text string | url string | crawl_date timestamp[ms] | label int64 | id string |
|---|---|---|---|---|
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — When Theresa Saechao Rother became a children's book author, she wanted to make sure one aspect came across loud and clear in her work — her Iu Mien heritage.
Saechao Rother first started writing story drafts nearly 10 years ago when her daughter Iris was born in 2014, but she says her passion for storytelling started from a very young age when her father used to tell her Iu Mien folktales to put her to sleep.
"My parents weren't familiar with reading books, buying books or being able to afford books to read to my siblings and I during bedtime," she said.
She immigrated to Sacramento from Thailand in 1990 when she was just 7-years-old. She still recalls brief experiences of being in refugee camps and stepping into the U.S. for the first time. Back in Thailand, her father always had a passion for education, but had to put it aside to work in the rice fields and provide for the family.
Saechao Rother's father passed away seven years ago, but she still calls him her 'hero.' Now, she holds on to the memories of her dad's storytelling abilities.
"I remember he told 'Three Sisters and the Black Snake,' the Mien folktale, and that's one of my favorite stories. I think it's my father's skills and talent in how he tells the stories, he's very animated," said Saechao Rother.
GET MORE RACE & CULTURE FROM ABC10:
►Explore the Race & Culture home page
►Watch Race & Culture videos on YouTube
►Subscribe to the Race and Culture newsletter
The folktale would become the story and title of Saechao Rother's first children's book, which was published last year along with Josh Rother, her husband and illustrator of the book.
"I think my father's purpose to tell the Iu Mien folktale at the time... is to teach us how to be good, be selfless, listen to your parents, do your chores and eventually you'll get rewarded by just being kind," said Saechao Rother.
She says those are the same values she hopes to pass on to her children, too. She says telling Iu Mien stories is especially important because Iu Mien history is rarely ever recorded, only passed down through oral histories.
"Not every clan has heard of the Mien folktale, especially our generation. I think it depends on how that was passed down from their parents," said Saechao Rother.
Now, she's using her passion to ensure Iu Mien youth see themselves reflected in more stories.
"In the past, it's been non Mien writing books about us, our history, our culture. Mainly missionaries that study abroad in Southeast Asia would write books about the Mien culture, language," said Saechao Rother. "So that's very important to me even being a Mien author and including my name Theresa Saechao Rother. Saechao is automatically a Mien person, a Mien author."
Saechao Rother is launching her second book now, titled "Fish for Dinner," which incorporates cultural humor around a popular cultural striped bass fish dish. At the end of the book, she includes a recipe for her family's baked striped bass dish.
She will be holding a book launch and book signing party Saturday, July 8 at Tree Top Sac in West Sacramento. The event will be from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saechao Rother says she is looking forward to publishing even more Iu Mien children's books in the future.
"Now that I'm able to publish books, I can write more about our Mien culture and history to preserve for the younger generation, for my children," she said.
We want to hear from you!
The Race and Culture team's mission is to serve our diverse communities through authentic representation, community engagement and equitable reporting.
Accomplishing our goals of inclusive reporting requires hearing from you. Is there a person or place that you want us to highlight? Email us at raceandculture@abc10.com or fill out the form below. | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento-author-iu-mien-representation-childrens-books/103-4550f314-3fc5-444b-8e85-879fab6b73c1 | 2023-07-08T02:50:03 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento-author-iu-mien-representation-childrens-books/103-4550f314-3fc5-444b-8e85-879fab6b73c1 |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A bridal shop in Sacramento has partnered with a national nonprofit to gift local 'heroes' the wedding dress of their dreams at no cost.
From July 6 through 9, Brides Across America has allowed military members, first responders and COVID-19 healthcare workers pick out a dress for free at Brides for a Cause in Midtown.
"Wedding dresses can range from $1500 anywhere up to $10,000, so I think it really help to be able to help people with the cost of a wedding," said Jopson. "Wedding dresses aren't cheap and weddings aren't cheap either."
Brides-to-be who qualified for a free dress were given a chance to sign up in advance for an appointment.
According to Jospson the shop is giving away 30 dresses this time around.
"All the dresses out on the floor are free game for them," said Jopson. "They're really just so excited and they're so happy and they're in shock when they see the price of the dress that they're getting for free."
The dresses were offered as part of the organization's 'Operation Wedding Gown initiative' as a way to honor and thank these groups for their work in the community.
"It feel amazing to see these brides leave with a free dress," said Boutique Manager Taylor Jopson. "It's a great way to give back to the community for people who do such great things."
The organization will continue to make their way across the country to fulfill its mission in honoring their 'heroes' with free wedding dresses.
Watch more from ABC10: Lathrop man creates art, goods using recycled skateboards | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/free-wedding-dresses-at-sacramento-bridal-shop/103-8849f5c1-b0cb-497b-99c6-0492bed4cd22 | 2023-07-08T02:50:09 | 0 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/free-wedding-dresses-at-sacramento-bridal-shop/103-8849f5c1-b0cb-497b-99c6-0492bed4cd22 |
DANVILLE, Va. – The Danville Fire Department worked to put out a house fire on Friday evening.
We’re told the fire happened at a home in the 100 block of Noel Avenue around 5:05 p.m.
When crews got to the scene, they saw smoke and fire coming from the windows on two ends of the house.
Crews were able to make their way into the home and confirmed there was no one inside, the department said. A family dog was also saved from the fire.
Authorities said the home sustained heavy fire damage to one of the bedrooms and the rest of the house sustained moderate smoke damage.
The Fire Marshall was called to investigate the cause of the fire.
Danville crews said the residents and their dog will be staying with family. | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/07/08/danville-crews-save-dog-from-house-fire-no-one-hurt/ | 2023-07-08T03:03:57 | 0 | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/07/08/danville-crews-save-dog-from-house-fire-no-one-hurt/ |
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Clayton County Police are investigating after a woman was found shot to death in her vehicle last month.
Officers were dispatched just before midnight on June 30 to the 8500 block of Highway 85 after someone found the woman shot. Police said they found Camesha Johnson dead with a single gunshot wound. She had been dead inside her vehicle for two hours before police were called, according to authorities.
Investigators said they are looking into the case and don't have any other details to share at this time.
This is a developing story. Check back often for new information.
Also download the 11Alive News app and sign up to receive alerts for the latest on this story and other breaking news in Atlanta and north Georgia. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/riverdale/camesha-johnson-shooting-highway-85/85-946727fe-84fb-44bf-b229-0cec8f481171 | 2023-07-08T03:10:17 | 0 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/riverdale/camesha-johnson-shooting-highway-85/85-946727fe-84fb-44bf-b229-0cec8f481171 |
BOISE, Idaho — There are a lot of faces to see at Zoo Boise from all around the world, but one face has stood the test of time in the City of Trees.
Kristen VanOrder is a zoo keeper. Her job is unique in the sense that her boss not only encourages her to be wrapped up in monkey business – it’s required.
One primate VanOrder partakes in protecting, it’s a name that throws you into a different time: Elvis the spider monkey.
Like the music icon, this guy has great pipes.
“He also likes to scream if there's guys around and he decides that he likes the ladies that are around,” VanOrder said.
Elvis is a longtime resident of Zoo Boise – we are talking about going back to when bellbottoms were popular.
“He has been here since the 1970s and he is actually almost 62 years old,” VanOrder said.
Logical follow-up question: is that an impressive age record or typical for spider monkeys?
“We don't really have a ton of information on what the oldest age is, but I think in New York or Europe, there is maybe one other spider monkey that's older," VanOrder said. "But he's definitely one of the oldest we know about."
Temperament wise – kind of like Elvis – the spider monkey fancies himself a ladies’ man, but in a much different way, think a protective primate.
“In spider monkeys' structure, they tend to be one male and then have multiple females in their group. We don't have that specifically here at Boise," VanOrder said. "So, he has Sarah, who's his nice little roommate, but he then decides that all of the female keepers that take care of him are also part of his group. So, myself and a couple other keepers are included in that."
When men come around, Elvis makes sure they know he is the king.
“He kind of gets very, very protective," VanOrder said. "You'll hear him vocalizing a lot and he'll kind of shake the mesh and be like, 'no, get away from my ladies., So, that's kind of why he's more active."
Spider monkeys are quite the creatures, and Elvis is no exception.
“His blue eyes always really, really stand out. It's a good way to tell him apart from Sarah, but he almost always is leaping around in there," VanOrder said. "He'll come and he'll press his chest to the glass. He likes to squish his lips on the glass."
Join 'The 208' conversation:
- Text us at (208) 321-5614
- E-mail us at the208@ktvb.com
- Join our The 208 Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/the208KTVB/
- Follow us on Twitter: @the208KTVB or tweet #the208 and #SoIdaho
- Follow us on Instagram: @the208KTVB
- Bookmark our landing page: /the-208
- Still reading this list? We're on YouTube, too:
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET NEWS FROM KTVB:
Download the KTVB News Mobile App
Apple iOS: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live for FREE on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching 'KTVB'.
Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/zoo-boise-spider-monkey-elvis-among-oldest-alive/277-11607245-99a6-4093-ae04-a9853db61005 | 2023-07-08T03:10:23 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/zoo-boise-spider-monkey-elvis-among-oldest-alive/277-11607245-99a6-4093-ae04-a9853db61005 |
IDAHO, USA — The Idaho State Board of Education (ISBE) unanimously voted, after consultation with legal counsel, they did not break any open meeting laws during the May 15 executive session meeting.
The State Board of Education voted to approve the University of Idaho's $550 million acquisition of the University of Phoenix the following May 18 meeting. Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador is moving forward with a lawsuit alleging the May 15 meeting led to the action executed three days later.
The lawsuit is asking to render the May 15 meeting void, and therefore block all action leading to the acquisition.
"Today, ISBE had an opportunity to simply cure a mistake and make a clear commitment to transparent governance. Instead, the Board neglected their duties and continued down a path of wasting taxpayer funds and resources to justify its failure to follow Idaho Open Public Meeting laws all to keep a half-billion dollar transaction from public discourse," the AG's office wrote KTVB in an email. "The people of Idaho should be given an opportunity to evaluate such a significant financial decision."
An executive session is closed to the public; it's legal for a public agency under Idaho law in the case of specific exemptions. ISBE cited their exemption - Idaho Code 74-206(1)(e) - in their May 15 meeting minutes:
"... to consider preliminary negotiations involving matters of trade or commerce in which the governing body is in competition with governing bodies in other states or nations."
That exemption does not properly apply, according to the AG's lawsuit. The circumstances surrounding ISBE's May 15 executive session failed to meet two necessary criteria points, the lawsuit said.
- The negotiation was preliminary
- The negotiation was in competition with others
Considering ISBE voted three days later to approve a $550 million acquisition, the AG's office alleges the May 15 meeting is not preliminary, and better described as an "advanced stage of the process."
Moreover, the lawsuit identifies the University of Arkansas as potential competition to purchase the University of Phoenix. However, the University of Arkansas Board of Regents rejected a $500 million proposal in April, according to the lawsuit.
The AG's office could not identify any other active competition by the time the May 15 occurred.
"Every elected Idaho official should want public affairs to be conducted in full view of the public and consistent with the law. The people of Idaho deserve nothing less. This shouldn’t be controversial,” the AG's office said.
ISBE is actively trying to find and retain legal counsel for the purposes of defending against the legal claims brought against them by the AG's office, ISBE wrote in a news release.
Join 'The 208' conversation:
- Text us at (208) 321-5614
- E-mail us at the208@ktvb.com
- Join our The 208 Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/the208KTVB/
- Follow us on Twitter: @the208KTVB or tweet #the208 and #SoIdaho
- Follow us on Instagram: @the208KTVB
- Bookmark our landing page: /the-208
- Still reading this list? We're on YouTube, too:
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET NEWS FROM KTVB:
Download the KTVB News Mobile App
Apple iOS: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live for FREE on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching 'KTVB'.
Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download. | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/208/idaho-state-board-of-education-prepares-attorney-general-open-meeting-lawsuit/277-62e2c56e-4803-40f1-b8e1-a23b856c7e64 | 2023-07-08T03:11:38 | 0 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/208/idaho-state-board-of-education-prepares-attorney-general-open-meeting-lawsuit/277-62e2c56e-4803-40f1-b8e1-a23b856c7e64 |
BOISE, Idaho — Things are really starting to heat up as the Treasure Valley gets closer to hitting 100-degree weather this weekend. With temperatures rising, there is increased danger while spending time outdoors.
According to an Idaho Health and Welfare news release, Idaho's first heat-related death of the year was reported this week.
Health officials are urging people to take precautions when heading out to enjoy the sun, and sharing tips on how to tell if someone is having a heatstroke:
"You might feel like you're over sweating or not sweating enough. Perhaps you could have some vision changes or feel weak in like your legs," Dr. Aaron Campbell of Saint Alphonsus said.
To help prevent these symptoms, being cautious of what you wear in the sun is an important start.
"There's a lot of clothing out there that covers the skin and keep us protected from getting sunburned, which actually worsens any of those situations," Campbell said.
Another helpful tip from Campbell is wearing some sort of facial or head protection, like a wide-brimmed ball cap. Nutrition is also something to keep in mind.
"Food nutrition is often overlooked," Campbell said. "Even if we just ate a big lunch, we could get lowered blood sugar perhaps, or just feel a little bit queasy and sometimes just eating a little something can be helpful."
The most important thing that health officials want to emphasis is to always stay hydrated.
"So, it's always a good idea to carry a small pack with you that would include something to hydrate with that includes not just water, but also some sort of electrolyte solution," Campbell said.
If you are ever in a situation where someone shows symptoms of heat exhaustion or heatstroke, official urge cooling them down and getting them out of the heat exposure.
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist:
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET NEWS FROM KTVB:
Download the KTVB News Mobile App
Apple iOS: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live for FREE on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching 'KTVB'.
Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download. | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/stay-safe-beat-the-heat-treasure-valley-100-degrees/277-79c63163-eb28-450f-9324-ab43479afc2e | 2023-07-08T03:11:40 | 1 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/stay-safe-beat-the-heat-treasure-valley-100-degrees/277-79c63163-eb28-450f-9324-ab43479afc2e |
A man has been arrested in a hit-and-run crash that killed and 88-year-old Tucson woman, officials say.
On June 24 about 5 p.m., 88-year-old Nadeen Montez was driving a 2015 Nissan Versa west on West Irvington Place, when she ran a stop sign at South Mission Road, the Pima County Sheriff's Department said in an earlier news release.
Montez was killed when her vehicle was struck by a northbound 1999 Chevrolet Silverado.
An investigation led to the arrest of 52-year-old Arturo Gastelum, the Sheriff's Department said Friday in a news release. Gastelum was booked into the Pima County jail on suspicion of fleeing the scene of a fatal crash, the release said. | https://tucson.com/news/local/crime-courts/man-arrested-in-deadly-tucson-hit-and-run-crash/article_b37c7ad0-1d27-11ee-ad86-1fc94e4b7163.html | 2023-07-08T03:12:02 | 0 | https://tucson.com/news/local/crime-courts/man-arrested-in-deadly-tucson-hit-and-run-crash/article_b37c7ad0-1d27-11ee-ad86-1fc94e4b7163.html |
COCKEYSVILLE, Md. — Two wheels, six days, and the width of America.
Craig Whiteford works in Hunt Valley as a research scientist. But a few weeks ago, he took his bike to the opposite side of the country, and started pedaling.
"Being able to do this - riding for a purpose beyond just myself. It is such an amazing opportunity to be able to do that," Whiteford told WMAR.
The rain poured a few Fridays ago, when Whiteford and hid team crossed the finish line. They raced from California to Annapolis - in a cross-country bike race called “Race Across America”
They raised more than $500,000 to fight child trafficking.
"That gives me a platform to be able to speak to people and help them understand. The more people understand, the more we know about it, the less it can exist," said Whiteford.
His biking group is with 'ZOE' - a Christian nonprofit dedicated to ending child trafficking. Whiteford points out thousands of kids in the U-S alone are robbed of their childhoods because of it.
If the wild coast-to-coast journey caught your attention, there's a good reason for that.
"If it takes something big, like traveling across America, in a race that is one of the largest ultra-cycling events in the world - then all be it, because it brings that awareness," said Whiteford. | https://www.wmar2news.com/local/biking-from-california-to-annapolis-to-fight-child-trafficking | 2023-07-08T03:19:21 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/local/biking-from-california-to-annapolis-to-fight-child-trafficking |
TOWSON, Md. — Due to heavy rain the past week some people who live off Ruxton Road and Circle Road in Towson were stuck without a way in or out of their driveways for a few hours Friday.
Susan Stone said the road in front of her house has heavy floods after many storms move through the area. But she says the floods don't last long.
"This time I was out to lunch so I just parked on the side but the other time it happened we just went out for dinner because we couldn't get through, so it's about a two and half hour wait,” said Stone.
While Tom White who lives down the street off Circle Road said he and his family got stuck for about 4 hours due to Friday's flooding. And that it's become the routine with this amount of rain.
"We've lived here 16 years, it happens three or four times a year it's sort of like you get used to it,” said White.
He said resorting to his bike is the way to get around when this occurs. But still has concerns, "If there was an emergency here, say there was a fire or someone had some sort of health emergency, I don't know how people would get out of here other than a helicopter flying in and picking them up.”
One car got stranded, the owner who wished to not be on camera, says he thought the water level was lower than it looked. He says when he tried to back out of the flood the car shut off resorting in a tow.
Baltimore County Department of Public Works Chief PIO Lowell Melser said the area is prone to flooding because of where it sits.
"That area because it is low lying and you have the stream going by and then you get a burst of rain in a short amount of time that rain just has nowhere to go so the stream is going to overflow,” said Melser.
It’s best to turn around, don’t drown when coming up to an area impacted by water. | https://www.wmar2news.com/local/floods-impact-roads-in-towson-after-days-of-heavy-rainfall | 2023-07-08T03:19:27 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/local/floods-impact-roads-in-towson-after-days-of-heavy-rainfall |
BALTIMORE — Baltimore County homicide detectives are investigating after a person's body was discovered in the parking lot of Pikesville High School on Friday.
At around 6:50 p.m., officers responded to the 7600 block of Labyrinth Road, where they discovered the body suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Police say it is unclear how long the body was at the scene. The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.
Detective are asking anyone with information to contact police.
Stay tuned to WMAR for more updates.
At approximately 6:50 p.m., officers responded to the 7600 block of Labyrinth Road. Once on scene they discovered an individual who was has been pronounced deceased. The circumstances surrounding this incident are under investigation. #BCoPD pic.twitter.com/PyT7fbm8s9
— Baltimore County Police Department (@BaltCoPolice) July 7, 2023 | https://www.wmar2news.com/local/police-investigate-a-dead-body-found-in-the-parking-lot-of-pikesville-high-school | 2023-07-08T03:19:33 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/local/police-investigate-a-dead-body-found-in-the-parking-lot-of-pikesville-high-school |
Todd William Audet, 60, of Twin Falls died Wednesday, July 5, 2023, at St. Luke's Magic Valley in Twin Falls. Arrangements are under the care of White-Reynolds Funeral Chapel, Twin Falls.
Holly Grimsman, 41, of Twin Falls died July 2, 2023. Arrangements are under the care of Rosenau Funeral Home, Twin Falls.
Janet Purdy, 76, of Twin Falls died July 6, 2023, at a local hospital. Arrangements are under the direction of Parke's Magic Valley Funeral Home, Twin Falls.
Terry Kay Girten, 68, of Rupert died Monday, July 3, 2023, at home. Arrangements are under the care of Joel Heward Hansen Mortuary, Rupert. | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/obituaries/death-notices/article_01787534-1d16-11ee-a683-9370b8ffa654.html | 2023-07-08T03:20:44 | 0 | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/obituaries/death-notices/article_01787534-1d16-11ee-a683-9370b8ffa654.html |
INDIANAPOLIS — A man driving the wrong way down Keystone Avenue at a high-rate of speed killed another driver Friday night.
The crash happened around 9:45 p.m. Friday in the 3200 block of North Keystone Avenue.
According to IMPD Capt. Don Weilhammer, a witness told police the driver of a southbound pick-up truck ran a red light at East 34th Street and North Keystone Avenue, crossing into the northbound lanes.
The driver stayed in the northbound lanes, where two northbound vehicles spotted him and flashed their lights to get his attention. Weilhammer said the driver tried to drive between the cars and struck them both.
The driver of one of the northbound cars was pronounced dead at the scene. The other driver was transported to the hospital after complaining of pain.
IMPD officers who spotted the driver were attempting to catch up with the pick-up truck when the crash occurred, Weilhammer said.
The driver of the pick-up truck ran from the scene and was apprehended by an officer on Brouse Avenue. The driver was not injured, but was taken to the hospital for a mandatory blood draw. Police do not yet know if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash.
Weilhammer said the driver of the pick-up truck had a suspended license.
Police asked anyone who may have witnessed the crash or who has video of the wrong-way driver on a home security camera contact IMPD crash investigators at 317-327-6549. You can also call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana anonymously at 317-262-TIPS (8477).
Weilhammer said Keystone Avenue will be closed in the area of the crash for several hours into early Saturday morning while police investigate the crash. | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/1-killed-in-northeast-indianapolis-keystone-avenue-crash/531-bdb39990-1cce-49e0-be28-40d4a2ec119c | 2023-07-08T03:24:33 | 0 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/1-killed-in-northeast-indianapolis-keystone-avenue-crash/531-bdb39990-1cce-49e0-be28-40d4a2ec119c |
Anthony Sivanthaphanith pled guilty to second-degree theft in May, placed on 3 years probation
- Iowa City, IA
- Pride president
- Iowa City Pride
- Crime
- Anthony Sivanthaphanith
- Johnson County Courthouse
A former Iowa City Pride president was sentenced to three years probation and will repay the full amount he took from the organization, a judge ordered last week.
Anthony Sivanthaphanith, 38, pled guilty to second-degree theft, a Class “D” felony, in May. He was originally charged with first-degree theft, a Class “C” felony.
Money must be paid back to Pride in full, sentence is suspended
Sivanthaphanith was ordered to pay back the full amount he had stolen, $35,732.32, to Iowa City Pride as part of restitution payments. Each payment will total a minimum of $50 per month beginning July 26 and continue until the full amount is paid back.
He paid $20,000 to the organization in April. If Sivanthaphanith makes the minimum monthly payment, the remaining $15,732.32 balance will take more than 25 years to pay off.
According to the criminal complaint, Sivanthaphanith spent the organization's money on restaurants, retail, travel and personal bills. He had admitted to police that he spent $8,000 without the board of directors’ knowledge, the Press-Citizen reported.
Sivanthaphanith’s social media and email accounts also documented his “pattern of behavior,” and he admitted to spending money without the organization’s permission, according to court documents.
Terms of his probation include that he must avoid any criminal activity and pay back the money. Then, once that three-year period has ended, Sivanthaphanith can request the record be expunged.
The state did not recommend a suspended sentence for Sivanthaphanith, Johnson County attorney Rachel Zimmerman Smith told the Press-Citizen.
The deferred judgment is in light of Sivanthaphanith’s lack of a criminal history, “the nature of this offense” given that it is a non-violent crime, and because the payment plan holds Sivanthaphanith accountable for his actions by forcing repayment, according to court documents.
Zimmerman Smith said the state recommended a slightly longer punishment without the inclusion of the suspended sentence that would still have allowed Sivanthaphanith to work in the community to pay off the restitution he owes Iowa City Pride without a possibility of an expunged record. The judge ultimately ruled on a more lenient sentence.
Current Pride president says organization’s reputation immeasurably hurt by theft
Iowa City Pride’s current president Joe Reilly appeared in court to read a written statement, according to court documents obtained by the Press-Citizen.
His statement attested to the trust he and others within the organization had in Sivanthaphanith when he was president and the "tremendous" damage the crime has done to the more than 50-year-old Pride organization’s reputation.
“The entire community was [a]ffected beyond just the members of our organization,” Reilly said. “Over 30,000 people attended our Pride festival and this was a crime against every one of them.”
Many of the board’s members also hold positions within the Iowa City community, so Sivanthaphanith’s breach of trust and criminal activity increased stress and damage for all involved, Reilly said in the victim impact statement.
“The loss of sponsorships is not something we can quantify and will have a negative effect for years,” the current Pride president read in court. “The organization has lost trust in the community and has [had] its reputation tarnished. Hundreds of hours will be spent rebuilding that trust and raising money to replace that which was stolen from our donors due to this crime.”
Reilly also said Sivanthaphanith took advantage of his friendships and the timing and effects of the pandemic, like remote meetings, to commit this crime when he could have stopped and done the right thing.
“He provided falsified financials, dismissed concerns when questioned while outright lying to the board and us[ed] his position for personal gain at the expense of the LGBTQIA+ community,” Reilly said.
Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached atrhansen@press-citizen.com or on Twitter @ryanhansen01. | https://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/former-iowa-city-pride-president-must-repay-full-35k-in-stolem-money/70350545007/ | 2023-07-08T03:26:52 | 0 | https://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/former-iowa-city-pride-president-must-repay-full-35k-in-stolem-money/70350545007/ |
Lou Perrine’s Gas & Grocery stations are expected to close next week.
Lou Perrine’s Gas & Grocery operates out of two locations: The original store at 5145 Sheridan Road and newer location at 8004 22nd Ave.
Lou Perrine Jr., whose father, Lou Perrine Sr. started a full-service Clark station in 1954, announced the news on social media Friday morning.
“July 11 with be our last day in business,” Perrine Jr. posted. “Anthony, Laurie and myself want to thank all of you for supporting our family over 68 years. My dad started it in 1954, I took over in 1985 and Anthony took the reins in 2010. My dad always said you’re not customers to us but family. We hope over the years we treated our customers and staff with the same philosophy my dad had 68 years ago.”
People are also reading…
Perrine Jr. said both Lou Perrine’s Gas & Grocery locations will be sold to an investment firm out of Indiana.
Perrine Jr.’s son and current Lou Perrine’s Gas & Grocery owner Anthony Perrine said he couldn’t comment on the matter Friday.
In his social media post Perrine Jr. said it was time he and his wife Laurie take a break.
“Not only did she do the bookkeeping for our business in the basement of our Sheridan Road location but she was the backbone to our success, going up and down those stairs 10 to 15 times a day the past 40 years”
Not everything will be sold.
“We retained the Mama P’s cake and will be back with that. We also, kept the brand name Lou Perrine’s Gas & Groceries,” Perrine Jr. posted.
Perrine Jr. thanked the over 5,000 employees who worked with the family over the years.
“Anthony, Laurie and I hope you all prosper in the future to reach your goals,” he posted.
State Senator Bob Wirch D-Somers, issued a statement on the Perrines’ announcement, calling it “bittersweet”
“What a bittersweet day. Lou Perrine’s isn’t just a store in Kenosha; Lou Perrine’s IS Kenosha,” Wirch said. “People from all over know about Lou Perrine’s, and while I’m sad to hear that Lou, Anthony, Laurie and the entire crew won’t be running the show anymore, I’m happy that they reached a deal that was good for the family and will provide Lou and Laurie with a well-earned retirement.” | https://kenoshanews.com/news/local/lou-perrines-gas-grocery-in-kenosha-set-to-close-next-week-family-announces/article_6df0cf2c-1cf8-11ee-a9fd-1bbbd751fd14.html | 2023-07-08T03:29:47 | 1 | https://kenoshanews.com/news/local/lou-perrines-gas-grocery-in-kenosha-set-to-close-next-week-family-announces/article_6df0cf2c-1cf8-11ee-a9fd-1bbbd751fd14.html |
TRAFFIC
Driver arrested after hitting 3 people on sidewalk in Phoenix, killing 1
Fernando Cervantes Jr.
Arizona Republic
A woman was arrested after an SUV she was driving hit three people near 35th Avenue and Grand, Phoenix police said.
Police say that Miriam Madalena Badillo, 26, was driving northwest down Grand Avenue around 10 p.m. on Wednesday when she hit a curb and drove onto a sidewalk where the three people were standing.
One of the people died at the scene and the other two suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, documents said. They were taken to St. Joseph's Hospital.
Documents show that Badillo's blood alcohol level was 0.197%. The legal limit in Arizona is 0.08%.
Badillo was charged with one count of manslaughter and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-traffic/2023/07/07/driver-hits-3-people-on-phoenix-sidewalk-killing-1-person/70393840007/ | 2023-07-08T03:32:03 | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-traffic/2023/07/07/driver-hits-3-people-on-phoenix-sidewalk-killing-1-person/70393840007/ |
A boy who was shot this week was being picked up by his father, the target of the alleged shooters, police say in court records obtained Friday.
Tyron Hill Jr., 22, and Quayawn Eldridge, 24, were arrested Thursday night and charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon. They are each being held on a more than $100,000 bond.
The boy, whose age police did not release, was in the car with his father when he was shot, according to a probable cause affidavit written by Fort Wayne Detective Aaron Johnson. Before the shooting, the father had gotten into an argument with Hill about a physical altercation between alleged shooter and the victim’s paternal aunt.
When the father, who is also the brother of Hill’s girlfriend, walked away to get in his car with his son, Hill and a man later identified as Eldridge tried to fight the victim’s father, court records show. As he was putting his son in the car, the father heard Hill say, “Man, give me my gun.”
As the victim’s father tried to drive away, he saw both defendants “up their gun,” aiming for the vehicle, according to court documents. The father said he heard multiple gunshots and the car he was driving, with his son and a woman identified as “Witness 2” as passengers, was struck several times. The father later said he heard 20 to 30 shots and did not know whose bullet hit his son.
He didn’t realize his son had been shot until he heard the victim gasp for air. The woman attempted to render aid until the father saw a police officer and stopped for help.
The bullet had entered through the victim’s back and traveled through his body until it stopped in his groin area, hospital staff told police, according to the affidavit. After a surgery to remove the bullet, the boy was determined to be stable.
Police also interviewed the boy’s mother, maternal great-aunt and paternal aunt who was dating Hill, according to court documents.
The child’s mother told police she was making food for her son when she heard gunshots, according to court records. She began searching for her son when she heard people saying there was a kid in the car.
Witnesses at the 4th of July celebration told the mother that her cousins, Hill and Eldridge, were the ones who shot her son, court documents show. When she heard her child’s father say, “Y’all shot my son,” she blanked out and ran toward the boy.
Hill’s girlfriend and aunt of the victim told police her boyfriend tried to fight her brother but was held back by others, court records show. She said Eldridge, her boyfriend’s brother, took it upon himself to start shooting.
Police also interviewed Hill.
The suspect told the interviewer he started to walk away when he heard shots.
Hill and Eldridge are set for a hearing Wednesday before Allen Superior Court Magistrate Jason Custer. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/court-records-two-men-accused-of-shooting-boy-tuesday-were-aiming-for-his-dad/article_4b28d2a8-1cf0-11ee-8d41-43ad9f7d494e.html | 2023-07-08T03:32:03 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/court-records-two-men-accused-of-shooting-boy-tuesday-were-aiming-for-his-dad/article_4b28d2a8-1cf0-11ee-8d41-43ad9f7d494e.html |
A Fort Wayne tattoo shop has raised almost $25,000 to rebuild after a fire gutted the building.
A June 30 fire at Freedom Tattoo, whose artists are known for their traditional style, destroyed most of the building and its contents, said Aaron Lassandro, one of the shop’s four owners.
“Whatever wasn’t damaged by the fire was damaged by the water, and whatever wasn’t damaged by the water is now damaged by the mold from it sitting there,” he said. “We’re sure some things here and there are salvageable and doable, but we almost have to completely start over.”
Lassandro said the shop’s GoFundMe fundraiser goal, $80,000, is a fair representation of what will be needed to get back up and running.
One shop employee estimated he would need about $7,000 to replace what he lost in the blaze, but Lassandro said that would cover only the basics.
“He’s not even looking to get back his complete setup of inks, his complete setup of machines and needles, you know,” Lassando said. “That’s just him trying to get started.”
With six artists, both owners and employees, just getting the basic needs will consume half of that fundraising goal, he said. It would not cover new flooring, walls, counters or irreplaceable original 1960s artworks that were lost in the blaze.
Jessica Friskney, another co-owner of the shop, said that’s why the team immediately made a game plan.
“Since last week, we’ve been on the phone non-stop, emailing resources, contacting family. And we’ve created a GoFundMe because we found out pretty early on that insurance can only do so much,” Friskney said in an email. “That being said, our incredible community is really pulling together for us.”
Lassandro and Friskney said the loss was devastating.
“This is a place where we spent more time in than we did our own homes. Just yesterday, we were finally able to go into the building and really assess the damages, and see it in a clear light,” Friskney said Friday. “It’s been a week now since everything happened, but seeing our shop in that state was honestly soul crushing. It reopened that wound for all of us.”
Adam O’Connor, Fort Wayne Fire Department deputy chief, said the agency is investigating the incident as an “intentionally set fire.” The investigation will entail reviewing video and interviewing witnesses and potential suspects.
Lassandro said his understanding is that a person was seen on camera kicking the door of the shop in, pouring gasoline on the floor and lighting it on fire.
“They left the can and everything,” he said.
O’Connor said he was unsure if a fire at Twenty Past Four & More, a tobacco shop three minutes down the road from Freedom Tattoo, was also being investigated as an arson. Firefighters worked for about 45 minutes to bring the blaze under control. One firefighter suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital for an evaluation.
Friskney said that although the tattoo shop owners’ main concern is rebuilding, questions about the reason behind the fire remain.
“We’re a small, charitable, queer-owned, all-inclusive, positive-thinking studio,” she said. “The motive behind this incident blows my mind. In my 13 years of tattooing, I have never been the type of person to have someone harbor this much ill-will towards me or my business.”
But, Friskney said, the support for the shop has been amazing.
“We try really hard to make a difference in our community, and I feel like they see that,” she said.
“We’ve had a downpour of support, whether it be people offering their tradesmanship or offering donations.”
Friskney said the future looks bright with the help already offered to them.
“We’re going to have a lot of hands helping rebuild our business,” she said. “Contractors, electricians, restoration companies – they’ve all reached out. Despite us being busy, we’ve seen every single message, and we’re on our knees with gratitude.”
Lassandro remains optimistic despite the tough times they are now facing.
“We know we’re going to build the shop back up,” he said. “It’s going to be twice as fun, twice as cool and everything is going to work out.” | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/nearly-25k-raised-for-tattoo-shop-after-fire-blaze-being-investigated-as-intentionally-set/article_bf761480-1cfb-11ee-96ed-8f23c3e78dcf.html | 2023-07-08T03:32:09 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/nearly-25k-raised-for-tattoo-shop-after-fire-blaze-being-investigated-as-intentionally-set/article_bf761480-1cfb-11ee-96ed-8f23c3e78dcf.html |
Two more Hoosiers – a Republican and a Democrat – are launching bids for U.S. Senate, with each hoping to take Indiana’s seat held by Sen. Mike Braun. But it’s unclear if one of the newly announced candidates will be eligible to run.
Braun’s leaving the position to run for Indiana governor, opening the doors to a growing slate of potential successors.
Republican John Rust, chair of a major egg farm, filed a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on July 1, while Democrat Keith Potts, a member of Indianapolis’ City-County Council, announced his Senate run Thursday.
Rust joins Republican front runner U.S. Rep. Jim Banks in the fight for the GOP nomination. Potts will face off against former state lawmaker Marc Carmichael for the Democratic nomination. A spate of additional candidates from a variety of parties have also registered with the Federal Election Commission.
“Hoosiers deserve an experienced leader in the Senate that is ready to stand up for them, fight against the D.C. insiders, and take on the radical agenda of the Left in a way they have never seen before,” Rust said in a written statement to the Indiana Capital Chronicle. “I feel strongly that Jim Banks isn’t that person.”
Potts said that he was “proud” to start his campaign.
“The next sixteen months are going to be an incredible opportunity to share our optimistic vision for Indiana’s future,” Potts continued, in a written statement. “Our campaign is already hitting the ground running and we look forward to tackling the challenges that face families from Gary to French Lick: solid stable middle class jobs here and not abroad, healthcare that won’t break the bank if someone gets sick or hurt, and ensuring that everyone gets a chance to pursue the American Dream and make our country even stronger.”
Who they are and reactions to runs
Rust chairs the board behind a major Hoosier egg producer, Rose Acre Farms, and says he’s a sixth-generation farmer.
The prospect that he’d run for Senate generated a flurry of pushback from prominent right-wing personalities and lawmakers, who painted him as an anti-Donald Trump self-funder in statements to the conservative Breitbart News.
“Jim Banks is an incredibly strong America First conservative and it’s a shame that an establishment self-funder is even considering a challenge to him,” Donald Trump Jr. told that publication. “But rest assured, MAGA (Make America Great Again) will fight like hell to ensure that Jim is victorious against any big money RINO (Republican In Name Only) who decides to run against him.”
Rust declined to comment about his stance on the former president, nor about his funding plans.
“Stay tuned … ” he wrote.
Potts, meanwhile, works in the music and arts industry outside his part-time legislative position. That includes teaching after-school music classes and working with local theaters and orchestras, according to his council biography.
Carmichael welcomed his new opponent in written comments Thursday morning. As he did, he took a dig at Banks, accusing the congressman of “threaten(ing) potential primary opponents with personal attacks and threats.”
“More voices from more perspectives make for a stronger Democrat Party,” Carmichael continued. “I look forward to working with Keith to take the Democrat’s positive message to Indiana voters into 2024 and I will accept their decision in the May 2024 primary as to who they want to carry the fight to Jim Banks going forward.”
Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, was widely rumored to be considering a Senate run in January but backed away shortly after a conservative super PAC with ties to Banks aired an attack ad.
Potential challenge
Though Rust has filed campaign finance paperwork, he may not be eligible to seek the Republican nomination.
To run in a party’s primary, Indiana law requires a candidate to belong to that party – listing two ways to prove affiliation.
The simplest is a voting record. For the most recent two primaries in which a candidate voted, they must have pulled a ballot for that party.
But Rust hasn’t, as first reported in Adam Wren’s Importantville newsletter. Rust took part in the 2016 Republican primary, according to voting records obtained by the Capital Chronicle. But his second-most recent primary vote, in 2012, was in the Democratic primary.
That means he’ll have to prove his party using the second method: getting his county chair to certify that he’s a Republican, and filing the document with the state.
Rust’s filing said he’s based in Seymour. Jackson County Republican Party Chair Amanda Lowery said Rust had asked her for a meeting, and that she was hoping to schedule one for next week.
“Any kind of decision I’m going to make, I’m going to have a conversation with Mr. Rust first,” Lowery said.
But Rust’s voting record has led opponents to pounce.
“Indiana is a conservative state and deserves a conservative Senator,” Banks said in a statement. “John Rust is a liberal Democrat trying to run in the GOP Primary but Hoosier Republicans won’t buy it.”
Rust declined to comment on his eligibility.
State campaign finance records contained no entries for a John Rust from the Seymour area. But he’s chair of Rose Acre Farm’s board, and that entity donated roughly $42,000 to Republican candidates over the last two-plus decades – including $5,000 to Braun in 2022.
Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Twitter. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/local-politics/republican-democrat-join-race-for-braun-s-u-s-senate-seat/article_40d54fdc-1cf7-11ee-88ce-ab134f4d1d08.html | 2023-07-08T03:32:11 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/local-politics/republican-democrat-join-race-for-braun-s-u-s-senate-seat/article_40d54fdc-1cf7-11ee-88ce-ab134f4d1d08.html |
CARLISLE, Iowa — Sweet corn season is upon us, and a husband and wife from central Iowa have been selling their crops for decades.
Mike and Tracy Penick started selling sweet corn to the community back in 1992, but the reason they started is pretty sweet.
"We started it so our two girls, which they were little girls at that point, it was going to be their college fund," Tracy Penick said. "So, we planted a little bit of corn, and every night we sat up on the highway and sold it."
Tracy's referencing their pop-up sweet corn stand — "Penick's Sweet Corn Stand" — located on state Highways 65 and 69, near Indianola.
Mike and Tracy's daughters graduated their respective colleges back in the early 2000s, and their parents' pop-up sweet corn stand helped fund their education.
Iowans loved seeing Mike and Tracy’s – then young daughters – helping out so much at the family's stand, a few customers wouldn't buy corn unless the girls were there.
“They said we’re only buying corn from you, if the money goes to the girls," Tracy said. "It was important that all the money went to the girls, where people wouldn’t buy.”
Now that their daughters have moved on, Mike and Tracy continue to run their pop-up stand and their growing farm.
“Now we’re up to about 37 acres, so we’ve increased it a little bit,” Mike said.
The Penick's have owned land in central Iowa dating back to nearly 100 years ago.
The family now has over 2,000 acres of farm land, with 1,000 of that each dedicated to field corn and soybeans.
However, they also have 37 acres of sweet corn to harvest each year, up from one acre, many years ago.
And that was around the same time the Penick's transitioned their focus in farming.
“We got out of the livestock business and made it a full-time business for the summer then," which was the early 2000s, Mike said.
The Penick's daughters are now married and have given Mike and Tracy six grandchildren, who also help out at the farm and sweet corn stand.
And now approaching retirement age, Mike and Tracy don't plan to quit selling what they love most: corn.
"It's all I've known to do," Mike said. “We just like selling sweet corn. It’s just become a tradition with us now, even though we’re getting harder every day to get up early in the morning and pick it.”
Mike told Local 5 he gets up at 4:30 a.m. on weekdays to get ready to pick his crops.
But to make it easier on him, Mike and Tracy have hired kids who live nearby to help handpick their sweet corn. | https://www.weareiowa.com/article/news/local/iowa-couple-penicks-sweet-corn-stand-selling-1990s-daughter-college-fund/524-146e9a00-6930-4df0-bdba-a2a8a3ca7659 | 2023-07-08T03:36:25 | 1 | https://www.weareiowa.com/article/news/local/iowa-couple-penicks-sweet-corn-stand-selling-1990s-daughter-college-fund/524-146e9a00-6930-4df0-bdba-a2a8a3ca7659 |
ORLANDO, Fla. — Central Florida could soon see fewer people and events come to the area.
>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<
Several organizations that were lined up to host upcoming conventions have scrapped their plans.
One group cited the passing of what they called “regressive legislation” that “challenges their mission.” Another said the state’s political climate would “undermine what we stand for and would prohibit us from existing.”
READ: 9 things to do this weekend in Central Florida
Visit Orlando said they’ve been getting messages and calls from people worried about coming to Florida.
It all comes after Gov. Ron DeSantis put several new controversial laws in place like the Parental Rights in Education.
Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond said there has been more than one convention that has decided to go elsewhere.
READ: Johnson University Florida to permanently close in 2024
And not making it any better, tourism dollars weren’t on the up this spring.
“In April, it was a small decrease,” Diamond said. “In May it was about a 7% decrease. It meant our collections this May were about $2 million less than May of 2022.”
READ: Wildly popular Central Florida pizzeria opens second location in Central Florida
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/conventions-pull-out-central-florida-citing-regressive-legislation/QT52JL6SBZFFTLISY3DWDGILYM/ | 2023-07-08T03:42:52 | 1 | https://www.wftv.com/news/local/conventions-pull-out-central-florida-citing-regressive-legislation/QT52JL6SBZFFTLISY3DWDGILYM/ |
OLD FORGE, Pa. — It was just another Thursday in Lackawanna County when Jennifer Kania noticed something strange when she was outside checking her mail.
"When I turned around, my car was being backed out of the driveway, and I chased after him and pleaded with him not to take my car," Kania said.
While her car was being stolen, Kania says the thief, identified by police as Stephen Rinaldi of Old Forge, kept saying he was sorry and even gave her some advice.
"And he apologized 1000 times and remind me that I had car insurance and handed me my purse," Kania said.
Police say Rinaldi led officers on a high-speed chase through several communities before he was captured.
Rinaldi surrendered to police after he left the car and tried to run away near airport road in Pittston Township.
"I wasn't surprised that that happened, and I feel really bad that it went down the way that it did, and it didn't have to," Kania said.
Kania says her car only has minor damage and that she hopes to get it back soon.
As for Rinaldi, he is charged with felony counts of theft and receiving stolen property.
But after everything Kania says, she forgives the man.
"If I am asked about a sentence or how I should go about everything, I will defend him on this because he was so kind," Kania said.
Download the WNEP app to get breaking news alerts, weather, sports, and important stories at home or on the go.
Want to see what Newswatch 16's newscast was like in 1976? Head on over to WNEP's YouTube. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/womans-car-stolen-by-a-gentleman-jennifer-kania-old-forge-wnep-stephen-rinaldi-newswatch16/523-4ec85769-879e-4771-a2ff-1ad998c542b0 | 2023-07-08T03:45:07 | 1 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/womans-car-stolen-by-a-gentleman-jennifer-kania-old-forge-wnep-stephen-rinaldi-newswatch16/523-4ec85769-879e-4771-a2ff-1ad998c542b0 |
DALLAS, Pa. — Night two of the 77th annual Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction and Newswatch 16's Jon Meyer and Renie Workman were testing their auctioneer talents.
Jon and Renie are annual supporters of the auction that runs until Sunday in Luzerne County's Back Mountain.
Proceeds benefit the library.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/back-mountain-memorial-library-holds-annual-auction-newswatch-16s-jon-meyer-and-renie-workman-wnep/523-01d56eb7-f99e-4dfb-a5e0-d237a7defb45 | 2023-07-08T03:45:14 | 0 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/back-mountain-memorial-library-holds-annual-auction-newswatch-16s-jon-meyer-and-renie-workman-wnep/523-01d56eb7-f99e-4dfb-a5e0-d237a7defb45 |
EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — A member of Newswatch 16 was out in the community.
Stormtracker 16 Meteorologist Jeremy Lewan spent his afternoon at East Stroudsburg University with this summer's Upward Bound Program.
It's a pre-college prep program for high school students who will be the first in their families who go on to college
For the first time, meteorology is one of the classes offered for juniors and seniors in the program, and Jeremy spoke to future scholars about his experience as a broadcast meteorologist at WNEP.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/monroe-county/inspiring-the-next-generation-at-esu-stormtracker-16-meteorologist-jeremy-lewan-upward-bound-program-wnep/523-7e491082-af46-446e-9e29-ae6fb450fffe | 2023-07-08T03:45:20 | 1 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/monroe-county/inspiring-the-next-generation-at-esu-stormtracker-16-meteorologist-jeremy-lewan-upward-bound-program-wnep/523-7e491082-af46-446e-9e29-ae6fb450fffe |
A drive east down I-20 is an annual trek for Jenny Pearson to get her kids to summer camp, but what happened last Sunday just outside of Canton was far from the norm.
“There was a sedan in front of us that broke very hard. And when they broke, they swerved very quickly to the right. In doing so, they clipped part of this tire tread that happened to be in the road,” said Jenny Pearson.
Pearson said the two-foot shard of rubber and steel catapulted through her windshield like a missile.
With her 13-year-old in the passenger seat, she pulled off at the nearest exit.
“My hands, my ear, my nose… I didn't even know where all the blood was coming from. But we were trying to figure out what the plan was going to be," she said.
That's when help arrived in the form of strangers.
“She was just bawling, you know? You could tell she was in need or something. Something wasn't right. So I told my wife, I said, ‘Let's pull over there and check on it,'” said Caleb Smalling.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Smalling and his wife Maria said the first order of business was making sure that Pearson and her daughter were OK. The next was figuring out how they could help.
“It just took probably less than five seconds and he looked at me and said, ‘You know what, I own a glass repair company, and I live less than two miles down the road,’” said Pearson.
Within minutes, she said the Smallings returned with Band-Aids, ointment, drinks and their teenage son.
Most notably, they had the exact replacement windshield needed for Pearson’s car.
Some would call it a coincidence.
Pearson saw it as something more.
“It could've ended very differently, very, very differently. So for me personally, for us as a family, it was a God thing, you know?" she said.
Despite her insistence, the Smallings refused to let Pearson pay.
"He has a plan for all of this. You just have to follow it,” said Smalling.
Both have said they hope those who learn about their highway chance encounter take away the importance of spreading kindness.
“We just do the right thing every time, do what we can do to help,” he said. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/good-samaritans-get-dallas-family-back-on-road-after-tire-smashes-through-windshield/3292043/ | 2023-07-08T03:47:45 | 1 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/good-samaritans-get-dallas-family-back-on-road-after-tire-smashes-through-windshield/3292043/ |
MONROEVILLE, Pa. — Two teens are facing criminal charges after an alleged crime spree Thursday night in Monroeville.
Investigators say it started with an attempted carjacking at gunpoint and ended with their arrests in the middle of a department store break-in.
Michael Tate, 15, is charged as an adult and a 14-year-old boy, whose name has not been released, is charged as a juvenile after police say the duo allegedly held up a woman at gunpoint trying to steal her car outside a CVS near the Monroeville Mall.
“I’m appalled,” said Monroeville shopper Sue Kelly. “I used to shop in this area a lot, but now, I hesitate to come here. I only come in the daytime.”
The scary situation began just after 8 p.m. Thursday when a woman on crutches who works at CVS was heading to her car.
According to the police report, the two teens approached her, and Tate said, “Give me your car,” while cocking a handgun.
The woman started screaming and the boys ran off.
“That’s messed up. That’s really scary,” said Arielle, another Monroeville shopper. “I wouldn’t want to be walking around here and that happen to me.”
Shortly after the attempted carjacking at CVS, police say the two teens went to the nearby Dunham’s Sports where they attempted to break in before officers caught them in the act.
That’s when police took the pair into custody.
Investigators realized they matched the description of the two teens involved in the attempted car theft — and according to police paperwork — Tate admitted to police that he and the 14-year-old were responsible for both incidents.
“It’s getting more and more scary all over the Pittsburgh area. I don’t know what we can do about it,” said Kelly.
Police also say the gun used in the attempted carjacking was reported stolen three weeks ago.
Tate told officers he got it from a friend.
Both boys are charged as juveniles in connection to the break-in at Dunham’s Sports.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
TRENDING NOW:
©2023 Cox Media Group | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/2-teens-charged-connection-break-in-attempted-carjacking-monroeville/QIXEOHPZ5FDZTAEGHZUHAAHARQ/ | 2023-07-08T03:50:20 | 0 | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/2-teens-charged-connection-break-in-attempted-carjacking-monroeville/QIXEOHPZ5FDZTAEGHZUHAAHARQ/ |
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania could face greater transparency and see their funding reduced by millions of dollars under a Democrat-backed bill that passed the state House of Representatives on Friday.
However, the proposal will likely get a chilly reception in the Republican-controlled state Senate. The bill passed the House 122-81, with all Democrats voting for it, joined by 20 Republicans.
Pennsylvania’s 14 cyber charters receive public funds to pay for students’ tuition, with the money coming from school districts. Supporters say the programs help students who don’t perform well in typical learning environments. But public school advocates in Pennsylvania say that by paying cyber charters the same rate as brick-and-mortar charter schools, it’s creating a burden on school district budgets.
Attempts at reforming cyber charters have been going on for years. Former Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s efforts to impose a number of regulations for all of the state’s charter schools dissipated in budget negotiations last year. But this year, Democrats took control of the House, giving them a foothold to push for the changes.
The measure would standardize tuition for non-special education cyber charter students. Tuition for special education students would also be aligned with the system used for school districts. In total, the proposal estimates that school districts would have to pay cyber charters about $456 million less.
The legislation also seeks additional transparency by targeting conflicts of interest and requiring the schools to comply with the state’s ethics and open records law. It would impose restrictions for things like advertising and event sponsorships, and bans enrollment incentives.
Republicans raised concerns that the legislation would torpedo cyber charters altogether. Rep. Jesse Topper, a Republican from Bedford County, said the bill was a double standard. He called it mindboggling that when a school district didn’t meet state standards, more funding was called for.
“But if a cyber charter school, particularly ones who are investing in and teaching a subset of students that were already struggling, if they somehow fall below the mark, then they need to be eliminated,” he said.
The bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, said the goal was not to close cyber charter programs, but to stop overfunding them.
“We’re looking to put money back into the public schools and also leave the choice that’s there,” he said. “We should have choice in this state. We’re asking that it’s a fair playing field.”
The latest reform effort drew support from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, which said districts pay out more than $1 billion for cyber charter school tuition, based on outdated ways of funding schools.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
TRENDING NOW:
©2023 Cox Media Group | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/cyber-charter-schools-pennsylvania-face-rule-changes-under-democrat-backed-house-bill/TRTLYRI55ZAGJL4BOQBDKQDQMI/ | 2023-07-08T03:50:26 | 1 | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/cyber-charter-schools-pennsylvania-face-rule-changes-under-democrat-backed-house-bill/TRTLYRI55ZAGJL4BOQBDKQDQMI/ |
ROANOKE, Va. — The union that represents locomotive engineers says a Thursday night coal train derailment in Virginia is renewing questions about Norfolk Southern’s safety practices.
The derailment happened coming down out of the Appalachian Mountains near Elliston about 20 miles (32.19 kilometers) outside Roanoke. Fortunately, it involved coal cars and not hazardous materials like those that generated a huge plume of black smoke and forced evacuations in the eastern Ohio town of East Palestine after a different Norfolk Southern train derailed in February. That Ohio derailment triggered concerns nationwide about railroad safety and prompted calls for reforms from members of Congress and regulators.
“We’re just lucky right now that it’s coal. If it had been ethanol or LP gas or chlorine or anything like that, it could have been a totally different situation,” said Randy Fannon, who leads the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union’s safety task force.
Nineteen cars on the Virginia coal train derailed around 7:45 p.m. Thursday but remained upright and none of the coal spilled.
Before the derailment, the crew received a critical alarm from a trackside detector that a wheel bearing was overheating. But unlike in the East Palestine derailment where the crew received little warning, the crew was able to safely stop the Virginia train after it was alerted to the potential hazard.
The train’s conductor found the railcar that triggered the alarm and confirmed the bearing was overheating. But a spokesman for the railroad said all the components appeared to be intact during a visual inspection.
Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Warren Flateau said the railroad decided to try and move the train to a siding, where the crew could safely set out the car with the overheating bearing without blocking the main track. But the train derailed before it reached the siding.
National Transportation Safety Board officials said late Friday they would investigate the Virginia derailment. While union officials and the railroads involved in an NTSB investigation aren’t allowed to speak publicly before that agency releases its findings, Fannon discussed the details of the crash Friday afternoon when the FRA was still leading the investigation. The NTSB had not taken the lead at that time.
Fannon said someone at the railroad’s headquarters in Atlanta who was working on the “hot box detector desk” told the crew to go ahead and move the train 8 miles (12.87 kilometers) down the track. The crew told union officials that they weren’t comfortable with moving the train at the track speed of roughly 40 mph, so they kept the speed to around 20 mph. But the train still derailed.
Spokesman Tom Crosson said Norfolk Southern will use this derailment to help inform changes it is making to improve safety.
“This derailment should never have happened. It is unacceptable,” Crosson said. “We are working to achieve our goal of being the gold standard for safety in the railroad industry, and this incident strengthens our resolve.”
Both the FRA and the NTSB said they were investigating Norfolk Southern’s safety practices following the East Palestine derailment and several others in the past couple years.
The NTSB is doing a detailed investigation to determine everything that contributed to the East Palestine derailment, but investigators said in their preliminary report that an overheating bearing on a rail car carrying plastic pellets likely caused the derailment. The resulting fire burned for days as several cars carrying hazardous materials spilled their contents. Then officials decided to blow open five vinyl chloride cars and burn that chemical because they were worried those tank cars might explode.
“NS is still in the spotlight and they’re going to remain that way until they make some changes,” Fannon said.
In years past before Norfolk Southern began overhauling its operations in 2019 and making widespread job cuts, Fannon said the railroad typically would have sent a mechanical inspector to examine the car after an overheating bearing was found to determine if it was safe to move the train. That doesn’t happen anymore after all the cuts to the ranks of inspectors.
“I think the key to this is no qualified mechanical person inspected it,” Fannon said.
Norfolk Southern, like all the major freight railroads, has streamlined its operations over the past several years to reduce costs by relying more on running fewer, longer trains so it doesn’t need as many crews or locomotives. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the other rail unions have said the changes make railroads riskier, spreading employees thin and making it difficult to take the time to properly inspect cars or complete needed preventative maintenance.
The railroads have defended their safety record.
Railroad officials have said they don’t believe the cuts jeopardized safety, and they emphasize that they continue to meet the minimum federal standards. Norfolk Southern’s CEO Alan Shaw has said he believes NS is a safe railroad and that he is committed to improving that.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
TRENDING NOW:
©2023 Cox Media Group | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/rail-union-says-virginia-derailment-renews-questions-about-norfolk-southerns-safety-practices/MRSBFEKP5ZFA7ATRESLNUISHKQ/ | 2023-07-08T03:50:32 | 0 | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/rail-union-says-virginia-derailment-renews-questions-about-norfolk-southerns-safety-practices/MRSBFEKP5ZFA7ATRESLNUISHKQ/ |
Two Eugene residents die in triple fatal crash in Lane County
Three people, including two Eugene residents, died Wednesday night in a triple vehicle crash that prompted closure of Oregon Route 126 about halfway between Florence and Eugene for more than four hours, Oregon State Police said Friday.
OSP said a preliminary investigation of the crash that occurred at about 5:46 p.m. determined a westbound white Dodge Challenger crossed the double yellow centerline and sideswiped a white Nissan Frontier pulling a travel trailer.
The Dodge continued "out of control westbound in the eastbound lane," crashing nearly head on with a green Toyota Tacoma pickup, OSP said in a news release.
The driver of the Dodge was identified as Allen David Weaver Jr., 51, of Grace, Idaho. Weaver was declared dead at the crash site.
Two passengers in the Toyota, identified as Eugene residents Lacy Nicole Taylor, 28, and Michele Denise Taylor, 58, also died. The driver and a third passenger were seriously injured and taken to the hospital.
The driver of the Nissan and a passenger were not injured.
The highway was closed for about four and a half hours while the investigation was conducted and the crash cleared. OSP troopers were assisted by the Lane Fire Authority and the Oregon Department of Transportation. | https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/two-eugene-residents-die-triple-fatal-crash-lane-county/70392774007/ | 2023-07-08T03:52:06 | 1 | https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/two-eugene-residents-die-triple-fatal-crash-lane-county/70392774007/ |
Skip to content
Main Navigation
Search
Search for:
Weather
Local
Sports
Entertainment
Investigators
Videos
Newsletters
Live TV
Share
Close
Trending
Watch NBC10 24/7 on Streaming Platforms
Wawa Welcome America
First Alert Weather
Phillies baseball
Expand
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/police-identify-couple-shot-and-killed-on-locust-street-after-a-night-out/3600490/ | 2023-07-08T04:11:24 | 0 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/police-identify-couple-shot-and-killed-on-locust-street-after-a-night-out/3600490/ |
Skip to content
Main Navigation
Search
Search for:
Weather
Local
Sports
Entertainment
Investigators
Videos
Newsletters
Live TV
Share
Close
Trending
Watch NBC10 24/7 on Streaming Platforms
Wawa Welcome America
First Alert Weather
Phillies baseball
Expand
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/thousands-in-wildwood-still-without-power-may-last-until-saturday/3600487/ | 2023-07-08T04:11:31 | 0 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/thousands-in-wildwood-still-without-power-may-last-until-saturday/3600487/ |
DAVIS, Calif. — Davis police are looking for an at-risk 16-year-old who went missing June 26.
Eathan Tunstall was last seen at his home in the 3000 block of F Street in Davis after fighting with a parent. He has not used social media or made contact with his family in over a week, according to the Davis Police Department.
Eathan is described as 6 feet tall, 140 lbs with short brown hair last seen wearing a black zip-up sweater, jogger pants and black shoes with red laces.
Anyone with information about Eathan's whereabouts are encouraged to call the Davis Police Department at 530-758-3600. | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/davis/davis-missing-teen/103-eddfbbaa-7c44-49f0-9d0e-e92727ca3ebe | 2023-07-08T04:29:59 | 0 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/davis/davis-missing-teen/103-eddfbbaa-7c44-49f0-9d0e-e92727ca3ebe |
RANCHO CALAVERAS, Calif. — Nearly 6,000 people in Calaveras County are without power Friday night, according to PG&E outage maps.
Rancho Calaveras is mostly impacted by the outage. The outage began around 8:30 p.m. and is expected to be restored around 12:30 a.m., according to PG&E.
Track the latest PG&E outages HERE.
We are working to learn more about the outage. | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/outage-calaveras-county/103-3566fc18-8a77-4ccf-b56a-a82394d76d07 | 2023-07-08T04:30:05 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/outage-calaveras-county/103-3566fc18-8a77-4ccf-b56a-a82394d76d07 |
LOOMIS, Calif. — Two Placer County school districts say they found no evidence of wrongdoing by a pastor or his LGBTQ+ youth group months after they were a controversial topic.
Pastor Casey Tinnin, of Loomis Basin Congregational United Church of Christ, founded and leads the Landing Spot, whose website describes it as “a non-religious support group for LGBTQIA+ youth and their parents in Placer County.”
“There are very few places where Queer kids in this community have the ability to just be with other kids like themselves and to just be in a space that is safe and supportive,” Tinnin told ABC10.
For several years now, the Landing Spot has operated as a student group in the community and at a number of Placer County high schools.
Back in March, Tinnin came under fire when he became the target of a hit piece by Project Veritas, which considers itself a journalism organization. Critics call it a far-right activist group.
Tinnin is shown in an undercover video taken without his permission or knowledge. He says he was lead to believe he was speaking with parents of trans kids who were seeking his advice
The piece is called "California Reverend Says it is 'Critical' to Discuss Sexual Identity and Gender with Children at a Young Age; Admits Parents Would 'Be Upset' if They Knew 'Their Queer Kid was Coming to Me'... ‘I and the Older Queer Folks are Mentoring These Young Adults.’”
Some of the allegations, supporters of the Landing Spot say, amount to Pastor Tinnin creating a safe space for teens — especially those whose families don't accept or like that they are Queer.
After the video hit the internet, critics and supporters spoke out at this Roseville Joint Union High School District (RJUHSD) School Board Meeting.
"The solution is not putting a wedge between parents and children. Having children lie and attend secret meetings is not the answer,” one woman said during the meeting.
Defending Pastor Tinnin, Alicia Watkins, who attended the meeting and knows Tinnin, says Project Veritas “made a very good man seem like a very bad man.”
At that same time, two other districts — Western Placer Unified School District and Placer Union High School District — announced they were launching investigations into the Landing Spot and Pastor Casey.
Now, those investigations have wrapped up.
At the June 20 school board meeting, Placer Union's then-outgoing superintendent George Sziraki told the board the district’s investigation found no wrongdoing on the part of Tinnin or the Landing Spot.
"After a full investigation, we have not had a parent, we haven't had a student come forward to say anything, [that] any harm has come to students,” said Sziraki. “The landing spot will have access if our students request it, like they had done before — after school, in clubs, supervised."
Western Placer released a 30-page report Thursday detailing the third-party investigation and how they, too, found no wrongdoing.
“All of the criticism and commentary about Pastor Tinnin and The Landing Spot we received and read is based upon ideological differences and beliefs about the LGBTQIA+ community in general, and about a school’s role in the LGBTQIA+ community in particular, and not any personal knowledge about wrongdoing by Pastor Tinnin towards students or against parents,” the report said. “The only reports we had from those students and parents with personal knowledge of Pastor Tinnin and The Landing Spot – i.e., they attended the monthly meetings and otherwise interacted with Pastor Tinnin – praised his efforts and conduct.”
The full report is available HERE.
"My hope is, now that we have heard from two districts - that there is no 'there there,' we can move beyond this," Tinnin said on Friday, when ABC10 spoke with him and church council co-president Sara Bocciardi to get their reaction. “Our intent is to bind the wounds to heal and move forward. Because Placer County needs it.”
Tinnin added that he appreciates the gravity with which the districts conducted their investigations.
“I'm thankful for districts that took their job seriously in keeping young people safe. I just want to reiterate the importance of them saying there was no issue from parents or students who had any experience with the Landing Spot,” said Tinnin. “Any discontent that was made known came from people who've never engaged in our work — mostly adults. I think that says a lot to the credibility of our work, the life-saving work that we do in Placer County and that we will continue to do.”
As for Roseville Joint Union High School District, the other district involved in this story, board president Pete Constant told ABC10 Friday, “RJUHSD has not initiated an investigation that I am aware of. The Landing Spot was not working on any of our campuses at the time the video in question was released.”
In a statement sent to parents after the release of the Project Veritas piece, RJUHSD said, “Given statements by Pastor Tinnins in the video, along with other related concerns, RJUHSD staff has contacted the Roseville Police Department and Child Protective Services to advise them of the matter so they can ensure no students have been harmed.”
A finding in the Western Placer Unified School District investigation report addressed the results of this, saying, “The Roseville Police Department and the Lincoln Police Department confirmed, as of May 2023, they have not initiated any investigations, nor are there any active or inactive investigations, into The Landing Spot or Pastor Tinnin. Additionally, a RJUHSD representative contacted the Placer County CPS Department regarding The Landing Spot and Pastor Tinnin, and reported that CPS ‘would not take a report for this issue.’”
Bocciardi said Loomis Basin Congregational UCC had Tinnin’s back this whole time.
“Our goal throughout this entire process has been to support him and to support the Landing Spot, knowing that these allegations were empty,” said Bocciardi. “We're really glad that the report has proven what we knew all along - which is that Pastor Casey is an amazing and supportive individual, and we're so happy to have him as our pastor.”
The relief for Tinnin, the Landing Spot and Loomis Basin Congregational UCC encompasses more than just the end of the Project Veritas debacle.
Earlier this year, the Landing Spot planned on raising money for its summer camp for Queer teens by holding a family-friendly youth drag show, as it had twice before. But the concerns of a vocal group of community members cast the drag show and youth group in a controversial light. For safety reasons, the Landing Spot decided to cancel the fundraiser back in March.
Tinnin says, due in part to the national spotlight from the Project Veritas hit piece, some $30,000 in donations came in for the Landing Spot and their summer camp, which just wrapped up. It’s called Camp Fruit Loop, it’s the camp’s second year and it served some 40 students – double last year’s number.
“It was really amazing to see our Queer youth have an opportunity to be in a space where every other member of the camp was another Queer youth, where they were the majority, where they didn't have to fight for their pronouns to be recognized, where they didn't have to fight for their chosen names to be used in for them,” said Bocciardi.
Tinnin said a camp specifically for LGBTQIA+ youth is important because “many of our LGBT youth — they grew up, you know, whether it be Boy Scouts camp or church camp and because they are now queer, they don't feel safe in those spaces. And they wanted that experience.” | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/placer-county-pastor-cleared-of-wrongdoing/103-80f3c4f7-eed6-42cf-a991-05e2f74badd2 | 2023-07-08T04:30:12 | 0 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/placer-county-pastor-cleared-of-wrongdoing/103-80f3c4f7-eed6-42cf-a991-05e2f74badd2 |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As the homelessness crisis grows in California, a first-of-its-kind event happening at Sacramento State is helping raise awareness and shining a light on solutions.
It's called the Homeless World Cup.
Refugees and people who have experienced homelessness around the world are competing in rounds of street soccer. This is the first time this event is being held in the U.S. and on a college campus.
This weekend, hundreds of people will be at Sacramento State to compete in the competition.
"We work with them on a step-by-step way in terms of improving their situation,” said Mel Young, president of Homeless World Cup. “All the time though that the soccer's the center of it and they're coming back to the center. And the object is to get on the team to represent your country.”
More than 70 grassroots organizations are brought together through the “Homeless World Cup.”
What to know
- The tournament starts Saturday and runs through July 15.
- Athletes' parade will be held at 9 a.m. and be followed by an opening ceremony.
- Kick-off is at 10 a.m.
- The finals will be held Saturday, July 15.
- Free to attend | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/homeless-world-cup-to-sacramento-state/103-b76f3ba6-656e-40a6-a5e2-1b2b6d9a3059 | 2023-07-08T04:30:18 | 0 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/homeless-world-cup-to-sacramento-state/103-b76f3ba6-656e-40a6-a5e2-1b2b6d9a3059 |
KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) — Brett Herron has been named the principal of Andrew Johnson Elementary School in Kingsport.
Herron is a Kingsport native who has served as a teacher, associate principal, and principal. His 15-year educational career began as a teacher at Roosevelt Elementary. He then served as associate principal at John Adams and John F. Kennedy elementary schools.
His most recent position was principal of Bristol’s Anderson Elementary School.
Herron will replace former principal Stacy Edwards, who accepted a job at Milligan University.
Edwards was named in a federal lawsuit over a former special education teacher’s alleged repeated child abuse at Andrew Johnson.
The lawsuit by the parents of the alleged victims claims Edwards “engaged in mistruths and obfuscation” when speaking with parents about the abuse allegations.
Former Superintendent Jeff Moorhouse and Human Resources Director Jennifer Guthrie were also named in the suit.
A grand jury indicted former teacher Michelle Carpenter on 20 counts of child abuse and neglect. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/herron-named-principal-of-andrew-johnson-elementary/ | 2023-07-08T04:34:43 | 0 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/herron-named-principal-of-andrew-johnson-elementary/ |
Pull out those Mega Millions tickets!
Are you the lucky winner of more than 300 million dollars? Check your ticket for these numbers:
8, 10, 17, 55, 66, 3
Tonight’s numbers were just one of two highly anticipated drawings.
“People just go crazy when the jackpot goes up. It is insane.”
For Deepak Sansoa, a spike in the lottery means a spike in business.
“When the jackpot gets up there man, like I said people just come out of everywhere ... hey let me have five numbers on this game, five numbers on this. Some people come in and want $100-$200 worth of tickets, I’m like okay I gotcha!”
The Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots combined have reached over a billion dollars.
Mike Watkins was feeling extra lucky ahead of the drawings.
“Always think I’m going to win. You never know but it’s a big chance,” he said.
When it comes to playing the lottery there are multiple ways you can go about doing it. Some people like to fill out their cards with numbers they have special to their hearts. But most people seem to like their numbers chosen at random.
And even if you don’t get the right numbers, you know your money is going to a good cause.
“In Virginia, all of the proceeds from lottery sales support public education k-12. So win or lose, Virginia is winning”
Someone’s life could change drastically with just six lucky numbers. Were you the lucky winner? | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/07/08/anticipation-builds-ahead-of-mega-millions-drawing/ | 2023-07-08T04:35:43 | 0 | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/07/08/anticipation-builds-ahead-of-mega-millions-drawing/ |
SAN ANTONIO — Two weeks after a trio of San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) officers were charged with murder after officials said they killed a woman undergoing a mental health crisis, the victim's family has filed a civil lawsuit against them.
Melissa Perez, 46, was fatally shot in the early-morning hours of June 23 by police who responded after she tinkered with her fire alarm, sparking the arrival of law enforcement. Within 18 hours, the three officers in question were suspended from the force and jailed, their actions condemned by Chief William McManus as "not consistent with SAPD evidence and training."
The family of Perez said early on it was intending to file a complaint against the three officers, Eleazar Alejandro, Nathanial Villalobos and Alfred Flores. On Friday evening the family's legal representation with the Packard Law Firm announced it had done so, claiming in the wrongful-death suit that "SAPD's formal and informal policies were the moving force behind Ms. Perez's death."
"Policymakers at the city, including Chief McManus, certainly know that there is a persistent and serious problem of excessive force within SAPD and there there is a serious enforcement problem within SAPD," the complaint alleges, specifically citing a structure that prevented the department's mental health unit from responding to the scene on June 23.
>>Read the full complaint below
The suit accuses the three officers of using excessive force and SAPD of escalating mental health encounters to "unnecessary" and "objectively unreasonable" degrees. It goes on to cite several examples of police responses in San Antonio that ended in violence, including the fatal case of Jesse Aguirre in 2013 and the shooting of 17-year-old Eric Cantu last October.
Previous suspensions
The newly filed lawsuit also claims Flores and Alejandro were previously suspended for apparent misconduct in situations where "the punishment should have been much greater."
In June of 2017, the suit states, Flores was involved with some kind of "disturbance" after leaving his assigned area, the details of which remain unclear. He was given a 10-day suspension. Later, the suit states, Flores received a one-day suspension for failing to turn on his body camera in a situation where he allegedly pulled his gun on a resident who had been tailgating him.
The suit cites multiple apparent short-term suspensions handed down to Alejandro for situations involving his refusal to arrest individuals involved in potential crimes.
"He was willing to disregard his duties and ignore policy," the suit says of Alejandro's on-duty history.
Perez's family is seeking a jury trial and punitive damages from the three officers, all of whom were released on bond shortly after their arrests.
>TRENDING ON KENS 5 YOUTUBE: | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/sapd-police-lawsuit-san-antonio-melissa-perez-murder-investigation-texas/273-2cad6079-b781-4bf5-83df-8138e19848e8 | 2023-07-08T04:37:38 | 0 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/sapd-police-lawsuit-san-antonio-melissa-perez-murder-investigation-texas/273-2cad6079-b781-4bf5-83df-8138e19848e8 |
ATHENS, Ga. — Last month a mother, in what’s believed to be the first of its kind case in Georgia, won a lawsuit claiming the Athens-Clarke County district attorney's office violated her teenage daughter's constitutional rights under Marsy’s Law.
It’s a voter-approved provision in the Crime Victims Bill of Rights that guarantees an alleged victim of a crime is notified about court hearings and given the opportunity to speak.
The girl, who 11Alive is not identifying, was 14 when she accused her father of rape, incest, and child molestation. On the day of his trial, as she and her mother waited outside the courtroom to testify, the prosecutor instead dismissed the charges, citing insufficient evidence.
Now a new state-appointed prosecutor has been given the case for review. He believes it should have gone to trial and filed a motion asking the judge to reverse the decision.
On Friday, Superior Court Judge Eric Norris approved that request stating in his motion, "A review of the events leading up to the dismissal, however, shows that, for various reasons, the State was not prepared to move forward when the case was called for trial, and the State's attention may have been focused on an upcoming murder trial."
The family’s attorney, Kevin Epps, says the ruling is exactly what they hoped would happen when they filed the lawsuit and gives the family some relief.
“They have been seeking answers with no response, and they've had to go through a huge uphill battle to get to this point,” said Epps.
The judge also settled another matter on Friday - denying the family's motion to have DA Deborah Gonzalez held in contempt of court.
Right now nearly 60 percent of the assistant district attorney positions in her office are vacant. Still, Gonzalez chose to reassign parts of her caseload so she could attend a conference in Alabama the week of the rape trial. As part of the lawsuit, the family asked for records related to that trip to determine if it impacted the decision to dismiss.
Court transcripts from the day the rape charges were initially dismissed provide background to Norris' ruling Friday.
The prosecutor handling the rape case, Robert Wilson, told the judge he had not properly subpoenaed a key witness. When pushed to seat a jury and continue trying to reach the witness, Wilson admitted he was struggling to find enough time to prepare for the rape trial and an upcoming hearing on a murder case, set to start the following week.
Wilson, along with the district attorney, lost that murder trial the following week.
“To take several days off during the course of the rape trial with an understaffed office is not, in my opinion, and not in the family's opinion, the best use of your time when you're trying to prosecute two major cases back to back,” said Epps.
While Epps believes more documents exist, Gonzalez says she’s already complied with his open records request and the court order. Norris said in his order that the Court was also satisfied.
Gonzalez also disputes the trip impacted the rape case in any way.
In a statement released in May after Epps first made the allegation, Gonzalez issued a statement saying in part, “My trip to Alabama this past April allowed me to learn from and connect with other district attorneys from around the country, seeking answers to address racial injustices in their offices and our current legal system.”
The statement went on, “to say that my trip adversely affected the outcome of a case speaks to the sensationalist tactics that our office continues to endure. It suggests that my office and I could not communicate while I was away. If we learned nothing else from COVID, we learned that physical location does not limit communication nor stop collaboration.” | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/mynews/athens/athens-da-rape-case-marsys-law/85-9257fb13-fd90-48c9-bd34-4bdf7d13f8fb | 2023-07-08T04:46:33 | 0 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/mynews/athens/athens-da-rape-case-marsys-law/85-9257fb13-fd90-48c9-bd34-4bdf7d13f8fb |
LAPWAI, Idaho — Multiple homes in Lapwai have caught fire, prompting evacuation notices to go into effect across the Nez Perce Tribe area.
According to Bill Skiles with the Lapwai Volunteer Fire Department, the fire started in a car port and eventually spread to the house next door. Once it began spreading, it made its way back to the house where the fire started.
No injuries have been reported, but Skiles said a few firefighters are being treated for heat exhaustion. It is not known how many people have been displaced as a result of the fire.
The Nez Perce Tribe has issued an emergency evacuation order due to the fire. The following areas are subject to the evacuation notice:
- Uuyit Kimti
- Nez Perce Tribal Courthouse & Prosecutor's Office
- Nez Perce Natural Resources
- Lapwai Boys & Girls Club
- Mamayasnim Hiteemenwees
- Commodity Food
- Fisheries
Residents are also asked to remove any vehicles from the following areas:
- BIA parking lot
- Pineewaus parking lot
- Lapwai Boys & Girls Club
Anyone in need of assistance is asked to call Nez Perce County at 208-799-3131. For emergencies, dial 911.
The Nez Perce Tribe of Social Services is asking the community for donations for the impacted families. For a list of items needed, click here.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com. | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho/lapwai-double-house-fire-nez-perce-tribe/293-822bcef1-ba94-40ac-b77f-55e14b3ccb96 | 2023-07-08T04:51:45 | 0 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho/lapwai-double-house-fire-nez-perce-tribe/293-822bcef1-ba94-40ac-b77f-55e14b3ccb96 |
Tulare County Sherrif's Office: Man arrested for rape may have more victims.
Tulare County Sheriff’s Office investigators arrested a 30-year-old Tulare man on Thursday for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl, and they believe he may have victimized more children.
On July 6, police served a warrant at a home in Tulare and took Santiago Iniguez into custody, according to a sheriff's office spokesperson. During the investigation, detectives found information that more victims may have been abused.
The investigation began after deputies responded to a report of a rape from a Tulare-area school. The 13-year-old girl told police she was raped by a man in December 2021 and March 2022.
Detectives identified Iniguez as the suspect during the week of June 28.
The arrest was made by the Tulare County Sheriff's Office SWAT team, special victims, homicide, and general investigations unit.
Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to contact Detective John Haro or Sgt Jessica Zendejas, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department, Special Victims Unit, at 559-733-6218. | https://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/news/local/visalia/2023/07/07/investigators-tulare-man-charged-with-rape-of-child-may-have-more-victims/70389949007/ | 2023-07-08T04:53:53 | 0 | https://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/news/local/visalia/2023/07/07/investigators-tulare-man-charged-with-rape-of-child-may-have-more-victims/70389949007/ |
WILKINSON, Ind. — A 13-year-old boy who was struck by a car while riding his bicycle in Hancock County last month is making a miraculous recovery, his family said Friday.
Jasper Young was critically injured with a traumatic brain injury when he was hit on SR 109 near Wilkinson around 10 p.m. on June 17.
Doctors removed Young from a ventilator on June 27, noting the following two days were critical in determining how he would do. Though two days later, when announcing the arrest of a suspect in the crash, the Hancock County Sheriff's Department said the teen "has shown very little improvement since the crash."
On Friday, July 7, however, the Wilkinson Volunteer Fire Department shared a Facebook post with information from Young's mother with an uplifting update.
"Jasper's doctors are calling him a miracle," read the post on a group for the Pendleton Heights Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
The post said an MRI showed previous blockages in Young's brain were gone, an area where doctors were concerned about a lack of oxygen or stroke was healed and blood vessels that were previously blocked all have blood flow.
A fracture in Young's neck had also healed, allowing doctors to remove his cervical collar.
Family members are hoping he will be discharged from the hospital next week, but Young had big plans before that.
"He woke up asking for McDonald's. We just finished a swallow study (x-rays as he eats and drinks), and he did perfectly! Big-Mac, here we come!" the post read.
Aaron Magee, 33, of Anderson, is accused of driving the car that struck Young. He has been charged with a felony count of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death or catastrophic injury. | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/boy-struck-by-car-in-hancock-county-jasper-young-making-miracle-recovery-family-says/531-60082987-935d-42c2-9490-bd8380ac988f | 2023-07-08T04:55:58 | 1 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/boy-struck-by-car-in-hancock-county-jasper-young-making-miracle-recovery-family-says/531-60082987-935d-42c2-9490-bd8380ac988f |
Salisbury Fire Department rescues motorist who drove into pond
Keith Demko
Salisbury Daily Times
Salisbury Fire Department units were alerted Friday afternoon for a vehicle into the pond at 106 Milford St. just after 1 p.m.
Crews arrived to find a vehicle that had struck the building, a parked car, and then drove into the retention pond. Personnel quickly made entry into the pond and over to the car.
The elderly patient was removed from the vehicle and transported to TidalHealth for evaluation. The Salisbury Police Department and the city building inspector were also on the scene.
GRAPPLING WITH GUN VIOLENCE:Grappling with gun violence: Maryland lawmakers respond to Salisbury, Baltimore shootings
Below is a gallery of photos from the Salisbury Fire Department from the scene. | https://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/maryland/2023/07/07/salisbury-fire-department-rescues-motorist-who-drove-into-pond/70393688007/ | 2023-07-08T04:56:26 | 1 | https://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/maryland/2023/07/07/salisbury-fire-department-rescues-motorist-who-drove-into-pond/70393688007/ |
DALLAS — The National Archives have made headlines in the past few months as the topic of classified documents continue to run its course.
But the Archives have once again made news and it also has something to do with Dealey Plaza and Dallas, Texas.
Over the last few years, records related to President John F. Kennedy's assassination have been slowly been made available to the public. As of this week, 99% of the records related to the assassination have been released.
Farris Rookstool is a former FBI Analyst and was tasked with physically transporting the records. He is also a JFK historian with extensive knowledge surrounding the assassination.
"I don't know any other person in the entire world that's read the materials," said Rookstool. "Of the 5 million records, 99% has been declassified."
The Archives have announced also that it has completed its review of the documents. But it is still unclear if and when the records will be made available digitally to the public.
"You could be looking at the same thing. You'll see it one way, he sees it another way," said Dervon Washington, who does unofficial tours and sells newsletters, DVDs and other items related to the assassination at Dealey Plaza. Washington said he would not consider himself a conspiracy theorist. He said he does, however, have differing theories about what happened and why it happened.
Rookstool says the historic landmark has somewhat become the "JFK Assasination Entertainment Area." He's referring to the tour guides and vendors who have found their place at the landmark. The location has also become the scene for every imaginable conspiracy related to the assassination.
"Everybody has a theory," said Washington.
Rookstool says the facts are unchanged. Kennedy was mortally wounded and Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone shooter who carried out the act. But the 1% of records remaining is just enough to keep the questions, the stories, alive.
"The conspiracy-minded people will never be satisfied," said Rookstool.
It is history for most, mystery for some. Washington tells WFAA the National Archives closing its review of the records will not stop people from coming to Dealey Plaza. | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/national-archives-closes-review-jfk-assassination-records-conspiracies-tourists-dealey-plaza-abound/287-893c2988-37d4-48e8-ac18-e717cbd1c878 | 2023-07-08T05:01:50 | 1 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/national-archives-closes-review-jfk-assassination-records-conspiracies-tourists-dealey-plaza-abound/287-893c2988-37d4-48e8-ac18-e717cbd1c878 |
Better Business Bureau: FCC blocks originator of scam robocalls
The FTC and other regulators have gone to court to shut down many scammers who contact their victims via robocalls. Another way to combat them is to prevent them from placing the calls in the first place by denying them access to the telecommunications network. That’s where the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) comes in.
The FCC’s Robocall Response team announced that the agency’s Enforcement Bureau ordered telecommunications companies to stop accepting robocall traffic from Urth Access, which originates calls on behalf of customers. The FCC saw an increase in scam student loan debt relief robocalls since President Biden announced his plans to forgive many student loans and determined that Urth Access and associates generated a high percentage of them.
The call blocking company YouMail estimated that approximately 40% of all student loan-related robocalls reaching YouMail subscribers in October 2022 appeared to originate from Urth Access. One robocall said “Hello this is to inform you that the Student Loan payment suspension has been extended to December 31 of this year. Also, everyone is now going to get $10,000 dismissed upon income verification. If you do not verify your income, on January 1, your payments will start back up automatically.”
Urth Access is headquartered in Newport Beach, California. Its website describes the company as “TRANSMITTING THE VOICE OF YOUR BUSINESS.” The BBB always warns consumers to be suspicious of communications and websites with spelling and grammatical errors, such as this heading in Urth Access’ website: Network Implimentation Aand Maintenance.
Robocalls are legal if the consumer has consented to receiving them from a company. Urth Access claimed its customers had express consent to place the student loan forgiveness calls. In some cases that was based on consumers agreeing to receive calls from “marketing partners.” However, the FTC noted that websites that captured the alleged consent included healthcare websites such as “gohealth.healthcare” that had nothing to do with student loans and that a secondary website consumers would have to hyperlink to listed over 5,000 marketing partners, which the FCC said did not constitute “informed” consent. Finally, the FCC said it appears Urth Access and its customers are the same entity.
Since companies must have permission to place a sales-related robocall and few people give permission, most of them are illegal to start with. The FCC and BBB offer these additional clues a student loan debt relief call may be a scam:
- Pressures you to provide money or information.
- Says you need to pay any sort of fee to apply or appeal your application.
- Directs you to any website outside of StudentAid.gov
- Purports to be calling from somewhere like the “student loan forgiveness center” or from a state forgiveness center.
- Uses suspicious caller ID, such as a name that is inconsistent with the substance of the message, or the same area code and first three digits of your phone number.
- Asks for your Federal Student Aid ID, bank account, or credit card information. (The real application requires your name, birth date, Social Security number, phone number, and email address.)
Many of these tips apply to any robocall. Don’t share any personal or financial information with a robocaller. If you think the call may be legitimate, hang up and call the institution using their publicly available phone number.
Randy Hutchinson is president & CEO Better Business Bureau of the Mid-South. This column is in partnership with Better Business Bureau of Middle Tennessee & Southern Kentucky. | https://www.jacksonsun.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/better-business-bureau-fcc-blocks-originator-of-scam-robocalls/70387661007/ | 2023-07-08T05:07:02 | 0 | https://www.jacksonsun.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/better-business-bureau-fcc-blocks-originator-of-scam-robocalls/70387661007/ |
New Jackson council members sworn in, vice mayor elected
Thursday's Jackson City Council meeting marked the swearing-in of five new city council members and the election of the new vice mayor ahead of amending the public comments procedure at meetings.
Following the swearing-in of the council members elected in May, the new council elected a vice mayor, followed by a treasurer and city recorder and the reappointment of two library board members, which wasn't a unanimous vote.
First-time members J.P Stovall (District 1), Candice Busby (District 4), Frank McMeen (District 5), Larry Lowrance (District 6), and Julie Holt (District 9) joined returning councilmembers Johnny Dodd (District 2), Richard Donnell (District 4), Marda Wallace (District 7), and Russ McKelvey (District 8) in taking their oath of office before the commencement of agenda items.
Incumbent councilmember and current Jackson Vice Mayor Marda Wallace nominated Russ McKelvey for the position, with councilmembers voting unanimously in favor of his nomination.
Newcomer Larry Lowrance nominated incumbent Johnny Dodd as treasurer and Jackson Mayor Scott Conger recommended the current Jackson City Recorder Bobby Arnold's nomination for reappointment to the position. Both nominations received a unanimous vote from the council.
Conger shared his excitement after the meeting with media about seeing how many community members came to Thursday's city council to watch the new members get sworn in and expressed how he's "looking forward to serve with them."
"It'll be a different dynamic than what we've had in the past, but I think it will be a good working relationship," Conger said. "It's obviously new personalities, different dynamics, but I think everyone is here for the right reasons."
Amendment to public comment procedure
Effective July 1, Tennessee Code Annotated 8-44-102(b)(1) amended the way in which local governing bodies allow for public comments. Changes include implementing a sign-up sheet for those who wish to speak and a subsequent three-minute limit on speaking about any agenda items.
The sign-up sheet will be located outside of the George A. Smith room on the first floor of City Hall, where council meetings are routinely held, and can be filled out prior to the start of the meeting.
Prior to the amendment, public comments were allowed to be made for an undesignated length of time during the First Reading of respective agenda items.
"We want to make sure people have an opportunity to be heard," Conger said. "Public comment here isn't the only time someone's voice could get heard.
"All of our council members have their phone numbers published, their emails published, and City Hall members, so there's other opportunities. I don't want someone to feel like that if they couldn't make it to a meeting, they couldn't get their voice heard. They can reach out to councilmembers, they can reach out to my office to get their voice heard on any agenda item or anything that goes on in the city, it's what we're here for."
Library Board members disputed
In accordance with the amended public comment procedure, four women sat before the council to share their support for the reappointment of Susan Francisco and Beth Anne Simpson to the Library Board.
Among the women was the former president of Friends of the Library Sue Anne Barnes, who commended Francisco and Simpson for their work with the Jackson Madison County Library thus far.
"This particular board has done a wonderful job recognizing the diversity of the community and the different patrons that they are serving," Barnes said. "I do support the reappointment of these two wonderful women to that board."
Though passed by majority vote, newcomer councilmembers J.P. Stovall and Candice Busby voted against Fransisco and Simpson's reappointment. | https://www.jacksonsun.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/council-members-sworn-in-at-groups-first-meeting-as-a-collective/70387322007/ | 2023-07-08T05:07:08 | 0 | https://www.jacksonsun.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/council-members-sworn-in-at-groups-first-meeting-as-a-collective/70387322007/ |
When Mike Kovac’s wife, Erica, had an emergency cesarean section at Dupont Hospital one month ago, their son was born at 23 weeks and 5 days old.
The Warsaw residents could spend five days postpartum at the hospital, but their son would have to be in the neonatal intensive care unit – also known as NICU – until his original due date in late September. If the couple returned home, they would be about an hour from their son for about three months while he was in the hospital.
“When you go through this, you barely have time to catch your breath,” Kovac said. “You’re still trying to figure out all the logistics because life comes at you so fast.”
The couple then learned about Hope’s Harbor Family Hospitality Homes from a nurse. Hope’s Harbor serves as a place for families with children or other relatives in the hospital to stay close to their children. The organization has two locations – one on the Lutheran Hospital campus and another on the Dupont Hospital campus.
“It’s just a five-minute walk to the front door of the hospital,” Kovac said. “We couldn’t have asked for anything better.”
Transportation and logistics can be a barrier for some families, said Wendy Hoering, executive director of Hope’s Harbor.
“Even if you live in the county, it could take about 25 to 30 minutes to get to the hospital. That’s not only too much time, but it’s too much money,” Hoering said. “Being right here on the campus of the hospital is really important and makes a big difference for families.”
The inside of both locations is meant to look like a hotel with a welcoming environment, Hoering said.
Hope’s Harbor built its first house at the Lutheran Hospital campus in 2003, making this year the 20th anniversary for having a place where families can stay.
Since opening, Hope’s Harbor has housed more than 11,000 family members. In 2022, the organization provided housing for 1,072 guests for a total of 3,750 nights. The nonprofit expects to serve more than 1,000 guests this year.
Formerly known as Mad Anthonys Children’s Hope House, Hope’s Harbor was founded in 1997 and rebranded in 2022, Hoering said. The organization rebranded to gain more visual recognition in the community and be known as a hopeful place for families in a rough time.
The house near Lutheran Hospital has 10 private rooms for families, and includes amenities like outdoor areas, private bath and shower facilities, complimentary pantry items, and kitchen, laundry and exercise facilities.
The Dupont Hospital campus house has four private rooms and private bath and shower facilities, complimentary pantry items, and kitchen and laundry facilities.
Hoering started as the nonprofit’s executive director in January 2022, when the organization was in the middle of its rebranding. The Mad Anthonys Children’s Hope House was funded through the Mad Anthonys Foundation through a contractual agreement but transitioned to a grant-making process to help more community organizations.
“That gave us the opportunity to look within and say, ‘How do we want to be known or represented?’ ” Hoering said. “We really feel like we have a lot of opportunities that people didn’t know about and we didn’t have a lot of visual recognition.”
Hoering said she met with One Lucky Guitar, a local advertising firm, and Jack Arnold, the organization’s founder, joined the sessions. The group met to talk about what it wants people to know and what makes the organization stand out.
“Hope is the element of our organization that we couldn’t be without – that is our core,” Hoering said. “This is a hopeful place for families who are really going through some of the darkest times of our life.”
Kovac said he and his wife don’t know when they are going to leave Hope’s Harbor. It depends on how their son progresses, but they would like to stay as long as they can because the staff has been great for them.
None of the parents know how their day is going to go, Kovac said, and no matter how much they plan ahead, adjustments will still need to be made.
“A lot can change based on how the kid is doing day-to-day,” Kovac added. “So, when you get a small window to rush back and shower or just get a quick meal, it means a lot, especially to those parents who are in that whirlwind of the first few weeks and just trying to get their feet under them.”
Before their son’s birth, the Kovacs had not heard of Hope’s Harbor because they live in Warsaw and mostly interact with the Lutheran Health Network through the Kosciusko Hospital. Kovac said they did not know much about Dupont Hospital before his wife’s cesarean section.
The couple has also gotten to know other families staying at Hope’s Harbor. They never know who is going to be their neighbor, but they find out quickly, Kovac said. It’s an unexpected benefit of the facility.
The families are able to become friends, and after long days, they can comfort each other.
“The moms were all here doing some bottle work and stuff together,” Kovac said. “They were able to chat and whether they know it or not – I could see it in my own wife – it was just a nice change of pace to just chat with somebody and commiserate and share experiences.”
Hoering said families who stay with Hope’s Harbor are in every stage of life, and she enjoys meeting a diverse group of families and watching them make their temporary home at Hope’s Harbor.
Parents can never protect themselves or their children entirely, Hoering said, and that’s why it’s important for them to have a place to stay and for Hope’s Harbor to be known in the community.
“Everybody’s home life is a little bit different and this experience is challenging, but they can find a spot to feel safe and comfortable while their child’s over at the hospital,” she said.
Volunteers are crucial to how Hope’s Harbor runs, Hoering said, whether through preparing meals or cleaning the facilities. Hoering also enjoys seeing volunteers interact with the families.
One volunteer is Dennis Schebig, who volunteers on the first Wednesday of every month. Schebig provides lunch for families staying at Hope’s Harbor and said he usually brings cold meat sandwiches from a store in New Haven.
Schebig rotates each week with three other people from Brookside Church, and the group has been doing this for about five years.
“We all enjoy it,” he said. “It’s helping people who are in need for whatever reason, and it makes you feel good. … It really is a labor of love.”
Schebig said he doesn’t interact with families every time he’s volunteering – only when he’s still preparing lunch bags for them when they come to the kitchen to eat. But, even without talking to the families, he said it’s an honor to help Hope’s Harbor.
“As a nonprofit organization, we have to be fiscally minded, and think about how we can reduce our expenses,” Hoering said. “(Volunteers) make a huge impact on our organization’s finances, but also just the heart of it, shows that it’s a community effort and that people feel like the house is a piece of our community.”
Everything Hope’s Harbor does is for the families, Hoering said. Families have shaped its mission for the last 20 years, and Hoering said she wants it to shape the next 20 years. A lot has changed since the first house’s opening, she said, but the organization knows how to adapt to make things better for the families.
“When we see that we have more families who would like to be able to stay at Hope’s Harbor than we have rooms to accommodate for, that tells us that the need is there,” Hoering said. “We would love to see us grow in the next 20 years to continue to accommodate our families.”
Hoering also said having the support of the Fort Wayne community is crucial to the nonprofit’s success. Last year, more families were from outside Allen County, but the majority of volunteers were from Fort Wayne and Allen County.
“We’re really proud to be a locally funded and operated organization,” she said. “Fort Wayne and Allen County is our home, and we want to keep it that way.”
Volunteers, from left, Lucy Hayes, Katherine Lyon and Ernesto Castillo prepare tacos and brownies for families staying at Hope’s Harbor at Lutheran Hospital. A bulletin board displaying cards and notes from various families who have stayed at Hope’s Harbor’s Lutheran Hospital facility, one of two on Lutheran campuses in the city. A common area, above, and guest room, left, are designed to look like a hotel. In 2022, the organization provided housing for 1,072 guests. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/a-labor-of-love-hopes-harbor-celebrates-20-years-of-helping-families-at-lutheran/article_7130f896-1b78-11ee-97fb-1f37cf69e649.html | 2023-07-08T05:17:25 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/a-labor-of-love-hopes-harbor-celebrates-20-years-of-helping-families-at-lutheran/article_7130f896-1b78-11ee-97fb-1f37cf69e649.html |
A local developer and restaurateur is suing the Fort Wayne Plan Commission, describing the officials’ decision that blocked his planned restaurant as “arbitrary and capricious.”
The Plan Commission’s attorney has responded, filing paperwork last week that argues the developer didn’t meet the legal burden of necessary to overturn the commission’s decision. A Sept. 5 hearing on the issue has been scheduled in Allen Superior Court.
The saga dates back more than four years and includes two instances when Martin Quintana forged ahead with building plans and later sought – and received – forgiveness from the Plan Commission rather than securing permission up front.
But commission members balked when Quintana sought to revise restrictions in a formal agreement his attorney had reached with a representative for Covington Creek Condominiums about what types of businesses could lease space in a retail center. Although the Covington Creek residents agreed to the revision, Plan Commission members said they wouldn’t have recommended the project for City Council approval in 2019 without that negotiated agreement in place.
Approving an amendment would be a sign to other developers that following planning processes doesn’t really matter, commission member Judi Wire said during the November meeting.
Quintana, who is represented by local attorney James Federoff, alleges in the court filing that the Plan Commission exceeded its authority when it denied his bid to change the previous agreement with neighbors to allow a Famous Taco sit-down restaurant to operate in the 6600 block of West Jefferson Boulevard.
The lawsuit requests transcripts from the commission’s meetings leading up to the decision and the names and addresses of those who spoke at a public hearing.
Attorneys for both parties are on vacation and unavailable for comment this month.
Quintana applied four years ago for a permit to build a garage onto a home at 6626 W. Jefferson Blvd. The result was an 8,820-square-foot addition with no windows but with two bathrooms and a laundry room. Some speculated at the time that the space was originally designed to house undocumented workers employed by Quintana’s multiple Mexican restaurants.
After an anonymous complaint drew attention to the unusual residential “garage,” which was the size of 1 1/2 basketball courts and had with only one garage bay, the Allen County Building Department issued a stop-work order in 2019.
Quintana then requested in June 2019 that the property be rezoned from residential to commercial. He also sought a waiver because the building violated existing standards specifying how far away a commercial building must be from the property line. In shifting his written plans from residential to commercial, Quintana said he wanted to open a Famous Taco restaurant and provide space for four retail tenants.
Quintana’s stated plans changed again by Aug. 12, 2019, when his representatives said the building would be enlarged to 11,800 square feet and house four retail units that would likely be a mix of personal and professional service providers and lower-volume retail. Physical therapy providers and a mattress store were said to be interested in the spaces.
A sit-down restaurant was not being planned, Quintana’s representatives said, but a Subway-style sandwich shop without a drive-thru window or outdoor seating might be considered.
Neighbors in the Covington Creek and Brierwood Hills neighborhoods expressed concerns about increased light, noise and traffic at the Quintana-owned site – after his commercial ambitions were made public.
Quintana’s attorney and a representative for Covington Creek negotiated a written commitment to that would limit the types of business that could lease space, the operating hours of those businesses and the hours when deliveries and trash collection could be made. That agreement would bind any future land owner to the restrictions, not just Quintana. Also, Quintana agreed to add trees, a fence, an earthen mound and landscaping behind the building to shield it from neighboring residences.
Both requests were granted by Fort Wayne City Council in September 2019 – but not without some controversy.
The late John Caywood, who was Allen County’s building commissioner in 2019, told The Journal Gazette at the time that some business owners initially represent a proposed structure as residential because meeting commercial building codes is more expensive.
Commercial construction permits are also more expensive, he said.
By September 2022, Quintana again changed plans for the property.
He asked to modify the written agreement with neighbors regarding allowable tenants and uses so he could open a Famous Taco sit-down restaurant. In fact, he installed signs on the property before receiving a response to his request, once again jumping ahead of city officials’ process.
On Nov. 14, the Plan Commission rejected the request to change the agreement by a vote of 5-2 with one abstention.
Robert Eherenman, the Plan Commission’s attorney, argued in the June 27 court filing that Quintana’s legal argument is based on two false premises: that he is absolutely entitled to change the zoning restrictions in the written commitment as long as the condominium association approved the change to its private covenant rights and that the amendment was only a clarification and not a material change to the zoning restrictions.
Because the Plan Commission is an administrative agency with expertise in zoning issues, its decision is presumed to be correct and cannot be overruled by a court – except in specific circumstances that don’t apply in this case, Eherenman argues.
“It is Quintana’s burden to overcome this presumption,” the filing argues. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/restaurateur-suing-fort-wayne-plan-commission-calls-decision-arbitrary/article_d987e490-1cf9-11ee-984c-c334aacab707.html | 2023-07-08T05:17:27 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/restaurateur-suing-fort-wayne-plan-commission-calls-decision-arbitrary/article_d987e490-1cf9-11ee-984c-c334aacab707.html |
Another fun Mr. Mac Day in the books
Most Popular
-
Three Rivers Festival offers drag show despite national controversy
-
Doctor files lawsuit against Lutheran over noncompete clause
-
Woodhurst Fourth of July Parade attendees march on for 20th gathering
-
Tours of Chief Richardville House come with history lessons, games
-
Botanical Conservatory creates 'herban garden' in downtown Fort Wayne | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/mr-mac-day/article_f49c5474-1d11-11ee-824c-5b5d0c44c999.html | 2023-07-08T05:17:43 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/mr-mac-day/article_f49c5474-1d11-11ee-824c-5b5d0c44c999.html |
The chart lists crimes through July 3 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 11
6/27/23 1 p.m. Robbery 4200 Coldwater Road
7/1/23 1:48 p.m. Robbery 4200 Coldwater Road
7/2/23 3 a.m. Theft from vehicle 400 Third St.
Sector 12
7/2/23 8:11 p.m. Robbery 1600 Richardson St.
Sector 22
7/1/23 Midnight Theft from vehicle 4500 E. State Blvd.
7/2/23 3 p.m. Burglary 1600 Reed Road
7/2/23 4:24 p.m. Burglary 5100 Nassau Drive
Sector 23
7/3/23 9:08 a.m. Theft from vehicle 3000 Simcoe Drive
Sector 24
7/1/23 Midnight Theft from vehicle 3700 Knollcrest Road
7/1/23 7 p.m. Theft from vehicle 3300 Academic Place
7/2/23 8:30 p.m. Theft from vehicle 5300 Dial Drive
Sector 26
6/27/23 8:30 p.m. Theft from vehicle 6200 Belle Isle Lane
6/27/23 11 p.m. Theft from vehicle 5300 Cranston Ave.
6/28/23 Midnight Theft from vehicle 8100 Sunny Lane
Sector 32
6/28/23 Midnight Theft from vehicle 2000 Thompson Ave.
6/29/23 8:44 a.m. Burglary 2100 Oakley St.
Sector 34
6/27/23 4:30 p.m. Theft from vehicle 1400 Getz Road
6/29/23 1:45 p.m. Theft from vehicle 6300 Illinois Road
7/1/23 5:23 p.m. Burglary 3200 Illinois Road
7/2/23 10:46 a.m. Burglary 5200 Illinois Road
Sector 37
6/27/23 4:15 a.m. Burglary 7300 Baer Road
6/30/23 4 p.m. Burglary 2900 Lower Huntington Road
Sector 38
6/27/23 2:04 a.m. Theft from vehicle 5700 Bluffton Road
7/2/23 12:20 p.m. Burglary 5400 Tyrone Road
Sector 41
7/2/23 Midnight Theft from vehicle Hanna St./Jefferson Blvd.
Sector 42
7/1/23 6:30 p.m. Burglary 1400 Greene St.
7/2/23 3:51 p.m. Robbery 2200 Holton Ave.
Sector 44
6/30/23 1:38 p.m. Burglary 400 E. Wildwood Ave.
6/30/23 6:24 p.m. Burglary 5200 Decatur Road
7/2/23 10:40 p.m. Robbery 3300 Reed St. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/crime-reports/crime-reports/article_5490dd3a-1ba7-11ee-bd86-d345aaa8787b.html | 2023-07-08T05:17:49 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/crime-reports/crime-reports/article_5490dd3a-1ba7-11ee-bd86-d345aaa8787b.html |
Locating drugs, finding a missing person and visiting students in school – the life of a police dog is busy.
Across northeast Indiana counties, K-9s are trained in various tasks that help make their human handlers’ jobs easier. Some may be trained to apprehend crime suspects, while others learn to detect ammunition in schools. For many neighboring counties, their police dogs are trained through the Allen County K-9 Academy.
Eight K-9 partners graduated from the academy in June. Graduates went to the Auburn, North Manchester, Gas City, Decatur, Garrett and Fremont police departments, and to the sheriff’s departments in Allen and Kosciusko counties. Allen County’s graduate, K-9 Hondo, is the newest addition to the department.
John Colvin, an officer with the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, serves as a school resource officer with his furry companion, Lotus. While Colvin says 90 to 95% of the duo’s day is spent socializing with students, Lotus is trained to detect six different types of narcotics and ammunition to help keep the two items out of the Northwest Allen County Schools they work in.
Colvin said Lotus thrives in the public role.
By comparison, Allen County Cpl. Ben Fries’ K-9 partner Django is also trained to detect narcotics but has been schooled for apprehension to handle situations where he may need to be aggressive. Django cares more about his handler’s approval than anything else, Fries said.
“His drive is a little bit different in that he doesn’t necessarily crave this social attention from people,” Fries said. “He wants me to be giving him work.”
While some officers have days they don’t want to work, that can’t be said for Django, Fries said.
“Anytime I put this collar on him or put my uniform on, he wants to go to work 100% of time, every day,” Fries said. “No questions asked.”
That switch is similar for police dogs in neighboring counties. In Huntington County, Deputy Austin Smith said he enjoys doing demonstrations to show people what his K-9 Kylo Ren is truly like. Smith said Kylo Ren does the commands to make his handler happy or to get a toy as a reward – much like a family pet sitting or shaking for a treat.
Smith said he shows how quickly that switch can be flipped during demonstrations by showing how Kylo Ren will go from apprehending and biting someone on command, to letting them pet him. It’s all based on how he’s instructed, Smith said.
“I like to show these people that he just got done aggressively biting this person and then they’re able to come up and pet him with no issue,” Smith said. “He’s not aggressive – he’s just doing the job.”
Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputy Brenden Barber agreed, saying people often assume K-9s are aggressive. His furry companion Blu is only unfriendly when commanded to be at work.
“They’re not going to go crazy unless they’re given a command to attack somebody or take over a situation,” Barber said.
Steuben County Sheriff’s Sgt. Alexander Harris said his K-9 Klara was trained to have that on-off switch for about 15 weeks in Allen County before coming to work with him.
“We don’t have mean dogs,” Harris said. “We have trained dogs.”
Training can be tough, sometimes ending in stitches, but Fries said that’s necessary.
“It’s kind of like with a Taser – if you want to carry a Taser, you have to be hit with a taser as well,” Fries said. “I know if I send a dog after someone what that entails because I’ve had seven stitches from them and countless other bites and training.”
Both Colvin and Fries said they have always been interested in having K-9s on the job.
“It’s one of those where why not have a furry friend with you when you’re at work,” Colvin said.
Ben Fries’ father, former Allen County Sheriff Ken Fries, was also a K-9 officer.
The corporal said his dad’s work as a K-9 handler inspired him to do the same.
“When I was at a very young age, I learned the neat thing about these canines is they’re pack animals and they have a hierarchy in their path,” Fries said. “We had a pack with (his dad’s) police K-9 where as a young boy, I could see this dog respects me and loves me, but he was all about what Dad wanted. Anywhere Dad went, he went, and I always wanted that.”
The officers and their K-9s spend all of their time together, whether it’s on the job or at home. Colvin and Fries said the dogs are part of their family.
Colvin said his two small boys love to play with Lotus – and she loves it right back. The officer said the relationship the children and Lotus have helped her on the job as well.
“I want her to have that social aspect and be good with kids and be good with what would normally be uncomfortable situations for a dog,” Colvin said. “I want her to be as used to it as possible.” | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/k-9s-handlers-talk-realities-of-the-job-with-furry-partners/article_27fcc240-1b78-11ee-9398-d3dedaeeff65.html | 2023-07-08T05:17:55 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/k-9s-handlers-talk-realities-of-the-job-with-furry-partners/article_27fcc240-1b78-11ee-9398-d3dedaeeff65.html |
Students will begin classes at Bishop Luers High School next month with someone new in charge – but he won’t necessarily be a stranger.
Bishop Kevin Rhoades has promoted Scott Kreiger to principal from assistant principal effective July 17, the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend announced.
Kreiger replaces Jim Huth, who resigned June 30 to pursue a new career opportunity.
Kreiger has experience teaching science, computer science, business and math at the secondary and college levels, a news release said.
Locally, he previously taught at Canterbury High School, where he also coached boys and girls basketball for two decades. He led the Cavaliers’ girls program to four state championships and the boys program to three sectional titles.
Kreiger resigned from Canterbury in 2018 to teach in Florida, where he could be closer to his three eldest children. His LinkedIn profile indicates he returned to northeast Indiana in August 2020 and joined Luers last year.
Rhoades said he is grateful Kreiger agreed to lead the 500-student school.
“His experience in educational leadership and his commitment to the Catholic identity, mission, and strong academic program at Bishop Luers have impressed me greatly,” Rhoades said in a statement this week. “Scott’s deep Catholic faith, his professionalism, and his love for education will help Bishop Luers continue to grow and flourish.”
Kreiger has a bachelor’s degree in business education and a master’s degree in school administration, the release said. It added he completed an educational leadership program in 2021.
Kreiger said he is eager to serve the Luers community.
“Together, we will foster an environment of academic excellence, personal growth, and faith formation,” he said in a statement. “We will continue to build upon the rich traditions and values that have shaped this institution for generations. Guided by our Catholic identity, we will foster a nurturing and inclusive environment where students feel supported and inspired to reach their fullest potential.”
Kreiger lives in Fort Wayne with his wife, Stacie. She is director of clinical services for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, the release said. They have four children and five grandchildren. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/schools/bishop-rhoades-names-new-luers-principal/article_51c19f4e-1c34-11ee-b95a-c3cb0f4e27b3.html | 2023-07-08T05:18:01 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/schools/bishop-rhoades-names-new-luers-principal/article_51c19f4e-1c34-11ee-b95a-c3cb0f4e27b3.html |
Faces of opening day at the Three Rivers Festival
Most Popular
-
Three Rivers Festival offers drag show despite national controversy
-
Doctor files lawsuit against Lutheran over noncompete clause
-
Woodhurst Fourth of July Parade attendees march on for 20th gathering
-
Tours of Chief Richardville House come with history lessons, games
-
Botanical Conservatory creates 'herban garden' in downtown Fort Wayne | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/three-rivers-festival-begins/article_50f14ace-1d1f-11ee-80ed-4bb6664f51ad.html | 2023-07-08T05:18:08 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/three-rivers-festival-begins/article_50f14ace-1d1f-11ee-80ed-4bb6664f51ad.html |
Skip to content
Main Navigation
Search
Search for:
Local
Weather
Responds
Investigations
Video
Sports
Entertainment
Newsletters
Live TV
Share
Close
Trending
Luka's Engaged! 🏀 💍
USWNT captains ⚽
Best Texas BBQ 🍴
July astronomy 🌓
Watch us 24/7 📺
Sign up for Good News 😊
Expand
Local
The latest news from around North Texas. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/community-unites-to-remember-victims-of-fort-worth-shooting/3292069/ | 2023-07-08T05:20:05 | 0 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/community-unites-to-remember-victims-of-fort-worth-shooting/3292069/ |
Skip to content
Main Navigation
Search
Search for:
Local
Weather
Responds
Investigations
Video
Sports
Entertainment
Newsletters
Live TV
Share
Close
Trending
Luka's Engaged! 🏀 💍
USWNT captains ⚽
Best Texas BBQ 🍴
July astronomy 🌓
Watch us 24/7 📺
Sign up for Good News 😊
Expand
Local
The latest news from around North Texas. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/mother-and-daughter-survive-freak-accident-good-samaritans-step-in-to-save-the-day/3292068/ | 2023-07-08T05:20:12 | 1 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/mother-and-daughter-survive-freak-accident-good-samaritans-step-in-to-save-the-day/3292068/ |
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) – A new drug received full FDA approval for early-onset Alzheimer’s treatment. Alzheimer’s for Central Alabama says this is a step in the right direction for treatment and hopes with more research a cure can be found.
“We had a drug that was approved last June, the first drug, Aduhelm, had a lot of problems, this drug has fewer problems but still is not without its issues,” says Miller Piggott, executive director of Alzheimer’s of Central Alabama. “I think this is the start of a good trend.”
UAB Hospital was part of the studies done on the drug Lecanemab, known on the market as Leqembi, in January of this year which helped lead to its accelerated approval. Some doctors say this approval is a breakthrough in Alzheimer’s Disease treatment.
“This is the first time we have clear demonstration that we can slow progression of the disease over a long period of time,” says Dr. David Geldmacher, director of the Division of Memory Disorders and clinical core lead of the UAB Alzheimer’s Disease Center.
The FDA has a black box warning on Lequembi’s label, the strongest warning, after studies showed one in ten study participants had brain swelling or hemorrhaging.
UAB says the clinical trials for Lecanemab showed it was able to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s by 25%-35%, which it says is a significant number. Lecanemab has specific requirements for who qualifies, including only being for those with mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease.
“Many people, many families are missing those early stages thinking they’re a part of everyday aging but it’s important for someone who’s experiencing changes in memory, persistent changes in memory, to be evaluated to see if they might benefit from this medication,” Geldmacher said.
Alzheimer’s of Central Alabama says it’s an exciting day for many families who have been waiting for a breakthrough like this.
“Alzheimer’s of Central Alabama has been around for thirty years and I didn’t think that would be the case. I thought maybe we would’ve put ourselves out of business by now,” says Piggott. “It’s great to see that we have some hope for families and a treatment that might really impact people’s quality of life.”
Pamela Higgins says she learned about Lecanemab when her husband was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She says she thinks medications like this will be most effective if doctors are able to spot the problem very early on before things go awry.
“If I knew five years ago what I know now, would slowing the progression be a big deal? At some point, it’s not a big deal. So it depends where you’re at in the course of the disease whether or not this is going to be something wonderful or not,” says Higgins.
UAB says the approval of Liqembi will open doors for new treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease and maintaining brain health. | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/alzheimers-support-organizations-in-alabama-react-to-approval-of-new-treatment-drug/ | 2023-07-08T05:22:11 | 0 | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/alzheimers-support-organizations-in-alabama-react-to-approval-of-new-treatment-drug/ |
Skip to content
Main Navigation
Search
Search for:
Weather
Local
Sports
Entertainment
Investigators
Videos
Newsletters
Live TV
Share
Close
Trending
Watch NBC10 24/7 on Streaming Platforms
Wawa Welcome America
First Alert Weather
Phillies baseball
Expand
Seeking Peace in Philly
Searching for solutions to Philadelphia's gun violence crisis | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/seeking-peace-in-philly/summer-youth-program-encourages-kids-to-have-goals-not-guns/3600164/ | 2023-07-08T05:30:24 | 0 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/seeking-peace-in-philly/summer-youth-program-encourages-kids-to-have-goals-not-guns/3600164/ |
Skip to content
Main Navigation
Search
Search for:
Weather
Local
Sports
Entertainment
Investigators
Videos
Newsletters
Live TV
Share
Close
Trending
Watch NBC10 24/7 on Streaming Platforms
Wawa Welcome America
First Alert Weather
Phillies baseball
Expand
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/staying-cool-for-the-summer-with-the-return-of-the-oval-on-the-parkway/3600489/ | 2023-07-08T05:30:30 | 0 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/staying-cool-for-the-summer-with-the-return-of-the-oval-on-the-parkway/3600489/ |
Odney purchases KK Bold
Advertising agency Odney, Inc. in Bismarck has acquired KK Bold, an advertising agency also based in Bismarck.
State auditor's office rated
The North Dakota State Auditor’s Office has received a pass rating in a peer review by the National State Auditors Association.
Six professional auditors from across the country evaluated the state auditor’s office policies, procedures and work products. Organizations can receive a rating of pass, pass with deficiencies or fail.
Tags
- Commerce
- Company
- Bismarck
- Premier Agency
- Hotel
- State
- Ressler Agency
- Agency
- Status
- Ramkota Hotel
- Insurance
- Conference Center
- Regency Midwest Ventures Lp
- Weishan Jin
- Oil Change
- Valvoline Instant
- Telecommunications
- Motor Vehicle
- Work
- Health Information Network
- North Dakota
- Tires Plus
- Car Care
- Data Set
- Starion Bank
- Workshop
- Agriculture
- School
- Zootechnics
- Program
- Health
- Discussion
- Computer Science
- Resource
- Fest
- Festival
- Music
- Tour
- Concert
- Tourism Awards
- Travel
- Event
- Artist
- Nomination
- Bismarck Mandan Chamber Edc
- Deadline
- Award
- Digest
- Cathryn Sprynczynatyk
- Inaugural
- Credit Union
- Capital Credit Union
- Bank
- Category
- Railway Credit Union
- Asset
- Vue Community Credit Union
- Assets
- Finance
- Economics
- Increase
- Dakota Credit Union Association
- Loan
- Nurse Practitioner
- Clinic
- Hospital
- Mind & Memory Clinic
- Clarity
- Pelican Health
- Corinna Glatt
- Suite
- Julie Tanous
- Agraria Insurance Agency
- Jamie Ressler Agency
- Farmers Union
- Performing
- Montana-dakota Utilities
- Emergency Response Award
- Edison Electric Institute
- Recipient
- Assistance
- Effort
- Sanford Health
- Medicine
- Recovery
- Ncdr Chest Pain-mi Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award
- Webinar
- Alexius Health
- Politics
- American Stroke Association
- Primary Plus Stroke Center
- Productivity
- Certification
- Leadership
- Bismarck-mandan Area
- Ceremony
- Graduation
- Legislation
- Retreat
- Application
- Social Service
- Expert
- Guideline
- Achievement
- Lifeline
- Get
- American Heart Association
- Kohl's
- Kramer Chevrolet
- Dealer
- Excellence Service Award
- Service
- Sales
- Dealership
- Bismarck Aero Center
- Garmin International
- Garmin Silver Award
- Performance
- Gate City Bank
- National Guard
- Military
- Reserve
- Employer
- Army National Guard
- Employee
- Bleau Hoge
- Cake
- Bundt
- Mandan
- Hyundai
- Bismarck Motor Company
- Bakery
- Plaza
- Marketing
- Summit
- Internet
- Dickinson
- Website
- Coteau
- Mines
- Public Service
- Coteau Properties Company
- Reclamation
- Coal Mining
- Reclamation Division
- Spouse
- Best
- Vet
- Designation
- Publishing
- Inorganic Chemistry
- Business
- Ethnology
- Job Market
- Trade
- Sports
- Software
- The Economy
- Banking
- Motor Vehicles
- Film Industry
- Tv Broadcasting
- Social Services
- Sociology
- Law
- Theatre
- Insurance Industry
- Institutions
- Accounting
- Advertising
The business news you need
Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/business/business-digest---july-8-2023/article_e8a9f24c-176d-11ee-a4fc-b7c7fa709d59.html | 2023-07-08T05:42:44 | 1 | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/business/business-digest---july-8-2023/article_e8a9f24c-176d-11ee-a4fc-b7c7fa709d59.html |
PORTLAND, Ore. — Multnomah County on Friday confirmed reporting from Willamette Week that it will soon begin distributing clean tin foil and straws for street drug users, particularly those who smoke fentanyl.
In addition, the county Health Department said in a statement, it will be distributing "bubbles" and "stems" or glass pipes for people who smoke methamphetamine or crack, as well as "snorting kits" for those who inhale drugs.
The reason for this is fairly simple, MCHD laid out matter-of-factly — fewer people are looking for clean needles to use drugs intravenously, particularly as fentanyl becomes more prevalent than heroin.
"Changes in drugs and in drug use behaviors that began in 2022 have continued, resulting in less effective naloxone distribution and client engagement via the public health harm reduction program," the agency said. "It’s difficult to engage folks who don’t come in."
The county's harm reduction program has seen a 30% decrease in individuals seeking clean syringes; from a peak of 3,367 people in 2019 down to 2,359 in 2022. Overall visits went down almost 61% between 2019 and 2022, from 14,337 to 5,625.
Multnomah County's harm reduction program can and does distribute Narcan to users who come in for supplies, but people don't seem to be coming in for Narcan alone. So they're changing up what kind of supplies they offer.
"By bringing more people into our sites, this increases opportunity for health education, referrals to resources such as (substance use disorder) treatment, and more opportunities for HIV, STI and Hepatitis C testing," the agency said. "Building relationships with people actively using substances also gives our department more insight into emerging public health issues that impact this population. We are able to directly hear from our clients when there are concerning changes to the drug supply, increased wound issues, or other related issues that are of public health concern."
After the story broke Friday, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler fired off a tweet in apparent opposition to the county's new harm reduction offerings, suggesting that it would "encourage" the use of fentanyl.
The Multnomah County Health Department declined to comment on Wheeler's statement directly. However, the agency made clear in its statement that it does not agree with that assessment and believes that it is making a positive public health decision — precisely because of the rise in overdoses.
"Several decades of research have also shown that providing supplies for safer drug use does not increase illegal drug use," MCHD said. "Research to date specific to smoking supplies is limited, but the logic model is the same as offering syringes — offering these supplies does not mean people will start using substances. Syringe access does not mean that people will start injecting, just as offering condoms does not encourage young people to start having sex."
Smoking supplies are catching on as a part of harm reduction programs globally, the county added.
MCHD acknowledged that these smoking supplies are currently considered drug paraphernalia under Oregon law, but said it already distributes supplies with that label, including fentanyl test strips. House Bill 2395, currently awaiting Gov. Tina Kotek's signature, would change those designations.
"The goals of updating the supplies offered at MCHD Harm Reduction sites are to 1) re-engage clients who switched fully to smoking, 2) newly engage clients who have only smoked/snorted drugs, and 3) support clients who are moving to decrease injecting frequency in favor of smoking or snorting when able," the county concluded. "While we all understand that abstinence from drug use is the safest, the people who are seeking out services are doing so because they are already using substances."
Dangerous as fentanyl is, many of Portland's street drug users already seem to be making the switch. The upside, the county reasoned, is that a reduction in intravenous drug use can decrease the risk of infection and spreading blood-borne diseases.
MCHD said that distribution of these new harm reduction supplies begins this month. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/multnomah-county-fentanyl-foil-straws-harm-reduction/283-97e5091d-566b-4086-9251-6e1190a4c638 | 2023-07-08T06:07:07 | 1 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/multnomah-county-fentanyl-foil-straws-harm-reduction/283-97e5091d-566b-4086-9251-6e1190a4c638 |
INDIANAPOLIS — Balloons were released Friday night in memory of a 16-year-old girl who was shot and killed at a neighborhood block party Monday night.
Serenity Wilson's family was at the event, sharing how they want her to be remembered.
"She made me a 'Gigi.' She was my first born. And y'all took that away from me. I'm going to always miss you. I love you Serenity," Wilson's grandmother said to the crowd Friday.
Those gathered were honoring a daughter, granddaughter, sister and friend.
"She have a lot of love. And she was a beautiful spirit. She was a social butterfly. And she loved so many, so many," her grandmother said. "And I just want to say thank you. Y'all be safe. And y'all put them guns down."
Wilson was killed during a party on Forest Manor Avenue on the east side Monday night.
"We see that my baby got a legacy that's about to go on forever. We not saying rest in heaven. We not saying long live. It's 'Forever 16,'" said Wilson's aunt China.
Wilson's family members want the community to know how she made them smile.
"She's just, like, a lovely girl. She would make anybody smile. And sometimes we do argue because we're siblings, but we always make up. And we'd be playing Roblox with my little brother. Serenity, to me, was the person I could always count on and the person...I could look up to her," said her 12-year-old sister, Sa'Mya Boyd.
For now, the celebration of Serenity's life is what this family has to hold onto.
"This makes me happy because she talked to a lot of people. She was so social. This is a big turnout for her. I know she would be happy," said another of Serenity's sisters, 17-year-old Sa'Niyah Boyd.
While they honored Serenity's legacy, police and her family are still trying to figure out what happened and who is responsible for her death. | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/family-friends-release-balloons-in-memory-of-16-year-old-murder-victim-serenity-wilson/531-28ff9314-83e9-42a6-9abc-18997e7b65a2 | 2023-07-08T06:27:23 | 0 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/family-friends-release-balloons-in-memory-of-16-year-old-murder-victim-serenity-wilson/531-28ff9314-83e9-42a6-9abc-18997e7b65a2 |
Release comes for Lakeland woman whose optimism in coping with ALS inspired many
Faced with perhaps the cruelest of medical plights, Laura Pinner became an inspiration for friends and strangers as she radiated gratitude, positivity and courage in the time that remained of her life.
The Lakeland resident also spoke honestly about the physical suffering and emotional distress wrought by the unrelenting decline of her body from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. The brutal disease brought an end to Pinner’s self-declared “wonderful life” on Friday. She was 53.
Pinner died at the childhood home in South Lakeland that she shared with her parents, Bill and Frances Pinner, enveloped by family members and friends. She had been under sedation and unconscious for several days before her passing, said her older sister, June Edwards.
Previously'It's like a big hug.' Community, friends help Lakeland woman find gratitude amid ALS losses
The Ledger chronicled Pinner’s experience with ALS, sometimes called Lou Gehrig’s disease, in an article in November 2021 and an update in February. She spoke honestly about how the disease had ravaged her body while emphasizing the deep meaning her life still held.
“I'm totally, 1,000% thankful,” Pinner said in November 2021, when she had already lost the ability to walk and the use of her left arm. “My cup runneth over.”
ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. It blocks the brain’s ability to control muscle movement, and patients eventually lose the ability to speak, eat and finally to breathe.
As her condition worsened, Pinner relished visits to her home from her wide network of friends, including some from her days as an aspiring actress in Los Angeles. Locally, she counted Lakeland Mayor Bill Mutz, his wife, Pam, and their daughter, Emma, among her close friends.
Bill and Pam Mutz said Pinner and Emma — who has Down syndrome — became pals as fellow choir members at Grace City Church. Emma, 24, called Pinner “Lala.”
“Laura is somebody who knew how to live life fully and embrace friendships broadly,” Bill Mutz said Friday afternoon. “And she was vivacious about any activity in which she engaged. And so, I think most people, when they think of Laura, that have been close friends with her over time, think of her as someone that just always made people smile when she walked in the room.”
Born in Lakeland, the extroverted Pinner was a cheerleader at Kathleen High School before attending the University of Florida. She remained a devout Gators fan long after departing Gainesville.
Pinner competed in pageants in young adulthood, such as the Miss Florida Citrus Pageant, and she regularly won Miss Congeniality titles. Heeding a friend’s suggestion, she began seeking roles in TV commercials, and she gained a role as an extra in “The Waterboy,” the 1998 Adam Sandler movie shot partly in Lakeland.
That experience prompted Pinner to take a gamble, moving to Los Angeles in 1999 to pursue acting roles in movies and TV shows. A blonde with a wholesome look, she never played a lead role but had small parts and featured extra roles in such movies as “Wedding Crashers” and "Constantine." Years later, she gushed about working beside the likes of Keanu Reeves and Forest Whitaker and meeting Matthew McConaughey at a party.
In the early 2000s, Pinner began working as a traveling demonstrator for Subaru at major auto shows. Returning to Florida, she became a model for HSN (formerly Home Shopping Network), based in St. Petersburg.
Early indications of her disease occurred on the HSN set, as Pinner had trouble with her balance and began struggling with the buttons and snaps on costumes. She also noticed wave-like pulses in certain muscles and then numbness in her left foot.
Bill and Pam Mutz mentioned a troubling incident that occurred well before Pinner’s diagnosis. She was sitting on a stool during a visit to their home and suddenly lost control and slid to the floor.
A neurologist at the University of South Florida gave Pinner the diagnosis of ALS in March 2021.
“I was in such denial about it because, I mean, I've never had anything like this before,” Pinner said in November 2021. “It's hard to believe that it's happening to you.”
There is no known cure for ALS, and treatments have shown limited effectiveness. The mean survival period for people with the disease is two to five years, according to the ALS Association, though some live for 10 years or even longer.
Within months of her diagnosis, Pinner required professional care at home. She began using a powered wheelchair, controlling it with a knob as she retained some use of her right hand. She relied on her iPhone to communicate with friends by calls and dictated text messages.
'She saw herself as a servant'Bartow woman whose ALS fight inspired others dies at 64
Pinner often used the phrase “both/and” in describing her grappling with ALS. She found comfort in her Christian faith and her expectation of being freed to a better realm in death.
“This whole disease thing — it’s awful and beautiful, all at the same time,” she said in 2021. “ALS is not fun. It has robbed me of walking and working, but yet there are gifts within it. It's a gift because it really makes me treasure every morsel of time that I have with my family, my friends. I look at nature differently. I covet more time on Earth. It's given me a perspective of just knowing there has to be something bigger and greater beyond for all of us.”
Pam Mutz said she had “great conversations” with Pinner as she grappled with the reality of her condition.
“Some of the harder conversations, as we would visit her in her bed, and she's like, ‘I just still, God, I just want to live so much life. I just don't understand,’” Pam said. “And I'm like, ‘I know, Laura. These are some of the tough things. It's a sin-cursed world we live in, and I am so sorry.’”
Pam Mutz hired a photographer to capture images and videos of Pinner over the course of her transition through ALS. She planned to give the images to the Pinner family.
While she was still able to ride in a customized van, Pinner would go on “dates” with Emma Mutz. Pam said that when she told her daughter about Pinner’s death Friday afternoon, she responded, “That hurts my heart.”
While remaining hopeful, Pinner acknowledged the disease’s physical and mental toll. The muscle decline brought nerve damage, which she said “makes my legs feel like petrified bark and my legs are about to fall off.”
She added: “I just want people to know about this disease, that literally, it takes out the patient. It takes out people. It’s a lot — a lot of grief and loss, juxtaposed with a lot of joy and hope.”
A close friend, Stan Fenton of Bartow, kept in touch with Pinner through daily phone calls or visits.
“She's very fortunate to have both a strong faith and a good support network,” he said in 2021. “But, yeah, it's been difficult watching it take her independence, or her mobility. She’s always been a very strong and independent woman. And I know that this puts her in a spot of vulnerability. And I mean, the outcome is as awful; the end result is awful. And I think she faces every day with courage and dignity and beauty. And it's been kind of inspiring to see someone face adversity and face it headlong and positive, as she has.”
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13. | https://www.theledger.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/lakeland-woman-whose-optimism-amid-als-fight-inspired-many-dies-at-53/70391600007/ | 2023-07-08T06:34:39 | 0 | https://www.theledger.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/lakeland-woman-whose-optimism-amid-als-fight-inspired-many-dies-at-53/70391600007/ |
The city of Bismarck has announced two road projects that will begin at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Harvest Lane between State Street and North 14th Street will be closed to through traffic. Contractors will be in the area installing underground pipe for the State Street construction project. The closure will be in place until the end of the day Friday.
Access to local businesses will be maintained from 14th Street. No detour will be in place.
Meanwhile, night paving operations will begin on Divide Avenue between Marian Drive and North Third Street and continue through the end of the week. Work will occur nightly from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Drivers should expect reduced speed limits, uneven lanes and occasional delays, the city said. | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/bismarck-announces-road-work/article_0022dd60-1cfc-11ee-9657-7f69ba4cf720.html | 2023-07-08T07:18:44 | 1 | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/bismarck-announces-road-work/article_0022dd60-1cfc-11ee-9657-7f69ba4cf720.html |
Chief of security named
The North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has named Todd Flanagan as North Dakota State Penitentiary’s chief of security.
Flanagan has been with NDSP since 2009 and has served as the captain of investigations for the past 10 years. His previous experience includes working as a police officer and detective for Mandan and special investigator for North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance.
Kuchera joins engineering firm
Jess Kuchera has been hired as an environmental specialist by KLJ Engineering LLC in Bismarck.
Kuchera earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the University of Jamestown. She has previous experience with customer service, contributing to the national bee pollinator project and performing environmental quality assessments.
People are also reading…
ND Stockmen's Association hire
Dawson Brost, Bismarck, has been hired as a deputy brand inspector by the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association.
Brost joins the NDSA with more than 10 years of farm and ranch experience, handling all types of livestock. Brost is also a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and previously worked as a corrections officer/deputy sheriff for Burleigh County.
Capital Credit Union promotes one
Tara Roller has been promoted to business services representative at Capital Credit Union’s main office in Bismarck.
Roller graduated from North Dakota State University in Fargo with a bachelor’s degree in business and an emphasis on finance. She has been with Capital Credit Union since 2020, most recently as a business services associate.
DCN staff earns certification
Branden Rasmussen has earned the designation Veeam Certified Engineer.
He is a cloud services specialist at Dakota Carrier Network in Bismarck. | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/business/businesspeople---july-8-2023/article_d673986c-176d-11ee-b3ae-77a9fdfd87df.html | 2023-07-08T07:18:59 | 0 | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/business/businesspeople---july-8-2023/article_d673986c-176d-11ee-b3ae-77a9fdfd87df.html |
UNDERWOOD, Wash. — The Tunnel 5 fire in Skamania County continued to burn Friday, however the situation appeared much different than just a few days ago.
By the end of the week, crews mopped up and secured containment lines on the ground, with more resources on standby should hotspots pop up.
As of Friday evening, officials reported around 450 personnel working to fight the fire in different capacities. They told KGW that within the next several days the operation will likely scale down, should conditions hold through the weekend.
The Skamania County Sheriff's Office lowered evacuations levels from Level 3 (Go Now) to Level 2 (Be Set) for everyone in the area at 8 a.m. Friday. During the worst of it, under the Level 3 orders, many packed up and left.
"I'd say half of Underwood was evacuated," said Philip Jones.
However, Jones, the owner of South Hill Winery, perched high above the flames in Skamania County, stayed behind.
"We were watching [the fire on Sunday], and it was about two hours later a firetruck pulled up and said, 'hey, you know there's an evacuation order?" he recalled. "I said, look, I know the winds here. I'm watching this. He said, 'yeah, you're probably safe."
Located further up the mountain, Jones pointed out what he saw.
"Right where Mt. Hood is, there's where it all started and came up," he said about the start of the Tunnel 5 fire. "It was fairly confined, and then it just started spreading."
Throughout the week, there was a greater danger down the ridge. Fire officials confirmed the blaze threatened around 250 homes, destroying 10 of them. Drivers back on the newly reopened Cook-Underwood road could clearly see the fire damage Friday afternoon, along with where planes dropped fire retardant on the burnt trees below.
Mark Johnson, a fire information officer assigned to the Tunnel 5 fire explained the focus for the weekend.
"The winds are a concern for us, and it could certainly test our containment lines — but it's also a good test of our containment lines, to let us know that they are secure," he said. "Probably won't see the fire activity that was happening earlier in the week when this thing was running and gunning and growing."
For those local fire teams, tasked with keeping watch long term, Jones decided to pay it forward. All sales from next Saturday will go directly to Underwood firefighters.
"We just want to show our appreciation. I was thinking this morning, oh you could give part of your wine sales to them," he said. "I said no, no, no. Just give the whole day's receipts to them." | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/wildfire/tunnel-5-fire-containment/283-4d138d53-a188-4432-891f-12cda2692937 | 2023-07-08T07:47:15 | 0 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/wildfire/tunnel-5-fire-containment/283-4d138d53-a188-4432-891f-12cda2692937 |
With essentially no new discussion on the topic, the Flagstaff City Council voted not to reconsider a previous decision to construct several new pickleball court in Bushmaster Park.
The vote came Monday after the council received an 88-signature petition from neighbors of the park who asked them to reconsider the decision to build the courts.
Neighbors said the addition of the eight courts will diminish their quality of life with the noise created within the park and change the character of the park, and said pickleball players have displaced many who once used the park.
The courts have long been sought by the Flagstaff Pickleball Association. There are currently only two free dedicated public courts within Flagstaff.
In the end, city council voted 5-2 against reopening or discussing the issue again. Prior to the vote, discussion between members was sparse, as councilmembers worked through the correct procedures either to reopen the topic or leave as it stood.
People are also reading…
Bushmaster neighbor Audria Smith, who has been central in opposing the construction of the new courts, said she was dismayed and confused by Council’s action.
Smith told the Arizona Daily Sun that she felt Council had completely dismissed the concerns of her and other nearby residents without any of the additional discussion or consideration they had requested.
“I am so disappointed. They didn't even vote to discuss this. They didn't even ask us any questions even after all the information we’ve sent them,” Smith said. “We are not against pickleball; they just don't understand what a terrible noise they're making, what a nuisance it is.”
Several councilmembers spoke to their decision just before the end of the meeting.
Councilmembers Jim McCarthy and Khara House voted in favor of reexamining the issue.
McCarthy has been staunchly against the construction of the courts at Bushmaster Park since it was first brought up. House voted in favor of the construction of courts, but after the city received the neighborhood petition, she said she thought the courts should be reexamined, particularly in terms of the noise impact created by pickleball play.
“I’m going to ask my other councilmember friends to allow us to at least discuss this; it may be that all of you vote the exact same way you did last time -- that’s fine -- but let’s at least talk about it,” McCarthy said.
On the other hand, Vice Mayor Austin Aslan said he saw no reason that the council should reopen the topic after making such a clear decision on it just over a month prior. And Aslan said he believed it would set a bad precedent to do so.
“I don’t see any new information here that we didn’t have at our disposal in May. As a general rule, I am very wary of advancing a citizen petition that seeks to undo a vote that Council literally just took. It sets a very troubling precedent and invites all sorts of confusion and hard feelings and circular debate,” Aslan said. “I will not be changing my vote on this matter, and if you want to understand my reasoning, you can review the video of the last time Council took up this matter and voted to move it forward. It wasn’t very long ago.”
Councilmember Lori Matthews generally agreed with Aslan’s sentiment, but added that she certainly believed neighbors had legitimate concerns regarding the courts' construction. Even so, Matthews stuck with her original support of the new courts.
In the end, Council opted to hold to its original vote without reopening the matter. It also decided not to take up a new petition requesting the courts be built in Thorpe Park, appearing to honor a previous city council’s decision not the build them there.
Mayor Becky Daggett was among those members of the council who spoke about the vote just before the end of the meeting. She was one of the three councilmembers who originally moved to take up the issue again after the citizen petition was received.
Daggett said she believed there may be ways to reduce the noise issues associated with the game without the council taking further action on the matter.
Even so, this may not be the last time the topic of pickleball courts in Bushmaster rock the city.
Neighbors to the park indicted last month that should the city move forward with construction, they planned to file in court in hopes of halting the project.
And Smith said seeking a solution through the courts is still very much a possibility.
“There are neighbors who are willing to fund this. I mean, we were serious about the statement that we were willing to pull a lawsuit and put an injunction on this,” Smith said. “I just don't know how much more to hold their feet to the fire.”
The issue of pickleball, and in particular the noise generated by the game, is by no means unique to Flagstaff. Across the country, communities, local governments and courts have all seen their fair share of debate and controversy surrounding the game.
Pickleball is already played at Bushmaster Park on several multi-use courts that were originally built with tennis and basketball in mind.
In May, the council voted 6-1 to approve $920,642 to construct the eight new courts and resurface the existing multi-use courts at the park. | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/a-pickle-of-procedure-flagstaff-city-council-holds-firm-on-bushmaster-court-construction/article_aeaa50ba-1abe-11ee-8f59-4f41ff5ecd53.html | 2023-07-08T07:48:04 | 1 | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/a-pickle-of-procedure-flagstaff-city-council-holds-firm-on-bushmaster-court-construction/article_aeaa50ba-1abe-11ee-8f59-4f41ff5ecd53.html |
TRACY, Calif. — Two people are dead after a crash in Tracy, according to the Tracy Police Department.
The crash happened on MacArthur Drive when a car was driving northbound and left the roadway. Officials say the two men inside died.
MacArthur Drive from Grant Line Road to West 11th Street is closed while officials investigate.
No further information is available at this time. | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/2-dead-tracy-car-crash/103-9823f80f-64b8-43c7-b685-87935de4cf18 | 2023-07-08T07:50:18 | 0 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/2-dead-tracy-car-crash/103-9823f80f-64b8-43c7-b685-87935de4cf18 |
Over 60 participants join in annual Turtle Derby in Tortugas
TORTUGAS – Over 60 “jockeys” and turtles showed up to the annual Turtle Derby in Tortugas in June, marking the return of the traditional San Juan Fiesta.
As many Catholic churches do, Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine and Parish holds an annual fiesta in honor of its patron saint. The feast day for St. John the Baptist is recognized in the latter part of June. The fiesta at the Tortugas church was discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic and returned for the first time this year.
A popular addition to the fiesta is the annual Turtle Derby, where participants bring turtles to race. This year, 66 people participated in the derby, according to organizer Frank Torres.
The covered pavilion near the church was packed Sunday, June 24. Families, spectators and turtles huddled around the racing lanes to find out who had the fastest turtle. People also had the chance to paint the shells of their turtles before race time.
Others are reading:
- Atomic Aggies win Chile Cup award in annual return to the Spaceport America Cup
- These are the largest recorded wildfires in New Mexico history
- NM has telephone hotline for women seeking access to abortion clinics
The 2023 Turtle Derby winner turned out to be Liberty, with “jockey” Renner Serna, 14. Liberty’s shell was painted red, white and blue for the American flag. Clarke won the $50 cash prize.
Other shells featured a dart board, Captain America’s shield, flowers, superheroes, the New Mexican flag and more.
Ben Avalos said he has been attending the fiesta for many years and always brings extra turtles to the derby for children to participate.
“This year, I was able to find 28 turtles in my backyard, and paint each one before the races. I love watching the children experience the races!” Avalos said in a message.
Leah Romero is the trending reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached at 575-418-3442, LRomero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter. | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/over-60-participants-join-in-annual-turtle-derby-in-tortugas-san-juan-fiesta-las-cruces-renner-nm/70385549007/ | 2023-07-08T08:29:41 | 0 | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/over-60-participants-join-in-annual-turtle-derby-in-tortugas-san-juan-fiesta-las-cruces-renner-nm/70385549007/ |
Atlantic County on Friday issued the following traffic advisories for next week:
Hammonton: A single-lane, alternating traffic pattern will be in effect on Third Street between Old Forks Road and Wood Street from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for county drainage improvement.
Corbin City/Estell Manor: A detour will be in effect on Head of the River Road between Lords Lane and Route 50 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday for county drainage improvement. Local traffic will be permitted from Cape May Avenue and Route 50, but through traffic will not be possible at times.
Hamilton Township: A single-lane, alternating traffic pattern will be in effect on Weymouth Road between mileposts 17 and 18 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday for county drainage improvement.
Egg Harbor Township:
People are also reading…
A single-lane, alternating traffic pattern will be in effect on Ocean Heights Avenue between Steelmanville and Blackman roads from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. A single-lane, alternating traffic pattern will be in effect on Mill Road between Fire Road and Patcong Drive from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
A single-lane, alternating traffic pattern will be in effect on Steelmanville Road between Ocean Heights Avenue and Blackman Road from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. A full detour will be in effect from 5 p.m. Friday to 4 a.m. Saturday.
A single-lane, alternating traffic pattern will be in effect on Zion Road between Bargaintown and Old Zion roads from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
All work is weather permitting. Motorists should plan travel time accordingly or find an alternate route. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/atlantic-county-issues-traffic-advisories-for-next-week/article_e2dae2b0-1ce3-11ee-8d1f-ab7c9b47123c.html | 2023-07-08T08:35:08 | 0 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/atlantic-county-issues-traffic-advisories-for-next-week/article_e2dae2b0-1ce3-11ee-8d1f-ab7c9b47123c.html |
The New Jersey Department of Agriculture will distribute free Jersey Fresh blueberries Monday in Wildwood, Atlantic City and Seaside Heights in celebration of National Blueberry Month.
Blueberries will be available from 1 p.m. while supplies last at the end of East Schellenger Avenue on the Boardwalk in Wildwood, at the end of New York Avenue on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City and along the Boardwalk in Seaside Heights.
“This has been a very popular event each of the past two years and we anticipate there will be high demand for delicious and plump Jersey Fresh blueberries,” Assistant Agriculture Secretary Joe Atchison said. “Blueberries are one of the highlights of the growing season here in the Garden State and we look forward to being on the boardwalks again.”
Blueberries were the No. 1 crop in New Jersey in 2022 with a production value of $69 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agriculture Statistics Service. Farmers in the Garden State harvested 34 million pounds of blueberries on 7,300 acres last year.
People are also reading…
New Jersey's blueberry season lasts through the end of July, and production can be as high as 250,000-300,000 crates per day in the height of the season. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/blueberries/article_5246f3e8-1cf1-11ee-baae-2b5ff641c736.html | 2023-07-08T08:35:14 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/blueberries/article_5246f3e8-1cf1-11ee-baae-2b5ff641c736.html |
ATLANTIC CITY — A surveillance operation led to the arrest of five people and the recovery of drugs and two handguns, police said Friday.
Police were in the 2500 and 2600 blocks of Pacific Avenue about noon Thursday in reference to complaints of drug activity.
In two separate incidents, police arrested city residents Kareem Wiley, 21; Alyssa Bishop, 28; Nasi Donaldson, 24; Daniel Smith, 24; and John Bonds, 55. Bishop was released on a summons pending court, and the other four were taken to the Atlantic County jail.
At 12:45 p.m., Detectives Eric Evans, Alberto Valles and Christopher Dodson saw Wiley and Bishop engage in a drug transaction, police said in a news release. Wiley was found in possession of 28 grams of cocaine and 135 bags of heroin. Bishop was found in possession of several oxycodone pills and had several warrants out for her arrest.
People are also reading…
Wiley was charged with two counts of possession of a controlled dangerous substance, two counts of possession with intent to distribute, two counts of possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school zone, loitering to distribute drugs and hindering apprehension. Bishop was charged with possession of CDS and hindering apprehension.
At 1:23 p.m., Detectives Nicholas Berardis and Christopher Smith watched another drug transaction take place, police said. Bonds purchased cocaine from Smith as Donaldson acted as a lookout. All three were arrested and found in possession of cocaine.
The vehicle Donaldson was operating was searched by Officer Adrian Nunez-Santos and his K-9 partner, Narco, who is trained to detect drugs. Detectives recovered two handguns, including one reported stolen from Georgia, and more than 24 grams of cocaine.
Donaldson and Smith were charged with possession of CDS, possession with intent to distribute, conspiracy, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon while committing a drug offense, certain person not to possess a weapon, receiving stolen property and possession of a high-capacity magazine. Bonds was charged with possession of CDS. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/crime-courts/5-atlantic-city-residents-arrested-handguns-and-drugs-recovered/article_91680e78-1d0e-11ee-b362-0fa0bead07ff.html | 2023-07-08T08:35:20 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/crime-courts/5-atlantic-city-residents-arrested-handguns-and-drugs-recovered/article_91680e78-1d0e-11ee-b362-0fa0bead07ff.html |
ATLANTIC CITY — A city man was arrested and two handguns were recovered after he pointed a firearm at a woman Thursday, police said.
Troy Williams, 45, was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, aggravated assault, terroristic threts, certain person not to posses a weapon and possession of a controlled dangerous substance.
At 1:52 p.m., police responded to the 300 block of Rosemont Place in reference to a woman being held against her will and a suspect armed with a handgun. Police were also told Williams was having a mental health episode, police said Friday in a news release.
Shortly after police arrived, the woman ran out of the residence, police said. Officers surrounded the residence to contact Williams. Williams exited the home onto a balcony, where Officer Jonathan Walsh engaged in conversation with him. Williams agreed to leave the residence, surrendered and was taken into custody.
People are also reading…
Williams was found to be in possession of cocaine, police said. During the argument, it was learned he pointed a gun at the victim during an argument. A search warrant resulted in the recovery of two handguns.
Williams is being held at the Atlantic County jail. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/crime-courts/atlantic-city-man-arrested-after-pointing-gun-at-woman/article_e01cb4d2-1d0a-11ee-b5e1-c7dbf5cf1a30.html | 2023-07-08T08:35:27 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/crime-courts/atlantic-city-man-arrested-after-pointing-gun-at-woman/article_e01cb4d2-1d0a-11ee-b5e1-c7dbf5cf1a30.html |
LOWER TOWNSHIP — A 32-year-old Villas man has been charged with possession of child pornography, Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland and police Chief Kevin Lewis said Friday.
An investigation stemming from a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tip revealed that Jose Arturo Cardenas-Eusebio was in possession of videos depicting child sexual abuse.
On Thursday, a court-authorized search warrant was executed by the Cape May County Regional SWAT Team, the prosecutor's High-Tech Crimes Unit & Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Atlantic City, State Police and Lower police. The search, along with interviews, showed Cardenas-Eusebio was using a cellphone to upload material depicting sexual abuse of children.
Cardena-Eusebio is being held in the Cape May County jail. If convicted, he could face three to five years in prison. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/crime-courts/lower-township-man-charged-with-possession-of-child-porn/article_a2280f60-1d04-11ee-9bb9-9bd8d5fe4917.html | 2023-07-08T08:35:33 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/crime-courts/lower-township-man-charged-with-possession-of-child-porn/article_a2280f60-1d04-11ee-9bb9-9bd8d5fe4917.html |
As the rate of car thefts in New Jersey trends downward, Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday signed a legislation package to strengthen the state's response to the trend.
The bill signings come after the state has, for several months, implemented other pieces of legislation and funding to crack down on vehicle thefts, which many say have climbed steeply since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
The bill package Murphy signed Friday alters detention periods for offenders arrested for stealing automobiles and criminalizes possessing specialized tools intended to commit the crimes. Those devices include master keyfobs or computer programs that can either unlock or start a vehicle, Murphy said.
The bill also calls for prosecutors to seek harsher sentences for repeat offenders.
"If someone has been convicted twice or more of stealing a vehicle or receiving a stolen vehicle, they could face longer jail sentences," Murphy said.
People are also reading…
The package also includes a change to previous laws established under bail reform. Under the bills, pretrial release will be eliminated for anyone charged with or convicted of separate car theft crimes within 90 days of their arrest.
New Jersey is experiencing the worst wave of car thefts since the 1980s, when vehicles were …
The signing comes at a time when data from January through May, the latest figures, show car theft rates have dropped 10% compared to the same period last year. An identical decrease was seen in the last four months of 2022 year over year, Murphy said.
The new laws build on moves the Murphy administration has made since last year to thwart vehicle thefts.
Last year, State Police and the Division of Criminal Justice expanded their Auto Theft Task Force, bringing on additional detectives and prosecutors and joining law enforcement statewide to share information that could aid investigations.
In May, Murphy signed separate bills to address illegal sales of catalytic converters, car parts that have had their value increase because of the metals from which they're made.
One month prior, the governor commissioned $10 million for police departments from American Rescue Plan funds to purchase and expand the uses of high-speed, automated camera systems and license-plate reading technology. The equipment will be placed at fixed locations and on mobile police units. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/crime-courts/newjersey-car-theft-crime-bills/article_e3550f04-1ce3-11ee-8368-ab8d2b454017.html | 2023-07-08T08:35:37 | 0 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/crime-courts/newjersey-car-theft-crime-bills/article_e3550f04-1ce3-11ee-8368-ab8d2b454017.html |
ATLANTIC CITY — The five high school students who left for a free trip to South Africa last month said they expected it to change their lives, and in a recent gathering at City Hall, they showed that it did.
“I spoke in front of 400 people (in South Africa), now I feel I can tackle anything,” said Melanie Victoria Hernandez-DiDomenico, a junior at Atlantic County Institute of Technology.
The students interacted with South Africans in schools, museums, poverty-stricken areas and middle-class areas. They also took a six-hour hike up a rocky mountain at Karee Berg in the Magaliesberg mountain range, saw lions and more at a safari park, and studied social justice issues while there.
“Before I wanted to work in AI (artificial intelligence),” said William Harris, a junior at Atlantic City High School, in a presentation Thursday in council chambers, during which each talked about what they learned and showed photos of important aspects of the trip for them.
People are also reading…
“Now I want to work with people a little bit more, (even though) it may be less money,” said Harris, who chose to study how classism — or prejudice against those who are poor — affects both the U.S. and South Africa.
Harris and others said working with young kids in South Africa, and seeing the difficult conditions many live in in places like Kliptown, had a huge impact.
Kliptown is a suburb of the formerly black township of Soweto in Gauteng, where people live in shacks made of metal and boards, they said.
Tim Tran, also a junior at ACHS, said he plans to return to tutoring kids in math after having a great time teaching math to young kids in South Africa.
ATLANTIC CITY — Five local high school students who are about to embark on a city-sponsored …
“I feel obligated to not just help people in America but also start tutoring around the world,” said Tran, who studied problems related to drug and alcohol abuse at home and in South Africa.
In both places, alcohol and drugs increase rates of HIV transmission, Tran said, but in South Africa, HIV/AIDS remains the leading cause of death.
The city spent $35,000 in federal American Rescue Plan funds to send five students and two adult chaperones on the two-week trip with A Leadership Journey, a nonprofit started by Atlantic City native Akeem Lloyd.
“Ever since I started A Leadership Journey in 2017, I wanted to get Atlantic City youth involved,” said Lloyd, now of Boston, at the presentation.
The nonprofit encourages teens to see themselves as not just U.S. citizens but global citizens, he said, who understand what goes on in their country or town is also happening elsewhere.
“It’s not a vacation. We do work,” Lloyd said. “It’s a learning opportunity, a privilege. That’s why we call it a journey, not a trip.”
The five students spoke about their experience and what they learned about their chosen social justice topics with confidence and conviction, and said the trip gave them public speaking and leadership opportunities that matured them.
Hernandez-DiDomenico chose Sexism in our Daily Lives as her topic to research. She plans to be a medical doctor.
ATLANTIC CITY — City Council approved a resolution at a special meeting Wednesday to fund a …
Women still face discrimination on the job and catcalls in the street in the U.S., she said, but in South Africa she found male control over women’s personal lives.
Marriages are often arranged and the wife is sold to the husband’s family, said Hernandez-DiDomenico, who was wearing the blazer her mom wore on her arrival as an immigrant to the U.S. from Chile years ago.
“The worth of the wife is only discussed by men,” Hernandez-DiDomenico said, such as fathers and uncles.
She said the experience made her more grateful, after seeing how happy people were there who had so little.
“They play soccer in shoes that are falling apart,” she said. “I hope to be as grateful.”
“Sexism is worldwide issue, not just in America,” said Makiyah Coppin, a sophomore at ACIT who also chose to study sexism and gender roles.
Coppin plans a career in forensic science.
Evan Johnson, an ACHS junior, studied the educational systems of South Africa and the U.S.
Primary school is grades 1-6 and high school 7-12 in South Africa, Johnson said. A second language of either Afrikaans or English is started seriously in third grade.
“A lot of students there speak very good English,” said Johnson, who plans to be an engineer.
The students were chosen from about 70 high school age applicants who wrote essays and engaged in an interview process, according to city Director of Youth Services Christina Noble, who was one of two chaperones. The other was Atlantic City Youth Services Program Specialist Elizabeth Trigg.
Mayor Marty Small Sr. said he plans to send at least 10 students on A Leadership Journey’s trip planned for next year to Senegal using ARP funds.
Lloyd has said he started A Leadership Journey seven years ago to help young people participate in mental and emotional health activities and wellness education, with a focus on learning more about social justice.
Lloyd was “one of my kids at the Boys & Girls Club” in the early 2000s, Small has said.
“We taught kids how to play kickball, an American game,” Tran said. “I’m a Vietnamese immigrant who came to America, learned a game and went to South Africa and taught kids to play kickball. That’s three influences on three continents, which I think is great.”
For more information, visit aleadershipjourney.org. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/education/a-journey-not-a-trip-south-africa-widens-perspective-for-atlantic-city-students/article_358612ac-1c06-11ee-814f-938a616ff421.html | 2023-07-08T08:35:48 | 0 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/education/a-journey-not-a-trip-south-africa-widens-perspective-for-atlantic-city-students/article_358612ac-1c06-11ee-814f-938a616ff421.html |
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP — Twenty-one Middle Township High School seniors were suspended, barred from graduation and required to pay a total of $8,000 in damages after vandalizing the school for a senior prank June 12, according to the district.
The 21 students have all since graduated and were each required to pay $403.52 to cover the cost of damages and cleanup to receive their diplomas, the district said in a news release.
They were not allowed to walk at graduation.
The majority of the damage was able to be cleaned up rather than repaired, according to Superintendent David Salvo. The cleanup included paper, water, mustard, syrup and other substances that had been spread around. Two items, a $50 folding table and a $100 mirror in the dance studio, were damaged beyond repair, the district said.
People are also reading…
The district said it conducted a review of the building to reinforce safety measures following the incident. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/education/middle-township-graduates-vandalism/article_98e0b396-1cf3-11ee-9832-3b2b2f593b38.html | 2023-07-08T08:35:48 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/education/middle-township-graduates-vandalism/article_98e0b396-1cf3-11ee-9832-3b2b2f593b38.html |
ATLANTIC CITY — A cooperative effort between the city and county law enforcement and casino executives over the past year has led to far fewer homeless in tourist areas, Atlantic County Prosecutor William Reynolds said Friday.
Hundreds of people who have committed crimes have been taken off the streets into drug or alcohol treatment or incarceration, Reynolds told participants in the biweekly Clean and Safe Atlantic City meeting at City Hall.
The effort has doubled the population at the county jail and filled the Harborfields Juvenile Detention Center in Egg Harbor City, Reynolds said, “because we are enforcing the law.”
Reynolds said Atlantic County is number one statewide in not remanding cases.
“Our average is below 20%, the average is 48% for the state,” Reynolds said. “We have had success in keeping those cases ... as opposed to remanding to a local ordinance and fine.”
People are also reading…
Atlantic County Superior Court judges are first in the state for detention hearings, he said.
“Atlantic County had 10% of the total detentions in the state for the first quarter of 2023,” Reynolds said.
With a population of about 275,000 out of 9.3 million in New Jersey, the county has less than 3% of the state’s population.
ATLANTIC CITY — Atlantic City Electric will reconfigure the map of its streetlights on its w…
“Police officers feel empowered to do their job,” Reynolds said. “They feel valued we keep cases, we are successful in detaining them. ... If they charge someone, the case is taken and prosecuted.”
Many of the cooperative programs have grown out of the biweekly Clean and Safe Atlantic City meetings, run by City Council Vice President Kaleem Shabazz, Reynolds said.
At the same time, law enforcement is focused on helping people kick drug and alcohol addiction, Reynolds said.
In the first two months of the expansion of Sheriff Eric Scheffler’s Hope Exists outreach program in May and June, the program put 217 people into drug or alcohol treatment, Reynolds said.
“I concur 100%,” police Chief James Sarkos said of Reynolds’ report. “It’s inspiring to see the detention rate increased and cases not remanded. That has helped tremendously.”
Hard Rock ready for governors
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City General Manager Mike Sampson said his casino hotel is ready for next week’s National Governor’s Association meeting in the resort.
“We are locked and loaded there, and ready to go,” Sampson said. “We will have a lot of governors and chiefs of staff.”
ATLANTIC CITY — The city has collected more than $8.6 million in the first year of a new roo…
Increased patrols on the Boardwalk by city police, Casino Reinvestment Development Authority Boardwalk Ambassadors and casino security personnel have greatly improved the experience of walking on the famous boards, he said.
CRDA Executive Director Sean Pattwell said he expects the authority to expand the number of ambassadors and provide supplemental funding for Hope Exists to allow it to operate on weekends.
“I don’t see why that won’t pass in week or so,” Pattwell said. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/government-politics/atlantic-county-leads-state-in-detaining-and-prosecuting-reynolds-says/article_d9dea916-1cd0-11ee-9d88-b316da37ab56.html | 2023-07-08T08:36:08 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/government-politics/atlantic-county-leads-state-in-detaining-and-prosecuting-reynolds-says/article_d9dea916-1cd0-11ee-9d88-b316da37ab56.html |
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP — The Planning Board on Thursday examined a plan to build a rehabilitation center on Jimmie Leeds Road and determined it adheres to the requirements of the township's master plan.
The recommendation on the Osprey Rehabilitation Redevelopment Plan will be sent to the Township Council, which may vote on it during its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday or at a later date, Rich Clute, who is a member of the Planning Board and the Township Council, said after the meeting.
The resolution recommending the plan passed unanimously without discussion from the Planning Board or the public.
Bacharach Institute for Rehabilitation agreed in September to have Select Medical acquire its licensed beds, with which Select will build a new rehabilitation hospital, operating under the Bacharach name. The new facility will provide treatment for various ailments, including brain injuries, cancer, spinal-cord injuries and strokes.
People are also reading…
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP — Residents who want to purchase land from the township will have to pay m…
In 2018, the mayor and council declared a section of the township on Jimmie Leeds Road an area in need of redevelopment.
Select Medical approached the township and asked to redevelop the site of the former Louie's Bar, said Jen Heller, who works for township planner Polistina & Associates.
In 2020 or 2021, the board approved the site for AtlantiCare to build a 60,000-square-foot building, Heller said.
"After COVID, the approvals were still in effect, but Select Medical approached the township and asked to redevelop the site for an inpatient rehab facility," Heller said. "They (Select Medical) will still have to come back with a site plan, back to this board, so we will have a shot at reviewing it for site plan and consistency there."
Heller said the project promotes economic development and strengthens the township's ratable base in a nonresidential district, promotes positive aesthetics along Jimmie Leeds Road and develops land with sensitivity to the environment and in accordance with environmental rules and regulations. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/government-politics/galloway-board-advances-plan-for-rehab-center/article_18c51ad4-1cb8-11ee-b4c6-4343ae8c85eb.html | 2023-07-08T08:36:15 | 0 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/government-politics/galloway-board-advances-plan-for-rehab-center/article_18c51ad4-1cb8-11ee-b4c6-4343ae8c85eb.html |
Tour nine different gardens located around Atlantic County on Sunday during the 24th annual Little Gardens Tour.
Hosted by the Little Gardens Club, visitors can explore gardens in Linwood, Northfield, Galloway Township, Egg Harbor Township, Egg Harbor City and Mays Landing.
The tour will begin at the Linwood Arboretum, which includes camellias, magnolias, dogwoods, salvias and hydrangeas, native plants to New Jersey, and some exotic as well.
From there, the tour will continue to eight homes in Atlantic County, each featuring different aspects of gardening. The booklet or ticket for the tour gives attendees an easy-to-follow route.
The tour will be available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine. Tickets are $15 and benefit Little Gardens charities.
To purchase tickets, visit Joe’s Garden Center in Galloway, Lang’s Garden Center in Linwood or Bob’s Garden Center in Egg Harbor Township. For more information, call 609-226-6596 or 609-927-4961.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account.
Amanda Walters and her mom, Jessica Dziegrenuk, enjoy this outdoor seating area in a meadowlands getaway. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/little-gardens-club-to-hold-24th-annual-garden-tour/article_08bedbb2-1c12-11ee-9e08-7f413668252c.html | 2023-07-08T08:36:21 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/little-gardens-club-to-hold-24th-annual-garden-tour/article_08bedbb2-1c12-11ee-9e08-7f413668252c.html |
OCEAN CITY — Visitors packed Jersey Shore towns for the long Independence Day weekend, including Ocean City, which saw crowded beaches, heavy traffic and few parking spaces anywhere on the island.
“This town was jammed,” Mayor Jay Gillian said at the Thursday City Council meeting. “After the fireworks, it took me an hour just to cross Ninth Street.”
In his report to City Council, Gillian praised the work of police, emergency responders and public works crews, and asked for residents and visitors to remain as patient as possible.
“Be nice and kind and safe. There were so many here this weekend,” Gillian said.
He also mentioned a traffic accident involving a police officer. Two young people ran a stop sign, he said, and when the officer went to pull them over got into an accident.
People are also reading…
City spokesperson Doug Bergen said Friday the accident remains under investigation and few details could be released. He said the officer received minor injuries and the vehicle had moderate damage. He said the officer was pursuing e-bikes riders operating unsafely.
Bergen did not release the name of the officer.
At the meeting, Gillian said police and emergency responders did an amazing job. Earlier this week, Bergen said lifeguards participated in multiple water rescues during the weekend.
BOSTON — Revelers across the U.S. braved heat and heavy rain to take part in Fourth of July …
Gillian also praised the public works crews, describing immense crowds on the Boardwalk to view the fireworks.
“Then you get up at 5 o’clock in the morning and it looks like nobody was even here,” he said.
Several speakers at the council meeting also encouraged patience, for drivers, pedestrians and in interactions throughout the summer. At one point, Gillian added an additional request: Keep the golf carts off the bike path.
Low-speed vehicles have joined bicycles, e-bikes and other forms of transportation on city streets. Resident Beatrice Pinkerton said at the meeting that when she is riding her bike, cars turn in front of her, and that e-bike operators zoom up the sidewalk against traffic laws.
“I know everybody’s doing the best they can,” she said. But she complained that people do not have respect for others or for the rules.
“I’m not going to give up biking. It’s a shore town. We should be able to bike,” she said. "I’d like to find a way to get other people to do it safely.”
The city had considered an ordinance to keep power-assisted bikes off the Boardwalk but held off after many residents and visitors said they rely on the extra power provided for mobility. Otherwise, several told council, they would not be able to ride the Boardwalk.
Council members promised a more detailed look at the issue before taking action, but it is unclear when a new ordinance could come for a vote.
The Fourth of July is Americana at its core: parades and cookouts and cold beer and, of course, fireworks. Here are five things to know about July Fourth, including the origin of the holiday and how fireworks became part of the tradition.
At the same meeting, council members voted unanimously to keep member Pete Madden as council president for another year. They also voted unanimously for Council member Karen Bergman to remain council vice president.
“Thanks, guys,” Bergman said. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/ocean-city-reports-packed-holiday-weekend/article_1ac349b2-1d00-11ee-88fc-2f4a5d0b7317.html | 2023-07-08T08:36:27 | 0 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/ocean-city-reports-packed-holiday-weekend/article_1ac349b2-1d00-11ee-88fc-2f4a5d0b7317.html |
OCEAN CITY — The city has been voted New Jersey's favorite beach in a statewide poll for the 10th consecutive year.
The New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium announced the poll results Friday morning during a presentation at the Music Pier on the Boardwalk.
The online contest included winners from each coastal county; Ocean City won for Cape May County in addition to being the overall winner, with Sea Isle City in second place.
The Sea Grant Consortium introduced the survey in 2008 to “inspire pride in and stewardship of New Jersey’s beaches while promoting a little healthy competition between New Jersey’s favorite beach towns.”
“It’s great to see Ocean City achieve this honor,” Mayor Jay Gillian said. “Every year, we face new challenges. But Ocean City remains the best beach in the state and a tradition for generations of families." | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/ocean-city-voted-best-nj-beach-for-10th-year/article_444ef0ba-1cec-11ee-b801-67963282661f.html | 2023-07-08T08:36:33 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/ocean-city-voted-best-nj-beach-for-10th-year/article_444ef0ba-1cec-11ee-b801-67963282661f.html |
STONE HARBOR — The Stephen C. Ludlam Post 331 of the American Legion hosted a Home Depot Appreciation Day last month in recognition of a service project grant awarded to the post by the Home Depot Foundation in 2022.
The purpose of the grant was to restore the post's historic 1895 lifesaving station and was a Team Depot Volunteer Project led by the store manager Christina M. Quigley, the post said in a news release.
The celebration June 21 included the presentation of the colors, recognition of local officials and presentation of the American Legion Appreciation award to Quigley.
The Home Depot team presented the post’s project task leaders Kevin Coyle, Tom McCullough and Jon Ready with Home Depot aprons imprinted with their military service logo.
Post Commander Tom McCullough presented $32,000 in Post 331 donations to the Vineland Veterans Memorial Home, Veterans Haven South in Winslow Township and the Citizens/Veterans Advisory Committee, all of which provide care and rehabilitation to veterans.
People are also reading…
Post 331 provides a meeting place for Avalon and Stone Harbor veterans and supports veterans throughout Cape May County.
For more information, visit stephencludlampost331.org. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/stone-harbor-american-legion-hosts-home-depot-day/article_41719930-1ce0-11ee-979f-c7d6bba3b870.html | 2023-07-08T08:36:49 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/stone-harbor-american-legion-hosts-home-depot-day/article_41719930-1ce0-11ee-979f-c7d6bba3b870.html |
There is plenty to talk about this weekend. Saturday will be the drier of the two weekend days, with a flooding rain threat Sunday. Meteorologist Joe Martucci explains how to plan around it. Also, fog and minor stage coastal flooding continues.
Tags
Local Weather
Get the daily forecast and severe weather alerts in your inbox!
Joe Martucci
Meteorologist
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
Your notification has been saved.
There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Followed notifications
Please log in to use this feature
Log In
Don't have an account? Sign Up Today | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/weather/friday-night-july-7-nj-weather-forecast/article_56876de8-1cfb-11ee-8cf6-07d5521d2a5a.html | 2023-07-08T08:36:55 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/weather/friday-night-july-7-nj-weather-forecast/article_56876de8-1cfb-11ee-8cf6-07d5521d2a5a.html |
Drought has expanded into more of South Jersey, according to the United States Drought Monitor's Thursday update, as limited showers and storms failed to quench the ground.
Drought expanded to most of Cape May County, all of Cumberland County and the southwestern quarter of Atlantic County in the July 6 update, which uses data through 8 a.m. Tuesday. Last week's update included only a small portion of Upper Township in Cape May County with roughly two-thirds of Cumberland County.
The monitor placed the area in a moderate drought, the weakest of the four stages of drought. A moderate drought indicates some damage to crops and pastures.
However, moderate drought is actually the lowest-tiered version of drought in a four-step cl…
Still, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has kept New Jersey in "normal" status when it comes to the amount of available water for the twenty-seventh week in a row. There are no water restrictions in place.
People are also reading…
While much of the state has had near to above average rainfall, the Coastal South region of the NJDEP's state breakdown has seen below average rainfall in the past 30 days ending Wednesday, according to the Mid-Atlantic River Forecast Center.
Precipitation has been 26% to 50% below normal in Cape May County, taking the rain that fell over the county as a whole. Cumberland, Ocean and Atlantic counties have been anywhere from 11% to 25% below average.
This has led to a drop in groundwater status from "severely dry" to "extremely dry" in this week's DEP report. Extremely dry is the most significant of the four levels.
Much of southeastern New Jersey relies on the Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer for drinking water, which relies on groundwater that is stored and transmitted through pores in the sand grains of the surface.
The combination of low rainfall and high water usage during the summer led to drought expanding into more of the region.
More than 22% of the state is in drought, compared with more than 19% last week. Besides southeastern New Jersey, parts of Monmouth, Hudson, Bergen and Hunterdon counties have been placed into drought. Much of Salem and Gloucester counties were already in drought, with no change.
Meanwhile, parts of Sussex, Passaic, Morris, Essex, Warren and Bergen counties were removed from drought.
Widespread, significant rain is expected late Sunday into early Monday. A half-inch to 1½ inches of rain is likely in South Jersey. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/weather/south-jersey-drought-status-update/article_ae635de6-1cd4-11ee-ad5d-93dedc008921.html | 2023-07-08T08:37:01 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/weather/south-jersey-drought-status-update/article_ae635de6-1cd4-11ee-ad5d-93dedc008921.html |
WILDWOOD — Parts of the city lost power Friday, with only a few regaining electricity, after a fire broke out at an electrical plant substation.
The fire originated in the small building on Lake Avenue. Atlantic City Electric was forced to shut down the substation, which impacted electrical service to about 24,000 customers in Wildwood and Wildwood Crest, said Candice Womer, a spokesperson for the company.
As of Friday evening, there was no timetable on when power would be restored, according to Frank Tedesco of Atlantic City Electric. The company worked to reroute power from the local grid to get clusters of people back online, Tedesco said.
As of 8:30 p.m., power had returned to about 8,000 of the affected customers, Womer said. "Crews are continuing to work around the clock until all are restored," she said. Outages for some were expected to continue into Saturday.
People are also reading…
The fire began about noon. Police alerted the public to the fire at 12:26 p.m., and it was contained shortly after 1 p.m., Womer said. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
“We understand how disruptive this can be and we are working safely and as quickly as possible to restore service,” Womer said.
Traffic lights were out throughout the city, including several at the immediate entry points coming into the city. Police directed traffic at the north end entrance into North Wildwood by Anglesea Drive.
The Wildwood Recreation Center was open for anyone who needed a place to escape the heat. North Wildwood police said the city’s rec center would be open as a cooling center, as temperatures continued to climb during the day.
A small portion of Lower Township was impacted as well, and the township opened a cooling center for residents at the Recreation Center behind Township Hall on Bayshore Road.
The Wildwood Crest Library closed Friday afternoon and said it would reopen Saturday if power was restored. Wildwood’s fireworks show was also canceled.
Police were stationed at various high-traffic intersections throughout the island. Dozens of people were outside their homes trying to avoid the heat inside.
The outage’s effects could be felt offshore, as well. Traffic leaving the Wildwoods for the mainland was lined up heading into Rio Grande.
The outage could have a significant impact on revenue for the city, Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron said.
“Financially, it could be devastating,” Byron said. “They could be losing hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Members of the Kelly family, vacationing from Emmaus, Pennsylvania, were on the beach when word started spreading that the outage was disrupting activity in the Wildwoods. They returned to their rented home on West Youngs Avenue to find the home’s smoke detectors going off because they were disconnected from their power source.
They were left to throw a “porch party” with their dogs, Chai and Honey, to escape heat inside.
“We’re making the best of it,” said Rebecca Kelly, 35.
About a block from the substation, John Bradley, 64, of Philadelphia, was staying at his second home in Wildwood when he saw thick, gray smoke rise above the electric plant on Susquehanna Avenue.
“Not a big plume, but it was a good amount,” Bradley said from his porch.
Minutes before first seeing the smoke, Bradley’s home lost power, and he instantly connected the two events once he saw the fire in the distance. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/wildwood-newjersey-power-outage-fire/article_21efc996-1ce6-11ee-8a81-d321fb193ad5.html | 2023-07-08T08:37:07 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/wildwood-newjersey-power-outage-fire/article_21efc996-1ce6-11ee-8a81-d321fb193ad5.html |
The Benedictine Schools of Richmond Inc. plans to widen its campus by a few feet to make room for a new softball field.
The Catholic school complex, which includes Benedictine and Saint Gertrude high schools, is in the process of bringing sporting events back to its 50-acre campus on River Road in Goochland County. The complex recently opened a basketball gym, and the schools have plans for more fields.
According to concept drawings submitted to the county, Benedictine intends to build a new monastery, a new academic building near the football field and a new football stadium at a later date.
A new building for Saint Gertrude is scheduled to open this fall in the back corner of campus.
On Thursday, the Goochland Planning Commission unanimously approved a conditional-use permit for Benedictine to revise its master plan. The permit still needs a green light from the county's Board of Supervisors.
People are also reading…
If approved, Benedictine hopes to have the softball field ready for the 2024 spring season.
To fit the field into its footprint, Benedictine proposes expanding its parcel by a quarter-acre, which would provide a 25-foot buffer between the field and the edge of campus.
Benedictine already owns the adjacent parcels, but they are not zoned for school use. A small number of citizens have expressed concern about how the schools' expansion affects the nearby neighborhood.
The softball field, which would be built behind the Benedictine school building where tennis courts used to stand, will not be lit or used at night.
For about 100 years, Benedictine and its sister school, Saint Gertrude, operated in Richmond's Museum District. In 2013, Benedictine relocated to the Mary Mother of the Church Abbey along the banks of the James River in Goochland.
In 2020, Saint Gertrude followed. This fall, a new Saint Gertrude building is set to open in the back corner of campus overlooking the James.
The high schools have about 500 students combined, according to documents filed with the county. The campus also houses a monastery for up to 20 Benedictine monks, a religious facility for meetings and retreats, and a chapel.
The old school building in the city now houses Cristo Rey, a Catholic school for low-income students who work in addition to attending class. The old Saint Gertrude site has been sold to a developer.
In recent years, the schools have started bringing their athletics teams back to campus. In 2020, the schools opened a gymnasium to serve as home for their basketball teams.
Last year, Benedictine bought and rezoned a 16-acre parcel that touches campus with plans of building six tennis courts and three football-sized fields that can host soccer and lacrosse games and softball and football practices. The schools also recently built a soccer field for Saint Gertrude near the planned softball field.
Some Saint Gertrude teams still use an off-campus athletics facility in northern Henrico County. The 16-acre plot includes a softball field, two soccer and lacrosse fields and six tennis courts.
Last year, Benedictine sold the property to Henrico, which could envelop it into the nearby GreenCity arena project. Benedictine can use the facility for two more years. | https://richmond.com/news/local/business/real-estate/benedictine-schools-new-school-building-goochland-county/article_bfe9ea94-1c11-11ee-bff1-1397f3eb6169.html | 2023-07-08T08:46:17 | 1 | https://richmond.com/news/local/business/real-estate/benedictine-schools-new-school-building-goochland-county/article_bfe9ea94-1c11-11ee-bff1-1397f3eb6169.html |
The cost of health care has long been a point of discussion in Wyoming.
For years, lawmakers, doctors, hospitals, health insurance companies and even businesses have wrestled with the relative costs that the state’s residents pay for medical services, which historically have been higher than the national average and surrounding states.
Access has always been a part of that conversation, too. The Legislature and the state’s communities and health care industry have continually weighed the medical services that should be available across Wyoming’s rural areas, trying to balance the care people need and want with growing costs.
Yet, decades of discussion have yielded few solutions, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that aims to improve the quality and efficacy of the U.S. health care system. The group’s 2023 state health system scorecard ranks Wyoming 49 out of 51 (including the District of Columbia) and last among five Rocky Mountain states for the affordability and accessibility of its health care system.
People are also reading…
Across many of the metrics the Commonwealth Fund uses, Wyoming sits in the bottom half of states or even worse. According to the report, 1 in 10 children in Wyoming are uninsured, double the national average. A quarter of adults do not have a consistent source of care and 17% of Wyomingites have medical debt, both above the national average. While Wyoming excels in some areas, such as youth mental health care, the report largely paints the picture of a state that continues to struggle with health care costs and barriers to care, especially among minorities and those with low incomes.
Those in health care say that there are no clear and easy solutions to improve access and make medical care more affordable for Wyoming patients. Wyoming’s rural geography is an inherent challenge, doctors, industry groups and officials from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming said. A small population and large state means higher costs and fewer options for patients. But there is some agreement about the steps the state and its health care industry should begin to take. Across the spectrum, health care providers and professionals argued that the state and its medical system should focus more on primary care and filling insurance gaps to lower costs and better meet the needs of Wyomingites.
Yet, even as those in health care agree on some meaningful changes, a larger question looms: What type of health care system does Wyoming want?
“There is this expectation of consumers to be able to receive all the care all the time, but you can’t do that at a low price,” said Diane Gore, the president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming. “The population dynamics and the demographic dynamics just don’t work.”
Access
Pushed by health care groups, lawmakers have taken some recent steps to improve health care access in Wyoming.
During the last legislative session, the state joined two compacts, one for licensed professional counselors and one for psychologists, that will allow more mental and behavioral health providers to practice in the state. Lawmakers also required health insurance companies to cover “collaborative care” for mental health, a new model that aims to integrate behavioral and mental health into a patient’s primary care.
Perhaps the most significant bill, and one of the most celebrated, was an extension of Medicaid postpartum coverage to a year, allowing new mothers to access care such as postpartum checkups, screenings, assistance with breastfeeding and a range of behavioral health services for an additional 10 months.
Yet, it remains to be seen if the action the Legislature took last year will address the issue of access in Wyoming’s health care system. The state has yet to find a solution to Wyoming’s fundamental problem of geography.
“Rural here is a lot different where your state is huge with large expanses of geography in between [and] bad weather in the wintertime,” said Dr. Kristopher Schamber, an internist with Sheridan Memorial Hospital and the president of the Wyoming Medical Society. “That plays a big role.”
As anyone living in Wyoming knows, the state is relatively unique even among rural states. The 10th largest state, Wyoming also has the smallest population. At its most basic, that means fewer hospitals and medical facilities spread out across greater distances, an immediate impediment to health care access. Wyoming’s rural character makes quality health care difficult not only for the patients who have to travel, but also medical providers who have to factor barriers to care into their treatment plans.
“We as physicians have to adjust our recommendations for patients who live far away from the service we provide,” said Dr. Giovannina Anthony, an ob-gyn at the Women’s Health and Family Care clinic in Jackson. “… We have to make adjustments to try and keep patients safe but make a workable scenario for them and that’s really hard.”
Over the last decade, Wyoming’s geographic obstacles have contributed in part to shrinking medical services and declining health care access. Memorial Hospital of Carbon County in Rawlins announced last year that it would cut its labor and delivery services, sending patients roughly 100 miles away to Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie to deliver their babies. Around the same time, South Memorial Hospital District in Kemmerer announced that it would also cut its labor and delivery services. Since 2005, 10 ambulance agencies have closed across Wyoming, while nearly a dozen others have been replaced.
“We’re seeing some of our hospitals take a look at the service lines they’re offering and we’re seeing a reduction in some,” Eric Boley, the president of the Wyoming Hospital Association, said. “It’s decreasing access to care for certain types of care in those communities, but we’re seeing those really tough decisions as to whether or not they can be afforded.”
The metrics that the Commonwealth Fund uses to gauge the access and affordability of health care in Wyoming include measures like the percentage of adults who lack consistent care, but the group also relies on health insurance as an indicator. According to doctors, Wyoming’s yearslong inability to expand Medicaid and lower its uninsured rates still stands as one of the greatest hurdles to improved health care access.
A minority of lawmakers has tried for more than a decade to expand Medicaid in Wyoming – the only state in the West that has yet to do so – with no success. Opponents have argued that expanding the program will be too costly to the state, even as the Wyoming Department of Health estimated the state could save $32 million in the first two years alone.
According to Commonwealth Fund data, Wyoming has the sixth highest adult uninsured rate in the country at 16% and the second highest uninsured rate for children. Kevin Wilson, the executive director of the Lander Free Medical Clinic, which provides free primary care to people who make less than 200% of the federal poverty level and who are uninsured, said he knew of at least a dozen clinic patients who would qualify for Medicaid if the state chose to expand the joint state-federal program.
Wyoming Department of Health projections show some 19,000 people in Wyoming could enroll in expanded Medicaid by the end of the first two years, a significant number for a state with 581,000 people.
“For a lot of my patients, not expanding Medicaid in our state is a huge barrier to them wanting to go get any care,” Wilson said.
Though Wyoming and the federal government do have programs that subsidize health insurance and can drastically reduce premiums, Wilson said even those plans can be difficult for some Lander Free Medical Clinic patients because of the out-of-pocket expenses.
“That’s what stops a lot of our patients from even signing up for these highly subsidized plans on the Affordable Care Act marketplace,” Wilson said. “The best plan that you can pretty much find, which is the one that we’ve gotten our patients into, is a $900 out-of-pocket maximum and our patients are living so much paycheck to paycheck.”
Cost
High health care costs have been a theme in the three decades that Boley has worked in health care in Wyoming. They likely will continue to be, he said.
“Nothing’s really changed,” Boley said. “It’s the same issues we’ve been facing for many, many years.”
The cost of health care in Wyoming is no simple equation. But if there is one overarching force, it’s the issue of economies of scale, or in Wyoming’s case the lack of them. Put simply, Wyoming doesn’t have enough people and enough large communities to keep health care costs down.
“If you’re a UnitedHealthcare, Anthem or Humana, we don’t move the needle,” said Anne Ladd, the CEO of Colorado’s Peak Health Alliance and the former executive director of the Wyoming Business Coalition on Health. “You’re looking at big population centers to get your costs under control because that’s where the needle gets moved.”
In health care, as in other industries, volume is key. A doctor or hospital that sees hundreds of knee surgeries will be more proficient than one that sees dozens. They will also be able to charge lower rates. In rural Wyoming, that’s a struggle. Some hospital emergency rooms may see only a handful of patients each day, making it hard to cover staffing and overhead costs, Boley said.
Adding to the problem is the relative lack of interest from national health care groups, which are scared away by Wyoming’s small population and market, Ladd said. Limited competition leaves little pressure across the state to reduce health care costs. The knock-on effect is that Wyomingites often have to pay more for their health care.
“Volume drives the cost down,” Boley said.
Lawmakers, state officials and some health care groups have tried at times to curb the cost of health care in the state. A few years ago the state funded the initial development of a database to track health insurance claims. A joint effort between the Department of Health and Wyoming Business Coalition on Health, an employer group dedicated to addressing high health care costs, the database was imagined as both a way to track Wyoming’s health care costs and a transparency tool for consumers. The Legislature approved the continued use of the database in 2019, but they did so without appropriating money and the database has since shuttered.
In 2020, Gov. Mark Gordon launched his Health Task Force, which brought together health care, state and legislative officials and tasked them with addressing Wyoming’s high health costs. Though the group has taken some meaningful steps to shore up the state’s EMS system and establish the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline, it has produced little in the way of state action to tackle health care costs.
Part of the challenge is that so much is out of state’s hands. The federal government plays a significant role in health care costs both as a payer through Medicare and Medicaid and as a regulator. But part of the problem is also Wyoming and the United States’ model of health care itself.
“If you look at healthcare industry in general as a fee-for-service sort of concept, it doesn’t value the right kind of care,” Schamber said.
In Wyoming and across the country, health care is geared toward medical procedures and emergency care. Doctors and hospitals are reimbursed more for surgeries than general wellness checkups, tilting health care services toward specialty care and away from primary care. At the same time, Wyomingites typically seek medical care only when they’re in dire need.
The data backs both trends. Primary care accounts for just 5.3% of adult health care spending in Wyoming, putting Wyoming among the bottom 10 states in the country, according to the Commonwealth Fund. Less than 60% of Wyomingites are up-to-date on their cancer screenings, last in the nation, and more than a third of children went without a medical and dental preventative visit in the last year. Wyoming also outpaces the national average in premature deaths from preventable causes and sits around average in avoidable emergency department visits, data shows.
“Primary care has got to be the focus across the country and certainly in rural states,” Schamber said.
Across Wyoming’s health care landscape there is general agreement that the state needs to prioritize primary care if it wants to begin tackling high health care costs and improve outcomes for patients. That likely means attracting more physicians to the state – Wyoming falls below the national average in primary care providers per 100,000 people, according to the United Health Foundation’s 2023 America’s Health Rankings – and encouraging and incentivizing Wyomingites to see their regular doctors more frequently.
“You could potentially prevent the diabetic from becoming a diabetic. You can prevent the high blood pressure patient from becoming a high blood pressure patient, or you can certainly delay the years before they reach that point,” Ladd said.
“We should be really focusing very hard on excellent primary care,” she said. “If we truly invested in making sure everybody got excellent primary care, we would go a long way to saving everybody a lot of money.”
What kind of health care does Wyoming want?
Cost and access are deeply intertwined. In Wyoming, they’re also mutually exclusive.
Increase access and you raise the cost of health care. Decrease cost and you lose access, those across the industry said.
That’s where the question of what kind of health care Wyomingites want comes in, a question that the state and its communities have yet to answer.
Ladd suggested that if Wyoming wanted to keep health care costs down, the state and its medical system would consider systematically sending patients with complex conditions beyond its borders to areas that have both more expertise and lower costs – to areas with a higher volume of patients.
“The minute it becomes even the least bit not run of the mill we have no business in Wyoming trying to take that on,” she said. “We don’t have the expertise and we’re never gonna have the expertise because we’re never going to see enough of it.”
Sending patients to urban centers and other states would require Wyomingites be willing to travel outside of their communities to access some health care services. But that’s at odds with what many in the state expect, Boley said.
“In our small communities, there’s an expectation that hospitals provide as many services as they can and most services are loss leaders,” he said. “It’s a really fine balancing act, but if our hospitals don’t do those in our communities then where do people go?”
Gore pointed to the need for the state and its residents to find some type of middle ground between both cost and access.
“These are the difficult conversations that we need to have across the state of Wyoming,” she said. “If you want the access, you’re going to pay for it, but is there a compromise somewhere? Maybe you don’t do knee replacements in these small rural hospitals, but maybe you have those rural hospitals really for appendectomies or something along those lines. Those are the difficult questions.”
With decades of little change, it would be easy to assume that Wyoming’s health care system will continue to be mired by concerns about the affordability and accessibility of medical care. But Ladd maintains the belief that health care in Wyoming can improve if the state begins investing in data collection to understand the forces shaping medicine.
“We’re not doomed,” she said. “But it’s going to get to a point where we’re going to have to have some kind of societal intervention.” | https://trib.com/news/local/business/health-care/wyoming-health-care-cost-and-access/article_5a3db6ea-1b7f-11ee-8265-e757465702b2.html | 2023-07-08T09:07:36 | 0 | https://trib.com/news/local/business/health-care/wyoming-health-care-cost-and-access/article_5a3db6ea-1b7f-11ee-8265-e757465702b2.html |
It's finally here. Summer is truly in full swing with the Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo Parade set for Tuesday morning.
Parade Day is a Casper tradition -- no, ritual. The day starts early with floats gathering at the route's start. Families vying for the best spots haul lawn chairs and trickle onto sidewalks along the parade route.
This year’s route is the same as the last few years. It begins at David Street Station, then continues down Second Street. The parade will loop down Beech Street and Collins Drive onto Center Street where it finishes at Ninth Street. Those roads and other sections of the Yellowstone Highway between Ash and Poplar streets, as well as the connecting section of Walnut Street, will be closed to traffic to prepare for floats and paradegoers.
This year's parade them is "Neon Light, Cowboy Nights," and Gary Lathrop is the parade marshal.
People are also reading…
As with every year there will be street closures in much of downtown through the morning and part of the early afternoon. And as it is Casper's favorite unofficial holiday, many business and government offices will be closed, so it's best to double check what's open or not ahead of time.
The weather is going to be sunny and hot with a high of 91 currently forecasted. Be sure to wear sunscreen and keep plenty of water on hand.
Casper Area Transit will also be affected by the parade.
"LINK buses (Blue, Green, Red, and Yellow) will begin normal routing at 6:30 a.m. and complete their first round. At 7:30 a.m. when the buses depart from the Transfer Station on Beech Street, they will make all scheduled stops but will deviate to 5th and Beech on their return to the Transfer Station at 8:30 a.m., traffic permitting," a press release from the City states. Door-to-door ASSIST will not be available at any location on a street closed for the parade. The Beech Street bus stop will be closed from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
The Parade Day isn't only fun in town. The carnival at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds opened Friday afternoon. Along with rides and thrills, there are a slew of events and exhibits all over the fairgrounds.
And rounding out the action is the PRCA Rodeo. The first performance hits the ground at 7:30 on Tuesday and runs nightly through June 15. | https://trib.com/news/local/casper/casper-parade-day-carnival-rodeo/article_a017ec3c-1c3b-11ee-b788-a7e76ae4a858.html | 2023-07-08T09:07:42 | 0 | https://trib.com/news/local/casper/casper-parade-day-carnival-rodeo/article_a017ec3c-1c3b-11ee-b788-a7e76ae4a858.html |
TUPELO - On a sweltering July evening, families, businesses, and communities gathered in Gumtree Park for the Juneteenth Freedom Celebration. The event had been rescheduled from Juneteenth weekend to the first of July at 5 p.m. because of inclement weather.
While local bands played and speakers spoke onstage, the field was surrounded with tents of vendors, selling everything from food and drinks to accessories and clothing.
Notable speakers included Dr. Richard Price, Edward Holliday, Apostle Keric Sparrow, NAACP President Charles Moore, as well as other elected officials.
There were many tents housing people doing community work as well, including services assisting people with health insurance and campaigns for local government positions.
To account for the heat, a nurse’s station and kept plenty of water around as well as announcing reminders for people to hydrate.
Together, the event radiated a deep-rooted sense of community that overcame even the heat.
Jan Adams, one of the attendees, agreed with this sentiment.
“It teaches about history and brings community together,” she said of the event, turning a hot dog over on the small grill she brought out for her family.
Many other attendees emphasized the educational aspect of the celebration.
“(The event) is good for young kids. It makes them proud to be who they are and proud of where they came from,” Shineka Harris said while holding her young daughter in her lap. “It’s important to know what our ancestors endured so that we can be here.”
With this being the third year since President Joe Biden established Juneteenth as a national holiday, many attendees also remarked on how they were feeling about this development.
“The national recognition has brought to light the stories of many African Americans. People are more aware, and important dates have become relevant,” Teresa Roberts, an attendee and member of the Juneteenth Committee, said when asked about her opinion on the holiday’s official recognition.
“It’s a huge step for the United States, to do something of this magnitude that symbolizes unity,” Princess Eulogia Goree Gordon said.
Kim Parks, a worker with the Eternal Life Mission booth, said Juneteenth’s ascension to federal holiday status after hundreds of years of being celebrated among Black communities across the nation is a real sign of forward momentum.
“It means that (the nation) is making progress,” she said.
Parks also talked about the event as a whole.
“I feel overjoyed,” she said. “Anytime you can celebrate not just Black people, but the representation of how far the nation has come, it’s really important.”
Harris also agreed with the importance of the event.
“It’s so important to celebrate Black freedom and history. I think the event is nice,” she said.
By the time the event ended, several hundred people had attended, including locals and those from out of town.
Jennifer Lawrence, Juneteenth Committee member, said while having to move the event was unfortunate, she believes it inevitably worked in organizers’ favor.
“I think the event was a success,” Lawrence said. “Moving it helped because July 4th weekend brought people in from out of town.”
The winners of the three Conway Scholarships were Taniyah Wallace, Maurissa Shumpert, and P.J. Shelly, and they were very excited to be awarded. The event included multiple giveaways, including door prizes and mini motorbikes.
Lawrence noted that the community deeply enjoyed the event.
“I think the community members enjoyed it. They got to see people they haven’t seen in a while, old friends, people who were in their high school class,” Lawrence said.
The Juneteenth Committee will have a follow-up meeting soon to talk about the event and to begin planning the next.
“We want to make 2024 bigger and better,” Lawrence said. “And we want to make sure that people know the event is for everybody.”
Newsletters
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request. | https://www.djournal.com/news/local/delayed-tupelo-juneteenth-celebration-a-big-success/article_b156278c-1cfb-11ee-a298-536aa3a34328.html | 2023-07-08T10:00:28 | 0 | https://www.djournal.com/news/local/delayed-tupelo-juneteenth-celebration-a-big-success/article_b156278c-1cfb-11ee-a298-536aa3a34328.html |
Becky Weatherford, Founding Executive Director of Talbot House, poses for a photo with Brooke Burleson, the organization's new chief operations and chief marketing officer, inside the Talbot House Bakery & Cafe in Tupelo on July 7, 2023.
Amy Mims, Program Director at Talbot House, helps customer Larry Coggin of Tupelo pick up his order at Talbot House Bakery & Cafe in Tupelo on July 7, 2023.
Amy Mims, Program Director at Talbot House, boxes up fresh chocolate chip cookies at Talbot House Bakery & Cafe in Tupelo on July 7, 2023.
Adam Robison | DAILY JOURNAL
Becky Weatherford, Founding Executive Director of Talbot House, poses for a photo with Brooke Burleson, the organization's new chief operations and chief marketing officer, inside the Talbot House Bakery & Cafe in Tupelo on July 7, 2023.
Adam Robison | DAILY JOURNAL
Amy Mims, Program Director at Talbot House, helps customer Larry Coggin of Tupelo pick up his order at Talbot House Bakery & Cafe in Tupelo on July 7, 2023.
Adam Robison | DAILY JOURNAL
Patrica Smith, an employee at Talbot House Bakery & Cafe, makes up a sandwich to at her workstation on July 7, 2023, in Tupelo.
Adam Robison | DAILY JOURNAL
Amy Mims, Program Director at Talbot House, pours a glaze over a cinnamon roll at Talbot House Bakery & Cafe on Friday morning.
Adam Robison | DAILY JOURNAL
This photograph shows a cranberry and turkey sandwich from Talbot House Bakery & Cafe in Tupelo on July 7, 2023.
How to help Anyone who wants to support Talbot House’s cause can buy food from the Talbot House Bakery & Cafe, located at 101 Industrial Road North in Tupelo. Businesses across the city also sell goods baked at the cafe, the proceeds from which support the organization’s cause. For more information about Talbot House, visit its website at talbothousetupelo.org. | https://www.djournal.com/news/local/talbot-house-in-tupelo-raising-funds-for-improvements-expansion/article_19b937ee-19bc-11ee-a6ea-bf03fadfc424.html | 2023-07-08T10:00:34 | 0 | https://www.djournal.com/news/local/talbot-house-in-tupelo-raising-funds-for-improvements-expansion/article_19b937ee-19bc-11ee-a6ea-bf03fadfc424.html |
BLOOMINGTON — A Texas man faces cocaine and damage charges in McLean County after authorities said he rammed a police car.
Derek D. Boone, 54, of Houston, Texas, is charged with three counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance involving 1-15 grams of cocaine; one count each of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and unlawful possession of a controlled substance; two counts of criminal damage to government supported property; and two counts of resisting an officer.
Assistant State’s Attorney Mark Messman said Friday in court that Boone was accused of making three cocaine transactions in June and July while under investigation by Illinois State Police.
After the drug third transaction, Boone fled when Bloomington police tried to conduct a traffic stop on his vehicle, and during the interaction, he reversed the vehicle into a BPD squad car, causing more than $500 worth of damage, the prosecutor said.
He was jailed in lieu of posting $17,535, and an arraignment was scheduled for July 28.
Dr. Keith Humphreys, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, explains the effects of the synthetic opioid on the body, and discusses the signs of a fentanyl overdose
Updated mug shots from The Pantagraph
Bryant Lewis
Bryant Lewis, 28, of Bloomington, is charged with home invasion causing injury, a Class X felony. His next appearance is Dec. 30.
Connor Wood
Derek Roesch
Derek Roesch of Saybrook was charged Thursday, Nov. 10 in McLean County Law and Justice Center with several counts, including:
-Two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, Class 2 felonies
-One count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon while on parole, Class 2 felony
-Two counts of unlawful possession of firearm ammunition by a felon, class 2 felonies
-One count of unlawful possession of firearm ammunition by a felon while on parole, class 2 felony
-Unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver (greater than 2000 grams but less than 5000 grams), a class 1 felony
-Unlawful possession of cannabis (greater than 2000 grams but less than 5000 grams), a class 2 felony
-Unlawful possession of a controlled substance, psylocibin less than 15 grams, a class 4 felony
-Unlawful possession of methamphetamine, less than five grams, a class 3 felony.
-Unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor
Justin M. Mata
Justin M. Mata, 28, no address given, is charged with possession of less than five grams of meth with intent to deliver, a Class 2 felony, and possession of less than five grams of meth, a Class 3 felony. He was released on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond and his next appearance is Dec. 30.
Connor Wood
Marcus D. Wesley
Marcus D. Wesley, 36, is charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in a vehicle (Class 4 felony), unlawful possession of cannabis (Class 3 felony) and unlawful possession of cannabis with the intent to deliver (Class 2 felony).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Phillip Tinch
Phillip Tinch of Normal was charged Thursday, Nov. 10 at the McLean County Law and Justice Center with several felonies including:
- Five counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, more than one but less than 15 grams of a substance containing cocaine, a Class 1 felony.
-One count of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, less than one gram of a substance containing cocaine, a Class 2 felony.
Trisha L. Hanke
Trisha L. Hanke, 36, is charged with theft of over $10,000 (Class 2 felony). Court documents indicate she knowingly took $14,000 belonging to a Love's Travel Stop, in LeRoy, where she was employed.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
William B. Givens
William B. Givens, 49, no address given, is charged with unlawful possession of five to 15 grams of meth with intent to deliver, a Class 1 felony, possession of less than five grams of meth with intent to deliver, a Class 2 felony, possession of five to 15 grams of meth, a Class 2 felony, and possession of less than five grams of meth, a Class 3 felony. His next appearance is Dec. 30.
Connor Wood
David L. Oliver
David L. Oliver, 51, of Bloomington, is charged with predatory criminal sexual assault.
Kenneth E. Funk
Kenneth E. Funk, 27, is charged with residential burglary (Class 1 felony) involving an apartment in Lexington on Dec. 31, 2022.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Jordan R. King
Charges have been filed against Jordan R. King, 34, for violation of the Illinois Violent Offender Against Youth Act.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Holly M. Isaacson
Isaacson
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Kenneth L. Minton
Kenneth L. Minton, 51, is charged with aggravated home repair fraud (Class 2 felony) and theft (Class 3 felony).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Tony L. Jackson
Tony L. Jackson, 50, is charged for violation of the Illinois Violent Offender Against Youth Act (Class 2 felony).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Britley L. Hilger
Britley L. Hilger, 32, is charged with aggravated battery (Class 2 felony) after she supposedly punched a McLean County Detention Facility officer in the chest.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Jasmine L. Smith
Jasmine L. Smith, 31, is charged with aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol (Class 2 felony) and five counts of endangering the life or health of a child (Class A misdemeanors).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Jackie S. Claypool
Jackie S. Claypool, 46, appeared for a Friday bond court hearing for two new cases which charged her for one count of burglary (Class 2 felony), four counts of forgery (Class 3) and one count of deceptive practices (Class 4 felony).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Noah R. Demuth
Noah R. Demuth, 22, of Evanston, is charged with aggravated battery of a peace officer, a Class 2 felony, aggravated battery in a public way, a Class 3 felony, mob action, a Class 4 felony, and obstructing a peace officer, a Class A misdemeanor. His next court date is Feb. 17.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Brandon L. Parsano
Brandon L. Parsano, 39, is charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, a Class 2 felony. His next appearance is Feb. 17 for an arraignment.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Alexander N. Williams
Alexander N. Williams, 24, was charged Feb. 2 with the following:
3 counts of unlawful delivery of cannabis between 30 and 500 grams - Class 3 felonies. 2 counts of armed violence - Class X felonies. 1 count of unlawful possession of cannabis between 2,000 and 5,000 grams with the intent to sell - a Class 1 felony. 1 count of unlawful possession of cannabis between 500 and 2,000 grams with the intent to sell - a Class 2 felony. 3 counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon - Class 3 felonies. 1 count of unlawful possession of firearm ammunition by a felon - a Class 3 felony 3 counts of violating the Illinois FOID act - Class 3 felonies.
PROVIDED BY MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Carlos Sanchez-Solozarzano
Carlos H. Sanchez-Solozarzano, 22, was charged with 1 count of criminal sexual assault, a Class 1 felony.
PROVIDED BY MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Jaylin S. Bones
Jaylin S. Bones was charged with four counts of first-degree murder stemming from a homicide in Bloomington last year. A McLean County grand jury also returned a bill of indictment charging him with attempted first degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm (Class X felony).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Jordan R. King
Jordan R. King, 34, was charged with violating the Illinois Violent Offender Against Youth Act (Class 2 felony) a second time in under a month.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Dominique M. Banks
Dominique M. Banks, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated battery involving strangulation (Class 2 felony). The incident happened in October 2022 and involved one victim.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Austin T. Daugherty
Austin T. Daugherty, 29, was charged with burglary (Class 2 felony) after he entered an Avis Car Rental, 3201 Cira Drive, in Bloomington, without permission and with the intent to commit theft.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Sandra M. Lewis
Sandra M. Lewis, 77, is charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance containing MDMB-4E-PINACA, a synthetic cannabinoid, with the intent to deliver (Class X felony).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Samantha E. Morris
Samantha E. Morris, 40, is charged with aggravated battery of a peace officer (Class 2 felony) after supposedly spitting on a Colfax police officer.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Nolan C. Love
Nolan C. Love, 46, appeared in court Friday for a bond review hearing after being charged with aggravated domestic battery involving strangulation (Class 2 felony) on Feb. 26.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Nikkita L. Sandefur
Nikkita L. Sandefur, 36, is charged with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance (Class 2 felony) containing cocaine.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Katlin M.B. Wilson
Katlin M.B. Wilson, 32, is charged with aggravated identity theft (Class 2 felony) after being accused of fraudulently obtaining money exceeding $300 but not exceeding $10,000 from a 60 year old man.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Eli C. Garozzo
Eli C. Garozzo, 20, is charged with two counts of home invasion, a Class X felony, two counts of attempted armed robbery, a Class 1 felony, and two counts of residential burglary, a Class 1 felony. His bond was set at $200,000 as a 10% bond, meaning he must pay $20,000 plus fees to be released. His next appearance is an arraignment on April 13.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Tysean T. Townsend
Tysean T. Townsend, 35, is charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle (Class 2 felony), three counts of child abduction, aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer and obstructing justice (Class 4 felonies).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Curtis J. Byrd
Curtis J. Byrd, 31, is charged with two counts of burglary (Class 2 felony), two counts of fraud and two counts of financial institution fraud (Class 3 felonies).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Noral K. Nelson
Noral K. Nelson, 31, was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm (Class 4 felony) after he was arrested in connection to a shooting along the 1500 block of S. Main Street.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Charles J. Tankson
Charles J. Tankson, 23, was charged with burglary (Class 2 felony), theft and two counts of unlawful use of a debit card (Class 3 felonies).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Davis, Micah S
Davis was charged with 3 counts of arson, Class 2 felonies, and 3 counts of criminal damage to property, Class 4 felonies.
His next court date is May 5 at 9 a.m.
PROVIDED BY THE MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Livingston, Joshua D.
Livingston was charged with 2 counts of possessing stolen vehicles, Class 2 felonies, possession of less than 5 grams of methamphetamine, a Class 3 felony, and criminal damage to government property, a Class 4 felony.
His next court date is May 5 at 9 a.m.
PROVIDED BY THE MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Kevin L. Ewen
Kevin L. Ewen, 42, appeared in a Thursday bond court hearing and was charged with aggravated battery (Class 2 felony), obstructing a peace officer (Class 4 felony) and two counts of resisting a peace officer (Class A misdemeanor).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Emmanuel K. Mpay
Emmanuel K. Mpay, 23, appeared in a Thursday bond court hearing following a grand jury indictment for two counts of criminal sexual assault (Class 1 felonies).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Ahmad S. Manns
Ahmad S. Manns, 19, appeared in a Friday bond court hearing and was charged with cannabis trafficking (Class X felony), unlawful possession of cannabis with the intent to deliver (Class 1 felony) and unlawful possession of cannabis (Class 2 felony).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Dylan R Mann
Dylan R Mann, 31, appeared Friday in bond court following four grand jury indictments for two separate cases relating to aggravated assault and battery.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Tony L. Jackson
Tony L. Jackson, 50, was charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle (Class 2 felony), domestic battery, violation of an order of protection and driving while license revoked or suspended (Class 4 felonies).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
William R. Linden
William R. Linden, 79, was released Tuesday on felony burglary charges for trying to pass a forged check at Busey Bank.
Zadek U. Moen
Zadek U. Moen, 20, is facing six felony drug charges after being arrested by the Illinois State Police on Thursday.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Zachary T. Willis
Zachary T. Willis, 27, is charged with aggravated domestic battery by strangulation (Class 2 felony) and domestic battery subsequent offense (Class 4 felony).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Cecily M. Sexton
Cecily M. Sexton, 39, was charged with two counts of burglary, a Class 2 felony; one count of forgery, a Class 3 felony; financial institution fraud, a Class 3 felony, and possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Tonisha A. Jackson
Tonisha A. Jackson, 27, was charged with aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, a Class 3 felony.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
James A. McConnaughay
James A. McConnaughay, 53, appeared in a Friday bond court hearing before Judge Amy McFarland. McConnaughay is charged with unlawful possession of 5-15 grams of methamphetamine (Class 2 felony).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Jessica M. Longberry
Jessica M. Longberry, 38, appeared in a Friday bond court hearing before Judge Amy McFarland. Longberry is charged with burglary (Class 2 felony) and forgery (Class 3 felony).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Barry D. Guyton
Barry D. Guyton, 26, was charged with two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon (Class 2 felonies) two counts of unlawful possession of 15-100 of cocaine with the intent to deliver with one being a Class X felony and the other being a Class 1 felony.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Keon E. Spiller
Keon E. Spiller, 22, appeared in a Friday bond court hearing before Judge Amy McFarland and was charged with attempted escape after his jury trial reached a verdict.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Melina Aguilar
Melina Aguilar, 32, was charged with harassment of witnesses (Class 2 felonies) after asking a witness to lie on the record.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Carlos D. Cregan
Carlos D. Cregan, 35, was charged with harassment of witnesses (Class 2 felonies) after asking a witness to lie on the record.
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Andrea M. Sheets
Andrea M. Sheets appeared was charged Friday with possession of a stolen motor vehicle (Class 2 felony), aggravated fleeing a police officer (Class 4 felony) and obstructing a peace officer (Class A misdemeanor).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Wayne M. Damron
Wayne M. Damron, 52, is charged with one count of violation of the Illinois Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Act (Class 2 felony).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Terrance L. Ford
Terrance L. Ford, 25, is charged with two counts of burglary (Class 2 felony) and two counts of retail theft (Class 3 felony).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Stanley M. Miller
Stanley M. Miller, 61, was charged Friday with aggravated driving while under the influence of alcohol (Class X felony) and driving while driver's license revoked (Class 4 felony).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Darryl R. Vinson
Darryl R. Vinson, 60, is charged with violation of the sex offender registration act (Class 2 felony).
MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL
Contact Kelsey Watznauer at (309) 820-3254. Follow her on Twitter: @kwatznauer.
Be the first to know
Get local news delivered to your inbox! | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-courts/cocaine-felonies-pending-against-texas-man-in-mclean-county/article_7bd50a98-1cff-11ee-9b78-f36bf4620b3f.html | 2023-07-08T10:23:50 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-courts/cocaine-felonies-pending-against-texas-man-in-mclean-county/article_7bd50a98-1cff-11ee-9b78-f36bf4620b3f.html |
When student loan repayments begin in October, local economists expect consumer spending to decrease and universities could see a future impact in revenue driven by enrollment.
A state-by-state report by LendEDU shows that outstanding student loan debt ballooned to $1.67 trillion and the consumer research company said the “pandemic has students and parents weighing the value of higher education and the financial burden of student loan debt.”
These decisions will likely have a “small but measurable” effect on how people with students loans spend their money going forward, according to Peter Nencka, an assistant economics professor at Miami University.
Around 70% of the American gross domestic product is consumer spending.
“There’ll be some degree of spending slowdown,” he said.
In Ohio, 62% of students graduate with an average debt of $30,629, according to the Ohio Attorney General. That is roughly a $311 payment that people with student loans haven’t had to pay in more than three years.
Nencka said some people have been using that money to save up to buy a home, upgrade a car or just save some money.
Samantha Panson, a Beavercreek resident who has student loans, told the Dayton Daily News she would need to reconfigure her budget to repay her student loans when they restart in October.
President Joe Biden’s administration announced earlier this week that there will be a 12-month grace period once payments and loan interest resume in October, where people who struggle to make their student loan payments will not have their credit affected nor will loans go into forbearance.
Kevin Willardsen, an associate economics professor at Wright State University, said there are two fundamental issues related to student loans right now. One is what could happen to the economy if student loans are forgiven, and the other is what will happen to the economy when student loans resume.
He says the impact of student loans resuming will be greater than any potential impacts from student loans being forgiven.
The Biden administration has announced plans to pursue loan forgiveness under the Higher Education Act of 1965, which is a federal law that governs the student loan program. There are few details about what that would look like and who would qualify as of Thursday.
Willardsen said the movement of money from savings accounts or other parts of a household budget back to student loans – or for some people who graduated in 2020-2023, for the first time – will change the amount of money going into consumer spending.
Nencka encouraged folks who will newly have to pay back student loans to look into income-based repayment plans.
But it’s not clear how much that will impact consumer spending, and Willardsen argues it will be a small dip compared to the larger economy.
Willardsen said that a lot of people who have student loans are still young, which is why they make comparatively less money than the population at large.
“It’s because they’re young that they’re poor, not because they have student loans, just because they don’t have any work history yet,” Willardsen said.
Willardsen said the largest impacts will likely be for universities and colleges, as student loans act similarly to a subsidy to universities and colleges.
“It’s important to recognize that it is the universities that would be hurt the most,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
About the Author | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/repayment-of-student-loans-may-have-impact-on-consumer-spending-economists-say/MEJ5RALFK5BZ3C6JSR66TQOB7M/ | 2023-07-08T10:28:11 | 0 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/repayment-of-student-loans-may-have-impact-on-consumer-spending-economists-say/MEJ5RALFK5BZ3C6JSR66TQOB7M/ |
MERIDIAN — Patients receiving chemotherapy at St. Luke’s Meridian Cancer Institute used to look out their windows and see gray cinderblock walls. Now, their window views have changed, thanks to Owyhee High School art students.
Last week, nine murals were hung outside of patients’ windows. Patients receive chemo in a daylight basement, which gets lots of light, but the nine windows there don’t have much of a view. The murals give patients like Wendy Turner, who has been undergoing chemotherapy since August, the chance to talk about art instead of cancer.
“You come in here and you kind of feel like you’re in a dungeon down here,” Turner said.
But the murals, Turner said, have changed that dungeon like atmosphere into one with color and art.
“We (patients) don’t get out much, so it’s like going to a little museum that we didn’t have before,” Turner said.
Stewart McWilliams, a registered nurse at the Chemo Infusion Center, has been caring for patients at the center for over a decade. McWilliams got the mural idea from one of his patients several years ago. That idea stuck with McWilliams, so much so that he reached out to Chloe Miller, the head of the art department at Owyhee High School. They started brainstorming how to hang the murals two years ago, Miller said.
“It’s definitely the largest scale painting any of my students have ever done,” Miller said. “It took us a year to get through painting all of them, especially because I couldn’t have all nine of them available in my room ... we could only have about four that we were working on at a time.”
The students had their work cut out for them. Painting was done outside of class time during lunch, after school or advisory periods, Miller said. Murals took anywhere from eight to 30 hours to complete, with just 12 students working on them.
“Once it got started, it took on a life of its own,” McWilliams said.
All of it was funded through donors and the St. Luke’s Foundation. One man who donated money for the murals, Sam, lost his wife after she did several chemotherapy treatments at the center. She loved painting birds, McWilliams recalled, but he wasn’t thinking of that when he hung the murals. McWilliams later learned that there was a hand painting birds on the mural hanging in the first room Sam’s wife received treatment in.
Coincidences like that have happened, and are anticipated to continue to happen, at the center, McWilliams said. But the hope is that the murals will provide patients with a distraction and perhaps a little light, Miller said.
“I hope it gives them (patients) a little bit of a sense of comfort,” Miller said. “I want them to kind of feel like they want to experience each of the pieces... I think the pieces will connect differently with the patients.”
The unveiling of the murals, Miller said, was a huge moment for her students.
“Everything’s so good when you’re young, you don’t really get the full scheme of what happens in life. It’s there, but you don’t think about it as much and I think it gave them a better perspective, that their artwork can make a really big difference in people’s lives,” Miller said. “It can change their lives.”
The most rewarding moment for her was watching her students get to meet patients who are being treated and directly impacted by the murals.
“There was one family and their daughter had passed away pretty recently,” Miller recalled. “And the parents came and told one of my students, ‘if my daughter was still here, she would have chosen your artwork to sit by’ and it brought the student to tears.”
Patients like Turner were overwhelmed with gratitude for all the students and staff involved in the murals.
“Thank you for something warm,” Turner said. “Because the color brightens our day.”
Emily White is a reporter for the Idaho Press. She covers Boise and Ada County with an emphasis on education. Follow her on Twitter @EmilyWhite177 and email her at ewhite@idahopress.com | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/high-school-students-bring-color-to-cancer-institute/article_220a26b4-1ce2-11ee-87ae-8ffab1342ba4.html | 2023-07-08T10:32:32 | 1 | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/high-school-students-bring-color-to-cancer-institute/article_220a26b4-1ce2-11ee-87ae-8ffab1342ba4.html |
The Idaho State Board of Education on Friday determined no open meeting violation occurred when it held a May 15 executive session to discuss the University of Idaho’s acquisition of the University of Phoenix.
The board met in response to a lawsuit filed by Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador and Solicitor General Theo Wold alleging the board violated the Open Meetings Law before it approved the University of Phoenix acquisition. The board made its decision after a 30-minute executive session.
“The Office of the State Board of Education is now in the process of seeking to retain independent counsel for purposes of advising the Board as to the merits of the legal claims and defenses to the lawsuit filed by the Office of the Attorney General, and representing the Board in court,” the board stated in a news release following Friday’s meeting.
According to a previous Lewiston Tribune report, the lawsuit from Labrador and Wold argued that at least one of the board’s executive sessions leading to the University of Phoenix purchase should have been held publicly. If the meetings were held in violation of code, subsequent actions by the board regarding the transaction are “null and void,” the lawsuit says.
The exemption in code cited as legal justification to hold these meetings behind closed doors was to “consider preliminary negotiations involving matters of trade or commerce in which the governing body is in competition with governing bodies in other states or nations.”
“The attorneys engaged in this transaction determined that the exemption applied,” board president Linda Clark said during Friday’s meeting.
According to a previous Idaho Education News report, the board sent a letter to Labrador’s office June 30 defending its actions.
“In advance of the May 15 meeting, the board consulted with and relied upon the legal advice of the office of Attorney General Labrador to ensure the meeting was noticed and conducted legally,” State board executive director Matt Freeman wrote in the letter. “Additionally, the deputy attorney general assigned to the board was present for the entirety of the May 15 meeting and no concerns with its legality were ever raised.”
The UI is creating a not-for-profit entity to acquire the University of Phoenix for a total cost of $685 million. | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/state-ed-board-ui-did-not-violate-open-meeting-law/article_897742a4-1d24-11ee-82fd-138c70bc534e.html | 2023-07-08T10:32:39 | 0 | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/state-ed-board-ui-did-not-violate-open-meeting-law/article_897742a4-1d24-11ee-82fd-138c70bc534e.html |
Police seek to identify man found dead underneath Salem bridge in 2016
Seven years after his death, police are still working to identify a man found beneath the Marion Street Bridge.
Now, Oregon State Police and the Marion County Medical Examiner's Office are asking for the public's help in identifying the man found July 22, 2016.
He was estimated to be between 35 and 65 years old at the time of his death, had brown hair with some gray, and was wearing a short-sleeved dress shirt and blue denim jeans.
"The identity of this individual has never been confirmed, and almost seven years have passed without any substantial leads regarding his identity," state police officials said in a statement.
The man's profile has been uploaded into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System under NamUs UP#16050.
Oregon State Police partnered with Parabon NanoLabs to perform DNA analysis in an attempt to learn more about the man.
Based on genetic information, his eye color and hair color are brown, and his skin color is light brown. Additional results show this male to have genetic ancestry common in Central and South American Latino individuals. He is likely from Central Mexico and very likely to have close family in or near Las Ranas, Michoacan.
Investigators are asking anyone with family members in Las Ranas or those who can recall a known Hispanic man disappearing in the summer of 2016 who meets this description to contact the Marion County Medical Examiner’s Office at 1-503-580-9471 to report information that may help identify him.
Information can also be e-mailed to Randerson@co.marion.or.us
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter at @wmwoodworth | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/police-seek-to-identify-man-found-dead-underneath-salem-bridge-in-2016/70393702007/ | 2023-07-08T10:50:07 | 1 | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/police-seek-to-identify-man-found-dead-underneath-salem-bridge-in-2016/70393702007/ |
Woman dies in early morning pickup truck rollover in South Salem
Staff
A 42-year-old woman died early Friday in a single-vehicle crash when the pickup truck she was driving left the road and rolled down an embankment, Salem Police said.
Police officers and emergency response crews were called to the 6700 block of Fairway Avenue SE at about 5:40 a.m. where they found Taliah Charese Gilchrist dead from injuries she sustained in the crash.
The crash remains under investigation, police said.
Preliminary findings indicate Gilchrist was driving north on Fairway Avenue SE and lost control of the truck. It traveled across a sidewalk and through a landscaped area before reentering the road and rolling down a short embankment, a news release said. | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/woman-dies-pickup-truck-rollover-in-south-salem-oregon/70393791007/ | 2023-07-08T10:50:13 | 1 | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/07/07/woman-dies-pickup-truck-rollover-in-south-salem-oregon/70393791007/ |
Artist Jake Van Yahres will tell you he’s not an avid tennis player, but it’s safe to say he’s made his mark on the court.
A drill, tennis balls and some paint were all it took for Van Yahres to create a mural of the legendary tennis player and Richmond-native Arthur Ashe.
Ashe grew up in the 1950s and ‘60s practicing his tennis skills on neighborhood courts across Richmond before he went on to become the first – and only – male African American player to win the U.S. Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon singles titles. Before retiring in 1980 Ashe also became the first African American player to rank No. 1 in the world and be inducted into the international Tennis Hall of Fame.
People are also reading…
Ashe, who died of AIDS in 1993, was also known for his efforts off the court including advocating for racial equality and raising awareness for HIV and AIDS, even founding the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS.
Now on what would have been Ashe’s 80th birthday on July 10, community members have embraced the mural as a welcomed addition to the many dedications to the tennis legend across Richmond.
Ashe’s nephew, David Harris, said he appreciates the mural not just for its creative expression but also the chance it offers for people to reflect on his uncle’s legacy.
“It’s wonderful that an artist found a way to showcase their interpretation of him, that’s important because we can tell a lot of history from art,” said Harris, who is actively involved with the Richmond tennis community through teaching and organizing events. “I hope people will take an opportunity to explore his life and learn the history of what he accomplished and the things that he did.”
JP LaFors, president of the Richmond Tennis Association, agreed with Harris and emphasized how the artwork will help bolster bonds within the community.
“I believe people may see the mural as a thoughtful invitation to come together and build a community of greatness that has strong bonds, empowers youth and encourages health and fitness through tennis,” LaFors said. “Battery Park is such a big and rich part of Richmond’s deep tennis history. It’s a perfect location for the mural and adds to the legacy of him and the game and how it can transcend sport in RVA to build our community.”
But the mural was not a singular effort as Van Yahres worked with several students from the Mural MOBB, which is an art program run by Richmond Parks and Recreation that pays students to work on murals with artists.
“It’s a really awesome program – something I would have done in high school – and all the kids I’ve worked with have been great,” Van Yahres said. “For me it’s cool to give them new ideas and outlets because some of them said they didn’t know you could do a mural on a court or paint with tennis balls.”
Inspiration to paint Arthur Ashe struck Van Yahres last summer when he noticed an empty wall on the tennis courts in Battery Park after completing a mural of Michael Jordan with students from the MOBB program.
“I saw the wall when I thought ‘man I would love to do a mural on that wall someday,’” Van Yahres said. “Then I learned Arthur Ashe had played around here so that really started the process to create a mural of him.”
Upon closer inspection of the wall Van Yahres said he noticed old markings of tennis ball markings and discovered his muse for the mural’s medium.
After several rounds of trial-and-error, Van Yahres decided inserting a drill into the tennis balls and dipping them in paint to then print the wall would be the most effective way for him and students of the MOBB program to create the mural.
The mural depicts Ashe mid-stroke gracefully reaching his racket back with his right hand and pointing with his left hand at what looks like a tennis ball flying through the air. But when viewing it up close, it becomes clear the tennis ball is actually Van Yahres’ and the MOBB program’s signature and in the lower right corner is a note that reads “painted with tennis balls.”
“A lot of people don't know it's made out of tennis balls so I hope when people see that they have a new appreciation for what art can be,” Van Yahres said. “Perhaps people have never seen a technique like this – I hadn't – so hopefully it excites them for more art in the city.”
Van Yahres said he is already planning another sports-related mural in the city and hopes to work with Mural MOBB again.
Harris, LaFors and Van Yahres agreed they believe Richmond residents and tennis players will feel a sense of pride when they see it and remember Ashe’s contributions to his community.
“I hope people will see it, remember what he did and build upon that because there are still lots of opportunities to grow our culture and lead by example," Harris said. | https://richmond.com/news/local/arthur-ashe-mural-artist-wimbledon/article_1eec171e-1cdb-11ee-ac6b-73a086d1ddd0.html | 2023-07-08T11:00:43 | 1 | https://richmond.com/news/local/arthur-ashe-mural-artist-wimbledon/article_1eec171e-1cdb-11ee-ac6b-73a086d1ddd0.html |
Customize your experience so you see the stories most important to you. And sign up for personalized notifications so you don't miss any important news.
On a Wednesday in 2011, Patient B came into the operating room of Dr. Michael D. Brooks for a non-emergency surgery.
According to filings with the Virginia Board of Medicine, here’s what happened next. Patient B returned the next day, complaining of “uncontrolled pain.” Brooks, an OB-GYN, ordered a surgical consultation but released her before getting the consult’s OK.
It was later discovered that her small intestine had been perforated during Brooks’ surgery. Since the operation, her intestine had been leaking into her bloodstream, causing a life-threatening infection called peritonitis.
Today, the one-time gynecologist is in charge of the health of more than 2,000 men at a prison complex in Sussex.
According to records from the Virginia Board of Medicine, he’s one of three physicians employed by the Virginia Department of Corrections time whose medical licenses have either been revoked or suspended for past misconduct.
The two other doctors have been identified in Board of Medicine papers as Kyle Alexander Smith, who allegedly sent inappropriate messages to patients, and Brian Christopher Bittner, who was disciplined for issuing prescriptions of controlled substances, according to records.
The physicians’ records and how they came to work for the prison system comes to light as VADOC weathers criticism from reform advocates, federal agencies, Republicans and Democrats concerning how it cares for inmates.
Attempts to reach the doctors individually were unsuccessful, and the VADOC’s current director, Harold Clarke, declined to be interviewed on the hiring of the three doctors. In response to questions, agency spokesperson Kyle Gibson said hiring is conducted by Vincent Gore, VADOC’s chief medical officer, and Steve Herrick, VADOC’s director of health services, but both Gore and Herrick also declined to be interviewed for this story.
“It is challenging to find providers with correctional experience, or who are committed to providing care to this vulnerable population. Many of VADOC’s doctors choose to work for the department due to a genuine interest in practicing medicine in a correctional setting. This setting provides a unique challenge and opportunity for public service,” Gibson’s statement read.
Gibson also said the department is not facing a shortage of applicants and that recruitment for providers is very competitive.
Gibson would not directly address personnel issues, such as Bittner being disciplined for prescriptions that he issued, but said in the statement to the Richmond Times-Dispatch that a team of pharmacists reviews prescriptions in facilities. “This is tightly controlled,” the statement read.
Clarke, Gore and Herrick would not discuss Brooks’ qualifications as an OB/GYN to treat male inmates.
Brooks’ license troubles in Virginia was his second time being disciplined. In 1987, Brooks’ privileges were stripped by command staff at a U.S. Naval hospital in Charleston, South Carolina. The decision was “based on uncontroverted evidence” regarding “substandard care” of 11 different patients, according to licensure records from the Oklahoma Board of Medicine.
Brooks struggled to get his license restored on appeal in the Navy, with the chairman of a regional appeals committee writing to him that a “preponderance of the evidence establishes that you are professionally and behaviorally impaired,” the records show.
Credentialing requests show how Brooks applied for a number of jobs in Michigan, then ultimately moved to Virginia, where he was licensed in 2005. He was hired by the Department of Corrections in November 2021.
At Sussex II, patients under his care say they have suffered. Lawsuits targeting Department of Corrections medical providers are not rare, but they are often vigorously defended by VADOC. Often, these lawsuits request millions of dollars on the basis of poor treatment behind bars.
Last year, however, the department did settle a civil case involving Brooks. In a complaint, David Washington, a diabetic, said Brooks allowed his infected toe to fester unchecked, despite repeated requests for antibiotics.
“He simply told me to wrap the toe and stop complaining,” Washington wrote the court.
When seen by a separate nurse practitioner, Washington was sent the next day to the emergency room at Petersburg’s Southside Regional Medical Center, where doctors amputated his toe, court records show.
Multiple other ongoing lawsuits accuse Brooks of providing negligent care. Brooks earns $275,000 a year as a state employee in the prison system.
The department’s critics say the hirings are symptomatic of larger problems with medical care in Virginia prisons. Incarcerated people say it’s not uncommon to miss key medical appointments, such as for chemotherapy.
Rashid Johnson, who is incarcerated where Brooks worked, said he was diagnosed last summer with prostate cancer. Doctors at VCU Medical Center began prescribing him medication, scans and chemo appointments, Johnson said, but prison medical staff either repeatedly forgot to give him medications or missed his scan appointments.
“I have a deadly illness and I’ve been played and strung along,” Johnson said in a phone interview in March.
Smith allegedly was placed on probation for sending “sexually explicit messages” to patients in 2017. Public documents show he found patients’ phone numbers in their private medical records. Smith was investigated for the behavior in Maryland, where he was licensed, and then again in Reston, Virginia.
Today, he works at a male prison in Augusta, Virginia, with a limitation on his license that forbids him from seeing female patients.
In 2020, Virginia regulators wrote that “Dr. Bittner engaged in an egregious pattern of prescribing controlled substances, despite evidence of adverse effects and of patients’ substance misuse, abuse or addiction.”
In 2023, Bittner works as a physician at Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women.
More oversight sought
Shawn Weneta, a policy strategist at the ACLU of Virginia who served time for embezzlement crimes, says the hires are all the more reason for outside oversight of the Department of Corrections.
An oversight bill was struck down in the General Assembly this year after VADOC came out against the bill. It was also opposed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, whose spokesperson Macaulay Porter said prisons are already overseen by nine entities and that more oversight would have been redundant.
“They’re certainly not even coming close to what would be considered the standard of care for people if they were out in the community,” Weneta said.
“It’s not about a gotcha. It’s about ensuring we’re getting people the medical care we need,” Coyner said. “I definitely think we need to have more oversight over hiring and better standards of care for the inmates we are charged with caring for.”
The prisons are also in an awkward transition phase. Last year, the agency terminated its contract with its prior medical provider, Armor Correctional Healthcare, and is in the process of hiring its own doctors, nurse practitioners and nurses.
Clarke’s agency has been unable to meet basic health care requirements imposed by a federal monitor at Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women. The monitor was installed in 2016 after a slew of deaths.
Meanwhile, VADOC’s expenses have risen, with medical care as a key driver. In 2010, when Clarke was appointed, the department oversaw an overall operating budget of $932 million.
Under Clarke, the budget has grown significantly. This year, Clarke’s agency is requesting $1.5 billion. On average, each individual behind bars costs the department $41,000 per year. VADOC’s annual report shows that 86% of the money that is not payroll will go to health care costs for the incarcerated.
“A lot of those costs could be avoided if they just provided some of the most basic preventive and prophylactic care that anyone else would have access to,” Weneta said.
From the Archives: Richmond buildings that are no longer around
The ultimate responsibility for hiring physicians falls on the Chief Medical Officer and the Director of Health Services. As with all state hires, there is a diverse panel who interviews candidates with standardized questions. Once a person is selected for hire, a background check is completed by the VADOC’s security background review process. This involves a criminal background check, using the Virginia State Police database. References are obtained from prior supervisors, and for physicians, the VADOC also conducts a check of the person through the National Practitioner Data Bank for any active and past actions on the individual’s license, including in other states. In addition, the VADOC reviews the provider’s license and any available public records. All providers are required to have current, active licenses to practice in Virginia.
Recruitment for providers in corrections, and in health care in general, is very competitive. It is challenging to find providers with correctional experience, or who are committed to providing care to this vulnerable population. Many of the VADOC’s doctors choose to work for the department due to a genuine interest in practicing medicine in a correctional setting. This setting provides a unique challenge and opportunity for public service. There are numerous other reasons providers consider correctional medicine, such as work/life balance and competitive salaries. All of the VADOC’s providers are eligible to practice in the community and many do work in hospitals or clinics outside the hours of their position with VADOC, similar to what is an increasingly common practice among current clinicians in the United States.
The Virginia Department of Corrections does not routinely discuss personnel matters. Employees are hired through standards governed by Department of Human Resource Management policies and procedures. The hiring process includes reference, background, and applicable licensure checks. All providers are fully licensed by the Virginia Board of Medicine to practice medicine within any community setting, to include corrections.
The VADOC Health Services Unit has a centralized, electronic medication record, which allows the department to monitor all prescriptions. This is tightly controlled, and the VADOC monitors all physician prescription practices in facilities. The VADOC has a review process and uses schedule drugs (e.g., narcotics, and other psychoactive drugs) as clinically appropriate. The VADOC endorses the practice of evidence-based medicine and effective delivery of quality care to our patients.
The VADOC has a team of pharmacists who reviews these records daily, creating a system that is highly sophisticated when compared to the community. This monitoring process also helps to mitigate pharmaceutical costs. The pharmaceutical monitoring team closely tracks prescribed medications. The VADOC offers the same medications available in the community, when medically necessary. Additionally, the VADOC partners with universities to receive substantial discounts on pharmaceuticals. The VADOC’s most expensive medications are cancer drugs and other specialty prescriptions, often as recommended by the subspecialists the department consults for our patients’ complex medical needs, as you would see in the community, or other large health systems in Virginia.
Former House Speaker Kirk Cox, from left, Dennis Treacy, Don and Sarah Finley, front, and Heywood Fralin, in back, are recognized by Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield, center, at the state Capitol on Jan. 17. Coyner has been vocal about medical care at Riverside Regional Jail, a facility in her district that narrowly avoided closure in 2021. “I definitely think we need to have more oversight over hiring and better standards of care for the inmates we are charged with caring for,” she said. | https://richmond.com/news/local/crime-courts/doctors-who-had-been-are-decertified-working-for-vdoc-and-treating-inmates/article_2ad53e20-14f7-11ee-8e3e-9f309d3253ca.html | 2023-07-08T11:00:44 | 1 | https://richmond.com/news/local/crime-courts/doctors-who-had-been-are-decertified-working-for-vdoc-and-treating-inmates/article_2ad53e20-14f7-11ee-8e3e-9f309d3253ca.html |
Thousands of miles of carbon dioxide pipelines planned in the Midwest have been spurred, in part, by a major expansion of federal tax credits in Democrats’ 2022 climate law.
That could lead to billions of dollars per year in federal tax credits benefiting the powerful Midwest ethanol industry, even as the proposals create intense conflicts between developers and local landowners worried about pipelines on their property, reported States Newsroom.
People are also reading…
The tax changes created incentives for larger-scale regional pipelines, Sasha Mackler, the executive director of the Center on Energy Policy at the nonprofit Bipartisan Policy Center, said.
Less than a year since Congress passed the law, the effect is hard to quantify, but the changes have generated huge interest in the nation’s ethanol-producing states, he said.
“It’s definitely created an enormous amount of enthusiasm and activity in the development community,” he said. “It’s very safe to say there’s been a significant uptick in commercial activity around carbon capture.”
Among the tax credits for various clean energy programs in the climate law, seen as the largest U.S. effort to date to address climate change, was a major expansion of tax credits for carbon sequestration, a technique of removing carbon emissions from industrial processes.
The 2022 law raised the credit from $50 to $85 per metric ton of carbon stored underground. It also extended a construction deadline and allowed for direct payment of the credit — making it simpler for companies to take advantage of — and made other changes that incentivized carbon storage.
Ethanol byproduct
Carbon dioxide is released during the fermentation process that’s part of ethanol production. That byproduct is a relatively pure — and easy-to-transport — form of carbon dioxide, compared with other industries.
Because the ethanol byproduct is easy to move, carbon sequestration in the industry has long been cheaper than in coal power plants, concrete manufacturing or other sectors.
The cost to ethanol producers of sequestration ranges from about $36 to $41 per metric ton, according to a report from the clean energy group Energy Futures Initiative, meaning the $50 tax credit was already profitable for the industry in most cases.
But costs varied on a case-by-case basis, depending on variables such as the length of a needed pipeline, Mackler said. The $85-per-ton credit provides even more of an incentive and makes more proposals profitable.
The expanded tax credits provide “a large economic opportunity” to retrofit or build new ethanol facilities with carbon capture in the Midwest, where plentiful corn crops helped create the center of domestic ethanol production, Joseph Hezir, executive vice president with Energy Futures Initiative, said in a late June event hosted by EFI and the environmental issues think tank Resources for the Future.
Producers may judge the potential benefits to outweigh the difficulties — including resistance from landowners opposed to pipeline construction — of building out carbon sequestration infrastructure, he said.
“Being able then to move that CO2 once you capture it to a place where you can sequester it is going to be a challenge,” Hezir said. “But the economics look promising and motivating enough for companies to want to begin to pursue that.”
While the full scope of the tax credit is hard to determine, the individual companies proposing carbon pipelines could see billions of dollars in annual tax benefits.
Summit Carbon Solutions, which has proposed a pipeline network that would connect 34 ethanol plants across Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota and deposit carbon dioxide in underground storage in North Dakota, says the project could permanently store 18 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.
At $85 per ton, that would equal $1.5 billion per year from the sequestration tax credit.
Navigator CO2 Ventures, another company seeking permits to build pipelines across Iowa, estimates it could transport and store up to 15 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, which would earn tax credits of $1.3 billion.
Transparency issues
In theory, climate scientists say incentivizing carbon capture is good policy. It’s one of several climate solutions that major economies like the United States must use in combination to reach international climate goals.
“To meet all of our global climate goals we need to both rapidly scale up renewable energy, but then we also have to deal with the legacy carbon that’s in the atmosphere,” said Daniel Sanchez, a professor studying bioenergy at the University of California-Berkeley. “We need all of these tools at our disposal in order to effectively decarbonize the transportation sector.”
But critics say it’s hard to tell in practice exactly how much taxpayer money has been spent on carbon sequestration credits — or if the credits are going to facilities that are successfully removing carbon.
Companies must meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards for underground carbon storage to qualify for the credit. But the agency and the Internal Revenue Service both lack the staffing to verify companies claiming the credits are earning them, said Jim Walsh, the policy director for the advocacy group Food and Water Watch, which opposes tax credits for carbon capture.
“These tax credits are shrouded in secrecy and ripe for corruption, with no ability for oversight by the public,” he said.
Carbon capture itself is not an effective strategy to address climate change, Walsh said. Pipelines and storage wells can leak carbon, but even without those problems, sequestration is a half-measure, he added.
“The only way that we’re going to address the climate crisis is to stop fossil fuel development and phase out fossil fuels quickly,” he said.
Carbon storage and other technologies that boost fossil fuel use are counter-productive, he said.
“That leaves us with a lot of solutions that are going to waste money while enriching powerful interests and undermining our ability to address the climate crisis in a meaningful way.”
Most climate scientists, though, say that carbon sequestration is part of a long-term solution.
The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change most recent report projected that reaching mid-century climate goals will require 6 gigatons of carbon dioxide sequestration.
Federal spending on carbon storage recognizes that the U.S. economy is largely fossil-fuel based, Mackler said.
“From a climate perspective, fossil fuels are not the problem,” he said. “The problem is emissions from fossil fuels. And so if we can develop a pathway for continuing to use at some scale, especially with the oil and the natural gas that we take advantage of to power our economy, if we can use them in a way that does not damage the climate, that’s fantastic.” | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/business/energy/thanks-to-federal-tax-credits-it-s-boom-time-in-the-midwest-for-carbon-dioxide/article_712a02f6-1ceb-11ee-9068-af6a9342bf02.html | 2023-07-08T11:11:40 | 0 | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/business/energy/thanks-to-federal-tax-credits-it-s-boom-time-in-the-midwest-for-carbon-dioxide/article_712a02f6-1ceb-11ee-9068-af6a9342bf02.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 July 1-7. 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/2023/07/08/news-quiz-for-july-8-2023-the-arizona-republic/70388765007/ | 2023-07-08T11:38:09 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2023/07/08/news-quiz-for-july-8-2023-the-arizona-republic/70388765007/ |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.