several measures that will impact schools and students, including more funding for literacy instruction, restrictions to transgender bathroom access, support for mental health services supports and a new grant program for menstrual supplies.
See more education coverage here:
- What did lawmakers approve in the education budget?
- Math instruction overhaul approved.
- What changes are coming for Alabama kids and schools in 2022-23? | https://www.al.com/educationlab/2022/04/alabama-gov-kay-ivey-approves-largest-education-budget-in-state-history-historic-teacher-raises.html | 2022-04-14T22:29:22 | 0 | https://www.al.com/educationlab/2022/04/alabama-gov-kay-ivey-approves-largest-education-budget-in-state-history-historic-teacher-raises.html |
Early in the pandemic, a revelation for many who found themselves stuck in place was that biking offered more than just exercise. It was a coping mechanism and a safe way to interact with others. It was freedom. And it was fun.
Soon followed a national surge of people discovering a growing network of trails. Parks throughout the country reported record trail usage. Many bike shops experienced high demand followed by a choking off of supply, as manufacturers worldwide struggled to keep factories and shipping operations going amid the pandemic.
Today, bike shops slowly are getting restocked while e-bike technology is improving rapidly, making the battery-powered, pedal-assist bikes more accessible, safer and easier to use. That has added additional fuel to the explosion in trail usage as more cyclists ride more often and pedal farther.
This also has created an increased interest in “destination trails’' — trails that cyclists will travel across the state or across the country for a chance to ride for a day, or several days, and experience and appreciate America in a new way.
Fortunately, predating the pandemic there was a national push to build and connect more trails. A prime example is New York’s Empire State Trail, a 750-mile network of trails and road routes that was completed in December 2020. Especially popular are trails built along retired railroad beds, which communities see as relatively inexpensive opportunities to increase access to recreation and grow local tourism.
These rails-to-trails, as they are known, offer gentle grades of usually no more than 2%, and surfaces that often are paved or finely crushed limestone, so they are family friendly and keep folks off busy roads. Adding to the fun, many rail-trails feature repurposed railroad trestles with breathtaking views, long tunnels through mountains and small towns along the way that embrace their rail history as well as the bikers and hikers who use the trails.
Several states are filling the gaps between networks of rail-trails, connecting urban centers with rural areas, spectacular vistas and remote beauty. There are more than 2,100 rail-trails totaling more than 24,000 miles in the United States, according to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. The conservancy also is championing a national trail across 12 states from Washington to Washington, D.C., connecting many of the trails already in existence or being built. About 2,000 miles of the 3,700-mile Great American Rail-Trail are in place, with 88 gaps remaining.
As spring begins, we compiled an unofficial summary of some of the top destination-worthy rail-trails and similar routes, pulling from the conservancy’s trail Hall of Fame, personal experience and the advice of members of a popular rails-to-trails Facebook group page. Here they are, in alphabetical order:
Banks-Vernonia State Trail, Oregon
One of the Northwest’s first rail-trails also is one to watch because plans call for it to connect to the expanding Salmonberry Trail, which eventually will link the Willamette Valley to the Pacific Coast. The 22-mile Banks-Vernonia features a 735-foot Buxton Trestle as well as impressive coastal forests and pastoral farmland. Website: stateparks.oregon.gov
Bizz Johnson National Recreation Trail, California
Popular with bike campers and single-day users, the 25-mile Bizz is a great way to experience the remote and rugged Susan River Canyon. The trail crosses the Susan River 12 times, so there are plenty of chances to cool off and fish, too. California is not often thought of with regard to fall foliage, but the Bizz is especially beautiful in the fall, and the Bureau of Land Management offers a fall color ride with shuttles. Website: blm.gov/visit/bizz-johnson
C&O Canal Towpath and Great Allegheny Passage, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania
Stretching 334 miles from Washington, D.C., to Pittsburgh, these two distinct trails that connect in Cumberland, Maryland offer the feeling of stepping back in time. The 184-mile C&O from Washington to Cumberland is extremely diverse in cultural heritage and is popular with bike campers. The C&O’s trail surface is not as well maintained as some others, but the opportunity to follow the same paths as early settlers and Civil War soldiers or traverse through long tunnels (the Paw Paw Tunnel is made of nearly 6 million bricks and took 14 years to build) and under historic aqueducts is a rich experience.
The picturesque GAP Trail is a “bucket list” trail for cyclists all over the world. Just west of Cumberland, it features a fairly smooth climb to (or descent from, depending on your direction) the 2,392-foot Eastern Continental Divide, as well as the nearby Mason-Dixon Line. The trail is dotted with welcoming trail towns, and the GAP’s halfway point is the riverfront town of Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, which features a state park, whitewater rafting and is nearby two historic Frank Lloyd Wright homes, Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob. The region’s steel history is on display as you head toward Pittsburgh and its gorgeous Point Park terminus, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River. A fun option is to take an Amtrak train between Pittsburgh and Washington and bike back. Website: gaptrail.org
Elroy-Sparta State Trail, Wisconsin
Considered the granddaddy of U.S. rail-trails, built in the 1960s, it serves as a model for rail-trail projects. The beloved 33-miler also is tons of fun and features three long tunnels with hills in the middle of each. The trail is a hub for other trails in a state known for its enthusiastic embrace of biking. Sparta bills itself as the “Bicycling Capital of America” and lives up to the hype. Website: wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/elroysparta
Empire State Trail, New York
New York’s T-shaped trail network stretches from the Canadian border to Manhattan and from Buffalo to Albany, covering 750 miles and connecting in Albany. Much of the Empire State is rails-to-trails, dedicated hike & bike trails and a trail alongside the Erie Canalway, but numerous on-road sections remain, especially north of Albany, and heavy traffic warrants extra caution. The experience of approaching and riding into Manhattan on a bike path is like none other. By contrast, the placid and scenic Erie Canalway and Mohawk River sections between Buffalo and Albany are “about as close to biking bliss as you can get in one of the least bike-friendly regions of the country,’’ according to a New York Times overview. Website: empirestate.ny.gov
George S. Mickelson Trail, South Dakota
There’s a wow moment around almost every bend. Some users describe the Mickelson as the best way to see the Black Hills. Riding through its meadows when wildflowers are in bloom is breathtaking, to say nothing of the dense forests, incredible vistas, tunnels and Old West history (the northern trailhead is in Deadwood and Custer is near the middle). Maintained by South Dakota Game Fish & Parks, the 109-mile trail has 15 trailheads and 100 converted railroad bridges. Most of the crushed limestone path offers grades of less than 4%, but there are a few strenuous sections. Trolley rides are available for those with physical limitations in the summer. Website: gfp.sd.gov/parks
Greenbrier River Trail, West Virginia
Get ready to unplug and live in the moment on the Greenbrier, consistently included in national top-10 lists. The 78-mile rail-trail has 35 bridges and follows the Greenbrier River through some of the most remote and beautiful areas of the “Almost Heaven” state. How remote? Part of it is in a National Radio Quiet Zone, so no cell phone reception. At the northern trailhead in Cass, the Cass Scenic Railroad is one of the state’s top attractions. Also on the GRT, Watoga State Park offers more recreation, cabins and camping. Website: wvstateparks.com/park/greenbrier-river-trail/
High Trestle Trail, Iowa
Just 25 miles long in Central Iowa, the High Trestle runs through five towns and four counties and is renown for its namesake, 13-story high bridge across the Des Moines River. Especially stunning at night, 41 blue-lit steel frames are positioned along the bridge to simulate the view through a mine shaft, a nod to the region’s mining history. Website: traveliowa.com/trails/high-trestle-trail/28/.
Iron Ore Heritage Trail, Michigan
Michigan has an embarrassment of riches — 2,500 miles of rail-trails — so it’s difficult to highlight just one or two, but the unique Iron Ore is among the most beautiful and fascinating. Located in the Upper Peninsula, it cuts 47 miles across the Marquette Iron Range and a long, lovely stretch hugs Lake Superior. Website: ironoreheritage.com
Katy Trail State Park, Missouri
Stretching 237 miles, the family-friendly Katy is among the most popular destination trails because of its variety, accessibility and length. A Missouri state park, it is billed as the nation’s longest developed rail-trail, much of which follows Lewis and Clark’s path up the Missouri River in a section renown for its towering bluffs. It also connects to the 47-mile Rock Island Trail at Windsor, Missouri. Website: mostateparks.com/park/katy-trail-state-park
Ohio to Erie Trail, Ohio
A 326-mile network of 24 diverse regional trails between the Ohio River and Lake Erie includes about 50 miles on country roads and few urban streets. The Little Miami Scenic Trail out of Cincinnati, the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath out of Cleveland and the Kokosing Gap Trail in Central Ohio are destination-worthy trails themselves and are just part of the OTET’s enormous allure. The tradition for through-bikers is to dip a back tire in the Ohio River under the Roebeling Bridge in Cincinnati and a front tire in Lake Erie at Edgewater Park in Cleveland — or the other way around if heading south. Most folks take between four and nine days to complete it. There is a plethora of historic sites, public art, B&Bs and restaurants on the trail that cater to bikers and enough larger towns, such as Xenia, Massillon and Akron, where accommodations are close. Don’t miss the Amish Country pantries and shops in Holmes County. A section of the Little Miami Scenic Trail is to be closed this year for a bridge replacement. Website: ohiotoerietrail.org.
Read more:
America’s largest paved bike trail network, Miami Valley Trails, is in Southwest Ohio
Pere Marquette Rail-Trail, Michigan
This 30-miler in Mid-Michigan between Midland and Clare follows a 120-year-old railroad route but has a modern feel with an extremely wide (14 feet) and smooth asphalt surface that is perfect for groups and it is well-maintained with several trailheads. It offers everything from forests, farms and small towns to golf courses and canoe liveries, and is especially popular when fall foliage is peaking. Website: peremarquetterailtrail.org
Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail, Washington
The 285-mile route from the Idaho border to within 35 miles of Seattle crosses the Cascade Mountains in a 2.3-mile-long, unlit tunnel. This trail has something for everyone, including fun day sections and long-route challenges. Some sections require permits and others are not connected or well marked, but a researched and planned adventure is worth the extra effort. Website: parks.wa.gov/521/Palouse-to-Cascades
Pine Creek Trail, Pennsylvania
This gorgeous, 65-mile trail gently cuts through the aptly named “Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania,” 1,400 feet below ridgetops in the Tioga and Tiadaghton State Forests. It follows an abandoned trail line built along an ancient Native American path with swimming holes, waterfall views and abundant wildlife. It’s one of those “best kept secrets” you’ll be telling everyone about. Website: pinecreekvalley.com/pine-creek-rail-trail/
Silver Comet Trail/Chief Ladiga Trail, Georgia and Alabama
A seamless, 95-mile corridor through rolling hills, mountain views and towns large and small, this combined trail between Anniston, Alabama, and the Atlanta suburb of Smyrna, Georgia, forms one of the longest and most popular paved trails in the country, attracting short- and long-mileage riders. The scenery is constantly changing. Pumpkinvine Trestle and Brushy Mountain Tunnel and Jacksonville State University are among a dozen places to rest or eat, to say nothing of the roadside fruit stands. A planned extension to the Amtrak station in Anniston will enable users to take a train part or all the way to Atlanta and bike back. Website: silvercometga.com
Tammany Trace, Louisiana
With bayous, wetlands, streams, loblolly pines, live oaks, magnolias and countless bridges on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, this is a meandering, 31-mile paved trail that should be discovered and savored. Website: tammanytrace.org
Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes and Route of the Hiawatha, Idaho
A pair of stunning trails that are not connected, but just 30 miles apart (off I-90), so if you are in the area to do one, then do both. Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes is considered by some to be the most serene in the country — a 73-mile paved path through the historic Silver Valley along the Coeur d’Alene River with 20 scenic waysides and dozens of developed trailheads. It also is popular with in-line skaters, Nordic skiers and snowshoers. Route of the Hiawatha is one of the country’s most famous and photogenic trails. A shuttle to the top and bike rentals are available for a gentle, family-centric 15-mile descent along the crest of the Bitterroot Mountains through 10 train tunnels and over seven sky-high trestles with unmatched views. Websites: parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/trail-coeur-d-alenes/ and ridethehiawatha.com
Island Line Trail, Vermont
A unique, 13-mile trail alongside Lake Champlain features a causeway that includes a bike ferry over a 200-foot cut for boat traffic. There are plenty of beaches and, especially in the fall, colorful vistas. Website: localmotion.org
Virginia Creeper National Recreation Trail, Virginia
A rail-trail with a bumpier surface than some others, but it doesn’t matter if it’s downhill, which it mostly is if you cover the 34 miles starting at Whitetop Station (3,500 feet elevation) and head to Alvarado (1,750) before gently rising to Abingdon (2,050) in Southwest Virginia. Either way, it’s worth it. Website: vacreepertrail.org
Withlacoochee State Trail, Florida
At 46 miles, it is among the longest paved trails in Florida and follows the Withlacoochee River and passes through the Withlacoochee State Forest, several small towns, ranches and six distinct natural areas. Plenty of nearby places to rent bikes, too. Website: floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/withlacoochee-state-trail | https://www.al.com/life/2022/04/20-of-the-best-bike-trails-in-the-us-including-this-95-mile-trail-through-alabama-and-georgia.html | 2022-04-14T22:29:28 | 0 | https://www.al.com/life/2022/04/20-of-the-best-bike-trails-in-the-us-including-this-95-mile-trail-through-alabama-and-georgia.html |
Can a sweet frozen treat help you to beat stress on Tax Day? The folks at Kona Ice certainly think so.
The company is sending food trucks to several Alabama cities on April 18, giving out free cups of tropical shaved ice during the afternoon. It’s part of a national “Chill Out Day” promotion, to “ensure that there is no taxation without relaxation this tax season,” according to a Kona Ice press release.
(Tax Day -- the deadline to file taxes with the IRS or request a time extension -- has been changed from April 15 this year. Here’s why.)
Look for Kona Ice trucks on Monday, April 18, in these locations, according to an online map provided by the company:
- Oxford Lake Park, 330 Park Place, Oxford, 2 p.m.-4 p.m.
- Calhoun County Area Chamber and Visitors Center, 1330 Quintard Ave., Anniston, 2 p.m.-4 p.m.
- Esther House Thrift Store, 806 Pelham Road South, Jacksonville, 2 p.m.-4 p.m.
- Martin’s Family Clothing, 813 Martin St. South, Pell City, 2 p.m.-4 p.m.
- Martin’s Family Clothing, 2801 Rainbow Drive, Rainbow City, 2 p.m.-4 p.m.
- Selma Chamber of Commerce, 912 Selma Ave., Selma, noon- 2 p.m.
- Sephora Shoppes at Eastchase parking lot, 7064 EastChase Parkway, Suite C180, Montgomery, 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
Tropical music and flower leis will be part of the promotion, the company says. Kona Ice, a mobile shaved ice company, was founded in 2007 in Kentucky and now has more than 1,200 franchises across the country.
Cups of shaved ice from Kona Ice typically cost $3-$5, depending on the size of the cup and the location, according to Fastfoodmenuprices.com. | https://www.al.com/life/2022/04/free-kona-ice-on-tax-day-some-alabama-people-will-be-chilling-on-april-18.html | 2022-04-14T22:29:35 | 1 | https://www.al.com/life/2022/04/free-kona-ice-on-tax-day-some-alabama-people-will-be-chilling-on-april-18.html |
A Birmingham high school teacher is on leave after a male student was slammed to the ground while a group of employees were trying to get the teen under control in a classroom.
The incident happened Tuesday at A.H. Parker High School. Part of the ordeal was recorded on a cell phone.
The video shows four male staff members in a struggle with the student, who at that point had taken his shirt off. The student appeared to be resisting their attempts to subdue him.
A teacher then picked up the student and slammed him to the ground.
Authorities have not said what led to the interaction between the student and the adults seen in the video. It wasn’t immediately clear if police were called or if the student required any medical treatment.
Birmingham City Schools released this statement Thursday to AL.com regarding the recorded incident:
“We are aware of the incident that occurred at Parker High School on Tuesday. We were deeply troubled by the video, both in terms of the student’s actions and the response by staff. We are continuing to investigate and have already begun taking appropriate actions with regard to staff involved in the matter. The teacher involved has been placed on administrative leave.” | https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2022/04/birmingham-high-school-teacher-on-leave-investigated-after-student-slammed-to-ground.html | 2022-04-14T22:29:41 | 0 | https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2022/04/birmingham-high-school-teacher-on-leave-investigated-after-student-slammed-to-ground.html |
North Alabama first responders teamed up to carry two men to safety this morning after their vehicle was caught in rising flood waters.
Sheriff Max Sanders lauded the effort while reminding drivers of the dangers of flooded roads.
“Moving water is a very powerful force and with all the rain we have had recently it does not take much to flood a roadway,” he said.
The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office said officers were notified by a 911 call at 10:30 a.m. that two people were stranded on top of a vehicle after it was swept up into rising flood waters on County Road 593, south of Courtland.
Deputies arrived with volunteer firefighters and were able to communicate with the two men, who were sitting on the hood of a pickup truck.
The Morgan County Rescue Squad put a trained swift water rescue diver in the water and stabilized the vehicle with a tow line.
Squad members then carried the men to safety, while the vehicle was removed from the water by a towing company. | https://www.al.com/news/huntsville/2022/04/alabama-men-rescued-from-truck-swept-into-water.html | 2022-04-14T22:29:47 | 1 | https://www.al.com/news/huntsville/2022/04/alabama-men-rescued-from-truck-swept-into-water.html |
Pfizer said Thursday it wants to expand its COVID-19 booster shots to healthy elementary-age kids.
U.S. health authorities already urge everyone 12 and older to get one booster dose for the best protection against the newest variants -- and recently gave the option of a second booster to those 50 and older.
Now Pfizer says new data shows healthy 5- to 11-year-olds could benefit from another kid-sized shot.
In a small study, 140 youngsters who'd already gotten two shots were given a booster six months later, and researchers found the extra shot generally revved up their immune response. But a closer look at 30 of the children found a 36-fold increase in virus-fighting antibodies, levels high enough to fight the super-contagious omicron variant, Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said in a press release.
The data has not been published or vetted by independent experts.
Pfizer tested the kid booster while omicron was surging this winter. While COVID-19 cases now are at much lower levels in the U.S., in recent weeks an even more contagious version of omicron, called BA.2, has become the dominant type locally and around the world.
In the coming days, the companies plan to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize a booster for healthy 5- to 11-year-olds. They also plan to share the data with European and other regulators.
Vaccinations are generally less effective against the omicron variant than earlier versions of the coronavirus -- but they do still offer strong protection against severe disease. While COVID-19 is a bigger threat to adults, youngsters can get seriously ill. But regulators will have to decide if healthy elementary-age kids really need a booster, and if so, when.
The Pfizer shots are the only vaccine available to U.S. children. Those ages 5 to 11 receive one-third of the dose given to everyone 12 and older. Just over a quarter in the younger age group have gotten two doses since vaccination opened to them in November, shortly before omicron struck.
The U.S. hasn't yet allowed vaccinations for children under 5. But certain 5- to 11-year-olds -- those with severely weakened immune systems -- already are supposed to get three doses, to give that high-risk group a better chance of responding.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Pfizer to seek COVID-19 booster for healthy 5- to 11-year-olds
Pfizer said new data shows its kid-sized booster could help healthy elementary-aged children rev up virus-fighting antibodies.
COVID-19 VACCINE | https://abc7ny.com/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-covid-19-booster-shot-coronavirus-boosters-kid-vaccines/11748658/ | 2022-04-14T22:33:12 | 1 | https://abc7ny.com/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-covid-19-booster-shot-coronavirus-boosters-kid-vaccines/11748658/ |
NEW YORK CITY -- The NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: behind all those shots, all that achievement, is 50 years of Title IX.
The legislation, signed in 1972, was aimed at leveling the playing field for the female sex.
"The early lobbyists for the bill were not thinking about sports, they were thinking about broader educational access," says Laura Mogulesu. "But sports very quickly became a flashpoint."
Mogulescu is one of the curators of an exhibition set to open in May at the New York Historical Society called Title IX: Activism On and Off the Field.
"If you look at the number of girls and women who became interested in athletics, those numbers just increased so much in the last 50 years," she said.
That growth was fostered in part by more schools offering sports for girls, particularly at the collegiate level, making it possible for girls not just to compete, but to pursue professional careers.
The exhibit highlights some of those incredible successes: clothing from Serena Williams, toys depicting female athletes and a Wheaties box featuring Mia Hamm.
And then there's what Title IX has done for women in terms of education.
"The numbers of women who've graduated from college and graduate school have vastly increased," Mogulescu said. "And following that, there is also an increase of women in professional careers."
The actual Title IX legislation is just 37 words, 37 words that changed so much. But so few words continue to require continued advocacy.
"Something that's come clear in the exhibition is that its protections and enforcements are very dependent on presidential administrations," said Mogelescu. "So the work of activism is never really done... in terms of ensuring everyone has access to education."
This year's 50-year anniversary, therefore, is a time to reflect on the progress - but also a time to note the inequities that still exist and need to be addressed.
ABC Owned Television Stations and ABC's Localish present 50 inspiring stories from around the country for Fifty/50, as part of The Walt Disney Company's monumental initiative highlighting the 50th anniversary of the passing of Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any educational institution that receives federal funding, and gave women the equal opportunity to play.
The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ESPN, Localish and this station.
Special exhibition in New York City marks 50 years of Title IX
Copyright © 2022 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved. | https://abc7ny.com/title-ix-exhibition-ny-historical-society-what-is-1972/11747514/ | 2022-04-14T22:33:18 | 1 | https://abc7ny.com/title-ix-exhibition-ny-historical-society-what-is-1972/11747514/ |
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – A Fort Erie, Ontario man was charged with eluding examination or inspection at the Peace Bridge Wednesday morning, U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced.
Prosecutors said Pawel Aleksander Grodkowski, 53, was seen on a security footage climbing a fence and cutting three separate stands of barbed wire shortly before 9 a.m. When he was taken in for questioning, a pair of wire cutters was found in his bag.
It is further alleged that Grodkowski also entered the U.S. in a similar method in August and September. Authorites said they also found wire cutters on the Peace Bridge pedestrian walkway in those months.
The charge against Grodkowski carries a maximum of six months in prison.
* * *
Nick Veronica is a Buffalo native who joined the News 4 team as a Digital Executive Producer in 2021. He previously worked at NBC Sports and The Buffalo News. You can follow Nick on Facebook and Twitter and find more of his work here. | https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news/canada/canadian-man-with-wire-cutters-charged-with-eluding-peace-bridge-inspection/ | 2022-04-14T22:38:05 | 0 | https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news/canada/canadian-man-with-wire-cutters-charged-with-eluding-peace-bridge-inspection/ |
GENEVA, Ind. — An investigation is underway after the body of a missing Decatur woman was found Tuesday in the Wabash River.
Melissa R. Vickers, 39, of Decatur, was reported missing on March 12, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Indiana Conservation Officers said they were alerted to the site in Adams County by a 911 call from a passerby and eventually recovered Vickers’ body.
The investigation, DNR said, is ongoing. An exact cause of death is pending autopsy results. Conservation Officers are being assisted in the investigation by the Adams County Sheriff’s Department and Decatur Police Department. | https://fox59.com/indiana-news/body-of-missing-woman-found-in-wabash-river/ | 2022-04-14T22:38:27 | 1 | https://fox59.com/indiana-news/body-of-missing-woman-found-in-wabash-river/ |
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana University graduate student workers manned multiple picket lines Thursday across the university’s Bloomington campus in their ongoing union fight with the university’s administration over unionization.
The Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition recently voted overwhelmingly to go on strike after the university refused to recognize the union. On top of recognition, representatives are demanding an increase in the stipends they are paid for their work.
“Our work is central to the way this university runs,” union representative Nora Weber said. “It’s time that money that is brought in from all of our labor is something that we see as well.”
Weber said the current stipend, which was recently raised to a minimum of $18,000, is not enough to live on. Some graduate students say they work a second or even third job to make ends meet.
“We want to be able to put 100 percent into the classroom, into labs, into mentorship and we can’t do that when the administration refuses to pay us well,” Weber said.
The union is affiliated with the United Electrical Workers union and has more than 1,700 members.
The strike caused disruptions across campus, with some classes cancelled because nobody was there to teach them. However, the university said the disruptions were minimal.
“We’re really focused on the issues, to make sure that we address those,” IU spokesperson Chuck Carney said. “The union issue we have already settled. We’re not reconsidering that.”
Carney said the university has taken steps to address the concerns from graduate student workers and that work isn’t over.
“We’ve taken some steps already based on the listening sessions and discussions we’ve had with the graduate students to talk about these issues,” Carney said. “These folks have come here to be students and they are here as students first and foremost.”
Students say the lack of pay has caused them to not be able to prioritize being students.
“It’s the repeated line from the university that we’re students and we’re not workers,” PhD candidate Anushka Sen said. “That really doesn’t make sense to people who put so much labor into teaching.”
The striking graduate student workers say their goal in all this is to make IU a better university.
“We are fighting to have more equity on campus and to build an IU that actually supports education,” Weber said.
The union has pickets planned for Friday as well as additional events next week. A representative said the union will hold a reauthorization vote next week to see if members want to continue the strike.
IU spokesperson Chuck Carney said the graduate workers could face consequences for their refusal to work, including termination. Despite the disruptions, Carney said the university has plans in place should the strike last through the end of the semester. | https://fox59.com/indiana-news/indiana-university-grad-workers-strike-after-university-refuses-to-recognize-union/ | 2022-04-14T22:38:33 | 0 | https://fox59.com/indiana-news/indiana-university-grad-workers-strike-after-university-refuses-to-recognize-union/ |
INDIANAPOLIS — On May 11, Netflix’s new true crime documentary “Our Father” will introduce the world to an unsettling story that many Hoosiers know all too well: The story of donor children searching for answers, of the siblings they never knew they had, of an Indiana fertility doctor in the middle of it all.
In 2015, a woman who believed she was an only child approached FOX59’s Angela Ganote after learning she had at least eight biological brothers and sisters. Searching for answers, Angela’s lengthy investigation would bring to light the crimes of Dr. Donald Cline, a former Indianapolis fertility doctor who used his own sperm to impregnate his patients without their knowledge.
Now, Cline’s story, which has shocked and stunned many Hoosiers since it first came to light thanks to Angela’s investigation, will be the subject of Netflix’s new documentary “Our Father.”
“After a woman’s at-home DNA test reveals multiple half-siblings, she discovers a shocking scheme involving donor sperm and a popular fertility doctor.”
Netflix synopsis for “Our Father”
Cline would end up pleading guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice in 2017. During the criminal investigation, Cline admitted to his shocking actions and to intentionally misleading investigators.
In a conversation with Angela Ganote, Cline even said that he didn’t believe he was fathering children, rather helping families who were devastated by being unable to conceive on their own.
During his court hearing, Cline estimated that he used his own sperm for insemination up to 50 times. Jacoba Ballard, the woman who first approached Angela, said that she has uncovered more than 90 siblings, however.
“To me, giving people a voice is one of the most rewarding aspects of what I do. When Jacoba came to me seven years ago I was stunned that no one would listen to her. I am beyond honored that she trusted me with her truth. To now see her story about to be shared with the world is empowering. Always fight for truth, be courageous and never give up.”
Angela Ganote
“Our Father” is produced by Emmy-winning Jason Blum, producer Michael Petrella and directed by Lucie Jordan. It premieres only on Netflix May 11. Watch the trailer here. | https://fox59.com/indiana-news/netflixs-our-father-documents-fertility-doctors-crimes-brought-to-light-by-fox59-investigation/ | 2022-04-14T22:38:39 | 0 | https://fox59.com/indiana-news/netflixs-our-father-documents-fertility-doctors-crimes-brought-to-light-by-fox59-investigation/ |
GREENWOOD, Ind. — A statewide Silver Alert has been issued for a missing 15-year-old girl from Greenwood.
According to the Indiana State Police, Megan Yaste is a white female, 5 feet 8 inches tall who weighs 100 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a green sweatshirt, plaid pajama pants and black shoes.
Police said Megan is missing from Greenwood and was last seen on Wednesday at 10:58 a.m. She is believed to be in extreme danger and may require medical assistance.
Anyone with information about her is asked to contact the Greenwood Police Department at (317) 346-6336 or 911. | https://fox59.com/indiana-news/silver-alert-issued-for-missing-15-year-old-greenwood-girl/ | 2022-04-14T22:38:45 | 0 | https://fox59.com/indiana-news/silver-alert-issued-for-missing-15-year-old-greenwood-girl/ |
WASHINGTON, D.C. – More than 80 federal lawmakers, including some members of Indiana’s congressional delegation, are calling on the U.S. International Trade Commission to help reduce costs for farmers by cutting some tariffs on fertilizer.
Farmers across America have been dealing with rising expenses during the pandemic.
“Our nitrogen products have gone up almost 300% from a year ago,” said Philip Ramsey, director of the American Soybean Alliance Board and a corn and soybean farmer in Shelby County.
Economists say several factors have driven up the cost of fertilizer, including cargo costs, a suspension of Russian fertilizer exports and higher energy prices.
“The rise in gas prices has ballooned the fertilizer prices already long before the war really started,” said Andreas Hauskrecht, who teaches business economics and public policy at the IU Kelley School of Business.
Congressman Greg Pence (R-Indiana) is among those calling for tariff reductions.
“The farmers are just getting out into the field right now,” Pence said. “And they need these chemicals. They need fuel prices to come down.”
Economists say reducing tariffs would have some impact, though it would likely be minimal. They say it will probably be a while before farmers start to see some significant relief from higher prices.
“It’s gonna have a very small impact,” said Matthew Will, associate professor of finance at the University of Indianapolis. “The tariffs on ammonium and phosphates, they primarily come from Morocco, Trinidad and Tobago, those countries. We’re not going to see a big impact on the global market.”
“I think economists should be and will be in favor of using reduced tariffs to at least a little bit to a certain extent mitigate the consequences of rising prices for farmers,” Hauskrecht said.
The U.S. International Trade Commission responded to the lawmakers’ request, saying changes to tariffs would have to be decided by the U.S. Department of Commerce. | https://fox59.com/indianapolitics/federal-lawmakers-call-for-tariff-cuts-on-fertilizer/ | 2022-04-14T22:38:51 | 0 | https://fox59.com/indianapolitics/federal-lawmakers-call-for-tariff-cuts-on-fertilizer/ |
This post and segment has been sponsored by Forum Credit Union.
INDIANAPOLIS — One difficult task for many parents raising teenagers is teaching money skills, and Forum Credit Union is here to help.
According to Andy Mattingly, COO of Forum Credit Union, there are four things all teens must learn with regards to finances:
- How to spend money
- How to save money
- How to share money
In addition to these basic concepts, Mattingly said teens must also gain experiences with money, such as:
- Working to make money
- Having responsibility for purchases
- Making purchases for the family
For more financial tips for teens, watch the full Indy Now segment with Mattingly above. | https://fox59.com/indy-now/forum-credit-union-offers-teen-money-tips/ | 2022-04-14T22:38:57 | 0 | https://fox59.com/indy-now/forum-credit-union-offers-teen-money-tips/ |
GREENWOOD, Ind. — A new full body workout program consisting of 60-minute sessions is encouraging Greenwood moms to keep fit while accomplishing all of their daily tasks.
iStroll Greenwood’s owner and lead instructor Jorie Wennerberg said she is a mother of three kids herself, all of them under 4 years old. Her goal, in addition to providing a fun workout program, is to build a community.
“We’re here to build up moms,” she said. “When you’re a stay-at-home mom and you’re lonely, come out and join us.”
iStroll is a nationwide program, and Jorie first joined one in Bowling Green, Ken. before moving to Greenwood. After the move and the birth of her children, she decided to make one in her local area as well.
For more information on iStroll Greenwood or to join the community, visit istroll.co/greenwood or call (602) 717-9373. | https://fox59.com/indy-now/istroll-offers-greenwood-residents-a-workout-program-and-community/ | 2022-04-14T22:39:03 | 1 | https://fox59.com/indy-now/istroll-offers-greenwood-residents-a-workout-program-and-community/ |
(The Hill) – The interest rate for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hit a 10-year high of 5% Thursday, continuing steep inclines that started last December in a U.S. housing market where values are surging.
The rate on the most popular U.S. mortgage has climbed nearly 2 points from 3% a year ago, according to the latest numbers from government-mortgage administrator Freddie Mac. The last time the 30-year fixed rate mortgage hit 5% was February of 2011.
Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.17% this week, up from 3.91% last week and 2.35% a year ago.
“This week, mortgage rates averaged 5% for the first time in over a decade,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “As Americans contend with historically high inflation, the combination of rising mortgage rates, elevated home prices and tight inventory are making the pursuit of homeownership the most expensive in a generation.”
Adjustable rate mortgages have also spiked, with the 5-year standard Treasury-indexed mortgage averaging 3.69%, up from 2.8% last year.
As a result of the spiking rates, the mortgage market is experiencing a dip of activity, according to information from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) trade group, as potential homeowners reconsider buying houses and investing in real estate.
A mortgage market index from the MBA shows loan application volumes decreased 1.3% compared to a week earlier. Home refinancing application volumes dipped 5% on the week and were down 62% compared to the previous year.
“The rapid increase in rates, caused by a much more rapid pace of rate hikes and balance sheet reduction from the Federal Reserve, is in response to the booming job market and inflation being at a 40-year high,” Mike Fratantoni, an economist with the MBA, said in a statement. “The jump in mortgage rates will slow the housing market and further reduce refinance demand the rest of this year. Higher home prices and rates as well as ongoing supply constraints are now expected to lead to an annual decline in existing home sales.”
In addition to high interest rates, home sales are also facing elevated prices in the real estate market due to the pandemic, as well as supply shortages for building materials as part of larger supply chain disruptions that are contributing to inflation.
“Elevated inflation continues to push up mortgage rates,” Nadia Evangelou, an economist with the National Association of Realtors (NAR), said in a statement. The higher rates “added about $400 to the monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home. This means that potential buyers need to spend more of their budget on housing to buy the typical home.”
Wage data released this week by the Department of Labor saw real earnings decrease by 2.7% from March of last year. The change in earnings combined with a dip of 0.9% in the length of the average workweek resulted in a 3.6% decrease in real average weekly earnings over the last year.
“Comparing inflation with real wage growth since 2008, this is the first time that inflation has risen so much faster than wages,” Evangelou said. “With rising borrowing costs, expect about 16 million households to be priced out of the market this year. As a result, NAR forecasts home sales activity to drop about 10% in 2022.”
Housing affordability declined in February, according to an index compiled by NAR. Compared to a year ago, the group found the average mortgage payment increased by more than 30%, while median family income rose by only 3.6%.
To combat inflation, some analysts have suggested the Federal Reserve could increase interest rates by as many as six times this year, bringing the Federal Funds rate as high as 1.9% by the end of the year. The risk of such a hike is a contraction in the economy, but with inflation as a driver of recession itself, most analysts see the Fed as not having much of a choice.
“The twin shocks of the war in Ukraine and the build-up of momentum in elevated U.S. and Europe inflation will lead to a recession in the U.S. and a growth recession in the euro area within the next two years,” researchers at Deutsche Bank forecasted earlier this month.
“More troubling, especially in the U.S., are signs that the underlying drivers of inflation have broadened, emanating from very tight labor market conditions and spreading from goods to services,” the company said. “The forecast is for inflation to recede to more desired levels over the next several years assuming there are no other geopolitical or other supply shocks and that central banks take action, just in time, to keep inflation expectations anchored. Should these assumptions prove incorrect, inflation pressure, central bank tightening, and economic downturns could all be more intense than baseline projections.” | https://fox59.com/news/national-world/mortgage-rates-top-5-for-1st-time-in-a-decade/ | 2022-04-14T22:39:09 | 1 | https://fox59.com/news/national-world/mortgage-rates-top-5-for-1st-time-in-a-decade/ |
ARLINGTON, Va. (WAVY) — The United States Air Force say they will support LGBTQ Airmen, Guardians, and/or their LGBTQ dependents who may be affected by laws and legislation being proposed and passed across the country.
In a release late March, Air Force officials say they will have assignment, medical, legal and other resources available to support Airmen, Guardians and their families who may be affected by the laws.
Late last month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the “Don’t Say Gay” law which bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through the third grade.
Republicans argue that parents should broach these subjects with children. Democrats have said the law demonizes LGBTQ people by excluding them from classroom lessons.
If service members or their families need help with screening, treatment, or mental health support for medical concerns, USAF officials say they can go to any medical treatment facility.
Under Secretary of the Air Force Gina Ortiz Jones says they are closely tracking state laws and legislation to prepare for and mitigate effects to their Airmen, Guardians and their families.
“The health, care and resilience of our DAF personnel and their families is not just our top priority – it’s essential to our ability to accomplish the mission,” said Jones.
One of the resources is The Exceptional Family Member Program which is available for all active component Airmen and Guardians to assist families with special needs during the PCS process including navigating medical, legal, and educational support for dependents during relocation.
Service members and their families can also seek additional support through their local Airman and Family Readiness Center, the Military and Family Life Counseling Program, or Military OneSource, which can be contacted 24/7 at 800-342-9647. | https://fox59.com/news/national-world/united-states-air-force-to-provide-support-to-military-families-affected-by-new-anti-lgbtq-laws/ | 2022-04-14T22:39:15 | 1 | https://fox59.com/news/national-world/united-states-air-force-to-provide-support-to-military-families-affected-by-new-anti-lgbtq-laws/ |
The heavy storm Wednesday produced several reports of damage from straight-line wind gusts. A brief tornado was reported in Decatur county and late Wednesday was confirmed
5TH TORNADO OF THE YEAR
National Weather Service meteorologists conducted a survey of damage in southeast Indiana Wednesday and determined that damage was consistent with that of a weak tornado three miles west of Millhousen in Decatur county. Peak winds were 84mph with a tornado that briefly spun up only lasting about two minutes. It was determined the tornado started at 8:26pm and tracked .11 miles with a width of twenty-five yards.
The previous tornadoes this year are
Sunday March 6th 2:05 am Cass Co – EF0
Monday March 7th 4:09 am – Ripley CO EF0
Friday March 18th 8:06 pm Washington Co EF1
Wednesday March 30th 7:59 pm Vandenburgh CO EF1 | https://fox59.com/weather/5th-indiana-tornado-of-the-year-confirmed/ | 2022-04-14T22:39:21 | 0 | https://fox59.com/weather/5th-indiana-tornado-of-the-year-confirmed/ |
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Tampa police have released the name of one of the five people involved in Wednesday’s overnight crash on the Courtney Campbell Causeway that killed two people.
Authorities said that person is 33-year-old Joshua Roelofs.
News Channel 8 has learned Roelofs is a former deputy with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. The agency said he served for about five years. He was terminated in 2015. Those records are sealed.
Police said Roelofs was driving a 2017 Nissan GT-R when he rear-ended a 2005 Kia Sorrento with four people inside.
All four people inside were ejected onto the Causeway and the Kia rolled over. Two 44-year-old men from the car died. A 36 year-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman were rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Police have not identified them.
“We believe alcohol was involved to what degree and who is still part of the investigation,” said Sandra Bentil, TPD Assistant Public Informations Officer.
No arrests have been made in this case.
News Channel 8 tried calling Roelofs and visiting his last known addresses, but we did not get ahold of him. | https://www.wfla.com/news/hillsborough-county/former-polk-county-sheriffs-deputy-involved-with-deadly-crash-in-tampa/ | 2022-04-14T22:41:06 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/news/hillsborough-county/former-polk-county-sheriffs-deputy-involved-with-deadly-crash-in-tampa/ |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s latest attempt to fuel its huge moon rocket for a countdown test was thwarted Thursday by a hazardous hydrogen leak, the latest in a series of vexing equipment trouble.
The launch team had just begun loading fuel into the core stage of the rocket when the leak cropped up. This was NASA’s third shot at a dress rehearsal, a required step ahead of a test flight to the moon.
This time, the launch team managed to load some super-cold liquid hydrogen and oxygen into the core stage of the 30-story Space Launch System rocket, but fell far short of the full amount. Liquid hydrogen is extremely hazardous, with officials noting that the systems had been checked for leaks prior to the test.
Technicians deliberately left the smaller upper stage empty, after discovering a bad valve last week. The helium valve inside the upper stage cannot be replaced until the rocket is back in its hangar at Kennedy Space Center.
Two previous countdown attempts were marred by balky fans and a large hand-operated valve that workers mistakenly left closed at the pad last week.
Officials said via Twitter that they’re assessing their next steps.
NASA had been targeting June for the launch debut of the 322-foot (98-meter) SLS rocket. The empty Orion capsule on top will be sent on a four- to six-week mission around the moon and back.
Astronauts will strap in for the second test flight around the moon, planned for 2024. That would be followed as early as 2025 with the first lunar landing by astronauts since 1972. NASA plans to announce the crews for these two missions this summer. | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/fuel-leak-thwarts-nasas-dress-rehearsal-for-moon-rocket/ | 2022-04-14T22:41:12 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/fuel-leak-thwarts-nasas-dress-rehearsal-for-moon-rocket/ |
Both the 2021 special, hosted and reported by WABC-TV reporter Darla Miles, and the trailer to promote it have been nominated for a People's Telly Award, and we are grateful for the recognition.
But the public, not a panel, gets to decide the winner, which is why we are inviting you to vote for ABC7! All you have to do is click these links below and give ABC7 your support through Friday, April 22.
CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THE DOCUMENTARY WITH YOUR VOTE!
CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THE TRAILER WITH YOUR VOTE!
You can watch the full show again, or for the first time, in the video player above. And the trailer can be viewed below.
On behalf of Channel 7 Eyewitness News, Darla Miles and the team behind this special, we thank you for your support! | https://abc7ny.com/telly-award-peoples-nomination/11748710/ | 2022-04-14T22:41:13 | 0 | https://abc7ny.com/telly-award-peoples-nomination/11748710/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — The shooting this week of 10 people by a man who deployed smoke grenades and fired at least 33 shots in a commuter-packed Brooklyn subway car was hardly the first time New Yorkers have grappled with an act of violence.
Over the past 40 years, New York has endured multiple subway and train shootings, bombing attempts, a vehicular attack on pedestrians and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack.
The suspect in the latest assault was taken into custody Wednesday, about 30 hours after the shooting. The attack left five victims in critical condition and put residents of the nation’s most populous city on edge
A look at some of the attacks in the city over the past four decades:
___
1984 SUBWAY SHOOTING
Thirty-eight years ago, a man shot four Black teenson the 2 train in Manhattan at a time of widespread crime in the city, sparking a nationwide debate on racism, gun control, and safety.
Bernhard Goetz said he shot the teens because they were attempting to rob him. The teens had sharpened screwdrivers and asked Goetz for $5. Goetz was charged with attempting to murder the four teens with an unlicensed firearm.
In 1987, Goetz was cleared of the attempted murder charge and spent less than a year in jail for a weapons conviction.
Darrell Cabey, one of the young men shot on the subway, was left paralyzed and suffered brain damage after the shooting. Several years later, he was awarded $43 million in a lawsuit against Goetz. The other three victims recovered from their wounds.
___
LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD SHOOTING
In 1993, a man opened fire on the Long Island Rail Road, killing six people and injuring 19 others.
Passengers charged at shooter Colin Ferguson and held him down as the train pulled into a station.
Ferguson refused an insanity plea and represented himself at his 1995 trial. Under cross-examination, witnesses answered Ferguson’s questions by implicating him, telling Ferguson, “I saw you shoot me.”
Ferguson was convicted on six murder charges and 19 attempted murder charges. He was acquitted of 25 counts of civil rights violations on charges that accused Ferguson, who was Black, of targeting the victims based on their race. The people killed and injured were of multiple races.
___
CHELSEA BOMBING
In 2016, a pressure cooker device connected to a cellphone exploded in a Manhattan neighborhood, injuring 30 people. The Chelsea bombing triggered a two-day manhunt that came to a head in a shootout in New Jersey. Theconvicted bomber,Ahmad Khan Rahimi, is now serving a life sentence.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio said the attack was “an intentional act” and initially called it terrorist-related. During Rahimi’s trial, prosecutors said he attempted to radicalize prisoners after his arrest with terrorist propaganda from speeches and lectures by al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric who inspired attacks on America and was killed in a U.S. airstrike in September 2011.
___
TIMES SQUARE SUBWAY BOMBING
In 2017, a man used Christmas lights, matches and a nine-volt battery toignite a pipe bomb under a Times Square subway station. But the bomb, which was strapped to the bomber’s chest, failed to launch. It injured three people and severely burned the bomber.
Akayed Ullah was sentenced to life in prison. Ullah said he was not motivated by religious extremism, but by anger sparked by former President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric. Authorities said Ullah was radicalized online by Islamic State group extremists.
___
BIKE PATH KILLINGS
In 2017, a New Jersey man allegedly drove a truck on Halloween down a bicycle path along the Hudson River in Manhattan, killing eight people and injuring numerous others.
The truck driver, Sayfullo Saipov, was shot and wounded by police after he reportedly smashed into a school bus and then ran down the highway with a paintball gun while shouting “Allahu akbar.”
He was charged with terrorism and the murder of eight civilians.
Saipov is currently in jail awaiting trial, which has been delayed since 2019.
___
FAKE BOMBS IN FULTON STREET STATION
In 2019, a West Virginia man allegedly traveled to the cityto plant two pressure-cooker type devices in lower Manhattan’s Fulton Street subway station, triggering an evacuation in one of the city’s busiest stations and affecting thousands of commuters.
New York City police opened another investigation after a third device was found in the nearby Chelsea neighborhood.
Larry Kenton Griffin was arrested and charged with placing a false bomb. | https://www.wane.com/news/a-look-at-acts-of-public-violence-in-nyc-over-past-40-years/ | 2022-04-14T22:41:13 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/a-look-at-acts-of-public-violence-in-nyc-over-past-40-years/ |
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — USS The Sullivans is slowly going underwater due to a “major hull breach.”
The 79-year-old ship started taking on water Wednesday night.
“Efforts are underway to evaluate the situation and take appropriate action to preserve this critical piece of our nation’s naval heritage,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said.
The Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park is temporarily closing off the museum and all ships to the public.
“It’s a tough day for veterans, it’s a tough day for anybody who has put their time, effort, sweat into making sure that this park can sustain operations and keep and preserve these ships for another generation,” Naval Park President Paul Marzello said. “We are confident that we are going to be able to correct the situation. It doesn’t look very good. But we are going to be back on this as soon as we can find out what is the cause.”
According to Marzello, some sort of incident took place Wednesday night and it’s not clear if it was a seam split or a puncture.
His confidence remains high that the ship can be saved, and there’s good reason for it. Marzello said the rate of water being pumped out exceeds the amount that’s coming in.
“There is no chance that the ship actually going to sink,” Marzello said.
During a conference Thursday afternoon, Marzello said 13,000 gallons of water were being pumped out of the ship every minute.
“Failure is not an option,” Marzello said.
In recent years, the ship has desperately been in need of repairs to prevent it from taking on more water.
Earlier this month, Congressman Brian Higgins made an announcement that about $490,000 in federal funding that had been awarded to the Naval Park.
Saving The Sullivans has been an ongoing effort, with support coming from multiple sources, including at least 25 states and seven countries. The Naval Park has raised more than $1 million to keep it shipshape.
Work to fix the ship started in August but stopped two months later. The plan was to continue the work Monday.
Named for the five Sullivan brothers who were killed in World War II, Rep. Higgins called USS The Sullivans “a critical piece of our maritime history that deserves to be preserved long into the future.”
“As the decommissioned ship shows its age, this funding will ensure that necessary repairs can be completed so it can continue to be toured and enjoyed by veterans, visitors, and community members for many years to come,” Higgins said of the previously announced federal funding.
USS The Sullivans was commissioned in 1943 and later decommissioned in 1965. Earning 11 battle stars over more than two decades. The ship was used in World War II, the Korean War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Today, it sits at the Buffalo Waterfront.
Marzello said there’s a lot of cleanup to be done in the days ahead. Anyone looking to help keep the ship above water can donate here. | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/uss-the-sullivans-sinking-at-naval-park-in-new-york/ | 2022-04-14T22:41:18 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/uss-the-sullivans-sinking-at-naval-park-in-new-york/ |
CIUDAD DE GOSEN, Peru (AP) — Every day for more than two years, Cindy Cueto has woken up in the house she shares with her three children atop a desert hill in Peru’s capital, and wondered: “What are we going to eat?”
The 39-year-old bands together with her neighbors in impoverished Ciudad de Gosen each day to cook up a “common pot” of food, a survival strategy that surfaced in Lima’s sprawling shantytowns with the coronavirus pandemic. It has since expanded to ameliorate the impacts of the rising prices of food, fuel and fertilizer due to global inflation, the war in Ukraine and a government ineffective in keeping its promise to help the most vulnerable.
The common pot, comparable to a small-scale soup kitchen, provides them one meal a day. Cueto and her neighbors try to track down the cheapest food in the markets, buying cow bones, chicken offal, rice and potatoes. They keep their eyes open for any charity from more fortunate Peruvians.
“We don’t buy meat. It’s very expensive, we only have enough for bones to make soup,” Cueto, whose husband works as a security guard, said as she counted her coins. “The money goes like this,” she said, snapping her fingers.
On Monday — like 15 other days since January — the common pot was empty because they failed to raise any money. A day later, after collecting the equivalent of $16, they bought two kilos (4 1/2 pounds) of chicken bones, five kilos of potatoes and the same amount of rice to feed 70 people, especially children and the elderly.
The inflation sweeping the world has hit Peru’s 33 million inhabitants hard, especially the 10 million poor people who live on $3 a day. Monthly inflation in March reached 1.48%, the highest in a quarter of a century. Soaring prices for food and fuel, combined with the inefficiency of President Pedro Castillo’s government, have unleashed violent protests that have caused five deaths and led to calls for Castillo and Peru’s legislators to resign.
According to government data from February, there are at least 3,400 common pots in Peru, 70% of them in Lima. Most are in shantytowns like Ciudad de Gosen, where there is no running water, electricity is scarce and residents have built their own houses and roads in the dusty earth of the desert hills surrounding Lima. Neglected by the government, they now have had to organize their own food supply.
Ciudad de Gosen residents say the price of cooking gas has tripled since the start of the pandemic. Cueto and her neighbors feed the fire under their common pot with wood scraps they are given twice a month as charity from a carpenter’s shop.
Trinidad Espinoza, a local cooking gas vendor, said even she uses firewood.
“I can’t even afford a canister myself,” she said.
The response by Peru’s government to rising hunger and spreading unrest has been ineffective, this despite coming to office on promises to prioritize the poor.
Castillo, a rural teacher before winning election, has changed his Cabinet four times during just nine months in office and been criticized for appointing inexperienced allies and neophytes to key ministries. Peru’s unicameral congress has twice tried to remove him from office.
Surveys by Peru’s major polling companies show about three quarters of Peruvians disapproving of his performance as president, and 79% disapproving of congress.
“They don’t care about people, they fight all the time for their interests,” said Enedina Avilés, 66, who lives alone a few steps from the common pot.
To control the social unrest, protests and road blockades that have hit the Andean country in recent weeks, the government has prohibited protests on major highways for 30 days. It has also lifted a fuel tax, but people complain that prices remain high.
On April 5, authorities briefly ordered Lima’s 10 million residents to stay in their homes and shut down public transport in a lockdown reminiscent of the coronavirus pandemic. A Lima lawmaker angered many when he justified the 22-hour lockdown by calling those living in the impoverished hills surrounding Lima “looters.”
Cueto’s husband, Walter Ríos, works far away from Ciudad de Gosen in a wealthy Lima neighborhood. Without public transportation on April 5, he had to make the 36-kilometer (22-mile) round trip to and from work on foot.
When her husband arrived home that night, she had prepared a bucket of salty water to soak his swollen feet.
“They decide anything without thinking of the consequences,” she said. | https://www.wane.com/news/facing-hunger-perus-poor-band-together-with-common-pots/ | 2022-04-14T22:41:20 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/facing-hunger-perus-poor-band-together-with-common-pots/ |
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Mexican woman died Monday while attempting to climb over the U.S. border wall, according to Arizona authorities.
Deputies with the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office said the woman’s leg became entangled when she attempted to maneuver down on the U.S. side “via a harness similar to rappelling.” Deputies said she was trapped upside down for a “significant amount of time.”
The 32-year-old woman was transported to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.
“These types of incidents are not political, they are humanitarian realities that someone has lost a loved one in a senseless tragedy,” Sheriff Dannels said. ” We have to do better in finding solutions to the challenges facing our border, and we have to do it for the right reasons. Regardless of opinions, it is the facts that should direct our progress and we will keep working towards a shared goal of border safety and security.”
The Mexican Consulate was notified of the incident and contact was made with Mexican authorities who provided additional details to the Sheriff’s Office.
An autopsy will be completed to determine the exact cause of death and the investigation is being continued by the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office. | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/woman-gets-stuck-upside-down-while-climbing-border-wall/ | 2022-04-14T22:41:24 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/woman-gets-stuck-upside-down-while-climbing-border-wall/ |
VICTORVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California shoe store owner opened fire at two shoplifters, police said, but mistakenly shot a 9-year-old girl about to get her picture with a mall Easter bunny. The store owner fled the state and was arrested in Nevada, authorities said Wednesday.
Marqel Cockrell, 20, was chasing the shoplifters out of the store Tuesday evening at the Mall of Victor Valley in the small city of Victorville when he “fired multiple shots at the shoplifters,” Victorville police said in a statement.
“Cockrell’s shots missed the shoplifters and instead hit the 9-year-old female victim,” the statement said.
The girl, identified by family members as Ava Chruniak, had been getting ready for pictures with the Easter bunny in the mall when the shots were fired, said her grandmother, Robin Moraga-Saldarelli. The girl was left with three gunshot wounds, including two in her arm, Moraga-Saldarelli said.
One bullet fractured a bone.
“And it’s the kind of fracture they can’t surgically fix. She’s going to have to wear a special brace for it, and it’s going to take a lot longer to heal,” she told Fox 11 TV in Los Angeles.
“It’ll be awhile before the bone heals and then we will see the extent of the nerve damage, but she’s a trooper. She really is a tough little kid,” Moraga-Saldarelli told KNBC-TV.
Deputies responding to the reports of gunfire found Ava wounded at about 6:30 p.m., the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.
She was airlifted to a hospital in stable condition, officials said. The mall’s stores were locked down and customers sheltered inside as deputies searched for the shooter.
Cockrell, a co-owner of the shoe store Sole Addicts, was arrested in his car at about 9 p.m. in Clark County by the Nevada Highway Patrol, Victorville police said.
He was being held Wednesday for lack of $1 million bail at the Clark County Detention Center “on an extraditable warrant, for attempted murder,” Victorville police said. An extradition hearing was scheduled for Thursday and jail and court records did not indicate whether Cockrell had an attorney representing him who could comment on his behalf.
“I’m glad they caught him and he will definitely pay for this. I really hope they throw the book at him,” Moraga-Saldarelli told KNBC-TV.
The mall was closed Tuesday after the shooting and reopened on Wednesday. | https://www.wane.com/news/police-girl-shot-as-california-shop-owner-fires-at-thieves/ | 2022-04-14T22:41:28 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/police-girl-shot-as-california-shop-owner-fires-at-thieves/ |
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Florida Department of Transportation released a new video showing the moment a trooper risked her life to save a group of runners from a suspected drunken driver on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
Trooper Toni Schuck crashed her patrol SUV into a woman’s vehicle to stop it from hitting runners participating in the Skyway 10k on the morning of March 6.
The new FDOT video shows as the alleged drunk driver comes dangerously close to the Skyway 10k race, and thousands of runners.
“The video confirms what we know happened that day. Trooper Schuck put herself ahead of others to protect them, and of course, danger lurks in all different corners of law enforcement,” said Sgt. Steve Gaskins with Florida Highway Patrol.
The video shows the driver going between two law enforcement vehicles blocking the toll plaza, which was shut down for the race.
Another camera shows the moment Trooper Schuck uses her own cruiser to stop that driver, and the resulting crash.
“I was the last officer, I knew that, I knew it was me,” Schuck said at a press conference shortly after the crash. “If it wasn’t me to get her to stop, then who? I don’t know.”
The other driver, Kristen Kay Watts, 52, of Sarasota is facing multiple DUI-related charges.
Schuck is still recovering from her injuries at home. A date has not yet been set for her to return to duty. | https://www.wfla.com/news/pinellas-county/new-video-shows-hero-trooper-crash-into-alleged-drunk-driver-barreling-toward-skyway-10k-runners/ | 2022-04-14T22:41:30 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/news/pinellas-county/new-video-shows-hero-trooper-crash-into-alleged-drunk-driver-barreling-toward-skyway-10k-runners/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Frank James posted dozens of videos ranting about race, violence and his struggles with mental illness. One stands out for its relative calm: A silent shot of a packed New York City subway car in which he raises his finger to point out passengers, one by one.
Even as police arrested James on Wednesday in the Brooklyn subway shooting that wounded 10 people, they were still searching for a motive from a flood of details about the 62-year-old Black man’s life.
An erratic work history. Arrests for a string of mostly low-level crimes. A storage locker with more ammo. And hours of rambling, bigoted, profanity-laced videos on his YouTube channel that point to a deep, simmering anger.
“This nation was born in violence, it’s kept alive by violence or the threat thereof, and it’s going to die a violent death,” says James in a video where he takes on the moniker “Prophet of Doom.”
After a 30-hour manhunt, James was arrested without incident after a tipster — thought by police to be James himself — said he could be found near a McDonald’s on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Mayor Eric Adams triumphantly proclaimed “We got him!” Police said their top priority was getting the suspect, now charged with a federal terrorism offense, off the streets as they investigate their biggest unanswered question: Why?
A prime trove of evidence, they said, is his YouTube videos. He seems to have opinions about nearly everything — racism in America, New York City’s new mayor, the state of mental health services, 9/11, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Black women.
A federal criminal complaint cited one in which James ranted about too many homeless people on the subway and put the blame on New York City’s mayor.
“What are you doing, brother?” he said in the video posted March 27. “Every car I went to was loaded with homeless people. It was so bad, I couldn’t even stand.”
James then railed about the treatment of Black people in an April 6 video cited in the complaint, saying, “And so the message to me is: I should have gotten a gun, and just started shooting.”
In a video posted a day before the attack, James criticizes crime against Black people and says things would only change if certain people were “stomped, kicked and tortured” out of their “comfort zone.”
Surveillance cameras spotted James entering the subway system turnstiles Tuesday morning, dressed as a maintenance or construction worker in a yellow hard hat and orange working jacket with reflective tape.
Police say fellow riders heard him say only “oops” as he set off one smoke grenade in a crowded subway car as it rolled into a station. He then set off a second smoke grenade and started firing, police said. In the smoke and chaos that ensued, police say James made his getaway by slipping into a R-train going the opposite direction and exited after the first stop.
Left behind at the scene was the gun, extended magazines, a hatchet, detonated and undetonated smoke grenades, a black garbage can, a rolling cart, gasoline and the key to a U-Haul van, police said.
That key led investigators to James, and clues to a life of setbacks and anger as he bounced among factory and maintenance jobs, got fired at least twice, moved among Milwaukee, Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York.
Investigators said James had 12 prior arrests in New York and New Jersey from 1990 to 2007, including for possession of burglary tools, criminal sex act, trespassing, larceny and disorderly conduct.
James had no felony convictions and was not prohibited from purchasing or owning a firearm. Police said the gun used in the attack was legally purchased at an Ohio pawn shop in 2011. A search of James’ Philadelphia storage unit and apartment turned up at least two types of ammunition, including the kind used with an AR-15 assault-style rifle, a taser and a blue smoke cannister.
Police said James was born and raised in New York City. In his videos, he said he finished a machine shop course in 1983 then worked as a gear machinist at Curtiss-Wright, an aerospace manufacturer in New Jersey, until 1991 when he was he was hit by a one-two punch of bad news: He was fired from his job and, soon after, his father whom he had lived with in New Jersey died.
Records show James filed a complaint against the aerospace company in federal court soon after he lost his job alleging racial discrimination, but it was dismissed a year later by a judge. He says in one video, without offering specifics, that he “couldn’t get any justice for what I went through.”
A spokesperson for Curtiss-Wright didn’t immediately respond to a call seeking comment.
James describes going in and out of several mental health facilities, including two in the Bronx borough of New York City in the 1970s.
“Mr. Mayor, let me say to you I’m a victim of your mental health program in New York City,” James says in a video earlier this year, adding he is “full of hate, full anger and bitterness.”
James says he later was a patient at Bridgeway House, a mental health facility in New Jersey, although that could not be immediately confirmed. Messages left with the facility were not returned.
“My goal at Bridgeway in 1997 was to get off Social Security and go back to f—— work,” he says in a video, adding that he enrolled in a college and took a course in computer-aided design and manufacturing.
James says he eventually got a job at telecommunications giant Lucent Technologies in Parsippany, New Jersey, but says he ended up getting fired and returned to Bridgeway House, this time not as a patient but as an employee on the maintenance staff. A message seeking comment was sent to Lucent Technologies.
“I just want to work. I want to be a person that’s productive,” he said.
Touches of that earnest, struggling man showed up after James’ parked car was hit in Milwaukee. Eugene Yarbrough, pastor of Mt. Zion Wings of Glory Church of God in Christ next door to James’ apartment, said James was impressed that the pastor owned up to hitting the car. Neither James nor anyone else was there to see the accident. And James called him up to say so.
“I just couldn’t believe it would be him,” Yarbrough said. “But who knows what people will do?”
___
AP reporters Michael Balsamo in Washington, Deepti Hajela in New York, Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia, Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin and Carrie Antlfinger in Milwaukee contributed to this report.
___
On Twitter follow Bernard Condon at twitter.com/bernardfcondon, Michael Sisak at twitter.com/mikesisak and Michael Kunzelman at twitter.com/Kunzelman75 and send confidential news tips by visiting https://www.ap.org/tips/. | https://www.wane.com/news/prophet-of-doom-subway-suspect-left-ranting-video-clues/ | 2022-04-14T22:41:35 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/prophet-of-doom-subway-suspect-left-ranting-video-clues/ |
POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – The supervisor of elections in Polk County does not care how the updated congressional districts are drawn or who benefits. She just wants them drawn soon.
Her county has nearly half a million registered voters and more than 500 voting precincts.
“It’s just that there’s a lot to do. There’s a lot of moving parts. I figure it should take six to eight weeks to do the job carefully,” Polk County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards said.
For Edwards, the next few months are split up into various deadlines. The primary is Aug. 23. Ballots need to be sent to voters overseas by July. They need to be printed by the end of June.
Filing deadlines for candidates are also approaching.
She says it takes up to two months to perform the work needed to send ballots to the printer.
“I would say the deadline that we need a map by would be the first week in May,” said Edwards. “Our job is to redraw the precincts to align with those new districts and, most importantly, change every single voter record in the state to reflect every new district as well as their new precincts.”
Edwards wrote a legal declaration on a court filing by Common Cause Florida, detailing the demands on her office during redistricting.
News Channel 8 has reached out to the governor’s office, the secretary of state’s office and various lawmakers on Edwards’ concerns and have not heard back.
She has been watching as the Florida legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis go back and forth over their congressional redistricting maps.
Gov. DeSantis vetoed the legislature’s congressional maps, saying a district in northern Florida is unconstitutional.
DeSantis said he will only accept a map that does away with the current configuration of Florida’s 5th congressional district, a wide district stretching across the top of the state linking minority communities in Tallahassee and Jacksonville.
“We are not going to have a 200-mile gerrymander that divvies up people based on the color of their skin,” DeSantis said. “That is wrong. That is not the way we have governed in the state of Florida.”
The legislature is given the authority to draw district maps every 10 years based on census numbers.
In a rare move, leading lawmakers now say they will not prepare their own maps at a special session next week and will wait on the governor to draw a map instead.
“If the legislature follows through and does exactly what it’s saying it will do or that I’m reading it will do, that will be great news because it speeds up the process for us,” Edwards said.
The latest map proposed by the governor’s office would split Polk County further, from three congressional districts into four.
The legislature is set to hold a special session on redistricting beginning next Tuesday. | https://www.wfla.com/news/polk-county/theres-a-lot-to-do-redistricting-delays-concern-polk-supervisor-of-elections/ | 2022-04-14T22:41:36 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/news/polk-county/theres-a-lot-to-do-redistricting-delays-concern-polk-supervisor-of-elections/ |
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia’s war on Ukraine threatens to devastate the economies of many developing countries that are now facing even higher food and energy costs and increasingly difficult financial conditions, a U.N. task force warned Wednesday.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres released the report saying that the war is “supercharging” a crisis in food, energy and finance in poorer countries that were already struggling to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and a lack of access to adequate funding for economic recovery.
“We are now facing a perfect storm that threatens to devastate the economies of many developing countries,” Guterres said at a news conference. “As many as 1.7 billion people — one-third of whom are already living in poverty — are now highly exposed to disruptions in food, energy and finance systems that are triggering increases in poverty and hunger.”
Rebeca Grynspan, secretary-general of the U.N. agency promoting trade and development who coordinated the task force, said those people live in 107 countries that have “severe exposure” to at least one dimension of the crisis — rising food prices, increasing energy prices and tightening financial conditions.
In these countries, the report says, people struggle to afford healthy diets, imports are essential to meet food and energy needs, and “debt burdens and tightening resources limit government’s ability to cope with the vagaries of global financial conditions.”
The report says 69 of the countries, with a population of 1.2 billion people, face a “perfect storm” and are severely or significantly exposed to all three crises. They include 25 countries in Africa, 25 in Asia and the Pacific, and 19 in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, prices were already on the rise, “but the war has made a bad situation worse,” Guterres said.
Thirty-six countries rely on Russia and Ukraine for more than half their wheat imports, including some of the world’s poorest countries, he said, and wheat and corn prices have risen 30% just since the start of the year.
Russia is also the world’s top natural gas exporter and second-largest oil exporter, and Russia and neighboring Belarus export about 20% of the world’s fertilizers. Guterres said oil prices have increased more than 60% over the past year, natural gas prices have jumped 50% in recent months, and fertilizer prices have doubled.
The task force said the world is “on the brink of a global debt crisis.” Grynspan, who heads the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, pointed to Sri Lanka’s default on a debt payment Tuesday and said other countries are asking for help.
Guterres said the world can act to tackle the “three-dimensional crisis” and “cushion the blow.”
The task force calls on countries to ensure a steady flow of food and fertilizer through open markets, lift export restrictions, and direct surpluses and reserves to those in need. Guterres said this would help keep a lid on food prices and calm volatility in food markets.
On energy, the task force urges governments to refrain from hoarding, immediately release strategic petroleum stockpiles and additional reserves, and reduce the use of wheat for biofuels. Guterres urged countries to use the crisis as an opportunity to accelerate the transition to renewable energy.
On finance, the task force issued “an urgent call for prompt and swift action from the international community” to help developing countries avoid another decade of lost economic development, “a generalized debt crisis, and social and political instability.”
The task force says international financial institutions should provide emergency concessional financing to countries experiencing social and economic distress.
It calls on the International Monetary Fund to increase limits for rapid financial assistance, suspend interest rate surcharges for two years, and explore the possibility of providing more liquidity “through special drawing rights or special measures targeted at the vulnerable and most affected countries.”
Guterres said the upcoming spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank on April 18-24 are “a crucial moment” for decisions on many of these issues. He said it is crucial that their members understand the need to use money that is available to alleviate the suffering of people around the world.
The U.N. chief said political will is key, and announced that he has asked six leaders — the presidents of Senegal and Indonesia and the prime ministers of Germany, Barbados, Denmark and Bangladesh — to mobilize political leaders to ensure that developing countries in crisis get the help they need. | https://www.wane.com/news/un-says-ukraine-war-threatens-to-devastate-many-poor-nations/ | 2022-04-14T22:41:42 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/un-says-ukraine-war-threatens-to-devastate-many-poor-nations/ |
ATLANTA (AP) — The Charlotte Hornets were delayed getting to the arena Wednesday for their NBA play-in game against the Atlanta Hawks.
By a freight train, of all things.
Tracks run all around State Farm Arena, a remnant of a time when the area was the site of the city’s two major passenger stations. Both stations were torn down decades ago, but many of the tracks that remain are still frequented by freight trains running near the heart of downtown Atlanta.
One of those trains stopped on a crossing before the game, blocking the Hornets’ chartered buses from reaching the players’ entrance on the bottom level of the arena. The buses were forced to turn around and find an alternate route to the arena. They were delayed about 15 minutes.
Apparently, it slowed the Hornets’ offense. Atlanta routed Charlotte 132-103.
“I’ve never seen that,” Hornets coach James Borrego said. “I’ve been coming to this arena for 20 years, and I’ve never seen a train stop before the game.”
He seemed to imply that the Hawks had something to do with the freight train stopping at the crossing.
“Somebody figure it out. I have no idea,” Borrego said. “But our guys noticed.”
He said the delay fired up the Hornets, However, the Hawks outscored the Hornets 42-24 in the third quarter during a 12-minute barrage, hitting 16 of 24 shots, and led 102-76 heading to the final period.
The 10th-seeded Hornets were looking to earn their way into the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
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More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wane.com/news/weird/choo-choo-hornets-play-in-arrival-blocked-by-freight-train/ | 2022-04-14T22:41:49 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/weird/choo-choo-hornets-play-in-arrival-blocked-by-freight-train/ |
Firefighters scouted the drought-stricken mountainsides around a New Mexico village on Wednesday as they looked for opportunities to slow a wind-driven wildfire that a day earlier had burned at least 150 homes and other structures while displacing thousands of residents and forcing the evacuation of two schools.
Homes were among the structures that had burned, but officials did not have a count of how many were destroyed in the blaze that torched at least 6.4 square miles (16.6 square kilometers) of forest, brush and grass on the east side of the community of Ruidoso, said Laura Rabon, spokesperson for the Lincoln National Forest.
Rabon announced emergency evacuations of a more densely populated area during a briefing Wednesday afternoon as the fire jumped a road where crews were trying to hold the line. She told people to get in their cars and go.
So far, no deaths or injuries were reported from the fire, which has been fanned by strong winds.
The winds prevented forced a suspension of the aerial attack on the flames and kept authorities from getting a better estimate of how large the fire has grown. But some planes returned to the air as winds subsided late in the day, and seven airtankers and two helicopters have now been assigned to the fire, Forest Service officials said Wednesday evening.
While the cause of the blaze was under investigation, fire officials and forecasters warned Wednesday that persistent dry and windy conditions had prompted red flag warnings for a wide swath that included almost all of New Mexico, half of Texas and parts of Colorado and the Midwest.
Five new large fires were reported Tuesday, and nearly 1,600 wildland firefighters and support personnel were assigned to large fires in the southwestern, southern and Rocky Mountain areas, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Hotter and drier weather weather coupled with decades of fire suppression have contributed to an increase in the number of acres burned by wildfires, fire scientists say. And the problem is exacerbated by a more than 20-year Western megadrought that studies link to human-caused climate change. The fire season has become year-round given changing conditions that include earlier snowmelt and rain coming later in the fall.
In Ruidoso, officials declared a state of emergency and said school classes were canceled Wednesday as the village — about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northeast of El Paso, Texas — coped with power outages due to down power lines.
The residences that burned were mostly a mix of trailers and single-family homes, and close to 4,000 people were displaced by evacuations that were ordered Tuesday. That number was expected to grow with the latest call for residents to leave.
Village spokeswoman Kerry Gladden said authorities spent part of Wednesday surveying as much damage as possible before the winds kicked up again. Air tankers also were able to drop a few loads of slurry, and more air support was expected Thursday.
“Right now, everybody is just rallying around those who had to be evacuated,” Gladden said. “We’re just trying to reach out to make sure everyone has places to stay.”
Donations were pouring in from other communities in southern New Mexico. State officials said emergency grants have been approved that will provide resources to firefighters and for other emergency efforts.
Ruidoso in 2012 was hit by one of the most destructive wildfires in New Mexico history, when a lightning-sparked blaze destroyed more than 240 homes and burned nearly 70 square miles (181 square kilometers).
Rabon said Wednesday that no precipitation was in the forecast and humidity levels remained in the single digits, which would make stopping the flames more difficult.
“Those extremely dry conditions are not in our favor,” she said.
Another wildfire in the Lincoln National Forest northwest of Ruidoso burned at least 400 acres (1.6 square kilometers) after it was sparked Tuesday by power lines downed by high winds. Crews confirmed Wednesday that 10 structures there were lost.
Elsewhere in New Mexico, wildfires were burning along the Rio Grande south of Albuquerque, in mountains northwest of the community of Las Vegas and in grasslands along the Pecos River near the town of Roswell.
In Colorado, crews were battling wind-whipped grass fires that had destroyed two homes and forced temporary evacuations.
___
Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Davenport from Phoenix. | https://www.wane.com/news/wind-whips-destructive-wildfires-in-new-mexico-colorado/ | 2022-04-14T22:41:57 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/wind-whips-destructive-wildfires-in-new-mexico-colorado/ |
Why Dolby Atmos-enabled sound bars are still a good choice
While sound bars are better than integrated TV speakers, they haven’t always lived up to their reputation. With Dolby Atmos becoming increasingly common, it’s worth revisiting sound bars to see how much better they are than they used to be. A lot of them are on sale right now, so now’s a great time to get one.
We sat down with resident tech expert Jaime Vazquez to get his thoughts on how and why a Dolby Atmos sound bar is a good investment right now with the current discounts.
What is Dolby Atmos?
Dolby Atmos is a proprietary audio protocol designed for use with home theater systems, such as 7.1-channel surround sound. The protocol separates an audio track into separate streams similar to traditional surround sound. It also adds height channels and data that tells each stream which direction it’s supposed to come from.
Typically, you need satellite speakers mounted above viewers’ heads to take advantage of Dolby Atmos. As Vazquez noted, “The speaker knows where all the other speakers are. You have a much more customized experience because you’re getting things relative to your listening space, as opposed to hoping that the soundtrack matches your room.”
Instead of overhead speakers, Atmos-enabled sound bars leverage multiple drivers pointed in different directions to simulate spatial audio. Vazquez continued, “The big deal with sound bars now is that they got a lot better at bouncing sound around a room. They now are really good at faking surround sound.”
Why Dolby Atmos is worth it
For a few years, Dolby Atmos seemed like more of a marketing stunt than a useful home theater technology. This was largely because media, such as movies and TV shows, must be specifically mastered to support the protocol.
According to Vazquez, “It used to be that Atmos was a feature that was primarily found on Blu-ray discs and the Apple TV. But, the deal is now that if you have the gear, you can log into your Netflix, HBO Max or Paramount+ and give you the surround-sound experience.”
Previously, Dolby Atmos was more for early adopter tech enthusiasts. Now, it’s more worthwhile to be able to play back Dolby Atmos content because of the streaming services that support it. There’s not a single, specific reason why Dolby Atmos sound bars are priced so well right now. Overall, manufacturers are taking advantage of the standard’s increased adoption and offering a wider range of Dolby Atmos sound bars, and they are putting older and more basic models on sale.
How Dolby Atmos sound bars work
Affordable sound bars usually have just two or three full-range speakers, while a quality Dolby Atmos-enabled model will have more. “Typically, a Dolby Atmos sound bar has speakers firing in all directions to mimic the surround-sound effect. Whereas if you’re looking at a 2.1- or a 3.1-channel model, that’s just stereo, not surround,” Vazquez said.
Additionally, acoustic refinements and increased driver efficiency have led to better sound quality, especially in the low end. To sum it up, Vazquez said, “sound bars have hit the sweet spot of reliably being able to produce quality surround effects at an affordable price.”
How to pick a Dolby Atmos sound bar
Vazquez recommends a sound bar that comes with additional satellite speakers. At the top of the line, sound bar setups like the Samsung HW-Q950A boast several drivers in the front in addition to full-range satellites and a powerful subwoofer. The Vizio M512a-H6 costs considerably less, is outfitted with 11 speakers in total and approaches full-on surround sound systems in performance.
However, Vazquez advises caution when looking for an especially affordable solution. “There’s a big gap between budget-friendly and high-quality sound bars,” he said, “and some budget models give the whole category a bad name.” There are exceptions. The TCL Alto 8i delivers decent simulated spatial audio at a low price.
Sound bar features to consider
- Number of inputs: “If you’re a gamer or have multiple devices to plug in, you’ll need more than one input into the sound bar,” Vazquez noted.
- Audio/video connections: Many sound bars let you route the audio and video connection directly through the unit itself, but not all of them do. For some, you’ll need to use the audio return channel function to drive the sound bar. Make sure that your TV supports ARC or eARC before buying a sound bar that doesn’t allow for direct audio input.
- HDR pass-through: If your sound bar does accept direct connections, make sure it supports HDR10 or, ideally, Dolby Vision pass-through to take advantage of modern dynamic contrast.
- Wireless subwoofer: You can’t get a cinematic experience without a dedicated sub.
- Built-in apps: Premium sound bars often include features that tailor the output to the shape of the room, while others have built-in streaming platforms. The former is a great way to improve the audio experience, but most users won’t need the latter.
Best Dolby Atmos sound bars
It’s a high-end sound bar that sounds better than many full-featured surround-sound systems. Sold by Amazon
With two satellites, a subwoofer and consistently accurate sound, this midrange Vizio model is the perfect blend of price and performance. Sold by Amazon
There aren’t any other sound bars in its price range that perform as well. Sold by Amazon
It is more affordable than most and offers particularly impressive bass, although it doesn’t have much in the way of sound enhancement or room correction features. Sold by Amazon
Seven internal drivers help this moderately priced option deliver powerful simulated surround sound without the inconvenience of installing satellite speakers. Sold by Amazon
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Chris Thomas writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.wane.com/reviews/as-dolby-atmos-sound-bars-are-placed-on-deep-discount-is-it-worth-getting-one-now/ | 2022-04-14T22:42:04 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/reviews/as-dolby-atmos-sound-bars-are-placed-on-deep-discount-is-it-worth-getting-one-now/ |
Which electric nail file for thick toenails is best?
Electric nail files, also known as electric nail drills, are the machines most frequently used in salons on both fingernails and toenails. For thick toenails, whether they’re naturally thick or coated in thick polish, you’ll need an electric file with enough power behind it. You should also look for one that includes plenty of bits.
The best electric nail file for thick toenails is the Makartt Electric Nail File. It has more than enough power to handle anything thick and comes with a variety of bits.
What to know before you buy an electric nail file for thick toenails
Power
An electric nail file’s power is measured in revolutions per minute. Most electric files have maximum RPMs between 10,000-30,000, though a few can go faster. Most natural nails can be comfortably filed with 15,000 rpm, but thick natural nails might be better served with 20,000 rpm. If you’re planning to file nails thick from acrylic polish, you’ll need 25,000-30,000 RPMs.
Bits
In order to focus the power of your electric nail file, you’ll need drill bits. Most electric files include a handful to get you started, but you can always buy any bit you may need separately — just be aware that not all bits fit all files. For simple filing, all you need is a bit that holds disposable sanding bands. For trimming and shaping, you’ll need natural-nail and carbide bits for natural and acrylic-coated nails, respectively. Under-nail and pedicure bits are also good choices.
Noise
Drills make noise, but that doesn’t mean an electric nail file has to make too much. Cheap drills have no noise-dampening and can be quite loud. This may not bother you if you’re trimming your own nails. However, if you need to trim clients’ nails, it’s best for their experience if you choose a noise-dampened drill.
What to look for in a quality electric nail file for thick toenails
Hands-free control
If you’re setting out to file your friend’s or client’s toenails, a hands-free control system will make it much easier and faster to finish the task. These typically take the form of foot pedals that can turn the bit off and on and change the direction the drill spins. Most still require hands-on action to alter the speed.
Vibration dampening
When setting out to file thick toenails, you don’t just file one. You file all 10. Cheap electric nail file motors cause the drill to noticeably vibrate, which can make long trimming sessions deeply uncomfortable. Look for a file with a vibration-dampened motor to avoid this issue.
How much you can expect to spend on an electric nail file for thick toenails
Electric nail files for thick toenails need a little more power behind them, so you’ll likely need to spend at least $20-$30. Better options with more bits usually cost $50-$100, while the best options cost $100-$200.
Electric nail file for thick toenails FAQ
Are electric nail files for thick toenails safe?
A. Yes, though the power electric nail files for thick toenails need to have can easily cause damage if you use the file improperly. The first step is to carefully read all use and safety instructions. Then, start cleaning your toenails or fingernails using the lowest possible speed until you feel comfortable using it. Keep increasing the speed little by little in order to get the hang of each speed setting.
How do I maintain an electric nail file for thick toenails?
A. You need to maintain the drill and the bits using separate processes. The drill shouldn’t come in contact with any water. To clean the drill, you’ll need to brush it off or blast it with a can of compressed air. The bits will need to be disinfected, not just cleaned. Start by scrubbing them while in warm soapy water, then let them soak in a metal-safe disinfecting solution for at least 20 minutes. Once done, dry them thoroughly before storing.
What’s the best electric nail file for thick toenails to buy?
Top electric nail file for thick toenails
What you need to know: This is powerful and reasonably priced.
What you’ll love: It has speeds that can reach up to 30,000 rpm, which is powerful enough to file away even tough acrylic nails. Additionally, it has forward and reverse spin modes. It has a hands-free foot switch and includes several drill bits and 30 sanding bands.
What you should consider: A few consumers had issues with overheating — in rare cases, it became hot enough to melt. Others had issues with the motor giving out in a few months.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Top electric nail file for thick toenails for the money
What you need to know: This has just enough power for occasional toenail maintenance.
What you’ll love: It comes packed with accessories, including six drill bits, 30 sanding belts and a pair of nail clippers. The drill has speeds that can reach up to 20,000 rpm and can rotate forward or backward. It comes in silver and green.
What you should consider: A few consumers didn’t receive all the pieces it’s supposed to include. The 20,000 rpm maximum speed setting can’t handle acrylic-covered toenails.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
Imene Portable Professional Nail Drill
What you need to know: This drill is perfect for professional use but may be too strong for at-home pedicures.
What you’ll love: It has a brushless vibration- and noise-dampened motor with variable speeds that can spin in either direction and can reach up to 35,000 rpm. It’s surprisingly small and rechargeable, making it easy to take on the go. It includes six drill bits and six sanding bands.
What you should consider: It’s expensive — too expensive for only occasional use. A few consumers had difficulty understanding the instructions. Few third-party drill bits are compatible.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
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Jordan C. Woika writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.wane.com/reviews/br/beauty-personal-care-br/foot-care-br/best-electric-nail-file-for-thick-toenails/ | 2022-04-14T22:42:11 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/reviews/br/beauty-personal-care-br/foot-care-br/best-electric-nail-file-for-thick-toenails/ |
Which Valentino perfume is best?
Valentino has been one of the preferred fashion and fragrance brands of the rich and famous for more than a few decades. Their perfume is known for exuding elegance and opulence. Introduced for the first time in 1978, Valentino’s perfume line has grown to include numerous enticing concoctions that encompass a variety of fragrance profiles, from sweet and spicy to fruity and sour.
A good place to start is by checking out Valentino Donna Born In Roma Eau de Parfum, a pretty floral fragrance with notes of jasmine, blackcurrant and bourbon vanilla.
What to know before you buy a bottle of Valentino perfume
Perfume concentration
Valentino makes three concentrations of perfume: eau de toilette, eau de parfum and parfum.
- Eau de toilette: This is the weakest of the three but it still carries quite a bit of scent. With 10%-15% pure perfume oils, a high-quality eau de toilette can be intense and last all day.
- Eau de parfum: This is a stronger, longer-lasting fragrance, containing 15%-20% pure perfume oils.
- Parfum: This is the strongest concentration, with between 20%-40% perfume oils. Parfum is also the most expensive because perfume oil is the priciest ingredient in any fragrance.
What to look for in a quality Valentino perfume
Uniqueness
Valentino womenswear, which includes their perfumes, is designed around the philosophy that a “woman must cause heads to turn when she enters a room.” A clear indicator that a perfume adheres to this principle is the extent to which it smells completely one of a kind. The best Valentino perfume will excite your nose and leave a memorable impression on all those around you. This uniqueness is exactly why Valentino fragrances are prized by so many perfume connoisseurs.
Bottle design
Valentino’s partner, both in business and life, Giancarlo Giammetti, was a professional Italian architect at the time of their meeting. Because of this, Valentino perfume bottles have an especially provocative architectural feel and design. Be on the lookout for eye-catching bottles that feature Valentino’s signature three-dimensional spike or subtly tinted glass. These details allow each perfume bottle to serve as a display piece all on its own — even after the perfume is gone.
How much you can expect to spend on Valentino perfume
Expect to spend between $50-$90 for small- and medium-sized bottles of Valentino perfume and between $120-$150 for larger bottles.
Valentino perfume FAQ
Where should I apply my new Valentino perfume?
A. Where you choose to apply your perfume is really a matter of preference. However, there are certain areas you can spray that will naturally increase or decrease the intensity and longevity of your perfume. If you want your scent to smell more intense and last longer, spray it onto areas that are naturally warm and experience friction, such as the inner elbows, neck and the backs of your knees.
Can Valentino perfume expire?
A. Yes, once a bottle of perfume has been opened, it can last an average of two years, sometimes longer if you keep it in a cool area out of direct sunlight. You can tell that the perfume has gone bad if it no longer smells as it should or appears discolored.
What’s the best Valentino perfume to buy?
Top Valentino perfume
Valentino Donna Born In Roma Eau De Parfum
What you need to know: Encapsulated in a stunning studded bottle, this pink perfume has rich floral notes and an invitingly feminine scent profile.
What you’ll love: This scent is sophisticated, boasting top notes of bergamot and jasmine that enliven the senses, middle notes of Bulgarian rose and blackcurrant and base notes of warm vanilla and beechwood. This versatile perfume is bold and sensual and was inspired by the edgy yet elegant style of the nightlife scene in Rome.
What you should consider: Although this is an Eau de parfum, the sweetness of the initial scent doesn’t last as long as some wearers would have liked.
Where to buy: Sold by Sephora, Kohl’s and Ulta Beauty
Top Valentino perfume for the money
Valentino Voce Viva Eau De Parfum
What you need to know: If you’re in the market for a subtle yet long-lasting perfume with a unique scent profile and premium ingredients, look no further than Voce Viva.
What you’ll love: The initial scent profile contains robust top notes of bergamot, mandarin and orange blossom, which lend this perfume a distinct sense of citrus-powered awareness. These top notes eventually give way to heart notes gardenia and crystal moss accord, which is a rare ingredient that gives this perfume a sweet subtlety. Finally, the heart notes fade and the base notes of vanilla and tonka bean settle in.
What you should consider: Some wearers feel that the unique combination of ingredients give it a polarizing scent profile.
Where to buy: Sold by Sephora, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Amazon and Ulta Beauty
Worth checking out
Valentino Donna Yellow Dream Eau De Parfum
What you need to know: One of Valentino’s most popular scents, Donna Yellow Dream has a luxurious scent profile that includes complementary contrasts, such as vibrant florals and sweet musk.
What you’ll love: Introduced in 2021, this is one of Valentino’s newest additions to its perfume line, and as such, it’s properly modern. With top notes of Italian lemon, middle notes of luscious rose petal and base notes of white musk, this perfume is both light and breezy as well as mysterious and sensual.
What you should consider: Some wearers report that this perfume isn’t strong enough given the fact that it’s an Eau de parfum.
Where to buy: Sold by Sephora, Kohl’s and Ulta Beauty
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William Briskin writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.wane.com/reviews/br/beauty-personal-care-br/fragrance-br/the-best-valentino-perfume/ | 2022-04-14T22:42:18 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/reviews/br/beauty-personal-care-br/fragrance-br/the-best-valentino-perfume/ |
County AG Report: Maple Season
Bridgewater & Easton, Maine (WAGM) - The temperatures are warming up and for Maple syrup producers the end of the season is in sight. It’s this weeks County Ag with Newssource 8s Jonathon Eigenmann.
This season in particular has been an up and down season for many maple farms
Bart Bradbury- “The 2022 season for us has been..been ok..it started out; its been a little bit slow, we thought you know the weather is wet, we haven’t had a alot of sun and we haven’t really get that real good stretch of cold nights and warm days. The ideal weather you have is the days that nights that go down into like 20 degrees, then a nice sunny day where it gets up into the 40s or so”.
C.J. King- " The first half of the season then were constantly fighting...frozen pipes and frozen pumps and...extreme changes in...Temperatures which affect our production”.
While the weather hasn’t been ideal, There are a couple of weather patterns that have worked in the producers favor.
Bart Bradbury- " well the snow is a big benefit to us, when we get the snow on the woods, that kinda keeps the..trees from budding out, it keeps them cool...and then of course when the weather gets warmer, you know, the trees; the snow melts and then the trees budd out sooner. You know with the snow that we’ve gotten, thats actually a little bit of a benefit to us to have that snow around the trees to keep them cool”.
One factor that comes to mind to the producers is sustainability of the trees.
Bart Bradbury- " As you tap them, you just gotta be careful on how you manage the trees and don’t overtap them. Just usually put one tap in a tree, unless its a real good size tree, then maybe you can put two taps in it. And then just spread it out over the seasons, over the years, where you tap that tree. In order not to tap it too much and create too much deadwood within the trees”.
C.J. King- “The way that the trees heal and the tap hole closure from previous years, and the stress that the trees get..from the conditions that mother nature throws at it, whether it be..you know stress from drought or flooding or insect damage. We have no control over some of that stuff and those things all affect how well that that tree does”.
Mother nature can also be a factor in the sweetness of the syrup.
Brat Bradbury- “When the season starts out, The sugar content can be a little low, and then we get a little peak during the season as the sugar content within the sap raises a little bit. and then as the tree..you know as the season goes on, and before the trees bud, you tend to lose a little bit of that sugar and that sugar content...lowers a little bit and that it takes a little more sap to make a gallon of syrup as the season concludes”.
The budding of the trees will determining factor of when the season will end. But in any case, it looks to be another sweet end to another maple season.
Jonathon Eigenmann, Newssource 8.
Copyright 2022 WAGM. All rights reserved. | https://www.wagmtv.com/2022/04/14/county-ag-report-maple-season/ | 2022-04-14T22:42:26 | 1 | https://www.wagmtv.com/2022/04/14/county-ag-report-maple-season/ |
Which peach shower curtain is best?
Interior designers are in love with pastels right now — and for good reason. These softened tones open decorators up to the full color spectrum with just about every pastel hue being easy on the eyes. Chief among these is peach, the color of sunsets and fresh pitted fruit.
If you’re looking to add warmth and light to your bathroom, a peach shower curtain is the perfect mood booster. Which you choose comes down to the size of your bathtub and your bathroom’s decor, but you can’t go wrong with the delightful print of the Lifeel Peach Shower Curtain.
What to know before you buy a peach shower curtain
Psychology of peach
Peach is a warm mixture of red and yellow. Its properties put people at ease, projecting calm and contentment. This makes it an excellent color for your bathing routine, imbuing your shower or tub with positive and rejuvenating energy.
Colors that go with peach
As a pastel, peach plays well with other colors. The trick is matching the tone to its opposite and tertiary colors. Peach goes great with soft greens such as turquoise and teal and muted yellows such as ocher. It also pairs well with warm grays and light purples such as mauve. If you don’t want pastel overload, try using peach as an accent by pitting it against rich red backdrops.
Styling a peach shower curtain
Because it’s a bright and happy color, peach thrives when surrounded by open, minimal and natural interiors. Warm, raw woods match the energy of this color, as do rose-tinted metals.
If your decor is inspired by vintage aesthetics, you might find yourself struggling to match the color to luscious and saturated hues. In these scenarios, peach can integrate with the darker browns of antique furniture by using mid-tones to work the eye up to the brighter color. As for the severe black of modern interiors, gold, copper and brass are all great ways to guide your space in a warm direction so peach feels at home.
Solid color vs. patterned
Shower curtains are underappreciated canvases that offer excellent color-blocking potential, but that doesn’t mean you have to go peach all the way. A patterned curtain presents decorators with additional versatility. By opting for a peach motif, you can introduce a neutral backdrop that balances the color out and opens your bathroom’s palette up to further color exploration.
What to look for in a quality peach shower curtain
Material
Shower curtains come in three different materials that determine their look, feel and durability:
- Cotton: Soft, hefty and luxurious, cotton is a premium option that comes at a significant cost compared to other materials. It lasts the longest and can be machine-washed; just be prepared to use a liner to protect it from mold and mildew.
- Vinyl: The budget option, vinyl is completely waterproof but has a plasticky sheen and smell. These curtains are also available in non-toxic, eco-friendly PEVA and EVA.
- Polyester: These synthetic fibers offer a waterproof yet textured curtain material halfway between cotton and vinyl. They’re typically more affordable than cotton, and their durability makes them an attractive substitute, though they don’t last quite as long.
Size
- Standard: At 72 by 72 inches, the standard shower curtain is sized to cover one long edge of your typical bathtub.
- Extra-wide: For everything from claw-foots to basins, extra-wide shower curtains offer the additional coverage necessary to prevent water damage. Sized from 108-180 inches wide, these are designed to wrap around any tub with more than one exposed side.
- Extra-long: High ceilings and tall shower curtain rods leave standard curtains coming up short. Extra-long curtains add 1-2 more feet in length to block spillage and ensure your shower doesn’t look like it’s squeezing into a hand-me-down curtain.
- Narrow: Small bathrooms come with small showers, and excess curtain fabric can bunch up, consuming precious space. Narrow curtains are half the width of standard curtains to cover stalls and other diminutive showers.
Installation
Sewn into the top of your shower curtain are small, plastic- or metal-reinforced holes called grommets. If they’re big enough, you can slide the curtain rod directly through these grommets to install your shower curtain. While this method is the easiest, grommets make it harder to pull your curtain back and forth.
If you want to pull your curtain back with ease without any bunching or if your grommets are too small, you need to use hooks. These require a little more finesse to install but also present a fun decorative opportunity.
How much you can expect to spend on a peach shower curtain
Vinyl shower curtains typically cost $5-$20. Polyester can range from $15-$50, and high-quality cotton can be as much as $60-$120.
Peach shower curtain FAQ
Do I need to use a curtain liner?
A. Shower curtain liners act as a barrier that blocks soap scum, mold and mildew from penetrating your curtain. Cotton shower curtains aren’t waterproof and need these for protection. Neither vinyl nor polyester require a liner, but it can help boost their longevity and makes cleanup a lot easier.
How do I clean my shower curtain?
A. All three materials can be put through the wash; you should do this once a month. Vinyl can also be wiped down with household cleaner and paper towels. Just stay away from bleach, as this can damage the dyes and inks.
What’s the best peach shower curtain to buy?
Top peach shower curtain
What you need to know: This one may be a little on the nose, but the all-over peach motif has a beautiful, summery vibe.
What you’ll love: With a vintage-graphic quality, this curtain is ripe with color. It’s made from polyester and weighted at the bottom so you don’t have to worry about it fluttering about in a draft. It comes with 12 hooks to make installation easy.
What you should consider: You can only get this in a standard size.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Top peach shower curtain for the money
Elaine Karen Vinyl Shower Curtain Liner with Metal Grommets
What you need to know: This vibrant peach liner makes for a great shower curtain on a budget.
What you’ll love: Because it’s made from vinyl, you don’t have to worry about waterproofing with this durable curtain. It’s dyed with a light peach color that can brighten up gloomy bathrooms. The magnets sewn into the bottom help prevent spills and billowing.
What you should consider: This curtain doesn’t come with hooks.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
August Grove Andes Solid Single Shower Curtain
What you need to know: This curtain adds a touch of texture to your bathroom decor with its ruffled design.
What you’ll love: The boho-chic frills of this peach curtain feel like the stuff of royalty. Made from polyester, it retains the fabric qualities of cotton without the risk of water damage. The grommets are subtle, reinforced by a hem rather than plastic or metal.
What you should consider: This is only available in standard sizing.
Where to buy: Sold by Wayfair
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Karl Daum writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.wane.com/reviews/br/bed-bath-br/shower-accessories-br/best-peach-shower-curtain/ | 2022-04-14T22:42:25 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/reviews/br/bed-bath-br/shower-accessories-br/best-peach-shower-curtain/ |