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Local | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/5-year-old-girl-shot-while-sitting-in-car-seat-police-say/4469470/ | 2023-07-01T05:31:15 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/5-year-old-girl-shot-while-sitting-in-car-seat-police-say/4469470/ |
VACAVILLE, Calif. — Over 5,500 Vacaville residents are without power Friday evening, according to PG&E outage maps.
The outage began around 8:16 p.m. and is expected to be restored by 11:15 p.m., according to PG&E.
This comes as temperatures reach triple digits ahead of the holiday weekend.
An Excessive Heat Warning and Heat Advisory has been issued for most of Northern California, kicking in Friday and likely lasting through Sunday.
The cause of the outage is under investigation.
See the latest outage map here: | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/vacaville-power-outage/103-be0483ed-8ab9-41be-9292-6abb76018397 | 2023-07-01T05:31:15 | 0 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/vacaville-power-outage/103-be0483ed-8ab9-41be-9292-6abb76018397 |
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Local | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/coyote-attacks-two-people-dog-in-new-jersey-community/4469471/ | 2023-07-01T05:31:21 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/coyote-attacks-two-people-dog-in-new-jersey-community/4469471/ |
100th birthday celebration
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Air quality moves organizations, activities inside | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/100th-birthday-celebration/article_74b291f0-1786-11ee-b8e6-0fc3340c99a5.html | 2023-07-01T05:32:45 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/100th-birthday-celebration/article_74b291f0-1786-11ee-b8e6-0fc3340c99a5.html |
A Fort Wayne man accused of fatally shooting two teens and injuring another in 2021 accepted a plea agreement that drops a life without parole charge but leaves him facing a sentence of up to 190 years.
Joseph Bossard is accused of shooting and killing 19-year-olds Joshua Cooper and Anderson Retic, as well as critically injuring then-19-year-old Jaylin Rice.
Bossard originally faced seven charges, including two counts of murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery, criminal recklessness, a sentencing enhancement for using a gun in the alleged offenses. He also faced life without parole in prison.
Per a plea agreement signed Thursday by the 34-year-old defendant, Bossard pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, attempted murder and the firearm enhancement. In exchange, the aggravated battery charge, criminal recklessness charge and life-without-parole charge will be dropped.
Bossard is set to be sentenced Aug. 11, at which time Allen Superior Court Judge David Zent will decide whether to accept the plea. If the plea is accepted, Zent would have full authority to determine the sentences for each charge. But the plea specifies the sentences must be served consecutively.
The shooting was captured by security camera footage from the gas station where the slayings took place. In the videos, Bossard can be seen getting into an argument with the three teens shortly before the shooting, according to a probable cause affidavit written by Fort Wayne police Officer Donald Lewis.
After circling the car the men were in, Bossard left and returned four minutes later, court records show. In the video, he could be seen approaching the teens’ car before shooting at the driver’s side.
The teens drove away from the gas station, followed by Bossard, according to court documents. Police later found the victims in and around the vehicle, which had crashed into a snowbank.
Several people demonstrated a week after the Feb. 17, 2021, shooting, calling for Bossard to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. They pointed to the races of the defendant, who is white, and the victims, who were Black, calling into question whether the shooting was racially motivated.
A statement from ChangeMakers, a local social and racial justice advocacy group, a week after the shooting called for four demands to be met:
• An investigation including full release of statements, interviews, records, video footage, recordings and 911 calls;
• An investigation that “reflects the fact that (Bossard) likely acted within his own racial bias”;
• That no plea agreements be offered to Bossard;
• And for Bossard to be charged with two counts of murder and one of attempted murder.
After nearly a year since the shooting, a months-long attempt to determine if Bossard was fit to stand trial ended in Zent ordering that the defendant was competent.
A second evaluation in 2022 determined Bossard was incompetent to support his defense. During the most recent competency hearing in March, Bossard was once again found competent. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/man-accused-of-2021-slayings-of-two-teens-accepts-plea-agreement/article_e396333a-175c-11ee-a1ec-4b88829c62f5.html | 2023-07-01T05:32:51 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/man-accused-of-2021-slayings-of-two-teens-accepts-plea-agreement/article_e396333a-175c-11ee-a1ec-4b88829c62f5.html |
Sentencing was postponed Friday for a Fort Wayne man accused of causing the death of his 6-year-old daughter while driving recklessly.
A Lee, 38, instead is scheduled to be sentenced July 21 after being screened for alternative placement to serve a sentence not to exceed two years under a plea deal. The request to continue the sentencing came from Gregory Ridenour, Lee’s attorney.
Ridenour said Lee is the main provider for his wife and children, and his sentence would be best served near them. Ridenour said Lee would be able to stay with his mother, who lives close to the family’s home.
The attorney mentioned home detention, commonly known as house arrest, or residential services, a city-based facility that would allow Lee to continue working and living in the community, as two options for alternative placement.
Deputy Prosecutor Adam Mildred said he would not object to alternative placement but pointed to Lee’s past convictions for domestic violence as a concern. Mildred added that Lee has had more than 15 prior charges for driving without a valid license and has apparently never had a valid driver’s license.
Allen Superior Court Judge David Zent said he would reschedule the sentencing so that Ridenour could make the “best argument possible” for Lee. But, he said, Lee should not expect to serve his time anywhere but in prison.
“I’ll be honest, it’s highly unlikely I’ll approve that,” Zent said.
Lee signed a plea agreement April 26, pleading guilty to reckless homicide. In exchange for his guilty plea, a driving with a suspended license charge would be dismissed. If Zent accepts the agreement at sentencing, Lee would be sentenced to six years, including two years spent behind bars.
Lee is accused of driving recklessly in 2020, leading to an accident that claimed the life of his daughter, Fara Na Ha. The 6-year-old girl was found by a passenger of the vehicle Lee collided with. The girl was pinned under a car door.
As he was loaded into an ambulance, Lee told police his brother was driving the vehicle and ran from the scene, according to a probable cause affidavit written by Allen County Sheriff’s Department Officer Brent Bollinger. Witnesses said they did not see anyone run from the car.
Bollinger asked a nurse caring for Lee for the name of the child, who was admitted into the hospital as “Columbus Doe,” according to court documents. The nurse said Lee told her he did not know the child and that he was not driving.
Police were able to locate Lee’s wife and ask who the girl was, court records show, and the woman said the child was Lee’s daughter. The mother told a Department of Child Services caseworker that Lee took the girl to get a snack around 2 a.m.
During an interview with Lee in 2021, the same DCS caseworker spoke to Lee, who said he took his daughter driving “from one stop sign to another” because the girl did not want to go home yet, the probable cause affidavit shows. Lee said they were on their way home when the crash happened but he did not remember anything after the wreck.
Evidence from the crash indicated to police the girl was not restrained in the car, according to court records, and the DCS caseworker told police Lee said he was aware the girl would unbuckle her seat belt. The caseworker said Lee admitted not checking if child was buckled in properly.
Lee was charged with reckless homicide and driving with a suspended license in connection to the 2020 accident in August. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/sentencing-continued-for-man-accused-of-2020-reckless-homicide-of-6-year-old-daughter/article_8e4dbc36-1752-11ee-b853-5b6d4f9181f5.html | 2023-07-01T05:32:57 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/sentencing-continued-for-man-accused-of-2020-reckless-homicide-of-6-year-old-daughter/article_8e4dbc36-1752-11ee-b853-5b6d4f9181f5.html |
An equestrian trail coming to southeast Allen County is expected to fill a gap for an area that ranks fourth in the state for the number of horses owned.
The Allen County commissioners broke ground Thursday for what will be the area’s first publicly accessible horse trails, 10 miles of paths starting at 5434 E. Paulding Road in Fort Wayne.
“It’s just something we are missing in terms of amenities,” said Commissioner Rich Beck, who also owns horses with his wife on their small farm.
Beck said the currently unnamed trail system will include features missing in many public riding spots: areas with equestrian obstacles and a ramp and concrete pads to help those who use wheelchair or walkers mount a horse.
Other planned features include a well for watering horses and parking at the trailhead off Paulding, he said. The trails will be developed in loops so riders can more easily choose how long they want to ride.
The site will be only for horses and daytime use, and it won’t offer horse rentals, he said. A collection box will be there to pay fees on the honor system, much like Metea Park.
Long time coming
Beck became involved with creating public trails in 2019. Officials from Visit Fort Wayne approached county officials about a place to ride. Commissioners Nelson Peters and Therese Brown asked Beck to take the lead because of his equestrian experience.
But work to bring horse trails to Allen County started roughly 18 years ago, Beck said. Lynn Sroufe, a horse owner, and Dawn Ritchie, Fort Wayne Greenways & Trails manager, attempted to drum up interest but couldn’t find the political support needed to make it happen.
“Back then, trails weren’t as popular,” Beck said.
He contacted Sroufe and Ritchie, and the county held a public meeting in 2019 to gauge interest in having someplace local to ride, he said. More than 100 people attended the meeting, and not all were from Allen County, Beck said.
Sroufe said she and other horse riding enthusiasts then started a non-profit steering committee, Three Rivers Horse Trails. They recruited people with various skills to help the site get built and to maintain the trails after they’re finished.
Sroufe is the organization’s president, and she’s a seasoned endurance rider. The only local option to practice that is alongside roads, she said. It’s not a great option, though, because asphalt is hard on hooves, she said.
Riders can have trouble because drivers aren’t always courteous to people on horses or bikes. Also, horses – despite their size – are prey animals and easily spooked if not trained to remain calm despite distractions.
The Allen County trails’ obstacle areas will help riders desensitize horses using gates, sharp turn paths, teeter-totter boards, poles to walk over and other challenges.
Andi Adams, vice president for Three Rivers Horse Trails, said the Salamonie Reservoir in Huntington has the nearest trails dedicated to horses and riders. Many Allen County residents must drive their horses at least an hour for someplace to ride. The longest most horse enthusiasts will drive for a day trip is two hours, she said.
Since the planned local site was announced in the last few years, Three Rivers Horse Trails has heard from equestrians from Lafayette, Michigan and Ohio who are excited about coming to Allen County, Adams said. The trails will be a destination and an economic benefit for Allen County because those riders will spend money on gas, food and horse feed, she added.
Horsing around
When it comes to horses, Allen County is an Indiana leader with 4,082, according to the 2017 U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture. The county ranks fourth among the state’s 92 counties.
In 2017, the two Indiana counties with the largest horse populations were LaGrange with 14,720 and Elkhart with 6,626, census data showed. Both are less than a two-hour drive from Allen County. The county with the third largest population is Daviess with 4,628, in southwest Indiana.
Local horse-based therapy programs will also benefit from having easily accessible trails.
Allison Wheaton, director of Summit Equestrian Center, said having a place for longer rides will make a difference for those who receive physical and emotional therapy from her organization. The center, at 10808 La Cabreah Lane in northern Fort Wayne, is on a 4-acre farm, which Wheaton said isn’t a lot of land.
The center’s staff and clients often drive to Salamonie Reservoir; Battle Creek, Michigan; and other places, she said. The organization will still travel after the Allen County site opens, but Wheaton said she said her group will probably use the local site at least once a month.
Beck said the trails will cost about $298,000. The commissioners awarded the project in May to Krafft Water Solutions out of St. Joe. The company’s bid for was $172,000 less than the $470,000 engineers projected.
A $250,000 Indiana Trails Program grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources will cover most of the costs. The grant, which the county received in 2021, required the commissioners to pay for 20% of expenses, including $400,000 in engineering, but the lower bid means they’ll pay only the difference between the grant and Krafft’s bid.
Beck said the county commissioners will own the trail system and are looking to trim expenses to build and maintain it.
The county and Three Rivers Horse Trails are looking into business sponsorships for the park name and for the obstacles areas. Organizations that provide financial support could earn naming rights, Sroufe said.
Most of the construction costs will be for the special features and gravel at the trailhead area. The rest of the paths will be dirt, which makes them easy to maintain. The county will try to avoid cutting down trees to make the proposed paths.
Beck said Krafft is committed to building a first-class trail because the company’s owners are horse lovers.
Taking the reins
Allen County owns most of the property for the trails. The commissioners originally planned for the trail to be 5 miles long on land west of the Allen County Sheriff’s Department Regional Training Center and shooting range on Adams Center Road. It’s part of the site once proposed for the new Allen County jail.
Part of the additional 5 miles will go on the southern part of 64 acres the county bought at a tax sale, Beck said. That land lies along Meyer Road and is the former home of a demolition and heavy crane operation company. The commissioners plan to sell the large building on the north side and keep a smaller one for storage, he added.
The farmer to the north left a 10-foot space along his fields for the county to use, Beck said. Paths already exist in the woods north of the ditch, so work in some areas will simply be clearing ways for horses to go.
Site maintenance will primarily include mowing paths and removing fallen trees, he said. Indiana Trail Riders Association makes rounds to trails throughout the state to help with trees and do clean up, so Three Rivers Horse Trails members will have that support in maintenance. Horse riders help each other, Beck added.
Megan McClellan, executive director of Fort Wayne Trails, said the area needs publicly accessible places to ride horses. The city’s 134 miles of trails are solely for walkers, bikers and non-motorized transportation including in-line skates and scooters.
Horses aren’t allowed on other local trails except on small areas for special events, such as Trot the Trail, when a section is designated for a few hours’ use, said McClellan, who is also a board member for the Three Rivers Horse Trails.
Beck said the city trails’ asphalt is slippery for horses, and many people don’t realize what kind of danger an animal that size can be to the rider and others on a mixed-use trail.
McClellan said having designated horse trails will mean the horses will have a better venue for their requirements – and fewer conflicts with bicyclists, hikers and joggers.
When people want to ride horses on the trail system, she has to say they can’t. But soon, McClellan said, she’ll be able to say she knows of a local option. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/horse-trail-expected-to-fill-need-for-equestrians/article_0340b0c2-1521-11ee-bd97-276a7a223603.html | 2023-07-01T05:33:03 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/horse-trail-expected-to-fill-need-for-equestrians/article_0340b0c2-1521-11ee-bd97-276a7a223603.html |
Mary Ann Anderson doesn’t want anyone telling her what she can and can’t read.
That’s why the Peabody Public Library patron attended the “Proud Peabody Patrons for Pride” event at the Columbia City library. The event was in response to negative reactions from community members about two LGBTQ+ pride displays in the library’s adult and young adult sections.
Library staff couldn’t keep the books on their shelves during the hourlong event because people coming to show their support kept checking out the selections. Staff members had to hunt for new books to provide patrons who came during the second half of the event.
Anderson chose a book about Megan Rapinoe, a gay American soccer player, because of her soccer-playing granddaughters. Anderson said she is excited to read about Rapinoe’s lively personality.
But, more than anything, she wanted to support the library staff’s dedication to free speech, Anderson said.
“We need to have the freedom to choose what we want to read,” she said. “And I admire the library for standing up for that.”
The library’s displays received criticism from some community members who took their concerns to Whitley County Commissioners Chad Banks, Rob Schuman and Theresa Baysinger. The commissioners responded with a statement denouncing the “promotion of sexuality” displayed at the library.
“We believe the library should serve as an educational resource but should refrain from teaching or endorsing sexuality,” the statement signed by the commissioners read.
The commissioners, who have no control over library happenings, ended the statement by encouraging residents to contact the library’s Board of Trustees to express their concerns – and many did. Peabody Public Library Trustee Lori Shipman said she received numerous emails from community members.
Many of those emails, however, were obviously from people who had not seen the displays, she said. But the comments against the display were outnumbered by emails in support, Shipman said. Regardless, she said, the Peabody Public Library is not in the business of silencing any voice.
“At the end of the day, our library (is) not here for censorship,” she said. “And when people are telling us to take down a display because it’s something they don’t believe in, that is censorship.”
Shipman said the past month has made her lose respect for some people, but she hopes they can earn it back after some self-reflection. Especially those who make hateful comments directly to LGBTQIA+ people.
“When I think about the tone and the words that were in some of the negative emails that I received, it broke my heart to think about a person in our community who puts up with that every day out there,” Shipman said. “It’s pretty life-changing for me to walk a mile in their shoes and not even scratched the surface of what some people have to take.”
Library patrons Mindy Jagger and Jill Carnahan said they were proud of the support for the displays.
“I’m really proud that our community didn’t just back down and let the bullies be bullies (but) really showed up to show these people that you cannot control or limit resources that our community has,” Carnahan said.
The only thing they were disappointed in was the negative reactions to the display – specifically the commissioners’ statement.
“That really gave a bad impression of our community,” Jagger said.
Nathan Gotsch, who helped organize the event, also produced the local, independent “Marian, Or the True Tale of Robin Hood” production that Carroll High School students put on after the school play was canceled. He said he was impressed with the turnout to support the library.
“I think it just shows that the majority of folks here in Whitley County are welcoming and supportive,” Gotsch said. “And they love their library.”
Other than a note, written in child-like handwriting with a crayon, that said “Don’t be gay,” the event did not have any on-site pushback.
“When you come and look at these displays, there is nothing controversial about them,” Gotsch said. “If you have a problem with Elton John’s biography being displayed in a library, I think that that’s more on you than on the people who created the display.”
Mike Ashby, Peabody library’s executive director, said the displays included books that had LGBTQIA+ characters or were non-fiction books about queer people.
“It was not an in-your-face, sexual in nature (display),” Ashby said.
Gotsch said all of the supporters were card-carrying library patrons from Whitley County.
“The reality is, there’s a lot of keyboard warriors out there,” he said, “but there’s many more people who are in support of a welcoming community, a community that embraces diversity.” | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/local-politics/supporters-clear-peabody-public-library-out-of-books-in-pride-displays/article_aa9306b4-176e-11ee-9b54-7bc428228c84.html | 2023-07-01T05:33:09 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/local-politics/supporters-clear-peabody-public-library-out-of-books-in-pride-displays/article_aa9306b4-176e-11ee-9b54-7bc428228c84.html |
The chart lists crimes through June 26 investigated by the Fort Wayne Police Department including burglary, robbery and thefts from vehicles. An attempted robbery or burglary is classified as an actual robbery or burglary, respectively. The listed addresses are those where crimes were reported and are not necessarily where the crimes occurred.
Sector 4B
6/25/23 6 a.m. Theft from vehicle 300 E. Washington Blvd.
Sector 11
6/21/23 10:20 p.m. Theft from vehicle 1000 Ridgewood Drive
6/24/23 9 p.m. Theft from vehicle 600 Third St.
Sector 15
6/24/23 3:03 a.m. Burglary 4800 Coldwater Road
Sector 17
6/25/23 12:25 p.m. Burglary 8900 Lima Road
Sector 21
6/21/23 11 p.m. Theft from vehicle 1500 Crescent Ave.
6/22/23 9 p.m. Burglary 1400 Oneida St.
6/24/23 10:20 p.m. Robbery 1700 Hillside Ave.
Sector 22
6/25/23 11:56 a.m. Robbery 4600 Heatherwind Drive
Sector 24
6/21/23 1:30 p.m. Theft from vehicle 3700 Dean Drive
6/24/23 3 p.m. Burglary 5100 Truemper Way
6/24/23 5 p.m. Theft from vehicle 3300 Academic Place
Sector 36
6/22/23 9:35 a.m. Robbery 5000 Bluffton Road
Sector 41
6/24/23 1:30 p.m. Theft from vehicle 1200 Roy St.
6/24/23 5 p.m. Robbery 900 E. Washington Blvd.
Sector 43
6/24/23 Midnight Theft from vehicle 3100 Queen St.
6/24/23 4:50 p.m. Theft from vehicle Holly and
Harvester avenues
6/25/23 12:30 a.m. Theft from vehicle 2700 Chestnut St.
Sector 44
6/20/23 11:47 p.m. Burglary 3500 Weisser Park Ave.
6/22/23 9 p.m. Theft from vehicle 800 Hamilton Ave.
Sector 47
6/21/23 10:19 a.m. Theft from vehicle 7600 S. Anthony Blvd.
6/24/23 7:18 p.m. Burglary 1000 Farwood Ave.
Sector 48
6/25/23 Midnight Theft from vehicle 6700 Autumn View Drive
6/25/23 9 a.m. Burglary 7200 Treverton Drive
6/25/23 9:49 p.m. Burglary 2700 E. Paulding Road | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/crime-reports/crime-reports/article_731b76f6-1775-11ee-b94b-1786f2635bef.html | 2023-07-01T05:33:16 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/crime-reports/crime-reports/article_731b76f6-1775-11ee-b94b-1786f2635bef.html |
An Orland man has been arrested and charged with felony rape with a deadly weapon, the Steuben County Sheriff’s Department said Friday in a news release.
Deputies were called to Cameron Hospital in Angola about 4:45 a.m. Thursday because a woman with injuries reported a sexual assault at a Milgrove Township residence near Lake Pleasant.
The woman was treated for minor injuries and told detectives several details about the incident and suspect, Sheriff Rodney Robinson said in the news release.
Detectives said they identified the suspect as 30-year-old Jorge Juarez Lopez. No further details were included in the news release, and a probable cause affidavit was not immediately available Friday.
Lopez was arrested and charged with felony rape with a deadly weapon and misdemeanor fraud.
The sheriff’s department was assisted by the Indiana Department of Child Services and the Orland, Angola and state police.
The investigation is ongoing. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/orland-man-charged-with-rape-with-a-deadly-weapon/article_11ecfc46-1785-11ee-8b11-abfe09f477be.html | 2023-07-01T05:33:22 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/orland-man-charged-with-rape-with-a-deadly-weapon/article_11ecfc46-1785-11ee-8b11-abfe09f477be.html |
Companies large and small sign on to sponsor portions of the Three Rivers Festival each year.
Imperial Trophy & Awards donates all the trophies, plaques and ribbons organizers hand out during the annual nine-day event.
“We’ve supported the festival since its inception in 1969. I think we’re one of the oldest sponsors,” Kim Coble said. She and her brother, Randy Loy, now own and operate the company their father founded in 1965.
Sweetwater Sound, which employs more than 2,000, has been a sponsor for 15 years or more, spokeswoman Heather Herron said through email Thursday. This year, the music technology and instrument retailer is sponsoring the concert series and the school marching bands that participate in the parade.
“We are pleased to be able to support the students who participate in their local high school marching bands and enjoy watching them pursue their passion for making music,” CEO John Hopkins said in a statement. “At Sweetwater, we do all we can to provide opportunities for young musicians to share their talents with others in the community.”
Sarah Strimmenos, Old National Bank’s Fort Wayne market president, described the bank as a long-time festival sponsor. Employees walk in the parade and give candy to children lining the streets.
“It’s mainly about our team,” she said. “It’s a great bonding experience.”
For Imperial Trophy, and likely others, the exposure that comes from sponsoring the festival doesn’t hurt either.
“Obviously, it’s a great way to get our name out as well,” Imperial Trophy’s Coble said.
Companies rarely want to be associated with an event that’s in upheaval.
Coble said she and her brother carefully consider which local nonprofits to support.
“Every penny counts in a small, family-owned business,” she said, adding that an event’s quality is among the things they consider. The Three Rivers Festival continues to earn their sponsorship commitment, which amounts to about $5,000 a year.
“We feel it’s a very good thing for downtown,” she said.
Some critics have questioned the Three Rivers Festival’s stability because three leaders have left the nonprofit in the past two years, beginning with the March 2021 departure of Jack Hammer, long-time executive director.
John Nichter, the festival board’s president, said numerous festival fans reached out to offer financial and other support after seeing spring media reports of the most recent leadership departure and a couple of sponsors ending their association with the event. New sponsors include Norfolk Southern Railroad and Masters Heating & Cooling.
Even before this year, board members and the festival’s hundreds of volunteers have partnered on committees to plan and carry out most of the annual festival’s events, Nichter said.
The paid staff handles logistics, including ordering supplies and processing booth rental contracts.
Nichter said that before joining the board he didn’t realize how much of the work is done by dedicated board members and volunteers.
Old National’s Strimmenos said bank officials trust that the festival’s board will work through any challenges.
“Every organization experiences turnover and growth,” she said. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/sponsors-key-to-three-rivers-festival/article_5f07948a-115b-11ee-bfce-7f494034825c.html | 2023-07-01T05:33:28 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/sponsors-key-to-three-rivers-festival/article_5f07948a-115b-11ee-bfce-7f494034825c.html |
The Three Rivers Festival is a mostly money-losing effort heavily dependent on sunny skies and robust attendance, an inherent risk for outdoor summertime events.
During the decade beginning Jan. 1, 2011, Fort Wayne’s premiere festival outspent its revenue in seven of 10 years, resulting in a loss of more than half a million dollars during those years, according to federal tax filings that The Journal Gazette reviewed.
Those shortfalls were partially offset by surpluses recorded on the 2011, 2012 and 2015 filings. When combined, the annual event lost $387,193 during the decade that ended with the financial report for 2020. That year’s event was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The loss that non-festival year was $7,150, the second lowest of the seven shortfalls recorded.
The festival’s finances have since rebounded with robust post-pandemic attendance driven by clear skies and relatively comfortable temperatures, said John Nichter, president of the Three Rivers Festival’s board. Although the tax filings aren’t yet available for review, the revenues generated by the 2021 and 2022 festivals allowed the nonprofit to create “a healthy rainy day fund,” Nichter said during a 2½-hour interview with The Journal Gazette last week. He declined to disclose exact figures.
Despite that rally, the resignations of three paid executives and at least three board members in the last 2½ years raised questions earlier this year about whether the Three Rivers Festival will happen this year. Nichter never had any doubt. The 54th annual event kicks off Friday with the opening of amusement park rides and Junk Food Alley. The city’s biggest annual festival will conclude nine days later with the traditional fireworks finale on July 15.
The Journal Gazette reviewed 10 years of tax filings by the Three Rivers Festival Executive Board Inc. to gain an understanding of its financial health.
As a nonprofit, the organization files IRS Form 990, which is available for public inspection. The filing that included information for the 2011 festival included just nine months of information, beginning Jan. 1, 2011. After that, individual Three Rivers Festival filings covered the time period from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 and were dated the year each fiscal year began. As a result, the organization filed two returns bearing the year 2011.
Evaluating whether various expenditures were prudent or extravagant isn’t as easy as it might seem, however. A statewide industry expert said tax filings don’t tell the full story.
Gaining perspective
Doug Weisheit has been coordinator of the Indiana State Festivals Association since 2010. Before that, he spent 23 years on the board for the organization, which includes 600 member festivals.
As a full-time banker who also volunteers with the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival, Weisheit knows the ins and outs of festival financial reports.
Weisheit said the line item for advertising, for example, captures only a portion of the total paid promotional efforts because sponsors, vendors and others also buy billboards, newspaper ads and broadcast spots. Such advertisements might highlight the festival with the dates and location – with just one sentence suggesting that festivalgoers buy a breaded tenderloin during their visit or stop by the Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance booth to talk to an agent.
Some city or county convention and visitors bureaus designate part of their budgets for promoting local festivals, which attract tourists who spend money in local restaurants, hotels and shops, he said.
A two-page ad in the 2023 Indiana Festival Guide promotes the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival and the Parke County Maple Syrup Festival, but the cost won’t be reflected on either organization’s tax filing. The Parke County Convention and Visitors Commission covered the full $3,900 price tag, Weisheit said.
As a result, he said, it’s impossible to measure whether a festival had adequate promotion based on how much it spent.
Advertising and promotion spending by the Three Rivers Festival hovered around 10% of total expenses each year that was reviewed. It’s unclear how much was spent by its sponsors and others.
Promotion plays a significant role in attracting festivalgoers. But no amount of advertising is going to draw crowds when it’s pouring rain or temperatures soar over 100 degrees, festival professionals said. Attendance estimates in the festival’s good years are about 300,000, based on city-owned technology that counts cellphone signals in a given area. Nichter reasons that number is an undercount because many children don’t carry cellphones and some adults select privacy settings that keep their phone signals from being counted.
Nichter, who is in his sixth year as a Three Rivers Festival board member, can’t explain what caused the losses recorded before he became a director. But he knows the financial realities he has dealt with during his three years as board president. His tenure includes 2020, the year without a festival.
“Coming out of COVID, we didn’t know how the festival was going to go, so we were very frugal,” he said.
Even so, planning a festival requires making certain financial commitments months before having any idea how much income will be generated by the event. Those commitments include signing contracts to pay entertainers, fireworks providers, off-duty police and trash haulers.
Neysa Jones, director of the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival, said financial strain for that 10-day event includes paying for portable toilets, tents, sound systems, insurance and other necessities.
The biggest challenge with the finances is “you have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars to put on a festival before you can even book vendors, who are a major source of income, she said. “It gets stressful sometimes.”
In what could be viewed as a stroke of luck, the organizations hired to haul away the trash for the Three Rivers Festival in 2021 and 2022 failed to provide the service. That forced festival board members to show up early each morning and haul away the previous day’s garbage. But it also saved the festival about $10,000, Nichter said.
Show me the money
The festival’s revenue comes from sponsorships, booth rental fees, merchandise sales, ticket sales and parking lot fees. Although an estimated 80% of festival events don’t charge admission, a few do. Those include concerts on several evenings; Beer, Bands and Bingo night on Tuesday; and the drag show on Monday evening.
Ticket prices range from $2 for Beer, Bands and Bingo night to $25 for the opening concert featuring headliner band Joseph, three sisters from Portland, Oregon, whose ethereal harmonies elevate their pop/folk songs. Addison Agen, a local singer who the runner-up on Season 13 of “The Voice,” is the opening act. Ticket buyers wearing a Three Rivers Festival button receive a $2 discount on all concerts, according to the festival’s website.
One strategy for holding down expenses has been to book more local performers rather than national acts, Nichter said. It’s a tradeoff, he said, because big names charge big money to perform – but they also draw bigger audiences. The last time the festival looked into booking Willie Nelson, the cost was $75,000, Nichter said, adding that any national music act charges $50,000 or more.
Nichter is still smarting from a lightning storm in 2015 that caused the festival’s headliner concert to be canceled at the last minute over safety concerns. Pink Droyd, a Pink Floyd cover band, still had to be paid as did the companies providing sound, lighting and other services, he said. But all the tickets sold were refunded. That unexpected cancellation put a significant dent in the festival’s finances that year.
With that experience in mind, festival organizers are now trying to stay in the $20,000-to-$30,000 range for its biggest acts, Nichter said.
“We’re not a music festival. Our big thing is to get people to come downtown and celebrate Fort Wayne and all that Fort Wayne has to offer,” he said. “We try to keep things very low cost so that families can attend.”
Nichter’s relationship with the festival began during his childhood. The 2002 North Side High School graduate fondly remembers sleeping over at his grandparents’ house the night before the parade and lining up along the curb on a blanket with his four younger siblings at 5 a.m. to wait for the floats and marching bands to appear.
“The festival was a tradition for our family – coming down for the fireworks and the food,” he said.
Nichter, 39, has volunteered with the festival since he was in high school. Early on, he relied on his emergency medical technician training to organize the festival’s all-volunteer first aid response team. When there wasn’t money in the budget for matching T-shirts to help festivalgoers easily identify the team, Nichter dug into his own pocket to buy them for $311. He also bought bags for team members to carry first-aid supplies in.
The detective with the Fort Wayne Police Department takes vacation days each year during the Three Rivers Festival so he can devote his full attention to the event. Because of term limits, he’ll have to leave the festival’s board at the end of this year, but he will continue to advise the group as immediate past president. After taking one year off, he could again be elected to a three-year term.
Raising revenue
Nichter continues to look for ways to shore up the festival’s finances so that its survival isn’t threatened by a string of years with operating losses. One strategy in the works is selling 50-50 raffle tickets that split the pot evenly between one winner and the Three Rivers Festival, the nonprofit selling the tickets. The idea was first floated publicly in 2021.
The Hoosier Lottery Commission, which issues licenses to offer 50-50 raffles, has established strict guidelines for organizations that want to issue the tickets. Anyone who wants to sell 50-50 tickets must be a member of the organization for at least 30 days and pass a state background check before making their first sale.
Because of those limitations, the festival sold only $33,000 in tickets in 2021. But the festival lost money that year after splitting the pot with the winning ticket holder, paying $20,000 to license the ticketing software and promoting the raffle. Workers sold less than $16,000 in tickets the following year but Three Rivers Festival was able to keep the entire pot because the winner never stepped forward to claim half.
Festival officials are putting the time-consuming effort on hold this year but haven’t given up on the potential the raffle represents. A similar 50-50 raffle sponsored by Evansville’s Fall Festival generated $1.1 million in 2019 and $1.3 million the following year.
Regardless of how the raffle effort proceeds, creating a rainy day fund is considered good business, according to Weisheit, the Indiana State Festivals Association’s coordinator.
“Fiscally responsible festivals try to have a year (of operating expenses) in reserve,” he said. “For most festivals, that’s just not attainable.”
“Lots of festivals” depend on lines of credit when revenue runs short, Weisheit said. Some, including the Three Rivers Festival, have resorted to taking out loans to cover debts.
Nichter confirmed the local festival was forced to take out such a loan some years ago. He declined to say how much was borrowed but said the organization is still repaying the “low-interest” loan from a local lender.
Mistaken ideas
The festival’s primary revenue sources continue to be heavily dependent on attendance which, in turn, is dependent on the weather. When attendance falls, so does the money generated by concert tickets, parking fees and festival souvenir sales.
And although vendor booth rentals produce reliable income, some of that revenue is also affected by attendance. International Village vendors pay $10 to $80 for a booth, depending on how much space they need. Children’s Fest booths rent for $95 to $175. Artists’ booths are priced at $75 and $150. Electrical connections carry an additional fee.
All those costs are firm.
But the festival receives a percentage of sales for food concessions in addition to set booth rental fees. When attendance is low, food and drink sales decline.
Jones said the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival also relies on a slice of food sales for its revenue.
“Obviously, (the weather) is going to be a financial risk with an outdoor festival,” she said. “You just hope the wind is calm.”
Weisheit said the carnivals that set up rides adjacent to festivals also provide a significant source of income – when the weather cooperates.
“That extra chunk of commissions they get off carnival rides is considerable,” he said of festivals.
Nichter said the public has some mistaken ideas about the festival’s financial picture. Although some seem to think the festival is going to go belly up at any time, he said, others imagine just the opposite.
“People think the festival – you see it (in comments posted) online – that we’re raking in the money,” he said.
The sticker shock that festivalgoers experience in Junk Food Alley isn’t driven by higher booth rental rates, he said.
Those rates have remained unchanged during Nichter’s six years on the organization’s board. The vendors have raised prices because of other increased expenses they’ve experienced, including food and the fuel it takes to travel from one event to another.
“We have no control,” he said, “over what an elephant ear costs.” | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/three-rivers-festival-struggles-to-break-even-during-rainy-years/article_4019b768-0c99-11ee-8297-1b4ac7b8007a.html | 2023-07-01T05:33:34 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/three-rivers-festival-struggles-to-break-even-during-rainy-years/article_4019b768-0c99-11ee-8297-1b4ac7b8007a.html |
STEER Inc. will host its annual beef barbecue in July, with male quartet The Guardians performing.
The event is at GracePoint Church in Bismarck at 5 p.m. July 15. Reserve meal tickets by July 11 at 701-258-4911 or email events@steerinc.com.
A freewill offering will be taken to help cover the cost of the meal and support the mission ministry of the STEER Inc. nonprofit. | https://bismarcktribune.com/life-entertainment/local/faith-and-values/steer-inc-hosts-annual-barbecue-in-bismarck/article_8f7f37b8-168c-11ee-a166-8f7e39e9daa2.html | 2023-07-01T05:37:50 | 0 | https://bismarcktribune.com/life-entertainment/local/faith-and-values/steer-inc-hosts-annual-barbecue-in-bismarck/article_8f7f37b8-168c-11ee-a166-8f7e39e9daa2.html |
Program applications open
Leadership Bismarck-Mandan is now accepting applications for the class of 2023.
Community experts create sessions on topics relevant to the Bismarck-Mandan area, including economic development, energy, agriculture, legislation, political involvement, human services, law enforcement, military, emergency services, arts, leisure, health care and education.
Most sessions are half days. Highlights of the program include a full day retreat and a graduation ceremony. Following the issue days, the class will divide into groups, select a community project and work to make that field project a reality.
Applications are available online at www.BismarckMandan.com/Leadership.
Applications are due Aug. 1. The program begins Sept. 20. Tuition is $650 for Chamber EDC members and $700 for non-members.
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For more information, contact Cathryn Sprynczynatyk at 701-223-5660 or cathryn@bmcedc.com.
Insurance agency recognized
The Jed Geer/Beck Hruby/Jamie Ressler Agency of Bismarck has been honored as the Agraria Agency of the Year for 2022. The award is given to the top-performing agency based on Agraria new production, personal growth, attitude, and policyholder service. | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/business/business-digest---july-1-2023/article_bf422ad0-1517-11ee-8714-c36667ea2111.html | 2023-07-01T05:37:51 | 0 | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/business/business-digest---july-1-2023/article_bf422ad0-1517-11ee-8714-c36667ea2111.html |
MANDAN’S HUETTL CCOMMITS TO NDSU
Anna Huettl of Mandan has announced she is committing to North Dakota State for golf.
The Braves senior was an all-state in 2022 and won a West Region title. She has one season left with the Braves.
CORRECTION
The Lions All-Star Basketball Games will be played on Monday, July 10 at Bismarck High School.
Game times are 6 and 8 p.m. | https://bismarcktribune.com/sports/local/area-sports-briefs-july-1/article_917144a8-1781-11ee-af8f-e7080be3649b.html | 2023-07-01T05:37:55 | 1 | https://bismarcktribune.com/sports/local/area-sports-briefs-july-1/article_917144a8-1781-11ee-af8f-e7080be3649b.html |
BOISE, Idaho — About 100 people showed up outside Boise City Hall Friday evening demanding justice and accountability after Boise Police Officer Chance Feldner shot and killed 22-year-old Payton Wasson on June 24.
"Nobody that's supposed to be protecting and serving should have the authority to see somebody running away on the street and shoot him," protestor Gabbie Cruise said.
Protestors chanted "Payton Wasson deserved to live" and held up various signs reading "justice for Payton" and "fleeing should not be a death sentence."
During a news conference Friday afternoon, Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar called the situation tragic for everyone involved.
"It is never a good day for anyone when you have to tell a mother or a father or a brother or a sister that their loved one is deceased," Winegar said.
Here's a timeline of events:
At about 1 a.m. June 24 near 5th and Idaho streets, Boise Police officers investigated "a situation involving individuals and a vehicle involved in what officers believed were gang activity and/or narcotic sales."
Officers identified the owner of the car as Mario Garza, who was on parole. It is unclear what happened between 1 and 2 a.m., but Winegar said Garza came back to his car more than hour later with Wasson and another person.
Garza was eventually arrested after police found fentanyl pills on him. During his arraignment on Monday, prosecutors said Wasson and that other person left the car with a backpack and a gun shortly after they returned.
Officers then started chasing Wasson. Winegar said they asked him to stop and drop the gun, which he ignored. Shortly after, Feldner shot Wasson in the head.
The Ada County Critical Incident Taskforce is investigating the shooting and why Feldner might have made that decision. Winegar would not say whether Feldner could have handled the situation differently.
"It's very early for me to be able to comment on whether processes and policies were followed or not," Winegar said. "We need to let the process take its course, while at the same time recognizing that there is a family grieving during this process."
Protestors had a list of demands, including having the police union pay for Wasson's funeral and hospital bills. They also want a civilian police oversight board with subpoena power.
"It's messed up," protestor Mackenzie Leiterman said. "People shouldn't determine who lives and who dies."
KTVB asked for body camera video from June 24, although Winegar said they are not releasing it right now because of the Critical Incident Task's investigation and BPD's internal investigation.
Feldner is on paid administrative leave.
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Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download. | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/boise-protestors-demand-justice-accountability-after-police-officer-shoots-kills-man/277-bda14b73-9825-475b-b057-d6756c9d7a04 | 2023-07-01T05:40:03 | 1 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/boise-protestors-demand-justice-accountability-after-police-officer-shoots-kills-man/277-bda14b73-9825-475b-b057-d6756c9d7a04 |
EAGLE, Idaho — Red Chair Lavender’s annual Harvest Festival kicks off on Saturday and runs through Sunday. The event takes place at the Red Chair Lavender farm in Eagle, with food vendors, artists, live music and of course, plenty of lavender.
Owner of Red Chair Lavender and host of this year’s festival, Bill Southerland, has lived in Eagle for a little over 30 years. Sutherland’s wife, Wendy Southerland, found her passion while working at a local nursery in which she would bring home a multitude of plants for both her husband and herself to plant in their backyard.
The rest is history. After 14 years of planting and exploring different species, the farm has since grown into a beautiful deep blue and purple sea of lavender.
“We start harvesting our lavender, usually the first weekend in July, and we love to have people come out and they’re able to cut bunches of lavender,” Bill Southerland said.
This weekend is a special time for the Southerland's and for those who enjoy attending the lavender festival. Due to the recent increase in attendees, the parking guidelines for the Eagle event have changed from previous years.
“There are always concerns with people not willingly parking where there’s an entrance or in front of a mailbox,” Bill Southerland said. “It’s just another hassle that we don’t want people to have to experience."
With this recent concern, the Red Chair team has organized a bus system running to and from the festival just down the road. Passengers who wish to catch the bus can meet at Eagle Middle School starting at 8:30 a.m. Each bus can hold about 55 people, and there will be two buses running all day long.
The two-day festival will host an essential oil distilling demonstration, along with many other activities which will allow participants to choose and harvest their own bunches of lavender, from over 30 different species on the farm.
The festival will run this Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For those who want to drive and park their own vehicles closer to the event, there is another VIP pass available for purchase before the event which is located on the Red Chair Lavender’s ticketing website.
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist: | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/red-chair-lavender-2023-harvest-festival-eagle/277-2983ccf9-d501-4e0f-9d2b-1ba25d93d029 | 2023-07-01T05:40:09 | 0 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/red-chair-lavender-2023-harvest-festival-eagle/277-2983ccf9-d501-4e0f-9d2b-1ba25d93d029 |
Note: This story aired as two parts. Watch the first part in the video above. Watch the second part further down in the article.
CORINTH, Miss. (WTVA) — A DNA test revealed two former Alcorn County coworkers are father and son.
Steve Foster grew up not knowing his real parents.
"At three days old, I was adopted and then later in life I was raised as a single child, and then later on I found my biological mother."
It all began with the help of his wife and mother-in-law.
“They got an address to my biological mother, her residence, and then I sent them a Christmas card,” he said. “Ok? And then next thing I know, I got a Christmas card back."
He eventually received a life-changing call from Clara Gail Beavers Davis.
Foster recalled, "The lady on the line says, 'This is your mother, your biological mother. Do you mind if I stop by to see you?' and it was like, 'I don't mind at all.’"
So he was able to find his mother but still didn’t know his father.
Davis told her son she’d eventually reveal his father’s name. She believed Foster’s father to be dead, but she never did reveal the name before her own death.
Foster’s cousin Angie Moore spent years constructing a family three.
"And sure enough, she [Moore] comes back with some results,” Foster said. “She says, ‘Well, Robert Plaxico is actually your father and he is still alive.’”
Foster knew the man and knew where he lived. They had first met in the 1980s when they both worked at the hospital in Corinth.
"But as soon as I saw him [Plaxico], I had no doubt,” Moore said. “I didn't even need the DNA test but we did it anyway."
The pair have since been making up for lost time.
"Need to see each other as much as we can. I ain't got much more time here," Plaxico said.
They talk every other night.
"I tell him all the time that I love him," Plaxico said. | https://www.wtva.com/news/local/alcorn-county-men-revealed-to-be-father-and-son/article_25dd9938-177e-11ee-aeec-1f3a4331ab26.html | 2023-07-01T05:47:49 | 1 | https://www.wtva.com/news/local/alcorn-county-men-revealed-to-be-father-and-son/article_25dd9938-177e-11ee-aeec-1f3a4331ab26.html |
Sparks fly as firefighters from across the Treasure Valley look on during a fireworks safety demonstration at the Meridian Public Safety Training Center on Thursday.
Nampa Fire Marshal Ron Johnson talks with members of the media during a fireworks safety demonstration at the Meridian Public Safety Training Center on Thursday.
Nampa Fire Marshal Ron Johnson talks with members of the media during a fireworks safety demonstration at the Meridian Public Safety Training Center on Thursday.
Sparks fly as firefighters from across the Treasure Valley look on during a fireworks safety demonstration at the Meridian Public Safety Training Center, on Thursday.
Sparks fly as firefighters from across the Treasure Valley look on during a fireworks safety demonstration at the Meridian Public Safety Training Center on Thursday.
Nampa Fire Marshal Ron Johnson talks with members of the media during a fireworks safety demonstration at the Meridian Public Safety Training Center on Thursday.
Nampa Fire Marshal Ron Johnson talks with members of the media during a fireworks safety demonstration at the Meridian Public Safety Training Center on Thursday.
Sparks fly as firefighters from across the Treasure Valley look on during a fireworks safety demonstration at the Meridian Public Safety Training Center, on Thursday.
MERIDIAN — If you want to light fireworks on Independence Day, local law requires you to keep it “safe and sane.”
The term “safe and sane” is used to refer to fireworks that do not leave the ground and do not throw sparks farther than a 20-foot radius, said Nampa Fire Marshal Ron Johnson at a press conference at the Meridian Public Safety Training Center demonstrating firework safety Thursday afternoon.
Aerials, or fireworks that leave the ground — such as roman candles, bottle rockets, and mortars — are illegal to use in both Canyon and Ada counties, yet they can be readily purchased in Canyon County outside of city limits, Johnson said. That is due to a loophole in Idaho law that allows people to buy such fireworks provided they sign an affidavit saying they will not use them in Idaho, he said.
“Just remember if you choose to do that and you light illegal fireworks and catch your neighbor’s house on fire, you are liable for that,” Johnson said.
Or, if neighbors call the police on people using such fireworks, they could have their fireworks confiscated and could be issued a citation, he said.
So, to celebrate legally and safely, choose fireworks that stay on the ground, and choose a spot like a driveway or road that is 20 feet away from shrubs and plants growing next to homes, Johnson said. Spread fireworks out, and only light one at a time, he said.
Adults should be the only people lighting fireworks and Johnson recommends using a barbecue lighter or something similar to keep hands away from the hot surface. Stand to the side of the firework when lighting it, rather than hovering over the top of it, he said. Keep a fire extinguisher and garden hose on-hand, he said.
After the firework has cooled, place it in a bucket of water to ensure it is out, said Lisa Richard, fire prevention officer with the city of Caldwell.
It’s important to keep pets safe during the holiday as well, Johnson said.
“Not many pets enjoy the loud bangs and pops and whistles that come from fireworks,” he said. He recommended keeping pets indoors to prevent them from getting scared and running away.
Boise Fire Captain Roy Boehm said, “the most important thing to do is to be safe, have a safety plan set up. Know what your fireworks are going to do.”
Not only do those areas tend to have more fuels, like dry grasses that can easily catch fire, the upward-sloping terrain assists fire’s characteristic uphill travel, he said.
People found liable in causing such a fire would be required to cover the cost of suppressing it, Boehm said. The last person that happened to had to pay $500,000, he said. | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/staying-grounded-firefighters-talk-july-4th-firework-safety/article_e1e6ec66-177d-11ee-af8b-d31c013c1600.html | 2023-07-01T05:56:09 | 0 | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/staying-grounded-firefighters-talk-july-4th-firework-safety/article_e1e6ec66-177d-11ee-af8b-d31c013c1600.html |
Las Cruces judge nixes murder charge as jury votes guilty on others
A judge directed a verdict of not guilty on second-degree murder during a trial this week before a jury came back with guilty verdicts for two related charges.
Bakari Garrett, 27, was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, attempted armed robbery, and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. On Thursday, after the murder charge was removed from their consideration by District Judge Douglas Driggers, a jury said Garrett was guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and armed robbery.
Police believe Garrett killed 31-year-old Shea Maisel on Jan. 29, 2022, and testified during the trial that their investigation showed Garrett sought to buy three pounds of cannabis from Maisel. Through a middleman and close friend of Maisel's, Garrett agreed to buy the cannabis for $3,500.
Instead, police said Garrett and a companion tried to rob Maisel and the middle man when they met near Maisel's home on Turquoise Loop. The robbery devolved into a shootout, police said, when Maisel pulled out a gun.
"I think (Maisel) kinda panicked," the middleman said during his testimony.
But Garrett shot first, according to the middleman and police, leading to nearly a dozen rounds exchanged between the two men who stood only a few feet from one another. Maisel died a few minutes after the shooting while Garrett checked himself into a local hospital. According to his lawyer, his lower body was riddled with five gunshot wounds.
After four days of testimony, Garrett was convicted of two charges, with the most serious charge of murder being decided by the judge via directed verdict.
What's a directed verdict? And why did Garrett get one?
A directed verdict is a ruling entered by the trial's judge determining that prosecutors failed to provide "substantial evidence" to prove that a crime happened. Substantial evidence is like a hurdle. Prosecutors clear the hurdle if they show that a reasonable person might accept the evidence as good enough to support a conclusion.
And despite an eyewitness testifying that the shooting occurred and that Garrett fired the first shot, Driggers felt prosecutors failed to meet this standard. He did not provide an explanation of his ruling via any court filing.
While Garrett may have been indicted on first-degree murder, the charge was reduced pretrial to second-degree murder. Second-degree murder is a complicated charge. State law requires prosecutors to prove:
- That the defendant killed the victim,
- That the defendant knew their act(s) created a strong possibility of death or great bodily harm to the victim,
- That the defendant did not act with sufficient provocation (meaning that the defendant had a chance to cool off before harming the victim),
- That the defendant did not act in self-defense,
- That the incident occurred in the State of New Mexico on a specific date.
Shaharazad McDowell Booth, the lawyer representing Garrett, did not comment directly on the directed verdict but said she and Garrett thanked the court for standing between Garrett and the District Attorney's office on the murder charge.
"We feel for the family of Shea Maisel," Booth said. "But we still maintain my client's innocence, and we have pending issues that we will be taking up more with the court, specifically during sentencing."
Justin Garcia covers public safety and local government in Las Cruces. He can be reached via email at JEGarcia@lcsun-news.com, via phone or text at 575-541-5449, or on Twitter @Just516Garc. | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/courts/2023/06/30/judge-nixes-murder-charge-as-jury-votes-guilty-on-other/70373028007/ | 2023-07-01T06:09:28 | 1 | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/courts/2023/06/30/judge-nixes-murder-charge-as-jury-votes-guilty-on-other/70373028007/ |
No one hurt after nitric acid spill at Fond du Lac dairy plant
The cause of the spill appears to be a major failure in the hose from the highway shipping tanker to the building.
FOND DU LAC – No one was hurt after a nitric acid spill at Milk Specialties, 325 Tompkins St., Friday.
Fond du Lac Fire/Rescue responded to the facility at around 7:15 a.m. Friday for a fire alarm. When crews arrived, they noticed a yellow smoke plume coming from the shipping docks where semi-trucks were off-loading chemicals.
The department's Hazardous Materials Team was dispatched to the scene and the building was evacuated.
Initial investigation found a chemical truck was offloading nitric acid when the plume began, the department said in a news release.
Fond du Lac courts:Fond du Lac man convicted of arson pleaded not guilty due to mental illness to child sexual assault
According to the department, the quick actions of the truck operator to activate the emergency equipment shut-off kept the incident from expanding outside the structure.
The initial cause of the incident appears to be a major failure in the hose from the highway shipping tanker to the building, which sprayed the acid onto 55-gallon drums of a surfactant and animal by-product and resulted in a violent reaction that created the plume, the department said.
The building was ventilated and the chemicals were neutralized.
Fond du Lac Fire/Rescue was on scene approximately five hours and was assisted by the Fond du Lac Police Department. An environmental company was called for further cleanup.
Lakeside Park improvements:Fond du Lac's lighthouse reopens at Lakeside Park amid other upgraded amenities
Contact Brandon Reid at 920-686-2984 or breid@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @breidHTRNews. | https://www.fdlreporter.com/story/news/local/2023/06/30/fond-du-lac-nitric-acid-spill-at-milk-specialties-gets-hazmat-response/70374233007/ | 2023-07-01T06:16:03 | 1 | https://www.fdlreporter.com/story/news/local/2023/06/30/fond-du-lac-nitric-acid-spill-at-milk-specialties-gets-hazmat-response/70374233007/ |
Mike Trout, 31, a 2009 Millville High School graduate, is a center fielder with the Los Angeles Angels and was the 2014, 2016 and 2019 American League MVP.
Thursday: Went 3 for 5, including his 14th double of the season, and scored in a 9-7 loss to the visiting White Sox. He batted third and played center field.
Friday: Went 2 for 4 in a 6-2 loss to the visiting Diamondbacks. He batted third and played center field.
Saturday: Ryne Nelson (4-4, 4.97) is set to start the 10:07 p.m. game for Arizona. Trout has not faced him.
Star power: Fans voted Trout as an All-Star for the 11th time. According to a story by Rhett Bollinger for MLB.com, Trout became just the ninth player in history to be elected an All-Star starter for 10 consecutive seasons, joining Rod Carew, Cal Ripken Jr., George Brett, Ken Griffey Jr., Willie Mays, Johnny Bench, Ozzie Smith and Wade Boggs.
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Stats: Trout is hitting .263 (77 for 293) with 17 home runs, 42 RBIs and 53 runs scored in 78 games. He has walked 43 times and struck out 95 times. His on-base percentage is .368, his OPS .859. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/daily-mike-trout-report-angels-lose-series-opener-to-diamondbacks/article_9f4cf1c4-176f-11ee-9910-cb6c42184b49.html | 2023-07-01T06:21:37 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/daily-mike-trout-report-angels-lose-series-opener-to-diamondbacks/article_9f4cf1c4-176f-11ee-9910-cb6c42184b49.html |
JEROME — Margaret “Mary” Fuller, 85, of Jerome, passed away June 24, 2023. Graveside service will be held at 10:00 am, Thursday, July 6, 2023, at Jerome Cemetery, Jerome, Idaho. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family on Mary’s memorial webpage at www.farnsworthmortuary.com.
Margaret Fuller
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FILER — Paul Russell Shetler, 91, of Filer, died Sunday, June 25, 2023, at his home. Services will be at 11:00 am Thursday, July 6, 2023 at Twin Falls Reformed Church, 1631 Grandview Dr. N., Twin Falls, Idaho 83301.
Paul Russell Shetler
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Granite Mountain Hotshots survivor speaks on anniversary of deaths
Granite Mountain Hotshots honored with mural in Prescott
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego talk green energy jobs in Arizona | https://www.azcentral.com/videos/news/local/arizona/2023/07/01/granite-mountain-hotshots-memorialized-10-years-after-yarnell-hill-wildfire-killed-19/12196078002/ | 2023-07-01T06:59:34 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/videos/news/local/arizona/2023/07/01/granite-mountain-hotshots-memorialized-10-years-after-yarnell-hill-wildfire-killed-19/12196078002/ |
INDIANAPOLIS — A cooling center in Broad Ripple saw about three times the normal foot traffic on Friday. It's one of about a dozen cooling centers opening over the weekend for Hoosiers still without power.
Nan Ash was one of those visitors. She said the last 24 hours have been rough.
"It's been a frustrating 24 hours not having any internet. Everything in the freezer is going to go bad. it's just been kind of frustrating," she said.
Ash and her partner, Colin, are some of the thousands of Hoosiers still living without power after Thursday's severe weather. They spent the day trying to survive the heat.
"I haven't been doing anything, really, because everything I would do involves electricity. I have actually been the least productive in about a year this afternoon," said Ash.
To help Hoosiers in the same situation, several Indy Parks locations are being used as cooling centers, offering neighbors some of the same comforts of home, like air conditioning, water, electricity, and even a warm shower.
"We actually came here today because I'm on day two of not washing my hair. Last night, we were able to rinse off. I know there's going to be no more hot water," said Ash.
With no updates about when their power will be restored, Ash said services like this are important.
"Some people who are older or maybe have small children, It's just much less comfortable to be in a house where it's warm and it's going to be humid this weekend. I think it's fantastic that they have these facilities open to the public," said Nan.
Plenty of space and activities are available for anyone who needs it.
For more information about cooling center locations and hours, click here. | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/hoosiers-without-power-take-advantage-of-indianapolis-parks-cooling-centers/531-1590e402-bd07-4201-a2e9-08d0385ad178 | 2023-07-01T07:01:47 | 1 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/hoosiers-without-power-take-advantage-of-indianapolis-parks-cooling-centers/531-1590e402-bd07-4201-a2e9-08d0385ad178 |
CARMICHAEL, Calif. — The triple digit heat is forcing people to find a place to stay cool this holiday weekend. For some that might be the Lower American River, but one kayaker is warning people about a nearby risk.
Diver Karl Bly usually is all about finding things deemed lost forever. Now his focus is on bringing attention to a risk near the American River.
"It really is a danger," said Bly, creator of American River Lost and Found Facebook page. "Right now, it's at the wrong level where you can get stuck in this thing."
The thing he is describing is a pipe going across a channel near the William B. Pond Recreation area in Carmichael, which eventually feeds into the Lower American River.
"The thousands and thousands of people that come on the river, they are not going to see this pipe, it'll be fine,” said Bly. “It’s for the people who really ventured through the ponds. They are the ones who might stumble across it. Hopefully we can avoid an accident there."
Bly says the pipe has been abandoned for at least a decade and likely belonged to an energy company.
The pipe has always been a bit of a hazard, but with higher water levels making it harder to see, Bly wants to warn people to keep an eye out.
Others who frequent the area are encouraging people to keep an extra eye out.
"I definitely can be pretty dangerous," said Justin Fantham, who frequents the area often.
Stephen Knox has known about this pipe over the years and adds, it is best to walk over it.
"As all rivers are if you're not aware of what you're doing you can get in trouble," said Stephen Knox. "If you go underneath [the pipe] with your feet, you're stuck and you are dead."
"The river is a great place to be to beat the heat,” said Bly. “It is a perfectly safe place to be with common sense." | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/potential-danger-near-lower-american-river/103-832a56ef-4db2-4134-8816-a91a547a28f8 | 2023-07-01T07:04:36 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/potential-danger-near-lower-american-river/103-832a56ef-4db2-4134-8816-a91a547a28f8 |
Capital Credit Union promotion
Tom Ternes has been promoted to Bismarck-Mandan market president by Capital Credit Union.
Ternes graduated from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2008 with bachelor’s degrees in elementary education and mathematics. He also earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Mary in 2012 and graduated from the North Dakota Bankers Association's Dakota School of Banking in 2016. He joined Capital Credit Union in March 2022 as a business services vice president.
Insurance agent recognized
Dave Berger, Mandan, has been honored as the Property & Casualty Agent of the Year for 2022 by North Dakota Farmers Union Insurance.
This award is given to the top-performing agent based on property and casualty new production, personal growth, attitude and policyholder service.
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Bender recognized
Lawrence Bender, attorney with Fredrikson & Byron in Bismarck, has been named a 2023 Great Plains Super Lawyer for energy and resources.
Monthly awards | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/business/businesspeople---july-1-2023/article_b599a5a4-1511-11ee-8e6a-c78b6cec5d4f.html | 2023-07-01T07:07:00 | 0 | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/business/businesspeople---july-1-2023/article_b599a5a4-1511-11ee-8e6a-c78b6cec5d4f.html |
SEATTLE — All southbound lanes on Interstate 5 are blocked due to a crash involving a semi-truck Friday night.
According to Washington State Patrol, the crash happened on Interstate 5 near Northgate, milepost 173, just after 10 p.m.
No injuries were reported.
A FedEx semi-truck appears to be involved. Traffic cameras show many boxes spilled out onto the roadway.
The Washington State Department of Transportation said this is expected to be an extended closure. Drivers are urged to avoid southbound I-5 south of Shoreline and use alternate routes like State Route 523, State Route 99 or State Route 522.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Download our free KING 5 app to stay up-to-date on news stories from across western Washington.
Watch KING 5's top stories playlist: | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/southbound-lanes-i-5-northgate-closed-fedex-truck-crash-packages-on-roadway/281-621c3dcb-fa64-4d15-979e-d95ffbb3851d | 2023-07-01T07:11:31 | 0 | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/southbound-lanes-i-5-northgate-closed-fedex-truck-crash-packages-on-roadway/281-621c3dcb-fa64-4d15-979e-d95ffbb3851d |
Nadine “Dee Dee” Bailey, 68, of Klemme, died June 28, 2023, in Mason City. Arrangements: Hogan Bremer Moore Colonial Chapel.
Patricia O. Galasso, 69, died Monday June 26, 2023, at her home. Arrangements: Ward Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, Clear Lake.
Nadine “Dee Dee” Bailey, 68, of Klemme, died June 28, 2023, in Mason City. Arrangements: Hogan Bremer Moore Colonial Chapel.
Patricia O. Galasso, 69, died Monday June 26, 2023, at her home. Arrangements: Ward Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, Clear Lake.
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. | https://globegazette.com/news/local/obituaries/death-notices/globe-death-notices/article_0cacb776-1a38-5f03-bbcc-258ff5d9a386.html | 2023-07-01T07:18:19 | 0 | https://globegazette.com/news/local/obituaries/death-notices/globe-death-notices/article_0cacb776-1a38-5f03-bbcc-258ff5d9a386.html |
Robert “Bob” Furleigh
March 1, 1931-June 28, 2023
CLEAR LAKE-Robert “Bob” Furleigh, 92, of Clear Lake, Iowa died June 28, 2023, at the MercyOne North Iowa Hospital, Mason City, Iowa.
Memorial services will be 1:30 p.m. Monday, July 3, 2023, at the Covenant Church, 411 South Ohio, Mason City Iowa. Burial will take place at Clear Lake Cemetery. Military honors will be presented by the Clear Lake VFW.
Visitation will take place from 4:00p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sunday, July 2, 2023, at Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel, 126 Third Street Northeast, Mason City, IA and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church.
Memorial contributions may be directed in care of the family. They will be utilized to support college education in agriculture through scholarships at Clear Lake High School and North Iowa Area Community College students.
Born on a farm March 1, 1931, to parents Robert Foster and Maude (Harris) in Clear Lake, Iowa. Bob attended the rural schools of Lake Township and graduated from Clear Lake High school in 1949 and then attended Iowa State University majoring in Pre Med before proudly serving in the United States Army for two years during the Korean Conflict. Bob returned to Iowa State University in 1955 following his service where he graduated with an Economics degree in 1958. On September 22, 1956, he married the love of his life, Donna Vay Burgess, at the Panora Christian Church, in Panora, Iowa. They lived on a farm in Clear Lake where they raised their two children, Ben and Dwight. Their farm was recognized as a century farm in 2010.
Bob committed himself to his community early in his career as a 4-H leader, extension council member, and township trustee. He served as President of the Cerro Gordo Farm Bureau, state resolutions committee member, a voting delegate to the national Farm Bureau convention and state policy committee chairman. Bob played an instrumental role in the success of Senator Charles Grassley serving as his third district campaign manager in 1976. Bob also served as a Senatorial Aide to Grassley in 1981.
In 1986 the Reagan Administration appointed Bob as executive director of the Agricultural and Stabilization and Conservation Service (now Farm Service Agency) for the state of Iowa. His dedication earned him the Administrator's Award three years in a row. In 1993 Bob served as administrative assistant to Governor Branstad and committed himself to maintaining Iowa's livestock industry. His work led to the creation and implementation of the Governor's Livestock Task Force and served as chairman. Governor Branstad appointed Bob in 1995 to serve on the Northern Great Plains Rural Development Commission established by Congress and the State Judicial Nominating Commission from 1998 to 2001.
In 1999 Bob received the Farm Bureau distinguished service agriculture award and in 2002 he was one of 23 ISU alumni living in Iowa profiled by the university. Bob has been a longtime member of the Rotary Club, being active in Des Moines as well as with the Mason City Rotary Club since 1976, serving as president in 1998. Bob was an ordained ruling elder and lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church in Mason City.
Proud to have been raised a hard-working farm boy, Bob could be found working on their strawberry and vegetable farm during the summer where he enjoyed talking to the customers. Bob developed a life-long passion for flying and sail boating in Clear Lake was a favorite pastime along with watching Lawrence Welk reruns and the Fox Business News channel.
Robert and Donna enjoyed wintering in Florida for twenty three years where they made many dear friends.
He is survived by his beloved wife Donna; his two children, Dwight (Cheri) of Tonica, IL, and Ben (Rachael) of Port Charlotte, FL; three grandchildren, Alexander, Erin "Katy," and Erik. He is also survived by his sister Mary Woerner of La Grand, IA, several nieces, nephews, cousins, friends and cherished friend, Chuck Grove.
He was preceded in death by his parents: Robert and Maude Furleigh.
Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel. 641-357-2193. www.colonialchapels.com. | https://globegazette.com/news/local/obituaries/robert-bob-furleigh/article_1477af59-3a2b-5ca0-a30f-4b26ad22e7e1.html | 2023-07-01T07:18:25 | 0 | https://globegazette.com/news/local/obituaries/robert-bob-furleigh/article_1477af59-3a2b-5ca0-a30f-4b26ad22e7e1.html |
Stanley Alvin Sprung
August 4, 1951-July 28, 2023
PLYMOUTH-Stanley Alvin Sprung, 71, of Plymouth, Iowa, passed away on Wednesday, June 28, 2023, at MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center, Mason City, Iowa.
A Memorial Service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on July 3, 2023, at Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel, 126 3rd St NE, Mason City, Iowa, with Pastor Sue Simmons and Beverly Butler officiating.
Visitation will be held from 2:00-4:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 2, 2023, at Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel, 126 Third St NE, Mason City, Iowa.
Stanley was born on August 4, 1951, to Alvin and Alberta (Borchardt) Sprung in Mason City, Iowa. He was baptized and confirmed at the Plymouth United Methodist Church.
He graduated from Nora Springs-Rock Falls High School with the Class of 1969 and attended NIACC studying Ag Business, graduating in 1971. He began farming with his parents and
has lived most of his life on their Century Farm where his dad was born.
He was married to Terry Warburton on May 29, 1971, at Plymouth United Methodist Church. Together the couple had two children, Angela and Aaron.
He farmed his entire life. He enjoyed woodworking, his grandchildren, and anything to do with farming. He was a member of First United Methodist Church in Nora Springs. In his younger years he served as Staff Parish Chairman at Plymouth United Methodist Church and is currently Chair of Oakwood Cemetery Board in Plymouth. He also served on the Plymouth Manor board for several years. He and Terry were 50+ year members of the Sunshine Circle neighborhood group.
Those left to cherish memories of Stanley are his wife of 52 years, Terry; children, Angela Sprung, Riceville, and Aaron Sprung and fiancée Emily Humke, Plymouth. He is also survived by four grandchildren, Dakota (Carly) and Tyler Sprung of Riceville and Carly and Charlotte Sprung of Plymouth, and three great grandchildren TayLaighia, Windzton and Leightinn Sprung. He is also survived by special friends Chase (Katlynn) and Riverlynn and Kevin and Zack Santee.
He is preceded in death by his parents and grandparents.
Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel 126 3rd St NE Mason City 641-423-2372 ColonialChapels.com | https://globegazette.com/news/local/obituaries/stanley-alvin-sprung/article_ad3b3604-5872-5558-aca8-ba012959ed29.html | 2023-07-01T07:18:31 | 0 | https://globegazette.com/news/local/obituaries/stanley-alvin-sprung/article_ad3b3604-5872-5558-aca8-ba012959ed29.html |
PORTLAND, Ore. (PORTLAND TRIBUNE) — Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM) held an exercise at its headquarters in Southeast Portland Tuesday, June 28, to test communications in case of a massive earthquake.
We passed.
Politicians, and higher-ups at different city bureaus such as water and transportation, called into central command to prove they could stay in touch after the Big One.
Cascadia Rising 2023 is an emergency exercise that stretches from Northern California to British Columbia. This year Portland opted to test its communications systems, which will be crucial as the city burns, slides and crumbles after a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. The earth shaking will turn soil to mush, rupture pipes and cables and cause old buildings to topple.
The goal of the exercise was to help the city coordinate a response to a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake when phones and Internet fail.
No zombies please
The city’s Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) looks like it could maybe survive a zombie apocalypse, if the zombies are short. The ECC is tucked in a quiet road between the TriMet garage and Ed Benedict Park, just across Powell from Kelly Butte. It has a spiked fence, security gates and double doors, before you get to a secure lobby and more locked doors.
Read more at PortlandTribune.com.
The Portland Tribune and its parent company Pamplin Media Group are KOIN 6 News media partners | https://www.koin.com/local/multnomah-county/are-we-dead-yet-city-of-portland-tests-communications-for-the-coming-earthquake/ | 2023-07-01T07:18:51 | 1 | https://www.koin.com/local/multnomah-county/are-we-dead-yet-city-of-portland-tests-communications-for-the-coming-earthquake/ |
Newberry fire that injured two firefighters not the first at local fuelwood company
Alachua Fire Rescue Chief Harold Theus concerned about frequency of fires
A Newberry fire that injured two firefighters Monday is only the latest in a string of frequent fires at the same business.
Southern Fuelwood, which produces cooking and heating woods, has frequent fires, according to Alachua Fire Rescue Chief Harold Theus. The fire department has responded to fires at the site 11 times over the past 27 months, he said.
“We have concerns about the frequency in which we respond to structure fires there, the time that it takes to extinguish those fires, and the hazard that it places our firefighters in while extinguishing the fires,” Theus said.
On Monday two firefighters were injured responding to a call at Southern Fuelwood. According to a Facebook post by Alachua County Fire Rescue, they were attempting to open a door that weighed hundreds of pounds when it fell off its hinges and struck both a Newberry and Alachua County firefighter.
Both were taken to the hospital, with one released Monday night and another released days later after having leg surgery. The firefighters are recovering well, Theus said.
The owner of Southern Fuelwood, Pat Post, said his business never had any fires until a 2010 Florida code change that now requires him to heat the wood to 160 degrees to kill bugs and other pathogens. Prior to the shift, Post said, the company dried the wood in the sun.
"We always let Mother Nature, the sun and the air dry the wood, but now we're forced to put it in the oven and cook it," Post said. "You're gonna have a fire once in a while when you have an oven trying to cook wood."
While Newberry has its own fire department, Theus said, Alachua County Fire Rescue has a legal and ethical obligation to continue to respond to calls if there are more fires at the business. Still, he said the department is looking to change its methods for approaching these fires.
“I think that our practice is going to be a much more conservative approach,” Theus said. “Not aggressive firefighting tactics, but a very conservative approach to ensure that our folks are safe and that other people are safe while we're out there.”
More:Gov. Ron DeSantis signs controversial state takeover of Gainesville utilities
While he couldn’t specify what a more conservative approach may look like, Theus said he is in talks with the City of Newberry about how Southern Fuelwood can reduce the frequency of structure fires.
“We are looking forward to meeting with them and with the owner of Southern Fuelwood to find some best practices that would reduce the frequency in which fires take place there,” Theus said. “And when there are structure fires that take place there, practices that ensure the safety of the men and women that are on scene extinguishing the fire.”
Post said he is looking forward to those discussions.
"We should have never had anybody hurt out there. We shouldn't have even had a fire," he said. "Those things happen and I'm open ears for anybody that can figure a better way to do it than I'm doing it." | https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/local/2023/06/30/fire-frequency-at-newberry-fuelwood-company-is-cause-for-concern/70372834007/ | 2023-07-01T08:16:44 | 0 | https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/local/2023/06/30/fire-frequency-at-newberry-fuelwood-company-is-cause-for-concern/70372834007/ |
A look at how local minor league players are performing (stats through Thursday):
Triple A
2B Buddy Kennedy (Millville), 24, is playing for the Reno Aces (Arizona Diamondbacks). Through 65 games, he was hitting .345 (82 for 238) with 16 doubles, six triples, four home runs, 58 runs and 31 RBIs. He had walked 53 times and struck out 47 times, and his OPS was .988.
LHP Jay Groome (Barnegat), 24, is pitching for the El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego Padres). Through 15 starts, he was 1-6 with a 9.73 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings. He had last pitched June 22.
Double-A
RHP Sean Mooney (Ocean City), 25, was assigned to the Wichita Wind Surge (Minnesota Twins) and placed on the seven-day injured list to start the season (right shoulder fatigue). He was later moved to the 60-day IL.
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High-A
RHP Chase Petty (Mainland Regional), 20, is pitching for the Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati Reds). Through eight starts this season, he is 0-1 with a 1.13 ERA, a 0.97 WHIP and 34 strikeouts in 32 innings. On Thursday, he pitched four shutout innings, allowed three hits and walked two and struck out three in a no-decision.
Single-A
LHP Noah Dean (Pinelands Regional), 22, is pitching for the Salem Red Sox (Boston Red Sox). Through 12 starts in his first pro season, he was 1-4 with an 8.07 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 32 1/3 innings.
Dean was chosen in the fifth round of last year’s draft by Boston.SS Josh Hood (St. Augustine Prep), 22, playing for the Modesto Nuts (Seattle Mariners), was activated from the injured list Sunday. Through 55 games, he was hitting .257 (57 for 222) with 14 doubles, two triples, five homers, 36 runs, 31 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in 15 tries.
In 63 career games, he was hitting .248 with 14 doubles, two triples, five homers, 33 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Hood, from Vineland, was selected in the sixth round of last year’s draft.RHP Joe Joe Rodriguez (Vineland), 23, pitching for the St. Lucie Mets (New York Mets), was 1-1 with an 11.09 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings (13 appearances). He had last pitched June 21. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/josh-hood-activated-from-injured-list-hits-5th-homer-local-minor-league-update/article_13889d3c-176f-11ee-870c-db6857cfde33.html | 2023-07-01T08:39:56 | 0 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/josh-hood-activated-from-injured-list-hits-5th-homer-local-minor-league-update/article_13889d3c-176f-11ee-870c-db6857cfde33.html |
OCEAN CITY — A late goal by Real Central New Jersey made the Ocean City Nor’easters settle for a 1-1 tie on Friday at Carey Stadium.
Ocean City’s Jamie Davis scored in the 14th minute, and the Nor’easters controlled most of the game.
But they didn’t score again.
Ocean City remained unbeaten at 6-0-5 (23 points) to lead the United Soccer Leagues' League Two. The Nor’easters have three games left in the regular season, all at home, which they have nicknamed the Beach House. The tie put Real Central New Jersey, of Lawrenceville, at 2-5-3 (9 points). West Chester United was 5-1-3 (18 points) through Friday but had played two fewer games.
O.C. will host second-place West Chester in the regular-season finale July 16.
Davis, a midfielder from Cheshire, England, took a pass from Alessandro Arlotti and scored from the left side into the right corner to make it 1-0.
“Alle played a great through-ball past the defensive line, and I was able to get it past the keeper,” said Davis, a former University of New Hampshire player. “It was great to take the lead.
“The tie is disappointing. We felt we dominated the whole game, and when they score in the few minutes it takes all the hard work out of it. We had a lot of chances to finish the game off, but it is what it is. It’s a tight race, and it’s going to come down to the last game. We’re looking for the next game. We take it game by game. We’ll look for the next game and see if we can get the win.”
Former Oakcrest High School standout Colin Veltri sent a shot off the crossbar in the 32nd minute. Veltri forced RCNJ goalie Lukas Burns to make two saves midway through the second half.
Though they missed a few chances, the Nor’easters seemed in control until Real’s Hale Lombard fired in the equalizer in the 87th minute. Lombard beat a defender on the left side and blasted a shot that curved into the upper-right corner of the net.
“We’re devastated,” Ocean City coach Matt Perrella said. “It’s a devastating feeling at home to be up that late and lose (the lead) with the amount of quality players we have on the field. We’re still in a great position, it’s just frustrating. We’ve still got three games, and we’re still obviously in a great position to go forward. We’ve got to get wins. We’ve got to put teams away. We’ve got to shoot more, we’ve got to finish our chances, and then you have a little bit more room for error at that point. But there’s no excuse for us to have not won the game tonight.”
Burns made seven saves. Ocean City goalie Stefano Camerlengo had three saves, including a key stop in close in the 63rd minute.
PHOTOS Nor'easters vs. Real Central New Jersey at Carey Stadium
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Jack Sarkos looks to make a play for the Nor'easters during their match with Real Central New Jersey at Carey Stadium on Friday night in Ocean City. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/noreasters-remain-unbeaten-with-1-1-tie-at-the-beach-house/article_2c647696-17d8-11ee-875e-4bed21fdeee8.html | 2023-07-01T08:40:02 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/noreasters-remain-unbeaten-with-1-1-tie-at-the-beach-house/article_2c647696-17d8-11ee-875e-4bed21fdeee8.html |
ABCD unveils its new office plans at its 50th anniversary dinner
CANTON − ABCD, A Better Community Development, recently celebrated its 50th anniversary with an awards dinner and an unveiling of its new headquarters, which will be part of the upcoming O'Jays Plaza development on Harrisburg Road NE.
Keith B. Key, CEO of KBK Enterprise of Columbus was the keynote speaker for the dinner held at the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel.
Jenny Terrell, an ABCD board member of 35 years, gave a presentation of the organization's 50 years of service. The 2022 annual report was read by ABCD's Board Chair Lydia Lee, who announced that ABCD received a clean audit from an independent group and finished the year in the black.
Awards were presented to Stephen and Sondra Perry, and Chris Goff, CEO of Employers Health. A special recognition award was given to Walter Williams, a member of the O'Jays.
The former Crystal Park Plaza, located in northeast Canton, will be renamed O'Jays Plaza in honor of the singing group. It will include a construction training center, transportation vehicle garage, senior housing, retail space, a museum and a diner.
Service pins for staff and board members were presented, along with gift baskets for those who had 50-year milestones. There also was recognition of student winners of the O'Jays Scholarship.
Music was performed by the Williams Sisters, who sang a medley of O’Jays songs.
ABCD President and CEO Will Dent and his wife, Bonnie, were surprised with news that the new ABCD headquarters will be named the Will Dent Center for Community Economic Development. | https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/2023/07/01/abcd-unveils-its-new-office-plans-at-its-50th-anniversary-dinner/70366503007/ | 2023-07-01T09:01:56 | 0 | https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/2023/07/01/abcd-unveils-its-new-office-plans-at-its-50th-anniversary-dinner/70366503007/ |
COLFAX — “I didn’t realize I was going to be so emotional,” said Barbara Hedgecock, tearing up shortly before the fire department her father helped found dissolved voluntarily on Friday.
“My daddy helped start this,” Hedgecock said of her father, Bailey Flint, and the Colfax Fire Department. “That siren would go off and he would get in his car and take off.”
That siren at Station No. 16 — which used to alert volunteer firefighters to an emergency — has long since been replaced by emergency dispatchers and modern technology.
It sang one final time Friday afternoon, however, signifying the last call for the 65-year-old Colfax Fire Department.
Friday’s ceremony marked a new era, as the Kernersville Fire Department took over protecting this 14-square-mile district in western Guilford County. Along with Station No. 16, Kernersville also took ownership of Colfax’s engine, reserve engine, tanker, brush truck and two command staff vehicles.
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The High Point Fire Department took over Colfax’s second station on Sandy Ridge Road in 2021 after its leaders decided they could only cover a 5-mile radius around the Market Street station.
A combination of too few volunteers and multiple annexations from surrounding municipalities forced the Colfax Fire Department’s Board of Directors to make the tough decision to dissolve the department.
The day also was emotional for Colfax Fire Chief Dennis Robinson. A 1957 fire at his parents’ home was the catalyst that helped launch the then all-volunteer department.
Robinson and several members of the Colfax Fire Department Board of Directors wiped tears from their eyes as several speakers talked about the department’s long history.
Board member Bob Powell, who volunteered with the department for 23 years, said the transition was bittersweet.
“I feel 100% confident that we are doing the right thing,” Powell said. The dwindling number of volunteers threatened to put the department in danger of not meeting the community’s needs, he explained.
The department, which averages 750 to 800 calls per year, also was facing a 36% reduction this year due to retirements.
With 10 full-time and three part-time firefighters, Robinson said last year the department was able to staff three people per shift — but that left little room to maneuver if somebody was out sick or took a vacation.
And the state requires a four-person response on a structure fire, leaving volunteers having to stay nearby to fill that fourth position if needed.
Property taxes will go up in the district under the budget recently passed by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners. The fire district tax will increase from 11.91 cents to 13.6 cents per $100 of valuation.
Eleven of Colfax's firefighters were sworn in Friday as Kernersville firefighters, with loved ones pinning their new badges to their shirts.
In an interview last year, Kernersville Fire Chief Scott Alderman said the town would add a fourth firefighter to each shift and a battalion chief.
“Thank you for your trust in us,” Scott told the crowd of more than 100 people at Friday’s transition service. “We will continue to carry forth the great service you have provided this community.”
Charles Hayes, a retired captain with the Summerfield Fire Department who attended the ceremony, said he believes Kernersville will provide good protection for Colfax. However, he worries about the loss of volunteer departments, which would do things like sponsor local sports teams.
“I’m old school. I don’t like all this change,” Hayes said. “Guilford College is gone. Deep River is gone. Almost all of Fire District 13 has gone to the city.
“The towns, cities, they’re not family-oriented. Colfax used to have fish fries and stuff for the community.”
But Hedgecock said she’s hopeful for the transition, especially after hearing the Kernersville speakers on Friday.
“That would be our desire,” Hedgcock said. | https://greensboro.com/news/local/colfax-fire-department-kernersville-fire-department-loss-of-volunteer-departments/article_ccc8f84c-176e-11ee-98c3-473aecaf379c.html | 2023-07-01T09:29:15 | 0 | https://greensboro.com/news/local/colfax-fire-department-kernersville-fire-department-loss-of-volunteer-departments/article_ccc8f84c-176e-11ee-98c3-473aecaf379c.html |
Remember Brockton Fair's greasy food, demolition derby, Fan Dancer? Look back in photos
BROCKTON — The Brockton Fair was an annual staple in the city from 1874 until it was canceled in 2020 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Pandemic concerns led the owners, the Carney family, to cancel the fair in 2020 and 2021.
Then last year, the family announced that not only was the 2022 edition canceled, but the fair would not return.
Every summer, for nearly 150 years, people from across the region flocked to Brockton over a two-week period to play games, enjoy rides, eat greasy and fried finger foods, visit animal exhibits and watch the demolition derby.
Did you know, in the early days of the Brockton Fair, oxen-pulling was one of the features? Or that The Lennon Sisters and Entertainer John Davidson visited the Brockton fair? And that parking was only $1.50?
Do you remember The "Fan Dancer" Sally Rand, who was scantily dressed with feathers in her hair to entice your entry to see her show? Or Kelly the Candy Man?
What about the "Lucky Teeter" on the race track or the man that rode his motorcycle around the inside of a big wooden barrel?
Take a look back at the 148-year-old summer tradition with Enterprise photos spanning from 1898 to the 2019.
Brockton Fair from 1898 through the 1980s
These photos from 1898 to the 1980s include classic photos taken by Stanley A. Bauman, an oxen pulling, The Lennon Sisters and Entertainer John Davidson, a West Bridgewater native, visiting the Brockton Fair.
Reminisce with these historic photos:Missing the Brockton Fair this year? Reminisce with these historic photos
A look back at the Brockton Fair:A look back at the Brockton Fair
15 years of Brockton Fairs
Some things had changed through the many years of the Brockton Fair — while many hadn't. People from across the region filled the midway each day to play games, eat food and enjoy various shows. The Enterprise had been at every fair in recent years — and here's a look at some of the best photos.
15 years of Brockton fairs in photos:15 years of Brockton Fairs – in photos!
Brockton Fair photo album 2010:Brockton Fair photo album
Opening day at the Brockton Fair in 2016
Fairgoers had a blast on all kinds of rides at the fair through the years, including the Music Express, Surf City and the "Speedway." Here's a look at some of the rides during opening day of the Brockton Fair in 2016.
2016 Brockton fair photos:The 2016 Brockton Fair opens
See any familiar faces at the fair?:SEEN ON SCENE: Brockton Fair
Take a look at the fair fare
The smell of mouthwatering foods wafted through the air at the Brockton fair. From jerk chicken, to Italian sausages, pizza, fried dough and fries, not to mention cotton candy, ice cream and fried Oreos, the Midway was full of scrumptious temptations.
All's fare at the Brockton Fair:PHOTOS: All's fare at the Brockton Fair
It's more than just fun and games at the fair
From the Ring a Bottle, to Hoop Shot basketball, to Whac-A-Mole, fairgoers could try their luck and put their skills to the test at the many games on the Midway.
Take a look at the games at the fair:PHOTOS: It's more than fun, games at Brockton Fair
Ever-popular demolition derby
Large crowds always gathered to watch the demolition derby. Former Enterprise reporter Ben Paulin won a heat in demolition derby at the Brockton Fair in 2015. Here's a look at the derby action at the Brockton Fair.
Demolition derby photos:Enterprise reporter wins heat in demolition derby at Brockton Fair
Demolition Derby a family affair at fairDemolition Derby a family affair at Brockton Fair
Derby legend back at it:Brockton-area derby legend back at it after heart surgery
Performers at the fair
Family fun at the Brockton Fair included Orlando Gomes of Lima, Peru, as Michael Jackson and performer Alina at a free circus inside the fair, Flying swings in Kiddie Land, and a 4-H goat show.
Family fun photos:Family fun at the Brockton Fair
Last Brockton Fair in 2019:Another year of the Brockton Fair begins in the city
Staff writer Kathy Bossa can be reached by email at kbossa@enterprisenews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Enterprise today. | https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/news/local/2023/07/01/brockton-fair-photos-from1898-to-2019/70365194007/ | 2023-07-01T09:46:21 | 1 | https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/news/local/2023/07/01/brockton-fair-photos-from1898-to-2019/70365194007/ |
Civil rights tested, first woman for Supreme Court: News Journal archives, week of July 2
"Pages of history" features excerpts from The News Journal archives including the Wilmington Morning News and the Evening Journal.
July 3, 1964, the Evening Journal
Negroes act quickly to test civil rights law
Negroes putting the new civil rights bill signed by President Johnson to test today scored initial gains in troubled areas but some southern leaders refused to accept it as law.
Immediately after Johnson signed the historic legislation at a White House ceremony last night, the campaign to implement its sweeping directives was put into motion.
Today doors which had been off-limits to Negroes were open. Others were shut by the owners to one and all.
In Albany, Ga., for instance, the scene of racial violence in recent years, seven restaurants that catered to whites only admitted Negroes for the first time last night.
Negroes also found no resistance in entering restaurants in another troubled southern city, Savannah, Ga.
In Jacksonville, Fla., where whites and Negroes have battled, a white waitress in the serving line of Morrison’s cafeteria greeted Negroes Robert Ingram and Prince McIntosh with the dignity which Johnson asked to be show to all races.
“May I help you?” the white woman asked politely.
In Charlottesville, Va., the door to a restaurant operated by Buddy Glover was closed for the first time in 27 years.
“I quit,” Glover said. “It’s going to be a financial loss, but dollars and cents can’t take the place of principles.”
Gov. George Wallace of Alabama challenged the constitutionality of the new law which permits Negroes access to public eating places and overnight accommodations previously denied them….
Almost 60 years later:Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware's sole congresswoman, will run to fill Carper's Senate seat
July 4, 1890, The Morning News
Idaho becomes newest state, too early for some
In signing the bill admitting Idaho to the sisterhood of states July 3, President Harrison has disappointed a number of people in that state who had hoped that the new state should take up her position in line on the Fourth of July.
The reason for his action was an interesting one. The President, it seems, found that the law ordained that a new star should be placed upon the American flag for each new state on the Fourth of July succeeding its admission to the Union.
The President left it to Mr. Dubois, the delegate from Idaho, to decide whether to have the bill signed at once and get the star this year, or leave the star over until July 4, 1891. Mr. Dubois chose the star now, and as a result, the bill has been signed and 43 stars are now due upon the flag July 4.
The bill admitting Wyoming to statehood has not yet reached the President for his signature.
July 5, 1973, The Morning News
General Assembly to reconvene amid budget battle
DOVER – The General Assembly is scheduled to meet again today, but there is some doubt whether the problem of the $26 million projected deficit for June 30, 1974 will be solved.
If some sort of solution is not reached, it appears that welfare checks along with the checks of some 800 hourly state employees could be delayed. The checks are dated July 7 but are supposed to be in the mail today….
Stories vary as to who is to blame for the failure of the legislature to send a budget – balanced by appropriate tax measures – to Gov. Sherman Tribbitt Tuesday night. The House came in briefly during the afternoon, only to recess for caucuses. The Senate did not convene until 6:30 p.m., and closed its session in anger 10 minutes later.
House Republican leaders began the day nearly where they closed it after the 22-hour marathon session that ended early Sunday….
Speaker John Kirk Jr., R-Delaware City, said negotiations with the administration broke down over two joint resolutions. One would bring the General Assembly back in October to consider a gross receipts tax and other revenue measures. The other would hold up all revenue refunds – such as personal income taxes – until legislators provide new revenues to cover them. The latter resolution is perhaps the more important because it would allow the General Assembly to pass only enough taxes for fiscal year 1974, which began Sunday, to cover the state operating budget.
There are 21 Republicans and 20 Democrats in the House….
Catch up on history:Climbers top Mt. Everest, Johnstown flood: The News Journal archives, week of May 28
July 8, 1981, The Morning News
First woman nominated for Supreme Court
The reaction Tuesday to President Reagan’s first Supreme Court nominee was an ironic one: he was condemned by conservatives who supported him all the way to the Oval Office, and praised by liberals and feminists who have found so little to like about him there.
The Rev. Jerry Falwell, head of Moral Majority, declared that the nomination of Sandra Day O’Connor was a “disaster.” The National Right to Life Committee, an anti-abortion group, pledged an all-out fight against her confirmation because of “her consistent support for legal abortion.”
But Eleanor Smeal, president of the National Organization for Women, called the nomination “a major victory for women’s rights.”
Meanwhile, prospects appeared good for a quick and relatively painless confirmation by the Senate. Among the first to jump aboard Mrs. O’Connor’s bandwagon following Reagan’s announcement Tuesday were Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Rep. Morris K. Udall, D-Ariz., two of the most outspoken liberals in Congress….
Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com. | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2023/07/01/civil-rights-tested-in-1964-first-woman-nominated-for-supreme-court-news-journal-archives-july-2/70357954007/ | 2023-07-01T10:11:55 | 0 | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2023/07/01/civil-rights-tested-in-1964-first-woman-nominated-for-supreme-court-news-journal-archives-july-2/70357954007/ |
PRATT, Kan. (KSNW) — One man is dead following a motorcycle crash with a semi near Pratt on Friday night, according to Kansas Highway Patrol.
It happened just after 4:30 p.m. on K-61, 16 miles northeast of Pratt.
A 67-year-old Arizona man driving a motorcycle was heading north on K-61, according to KHP.
A 31-year-old man driving a semi was heading south on K-61.
According to KHP, the motorcycle driver crossed the center line to pass a car and was hit by the semi.
The driver of the motorcycle died from his injuries and the semi-driver was not hurt according to KHP. | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/one-dead-following-motorcycle-crash-with-semi-near-pratt/ | 2023-07-01T10:19:23 | 1 | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/one-dead-following-motorcycle-crash-with-semi-near-pratt/ |
CEDAR FALLS — After partaking in the Sturgis Falls Celebration parade last weekend, Ryan Binkley returned Friday to Cedar Falls to explain how he wants to address the federal budget, healthcare system, U.S.-Mexico border, and country’s division.
The Republican presidential candidate, 55, from Texas, spoke to the Black Hawk County GOP at Gravy’s Diner, hoping to drive home his plans to address the country’s debt in order to set the next generation up for success.
In particular, the president and CEO of Generational Group, an M&A investment bank and privately held business advisory, and founder of Create Church, a multiethnic, multigenerational church, believes that his messaging needs to reach young voters.
A majority of them voted for President Joe Biden in the last election, are now seeing the impact of inflation, and are not celebrating the nation’s freedoms and values, he said.
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Binkley also wants to do what Republican front runners, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump, and others from the party are not doing: working across the aisle and promoting the fiscal conservative message.
“Three weeks ago, I just saw Speaker Kevin McCarthy applauding with everybody that we raised the debt ceiling $4 trillion,” he said. “Did you all see that? They were like, ‘Yay, we came to an agreement.’ $4 trillion for two years. We’re going to spend more money than what we have. We didn’t even make Joe Biden fight for it in an election year.”
Binkley says he’s the only Republican actually serious about the $32 trillion debt and balancing the budget and set a goal that by the fourth year of his presidency making a payment on the principle.
Right now, 8% of the budget is put toward paying off the interest, leading him to call the U.S. economy “probably be the most fragile economic system since the Great Depression.” It is now a priority he feels is his responsibility to address.
“I’m 55. What have I sacrificed and what’s our generation going to be known for? The Great Generation is known for having laid it all down for us,” he said. “I think 50 years from now if we don’t get our budget in line, we’ll be known as the generation that prospered the most, but sacrificed the least because we’ve had more wealth come into our lifetime than any of the previous two generations combined. Period. And here we are. All we had to do was just balance our budget.”
“Socialized” health care is another problem he addressed Friday.
“Everybody with insurance is paying for the difference for everybody that doesn’t have insurance. Period,” said Binkley. And then everybody’s that even paying cash is paying for everybody that’s getting it for free. It is a broken system.”
He wants to address it in part by allowing for competition in health insurance across state lines.
The “convoluted, complex” border problem is a “humanitarian crisis.” One reason is the fentanyl those who enter bring into the country.
He argues illegal immigration can be solved in a bipartisan fashion by sealing the border with a wall, the right people and advanced technology from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf Coast.
He clarified that he’s not against legal immigrants coming into the country and wants to inspire a “work revolution.” They work hard, pay taxes and become citizens. In fact, his wife is a first generation immigrant from South Korea.
“All we got to do is come to the table and show that we care, and you know what will happen. We will win their vote.”
Another issue of interest is his belief that the country’s education system falls behind other developed countries and is not doing enough to prepare America’s youth for the available jobs.
Additionally, Binkley wants to protect America’s daughters’ right to change privately and compete in sports fairly, while touting Iowa’s bathroom bill and Republican Governor Kim Reynolds’ agenda.
Binkley, who is in line with other Republican values as pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, pro-family and pro-school choice, made mention of his respect for the LGBTQIA community, too, but wants a change in the “rhetoric” and a “dropping of the swords.” | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/budget-focus-of-binkley-in-cf/article_441ce606-15da-11ee-9614-93fb10269b0d.html | 2023-07-01T10:21:40 | 0 | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/budget-focus-of-binkley-in-cf/article_441ce606-15da-11ee-9614-93fb10269b0d.html |
James Bruno has shown great loyalty to his employers during his career working in the casinos.
Bruno, an Atlantic County resident, was hired at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, before the doors opened to the public 20 years ago this weekend.
He joined the new property looking for an opportunity for career growth, after spending 19 years at the now-demolished Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino.
“Trump Plaza had expanded and was contracting. Trump Marina had opened, and the Trump Taj Mahal was in the forefront,” Bruno said.
Twenty years later, Bruno still looks back on his first tour of the Borgata. Crossing the casino, which still hadn’t opened to the public, remains the most memorable moment of his two-decade tenure at the property.
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“Borgata changed the entire landscape of the industry and Atlantic City,” Bruno said. “It totally turned the industry upside down.”
The opening of the Borgata was not a motivation for Bruno to leave Trump Plaza because he already had that experience.
ATLANTIC CITY — New Jersey’s casinos, horse tracks that take sports bets and the online part…
Bruno was already working at Trump Plaza when Donald Trump reopened the casino on May 15, 1996, and changed the name of Trump Regency to Trump’s World Fair at Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. He also was there when Trump World’s Fair closed on Oct. 3, 1999.
By moving to Borgata, Bruno saw an advancement in his casino career.
He became the assistant shift manager for tables games and operations at Trump Plaza when he left in 2003 to accept a similar position of shift manager for tables and operations for the 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. shift. He was promoted in 2006 to sole shift manager at night from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. He became director of table games operations in 2017.
In his position at Borgata, Bruno has seen international VIPs gamble sums of money most people couldn’t even dream of.
“I have seen a couple of million dollars gambled over the period of a day,” Bruno said.
A year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Bruno was promoted to his current position of vice president of casino operations, putting him in charge of all gaming operations and reporting directly to Travis Lunn, Borgata’s president and COO.
If you haven’t dined at Old Homestead Steak House, it certainly hasn’t been for lack of opportunity, as the restaurant inside Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa has been there since 2003, and its original location in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District has been continuously operating for more than 150 years.
Bruno is now part of an executive team that has helped Borgata maintain its position as the top money maker in town for two decades.
When the pandemic hit, Bruno never stopped working. He was part of a team responsible for water management when the casino was closed. That meant entering rooms on floor after floor and flushing the toilets and running the water in the sinks to maintain the water quality for when the casino reopened.
For its one-year anniversary in 2004, Borgata hosted a two-day, outdoor Maxim Fantasy Island party with music by John Mayer, Velvet Revolver, Hoobastank and other bands.
Bruno said he is looking forward to his casino’s 20th anniversary celebration.
“We are doing a drone show. Five hundred drones will span over (an area) 1,000 feet wide,” Bruno said.
After two decades, Bruno and more than 800 day-one team members are still at Borgata — a fact that says a great deal about who we are and what we do as a company, Lunn said.
Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa once housed as many as four restaurants featuring the talents of Iron Chefs. The Food Network-enhanced name recognition from culinary legends like Wolfgang Puck and Bobby Flay undoubtedly brought heads in the door, and continues to do so at places like Michael Symon’s spectacular Italian concept Angeline. But one could make a strong argument that when it comes to former celebrity chef-branded spots at Borgata, the restaurants that replaced them ended up being better than those with the famous name on the marquee. American Bar & Grill has only gotten better since Wolfgang Puck’s name was removed from it, and the brand-new B-Prime Steakhouse is the latest to show up a big name star with a superior offering.
“It’s an honor to be a part of Borgata’s milestone anniversary and celebrate this iconic property with a phenomenal team,” Lunn said. “One of the foundational components of Borgata’s success is the continued dedication of our team.”
People who were not living in or visiting Atlantic City 20 years ago may not realize or remember how much of a force Borgata was in consolidating the Marina District in the city as a force as far as revenues and a place where a major investment meant a large return on your investment.
Bob McDevitt, the former president of casino-worker Unite Here Local 54, recalls the transformation.
“Borgata spent money and spent enough of it to show you can change the market, and they did,” McDevitt said.
It was Borgata’s mastermind and former CEO Bob Boughner and his development team who envisioned everything, McDevitt said. The creation of Borgata was a joint venture between MGM Mirage and Boyd Gaming.
“The Boyd family made an extraordinary commitment to Atlantic City when everyone was backing out,” McDevitt said.
The legacy of the opening of Borgata in 2003 was that it raised the bar on the quality of product in Atlantic City’s casino properties, said Jane F. Bokunewicz, faculty director for Stockton University’s Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality & Tourism, School of Business.
“In line with trends happening in Las Vegas, the Borgata Casino & Spa featured high-end design features in the hotel rooms, on the casino floor, and in its restaurants and nightclubs that were superior to what was available at the other casino hotels in Atlantic City at the time,” Bokunewicz said.
With its upscale marble showers and sleek modern design of the hotel room, vaulted ceilings on the casino floor, celebrity chef restaurants, and exciting bars and nightclubs, it was designed to appeal to the luxury segment of customers, Bokunewicz said.
“It attracted a new group of visitors to Atlantic City. The success of Borgata inspired the other casino operators to invest in their own properties, improving product offerings and upgrading existing designs, which helped to improve the image of Atlantic City as a first-class resort destination,” Bokunewicz said. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/casinos/borgata-a-las-vegas-style-resort-celebrates-birthday-as-a-20-year-leader-in-atlantic/article_9a92cf1a-15e8-11ee-81b5-93f0e54adae9.html | 2023-07-01T10:49:33 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/casinos/borgata-a-las-vegas-style-resort-celebrates-birthday-as-a-20-year-leader-in-atlantic/article_9a92cf1a-15e8-11ee-81b5-93f0e54adae9.html |
TRENTON – Big money may be heading to New Jersey’s boardwalks.
The state Senate on Friday voted yes on a bipartisan bill to put $100 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to create a Boardwalk Preservation Fund, matching local money for projects building, repairing and maintaining boardwalks.
Sponsors were Michael Testa, R, Cumberland and Cape May counties, and Paul A. Sarlo, D, Bergen and Passaic, with Sen. Vincent Polistina, R, Atlantic County, signing on as co-sponsor.
In a statement after the vote, Testa described Boardwalks as an economic driver to shore communities, helping to draw millions of tourists annually.
“Awarding grants through the Boardwalk Preservation Fund is necessary to support the long-term economic success of the New Jersey Shore and preserve the historical significance of these structures,” Testa said. “This bill would bolster vital coastal infrastructure and provide a significant return on investment for the state by improving our tourist appeal and opening additional opportunities to generate revenue.”
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Under the bill, communities in the most economic distress would be eligible for funding without a local match.
There was no debate on the Senate floor. It did not seem like anyone needed convincing as the bill sailed through the chamber. An identical bill was in front of the state Assembly on the same day and also passed.
Gov. Phil Murphy had proposed creating the fund in this year’s State of the State address, describing local infrastructure as the backbone of communities.
“And, in many towns along our Atlantic coast, that backbone is, literally, made of wood,” Murphy said. “Our boardwalks are more than just places for recreation and exercise. They are more than just the space that connects a parking area to the beach. They are wooden Main Streets which, in so many ways, define their communities and support their economies as much as the sand and surf.”
If Murphy signs the bill, it would establish a process for counties and municipalities to apply for matching grants for Boardwalk projects, to be administered through the Department of Community Affairs.
Officials in Murphy’s office said at the time that Atlantic City was “top of mind” when the funding was proposed. Sections of that Boardwalk are more than 80 years old, and while some $60 million worth of repairs have been completed, estimates are that the structure still needs work worth some $100 million more.
In Wildwood, in recent years, city officials have relied on millions of dollars in state and federal grants to help repair the Boardwalk, which was said to be in immediate need of renovation. The most recent project, undertaken over the winter, saw new deck installed from Maple to 26th avenues.
A third phase is planned to include the blocks from Shellenger Avenue to Spencer Avenue, expected to take place after the summer. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/senate-says-yes-to-100m-in-boardwalk-funds/article_c6527f38-177d-11ee-bc4e-af4d773cc6d2.html | 2023-07-01T10:49:39 | 0 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/senate-says-yes-to-100m-in-boardwalk-funds/article_c6527f38-177d-11ee-bc4e-af4d773cc6d2.html |
Idaho’s crops seem to be catching up.
A late spring contributed to many crops being behind five-year averages but, according to the USDA Crop Progress and Condition Report for the week ending June 25, many crops are ahead of last year’s pace.
The report, however, shows that grain yields could be an issue, as a large percentage of the state’s wheat crop is rated only in “fair” condition, meaning that yield loss is a possibility but the extent is unknown.
There were worries early this spring that the cold weather and continued snow could take a toll on crops. It was a harsh winter, said Sean Ellis, spokesperson of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, but he has heard from farmers that crops are catching up.
Don’t expect record-breaking wheat and barley harvests, Ellis said, but as long as Idaho continues to receive favorable weather from here on out, he’s expecting most farmers to be satisfied with their harvests.
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But weather has taken a toll.
For the week ending June 25, 39% of the winter wheat crop was listed in fair condition, compared with 19% in fair condition at this time last year. Thirty-six percent of the spring wheat crop is listed in fair condition, compared to 27% last year.
Spring hail storms in Magic Valley and eastern Idaho have reportedly damaged crops.
“A number of winter wheat and winter barley fields were taken out of production for hail damage,” Juliet Marshall, a University of Idaho professor of plant pathology and head of the Department of Plant Sciences, said in early June. “We’re looking at yield reductions of 70% easily in some areas.”
Sugar beets are rated in better shape, however, with 70% of the crop listed in good condition and 14% in excellent condition.
And another benefit to farmers this year, Ellis said, is that most farmers are expected to have adequate water.
In crop progress detailed by this week’s report, 27% of spring wheat has headed, compared to 26% last year. The 5-year average is 32%. For winter wheat, 77% is headed, also ahead of last year but behind the 5-year average of 88%.
All of the potato crop has emerged, according to the report, compared to 91% last year. The 5-year average was unavailable.
Almost 70% of the first cutting of hay is complete, ahead of last year’s mark of 65%. The 5-year average is 77%. | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/crops-appear-to-be-catching-up-but-yields-could-be-in-question/article_f83c3a3e-1791-11ee-b01f-eb3c243ecb58.html | 2023-07-01T10:54:02 | 0 | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/crops-appear-to-be-catching-up-but-yields-could-be-in-question/article_f83c3a3e-1791-11ee-b01f-eb3c243ecb58.html |
SPRINGFIELD — The Flanagan-Cornell FFA chapter attended the 95th annual Illinois State FFA Convention from June 13-15 in Springfield.
More than 5,000 other FFA members, advisers and guests also attended the event. This year's theme was "Electrify."
The three-day annual event recognizes achievements of Illinois FFA members, elects the major state officer team and celebrates agriculture.
Kesler Collins was conferred with the State FFA Degree by the Illinois Association for meeting all requirements, including productive financial investments and earnings in a supervised agricultural experience and FFA participation, leadership and academic excellence. This is the highest honor an FFA member can achieve in Illinois, as less than 2% of members statewide can earn the recognition.
Grace Brown, Sam Jones, Hattie Koeller and Wyatt Zehr were recognized for earning the highest degree achievable in the National FFA Organization. The American FFA Degree will be officially conferred at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis in November. The degree honors the most dedicated members in the country who demonstrated excellence with their supervised agricultural experience, provided outstanding leadership and community service, and earned a scholastic achievement through their FFA career.
Trevor Brown and Chastidie Bednaza were named the Growing Leaders National Award section winners. Emerson Weber and Andrew Koeller were named the Strengthening Agriculture National Chapter Award section winners.
Tomi Ross and Darren Howell received the Section Premier Chapter Award. Kesler Collins and Austin Quick received the Premier Chapter Runner-Up Award.
The convention also had a career fair featuring colleges and agribusinesses, and history on Springfield. The sessions featured addresses by National FFA Eastern Region Vice President Gracie Murphy and from each of the retiring major state officers.
Watch now: Who got up early to support local agriculture?
Tri-Valley FFA
LeRoy FFA
Lexington FFA
Megan Volk, Christie Rabideau
Hans Rasmussen, Phyllis Coulter Rasmussen, Chamber president Charlie Moore
Hand drawn placemats
Kristin Myers, Katie Buckley
Chamber president Charlie Moore, Ag Council Chairman Kevin Birlingmair
Chuck Erickson, Brian Basting
Jackie Kraft, Don Meyer
Kieser Family
Emily Griffin, Sean Wells, Jennifer and Andy Killian
Jason Perry, McKenna Peart
Vivian Doctora, Kim Schoenbein, Annie Swanson
Bob and Austin Hawkins
Dayna Brown, Dr. Kristen Weikle
Brahma Rai, Avani Rai
Karen Jones, Kristen Kubsch
Heartland Community College President Keith Cornille, Dr. Kristen Weikle
Michael Meyer, Jackie Kraft
Sammi Kern, Shelly Hanover
Cassy Taylor, Erika Reynolds
Olympia FFA
Normal West FFA
Normal FFA
David Fulton, Dan Caldwell
Vivian Doctora, Tracy Patkunas, David Besler, Trever Kuipers, Kim Schoenbein, Mark Jontry | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/education/a-look-at-the-latest-central-illinois-academic-successes/article_8a8db1fe-15e6-11ee-830d-d328c9fce867.html | 2023-07-01T11:19:37 | 0 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/education/a-look-at-the-latest-central-illinois-academic-successes/article_8a8db1fe-15e6-11ee-830d-d328c9fce867.html |
BELTON, Texas — If you are looking for something to do for Independence Day, then look no further than Belton's Fourth of July Celebration!
The 6 News team, along with an estimated 30,000 others, will line the streets for a one-and-a-half mile parade through the center of Belton, which will then be followed by even more festivities.
The parade will begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, July 4. The route runs south through Main street from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor to the Bell County Courthouse and then east on Central Avenue and north on Birdwell to the Belton Police Memorial.
If you can't make it to the parade in person, it's not a problem! You will be able to watch and stream it on Channel 6 News KCEN, KCENTV.com, 6+ App or the KCEN Facebook page.
After the parade, you can make your way to Yettie Polk Park for the Festival on Nolan Creek from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This festival will feature food, games, a petting zoo and of course a fireworks show.
In addition to these fun activities, rides and attractions will be available to enjoy at the Carnival at Liberty Park which will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The parade and festival are free to attend, but tickets will need to be purchased for carnival rides and other attractions.
For tickets and more information, visit here. | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/belton-fourth-of-july-celebration-guide-what-you-need-to-know/500-91662563-3151-4ead-a565-6a03cff6c4d0 | 2023-07-01T11:19:42 | 0 | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/belton-fourth-of-july-celebration-guide-what-you-need-to-know/500-91662563-3151-4ead-a565-6a03cff6c4d0 |
25 years ago: $900,000 in storm damage in McLean County
Learn to navigate the Newspapers.com database, perform browsing and complex search functions, and save clippings using a free user account. Tutorial developed by the University of Alabama Libraries.
How Time Flies is a daily feature looking back at Pantagraph archives to revisit what was happening in our community and region.
100 years ago
July 1, 1923: The sale of fireworks opened here yesterday. There was a lively business at the 21 places that were given permits to sell them. Although an effort is being made throughout the country to discourage the use of fireworks on the Fourth, from the amount sold there will be no lessening of the usual noise in the city.
75 years ago
July 1, 1948: The contest to select a queen and two maids of honor for Normal's September Tomato festival will be open to any McLean County girl over 18, it was decided. The top eight or 10 candidates will be introduced at a band concert in August where final judging will be done.
50 years ago
July 1, 1973: "Allowing a patient to live until he dies ..." That's one goal of music therapy, according to two originators of the local program, Mrs. Bernard Lannie and Mrs. Clifford Edwards. Mrs. Lannie is a registered nurse and Mrs. Edwards is a music therapy volunteer.
25 years ago
July 1, 1998: A power-packed thunderstorm caused what preliminary estimates placed at $900,000 worth of damage in McLean County. Gov. Jim Edgar, visiting Bloomington in the aftermath, said he would consider state disaster assistance. More than 92,000 Central Illinois residents found themselves without power.
101 years ago: See vintage Pantagraph ads from 1922 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/history/25-years-ago-900-000-in-storm-damage-in-mclean-county/article_2f9bd664-1612-11ee-be11-6f7301d9a190.html | 2023-07-01T11:19:43 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/history/25-years-ago-900-000-in-storm-damage-in-mclean-county/article_2f9bd664-1612-11ee-be11-6f7301d9a190.html |
DALLAS — A U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier who died earlier this month after collapsing on his route in a Dallas neighborhood during the Texas summer heat was previously penalized for "unacceptable performance – expanding street time."
Eugene Gates Jr., was disciplined on May 2 for a "stationary event," according to the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 132 President Kimetra Lewis.
A stationary event is when a letter carrier's scanner reads as idle on a tracker. In these instances, carriers are questioned about inefficiencies in their performance and potentially penalized for stopping along their route.
Lewis said USPS started monitoring stationary events in May. She described the discipline as an infraction for lack of productivity.
A letter of discipline obtained by WFAA, which was sent to Gates, stated he was issued the letter for "unacceptable performance – expanding street time." The letter states that Gates stopped by the USPS office twice – once in the morning and again in the afternoon – and also says that he stopped "so many times on [his] way back to the station, it took [him] 45 minutes" longer than it should've to return to the office at the end of his shift.
The letter says an investigative review was conducted on May 11, notes that Gates' stationary event was "in violation of postal rules and regulations," and warns that "future deficiencies will result in more severe disciplinary actions, including removal from the Postal Service."
Lewis said Gates was with USPS since November 1987 before he died while delivering mail on June 20. This was the only disciplinary letter she is aware of that he received in his 36 years with the company.
While the cause of Gates' death is still unknown, it is sparking conversations about the working conditions of USPS letter carriers.
Lewis said she received a message on Friday from a concerned employee at the Oak Lawn Post Office, who said management had sent a message to Oak Lawn letter carriers on their scanner that read: "BEAT THE HEAT!!! NO STATIONARY EVENTS; KEEP IT MOVING!"
Lewis shared the alleged photo of that scanner message with WFAA. It is below.
Lewis said she is worried that monitoring stationary events will make carriers put their health at risk in hot temperatures to avoid discipline.
"In light of everything that has happened to Eugene Gates, I find the scanner message to be a slap in the face," Lewis said in a statement to WFAA. "Letter carriers are human beings before they are postal workers. The fact that they chose a career that dictates they work outdoors does not remove the need for the Postal Service to be concerned about their safety and well-being. After reading that message and finding out about the discipline Eugene received, I questioned where is the sensitivity of the Postal Service."
Gates' wife Carla tells WFAA she was never aware of any discipline her husband received at work.
"All I know is that he was a man of dignity and often finished his routes early," Carla Gates said in a statement sent to WFAA. "I was shocked to hear of this disciplinary action; it's the first I've heard of this. It's entirely possible this may have pushed him harder in the heat. Eugene was a professional. He's not going to do anything to jeopardize his job or be written up. He was 66 — of course, he might be a little slower than others. And they tell him to pick up the pace? My God, that's an insult to him."
The USPS declined to comment when asked by WFAA about the disciplinary letter Gates received and the scanner message allegedly sent out to carriers about beating the heat.
"The Postal Service does not comment publicly on personnel matters," a spokesperson with the agency said. "We have no further information to provide at this time."
More Texas headlines: | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/dallas-usps-carrier-eugene-gates-disciplined-stationary-event/287-dab4f489-68bf-47d5-9552-1458816b2482 | 2023-07-01T11:19:48 | 1 | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/dallas-usps-carrier-eugene-gates-disciplined-stationary-event/287-dab4f489-68bf-47d5-9552-1458816b2482 |
Each year, Westfield has a Legacy of Caring campaign for nonprofits. Clemens nominated PATH and Westfield accepted the nomination. Westfield said PATH was the perfect type of nonprofit that they look for when awarding these grants.
Evans said part of the money will be used for a homelessness project they are doing.
Watch now: Photos from Brews at the Zoo
Paula Pratt, Miller Park Zoological Society Director of Development; Tracy Patkunas, Peggy Hundley, Dee Frautschi
Jeff Holtke, Ben Jeffreys, Tom Carroll, Erica Epperson
Lisa Hicks, Katie Fudge Matthews
Amanda and Dan Jones
Enjoying the evening
Tori Fowler
Brad and Ronda Glenn
Jeff and Donna Aldrich, Katie and Austin Myers
Jacki Orton, Jenny MacPherson
Jeremy Studebaker, Kelley Staub
Lynden McGriff, Mike Endris
Volunteers Liz Sullivan and Michelle Forbes
Hanna Bacayo, Debra Ludvigsen, Pat Bacayo
Helena Lefkow, David Page, Debi Turner
Anne Himmel, Santino Lamancusa, Aianna Zachary
Strolling through the zoo
Carrie Adkins
Todd and Natalie Schmidt
Sara Kemp, Stephanie Meints, Nallely Cavazos
Karlie Tucker, Kari Wade
Thomas Garverick, Shelbi Frye, Vicky and John Lauth
Chaparro Jaso, Ema Garcia
Julie and Steve Kubsch
Guests enjoying samples from Industry Brewing Mike Anderson and Jayne Jarigese
Kait and Doug Whiston
Red Panda
Taylor Pena, Keegan Fitchorn and Cathy Wentworth serve Chris Godsey
Mo Baybordi, Megan Howe, Shaun Rascoe
Jared, Jennifer, Travis, and Rachel Gibson
Mandy and Cari Evers, Jeni Reed
Sarah Lessen, Rick Potocki
Cassie and Emma Smith, Aly Frantzen, Tanner Crawford
Emily Themer, Derek Mitzel
Flamingoes
Cheryl Magnuson, Erin Rogers
Ben Jeffreys, Cathy Wentworth
Contact Olivia Jacobs at 309-820-3352. Follow Olivia on Twitter: @olivia___jacobs | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/local-insurance-companies-donate-to-bloomingtons-path-crisis-center/article_c25efc8c-169f-11ee-b6cb-ff7aec12672c.html | 2023-07-01T11:19:49 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/local-insurance-companies-donate-to-bloomingtons-path-crisis-center/article_c25efc8c-169f-11ee-b6cb-ff7aec12672c.html |
PALO PINTO COUNTY, Texas — The Killeen Fire Department announced that crews are assisting in a wildfire dubbed the "Storage Fire" in Pinto Palo County on Friday, June 30.
According to the City of Killeen, crews are providing structure protection for the fire three hours from city, located south of Possum Kingdom Lake.
The city says the Texas A&M Forest Service requested two strike teams to assist with the wildfire on Wednesday, June 28.
Four personnel, a brush truck with a strike team leader and command SUV from the Killeen Fire Department were sent to the area to aid in the fight.
According to the Forest Service, the fire is approximately 1,000 acres and 30% contained. Over 100 homes are in danger of the fire, so mandatory evacuations have been put in place.
The Killeen Fire Department joins other units from Central Texas assisting in the fire, including units from Temple, Waco and Moffat.
To view more information, visit here.
Also on KCENTV.com: | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/killeen-firefighters-assist-wildfire-south-of-possum-kingdom-lake/500-4f145157-8368-4603-bea7-3f578c7609c1 | 2023-07-01T11:19:54 | 1 | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/killeen-firefighters-assist-wildfire-south-of-possum-kingdom-lake/500-4f145157-8368-4603-bea7-3f578c7609c1 |
DALLAS — Staff Sgt. Home Hogues, one of the last known surviving Tuskegee Airmen, died Tuesday in Dallas at 96.
His death came two days after the death of his wife, Mattie Hogues. They were married for 76 years. Funeral arrangements are being made for them together.
Hogues was an airplane and engine mechanic as a part of the 99th Fighter Squadron in the 332nd Fighter Group. He was one of the first African-American military pilots, paving the way for people of color.
The Tuskegee Airmen dared to dream and became the first African-Americans to fly combat missions.
A WFAA Original was produced about Hogues in 2019. A GoFundMe was set up at the time to help provide him a wheelchair van, at-home healthcare and a remodel of his home for handicap accessibility.
More than $27,000 was raised for Hogues after the story ran. An additional $61,000 was donated by organizations across North Texas to provide labor and supplies to remodel his home.
His wife waited by the door for him. A crowd of friends, family and donors were there to welcome him back.
"I didn't know that many people cared about me, but I thank them, thank them, thank them from the bottom of my heart," Hogues said at the time.
The walls of his room were filled with memories and photos, as he continued to share the Tuskegee story, including that he "got a chance to work on the P47 Thunderbolt."
A viewing for Homer and Mattie Hogues will be held from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday at Evergreen Funeral Home in Dallas. The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. July 1 at Antioch Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, 7550 S. Hampton. | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/last-known-surviving-tuskegee-airman-dies/287-a3684277-d959-4bd1-a74b-fba2ac6719c7 | 2023-07-01T11:20:00 | 1 | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/last-known-surviving-tuskegee-airman-dies/287-a3684277-d959-4bd1-a74b-fba2ac6719c7 |
LORENA, Texas — A Lorena mother and her boyfriend were arrested recently for alleged child abuse of the mother's 4-year-old daughter, according to the McLennan County Sheriff's Office.
Child Protective Services (CPS) contacted MCSO after the child was taken from a home in the 100 block of Hope Circle to the McLane Children's Medical Center in Temple for injuries.
According to MCSO, the child had several injuries, including a lacerated pancreas, bruising on her face and body, as well as possible fractured ribs.
After investigating, MCSO arrested the mother's boyfriend, identified as Jeffrey Nevarez, for injury to a child. An arrest warrant was also issued for Nevarez because he violated his parole, MCSO added.
Later, an MCSO detective also arrested the child's mother, Kandis Eaton-Autry, and charged her with abandoning/endangering a child.
The U.S. Marshal Service Lone Star Fugitive Task Force assisted in both arrests.
“It takes a really low-down despicable coward to beat and injure a helpless 4-year-old girl. You don’t get much worse than this.” Sheriff Parnell McNamara said.
Nevarez is being held on a $150,000 bond, as well as parole violation, which was for family violence assault offense, MCSO said. Bond information regarding the mother wasn't released at the time this article was published.
The child remains at the children's hospital for observation, but CPS plans to remove the child from their home for further investigation | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/lorena-mother-boyfriend-arrested-alleged-child-abuse-of-her-4-year-old-daughter/500-5a7ca525-0a2d-4844-b909-0fa8a86b8c1c | 2023-07-01T11:20:06 | 1 | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/lorena-mother-boyfriend-arrested-alleged-child-abuse-of-her-4-year-old-daughter/500-5a7ca525-0a2d-4844-b909-0fa8a86b8c1c |
PORTER, Maine — A Maine woman was bitten by a bear in her backyard while defending her pet dog, necessitating a trip to the hospital for stitches, officials said Friday.
Lynn Kelly, 64, was tending her garden in Porter when her dog took off into the woods barking at something on Friday. In short order, the dog was racing back to the yard with a black bear in hot pursuit, said Mark Latti, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Kelly stood and made herself appear large, which is recommended in a black bear encounter. But instead of slowly retreating, she proceeded to confront the bear, which is not recommended, Latti said.
The bear briefly latched onto Kelly's wrist after she punched the animal on the nose, and she received stitches for the wound at Memorial Hospital in North Conway, New Hampshire, he said.
The bear took off back into the woods, and her dog was reportedly left uninjured.
Since the incident Friday morning, the bear has not been seen. The MDIFW has set two live-capture culvert-style traps, Latti said.
It's rare for someone to be bitten by a bear in Maine even though the state has one of the largest black bear populations on the eastern seaboard, Latti said. Encounters with bears can be reduced by removing or securing bird feeders, garbage, pet food and other things that attract bears’ attention. | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/maine-woman-punches-bear-that-chased-her-dog-and-ends-up-with-stitches-porter-maine/97-9eaeb081-3cb1-4a98-810a-7b3440be70fe | 2023-07-01T11:20:13 | 0 | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/maine-woman-punches-bear-that-chased-her-dog-and-ends-up-with-stitches-porter-maine/97-9eaeb081-3cb1-4a98-810a-7b3440be70fe |
DALLAS — Alright... this pickleball craze has physically and theoretically reached new heights.
The world's highest pickleball court can be found right here in downtown Dallas. Tower Club Dallas and Invited – which operates more than 800 tennis courts and 400 pickleball courts around the world – have installed a pickleball court on the 48th floor of the North Texas hi-rise.
The court provides a 360-degree view of central Dallas and will be featured at the club for the month of July, officials said in a release. The indoor court can be rented by both members and non-members, the release said.
“Invited continues to surprise and delight its members and the local community with innovative experiences. The 'Pickleball Court in the Sky' is just another example of engaging with the pickleball fans in Dallas and continuing the growth of the sport across our nationwide portfolio of clubs,” said Invited CEO David Pillsbury.
Non-members can rent a court online here, and part of the rental proceeds will benefit Bonton Farms, committed to combating the effects of poverty in South Dallas.
Pickleball courts continue to pop up around the metroplex, including in Plano. The 2023 USA Pickleball National Championships is being held in North Texas, too, out in Farmers Branch.
More Texas headlines: | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/pickleball-in-sky-worlds-highest-dallas-tower-club/287-258b30a6-0dec-43af-9592-98086a871782 | 2023-07-01T11:20:19 | 0 | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/pickleball-in-sky-worlds-highest-dallas-tower-club/287-258b30a6-0dec-43af-9592-98086a871782 |
TEXAS, USA — Editor's note: The above video is from a previous report on air conditioning in Texas prisons.
Tommy McCullough was exhausted and thirsty, living in a stifling Huntsville prison as the record-breaking and relentless heat wave bore down across Texas this month. But he got up Friday morning and set to work, mowing the sun-scorched fields outside the Goree Unit.
This article originally appeared here in The Texas Tribune.
By midday, he’d collapsed, dying of what the prison system says was cardiac arrest. He was 35.
McCullough was one of at least five prisoners since mid-June to die of a reported heart attack or cardiac arrest in uncooled prisons where the regions’ outdoor heat indices were above 100 degrees, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of prison death reports and weather data. Another man who died last week in a separate Huntsville prison was only 34.
At least four other prisoners died in hot prisons this month with undetermined causes of death.
It’s not immediately clear how much of a role, if any, the heat played in the nine deaths. Like all prison deaths, they’re being investigated, said Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson Amanda Hernandez.
“Labeling these as heat-related before the investigation is completed would be inaccurate,” she said.
But family members, prison rights advocates and some lawmakers blame the deaths on the brutal heat inside Texas prisons — and the state’s unwillingness to address it.
More than two-thirds of Texas’ 100 prisons don’t have air conditioning in most living areas. Every summer, as temperatures routinely soar well into triple digits, thousands of officers and tens of thousands of prisoners are cramped inside concrete and steel buildings without ventilation, save windows broken out of desperation and fans that blow the hot air. The heat has killed prisoners, likely contributed to severe staff shortages, and cost taxpayers millions of dollars in wrongful death and civil rights lawsuits over the last decade.
This year, state lawmakers chose again not to put any money directly toward installing air conditioning in the dangerously hot prisons, despite a $32.7 billion budget surplus.
McCullough’s sister, Kristie Williams, said Monday that her brother — TJ, as she called him — looked healthy when she visited him for the last time last month. But his friends inside and outside the Goree prison said that indoor temperatures in the last week hit 130 degrees, and men were often sickened from the heat. (As of Monday, TDCJ reported only five heat-related illnesses this year among prisoners.)
Williams said her brother told a friend on the phone the night before he died that officers hadn’t been bringing him water, a common complaint among Texas prisoners and their loved ones in the last several weeks as temperatures rose. When the warden called to say her younger brother, whom the warden called a model inmate, had died, Williams’ heart broke.
She blames his death on the prison’s negligence. The apparent outside temperature in the region that day reached 109 degrees, according to weather data.
“He had so much life ahead of him,” said Williams, 49, choking back tears. “There was so much he wanted to do and he was capable of doing. He just had to get this behind him.”
McCullough was serving a five-year sentence for drug possession out of Collin County, according to prison records, and was set to be released in 2026 at the latest.
State Rep. Terry Canales, an Edinburg Democrat who has tried for years to pass legislation to install air conditioning in Texas prisons, said the recent deaths during the heat wave are not a coincidence.
“There seems to be an increase in heat-related injuries or things that can be attributed to extreme heat in the summer,” he said Tuesday. “Aside from the physical danger, the mental torture … almost makes me emotional to think about.”
The science backs him up. There is an abundance of studies linking an increase in fatal heart failures to extreme heat, and scientists have found that heat is often overlooked as a cause of death. Dr. Salil Bhandari, an emergency medicine physician at UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann, said there is always an increase in cardiac arrests during heatwaves. Heat stroke alone can also lead to cardiac arrests, he said.
“Heat stroke essentially means [they are] to the point where they are now having some sort of organ damage,” Bhandari said. “If the heart is not getting enough blood … it can lead to cardiac arrest.”
But it can be hard to identify that a death is caused by the heat, he said, even in autopsies. It’s often impossible to decipher if the heat stopped someone’s heart or if it was spurred by long-term smoking, drugs or a number of other potential causes of heart failure.
“It’s hard to know unless they come into the ER with a very, very high temperature,” he said. “And the story matches it as well, you know, if he was outside mowing.”
Hernandez said Tuesday she did not know whether prison officials or emergency personnel checked the body temperatures of the prisoners who died of cardiac arrest this month.
In recent years, while entrenched in a yearslong civil rights lawsuit over the heat in a geriatric prison, TDCJ began to implement mitigating measures against the heat, like providing prisoners personal fans and access to ice water, cold showers and time in air-conditioned areas. Officials also began moving prisoners deemed medically sensitive, including those on certain medications or with heart problems, into air-conditioned units.
But prisoners and their supporters say such policies often aren’t followed, either due to short-staffing, indifference or both. A study by Texas Prisons Community Advocates and the Texas A&M University Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center surveyed hundreds of prisoners between 2018 and 2020 and found many reported a lack of access to relief required by TDCJ policies.
Hernandez said she was unsure if death investigations during the summer include an examination of how well heat-mitigation policies were being followed when a prisoner died, but she said the agency’s ombudsman is constantly following up on heat complaints and ensuring the agency is following protocols.
Prisoner advocates and TDCJ critics also say the agency has little incentive to report prisoners dying of heat in its care, as such deaths have often landed TDCJ in court, and they accuse the agency of hiding or ignoring heat-related illnesses or deaths inside its facilities. Amite Dominick, president of TPCA, bolstered this argument by noting how the agency has reported more heat-related illnesses among staff this year (nine) than prisoners (five), even though prisoners never get to leave and they outnumber officers more than 7 to 1.
“There is no way on God’s green earth that that’s accurate,” she said. “They’re not logging them somehow.”
The prison system has not officially counted a heat-caused death since 2012, shortly after the blisteringly hot summer of 2011 in which at least 10 Texas prisoners died of heat stroke. In the more than a decade since, the agency has fought a slew of wrongful-death lawsuits, and the civil rights case filed against the Pack Unit forced TDCJ in 2018 to agree to install air conditioning inside that prison.
But there is evidence that deaths since then have been connected to the heat, even if TDCJ does not acknowledge them. For example, a medical examiner ruled Robert Robinson died of environmental hyperthermia, or heat stroke, in 2018 at the Michael Unit near Palestine. The agency has denied the death was heat related, saying the 54-year-old’s cell was air-conditioned and he had other health complications.
The next year, Seth Donnelly died at the Robertson Unit in Abilene. The 29-year-old put on padded suits to train search dogs, though it’s unclear how much of an effect heat had on his death. A medical examiner found he died from methamphetamine toxicity with hyperthermia.
This year, prisoner supporters and family members first started raising the alarm on possible heat-related deaths on June 12, when 50-year-old Luis Sanchez died in the Luther Unit in Navasota — just down the road from the Pack prison. The outside temperature in the region felt like 104 degrees that day, according to historical weather data. The heat index, or apparent temperature, measures both heat and humidity.
TDCJ’s report said Sanchez was found unresponsive after suffering from cardiac arrest. Other Luther prisoners and their loved ones called foul, saying in social media posts and in emails to reporters that the staff had not been passing out water to those begging for it leading up to his death.
About a week later, on June 20, two men died of cardiac arrest in Huntsville and Beaumont, TDCJ reported. Randy Butler, 34, lived on the Byrd Unit and reportedly died of cardiac arrest in the early morning after a day when the area heat index reached 114 degrees. Michael Dixon, 69, was found unresponsive in his Stiles Unit cell as the temperature felt about 108 degrees.
On the same day McCullough died, 73-year-old Jerry Jernigan also died of a heart attack at the Smith Unit in West Texas, the prison reported, where apparent temperatures in the area reached 102 degrees.
The deaths are likely not a final number, as TDCJ has 30 days to report in-prison deaths to the state, and reports often are filed weeks after a death occurs.
Heat anxiety always rises in the summer, Dominick said, but tensions are especially high among prisoners, prison staff and their loved ones this year after the Legislature came as close as it ever had to funding air conditioning in Texas prisons.
The House had agreed to spend $545 million to cover two phases of a four-phase plan to install air conditioning in all Texas prisons by 2031. But the Senate trashed the plans. The final budget, which goes into effect in September, will instead give TDCJ $85.7 million for “additional deferred projects,” which will likely be used to install some air conditioning.
Hernandez said the Luther Unit, where Sanchez died, was already in line to get air conditioning under the agency’s current budget.
For Williams, she has to wait to plan a funeral for her brother until TDCJ releases his body after an autopsy. She hopes the procedure will give her more information about what happened to McCullough. On Monday, she looked back at the last picture she took with him compared with a screenshot from a video visit the week before his death, when the heat wave was firmly in place.
“You can just tell he doesn’t feel good,” she said.
She didn’t excuse her brother’s criminal behavior. Before his current prison sentence, he previously had served eight-month and one-year stints for credit card abuse and theft, respectively, according to court records. But she said this time she could see real change.
He wasn’t doing drugs, she and her other sister insisted, and he was doing well in prison, having moved to the Goree Unit earlier this month as a trustee — a status reserved for prisoners who are most trusted to do jobs, like mowing outside the fence lines, with limited supervision.
“He really had become a different person and even the different officers … really had taken a liking to him because of his big heart,” Williams said. “He has a 7-year-old little girl that now has to grow up without her dad. It’s just heartbreaking.” | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/texas/inmates-are-dying-in-stifling-texas-prisons/503-810c66fc-2bf2-4b7c-946f-c1cbac2ad58e | 2023-07-01T11:20:25 | 0 | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/texas/inmates-are-dying-in-stifling-texas-prisons/503-810c66fc-2bf2-4b7c-946f-c1cbac2ad58e |
Welcome to July: Ice Cream Month. You have 31 days to enjoy the frozen treat at every opportunity! Remember, ice cream goes great with a warm apple pie, and nothing complements a brownie better than vanilla ice cream.
Naturalist Kay McClelland will lead the monthly Chiwaukee Prairie Walk from 9 to 11 a.m. today. The walks, which are free and open to everyone, are offered on the first Saturday each month, through September. The 482-acre Chiwaukee Prairie State Natural Area is designated as a wetland of international importance. Information includes “a little history, a little geology, and lots of plant names and facts,” McClelland said. Meet at the intersection of 121st Street and Second Avenue in Pleasant Prairie. Park on Second Avenue. Wear good walking shoes or boots and long pants. Also encouraged: Sunscreen, insect repellent (to keep away ticks) and a hat.
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Bobblehead alert! The Kenosha Kingfish are back in action today at Simmons Field. The Kingfish are hosting the Kokomo Jackrabbits for a 6:35 p.m. Stick around after the game for post-game fireworks. Also on July 1: The team’s first 2023 bobblehead, a Navy Elvis, will be distributed (while supplies last). The bobblehead features the team’s mascot, King Elvis, in a Navy uniform. For tickets, call 262-653-0900 or go to kingfishbaseball.com.
The Fourth of July fun starts today with Libertyfest in Twin Lakes. The action starts with a parade, stepping off at 11 a.m. (Starting at St. John’s Parking lot and ending at Lance Park.) At 4 p.m., Food, beverages and music starts in Lance Park. The Aquanuts Water-Ski Show is at 7 p.m., with fireworks starting at dusk (about 9:30 p.m.). Admission to all events is free.
A carnival opens today in Downtown Kenosha, featuring rides and games. The carnival, between 54th and 55th streets, west of Sixth Avenue, is open 5 to 10 p.m. today through Monday and noon to 8 p.m. on July 4.
In Milwaukee, the Big Gig is back! Summerfest continues its second weekend today, with music on several stages, plus all that “healthy” festival food and other attractions. For more details about the festival, go to summerfest.com. | https://kenoshanews.com/news/local/kenosha-area-events-for-saturday-july-1/article_db75eeca-174d-11ee-9b9a-bfcbc95771ed.html | 2023-07-01T11:55:42 | 1 | https://kenoshanews.com/news/local/kenosha-area-events-for-saturday-july-1/article_db75eeca-174d-11ee-9b9a-bfcbc95771ed.html |
Did you follow Arizona news this week? Test your skills with the azcentral.com news quiz
Lorenzino Estrada
Arizona Republic
Did you pay attention to the top headlines in Arizona this week? Now is the time to test your knowledge with this week's azcentral.com news quiz, covering stories from June 24-30. Best of luck!
Did you get a perfect score? If so, great job! You're in the know with Arizona news.
Didn't get the score you wanted? Sign up for the AZ Briefing to get all the top Arizona headlines in your mailbox every morning. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2023/07/01/azcentral-news-quiz-july-1-2023/70370253007/ | 2023-07-01T11:56:39 | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2023/07/01/azcentral-news-quiz-july-1-2023/70370253007/ |
The Fish and Wildlife Commission approved agreements with the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians last week during a meeting in Newport.
Consideration of a similar agreement with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde was delayed until the Aug. 4 meeting to allow more time for coordination, including discussion between Tribes.
The agreements will advance the government-to-government relationships between the State of Oregon and the Tribes, enhance tribal sovereignty and give each Tribe a stronger voice in protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife, and their habitats. The history and culture of the nine federally recognized Tribes in Oregon closely aligns with ODFW’s mission to protect fish, wildlife and their habitats.
“Our Tribe has always been a protector of those resources that are loved by all people in Oregon,” said Delores Pigsley, Chairman of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, during the meeting today.
Each agreement sets up a framework under which tribal members will participate in subsistence and ceremonial harvest of fish and wildlife resources that is licensed and managed by the tribal government in cooperation with ODFW and the Oregon State Police. Within certain areas set out in the agreements, enrolled members will participate in hunting, fishing, shellfishing, and trapping licensed by their Tribe. Annual limits and areas for harvest by tribal members will be set by mutual consent between the tribe and ODFW.
“I grew up in a hunting and fishing family and have memories of going out with my grandfather and now my grandnephew,” said Chair Brad Kneaper of the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, during the meeting today. “Being able to do that under the umbrella of Tribal responsibility is extremely important to me and I know it’s the same for other members, too.”
The proposed agreements are comparable in scope to what the Commission adopted with the Coquille Indian Tribe and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians in 2022 and are intended to support tribal sovereignty and cultural expression related to fish and wildlife. For more information about those agreements, visit ODFW’s Tribal Relations page.
Also at this meeting, the Commission took the following actions:
Coastal pelagic species regulations: Adopted regulations for July 2023-June 2024 for pelagic species based on federal regulations that include the eighth year of continued closure of the directed Pacific sardine fishery and updated Oregon’s rules to reflect the new scientific name of Pacific sand lance.
OCRF funding: Approved funding for Oregon Conservation and Recreation Fund (OCRF) projects recommended by OCRF’s advisory committee that support a broad range of conservation and recreation efforts throughout the state.
R&E project approval and board appointment: Approved funding for Restoration and Enhancement projects recommended by the Board to enhance fisheries and appointed Troy Laws of Seaside as representative for commercial fishing interests on the Board.
A&H project approval: Approved funding for Access and Habitat projects recommended by the board that open hunting access or improve wildlife habitat on private land.
Auction and raffle tags: Approved the 2024 big game auction and raffle tags. The auctions will be hosted by hunting groups that keep a small portion of auction tag proceeds to support their non-profit work enhancing wildlife habitat. The remaining portion goes to ODFW programs supporting research and conservation or hunting access.
The meeting was livestreamed and a recording is available at ODFW’s Commission page and on the agency YouTube channel. | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/commission-expands-cooperation-with-tribes/article_c1927d80-1710-11ee-bf73-0339ec9c382b.html | 2023-07-01T12:09:51 | 1 | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/commission-expands-cooperation-with-tribes/article_c1927d80-1710-11ee-bf73-0339ec9c382b.html |
The impact of the pandemic, including disruption of services, high cost of temporary labor, increased operational and supply expenses, and falling insurance reimbursements have continued to negatively impact the financial performance of hospitals around the country, including Bay Area Hospital.
“Like many health care providers in Oregon, we are experiencing tremendous financial strain caused by several factors,” said Brian Moore, president, and CEO. “As a result, we have taken steps to improve efficiency and effectiveness, and reduce costs. The desire to continue our mission to improve the health of the community and our commitment to our employees have guided every improvement step.”
Over the past six months, a carefully developed, data-driven turnaround plan was implemented to change the hospital’s financial performance trajectory. The hospital has improved patient access to care, improved patient satisfaction, and improved financial performance through improved revenue and reduced expenses. Additional changes are necessary in order to remain steadfast to the course and a financial recovery.
Bay Area Hospital has made the difficult decision to exit the home health market. Services will transition to other area healthcare providers by August 17. For all patients that have utilized these services, a letter will be sent with information on the transition to alternate providers. This service change, along with other operational staffing adjustments, will affect 33 staff of the total 1,084 hospital employees.
Moore said Bay Area Hospital is committed to its mission to improve the health of our community. This commitment has been on display over the past year as leaders and employees have implemented changes that have reduced our operating losses by nearly $40 million annually.
“We have successfully implemented a large portion of our turnaround plan and have set the course to ensure we will be here into the future. During this turnaround, we have made important investments in our employees, and we feel confident that we will work through the remaining improvements necessary to return to sustainable financial performance.” said Moore.
A significant contributor to these financial losses has been Medicare reimbursement rates that do not keep pace with inflation for home health services. Unfortunately, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fiscal year 2022 $60 million loss, Bay Area Hospital can no longer afford to subsidize service lines that are available through other community providers.
These changes will reduce the organization’s annual expenses and align the cost of operations with the budget. Bay Area Hospital remains open and committed to serving this community’s healthcare needs and honoring the people that join the organization in that mission.
“We remain focused and recruiting for core functions not offered elsewhere in the community. We recognize that these past two years have been very challenging for many people but know that there continues to be a bright future ahead as we reposition Bay Area Hospital for continued success.” said Moore. | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/hospital-to-exit-home-health-market/article_39a3a16e-1711-11ee-a0e7-1bb7983548de.html | 2023-07-01T12:09:58 | 0 | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/hospital-to-exit-home-health-market/article_39a3a16e-1711-11ee-a0e7-1bb7983548de.html |
On June 30th, 2023, the Coos County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center received a call of a fully engulfed structure on Valley View Road near Coquille. Coquille Fire & Police responded immediately.
A short time later, Coquille Fire called for a deputy to respond. Sgt. Slater and Deputy Francis responded to investigate the call along with Coquille Sgt. D. Miller.
During the course of the investigation Sgt. Slater identified Sarah Y. Latimer (41) as a person of interest in the fire. After interviewing several witnesses, the homeowner and Mrs. Latimer, she was ultimately arrested on the charge of Arson I.
Sarah Y. Latimer (41) was transported to the Coos County Jail, where she was booked on the charge of Arson I and remains in custody.
The Coos County Sheriff’s Office would like to acknowledge the fast response from the Coquille Fire Department, Myrtle Point Fire Department, and Coos Forrest Protective Agency. The assistance provided by the Coquille Police Department is also very appreciated. | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/myrtle-point-woman-arrested-for-arson-after-a-reported-structure-fire-near-coquille/article_389c5506-17eb-11ee-b266-c7d7d785de76.html | 2023-07-01T12:10:04 | 0 | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/myrtle-point-woman-arrested-for-arson-after-a-reported-structure-fire-near-coquille/article_389c5506-17eb-11ee-b266-c7d7d785de76.html |
News Tribune, July 1, 1983
- Duluth residents and business owners owe the Water and Gas Department more than $2 million in overdue bills, a 45 percent jump over last year's figure for May. Delinquent bills for May 1983 amounted to $2.076 million compared to $1.4 million in May 1982.
- The number of Airstream trailers registering for the Wally Byam Caravan Club International Rally in Duluth has surpassed the expected 3,700. As of yesterday afternoon, 3,715 Airstreams had registered, representing all 50 states, six Canadian provinces, Mexico, New Zealand and England.
News Tribune, July 1, 1923
- Duluth's new hotel, planned for London Road and 12Th Avenue East, should be built and ready for occupancy by July 1924. J. H. Harper, president of the Duluth Chamber of Commerce, announced yesterday that Walter Schroeder of Milwaukee will finance 60% of the project.
- Permits for construction and repair work in Duluth totaling $485,970 were issued last week by Adolph Anderson, city building inspector. The largest single permit was for remodeling the interior of the Central High School building at a cost of $368,000. | https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/bygones-duluth-central-high-school-remodeled-100-years-ago | 2023-07-01T12:30:36 | 0 | https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/bygones-duluth-central-high-school-remodeled-100-years-ago |
TWO HARBORS — Nicole Beveridge still remembers her first alleged encounter with Sarah.
“I can feel people that aren’t always with us, in the living,” she said. “I just felt a nice little chill and a brush behind me, and then I asked somebody, ‘Is there somebody that lives here?’ and they said, ‘yes.’ And that’s when I began to learn the story of Sarah.”
Sarah is a ghost — or at least an oral history of a supposed ghost — said to lurk in the Black Woods Bar & Grill in Two Harbors. Beveridge and some other longtime employees believe she’s a young child who is responsible for otherwise inexplicable mischief there.
They claim that Sarah has smashed a tableful of dirty dishes when no one else was nearby; flung a stack of drinkware from a secure shelf; tossed aside hamburger buns; rearranged silverware overnight; poked customers and servers; and fussed with the lights when nobody was near the switch.
“You can’t even debunk what happens because there’s no other way that. We don’t have a breeze going through to knock down plates; we don’t have a dog running around the building to knock stuff over,” Hannah Story, who's been a server there for about eight years, told the News Tribune. “It’s got to be somebody doing it, and it’s Sarah.”
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Beveridge showed the News Tribune security camera footage of one such antic. In the video, a bartop menu quickly disappears from the edge of the frame — tossed violently, she said, by Sarah. Patrons who were reportedly nearby left, disturbed, shortly afterward.
“She flies it off of there,” Beveridge said. “In the blink of an eye.”
The rumored ghost shows up in fits and starts. Sarah is particularly active after alterations to the restaurant: new carpeting, roofing, renovations to the second floor, and so on, according to Story and Beveridge.
But neither seemed worried about the rumored ghost. Story said it can feel eerie when she’s by herself in the restaurant at night, but that Sarah’s apparent presence is normal now.
“I’ve been here for so long that she’s just like my other co-worker that’s here. She makes noise and throws plates at everybody, but it’s nothing to be scared of. I’ve never been scared of her,” Story said. “She’s great. She’s fun to have around. She’s always definitely a little excitement for the day. Definitely a story to tell. Everyone asks about her all the time.”
Beveridge and Story believe Sarah as an orphan who broke her neck and died after a fall down the precipitous steps leading to the restaurant’s upper floor. Up there, a sputtering fluorescent light illuminates a hallway connecting dead-quiet, dormitory-style rooms that are now used for restaurant storage.
Sarah’s purported origins, though, don’t square with the building’s recorded history. It previously served as a boarding house and a bakery, according to Ellen Lynch, head of the Lake County Historical Society, but not an orphanage, as the rumor contends. Lake County records indicate the property has been owned by about 16 people or organizations since 1900, none of which are apparent orphanages or organizations that might be conceptually adjacent to an orphanage.
It’s unclear if anyone — let alone a little girl — died there. Finding a record of the accidental death of a child at that location among newspaper archives or death records, Lynch said, would be a needle-in-a-haystack sort of search.
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Cheryl Watson, who’s been a server at Black Woods for 21 years, said she’s heard Sarah stories but hasn’t seen much, if any, evidence of the purported ghost herself. More of the same was true for a pair of younger and relatively new staffers at the restaurant, who said they’d heard stories about a ghost there, but had not witnessed anything out of the ordinary themselves.
“She maybe just comes out at certain times,” Watson said. | https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/northlandia-ghost-stories-from-two-harbors-haunted-restaurant | 2023-07-01T12:30:47 | 1 | https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/northlandia-ghost-stories-from-two-harbors-haunted-restaurant |
WATERLOO — Waterloo Community Schools now has new faces filling five administrative roles.
The Board of Education approved the personnel appointments at a special session on Wednesday.
One of the appointments is for a new position – the associate director of student services. The position will be filled by Adriane Carlson. Carlson will have a salary of $110,000 and will support Sheena Canady, director of student services, in providing appropriate student assistance, activities, and support to prospective and current students.
The position was created after the person filling the Students Service Specialist 1 position left.
Before this position, Carlson was the regional director at the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in Ames.
The board also appointed Amanda Umbdenstock as the special education coordinator. She will make $85,000 per year and is replacing Megan Allen, who has been appointed as the director of special education.
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Three assistant principals were also appointed.
Wade Timmins will replace Byron Phillips as the assistant principal at West High School. He will have a salary of $103,000. Before being appointed he supported the math curriculum development and implementation, evaluation and use of effective teaching practices.
Steven Anderson will be Carver Middle School’s assistant principal and athletic director. He will make $97,000 and is replacing Steve Thune who retired this year. Prior to this, he was the assistant principal at Bakersfield (California) High School.
Lindsay Heying will be the assistant principal at Dr. Walter Cunningham School for Excellence, replacing Mikayla Montgomery. She will make a salary of $88,000. Before this position, she was a lead support teacher in the Iowa City Community School District. | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/education/waterloo-school-board-approves-five-new-administrative-hires/article_13be223e-15c8-11ee-9743-23a23573bf97.html | 2023-07-01T12:42:15 | 0 | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/education/waterloo-school-board-approves-five-new-administrative-hires/article_13be223e-15c8-11ee-9743-23a23573bf97.html |
WATERLOO — The annual Excellence Expo for sixth- through 12th-grade students is from noon to 4 p.m. July 7 at the Waterloo Convention Center.
Sponsored by Marching Against The Darkness, Inc., the event will feature a college and career fair with colleges and business participants from throughout the Midwest. The organization is also sponsoring a drill team competition July 8.
Seminars during the expo will include leadership, finance and wellness. Arts workshops will offer dance, step, color guard and drum sessions.
The organization wants to provide a fun and free way for youth to learn about opportunities and skills for life after high school graduation. A free lunch is provided and students will have a chance to win prizes.
Registration is required online at www.matd.org . Registration is limited.
Excellence Expo offers youth opportunities to learn about about skills to achieve excellence in life.
COURTESY PHOTO
Sponsors and donors include Guernsey Charitable Foundation, Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, Meet In Iowa, VGM, Community Bank & Trust, Veridian Credit Union, Experience Waterloo and more.
The organization is still accepting event sponsorships and donors, vendor registrations for the college and career fair, advertisements for the event booklet and volunteers for the event. For more information, visit the website or contact Executive Director Darvel Givens at director@matd.org or (319) 504-2309.
The annual drill team competition takes place July 8 at Young Arena in downtown. Doors open at 5 p.m. and competition begins at 6 p.m. Twelve teams from eight states will compete for cash prizes and trophies.
Admission is $15 for adults; $10 for youth ages 11-17; $5 for children ages 4-10; and free for children ages 3 and under.
Photos: The fight for students with disabilities
Khloe Warne, 12, browses the shelves at the Josephine Community Library on May 18, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore. Khloe loves drawing, writing and especially reading — in second grade, she was already reading at a sixth-grade level. But she only goes to school one day a week for two hours and hasn't been on a regular school schedule for years.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, sits at home with her tablet and service dog Riptide before getting ready for school May 17, 2023, at their home in Grants Pass, Ore. Scarlett is nonverbal and uses an electronic device and online videos to communicate, but reads at her grade level. She was born with a genetic condition that causes her to have seizures and makes it hard for her to eat and digest food, requiring her to need a resident nurse at school.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Khloe Warne, 12, uses a computer at the Josephine Community Library on May 18, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore. Khloe was put on shortened school days by her school district after incidents in which she fought with students and threw a desk in outbursts her mother, Alyssa, attributes to a failure to support her needs. Now she only attends school one day a week for two hours, and hasn't been on a regular school schedule for years, instead spending much of her time at her mother's bakery or at the local library.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Alyssa Warne and her daughter, Khloe, 12, read at the Josephine Community Library on May 18 in Grants Pass, Ore. Across the U.S., advocates say, schools are removing students with disabilities, like Khloe, from the classroom — often in response to challenging behavior.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Khloe Warne, 12, makes cupcakes with her mother, Alyssa, at the family bakery Beef Cakes on May 18, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore. Not being able to attend school regularly has saddened Khloe, stunted her education and isolated her from her peers, her mother says. It has also upended her family’s life. Her mother had to quit her job for a time in order to stay home with her. She described the fight to get her daughter back in the classroom as exhausting, stressful and sad.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Khloe Warne, 12, makes cupcakes with her mother, Alyssa, right, at the family bakery Beef Cakes on May 18, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Khloe Warne, 12, hugs her mother, Alyssa, as she becomes emotional while explaining Khloe's school experience May 18 at their bakery Beef Cakes in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Khloe Warne, 12, looks for an ingredient in a freezer at the family bakery Beef Cakes on May 18, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson
Khloe Warne, 12, stands for a photo with her mother, Alyssa, at the family bakery Beef Cakes on May 18, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
People walk by River's Edge Academy Charter School, which Khloe Warne now attends only one day a week, on May 18, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
A Grants Pass School District 7 school bus drives under a city slogan sign on May 18, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, uses an airway clearance system that uses vibrations to clear mucus from her lungs while getting ready for school May 17, 2023, at their home in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, plays on her tablet in her room May 17, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Chelsea Rasmussen prepares one of several medications for her 8-year-old daughter, Scarlett, at their home before heading to school May 17, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, watches a video on her tablet as mother, Chelsea, administers medication while they get ready for school May 17, 2023, at their home in Grants Pass, Ore. Chelsea, has fought for more than a year for her daughter, Scarlett, to attend full days at school after starting with a three-day school week. She says school employees told her the district lacked the staff to tend to Scarlett’s medical and educational needs, which the district denies. Scarlett is nonverbal and uses an electronic device and online videos to communicate, but reads at her grade level. She was born with a genetic condition that causes her to have seizures and makes it hard for her to eat and digest food, requiring her to need a resident nurse at school.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, watches a video on her tablet while using an airway clearance system that uses vibrations to clear mucus from her lungs while getting ready for school May 17, 2023, at their home in Grants Pass, Ore. Scarlett's mother, Chelsea, says, “Every day I woke up with this immense burden: ... My child does not feel like she belongs. She can’t access a meaningful education. And there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it. ... I felt like I was drowning. ... We wasted a year with a child that could do grade-level work.”
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, looks on with service dog Riptide as her mother, Chelsea, drives them to Parkside Elementary School on May 17, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Vivien Henshall, a long-term substitute special education teacher, walks with Scarlett Rasmussen as Scarlett's mother, Chelsea, follows with service dog Riptide, at Parkside Elementary School on May 17, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Vivien Henshall, a long-term substitute special education teacher, works with Scarlett Rasmussen separately as other classmates listen to instructions from their teacher at Parkside Elementary School on May 17, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson
Scarlett Rasmussen's Dynavox, a tablet tool she uses to communicate, sits on the couch May 17, 2023, at her home in Grants Pass, Ore. Scarlett, 8, is nonverbal and uses an electronic device and online videos to communicate, but reads at her grade level. She was born with a genetic condition that causes her to have seizures and makes it hard for her to eat and digest food, requiring her to need a resident nurse at school.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Vivien Henshall, a long-term substitute special education teacher, talks with Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, during recess at Parkside Elementary School on May 17, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, lies underneath a play structure during recess at Parkside Elementary School on May 17, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, tosses a ball with other classmates underneath a play structure during recess at Parkside Elementary School on May 17, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, gets into the car of her mother, Chelsea, after a short school day at Parkside Elementary School on May 17, 2023, in Grants Pass, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson
Jessi Hendrickson, a ranch attendant and instructor assistant, left, and riding instructor Atarah Brown, right, work with Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, as she laughs while riding a horse at the Foundation of Southern Oregon on May 17 in Rogue River, Ore. Chelsea Rasmussen fought for more than a year for her daughter, Scarlett, to attend full days at school.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
Jessi Hendrickson, left, and Hollie Tenberge, right, work with Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, to ride a horse at the Foundation of Southern Oregon on May 17 in Rogue River, Ore.
Lindsey Wasson, Associated Press
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WATERLOO — The next step to connect Waterloo residents to the city’s new fiber optic network is underway after a bid was awarded.
The City Council held a special session on Thursday to award a bid of $77.86 million to ITG Communications, LLC, of Tullahoma, Tennessee, for the fiber-to-the-premise and backbone network project. Councilmembers Dave Boesen, Ray Feuss, Jonathan Grieder and Rob Nichols were present and all voted for the bid.
ITG’s bid for the fiber-to-the-premise portion was $21.24 million. The bid for the backbone portion was $16.45 million. The alternate, $40.17 million, was one of four provided. The alternate options are different ways the company could construct the layout.
There were three other proposals submitted for the project from Quanta Telecom Solutions of Loganville, Ga.; MP of Maple Lake, Minn.; and Michels Power of Neenah, Wis. Bids with their alternates ranged from $66.6 million to $106.9 million. The lowest bids were also submitted by ITG.
Funding for the projects comes from various sources. In a September referendum, more than 84% of residents voted for a $20 million general obligation bond for municipal broadband.
There is also money from the federal American Rescue Plan and a federal grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. The city has also applied for other grants that it is waiting to hear back on.
City departments, such as Waterloo Water Works and other utilities, will also be used to fund portions of the project.
The build-out will begin as soon as possible. The first customers are projected to be connected by the end of 2023. The entire project is expected to take three years.
The fiber optic network consists of two total projects. The first is the fiber backbone, which supports the city’s operations like utilities, traffic, public safety and smart city initiatives. The second project is the build-out and delivery of the fiber-to-the-premise services, which connects internet access to every home and business in the city.
Courier Male High School Athlete of the Year Finalists | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/government-and-politics/waterloo-fiber-optic-network-bid-awarded/article_28d48744-15c8-11ee-a8b2-4382e5443aba.html | 2023-07-01T12:42:24 | 1 | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/government-and-politics/waterloo-fiber-optic-network-bid-awarded/article_28d48744-15c8-11ee-a8b2-4382e5443aba.html |
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a measure that will overhaul the state’s alimony laws after three vetoes of similar bills and a decade of emotional clashes over the issue.
>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<
The measure (SB 1416) includes doing away with what is known as permanent alimony. DeSantis’ approval came a year after he nixed a similar bill that sought to eliminate permanent alimony and set up a formula for alimony amounts based on the length of the marriage.
The approval drew an outcry from members of the “First Wives Advocacy Group,” a coalition of mostly older women who receive permanent alimony and who assert that their lives will be upended without the payments.
“On behalf of the thousands of women who our group represents, we are very disappointed in the governor’s decision to sign the alimony-reform bill. We believe by signing it, he has put older women in a situation which will cause financial devastation. The so-called party of ‘family values’ has just contributed to erosion of the institution of marriage in Florida,” Jan Killilea, a 63-year-old Boca Raton woman who founded the group a decade ago, told The News Service of Florida in a text message Friday.
Read: DeSantis proposes Disney trial schedule that puts start date in 2025, after elections
The years-long effort to do away with permanent alimony has been a highly contentious issue. It elicited tearful testimony from members of the First Wives group. But it also spurred impassioned pleas from ex-spouses who said they had been forced to work long past the age they wanted to retire because they were on the hook for alimony payments.
Michael Buhler, chairman of Florida Family Fairness, a group that has pushed for doing away with permanent alimony, praised the approval of the bill.
“Florida Family Fairness is pleased that the Florida Legislature and Gov. DeSantis have passed a bill that ends permanent alimony and codifies in statute the right to retire for existing alimony payers,” Buhler said in a statement. “Anything that adds clarity and ends permanent alimony is a win for Florida families.”
Read: Gov. DeSantis signs bill allowing radioactive material to be built into Florida roads
Along with DeSantis’ veto of the 2022 version, former Gov. Rick Scott twice vetoed similar bills. The issue spurred a near-fracas outside Scott’s office in 2016.
This year, however, the proposal received relatively little public pushback and got the blessing of Florida Family Fairness and The Florida Bar’s Family Law Section, which fiercely clashed over the issue in the past.
Along with eliminating permanent alimony, the measure will set up a process for ex-spouses who make alimony payments to seek modifications to alimony agreements when they want to retire.
It will allow judges to reduce or terminate alimony, support or maintenance payments after considering a number of factors, such as “the age and health” of the person who makes payments; the customary retirement age of that person’s occupation; “the economic impact” a reduction in alimony would have on the recipient of the payments; and the “motivation for retirement and the likelihood of returning to work” for the person making the payments.
Supporters said it will codify into law a court decision in a 1992 divorce case that judges use as a guidepost when making decisions about retirement.
But, as with previous versions, opponents remained concerned that the bill would apply to existing permanent alimony agreements, which many ex-spouses accept in exchange for giving up other assets as part of divorce settlements.
“He (DeSantis) has just impoverished all the older women of Florida, and I know at least 3,000 women across the state of Florida are switching to Democrat, and we will campaign against him, all the way, forever,” Camille Fiveash, a Milton Republican who receives permanent alimony, said in a phone interview Friday.
Read: Central Florida law enforcement informs community before permitless carry law takes effect
In vetoing the 2022 version, DeSantis pointed to concerns about the bill allowing ex-spouses to have existing alimony agreements amended. In a June 24, 2022, veto letter, he wrote that if the bill “were to become law and be given retroactive effect as the Legislature intends, it would unconstitutionally impair vested rights under certain pre-existing marital settlement agreements.”
But Senate bill sponsor Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, tried to assure lawmakers that the 2023 version would not unconstitutionally affect existing alimony settlements. This year’s proposal “went to what is currently case law,” Gruters told a Senate committee in April, pointing to the court ruling.
“So what you can do right now, under case law, we now codify all those laws and make that the rule of law. So we basically just solidify that. So from a retroactivity standpoint, no, because if anything could be modifiable before, it’s still modifiable. If it’s a non-modifiable agreement, you still can’t modify that agreement,” he said.
The bill, which will take effect Saturday, also will set a five-year limit on what is known as rehabilitative alimony. Under the plan, people married for less than three years will not be eligible for alimony payments, and those who have been married 20 years or longer will be eligible to receive payments for up to 75 percent of the term of the marriage.
The new law will also allow alimony payers to seek modifications if “a supportive relationship exists or has existed” involving their ex-spouses in the previous year. Critics argued the provision is vague and could apply to temporary roommates who help alimony recipients cover living expenses for short periods of time.
Fiveash, a 63-year-old with serious medical conditions, said she can’t afford another legal fight over alimony.
“My fears are that they can take you back to court, and I don’t have the money for an attorney. I literally live off a little bit I get for alimony. I work part-time because I have all kinds of ailments. And now I’m going to be left without anything, absolutely anything,” she said.
Health insurance, Fiveash added, will “probably be the first thing to go” if her payments are reduced or eliminated.
“This is a death sentence for me,” she said.
Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2023 Cox Media Group | https://www.wftv.com/news/local/desantis-signs-alimony-bill-that-would-overhaul-states-laws/DFHRWQCABBCUDEJH7HD3XROOIY/ | 2023-07-01T12:52:28 | 0 | https://www.wftv.com/news/local/desantis-signs-alimony-bill-that-would-overhaul-states-laws/DFHRWQCABBCUDEJH7HD3XROOIY/ |
COCOA BEACH, Fla. — A pedestrian was killed after being struck by a vehicle Saturday morning in Cocoa Beach, police said.
>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<
The crash happened on the 2000 block of North Atlantic Avenue (State Road A1A) around 12:30 a.m.
Officials said the pedestrian, a man in his early 50s, was hit by a northbound vehicle on SR-A1A.
According to a news release, the man was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died.
Read: The Rev. Dr. Randolph Bracy Jr.: Celebration of life service
The driver of the vehicle was not injured.
The crash had shut down both directions of SR-A1A to handle the scene investigation.
The Cocoa Beach Department will continue to investigate the crash.
Read: DeSantis signs alimony bill that would overhaul state’s laws
Anyone with information or any witnesses of the crash may call 321-868-3251.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2023 Cox Media Group | https://www.wftv.com/news/local/pedestrian-dies-after-being-struck-by-vehicle-cocoa-beach-police-say/OQPIMP3GIJHYVEQC4GYBDIL62Y/ | 2023-07-01T12:52:34 | 1 | https://www.wftv.com/news/local/pedestrian-dies-after-being-struck-by-vehicle-cocoa-beach-police-say/OQPIMP3GIJHYVEQC4GYBDIL62Y/ |
ORLANDO, Fla. — It will be sunny, dry and hot again today.
>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<
Meteorologist Kassandra Crimi said daytime highs will reach the mid-90s around the metro area.
Winds coming off the water will keep our beaches slightly “cooler,” with highs staying in the upper 80s.
Read: 9 tips to save on electric costs this summer
In addition, heat index values will peak today from 99 to 101 degrees.
Sunday will be hotter, and Orlando will get to 97 degrees.
Follow our Severe Weather team on Twitter for live updates:
Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2023 Cox Media Group | https://www.wftv.com/news/local/saturday-sunny-dry-start-fourth-july-weekend/TKX4SSS2CRHYTDXJWZEFKDC3QU/ | 2023-07-01T12:52:40 | 1 | https://www.wftv.com/news/local/saturday-sunny-dry-start-fourth-july-weekend/TKX4SSS2CRHYTDXJWZEFKDC3QU/ |
LEHIGHTON, Pa. — It's a poignant summer camp this week in Carbon County.
This is the 34th year the Ukrainian Homestead has hosted a dance camp.
This year, more than 70 kids are here, learning traditional folk dancing, art, and songs.
What makes this year different is seven of the campers are kids who have recently come over from Ukraine and are staying with family and friends in northeastern PA.
"There's many things they've had to live through. And the fact that they are still smiling, they still know how to dance and sing and make friends. That's something that shows a resilience in them that I don't know how many other kids I could name," said Andrij Dobrianky, Ukrainian teacher and counselor.
"We keep these traditions to pass them along to the next generation. It's also a lot of fun. It's very good exercise. But obviously, these past two years in the midst of the war, we're very united as a community in preserving our culture and also in trying to raise money and aid for people in Ukraine," said Paula Holoviak, camp director.
Saturday night, there will be a free performance that is open to the public, where the kids will show off everything they've learned, followed by a band and dancing for everyone at the Ukrainian Homestead near Lehighton.
See more videos on our area’s connection to the Crisis in Ukraine. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/carbon-county/ukrainian-homestead-hosts-dance-camp-andrij-dobrianky-ukrainian-teacher-and-counsel-wnep/523-f28ab5b9-4d4c-43ee-884e-cebe36e539fb | 2023-07-01T12:59:30 | 0 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/carbon-county/ukrainian-homestead-hosts-dance-camp-andrij-dobrianky-ukrainian-teacher-and-counsel-wnep/523-f28ab5b9-4d4c-43ee-884e-cebe36e539fb |
MOOSIC, Pa. — Bands like Taper's Choice and others from around the country are transforming Montage Mountain into a dream music festival venue.
The Peach Music Festival has brought fans from all over to jam out in Moosic for more than a decade.
“Just the relaxing atmosphere, the mountains, the great music,” Nicholas Gurecki, who drove here from Connecticut, said
But this year, the mountains in the background looked different from years past.
Music lovers are not only feeling the rhythms but the haze that's hovering over the Peach Music Festival.
“I have had a little bit of a sore throat. But that could also be from me screaming all night as the shows, so who knows,” said Sabrina Scotto, from West Pittston.
Fans say the air quality isn't going to keep them away from the stages.
“It was worried, naturally, but I love this so much that I had to. I will die on this hill,” Scotto mentioned.
“Peach has always had iffy weather from the start, but this is great,” added Gurecki.
“If it does get real bad, I got masks in the car,” Doug Bowen from Philadelphia said.
And the community that's creating strong bonds over music is also looking out for their fellow fans' health.
“I'm a retired EMT Paramedic, and I have offered masks to people who feel the need. My advice is just pace yourself, take it slow, but I wouldn't say it's affecting any of the performances,” Bowen added.
No matter what the forecast, fans say they want the show to go on.
“There's nothing else like this here, this is like the best thing that we have to me, there's nothing else like it, and I think we're so lucky we get to do this here,” Scotto explained.
Adding that there's always something that makes the Peach Music Fest different every year.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/peach-music-festival-persists-in-smokey-conditions-montage-mountain-wnep-newswatch16/523-2f607796-d086-45d8-a013-f6c81ca6fa9c | 2023-07-01T12:59:36 | 1 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/peach-music-festival-persists-in-smokey-conditions-montage-mountain-wnep-newswatch16/523-2f607796-d086-45d8-a013-f6c81ca6fa9c |
SCRANTON, Pa. — After five years, a popular restaurant is closing its doors in Scranton.
Folks came out to enjoy one final dinner at Peculiar Kitchen & Bar on Penn Avenue in the city.
On Facebook, the owners say while their doors are closing, there are exciting opportunities to be announced in the near future.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/peculiar-kitchen-closing-in-scranton-bar-penn-avenue-lackawanna-county-dinner/523-7efdcee0-3c43-4411-b8de-211b1abc3bc5 | 2023-07-01T12:59:42 | 0 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/peculiar-kitchen-closing-in-scranton-bar-penn-avenue-lackawanna-county-dinner/523-7efdcee0-3c43-4411-b8de-211b1abc3bc5 |
LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — Three people involved in a theft ring that stole sports memorabilia, works of art, and antiques entered guilty pleas in federal court in Scranton.
Daryl Rinker, Ralph Parry, and Frank Tassiello entered guilty pleas Friday.
Rinker pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conceal and dispose of stolen art and interstate transportation of stolen property.
Full restitution must be made to split equally among the co-conspirators.
Parry pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit theft, concealment of major artwork, and interstate transportation of stolen property.
Parry admitted to researching collections at Hillwood Estate, Museum, and Gardens in Washington, D.C., in 2018. He drove other conspirators to steal items and later strip and melt those items down to sell them.
Tassiello pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit theft, concealment of major artwork, and interstate transportation of stolen property.
Tassiello admitted he broke into several locations, including Space Farms Zoo & Museum in New Jersey, with another conspirator in August of 2018 and stole a rare Colt 1839 revolving shotgun worth more than $32,000. That gun was later sold to Rinker.
Tassiello is also serving a sentence in New Jersey on criminal charges of theft from Space Farm Zoo & Museum, where he reports every third weekend of the month to serve his time. The judge is allowing him to leave the Middle District of Pennsylvania for those court-related activities only.
All three are facing a maximum of five years in prison. The men were released until their sentencing.
Thomas Trotta and Dawn Trotta are scheduled to enter pleas on July 5.
Damien Boland, Alfred Atsus, and Joseph Atsus have pleaded not guilty to all counts and are awaiting trial. That has been scheduled for later this year.
Nicholas Dombek is still a fugitive.
Investigators said the thefts happened over the last 20 years.
The group allegedly stole items from 20 museums and other places across New Jersey, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania.
Several spots were targeted in Lackawanna County, including the Scranton Country Club in 2011. Thieves left with 11 trophies.
The ring targeted the Everhart Museum in Scranton in 2005 when Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock paintings were stolen.
Some of the items stolen include:
- A Christy Mathewson jersey and two contracts signed by Mathewson were stolen in 1999 from Keystone College in Factoryville, Pennsylvania
- “Le Grande Passion” by Andy Warhol and “Springs Winter” by Jackson Pollock were stolen in 2005 from the Everhart Museum, Scranton, Pennsylvania.
- Nine World Series rings, seven other championship rings, and two MVP plaques awarded to Yogi Berra, worth over $1,000,000, stolen in 2014 from the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center, Little Falls, New Jersey
- Six championship belts, including four awarded to Carmen Basilio and two awarded to Tony Zale stolen in 2015 from the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Canastota, New York
- The Hickok Belt and MVP Trophy awarded to Roger Maris, stolen in 2016 from the Roger Maris Museum, Fargo, North Dakota.
- The U.S. Amateur Trophy and a Hickok Belt awarded to Ben Hogan, stolen in 2012 from the USGA Golf Museum & Library, Liberty Corner, New Jersey.
- Fourteen trophies and other awards worth over $300,000 stolen in 2012 from the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, Goshen, New York
- Five trophies worth over $400,000, including the 1903 Belmont Stakes Trophy, stolen in 2013 from the National Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, Saratoga Springs, New York.
- Eleven trophies, including four awarded to Art Wall, Jr., stolen in 2011 from the Scranton Country Club, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania
- Three antique firearms worth a combined $1,000,000, stolen in 2006 from Space Farms: Zoo & Museum, Wantage, New Jersey
- A 1903/1904 Tiffany Lamp, stolen in 2010 from the Lackawanna Historical Society, Scranton, Pennsylvania
- “Upper Hudson” by Jasper Cropsey, worth approximately $500,000, and two antique firearms worth over $300,000, stolen in 2011 from Ringwood Manor, Ringwood, New Jersey
- $400,000 worth of gold nuggets, stolen in 2011 from the Sterling Hill Mining Museum, Ogdensburg, New Jersey
- Various gems, minerals, and other items were stolen in 2017 from the Franklin Mineral Museum in Franklin, New Jersey
- An antique shotgun worth over $30,000 was stolen in 2018 from Space Farms: Zoo & Museum, Wantage, New Jersey
- Various jewelry and other items from multiple antique and jewelry stores in New York, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania.
This investigation involved dozens of law enforcement agencies, including the FBI. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/three-enter-guilty-pleas-in-art-theft-ring-rinker-parry-tassiello-memorabilia-artworks-antiques/523-a3199269-6a8a-40a7-b485-cde003f2dc7c | 2023-07-01T12:59:49 | 0 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/three-enter-guilty-pleas-in-art-theft-ring-rinker-parry-tassiello-memorabilia-artworks-antiques/523-a3199269-6a8a-40a7-b485-cde003f2dc7c |
LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — The rest stop on Interstate 81 in Dorrance Township was packed with travelers on their way to their Fourth of July destinations
"Hershey, Pennsylvania, then we are going to Illinois," said Debbie Lockard of New York.
"We are going to see our son and our two grandkids, five and a half and seven and a half," said Barb Lewis.
For the Hartensteine family, their final destination is in Mississippi, 1,500 miles away from home. The kids taking a much-needed lunch break.
"My body falls asleep and gets tired, and I just want to get out and walk around," said Cecilia Hartensteine of New York.
AAA expects 43.2 million people will drive to their holiday weekend getaway.
That's a four percent increase compared to 2019.
Travelers tell Newswatch 16 they're noticing the increased traffic. Barb Lewis is driving from New York to New Hampshire.
"Yesterday was great, today is really busy. We had to get off 81 and do some kind of crazy loopy-loop to get through stop-and-go traffic," said Barb Lewis.
"People tell Newswatch 16 they hit the road bright and early to beat the holiday rush.
"Well, we left at five this morning, and it went well. Then there was a little more traffic than expected, said Maurice Richard from Montreal, Canada.
"It's been pretty busy, and that worries me at my age, I don't like to travel in that mess. I think going down to Harrisburg since 81 is a thru-way, it will be pretty busy," said Sherman Lockard of New York.
AAA estimates the worst time to drive back home is July 5th between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/travelers-hit-the-road-ahead-of-fourth-of-july-weekend-dorrance-township-barb-lewis-hartensteine-cecilia-maurice-richard/523-7d6b3063-6050-4f81-b3ed-385cc97088e0 | 2023-07-01T12:59:55 | 1 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/travelers-hit-the-road-ahead-of-fourth-of-july-weekend-dorrance-township-barb-lewis-hartensteine-cecilia-maurice-richard/523-7d6b3063-6050-4f81-b3ed-385cc97088e0 |
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Daniel Hamilton is used to helping people manage their money. He is a financial advisor with Mid America Group Northeast in Wilkes-Barre.
Hamilton tells us the Supreme Court's ruling to strike down the president's student loan forgiveness plan will have a big impact across Pennsylvania.
"Pennsylvania does have a large per capita of students and past students who were approved for student loan forgiveness, so this does particularly impact Pennsylvania more than maybe a few other states," Hamilton said.
While some borrowers invested or saved during the three-year pause in loan payments, Hamilton explains they will have to figure out how repayment will impact their budgets once again.
"That's been good for them, but it will put a strain on them now as they continue these $300, $400, $500 or more per-month payments."
Looking at the larger economy, Hamilton says people may hesitate to make those big-ticket purchases. He predicts many will continue with some spending habits.
"I think people will still go out to dinner, still go on vacation, things like that, but for the average person, they will have to think about their purchases a little bit more."
Above all, Hamilton says every student borrower will need to think about their long-term financial plans.
"Think about that long view, that long picture, and continue to save," Hamilton added. "And don't take risks with the money you know is going to have to go toward those loans."
Interest on student loan payments will pick back up on September 1, and payments resume in October, giving borrowers time to prepare.
See news happening? Text our Newstip Hotline. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/what-supreme-court-ruling-means-for-student-borrowers-financial-expert-mid-america-group-northeast-loan-repayment/523-259ea04e-e11e-4318-bf4d-bfdee8a2a139 | 2023-07-01T13:00:01 | 0 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/what-supreme-court-ruling-means-for-student-borrowers-financial-expert-mid-america-group-northeast-loan-repayment/523-259ea04e-e11e-4318-bf4d-bfdee8a2a139 |
ELYSBURG, Pa. — This was a day of celebration at Knoebels Amusement Resort for the resort's darkest attraction. The Haunted Mansion first opened in 1973.
On Friday, a big crowd turned out to wish it a happy big 50, complete with a cake and special anniversary tickets for collectors.
"When we built it back in '73, we expected it to have a small crowd. But now it's one of the biggest attractions at the park," Rick Knoebel said.
"Haunted mansions are always fun. It's fun to be scared, laugh, scream, yell," said Rolando Calderon from Montgomery.
Much like roller coasters, haunted houses have their own group of followers. Rick Davis is the director of DAFE, the Dark Attraction and Funhouse Enthusiasts.
He calls haunted rides like this one a dying breed.
"At one time, a dark attraction, or dark ride, was a staple at amusement parks in the U.S. We've seen so many of them disappear in the 20-some years since DAFE has existed."
DAFE members turned out for the birthday party. Russell Konow came from the Philly suburbs.
"I have to be honest, don't get me wrong, Disney's great, but I have to say I like this better than the Disney Haunted Mansion."
Folks at Knoebels remind us that haunted rides are not like carousels and Ferris wheels. They can change every year, with new twists and turns and new frights around every corner.
These riders don't want to give away the best stuff that's inside but mentioned some of their favorite bits.
"It's a tossup between the skulls and the kind of hologram witch that's in there," Calderon said.
"If you've ridden the ride, and you've seen the snake in the clock, you probably understand what I mean," Davis added.
The snake in the clock is now 50 years old. At Knoebels, the dying breed of haunted houses lives into its second half-century.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/northumberland-county/knoebels-celebrates-50-years-of-frights-haunted-mansion-dark-attraction-anniversary/523-32d67c05-4dab-444b-92d4-d74672112e7e | 2023-07-01T13:00:07 | 1 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/northumberland-county/knoebels-celebrates-50-years-of-frights-haunted-mansion-dark-attraction-anniversary/523-32d67c05-4dab-444b-92d4-d74672112e7e |
KULPMONT, Pa. — State police are investigating a shooting in Northumberland County.
Troopers say Melanee Sands-Brosh broke into a home along North 5th Street in Kulpmont around 4:30 a.m. Friday.
Once inside, Sands-Brosh threatened and assaulted Roseann Shannon who then fired a handgun, hitting Sands-Brosh in the leg.
Sands-Brosh is in custody facing aggravated assault and related charges.
See news happening? Text our Newstip Hotline. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/northumberland-county/woman-in-custody-after-fight-shooting-in-northumberland-county-kulpmont/523-e6161bfa-48ab-4e67-8c79-07cf5a1cb52f | 2023-07-01T13:00:12 | 1 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/northumberland-county/woman-in-custody-after-fight-shooting-in-northumberland-county-kulpmont/523-e6161bfa-48ab-4e67-8c79-07cf5a1cb52f |
HONESDALE, Pa. — A change of plans for a restaurant in Wayne County.
Last month, Cordaro's Restaurant announced it would close; the place has been open since 1954.
But the owners now say thanks to the rush of customer support, they couldn't say goodbye.
Ralph Moeller comes to Cordaro's seven days a week and considers the workers friends.
"They know you by name here a lot of places you're a number. Over here they know you by name," said Moeller.
Cordaro's will be open on Fridays and weekends from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/wayne-county/cordaros-restaurant-will-stay-open-honesdale-wayne-county-wnep-newswatch16/523-0e4d4ef2-3beb-421f-95fd-17f691f52707 | 2023-07-01T13:00:18 | 1 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/wayne-county/cordaros-restaurant-will-stay-open-honesdale-wayne-county-wnep-newswatch16/523-0e4d4ef2-3beb-421f-95fd-17f691f52707 |
Average daily flows
Snake River at Jackson 288 cfs
Snake River at Palisades 10,079 cfs
Snake River at Heise 10,936 cfs
Snake River at Blackfoot 2,717 cfs
Snake River at American Falls 14,438 cfs
Snake River at Milner 3,000 cfs
Little Wood River near Carey 238 cfs
Jackson Lake is 86% full.
Palisades Reservoir is 99% full.
American Falls Reservoir is 84% full.
Upper Snake River system is at 90% of capacity.
As of June 30 | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/average-daily-streamflows/article_99fba5ec-1776-11ee-85d4-c3b3f1c271b8.html | 2023-07-01T13:20:05 | 0 | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/average-daily-streamflows/article_99fba5ec-1776-11ee-85d4-c3b3f1c271b8.html |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – SpaceX is targeting Saturday morning for a Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The launch comes as part of the European Space Agency’s Euclid mission, which seeks to create a 3D map of the universe by sending a spacecraft into orbit around the sun.
Liftoff is set for 11:12 a.m. and a backup opportunity can be made available at the same time Sunday, according to SpaceX
the 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 90% for favorable weather at launch time, 80% in the event of a 24-hour delay.
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In this launch, the Falcon 9′s first-stage booster will attempt to land on the “A Shortfall of Gravitas” drone ship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
News 6 will stream the launch live at the top of this story when coverage begins.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/01/spacex-schedules-falcon-9-launch-from-cape-canaveral/ | 2023-07-01T13:20:29 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/01/spacex-schedules-falcon-9-launch-from-cape-canaveral/ |
Suncoast Fab Lab student leader and Pine View School grad receives $10,000 STEM scholarship
COMMUNITY BRIEFS: Take Stock in Children growing; Bradenton church to host back-to-school giveaway; Forty Carrots grants support education, mental health; free downtown Sarasota barbecue & bike ride.
Suncoast Fab Lab student leader receives $10,000 scholarship
Duncan Marmash, a Suncoast Science Center/Faulhaber Fab Lab volunteer and 2023 Pine View School graduate, was recently awarded a $10,000 Archimedes Award scholarship sponsored by the Andrew and Judith Economos family.
Marmash has been involved with the Fab Lab since 2019, contributing as a member of the Remote Control Car Competition student committee and Student Community Innovation Program (SCIP). "Volunteering at the Fab Lab has allowed me to give back to the community and teach about the subjects I love most," Marmash said.
The Archimedes Award honors graduating seniors from Pine View, Booker High School, and Manatee High School who have demonstrated exemplary academic and intellectual accomplishments and intend to pursue post-secondary studies in a STEM-related field. Marmash plans to study physics at Princeton.
"While Duncan's achievements are a result of his hard work and perseverance in numerous settings, I have no doubt the skills he developed at the lab played a tremendous role in his development as a leader," Andrew Economos said. The Fab Lab was founded to support tomorrow's innovators through experiential learning in science, technology, engineering, art and math. Visit suncoastscience.org.
Christ Episcopal in Bradenton providing free school supplies
Christ Episcopal Church of Bradenton will host its third annual backpack giveaway on July 15, featuring free school supplies for children and families who need community support.
The no-cost event will be held in Parish Hall at the church, 4030 Manatee Ave. W., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The first 500 children attending will be given backpacks filled with school supplies donated by members of the church and community. Casual, rubber-based footwear will also be available for children and adults. The church’s Food Pantry will offer food and a drink.
The church also is partnering with community-based organizations to provide children and parents with connections to family-oriented services. Among the nonprofit groups participating are Turning Points, Project Heart, Our Father’s House, the Early Learning Coalition, and Pace Center for Girls. For information, contact Pat Fraser at pfraser@CECB.Church or 941-747-3709 or 941-718-1493.
Gulf Coast grants to Forty Carrots prioritize education, mental health
Forty Carrots Family Center recently received three grants totaling $53,000 from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation to support its Partners In Play parenting education programs in Sarasota County and mental health services for families affected by Hurricane Ian.
“Forty Carrots stands strong as a pivotal resource for families in our region. Their work is inspirational and important,” said Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s Director of Community Leadership Kameron Hodgens.
The funding was made possible through the Community Health Endowment Fund, Anna V. Pfister, Nellie Mae Koss and Helen K. Hadden Memorial Fund, and the Hurricane Ian Recovery Initiative at Gulf Coast. Forty Carrots serves families from all walks of life, with 94% receiving services free of charge. Visit fortycarrots.org.
Around and about ...
DreamLarge and the Rosemary Art & Design District (RADD) in Sarasota will host a free BBQ Bash & BLVD Bike Ride on July 13 in Rosemary Park, 1386 Blvd. of the Arts. The bike ride will be led by Bill Waddill, COO of the Bay Park Conservancy, and will begin at 6 p.m. Info and registration: eventbrite.com/e/blvd-bike-rides-tickets-602688998017.
· The Literacy Council of Sarasota is seeking volunteers to help adults improve their English communication and literacy skills. No experience is required. Volunteers will receive approximately 18 hours of ProLiteracy-certified instruction over four weekday sessions starting July 10 at the Glasser/Schoenbaum Human Services Center, Bldg J, 1750 17th St., in Sarasota. Information and registration: LCS program director Susan Bergstrom at 941-955-0421 or sbergstrom@sarasotaliteracy.org.
· Diversity: The Voices of Sarasota, an LGBTQ+ chorus, will hold open rehearsals starting Aug. 29 for the 2023-24 season, including performances in December at the Living Nativity at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Venice and in January at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Venice. Visit diversitysarasota.org. The chorus also elected the executive committee for its 26th season: Bern Cattanach, president; John Marth, vice-president; Lorrie Holm, secretary; and Kathy Hanas, treasurer.
· Summer camp and school-year registration continues at the Susan Schwaid Early Learning Center at Temple Emanu-El, 151 McIntosh Road, in Sarasota. Summer camp themes in July include "The USA, Winter in July" and "Mini-Chefs Week." The school year at SSELC begins on Aug. 10. Information: 941-377-8074.
Submissions by Diana Dill, Jenn Sams Scott, Tom Tryon, Tonya Getzen Gowan, Asya Stuart, Donna Dore Fossum, Tom Melville, Elaine Rose Glickman, | https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/2023/07/01/pine-view-graduate-fab-lab-leader-receives-10000-archimedes-award/70357633007/ | 2023-07-01T13:20:35 | 1 | https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/2023/07/01/pine-view-graduate-fab-lab-leader-receives-10000-archimedes-award/70357633007/ |
New murals in historic Overtown pay homage to Sarasota's Black pioneers
SARASOTA — The history of Sarasota's Black pioneers and early residents continues to come to life through an initiative led by Newtown native Walter Gilbert in the city's first Black community, the historic Overtown neighborhood, now called the Rosemary District.
The stories of four Overtown residents and pioneers are breathing life into the heart of Sarasota through a series of large-scale murals honoring the legacy and contributions of some of the city's historical Black figures.
"I don’t want to only educate people about who was here and how everything went down but also help these people to be recognized for their contributions," Gilbert said.
Gilbert is a native of the historic Overtown community and grew up in the area that was once a bustling community of Black business owners, skilled tradesmen, and city leaders.
The Gilbert Mural Initiative, also referred to as the Overtown Mural Initiative, uses public art to highlight the spectrum of his evolving neighborhood on the walls of historic buildings in the neighborhood just north of downtown Sarasota. With support from the Rosemary Arts & Design District (RADD), the city of Sarasota, and the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition (SAACC), the initiative was launched in 2021, and the city saw its first two pieces, a 40-foot rendering of John "Buck" O'Neil and 25-foot mural of beloved educator Emma E. Booker, go up last summer.
Now, Gilbert and the program's supporters are unveiling the final people to be immortalized in the Rosemary District — Rev. Lewis and Irene Colson and Leonard Reid.
Remember Sarasota community's first developer
Lewis Colson came in 1885 and drove the stake at Five Points as he helped in platting the city of Sarasota, according to Newtown Alive's history of the community. Colson would go on to become the first developer of Overtown, now the Rosemary District, in 1910.
Colson assisted with the construction of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Sarasota's first Black church. The original site of the church was laid in 1899 where it remained until 1973, on the corner of today's 7th Street and Central Avenue.
According to Gilbert, upon his death, Colson was buried in the back of the Rosemary Cemetery, the first time a Black resident was buried there.
"The white residents weren't happy about that at that time," Gilbert said. "They asked (his family) to have him removed and buried elsewhere, but the Black residents refused and told them that his wife would be buried there as well. The Black residents were able to have Irene buried there with her husband ... that's why to this day the Colsons are the only two Black people buried in that Rosemary Cemetery."
Gilbert, who works as vice-president for diversity and inclusion at Selby Gardens, was on site on June 30 to ensure the final touches to the Colsons' 10 x 10-foot mural, an enlarged version of one of the rare images of them, by local graphics and imaging company, SpeedPro.
Located on the top left corner of the Planned Parenthood building at 736 Central Ave., the Colson mural is featured adjacent to the Rosemary Cemetery, ensuring their legacy is remembered and recognized today Gilbert said.
Leonard Reid remembered at first home site
A few blocks away from the Colson mural, another of Sarasota's trailblazing Leonard Reid covers a span of the wall on the side of the Sarasota Modern Hotel.
Reid arrived in Sarasota by chance in the early 1920s and worked as the right-hand man of John Hamilton Gillespie, Sarasota’s first mayor. Reid was Gillespie’s coachman, butler, and caretaker of his estate.
His now historic 1,400-square-foot home was built at what was originally 1435 7th St. anchoring the Overtown community.
Last May, Reid's home was moved across downtown Sarasota to its permanent site in Newtown, Sarastoa's predominantly Black community. The Reid home now serves as the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition's museum, which is set to open later in 2023.
Related:Home of African American trailblazer Leonard Reid relocated to the heart of Newtown
Gilbert is particularly fond of the Reid mural, which was funded by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.
"The Reid mural portrays a time that you don’t normally think about when you think about Sarasota. He’s driving a horse and buggy… that tells you how long ago these people were here. His mural gives you a real perspective of how long we’ve been here working and building this city,” he said.
Being one of the remaining residents from the generation that saw both Overtown and its offshoot, Newtown, change due to gentrification, development, and regulation, Gilbert hopes the murals will help residents and visitors remember those who made today's Sarasota possible.
"I remember what the community was and what was out there. This initiative came together because I had to think of a way to honor those people that built that first Black community. Those are the same people that built Sarasota. Even though, at the time, they were segregated… they built Sarasota and they are important to remember and have their community remembered. They couldn’t go downtown, they couldn’t go in those shops, they had to have their own, and they did in Overtown.”
Rosemary District Association president and founder of DreamLarge, Anand Pallegar, believes the mural project not only enhances the neighborhood through public art and education but keeps those early pioneers' legacies alive, just as Gilbert and the project supporters intended.
"From the beginning, RADD had championed the history of Overtown by recognizing the individuals who established it. The photorealistic reliefs of the Colsons and Mr. Reid offer a glimpse into their lives during this era and celebrates the rich history of a community largely forgotten," Pallegar said.
"As the neighborhood continues to evolve we look forward to blending more contemporary murals with historic figureheads to reinforce our role as the most creative neighborhood in the city of Sarasota."
The mural initiative is slated to add four other works in historic buildings in the neighborhood. The next set of murals will showcase different spaces and specific periods of history in Overtown. | https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/sarasota/2023/07/01/two-new-murals-taking-shape-in-sarasota-arts-area-known-as-rosemary/70346505007/ | 2023-07-01T13:20:41 | 0 | https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/sarasota/2023/07/01/two-new-murals-taking-shape-in-sarasota-arts-area-known-as-rosemary/70346505007/ |
Judge to hear arguments Monday in residents' push to separate from North Port
New legislation that changes the way de-annexation is handled could hamper future efforts
NORTH PORT – Residents seeking to separate from the city of North Port will have another day in court at 10 a.m. July 3, as Circuit Court Judge Danielle Brewer hears arguments on their challenge to the City Commission’s decision last fall reaffirming denial of a petition to contract the city’s western boundary.
Members of the West Villagers for Responsible Government , mostly made up of residents of Wellen Park, want North to Port de-annex more than 13,900 acres of the city west of the Myakka River because they were unhappy with the way the city was being run. The effort started in 2020.
Here's what you need to know about the ongoing case and hearing, which will be available on Zoom, and a law that went into effect July 1 that would hinder similar efforts in the future.
The topic for Monday
On Oct. 27, 2022 the City Commission revisited its April 29, 2021 denial of the West Villagers group − or WV4RG − petition to contract the city, as it was ordered to do by 12th Judicial Circuit Judge Hunter W. Carroll. The re-hearing began after the city exhausted several legal options, the last of which was an unfavorable ruling by the Second District Court of Appeal, which refused to overturn Carroll’s order that quashed the original decision.
But when it did so, the City Commission merely reopened that 2021 hearing and did not accept new testimony, though it did hear extensive public comment before making its decision.
West Villagers attorney Luke Lirot contended in his most recent court filing that the city “absolutely did not consider the evidentiary record and make special factual findings in accord with the quashed order.”
He also noted that the city did not address the definition of “feasibility,” regarding whether contraction could be done, in Carroll’s order.
The Zoom ID to watch the arguments is 583 020 2997; the password is 040201. For audio only, dial 253-215-8782 and use the same meeting ID. Recordings of the proceedings are not permitted.
North Port litigation on the horizon
On May 25, the West Villagers filed another petition, asking the court to grant a “writ of mandamus” that would compel North Port to place a referendum on contraction up for a popular vote of all residents living west of the Myakka River – which includes most but not all of the city’s fifth commission district.
They had filed a similar petition in 2021 but Carroll dismissed it without prejudice when he approved the current case.
On June 12, Brewer granted the West Villagers request and gave the city 30 days to either schedule the question for an election or show cause why it should not.
Impact of Senate Bill 718
Senate Bill 718, which was approved by Gov. DeSantis, will have a chilling effect on any future attempts to contract municipal boundaries within the state of Florida.
The law, which took effect July 1, will not impact the current West Villagers effort and the respective court cases but any contraction efforts instituted after July 1 must allow the owners of undeveloped land to give approval, too.
Under the new law, if more than 70% of the land targeted for contraction is owned by “individuals, corporations, or legal entities” that are not registered electors, then the owners of at least 57% of that acreage must consent.
That change applies provisions already in place for annexation to de-annexation too.
The law also creates a definition for the term “feasibility study,” and changes the decision on whether to accept or reject those petitions from a court-like proceeding that must be based on competent, substantial evidence to a legislative decision.
The law also prohibits pursuit of challenges to any land development regulation via referendum. | https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/venice/2023/07/01/judge-will-hear-latest-arguments-in-lawsuit-to-contract-north-port/70371339007/ | 2023-07-01T13:20:47 | 1 | https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/venice/2023/07/01/judge-will-hear-latest-arguments-in-lawsuit-to-contract-north-port/70371339007/ |
Nine weeks after double knee replacement surgery, Pat Calhoon walking three miles a day
SARASOTA - Just before an anesthesiologist’s “happy juice,” as Pat Calhoon called it, put him in sleepy land, Sarasota County’s former do-everything sports dude had a quip ready for his surgeon, Dr. Sean Dingle.
“I said, ‘I buy one and get one?’” the 67-year-old Calhoon said. “‘Is this a BOGO day for me?’’’
Dingle laughed. “Yeah, you’re going to get two for one,” he replied.
Chicago Cubs great Ernie Banks used to say, “Let’s play two.” In Calhoon’s case, it was more like, “Let’s replace two.”
In his 22-year role as the County’s sports facilities director, Pat Calhoon was the bee’s knees.
His own knees were not.
Years as a catcher, even at age 40 for the Hooters national baseball team, had taken their toll. Years of walking an average of 25,000 steps a day in and around Ed Smith Stadium during spring training had taken their toll.
Twelve years ago, at 55, Calhoon was told by doctors he would need both knees replaced. Walking had replaced running, and before long, even walking became a chore.
A couple of procedures bought Calhoon a few years, but once retired, he knew it was time. “The doctor said to go as long as you can,” he said. For Calhoon, can had become couldn’t.
Time for surgery had arrived
Exit stage left:After 43 years of wearing many hats, Pat Calhoon hangs all of them up
He had waited this long, but now that the time for surgery had arrived, Calhoon wanted a one and done.
Actually, two.
According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, of the more than 700,000 patients who undergo knee replacement each year, only between 3% and 6.5% have bilateral surgery, with both knees done simultaneously.
Studies have shown that double knee replacement carries with it a greater risk of complications, including cardiovascular issues and blood clots. Patients face greater challenges in their recovery and rehabilitation, and a bilateral procedure forces them into a rehab facility following surgery.
“I wasn’t going to go through this twice,” Calhoon said. “I was going to reduce my chances of infection by 50%. The other part is that so many people who have this done, once they realize what a challenge it is, they won’t go through a second one because it was such a challenge.”
Calhoon said Dr. Dingle performs 20 knee replacements a week, “and only one is bi-lateral.” But because Calhoon was both healthy and a former athlete, someone who would be familiar with the rehab process, Dingle agreed to do both.
Nine weeks ago, Calhoon was pumped with the happy juice. He came through surgery splendidly, though the post-procedure pain brought on three sleepless nights. He remembered Dr. Dingle telling him the surgery itself was merely one-third of the process.
'Consistent and persistent rehab'
“You have to do the other two-thirds with therapy,” Calhoon said. “Consistent and persistent rehab.” Just before the surgery, he was ruled at 47% disability. Four weeks after it, he was at 32%. And following eight weeks, with the goal of being somewhere under 20%, Calhoon checked in at 12%.
He endured three rehab assignments daily, each lasting an hour. Knee bends, leg raises, leg extensions, learning to walk again heel to toe, Calhoon worked with three different therapists, each repeating what the previous one had done.
“Did I feel like doing that?” Calhoon said. “Hell freaking no. But I did, and I think that’s the reason I recovered so quickly.” But the sessions were grueling, so much so that the therapists had to remind Calhoon to breathe while doing the exercises.
He was told it’ll be three to six months before he’s 100%. His visits with a therapist over, Calhoon performs those same exercises at home. Even with new knees, he won’t be running anymore, but Dr. Dingle told Calhoon he could begin playing golf in two to four months.
That’ll be a bit more fun than his daily three-mile walk. And when you get two new knees, the small things stand out. Like navigating stairs.
“I went to see my skin doctor,” Calhoon said, “and I went up a couple of flights of stairs without touching the railing. It’s been five years since I did that.” | https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/sports/local/2023/07/01/nine-weeks-after-double-knee-replaement-surgery-pat-calhoon-walking-three-miles-a-day-without-pain/70334758007/ | 2023-07-01T13:20:59 | 0 | https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/sports/local/2023/07/01/nine-weeks-after-double-knee-replaement-surgery-pat-calhoon-walking-three-miles-a-day-without-pain/70334758007/ |
Arizonans could soon get hormonal birth control without needing a prescription
Hormonal birth control is expected to be available without a prescription in Arizona as soon as July 5.
Arizonans are soon expected to be able to get birth control pills without needing a prescription.
The expanded access could take effect as early as July 5, according to state health officials.
A 2021 law signed by former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, allows for Arizona pharmacists to dispense self-administered contraceptives − the pill, the patch or the ring − to patients who are at least 18 years of age under a standing order, said Tom Herrmann, a spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Health Services.
A statewide "standing order" means there's an order for pharmacists to dispense birth control without needing patients to obtain patient-specific prescriptions, similar to the standing order that allows Arizonans to purchase naloxone from pharmacies without a prescription.
For birth control, patients will be required to complete a questionnaire to help determine the appropriate contraceptive and also whether or not the patient should be referred to a nearby clinic or health care provider, Herrmann wrote in an email.
The original bill, Senate Bill 1082, was sponsored by Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, and had bipartisan support, as well as support from the Arizona Medical Association, the Arizona Pharmacy Association and the Arizona Public Health Association. The Arizona House of Representatives passed the bill 33 to 24 and the state Senate gave it a thumbs up by a vote of 21 to 8.
The law still needs approval from the Governor's Regulatory Review Council and needs to be filed with the Arizona Secretary of State's Office, Herrmann wrote. After that, the state health department will put the standing order in place as soon as possible, "which may happen on or around July 5," Herrmann wrote.
"We have been preparing the standing order after seeking input from the medical community and evaluating best practices in other states," he said.
The law requires the Arizona Board of Pharmacy, in conjunction with the Arizona Department of Health Services and in consultation with a national professional organization specializing in obstetrics and gynecology to "make rules establishing standard procedures for pharmacists to follow" when dispensing the self-administered hormonal contraceptives.
Arizona is one of 22 states with statutes or rules that allow pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraceptives, according to a Sept. 1, 2022, report from the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations. The other states are Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.
Kam Gandhi, executive director of the Arizona Board of Pharmacy, told The Arizona Republic this week that pharmacists will need to go through a three-hour training before they are allowed to dispense birth control.
While the new law is a public health gain, it is not without a downside, said Will Humble, a former state health director who is executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association.
Allowing people to go to a pharmacy to obtain birth control means some will skip what may be their only annual visit with a health care provider where they get screenings such as PAP smears and also general wellness checks, Humble said.
"I think the benefits outweigh the risks but it doesn't mean the risks are zero," Humble said. "You hate to see those annual visits missed."
Reach health care reporter Stephanie Innes at Stephanie.Innes@gannett.com or at 602-444-8369. Follow her on Twitter @stephanieinnes. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-health/2023/07/01/arizona-could-begin-giving-expanded-access-to-birth-control-in-july/70374471007/ | 2023-07-01T13:32:46 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-health/2023/07/01/arizona-could-begin-giving-expanded-access-to-birth-control-in-july/70374471007/ |
Seven miles to remember the Yarnell Hill Fire, and learn the lessons from the land
From the top of the 2.85-mile Hotshot Trail, looking down at the fatality site 500 feet below, it's heartbreaking to see how close the firefighters were to safety before being overtaken by the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013.
Metal gabions filled with rocks — plentiful in this landscape — and chained together in final solidarity, encircle 19 metal crosses that mark the spots where members of the Prescott-based Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshots crew deployed their emergency shelters in a final act of desperation.
Their advanced skills fighting fire with fire, cutting out safety zones from the dry vegetation and persisting in infernal conditions were no match for the tall, fast flames that, pushed by a shift in thunderstorm winds, abruptly blocked their path as they traveled from one safety location to another that day.
They died less than 2,000 feet from refuge at the brush-cleared Boulder Springs Ranch in Yarnell's Glen Ilah neighborhood.
More:What to know about the Granite Mountain Hotshots and the tragic Yarnell Hill Fire
The scene, decorated with hats, patches and other items of tribute left by firefighters and community members, is a lot to take in, especially on a calm, blue-sky day when tragedy seems a distant nightmare. Opened in 2016, the Hotshot Trail, followed by the 1-mile Journey Trail down to the fatality site, gives visitors a chance to ease into the somber experience by unfolding the most deadly event for U.S. firefighters since September 11th, 2001, one memorial plaque at a time. The 7-mile round-trip trek is also a chance to reflect on how we might avoid similar outcomes in the future.
Trekking to remember
When I started the steep hike up to the fatality site, it was 84 degrees Fahrenheit, a full 16 degrees cooler than temperatures recorded nearby on the late June day 10 years ago when the Yarnell Hill Fire cut short the lives of 19 expert firefighters, ages 21 to 43.
In my t-shirt and shorts, it still felt warm, though I wasn't burdened with any of the heavy clothing or gear — chainsaws, torches, fuel — they carried.
While 2023 has been a wetter and more forgiving year for June excursions, overall trends in the western U.S. in recent decades have been toward hotter and drier conditions, linked by scientists to rising concentrations of greenhouse gases, which trap heat and energy in the atmosphere and catalyze more extreme weather patterns.
The summer of 2013 was particularly hot and dry. When lightning struck on June 28 near Yarnell, a small town southwest of Prescott with fewer than 700 residents and an unwieldy landscape of high-desert chaparral and large, gray boulders, it ignited the first blaze to befall this area in 45 years.
More:'Order from chaos': As wildfire behaviors change, these experts work behind the scenes
At the time, no one imagined the toll it would take. But some wildfire experts have suggested that a fossil-fuel culture combined with a build-up of dry vegetation resulting from the historic suppression of natural fires near developed areas made this and many other rural western towns vulnerable to such an event.
“When we ask why Yarnell was so overgrown with brush, that was probably attributable in some small part to our commitment to a fossil-fueled world. That energy availability changes where we build and how we organize our landscapes," said Steve Pyne, a fire history scholar and retired professor at Arizona State University. "How would we have lived before we converted so fully to fossil fuels? We would have lived off the land. We would be farming. We would be grazing. We would be clearing. We would have come into a kind of equilibrium where there was plenty of fire within a managed landscape.”
Ten years later, hiking the Hotshot and Journey Trails is one way to honor the sacrifice of the crew whose members lost their lives defending Yarnell from a blaze fueled by record drought and extreme temperatures — signatures of ongoing climate change — while contemplating how to avert future tragedy.
Lives lost to lifestyle choices?
From the small parking lot of the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park, the trek is at once emotional, brutal and beautiful. Immediately, the trail tilts steeply uphill, carving out a few switchbacks before arriving at the first of 19 memorial plaques, that of crew leader Eric Marsh, who was 43, set into the stone that defines these hills.
Marsh is remembered as a loving husband, son and avid outdoorsman. He helped create the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew and took his role as a mentor of younger wildland firefighters seriously. He died alongside his mentees when "strong and erratic winds created by thunderstorm outflow," according to an overview of the tragedy by the National Weather Service, suddenly pushed towering flames over their position.
"That long, hot, dry and windy lead-in. That’s the formula for fire," said Pyne, who has written more than 30 books, mostly on the history and management of wildland and rural fire. "Arizona is pretty much the epicenter for lightning-caused fire in North America."
In light of natural challenges related to Arizona's fire-prone landscapes, Pyne says it's especially crucial to rethink how we manage vegetation now that climate change is making conditions like those leading up to the Yarnell Hill Fire more common. If we want to build homes that require protection from fire in wildlands, we should get better at learning from past successful wildfire interventions by Indigenous peoples using controlled burns and other methods, he said, and also scale back our reliance on fossil fuels to fight the conversion of forests to tinderboxes.
“The way native peoples used fire, it's like little mice nibbling their way across the landscape as opposed to now when the fires are like a stampede of buffalo or elephants," Pyne said. "We have to rethink what controlled burns mean. At the same time, if climate change continues and we continue to live the way we are, then fire on the landscape will become something different and there won’t be a restore point."
More:Hoping to save lives, experts work on new air quality messaging strategies in Phoenix
What things we've built are worth defending?
Next along the trail, the plaque for crew captain Jesse Steed, 36, remembers him as a dedicated husband and father who, after leaving the military, found brotherhood among wildland firefighters. Turning right onto another switchback, the trail continues past memorials for crew members Clayton Whitted, 28, Robert Caldwell, 23, Travis Carter, 31, Travis Turbyfill, 27, Chris MacKenzie, 30, Andrew Ashcraft, 29, and Joe Thurston, 32, before arriving at a picnic table rest spot 1.3 miles from the start.
I stopped to take a long drink from my water bottle and a long look at the unforgiving landscape. It would be hard to hurry away from approaching flames off-trail in this environment. Jagged rock covers every surface not carved out for the trail. The sun beats down on everything in sight. Wildflowers still bloom in scarce patches of mottled shade. It's quiet. Most desert wildlife is smart enough to stay in burrows during the heat of the day.
Read our climate series:The latest from Joan Meiners at azcentral, a column on climate change that publishes weekly
I continue past the markers for Wade Parker, 22, Anthony Rose, 23, Garret Zuppiger, 27, and another place to sit before reaching the plaques for Scott Norris, 28, Dustin DeFord, 24, William Warneke, 25, and one of the youngest crew members, Kevin Woyjeck, 21. I pause to read about each of these men.
After passing the plaque for John Percin, Jr., 24, I met an Arizona State Parks Ranger doing trail maintenance. He agreed to speak with me and we found a spot to sit near the plaque for the other youngest fallen hotshot crew member, Grant McKee, 21.
Jared Welsh, who grew up in Yarnell and has worked as a state parks ranger for four years, remembers the day he and his family packed up their photo albums and evacuated ahead of the Yarnell Hill Fire. The sky was eerily dark at 4 p.m. when he went to drag one of his friends out of his home and make sure he left. There was traffic on the road to get out of town, a result of most townspeople procrastinating leaving as long as possible. They hadn't seen this coming. But now, Welsh said, he understands the rising risk.
"Growing up in Yarnell, I would've never thought there'd be a big fire here. We're not in a forest," Welsh said. "But climate change is affecting the Prescott area and we're going to see that time bomb blow up. It's a multiplier and it's going to be an amplifier."
Having been mired in this tragedy for much of his adult life, Welsh is a wealth of information on what happened here. He knows the story and the landscape well, and he took the time to tell me about it as we sat beneath Grant McKee's likeness, glinting in the sun.
"When they came down this canyon, they lost all vision to the north," Welsh said, pointing out features on the landscape from the trail. "The fire was starting to move. It was starting to work its way through all these fingers here."
We spoke for over an hour. Welsh talked about bark beetle damage weakening trees in Prescott National Forest due to milder winters, about the need for climate solutions to reduce wildfire risk and about the toll COVID and low wages have taken on hotshot firefighter retention even as the need for their services increases.
He is passionate about his work maintaining this trail because he has seen what it means to people as a place to remember the victims who fought to save the town of Yarnell. At the end of our time together, he also reflected on why it's important to clear brush around structures in rural towns like Yarnell to ensure that homeowners are doing everything they can to make sure no one loses their life to save a building ever again.
"Nobody really cared about their houses, though, when we heard the hotshots had died." Welsh paused for a long moment while looking toward the Yarnell townsite. "It sucks. They never should have died for our houses."
Joan Meiners is the climate news and storytelling reporter at The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Before becoming a journalist, she completed a doctorate in ecology. Follow Joan on Twitter at @beecycles or email her at joan.meiners@arizonarepublic.com. Read more of her coverage at environment.azcentral.com.
Support climate coverage and local journalism by subscribing to azcentral.com at this link. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2023/07/01/yarnell-hill-fire-tragedy-still-holds-lessons-about-land-management/70357957007/ | 2023-07-01T13:32:52 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2023/07/01/yarnell-hill-fire-tragedy-still-holds-lessons-about-land-management/70357957007/ |
Metro Phoenix program works to keep pets with owners experiencing homelessness
When Mike Grimler lost his home, he knew a lot was about to change.
But when it came to his two dogs, Peanut and Maggie May, there was no way he'd continue without them, he said.
The dogs had been with Grimler since they were puppies, he said, and when Grimler’s fiancée got sick toward the end of last year, he promised her that he would keep them safe.
For Grimler and many other people experiencing homelessness in metro Phoenix, having animals can be a barrier to finding emergency housing. Few shelters in the Valley can accommodate pets. That’s why Grimler said he was so relieved to learn St. Vincent de Paul’s Washington Street shelter had a place for him, Peanut and Maggie to stay together.
“Thank God for this place,” he said.
What services does the program offer?
St. Vincent de Paul started their companion animal program in 2021 because of an overwhelming need for pet resources by people experiencing homelessness. Last year, St. Vincent de Paul sheltered 101 pets, spayed or neutered 43 and vaccinated 308 — all for free. The program is available whether or not the pet's owner is staying at the Washington Street shelter, which is at the corner of 28th Street in Phoenix.
The companion animal program has donation pantries with pet food, water bowls, treats and toys. Frequent clinics allow owners to spay and neuter their pets. Staff can set up vet appointments — with transportation included — when an animal needs immediate attention.
The program's manager, Alberto Diaz, said he’s proud to offer these services. He's an animal lover, he said, and he knows just how important it is to have what's needed to care for a pet.
“It’s that empathy for both the human and the pet,” Diaz said of the program. “Just really trying to be that voice for them both.”
St. Vincent de Paul has partnered with animal behaviorist Dianne Decker to offer dog training sessions specifically targeted to the needs of people who are experiencing homelessness. The training sessions have been offered at the Washington Street shelter since November.
On a Wednesday morning in June, Grimler sat with Peanut and Maggie circling at his feet as they waited for a training session. A mix of terriers and pit bulls had gathered for the day’s class.
Decker came to the Washington Street shelter equipped with a pouch of liver treats to command her audience. While the lesson was primarily about safety tips for dogs exposed to extreme heat, Decker answered specific questions, too.
Grimler wanted to know whether his dogs could continue to enjoy their favorite bedtime snacks of human food.
“Everyone has a guilty pleasure,” Grimler said.
Grimler said becoming homeless has been a transition for all three of them. Last year, as Grimler’s fiancée's illness worsened, Grimler relied more and more on Peanut and Maggie for emotional support. After she passed, he said, it was his dogs that gave him the ability to continue.
“If I didn’t have them, I don’t know if I’d still be here or not,” Grimler said.
Decker said she enjoys few things more than seeing the bond between a dog and its owner.
Briceida Oliver-Garcia and Tina Roggenbuck came to the training with their 7-month-old dog, Babygirl. The energetic pit bull mix arrived with a bubblegum pink collar and plenty of energy, which Roggenbuck and Oliver-Garcia said can sometimes make her difficult to control.
Decker worked with the two to find ways to manage Babygirl in chaotic environments. She said this skill could be essential when dogs move into permanent housing, as some landlords and homeowners hesitate to allow large animals in their properties.
Isabel Tapia, who is expecting a baby later this year, was living at the Washington Street shelter for about a month when she attended Decker's class with her two dogs, Zena and Jax. Decker said Tapia's expanding family is a perfect example of how dog training can help.
“If I can help her feel safe and in control, that's what I'm here for,” Decker said.
St. Vincent de Paul's companion animal program has expanded steadily over the last two years, Diaz said.
Next spring, St. Vincent de Paul plans to open The Marion and Bob Auray Companion Animal Clinic for the pets of people experiencing homelessness. It will be staffed by veterinary professionals and students from Midwestern University. Diaz said the clinic will provide even more opportunities to keep pets safe, something he knows will mean everything to their owners.
“These are our kids,” Diaz said. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2023/07/01/phoenix-program-works-to-help-pets-owners-experiencing-homelessness/70344589007/ | 2023-07-01T13:32:58 | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2023/07/01/phoenix-program-works-to-help-pets-owners-experiencing-homelessness/70344589007/ |
BLOOMINGTON — The therapy wing at the Children's Advocacy Center was dubbed the Sharon Klingman Therapy Wing this week, named for a longtime counselor with the goal of expanding to continue to meet the needs of McLean County children.
In a retirement celebration turned dedication, Klingman, a licensed clinical professional counselor, said even though she is stepping away from the CAC, she hopes it will grow in her absence.
The CAC provides services including forensic interviews, advocacy and trauma-focused therapy for children and non-offending caregivers who may have been victims of sexual abuse, physical abuse or human trafficking and those who have been witnesses to major crimes.
Klingman has provided one-on-one, confidential counseling services at the CAC for 20 years and currently works with young adults and non-offending caregivers to “help them not be afraid” of the often legally and emotionally daunting process of reporting abuse, she said.
“A lot of people wouldn't go to therapy because it costs money, and they don't know who to call,” Klingman said. “And for this to be so seamless for them, to just get to hop over here and we're here, it just makes it easy. It’s not a money worry for them, and they don’t have to deal with insurance.”
The CAC is supported by gifts and grants, as well as funding from the McLean County Child Protection Network. Community donations and contributions allow the center to provide services at its McLean County location in downtown Bloomington, as well as two satellite offices: the Livingston County CAC in Pontiac and the DeWitt County CAC in Clinton.
Financial contributions received from the McLean County Child Protection Network support the center’s advocacy and legal services led by a multidisciplinary team, which includes members of law enforcement, the Department of Children and Family Services, prosecutors, medical personnel, forensic interviewers, therapists and advocates.
Community donations of items including clothing, toys and school supplies are either directly distributed to families in need or placed in the center’s “store”— a stockroom where families can shop for new, unused living essentials free of charge. All items are ”donated by the community and go out to the community,” Executive Director Molly Evans said.
“One thing that we do as a center is we are really just looking for every single detail, anything that we can do to make that child's experience just a little bit easier,” Evans said. “We try to accommodate anything that a child or family would need.”
In addition to providing services to victims and their families, the CAC hosts prevention education events at local schools and community training sessions at its McLean County office.
When a child is referred to the advocacy center by law enforcement or DCFS, the multidisciplinary team aims to offer all of the core services under one roof to avoid a child reliving their trauma more than necessary, Evans said.
“Before CACs were in place, kids would have to go to multiple different places. They might have to go to hospitals, they would have to go to the police station, they would have to go to DCFS and tell their story multiple times,” she said. “So the thought is, let's have the child come to one place and have all of those disciplines be here and work with them.”
By welcoming children into the CAC’s McLean County office — a “calm, nice, comfortable, safe location” — the team can guide and support them and their non-offending caregivers through the evaluation process, beginning with an initial forensic interview, Evans said.
Once the multidisciplinary team has evaluated the forensic interview, which is conducted one-on-one and recorded to prevent the child from recounting their story more than once, the team will make referrals to other services, including therapy.
“Some days when the interview was over, we might even greet the family and be like, 'Hey, I'm the therapist here, and we have counseling,'” Klingman said. Sometimes families will say they're not interested or don't need therapy services when first offered, “and then a couple weeks later, they'll call me and be like, ‘yeah, we kind of do actually.'”
In 2022, the CAC and McLean County Court Appointed Special Advocates provided mental health services to 65 clients, in addition to making 89 medical referrals, conducting 288 forensic interviews and dedicating 590 hours to criminal justice advocacy, according to the local Child Protection Network.
Although Klingman, who Evans said was "a leader within the state of Illinois as far as providing mental health services” and the center’s sole mental health provider from 2002 to 2017, is leaving the CAC, she will continue working in the behavioral health department at Carle BroMenn Outpatient Center in Bloomington two days a week.
Klingman said she hopes the CAC and the therapy wing named in her honor will “continue to grow and expand” once she retires, as “there’s room for more therapy, always.”
She said the children and families she has worked with are often grateful to have the CAC resources available to them.
“They're like, ‘Oh my God, thank God somebody's here to walk me through this,’ because nobody remembers anything that happens on that first day; they're just shocked,” Klingman said. “And then days later they're like, ‘Wow, what do we do now?’
"And we've got people right there waiting. We're right here with you, all the way.” | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/mclean-county-childrens-advocacy-center-dedicates-therapy-wing/article_f6b192d6-177d-11ee-8acc-03c9845d4113.html | 2023-07-01T13:43:28 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/mclean-county-childrens-advocacy-center-dedicates-therapy-wing/article_f6b192d6-177d-11ee-8acc-03c9845d4113.html |
VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. (WIAT) — People are getting ready to celebrate the Fourth of July over the long weekend — many with fireworks at home. Fireworks and sparklers seemingly go hand-in-hand with Fourth of July celebrations.
Heading into the holiday weekend, some fireworks vendors said people have been stocking up even earlier than usual this year. For some families, having an at-home firework show is a tradition but with the pretty spectacle can come some risk.
“The noise, the color, the show,” fireworks enthusiast Kristian Walvatne said. “I like having people over at our house while we’re cooking and putting on a nice show at night. There’s some pretty dangerous ones, and so I’d keep kids away from those and then make sure the fuse is pointing in the right direction.”
The Fireworks Shed is open year round and said this week there’s been a steady trickle of people, but it’s bracing for the swarm on Monday and Tuesday.
“Little kids like fountains and stuff, not really loud stuff. We have a lot of fountains. The older kids, they like the artillery shells, the boom, a big blast and stuff like that,” said Matt Jenkins with the Fireworks Shed. “Also, depends where you live. Certain places do not let you have the big booms and stuff like that in the neighborhoods.”
The Vestavia Hills Fire Department said it’s important to make sure you are legally using fireworks and to check your city’s website for guidelines on what is allowed.
“Fireworks can lead to some injuries,” VHFD Battalion Chief Scott Ferrell said. “Some eye injuries, burn injuries, you just want to make sure you’re careful to avoid those. Everybody can stay safe.”
Getting rid of your fireworks safely is also important. The VHFD recommends keeping a bucket of water around to douse the firework for 24 hours before throwing it into a plastic bag or garbage can. | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/alabamians-stock-up-on-fireworks-ahead-of-4th-of-july-weekend/ | 2023-07-01T13:51:01 | 1 | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/alabamians-stock-up-on-fireworks-ahead-of-4th-of-july-weekend/ |
With the 144th edition of Mandan Rodeo Days just a single day away from getting underway at the new Dale Pahlke Arena, the list of contestants competing in the three-day event has been announced.
This year's events are heavy on defending champions, as five of the nine champions in last year's eight events -- steer wrestling ended in a tie for first, and one of the two champions are back, as is the top team in team roping -- have returned to defend their titles.
Caleb Barrett returns to defend his bareback riding championship (88 points on Harper & Morgan Rodeo Company's Sippin Firewater), as does Cyler Dowling, one of the two champions in steer wrestling (4.2 seconds), Tanner Tomlinson and Patrick Smith in team roping (5.2 seconds), Kolby Wanchuk in saddle bronc (87.5 points on Macza Pro Rodeo's Ols Tubs Get Smart) and Paige Jones in barrel racing (15.69 seconds).
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Mandan Rodeo Days will see 12 of the top 22 competitors in the PRCA All-Around standings compete in this year's events, including current leader Stetson Wright of Milford, Utah.
Wright, who is ranked second in both bull riding and saddle bronc riding, is scheduled to compete in both events on Monday, July 3, taking on Dakota Rodeo's Arthur in saddle bronc competition and Dr. Campbell in bull riding.
The only two competitors ahead of Wright in his two events, Ky Hamilton in bull riding and Sage Newman in saddle bronc riding, will join him in Mandan next week.
Hamilton will ride Dakota Rodeo's Sun Country on Monday, July 3, while Newman will try to tame Stace Smith Pro Rodeos' Flashcard Champ on Tuesday, July 4.
The other two PRCA event leaders that will be in attendance are Keenan Hayes, current leader in bareback riding, who will be riding Dakota Rodeo's Blue Wake on Independence Day, and Comanche, Texas' Hali Williams, the top breakaway roper.
Mandan Rodeo Days will also feature Kaycee Feild, a six-time World Champion with career earnings over $3.3 million, Nelson Wyatt, the current No. 3 in the World PRCA Team Roping contests, back-to-back National Finals Rodeo team roping champions Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira and Mandan's Ty Breuer, who represented North Dakota at the 2022 NFR in Las Vegas.
Driggers and Nogueira are scheduled as the final competitors in team roping on Sunday, July 2 in team roping, while Breuer is on track to ride Dakota Rodeo's Wild N Out on Tuesday, July 4.
Feild and Weild are not currently lined up to participate on a particular night, but have been announced as competitors.
The full daysheets of the competitors can be found at mandanrodeo.com/rodeo/competitors. | https://bismarcktribune.com/sports/local/mandan-rodeo-days-competitors-announced/article_d3d545d6-1783-11ee-a8f3-3b5ffe9ac0fc.html | 2023-07-01T13:56:54 | 1 | https://bismarcktribune.com/sports/local/mandan-rodeo-days-competitors-announced/article_d3d545d6-1783-11ee-a8f3-3b5ffe9ac0fc.html |
After taking a tough tumble off a bucking bronco at the Ponoka Stampede in Alberta earlier this week, Ty Breuer got a phone call from back home.
"My daughter Kayd told my wife Kelli, 'We better call dad to make sure he's OK."
For Breuer, the Mandan bareback riding star, much has changed since he started his pro career back in 2010. Now 33, he has three kids -- a daughter and two sons -- Kayd the oldest at 5 1/2.
"Kelli's the hero in the whole deal. She holds everything together," Ty said. "It's a lot harder when a guy's got a family back home. There's a lot more stuff going on and of course I don't want to miss out. I want to be there for them."
Problem is, and it's not really a problem, Breuer continues to excel at the sport's premier level, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).
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Last year, he placed first nine times, including at the prestigious Badlands Circuit Finals in Minot. He earned a trip to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas for the sixth time in his career where he placed eighth. And maybe most impressively, and indeed a sign of his sustained success, passed $1 million in career earnings.
"You're always trying to find the right balance, especially now being home with your family, but, you know, I've been able to make a pretty nice living," said Breuer, who also ranches. "I've been fortunate to do this as long as I have. You don't know how long it's going to last, nobody does, but when you're still doing decent at it, and you feel good physically, I guess you just keep going."
It's one of the most hectic, and potentially lucrative, times of year on the rodeo calendar. "Cowboy Christmas" allows for opportunities to compete all across the country and into Canada.
Breuer started the week at the Ponoka Stampede in Alberta, where things went well. He currently sits fourth with a score of 85.5. From there, it was a 1,700-mile haul to Colorado for the Greeley Stampede, before going all the way back to Ponoka to ride again on Sunday.
"It's a busy time of year," Breuer said. "We're usually riding hard this time of year."
July 3 will be spent in Montana, either at Red Lodge or Livingston. The following day will be even busier. He plans to hit two of Belle Fourche, S.D., Killdeer or his home rodeo in Mandan, which will be inside brand new Dale Pahlke Arena, with a total purse of more than $160,000 at stake.
"It's pretty exciting they were able to get that built. I never thought I'd see a new arena there in my lifetime," Breuer said. "It's pretty cool everyone worked hard to be able to get that built."
The new arena was just phase one of the overall project. The way Breuer's riding, he might still be going strong when the whole thing is done. Although, he understands better than most health is fleeting when riding the rankest horses on the planet.
He took a few months off over the winter to rehab a spinal cord compression, which rendered his left arm continuously numb.
"It's where your spinal cord gets pinched up," Breuer said. "I've tweaked my neck and had my arm go numb, but not for that long. After Denver (National Western Stock Show and Rodeo), I took a couple months off. Did a lot of rehabbing."
He's feeling good now and rounding into form. At two South Dakota rodeos last weekend, he placed second and fourth.
As for the future, only time will tell. One thing is for sure, in primarily a young man's game, he's still got it.
"It's been such a big part of my life for a long time and I do still enjoy it," said Breuer, who started riding roughstock his sophomore year of high school. "I'm sure a guy knows when the right time is, but for now, we're just gonna keep going."
Reach Tribune sports editor Dave Selvig at (701) 250-8246 or david.selvig@bismarcktribune.com | https://bismarcktribune.com/sports/local/more-than-a-decade-in-mandans-ty-breuer-still-going-strong/article_b77c731e-16d9-11ee-a413-877f761dd370.html | 2023-07-01T13:57:01 | 0 | https://bismarcktribune.com/sports/local/more-than-a-decade-in-mandans-ty-breuer-still-going-strong/article_b77c731e-16d9-11ee-a413-877f761dd370.html |
Summer is in full swing and many people look forward to enjoying times outdoors.
Why not have fun and enjoy it with some wine?
The New River Vineyard is hosting several events to officially kickoff summer.
Owners say the Pulaski County Tourism leaders held many events which helped promote their business.
NRV also opened a brewery, Lil Squeech Brewing.
If you want more information, check out The New River Vineyard & Winery in Fairlawn, Virginia (nrvwine.com) | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/07/01/nrv-winery-kicks-off-summer-activities/ | 2023-07-01T14:02:11 | 1 | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/07/01/nrv-winery-kicks-off-summer-activities/ |
DULUTH — Last weekend while on vacation, I experienced one of those special, yet elusive, moments — I forgot what day it was.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking: Maybe that 53-year-old brain of yours isn’t the steel trap that it used to be. Point taken, but even though I may forget what I had for breakfast or one of my 50 passwords, I like to think I can still master the week’s seven days and the order they appear.
No, I truly believe my “forgetfulness” was the result of not watching, punching or beating the clock. And isn’t that what the best vacations are all about? Forgetting the pressures and stresses at home … even to the point of scratching your head and needing a moment or two to remember what day it is?
It sure is for this deadline chaser.
While spending Friday night through Tuesday morning with boyhood friends on Bois Blanc Island (right next door to Mackinac Island, where the horses and fudge are) on Lake Huron, that slow, timeless island living caught up to me in the middle of the lively conversations, adult beverages and classic rock tunes.
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When you’re not tied to a screen as you are during your daily work life, it’s quite possible to briefly wonder what day it is.
It was a blissful feeling, and I look forward to experiencing that fleeting vacation benefit again soon.
Here are some DNT highlights from the past week:
Big bang fury
Towns hold immense pride in their public fireworks displays, and rival boasts of having the best pyrotechnics display in a given state or region will likely yield a vehement protest (and maybe even a few Roman candles or bottle rockets aimed their way — not that Weekly Wave would endorse such childish and dangerous behavior).
DNT Arts and Entertainment reporter Jay Gabler was curious where Duluth’s Fourth of July fireworks rank in the Upper Midwest. Here’s what he found out.
So far, we haven’t heard any official protest from the city of Superior regarding Gabler’s report.
Superior water, superior beer?
Local brewmeisters have long preached how the glorious waters of Lake Superior help make their beer better tasting and — well — superior to other nonlocal brands.
Dave Hoops, a veteran brewer and beer judge, writes a beer column for the DNT. This past week he dove into the reasons why Lake Superior’s water helps our local brewers produce topnotch barley pop.
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Ah, the sweet science of producing better beer!
Summer stargazing nostalgia
Summer stargazing has long been a favorite pastime for Weekly Wave. And Astro Bob’s column this week about the constellation Scorpius — and its unmistakable “heart star” Antares — summoned a supernova of nostalgia.
I love recalling how Scorpius dominated the night sky at the home where I grew up, lighting up the clear sky over a large field behind my house. I was always fascinated by this constellation and Antares — the rival or Mars. On some nights, I could even see it through my bedroom window.
To me, it’s never really summer until that famed scorpion makes its yearly seasonal appearances.
Catch a wave
Here are a few more stories from the past week to check out:
- Uncle Sam doles out dough: Duluth to receive $8 million federal grant for Lakewalk
- For further review: Front Row Seat: Is Duluth on the ‘North Shore’ of Lake Superior?
- Back on track: Duluth scenic railroad to resume operations after 3-year hiatus
- Get those ballots ready: Duluth primary voting guide
- Northlandia:
Meet sculptor behind North Shore dinosaurs
Editor's note: Weekly Wave is a newsletter that I publish every Friday morning. Please consider subscribing — it's free — and hits your inbox just once a week. You can sign up here. | https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/weekly-wave-the-best-vacations-help-you-forget-the-day | 2023-07-01T14:02:15 | 0 | https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/weekly-wave-the-best-vacations-help-you-forget-the-day |
The City of Kenosha will host three days of live music and family entertainment along the lakefront July 2-4, highlighted by the Festival Foods fireworks display at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 4.
Due to the high volume of traffic resulting from all of the festivities, residents should be aware of road closings and traffic adjustments.
Seventh Avenue is closed between 54th Street and 55th Street through July 4 for setup and operation of the Rainbow Valley Carnival, along with a parking lot east of that area. The carnival will operate from noon to 10 p.m. July 1-3 and noon to 8 p.m. on July 4.
Beginning at noon Friday, traffic will be directed one way only in a counter-clockwise loop east of Third Avenue, between 54th and 56th Streets, along Calabria Way and continuing to Eighth Avenue.Sixth Avenue will be closed between 52nd Street and 54th Street; and also between 54th Street and 55th Street until 1 a.m. July 5.
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Beginning at 4 p.m. Sunday, 54th Street also will be closed between Fifth and Eighth avenues and westbound traffic will be redirected.
On Sunday streets will be closed along the parade route from noon to approximately 3:30 p.m. Streets in the parade staging area will be closed beginning at 9 a.m. July 2.
The parade route begins on Seventh Avenue at Washington Road, then heads south through Sixth Avenue downtown and ends on the west side of Library Park. The parade will travel only in the southbound lane on Seventh Avenue, and people are welcome to sit on the boulevard once the parade route is closed to traffic at noon. The best areas for viewing the parade are along Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue before the parade reaches Library Park and prepares for disbanding.
On Tuesday there will be no access to the east end of Celebration Place for pedestrians or vehicles, as it is closed for safety purposes for the fireworks display. No traffic will be allowed between 8:30 and 10 p.m. on July 4, east of Third Avenue between 56th Street and 54th Street, including around Calabria Way. The road closure is prompted by safety concerns related to traffic in that area leading up to and during the fireworks at 9:30 p.m.
Due to heavy traffic in the HarborPark area on July 4, RVs will be directed to park in a less congested area. The vacant lot west of City Hall, 625 52nd St., has been designated for RV parking in marked parking spots, after 6 a.m. on July 4. The lot may be accessed from 54th Street, east of Sheridan Road. All vehicles must vacate the area by 7 a.m. on July 5.
No Simmons Island vehicle access July 4
Consistent with the last several years, and at the direction of Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton, there will be no vehicle access or parking on Simmons Island on July 4 for the general public. The roadway will be barricaded at 50th Street and Seventh Avenue and also at Kennedy Drive and 45th Street.
This is being done to increase safety and enhance the event for Simmons Island visitors. People are still welcome to access Simmons Island by walking to and from the park.
Barricades will be staffed and vehicle access will be restricted. Only residents of Fourth Avenue, the Coast Guard, and those with business at the Kenosha Water Utility, Great Lakes Yacht Sales and Kenosha Yacht Club will be allowed on the island.
Kennedy Drive will follow a one-way traffic pattern northbound on July 4, beginning at 8 a.m. One-way traffic will flow north beginning at 44th Street, continuing through Kennedy Park and Pennoyer Park, and exiting at 35th Street. The one-way traffic pattern is designed to help avoid congestion after the fireworks and will end at 1 a.m. July 5.
Free shuttles and streetcars
People are encouraged to park Downtown – including the parking ramp on Eighth Avenue and 56th Street – and ride a free shuttle or streetcar to points of interest.
The rubber tired trolley will not be running its regular lakefront route on Tuesday. Instead, the trolley will shuttle people free of charge between the transit center and Carthage College, via Seventh Avenue, Alford Park Drive and Sheridan Road. Hours of operation are 2 to 11 p.m. on July 4.
Another free shuttle service offers access to Simmons Island on Tuesday. The Simmons Island shuttle operates from 2 to 11 p.m. in a 15-minute loop from the transit center, 724 54th St., to a drop off point at Simmons Island Park.
Free streetcar service will operate from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. July 4, passing the HarborPark area east of the museums (popular for fireworks viewing) and along the harbor, where the Celebrate America festival is taking place. | https://kenoshanews.com/news/local/holiday-festivities-impact-parking-traffic-saturday-through-tuesday-in-kenosha/article_2a030802-16b3-11ee-84c0-1f013b0b9f52.html | 2023-07-01T14:06:51 | 1 | https://kenoshanews.com/news/local/holiday-festivities-impact-parking-traffic-saturday-through-tuesday-in-kenosha/article_2a030802-16b3-11ee-84c0-1f013b0b9f52.html |
Major changes ahead for Route 37, thanks to $25M federal grant. Here's your road map.
Decades after the idea of a highway encircling greater Providence and crossing Narragansett Bay died, Rhode Island highway planners want to remove some of the last vestiges of what would have been Interstate 895.
The Rhode Island Department of Transportation this week was awarded a $25-million federal grant that the agency says will allow it to finish a multiphase $265-million overhaul of the Route 37 corridor that includes tearing down parts of a highway built to complete the never-realized interstate Providence beltway.
The most dramatic change in the new plans replaces the looping ramps and overpass where Route 37 terminates at Post Road in Warwick with a conventional stop-lighted surface intersection.
More:Lane shift coming to Route 37 over I-295 for a year for bridge work − what to know
The plan also calls for "right-sizing" Route 37, which was built to handle interstate freeway traffic volume but only goes between Post Road in Warwick and Route 295 in Cranston.
Exactly how much the highway will be narrowed has yet to be determined, DOT spokesman Charles St. Martin said.
The plan would also finish repairs to six bridges, including replacing the span over New London Avenue with a longer, higher bridge that could accommodate a high-frequency transit corridor beneath it. The DOT also says it will make "complete streets" improvements to New London Avenue to make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
More:How Interstate 95 became integral to life in Rhode Island
More:We've all seen the construction near Providence on I-95. How long until it's finished?
Route 37 changes will accommodate a planned RIPTA transit line and a new bike route
The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority's Transit Master Plan envisions a new mass transit service along New London Avenue to the Community College of Rhode Island's Knight Campus in Warwick.
The new transit line could be bus rapid transit or light rail — its form has not been determined — and RIPTA does not have funding for it, but the larger bridge would provide space for it if it happens.
The DOT's Route 37 plan also includes a new bicycle connection between the Washington Secondary Bike Path and Chapel View shopping center in Cranston.
Most of that new bike route, from Sherman Avenue to Meshanticut Valley Parkway, will be on-street, shared with cars. The portion from Meshanticut to Chapel View would be a separated path, according to maps included with the DOT's grant application.
Some of the references to the on-street bike route in grant materials describe it as an "advisory bike lane," in which automobiles share a single center lane with bicycles on either side. St. Martin did not confirm if that is the design the DOT has in mind.
This final phase of work on Route 37, including razing the Post Road ramps, the New London Avenue bridge and the bike lanes, is expected to cost $100 million.
More:A Providence organization wanted crash data to make streets safer. RIDOT said it's private
Why replace the overpass and ramps where Route 37 meets Post Road with a surface intersection?
The overpass over Post Road, which is now being buttressed with wooden supports, needs to be replaced anyway, and getting rid of it "would avoid long-term costs associated with maintaining the bridge while freeing approximately 9 acres of land in the footprint of the old ramps for economic development purposes," St. Martin wrote in an email.
When it was designed in the 1960s, planners expected that what became Route 37 would, as I-895, continue south and east through Warwick, across a never-built Narragansett Bay bridge to Barrington, then turn north into East Providence and Seekonk, Massachusetts, before eventually joining Route 295 in Attleboro.
But as the downsides of building freeways through populated areas became more apparent, opposition to I-895 in the suburbs it would have crossed became fierce.
After the original route was abandoned, a southern highway route was developed across Aquidneck Island, but that idea was also never completed. | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2023/07/01/major-alterations-planned-for-route-37-in-ri-with-25m-federal-grant/70369446007/ | 2023-07-01T14:09:47 | 1 | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2023/07/01/major-alterations-planned-for-route-37-in-ri-with-25m-federal-grant/70369446007/ |
ATLANTIC CITY — Not only did the current owners of unit 2404-2 in the Ocean Club Condominiums clearly envision well in advance their plans for restoring the 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom oceanfront gem, they had hands-on help from having renovated another unit in the condo complex a few years previously.
“About eight years ago, in 2015, we bought a property in Ocean Club One and renovated it,” says Joe Duff, who owns unit 2404-2, located in Ocean Club Two of the twin 34-story luxury high-risers, with his wife, Stephanie. “We loved living there — we loved being so close to the beach, Biergarten, boating, shows, biking on the Boardwalk, and everything else Atlantic City has to offer.
“I’m from Philly and wasn’t really that familiar with Atlantic City (prior to purchasing the first unit), but believed in the renaissance that was happening even then. My wife and I found that it has everything the other shore towns have, plus year-round entertainment, world-class restaurants and so many other things to enjoy, in conjunction with affordable real estate.”
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When the opportunity arose to upgrade to another Ocean Club unit that had direct ocean views, the couple not only seized it, they invested a lot of time and money into making it their perfect seashore retreat. The prior owners had unit 2404-2 since the Ocean Club towers — located at 3101 Boardwalk in A.C. — were first built in 1984, and while they maintained it well, they did little in terms of upgrades.
“It was pretty clean when we first bought it, but almost everything was original,” he says. “What we envisioned was that open look when you first walk in that’s similar to a cruise-ship experience, with vast unobstructed ocean views from almost anywhere.”
Wall partitions were taken down, both bathrooms were gutted and remodeled (with art-inspired tiling and his-and-her vanities in the master bathroom), and the entire unit was redesigned to give it an open feel of comfort and modern convenience. The living room opens onto a large balcony overlooking the ocean, beaches and Boardwalk, and the guest bedroom has its own personal balcony with ocean views.
Among the personal touches the couple installed are a quartz kitchen island with a waterfall edge, high-end California Closets (CaliforniaClosets.com) and WiFi-enabled shades in the master bedroom, oak shelving in the kitchen, voice-activated lighting and COREtec flooring throughout the home. COREtec (CoretecFloors.com) has a cork underlayment that reduces noise, is softer to walk on than wood or tile, retains warmth in the winter, and is more durable than the upscale tile or hardwood floors it replicates.
“There’s always going to be moisture when you’re that close to the ocean, and corkwood flooring helps control that,” says Joe Duff, who outfitted the kitchen with top-flight Fisher & Paykel appliances, including a 91-bottle wine refrigerator, double dish drawer and an induction cooktop range.
“My wife used to be a national sales director for Fisher & Paykel (FisherPaykel.com), and one of the things she talked me into installing was the built-in coffee machine,” he says, of the device that turns a homeowner into a barista, capable of brewing such concoctions as latte, espresso and cappuccino. “I wasn’t big on the idea at first, but that was one of the best investments we ever made. It’s fantastic.
“We did everything with the intention of making this our forever place,” he adds.
An opportunity arose for the couple to purchase and renovate another property in northern New Jersey, prompting the difficult decision to put their Ocean Club condo on the market.
“We’ll miss it, especially because you’re really starting to see a rejuvenation with the Ocean Club Condos, and Atlantic City in general, which probably has a lot to do with Stockton (University, which recently opened an A.C. campus about six blocks south of Ocean Club). What made Ocean Club so popular in its heyday, you’re starting to see some of that coming back today.”
The Ocean Club Condos, which can boast among its past unit owners Frank Sinatra, Dionne Warwick and Rod McKuen (OceanClubRealty.com), was designed to be an amenity-based beach club with nearly all of the comforts a private-club membership offers. Among its amenities are a 72-foot heated indoor saltwater swimming pool with attached hot tub, seventh-floor tennis courts, a 24/7 fitness center, a whirlpool/sauna/spa, a large in-house library and lounge area, and the upscale Italian eatery Girasole (MyGirasole.com) on the ground level of the first tower. There also is an attached parking garage, 24-hour security surveillance and a city police-department breakroom on the first level.
“The current management team there is fantastic,” says Duff. “They’re constantly upgrading and improving upon what’s there, and working on restoring the luster of the building. They really go to great lengths to make it feel like there’s everything you could possibly want all in one place.”
For more information, or to make an appointment to tour this incredible oceanfront condominium, qualified buyers can call the direct line of listing agent Paula A. Hartman at 609-271-7337, or Todd Gordon at 609-553-5098, or the office of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach 609-487-7234. Prospective buyers can also email Paula at redheadedrealtor@aol.com or Todd at todd.acrealtor@gmail.com.
This article was produced with the support of Paula Hartman of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/business/real-estate/rejuvenation-of-ocean-club-condo-gives-it-a-cruise-ship-kind-of-vibe/article_5c964936-1691-11ee-aedc-170e4f0e6f5b.html | 2023-07-01T14:10:47 | 0 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/business/real-estate/rejuvenation-of-ocean-club-condo-gives-it-a-cruise-ship-kind-of-vibe/article_5c964936-1691-11ee-aedc-170e4f0e6f5b.html |
2 new commissioners appointed to Pima County Superior Court in Tucson
The Arizona Superior Court in Pima County appointed two new commissioners to fill two vacancies, the court announced this week.
Michael Vampotic and Nathan Wade will replace Judges Randi Burnett, who is a Superior Court judge, and Deborah Pratte, who retired, the announcement said Wednesday.
Superior Court commissioners are recommended by a selection committee before appointment by presiding judges and handle specific assigned cases and uncontested matters. Vampotic and Wade were appointed by Pima County Presiding Judge Jeffrey Bergin and Juvenile Court Presiding Judge Michael Butler.
“We are excited Michael and Nathan will be joining the bench soon. They will be great additions to our court,” Bergin said in a Pima County Superior Court news release.
Both commissioners graduated from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law.
Vampotic is an attorney and unit mentor at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and represents the Arizona Department of Child Safety in dependency hearings. He previously worked with the Pima County’s Office of Children’s Counsel, and was often appointed to be a family law “Best-Interest Attorney,” or guardian ad litem in juvenile delinquency cases, according to the news release.
Wade is a deputy public defender and senior attorney in Pinal County. He was previously an assistant public defender in Pima County and created the position of Legislative Advocate for the agency.
He lectures about criminal justice reform and the legislative process for a variety of organizations, including Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, League of Women Voters and Greater Phoenix Leadership.
Reach the reporter at sarah.lapidus@gannett.com.
The Republic’s coverage of southern Arizona is funded, in part, with a grant from Report for America. Support Arizona news coverage with a tax-deductible donation at supportjournalism.azcentral.com.
Donate | Report for America | Support local journalism in communities nationwide. Give today. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2023/07/01/2-new-commissioners-appointed-to-pima-county-superior-court-in-tucson/70370201007/ | 2023-07-01T14:12:18 | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2023/07/01/2-new-commissioners-appointed-to-pima-county-superior-court-in-tucson/70370201007/ |
Glendale City Hall set for $90 million in renovations
Glendale's Downtown Campus is expected to undergo a nearly $90 million reinvestment project starting as soon as this fall.
The campus includes City Hall, Council Chambers, the campus parking structure, the E. Lowell Rogers amphitheater, and Murphy Park.
Once construction begins, the project will interfere with the utilization of the space as all employees will ultimately need to vacate the City Hall Building. Eddie Garcia, principal architect with the City of Glendale, expressed how the vacating process has already begun as a number of employees have left their offices and claimed space in various locations, including the Glendale adult center.
Derek Diesner, Glendale communications coordinator, emphasized that despite the relocation of employees, services will continue to operate.
"All city services will remain open and available to our residents."
"The majority of our public service departments will remain in downtown Glendale, as they relocate to the Glendale Civic Center," Diesner added. "All other departments will be in other pre-existing, city-owned buildings."
With so much money being budgeted toward renovations, one can't help but wonder if the campus is truly that outdated. The campus center is fairly new when compared to other buildings in the downtown area. For instance, City Hall was built 39 years ago, whereas other buildings like the Gaslight Inn have 97 years under their belt. Nevertheless, city officials say the project is necessary.
“The project is really about reinvesting in our downtown,” Garcia said.
"I think it's so much about who we are and who we want to be." Garcia went on, "and that is Glendale, our true authentic Glendale."
Yet, some true authentic Glendale business owners have other thoughts. A handful of shops expressed their opposition due to the notion that an upgraded city campus would take away from the historic downtown environment.
Jacquelyn Valrie, owner of Jax's House Boutique, said "being historic downtown, it's [the reinvestment project] taking away from all of these buildings that have been here for hundreds of years. It's not going to even match."
"It just doesn't feel good in my spirit that it's going to be brand new state of the art and everything else is going to stay the same," Valrie added.
Proceed with caution:These are the Phoenix's area's most dangerous intersections
Meanwhile, others were in favor of the reinvestments including James Quintana. Quintana and his wife, Denise, own Coyote Oaties, a Glendale-based cookie shop.
Quintana explained how he thinks these changes could be "for the better." Though, he did share that he hopes for some of the money to be used to create a more inviting space.
While Quintana is open to supporting some changes, he does want them "to match the landscape of Glendale and the history here."
It’s not clear exactly what sort of renovations are to be expected, though according to Garcia, “it is not a typical renovation, it is much more than that.”
A City Council workshop was held on June 13th. On the agenda was a discussion of the entire reinvestment project presented by Garcia, and Diane Jacobs, principal architect of Holly Street Studios. It was reported that at the time, the project was 30% through with the design phase.
Jacobs spoke on some of the main ideas that had been discussed, of which included a complete redesign of the City Hall building (inside and out), a new shade structure for the amphitheater and updated park pathways.
Garcia never actually went into renovation specifics during an interview with The Republic. Though, he did make multiple efforts to emphasize that the project is not a renovation, but rather a series of reinvestments.
"As far as what to expect, we're hoping that our strategic approach to the project, from a reinvestment standpoint, is making it a destination for the downtown, because we do see it as the heart of the community."
With very few changes yet to be set in stone, one thing is clear, and that is the proposed budget is increasingly more than it was last year. In January 2022, the project was estimated to cost $70 million dollars. The number now stands at $90 million, a significant increase.
Levi Gibson, Glendale's director of Budget and Finance, explained that funding for the downtown campus reinvestment project (DCRP) is made up of the following components:
- The Amphitheatre is being financed with General Obligation Cultural Facility Bonds
- Murphy Park is being financed with General Obligation Parks Bonds.
- The Parking Structure is being financed with General Obligation Government Facilities Bonds.
- City Hall and the Council Chambers are being financed with a combination of General Obligation Government Facilities Bonds, fund balance (cash), and a relatively small amount of ARPA funding for the health and safety components of the buildings.
"In short, the DCRP is being funded by a combination of General Obligation Bonds, fund balance (cash), and a relatively small amount of ARPA funding for the health and safety components of the buildings," Gibson said in a statement.
As designing is still in the early phases, there has yet to be a set start date for construction. Though Garcia mentioned that construction will likely begin before the end of this year.
"We hope that the project will be complete and open for business again, by the end of 2025," Garcia added.
"This project, it covers a couple things," Garcia noted. "One, it brings us into the next generation by investing in our infrastructure and in our community. And secondly, I think more importantly, it becomes a point of pride for our community." | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/glendale/2023/07/01/glendale-city-hall-set-for-90-million-in-renovations/70358636007/ | 2023-07-01T14:12:24 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/glendale/2023/07/01/glendale-city-hall-set-for-90-million-in-renovations/70358636007/ |
New apartment development in Old Town Scottsdale will cater to seniors who enjoy urban living
Most apartments built recently in Old Town Scottsdale were made to cater to younger adults, but one Valley developer is trying something different: senior living.
“This is one of the first, what I’ll call urban, walkable, 55-plus retirement communities,” Randy Grudzinski, head of capital markets for Scottsdale-based Empire Group, said. “There are other really nice, 55-plus active adult and assisted living communities, but they’re all really a drive. This is a walkable, urban environment for someone who wants to live in Old Town.”
Empire Group is planning to redevelop a site at Scottsdale and Osborn roads into an age-restricted apartment complex that will include independent, or active adult, options, assisted living and a small portion of memory care units. An Olive Garden restaurant is currently on the site, but that is scheduled to close at the end of this year and development for the new project will start in the beginning of 2024, Grudzinski said.
Grudzinski called the corner “the perfect spot” for the development because of the nearby walkable amenities, and the location near the HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center.
"Old Town is the cultural, art and dining center of the Valley," Grudzinski said.
But so far, most of the housing is geared to a different demographic, he said.
"A lot that's been built there is for the millennial crowd," Grudzinski said. "By making it age restricted, we are giving them an option they don't have in a brand-new product in Old Town."
The project is the first for Empire Group in the senior and assisted living space, Grudzinski said. An arm of Empire Group is the developer of the planned Astra Project in downtown Phoenix, which aims to build the tallest tower in Arizona. The developer has built several other luxury apartments in downtown Phoenix, along with several single-family rental developments.
If the project were in another city, Grudzinski said, Empire might have chosen to develop a luxury apartment similar to its downtown Phoenix projects, but Empire, along with the Scottsdale City Council, agreed that building age-restricted apartments was a better use for the site.
Project received rare City Council approval
Other developments, especially apartments, in Old Town have been highly contentious, with the threat of a referendum leading the developer to withdraw plans for a mixed-use project along the canal in Old Town. Development was a crucial issue in the City Council election in 2022.
However, the council gave Empire unanimous approval of its project, and now the company is in the development review phase to finish design specifics and get final approvals before construction starts.
“The council recognized that there is a need for this,” Grudzinski said.
Most of the units in the complex will accommodate independent living, with traditional apartments and renters restricted based on age. About 119 units will house active adult renters. The facility also will include about 74 units of assisted living for those who need more assistance with daily tasks, and one floor of memory care, about 34 units, which will have some additional safety and security features, Grudzinski said. An independent operator called Cadence will manage the apartments.
The ground floor of the development will include about 10,000 square feet of commercial space, which could house restaurant and retail space.
Senior housing coming to high-end neighborhoods
High-end senior living and assisted living projects have popped up in some of the Valley’s desirable neighborhoods. In March, Clarendale Arcadia held its grand opening.
The high-end senior living facility, which also includes assisted living and memory care, is at 32nd Street and Camelback Road in Phoenix. That project, built by Ryan Cos., aims to give seniors an option to remain in a high-end neighborhood but move into an apartment suited to their needs.
Reach the reporter at cvanek@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter @CorinaVanek. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/scottsdale/2023/07/01/age-restricted-apartments-for-older-adults-coming-to-old-town-scottsdale/70374926007/ | 2023-07-01T14:12:30 | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/scottsdale/2023/07/01/age-restricted-apartments-for-older-adults-coming-to-old-town-scottsdale/70374926007/ |
PORTER — A 17-year-old, accused of shooting someone and taking their car Friday night, was nabbed a short time later after a high-speed police chase and crash that sent the suspect through the windshield, Porter Police Lt. Dan Dickey said.
The teen, who suffered minor injuries and was taken to the Lake County Juvenile Detention Center, had just been released from custody in Illinois on a similar charge of armed carjacking, police said.
Porter police said they learned around 7:27 p.m. Friday that an armed carjacking had occurred about a half hour earlier in New Chicago.
"Furthermore, it was reported that the suspect had shot the vehicle's owner just before stealing the car," Dickey said.
The stolen vehicle was picked up by a license plater recognition camera heading east on U.S. 20 near Ind. 49, according to police.
A Porter police officer working in the area of U.S. 20 and County Road 500 East spotted the eastbound vehicle, clocked it travelling 75 mph and then watched it accelerate to more than 120 mph when a traffic stop was attempted, Dickey said.
"As the suspect attempted to negotiate a curve just east of Railroad Avenue, he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a wooded area," according to Dickey. "The suspect was partially ejected through the windshield and asked officers for help."
Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer also approved a request from the victim for restitution of $716 to cover lost wages and approved a plan for transferring Tidwell's $500 cash bond toward that fee.
The teen was taken to the hospital for an evaluation before being turned over to New Chicago police.
The Lake County Sheriff's Department Crime Scene Investigation Team reportedly assisted in this incident and took possession of the stolen vehicle.
Porter police are seeking felony charges of resisting law enforcement and theft of a motor vehicle, and misdemeanor reckless driving and never receiving a license, Dickey said.
Porter police were unaware of what charges the teen faces in Lake County as a result of the alleged carjacking.
Gallery: Recent arrests booked into the Porter County Jail
A 17-year-old Illinois resident, accused of shooting someone and taking their car Friday night, was nabbed a short time later after a high-speed police chase and crash that sent the suspect through the windshield, Porter Police Lt. Dan Dickey said. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-courts/carjacking-shooting-leads-to-high-speed-chase-crash-and-teen-taken-into-custody-porter-cops/article_1e93492e-1810-11ee-9afb-b7450a99bc2c.html | 2023-07-01T14:14:59 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-courts/carjacking-shooting-leads-to-high-speed-chase-crash-and-teen-taken-into-custody-porter-cops/article_1e93492e-1810-11ee-9afb-b7450a99bc2c.html |
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