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DALLAS — Former Dallas police Chief Kunkle died Friday morning after a long battle with Lewy body dementia. He was 72.
In his almost six years as Dallas police chief, Kunkle brought the department into the modern era of policing, left lasting crime reductions and dramatically improved police-community relations.
“He was the best chief I’ve ever seen,” said Malik Aziz, a former Dallas deputy chief. “I have never seen a person who did what he did who didn’t gloat about it. He had a real story to tell about the turnaround in Dallas that occurred under his leadership.”
During his tenure as Dallas’ 27th police chief, the city saw six consecutive years of crime reduction. The city reached its lowest number of murders in 40 years, dropping from 248 murders the year he started to 148 when he left.
Kunkle began his policing career in Dallas as an officer in 1972, rising to become the youngest police captain in the department’s history. He left to become chief in Grand Prairie at 31. He’d later become chief in Arlington and then serve as deputy city manager for five years when he put his name in the ring to become chief in Dallas.
Somewhat socially awkward, Kunkle did not seem like the obvious pick when he assumed command of the department in 2004.
The then-city manager had fired the prior chief, Terrell Bolton. Kunkle inherited a department beset by troubles all around: a lackluster approach to crime fighting, management failures revealed by the 2001 “fake drug scandal” in which more than two dozen people, mostly Hispanic, were falsely arrested after paid Dallas police informants planted drugs on them and flawed hiring practices.
Kunkle quickly moved to change the culture of the department. He tightened up the department’s hiring practices. He demoted chiefs who’d been part of the dysfunction and began filling the command ranks with competent leaders.
He worked hard to improve relations with the city’s minority communities, building up support from neighborhood groups that would last throughout his tenure.
Within six weeks of his arrival, Kunkle moved to eliminate the department’s use of a controversial neck hold that had contributed to a man’s death that year before.
Kunkle also decided to buy hundreds of Tasers to reduce in-custody deaths.
Community leaders applauded Kunkle’s decision to ban the neck hold – a decision that came years before many other police departments would ban such choke holds.
In short order, Kunkle had proved himself willing to make the tough decisions and willing to buck the police associations.
In 2006, Kunkle again angered police officers when he implemented one of the strictest vehicle pursuit policies in the country. His decision came after repeated police crashes had left innocent people either dead or severely injured.
“I don’t know that we can calculate the amount of lives that have been saved because of his progressiveness and his thinking,” said retired Dallas assistant Chief Mike Genovesi.
During his tenure, the department began using crime mapping in a way they had not before to drive the department’s crime fighting strategies. Patrol chiefs now had to come downtown once a week to explain what they had done and not done.
“That accountability was drilled in on a weekly basis,” Genovesi said.
Another big change came in 2006 with the decision to buy more than 500 in-car dash cameras and laptop computers.
The money came from a three-year, $15 million public safety grant given by the W.W. Caruth Jr. Foundation of the Communities Foundation of Texas. At the time, the grant was believed to be the largest ever given to a police department.
Kunkle also brought to Dallas a leadership style that welcomed discussion and thoughtful dissent.
“He wasn’t boisterous,” said Aziz, who now serves as police chief in Prince George’s County, a Washington D.C. suburb. “He didn’t brag. If this was chess, he would be a grandmaster. At every moment, he was eight moves ahead.”
Long before it became a common practice for departments to release videos of controversial incidents, Kunkle made it a practice.
In 2008, when a Dallas police officer detained an NFL player Ryan Moats outside a hospital where his mother-in-law lay dying, Kunkle released the video which showed the officer berating Moats.
That same year, Kunkle also released video showing an officer racing to a call and striking and killing 10-year-old Cole Berardi as he rode his bike to the store. As a result, Kunkle tightened the department's driving rules.
“His greatest accomplishment was restoring the trust in the organization, because people did not trust us,” said DART Police Chief Charlie Cato, who served as an assistant chief during Kunkle’s tenure. “People could trust David Kunkle so they could trust the Dallas Police Department.”
Aziz recalled his first command-level crime statistics meeting after his promotion to deputy chief in 2008.
“He starts the meeting with what I perceived to be a crazy notion,” Aziz said. “And he says, ‘Does anybody have anything to say about what I just said?’ Nobody says a word. Remember, I’m freshly minted deputy chief. I’m looking around the room hoping somebody would say something. They don’t say anything. So he looks at me and he says, ‘Malik, you got anything?’ I said, ‘No.’”
As the meeting ended, Kunkle called him into his office.
“I came in and I had a seat,” Aziz said. “He turned around and he looked at me. He said, ‘Did you hear what I said in the meeting? I said, ‘I heard it.’ He says,
‘What did you think about it? Malik, I put you in place because you say the things that need to be said.”
Aziz said Kunkle turned around and began typing on his computer. The chief had said what he wanted to say. The meeting was over.
“He wanted open debate,” Aziz said. “He liked the intellectual discourse of ideas even though he knew he had the final decision.”
Many of the commanders Kunkle promoted went on to becomes police chiefs, too. In addition to Aziz, his second in command David Brown served as Dallas’ chief and later as chief in Chicago. Charlie Cato became chief in Mesquite and now serves as chief of DART. The late Floyd Simpson, one of Kunkle’s assistant chiefs, served as chief in Corpus Christi.
“When you get good people and put them in good positions in the right place as he always said, ‘Give them the right seat on the bus, good things will happen after that,’” Cato said.
Kunkle’s leadership achieved national acclaim. He was featured in a PBS documentary by Jim Collins, best-selling author of the leadership book Good to Great as a successful leader who’d turned around an organization in crisis.
He also helped lead the creation of the Caruth Police Institute at the University of North Texas at Dallas. He retired from the department in 2010 with widespread support from the community and the rank and file.
The following year, he ran for mayor, losing in a runoff to Mike Rawlings.
While Kunkle loved policing, he once told WFAA that the love of his life was his wife, Sarah Dodd. They met while he was police chief, and she was a TV reporter. Married now almost 17 years, she’s remained faithfully by his side as Lewy body dementia slowly robbed him of his intellect and the physical agility he’d once had as a marathon runner.
To the people who knew him, he was always just, “Chief.”
His is a legacy worth remembering. He is gone but his legacy not forgotten. And that is the measure of a leader.
In addition to his wife, Sarah Dodd, Kunkle is survived by his son, Michael Kunkle; his mother-in-law Vicki Dodd; grandchildren, Sarah Belmares, Abbigail Kunkle, Jeremy Kunkle; brother, Steve Kunkle and his wife, Melissa; their children, Matthew Kunkle, Rachel Kunkle, Nathan Kunkle, Hannah Hollingsworth; his sister, Kay Myers and her husband, Ron; and their children, Jessica Biggs, Jacob Myers, Zachary Myers and Andrew Myers.
Senior Crime and Justice Reporter Rebecca Lopez contributed to this report. | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/dallas-police-chief-david-kunkle-obituary-dies-72/287-6bffb0dc-d55c-4141-ae36-5bdb079573fd | 2023-07-14T16:52:49 | 0 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/dallas-police-chief-david-kunkle-obituary-dies-72/287-6bffb0dc-d55c-4141-ae36-5bdb079573fd |
MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas — Editor's Note | The abstract of this article was modified for formatting.
Since Waco judge Dianne Hensley received a public warning from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for refusing to perform same-sex marriages in 2019, she’s waged a public battle against the state agency.
She’s long claimed the governmental body violated state law by punishing her for actions taken in accordance with her religious faith. Now, she has submitted a brief arguing that the recent Supreme Court ruling in favor of a business owner who refused services to same-sex couples will help her case.
After Hensley was warned by the judicial conduct commission, she filed a lawsuit claiming the investigation and warning “substantially burdened the free exercise of her religion, with no compelling justification.” She seeks damages of $10,000. She has been represented by the First Liberty Institute, a high-profile religious liberty legal group based in Plano. The legal group also has strong ties to suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Her lawsuit alleges that the commission violated her rights under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Her lawsuit was dismissed by a lower appeals tribunal, but last month, the Texas Supreme Court said it will hear arguments on whether to revive the state judge’s lawsuit.
This new brief, submitted last week by Hensley’s legal team, argues that though the Supreme Court used the First Amendment and not state law in the 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis case, the decision is also applicable in her lawsuit. The First Amendment case decided last month said a Colorado web designer cannot be forced by the state to compromise her beliefs and serve same-sex couples.
“303 Creative was interpreting the First Amendment’s Speech Clause rather than the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Its holding is nonetheless instructive because it rejects the idea of a ‘compelling interest’ in forcing wedding vendors to participate in same-sex and opposite-sex marriage ceremonies on equal terms,” the brief states.
Justin Butterfield, an attorney for Hensley at First Liberty Institute, has maintained throughout the lawsuit that religious liberty is Hensley’s right as a citizen.
“303 Creative affirmed that religious liberty is not a second-class right in America,” Butterfield wrote in an email to The Texas Tribune. “We look forward to vindicating Judge Hensley’s rights in the Texas Supreme Court.”
Hensley was not available for comment on Wednesday.
According to the Texas judicial commission’s 2019 warning, Hensley referred gay couples who wanted her to preside over their marriage ceremony to other people who would officiate. The state’s judicial code requires judges to conduct “extra-judicial activities” in ways that don’t cast doubt on their impartiality on the bench. The commission issued a public warning, saying she cast doubt “on her capacity to act impartially to persons appearing before her as a judge due to the person’s sexual orientation.”
According to Dale Carpenter, chair of constitutional law at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, the U.S. Supreme Court case has little to do with Hensley’s case, since one is dealing with private businesses, and Hensley is a government official acting in an official capacity. Carpenter has written extensively on the Colorado case and agreed with the 6-3 Supreme Court decision. He says the two cases are similar in that they include services to a same-sex couple, but “that’s where the similarities end.”
“The service in [Henley’s] case is the service of a government official, so if 303 Creative had involved that government denying services to a same-sex couple, then that’d be a very different case,” Carpenter maintained. “I don’t think 303 helps the judge’s case at all.”
He believes this is the first of a “slew” of cases that will be coming through the state and country that will attempt to expand the reach of the Colorado case and when LGBTQ+ people can be denied certain services on First Amendment grounds.
“This is going to have to be worked through the judicial system, including trial courts and appellate courts, over a period of probably several years at this point because 303 Creative is going to lead us to see many, many more of these cases,” Carpenter said.
Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston, says it’s also important to understand that if the Texas Supreme Court were to rule in Hensley’s favor, they “would have to expressly extend the holding of 303 Creative” to her case. This means that Hensley’s case goes beyond the current bounds of what the SCOTUS decision says.
Johnathan Gooch, a spokesperson for Equality Texas and a University of Texas at Austin School of Law graduate reiterated Carpenter’s points on the differences between the two cases, and pointed to Hensley’s position as a purveyor of the law.
“The law of the land is marriage equality. It’s as simple as that,” Gooch said. “If judges and justices of the peace were empowered to only enforce the laws that they agreed with, we would quickly descend into anarchy.”
Carpenter says the implications of Hensley’s case are hard to predict, since the Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments only on whether to revive the lawsuit, not if the lawsuit has merit. He believes it will be a long time before Hensley’s lawsuit has real effects.
Conversely, Ash Hall, an ACLU of Texas policy and advocacy strategist, believes that the case could be substantial, if the lawsuit is eventually won.
“If Judge Hensley were to actually win this case, it would basically gut a good portion of marriage equality that we got,” Hall said. “Your ability to get married then would be dependent on your ZIP code and kind of what resources were around you.”
LGBTQ+ activists aren’t surprised by Hensley’s attempt to use the SCOTUS case in her favor. Some say a continual onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed in the Texas Legislature have left them numb.
“I have nothing to say anymore,” said Verniss McFarland, founder and executive director of the Mahogany Project, which advocates for LGBTQ+ communities of color. “As a Black trans femme person, we are already on the margins. When something like this happens, it’s just like: ‘Oh, this again.’”
Hall says that the ACLU was not surprised by Hensley trying to use the 303 Creative case. They said once the SCOTUS decision was passed down, they all bolstered themselves, preparing for the lawsuits that they knew were on the way.
“Traditionally, that is what has happened: When the courts have ruled in a way that gives people an option to refuse service or discriminate against other people, you get a whole bunch of court cases pertaining to that to see how far they can take it,” Hall said. “It’s not surprising, just disappointing.”
Disclosure: Equality Texas, Southern Methodist University and University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Also on KCENTV.com: | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas-judgedoesnt-want-to-perform-gay-marriage-ceremonies-hopes-web-designers-supreme-court-case-helps-her-fight/500-32e0616f-a026-4a8e-bbd8-d9e1818389e1 | 2023-07-14T16:52:55 | 0 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas-judgedoesnt-want-to-perform-gay-marriage-ceremonies-hopes-web-designers-supreme-court-case-helps-her-fight/500-32e0616f-a026-4a8e-bbd8-d9e1818389e1 |
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Starting in the fall, East Tennessee State University (ETSU) will offer a new concentration for students in the College of Business and Technology.
A release from ETSU states that it will offer a hospitality and tourism concentration “for those who enjoy facilitating unforgettable experiences and who hope to shape the future of a vibrant and evolving industry.”
The hospitality and tourism concentration will be offered to students already working toward a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management concentration.
ETSU states the concentration will instruct students in key areas of the industry, such as hotel and resort management, event planning, tourism consulting, destination marketing and more.
“The hospitality and tourism concentration opens doors to a multitude of career opportunities for tomorrow’s industry leaders,” said Dr. Dana Harrison, chair of the Department of Management, Marketing and Supply Chain, in the release. “Regardless of students’ diverse passions and interests, this concentration will provide a premiere unparalleled education and immersive experiences with organizations in the region.”
To learn more about the concentration, visit ETSU’s website. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/etsu-offering-hospitality-tourism-concentration-come-fall/ | 2023-07-14T17:01:35 | 0 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/etsu-offering-hospitality-tourism-concentration-come-fall/ |
JOHNSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) – The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) has identified the remains of a person found after a fire Tuesday night.
On Friday, the sheriff’s office said the remains have been identified as Cora J. Hayworth, 53.
Hayworth’s remains were found in a burned home on West Holy Hill Rd.
Crews responded to the mobile home fire around 11 p.m. Tuesday. By the time crews arrived, the JCSO reported the majority of the home was severely burned.
As of Friday, the investigation into the fire and Hayworth’s death remain under investigation. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/sheriff-ids-remains-found-in-burned-johnson-county-home/ | 2023-07-14T17:01:41 | 0 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/sheriff-ids-remains-found-in-burned-johnson-county-home/ |
MARION COUNTY, Fla. — Portions of Marion County are under a rabies alert after three raccoons tested positive for the disease this week.
The Florida Department of Health in Marion County officials said people who live in the following areas should be aware that the disease is active near them:
>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<
- In Silver Springs, north of County Road 314, south of Gores Landing, east of Northeast 147th Avenue Road, and west of CR 314A.
- In the Fellowship area, north of CR 328, south of CR 464B, east of Northwest 150th Avenue, and west of Northwest 110th Avenue.
- In the Blitchton area, north of State Road 326, south of Northwest 110th Street, east of U.S. 27, and west of CR 225.
Read: 9 things to know about rabies
Officials said an animal with rabies can infect other animals that have not gotten their rabies vaccination. Pets are at risk if they are not vaccinated; and officials said rabies is always a danger in wild animal populations.
Health department officials encourage people to take the following precautions regarding rabies:
Read: Orange County Department of Health reminds resident to beware of bats
- Avoid all contact with wildlife, particularly raccoons, bats, foxes, skunks, otters, bobcats and coyotes. Never adopt wild animals or bring them into your home.
- Never handle unfamiliar animals (wild or domestic), even if they appear friendly.
- Do not feed or unintentionally attract wild animals with open garbage cans or trash.
- Keep rabies vaccinations current for all pets.
- Keep pets under direct supervision so they do not come into contact with wild animals.
- Prevent bats from entering living quarters or occupied spaces in homes, churches, schools, and other similar areas where they might encounter people and pets.
Read: Raccoon brought into a bar in North Dakota; rabies alert issued over possible exposure
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/rabies-alert-3-raccoons-test-positive-marion-county/R44CSNWUMVDI7EZUDAD43JY2LI/ | 2023-07-14T17:05:51 | 1 | https://www.wftv.com/news/local/rabies-alert-3-raccoons-test-positive-marion-county/R44CSNWUMVDI7EZUDAD43JY2LI/ |
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A Falcon 9 rocket is still on the pad Friday afternoon after SpaceX scrubbed a planned overnight launch.
>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<
The countdown went down to the last few seconds at 12:40 a.m. Friday.
SpaceX did not say why it stopped the countdown.
Watch: SpaceX successfully launches European telescope into orbit
The rocket launch is now planned for 12:15 a.m. Saturday.
The rocket will be used to send another 54 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit.
Watch: SpaceX launches Falcon Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
The first stage booster will return to Earth and attempt to land on SpaceX’s drone ship off the Brevard County coast.
Channel 9 will monitor the planned launch and will provide updates on Eyewitness News.
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/spacex-falcon-9-rocket-launch-moved-saturday-floridas-space-coast/IBKODCNTLNAV3ALPXQDG7YKOHQ/ | 2023-07-14T17:05:58 | 1 | https://www.wftv.com/news/local/spacex-falcon-9-rocket-launch-moved-saturday-floridas-space-coast/IBKODCNTLNAV3ALPXQDG7YKOHQ/ |
INDIAN SHORES, Fla. — The conventional wisdom when you spot an endangered manatee is to admire it from a distance.
>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<
However, that is not what some beachgoers did in Florida.
Drone video caught people illegally touching and even chasing a group of manatees in Indian Shores.
Watch: Stranded manatee rescued from Ponce Inlet beach
It is illegal to touch or unjustly interact with endangered animals in Florida.
At one point, the video shows a man nearly run over by a massive manatee, which can weigh more than a thousand pounds.
Watch: Manatee deaths in Florida decline but starvation concerns remain high
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said people should contact them is they see anyone harassing manatees.
Fines can be up to $100,0000 and you can even go to jail.
Read: 9 tips to keep manatees safe this spring
FWC data shows at least 800 manatees died last year, and a record 1,100 died in 2021.
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/wildlife-officials-concerned-by-video-showing-people-harassing-manatees-florida/ZOZHLL553BCKFPOHSZISVTY63E/ | 2023-07-14T17:06:04 | 1 | https://www.wftv.com/news/local/wildlife-officials-concerned-by-video-showing-people-harassing-manatees-florida/ZOZHLL553BCKFPOHSZISVTY63E/ |
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – The Kansas Department of Transportation will host a public meeting and open house from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 15, to provide information on the bridge replacement and closure on U.S. 281 north of Portis.
The event will be held at the Portis Community Center, located along U.S. Highway 281 in Portis. KDOT and project staff will provide a project overview starting at 5:30 p.m.
Design plans and detour information will be available for review. Construction on the bridge is scheduled to take place in 2024. | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/u-s-281-bridge-replacement-focus-of-kdot-meeting/ | 2023-07-14T17:08:11 | 1 | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/u-s-281-bridge-replacement-focus-of-kdot-meeting/ |
LOCAL
Child who drowned in pond has been identified as 3-year-old Washington girl
JJ Bullock
Journal Star
A child who drowned in a Eureka pond on Tuesday has been identified by Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood as 3-year-old Essence Toft of Washington.
Eureka-Goodfield Fire and EMS were called to 1905 Eastview Circle in Eureka around 5 p.m. Tuesday night, where Toft had been found unresponsive, not breathing and without a pulse in the pond.
She was transported to OSF Healthcare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria and was pronounced brain-dead at 10:35 p.m.
An autopsy will take place following organ donation, according to the coroner's office.
It is unknown how long Toft was in the water before being discovered. No foul play is expected.
More:Boy, 13, killed in off-road vehicle accident in Illinois | https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/3-year-old-drowned-in-eureka-pond-is-essence-toft-of-washington-il/70414014007/ | 2023-07-14T17:10:05 | 0 | https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/3-year-old-drowned-in-eureka-pond-is-essence-toft-of-washington-il/70414014007/ |
Peoria-area man identified as victim of Bartonville motorcycle accident
Jordan T. Marinich, 34, of Farmington, has been identified by Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood as the man killed in a single motorcycle accident in Bartonville on Monday.
Around 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Bartonville first responders were called to a report of a single rider motorcycle crash in the 2500 block of South Kickapoo Creek Road.
Marinich, the rider of the motorcycle, was transported to OSF Healthcare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria in critical condition. He was pronounced brain dead Wednesday at 2:26 p.m. after efforts to save his life were unsuccessful.
More:Child who drowned in pond has been identified as 3-year-old Washington girl
He was not wearing a helmet at the time of his death and died from multiple blunt force trauma injuries, according to the coroner.
A toxicology report and investigation into the cause of the crash are ongoing.
"With gratitude, he was able to give the gift of life through organ donation," Harwood said in a news release. | https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/jordan-t-marinich-of-farmington-il-killed-in-motorcycle-accident/70414338007/ | 2023-07-14T17:10:06 | 0 | https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/jordan-t-marinich-of-farmington-il-killed-in-motorcycle-accident/70414338007/ |
INDIANAPOLIS — A nationwide internship is connecting central Indiana teens to a local nonprofit serving an Indianapolis neighborhood.
"I'm just so happy I can directly see my impact," said Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School soon-to-be senior Safiyah Diallo.
Safiyah is one of three Hoosier interns selected as part of the Bank of America Student Leaders program.
The program offers an eight-week, paid summer internship, complete with firsthand experience serving local communities.
Geordon Coleman with Bank of America said the opportunity is all about understanding the inner workings of a nonprofit while building job-readiness skills for students.
"It's not just going out and asking for dollars," said Coleman. "It is more than that, and these young people have the ability to do this."
"I was fascinated by that direct leadership experience," said Safiyah. "So when I applied and found out I got in, I was just so excited about this amazing opportunity."
This summer, Safiyah and her fellow Hoosier interns, Tim Adams and Jasmin Walker, are working with Christamore House, a nonprofit serving residents in the Haughville neighborhood on Indy's west side.
"I appreciate all of the people here at Christamore House," said Safiyah. "It takes a lot of strength to come together and help this community."
Jasmin, a recent graduate of Achieve Virtual Education Academy, said she also appreciates the opportunity to work directly with the staff and its clients.
Some of the teen's responsibilities include helping manage cases for families seeking services, mentoring children enrolled in summer programs, and even launching their own marketing projects.
In fact, the students helped organize a free summer festival and resource fair for the neighborhood in July.
Safiyah, Jasmin and Tim also help families collect items from the diaper pantry.
"This internship has taught me a lot about how to read body language," said Tim, a 2023 graduate of Brebeuf Jesuit. "It has taught me how to deal with different emotions, deal with circumstances. I'll be able to take those lessons that I learned here and apply those in the future."
"Like Tim said, getting to talk to people and hear their experiences," said Safiyah, "it's really helpful. That social work experience really has allowed me to see other people's situations, and also take in what I've been blessed with and what I have right now."
Charnea Wilson, lead case manager at Christamore House, says the teens learned quite a bit during their summer internship.
"It's really good, because it gives the students that are from a different background a chance to see the community that we serve here."
At the end of the summer internship, Bank of America Student Leaders will spend one week in Washington D.C. for an all-expenses-paid national leadership summit.
"It is a full week of understanding community engagement," said Coleman, " and understanding 'student leader' in a different perspective."
"I'm really excited about D.C.," said Safiyah. "I think it's going to be really nice."
"Even though I've been there, I'm excited to go again," said Tim. "It's our nation's capital. I'm excited to explore what it has to offer."
Coleman says 150 student leaders from across the country will attend the summit, which is the first national meeting since 2019, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"The thing I'm most excited about meeting these people," said Jasmin.
She and her fellow interns leave for D.C. on Monday, July 17.
"I'm really glad that I was able to do this program," said Jasmin.
"Shoutout to Bank of America," said Tim. "Thank you for this opportunity."
Applications for next year's program will open in late 2023.
"The application is open for eight weeks," said Coleman. "After that, there is an external and internal committee. Everything is voted on, and then these individuals are selected."
The 2024 Student Leaders program will mark the 20th year for the organization nationwide.
Here in Indianapolis, Tim says has plans to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta this fall, where he wants to major in Computer Science.
Jasmin will stay in the Indianapolis area to attend IUPUI in the fall.
After her senior year at Brebeuf, Safiyah plans to pursue a degree in either political science of international relations. | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/indianapolis-teens-spend-summer-break-working-local-nonprofit/531-deb75481-626b-4065-a645-2140af23685e | 2023-07-14T17:12:49 | 1 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/indianapolis-teens-spend-summer-break-working-local-nonprofit/531-deb75481-626b-4065-a645-2140af23685e |
Disney World attendance, ride times seem lower this summer. Weather, other reasons may be cause
Excited Disney fans hitting the much-beloved Magic Kingdom theme park in Orlando this summer have found joy, wonder, and, at times, a surprising lack of other fans.
A Wall Street Journal article Monday reported tracking from analysts who said traffic to Disney's U.S. theme parks (and some rival parks) have slowed this summer, with the wait times for lines at Walt Disney World significantly lower than usual.
At Disney's Hollywood Studios, home of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, July 4 was the third-slowest day in the past year, according to Touring Plans, a company that tracks wait times at major amusement parks. The average posted wait time at the Magic Kingdom that day was 27 minutes, the Wall Street Journal reported, down from 31 minutes in 2022 and 47 minutes in 2019.
In a recent podcast, the Disney History Institute said that park attendance was down at least 20% from a usual summer.
What's been causing Disney's empty Main Street? Here are some possible reasons.
It's hot. Really hot.
The planet just came off its warmest June on record into an unrelenting heat wave that has blanketed much of the country in July.
On July 4, temperatures in the Orlando-Kissimmee area where Disney World is located hit 96 degrees, just two degrees short of the all-time record, and there was a heat advisory in effect until the evening.
That's an awfully hot time to be walking around with your kids in the blazing sun for 12 hours.
Disney got even more expensive
A USA TODAY analysis of Disney prices last year put the cost of a long weekend at Disney World at $1,859 for a family of four, not counting airfare and anything else they might (almost certainly will) buy, and a LendingTree survey of more than 1,500 consumers found that 18% of those who visited Disney World went into debt for their vacation (although most of them said they didn't regret it). And that was before Disney hiked the prices.
In December, the company raised the price of one-day one-park tickets to the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios for the first time since 2019. Before that, guests paid the same price for all four parks, ranging from $109 to $159. Now one-day park tickets will run you:
- Disney's Animal Kingdom: $109-$159
- EPCOT: $114-$179
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $124-$179
- Magic Kingdom: $124-$189
Disney notes the top-end $189 Magic Kingdom price is for only nine days between Christmas and New Year's, a peak period for the park, and more than 99% of one-day one-park tickets will cost less than that. Disney also offers discounted plans throughout the year.
The price for most annual passes also increased, and most out-of-state fans can only buy the most expensive one. The plans are:
- Disney Incredi-Pass: $1,399. Admission to one or more parks all year with a reservation, no blockout dates, up to 5 reservations held at a time.
- Disney Sorcerer Pass: $969. Admission to one or more parks with a reservation most of the year, blockout dates apply, up to 5 reservations held at a time, Florida residents and Disney Vacation Club members only
- Disney Pirate Pass: $749. Admission to one or more parks with a reservation most of the year, blockout dates apply, up to 4 reservations held at a time. Florida residents only.
- Disney Pixie Dust Pass: $399. Admission to one or more parks Monday through Friday during certain times of the year with a reservation, blockout dates apply, up to 3 reservations held at a time. Florida residents only.
Park Hopper and Park Hopper Plus passes, which allow you to move between parks after 2 p.m., are now priced variably by date.
Disney CEO Bob Iger dismissed the idea in an interview Thursday on CNBC's Squaw Box, saying, "pricing is not an issue" at the parks and he wasn't concerned.
"One of the things that we addressed as soon as I came back was whether our pricing was right or not and whether our pricing reflected value," Iger told host David Faber. "I don't know when the last time you visited Disney World. I say it's where the Disney brand lives in its most sublime form. I still believe that it's an incredible experience."
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The DeSantis-Disney feud
The ongoing feud between Florida's governor and the Most Magical Place on Earth could be an issue.
After the Wall Street Journal article published, Disneygoers were quick to comment on social media, with many of them blaming Disney for supposedly "grooming" children and catering to LGBTQ+ people, and others blaming Gov. Ron DeSantis for the state's battle against "woke" and laws restricting diversity, the LGBTQ+ community, Black history, immigrants, and Disney itself.
However, Touring reported that wait times went back up at Disney World after July 4, according to the Wall Street Journal, and other amusement parks that were not feuding with the governor saw similar slowdowns on the same day.
There also have been multiple travel advisories issued from various community and advocacy groups such as Equality Florida, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, and the NAACP, warning people to be careful in Florida or avoid it entirely for fear of being targeted by Florida's cascade of new laws in recent years restricting trans care and bathroom use, criminalizing drag, banning most abortions, allowing concealed carry without training or permits, eliminating many Black studies from schools and adding the harshest anti-immigration rules in the country.
Does any of that have an effect? It's hard to tell conclusively, but several large conventions recently changed their Florida plans due to the politics in the state.
Fallout from COVID-19 and 'Florida fatigue'
Iger blamed the empty streets not on ticket prices or DeSantis but on the increase in competition after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted outside of Florida.
"This is kind of complicated, but Florida opened up early during COVID. And they created huge demand and didn't have competition because there were a number of other places, states that were not open yet," Iger told CNBC. "So, if you look at the numbers in Florida in 2023 ... versus 2022, where not as much was open, Florida was the only game in town, there's a lot more competition today. So, against 2022, the state of Florida has been down. We actually track hotel tax revenue across the state, which is a matter of public record, and there are counties in Florida that have been down 6, 7 percent recently."
With the end of the global COVID-19 health emergency, there's been a rebound in cruise-ship bookings and international travel, according to Daryl Cronk, director of hospitality analytics at STR's parent company, CoStar Group. That may indicate what some call "Florida fatigue" from people who have been coming to Florida as the only game in town the last few years and now want something new.
"As we are moving beyond the COVID pandemic, things that weren't available because of restrictions, limited travel internationally, these things that weren't available for a couple of years are now available, and there is some pent-up demand for those trips," Cronk said. "We're seeing that this summer."
Florida tourism may be down in general
The year started strong, with the highest tourism numbers ever recorded in the first quarter of 2023, but figures compiled by the premiere hotel analytics firm STR show the three most-watched benchmarks — occupancy rates, the average daily rate per room, and revenue per available room — all dropped in April and May in comparison to the same months in 2022. Occupancy rates began their slide in March.
Official tourism numbers for the spring and early summer have not yet been released.
There's no conclusive answer, as some or all of these reasons may be factors. But if you want to enjoy Disney World parks without (as many) crowds, this summer might be the time. Just stay in the shade.
Contributors: Eve Chen, USA TODAY; Antonio Fins, Palm Beach Post | https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/disney-world-orlando-florida-attendance-ride-times-theme-parks-desantis-feud/70411058007/ | 2023-07-14T17:17:45 | 1 | https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/disney-world-orlando-florida-attendance-ride-times-theme-parks-desantis-feud/70411058007/ |
The Hanover County School Board has voted to officially disband its Community Equity Advisory Board almost a year after pausing its work.
The board — which was charged with leveling the playing field for students across economic and racial lines — was established in late 2018 as part of the school system's Long Range Plan 2017-2023. Its purpose stated that “every child deserves an education based upon fundamental principles of equity,” with the instruction to give annual recommendations to the school board on equitable practices and community involvement.
The school board voted to pause the advisory board’s work last September, and it hadn’t met a month before that. The board was officially disbanded last month.
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The CEAB had up to 25 members meeting monthly as a group as needed and smaller groups focused on policy, communication and membership. As stated in the committee’s bylaws, members were nominated by the advisory board and approved and appointed by the school board to two-year terms.
The CEAB defined equity as “meeting students where they are and providing them the resources, tools, and supports they need to maximize their potential.” Equity efforts often advocate in favor of disadvantaged students to put them on an equal level of resources as their more affluent or represented peers.
Some residents told the school board during a meeting last month that they wanted to see the equity board abolished because disagreed with the overall concept of equity.
“I believe in equality but not equity,” said Kristin Holte of the Cold Harbor District. “No one should be held back for the sake of others that do not have the same intellectual prowess. Equity lowers the standards of education and the future of the United States relies on students being ambitious motivated and having that intellectual drive.”
'Willful misunderstanding' of term
Other speakers said they favored equity efforts for students with physical and mental disabilities without including students of color, or LGBTQ+ students – two of the most prominent groups when it comes to nationwide equity efforts.
Peggy Lavinder, who worked on the equity committee, said that the speakers against the equity board were “wrong” and had shown a “willful misunderstanding” of the word equity.
She explained an example of an equity issue in Hanover Schools in which the school system did not provide calculators for tests like the SAT simply because there was no requirement to do so. The cost for a standard TI-84 graphing calculator is around $100.
Patricia Hunter-Jordan, Hanover NAACP president, said the comments she heard that evening showed a lack of empathy and of understanding.
A 61-year-old man who allegedly brandished a handgun at police has died.
“We’ve had people stand before you tonight to talk about equity, that you should not have it,” Hunter-Jordan said. “Well, most of you may not need it, but they are our kids, there are students in our schools who need equity, who need to be given a hand up to achieve the same thing that the rich kids already have.”
The Virginia Department of Education’s school quality profile for 2022 says that Hanover County Schools are 74.3% white, 9.1% Black and 7.3% Hispanic. About 30% of the school district is categorized as economically disadvantaged while 14.4% are listed to have disabilities.
The Hanover School Board has has voted on high profile equity issues over the past couple of years.
School board members all but decided to nix the equity advisory board during its June 6 work session. They previously cited procedural issues with the board, like its 2022 report being submitted six months early, and the passage of an equity statement by the school system that was never seen by the CEAB.
School board members also talked about updating its equity policy to replace the word “equity” with the word “opportunity.”
The change is reminiscent of a decision from Gov. Glenn Younkin when he rebranded the state’s director of diversity, equity and inclusion, replacing “equity” in the title with “opportunity.” That position is still defined in the state code by using the word equity.
First founded as advisory committee to superintendent
Lavinder said she felt the school board was throwing the group under the bus with accusations that procedural issues had kept the group from accomplishing its goal.
Initially, the CEAB was founded as an advisory committee to the superintendent. Lavinder said those committee meetings were well-attended by senior schools staff. The group was getting presentations from departments like human resources – on its efforts to hire diverse staff – and school staff appeared to be committed to the board’s mission, Lavinder said.
The advisory committee later changed as an advisory board to the school board, bringing new regulations like compliance with FOIA and the drafting of bylaws.
School board Chair Bob May and Vice Chair Steve Ikenberry were assigned as the school board participants with the equity board.
Lavinder said the engagement wasn’t the same, and that many of the procedural problems should also be blamed on the school board members who didn’t offer legitimate guidance and support.
“I feel like that is sabotage, and then jumping on us in the grave saying that we didn’t do what we were supposed to do,” Lavinder said.
She said most of the opposition to the CEAB was only ok with “equity for some,” but left out students of color and LGBTQ students.
May said after the vote to abolish the CEAB that he isn’t against equity, saying that the schools revisit of its equity policy could also include another version of the committee. | https://richmond.com/news/local/education/hanover-board-equity-disbanded/article_be356056-21a8-11ee-a01b-ff71b3790189.html | 2023-07-14T17:20:22 | 1 | https://richmond.com/news/local/education/hanover-board-equity-disbanded/article_be356056-21a8-11ee-a01b-ff71b3790189.html |
An 86-mile stretch of the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be closed starting at 11 p.m. Saturday between the Breezewood (Exit 161) and New Stanton (Exit 75) interchanges to remove a tractor-trailer that crashed earlier this week. The road will reopen by 5 a.m. on Sunday.
Motorists should plan accordingly for a lengthy detour or should avoid the area during this time, PennDOT advises.
The closure is to allow crews to remove a tractor-trailer that crashed Monday night at mile marker 103.5 westbound within a reconstruction project in Somerset County. The tractor-trailer left the roadway, went through the guardrail and traveled down a ditch before striking an embankment. State police said the vehicle sustained disabling damage and troopers later charged the driver with DUI, according to PennDOT.
Motorists exiting at the Breezewood Interchange should follow the suggested detour route:
- Exit at the Breezewood Interchange (Exit 161) and follow U.S. Route 30 west (18.7 miles).
- Follow I-99 north (30.1 miles).
- Follow U.S. Route 22 West (64.5 miles).
- Follow PA Turnpike Route 66 South (13.9 miles).
- Reenter the PA Turnpike (I-76) at the New Stanton Interchange (Exit 75).
Travelers should expect higher than normal traffic volumes on this over-100-mile detour during the closure. Message boards are already in place to inform customers of the closure.
Vehicles will be permitted to enter the Turnpike at the Donegal Interchange (Exit 91) and travel westbound during this closure. All eastbound traffic is permitted in the corridor during the westbound closure, though travelers are advised that traffic will be down to one-lane eastbound beginning at 8 p.m. on July 15 in the vicinity of the recovery site due to unrelated road work.
Information will be posted at the North Midway Service Plaza in Bedford County and the Somerset North Service Plaza in Somerset County. If customers remain in the service plaza after 11 p.m. on July 15, they will be required to stay there until the road reopens.
To report an accident or other emergency on the PA Turnpike, dial *11 via mobile phone. For more information, visit 511pa.com.
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Lamar Seymour, the 17-year-old wanted for shooting and killing another teen in Aliquippa, surrendered to law enforcement today.
Dahvea Sparrow, 15, was shot and killed while leaving a house party in Aliquippa on Saturday.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Beaver County leaders work to find solutions after 2 teen boys fatally shot within 24 hours
Seymour turned himself into the Beaver County sheriff, according to Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier. State police will take him into custody and transport him to the Freedom District Magistrate Office at 2:30 p.m. for a hearing.
“We wish to thank the citizens of Aliquippa for assisting law enforcement and making this arrest possible and we again extend our prayers and sympathies to the Sparrow family and citizens of Aliquippa,” Sparrow said in a news release.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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Newsweek has released its inaugural list of America’s Greatest Workplaces and 17 companies headquartered in southwestern Pennsylvania are on it.
Newsweek partnered with Plant-A Insights Group to conduct a large-scale employer study based on more than 389,000 company reviews.
Some of the companies on the list are:
- Alcoa
- A. Stucki Co.
- F.N.B. Corp.
- Federated Hermes
- GNC
Read the full list of local companies in the Pittsburgh Business Times.
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©2023 Cox Media Group | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/newsweeks-americas-greatest-workplaces-includes-17-pittsburgh-area/RI4RWCKOZFGQPHQ33SMRRGTVAI/ | 2023-07-14T17:24:47 | 1 | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/newsweeks-americas-greatest-workplaces-includes-17-pittsburgh-area/RI4RWCKOZFGQPHQ33SMRRGTVAI/ |
More than 32 million Americans live with severe food allergies, and researchers say that number is on the rise. For many people, it can be deadly, including Matthew Briden, 28, of Mount Washington. He died in 2022 after going into anaphylactic shock.
This summer, his family marked one year since his death.
In his 28 years of life, Matthew was known as a helper.
“He was always the first one to volunteer to move people,” said Kathy Briden, his mother. “Just always the first one to show up.”
Diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy at age two, Matthew learned at an early age that his life would be a little different than most kids. Growing up in the North Hills, he carried EpiPens with him everywhere he went, even eventually to the University of Massachusetts.
“After they go to college, you think ‘Oh wow, we have this.’ If they can survive a food allergy, this is, you know, we’re good,’” Kathy said.
He eventually moved back home to the Steel City, started his own company, and lived life to the fullest as a Pittsburgh sports fan. But on June 30, 2022 – an emergency room visit took a turn for the worse, unlike others before.
“Matthew did not think he was going to die that night,” Kathy said.
Matthew went into anaphylactic shock, taking his last breath at the hospital hours after eating something while on a first date. His family says Matthew immediately knew something was wrong and left the restaurant after giving himself an EpiPen.
“He went home, got violently ill, fell asleep, woke up, gave himself another EpiPen,” Kathy said.
It was only then that Matthew decided to go to the hospital, a sequence of events that his mother says is still painful to process.
“When we asked the doctor, ‘If he went right to the ER, would he still be alive?’ They said, ‘It’s very probable because if he walked in, they would have seen the symptoms.’”
That’s one of the messages Briden continues to share, one year after burying her son, working with Food Allergy Research and Education – or F.A.R.E. – to help spread awareness. She also stresses the importance of carrying two EpiPens while keeping in mind that those alone might not be enough.
“The EpiPen is a bridge, and often it’s not used as a bridge. People say, ‘I gave myself an EpiPen, I’m going to be okay.’ Sometimes, you are okay. But we know that every reaction is different,” Kathy said.
While she takes comfort in knowing that Matthew is continuing to help others, Kathy wants families affected by food allergies to remember one more thing.
“I would tell parents…it doesn’t matter how old your kid is…continue partnering with them, even though you think they have it,” Kathy said.
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©2023 Cox Media Group | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/one-year-after-deadly-allergic-reaction-family-remembers-mt-washington-man/CUGG3XTYENBO3GQPQXK5AOYKVE/ | 2023-07-14T17:24:49 | 0 | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/one-year-after-deadly-allergic-reaction-family-remembers-mt-washington-man/CUGG3XTYENBO3GQPQXK5AOYKVE/ |
PNC Bank on Thursday announced the close of a new fund that will invest $161 million in the development and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing for families and seniors nationwide.
The PNC Low Income Housing Tax Credit Fund 87 includes investments from PNC and eight of the largest national banks and insurance companies in the U.S. It will provide financing for more than 1,700 affordable housing rental units in 13 multifamily properties in 10 states, including California, Kentucky, Oregon and Texas.
Many of the projects intend to serve special populations, including survivors of domestic violence, extremely low income or those without income at all, people experiencing homelessness and heads of household with a disability.
Read more at Pittsburgh Business Times.
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A home is currently for sale in Upper St. Clair for $2.3 million.
The home, which has four bedrooms, four full bathrooms and two half bathrooms, is located at 1820 Woodlands Circle. It is listed for sale with Barbara Baker of the Barbara Baker Team with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.
The 5,207-square-foot home is situated on 1.99 acres and has a governor’s driveway. The two-story foyer features a floating staircase.
Read more at Pittsburgh Business Times.
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Coroner: Child, 3, and man, 49, died in York City house fire on Company Street
A 49-year-old man and a 3-year-old girl died in an early morning house fire Friday in the 500 block of Company Street in York City, the York County Coroner has confirmed.
The victims have not yet been released, pending notification of family, the coroner's office reported.
"The first call came in at 4:07 a.m. for fire with entrapment," said Ted Czech, York County Public Information Officer.
The coroner was called to WellSpan York Hospital around 6:06 a.m.
Justin Grove, 33, who has lived in the neighboring house his entire life, said the family that lived in the burned house had lived there for three to four years.
"The dad was one of the nicest men around," Grove said. "He would bring me food. He would help fix people's cars. He would always sit outside and shake my hand."
Grove said in the last 15 years he's witnessed a handful of house fires on his block.
There will be no autopsies, though routine toxicologies will be obtained, the coroner's office says.
Capt. Daniel Lentz of the York City Police Department said police are assisting in an investigation until a cause of the fire is determined.
This is a developing story. Check back for more details. | https://www.ydr.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/york-county-pa-coroner-called-to-scene-of-york-city-house-fire/70413476007/ | 2023-07-14T17:25:53 | 1 | https://www.ydr.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/york-county-pa-coroner-called-to-scene-of-york-city-house-fire/70413476007/ |
LEA COUNTY, N.M. — A woman in Lea County was arrested on July 10 after attempting to deliver approximately two pounds of cocaine to a residence in Lovington.
Lea County Drug Task Force agents were contacted by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agents about a FedEx package that was planning on being shipped to Lovington, New Mexico with cocaine inside. The package was initially mailed from Colombia and intercepted in Miami by local law enforcement.
On July 10, both groups conducted a controlled joint operation for the delivery of the FedEx package to the residence in Lovington. Agents found out during the investigation that 41-year-old Maria De La Luz Gonzalez, also known as Lucy Gonzalez, was the one asked to have the package delivered.
When Gonzalez arrived to the residence for the package, she was immediately detained and LCDTF Agents conducted an interview with her.
This led to the eventually arrest of Gonzalez who has been charged with Possession with Intent to Trafficking Cocaine. The total estimated value of the cocaine was around $30,000 to $32,000 in U.S. Currency.
The investigation is still ongoing and we will continue to update this story as we receive more information. | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/lea-county-drug-task-force-agents-arrest-woman-for-possession-with-intent-to-trafficking-cocaine/513-60b91745-dad2-40a5-aade-3bade96ea7e6 | 2023-07-14T17:27:29 | 1 | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/lea-county-drug-task-force-agents-arrest-woman-for-possession-with-intent-to-trafficking-cocaine/513-60b91745-dad2-40a5-aade-3bade96ea7e6 |
KILLEEN, Texas — The Killeen Police Department is remembering fallen officer Robert "Bobby" Hornsby a decade after he was killed in the line of duty on July 14, 2013.
Hornsby was shot and killed while participating in a SWAT deployment at an apartment complex in the 1600 block of Grandon Drive, according to Officer Down Memorial Page.
According to the page, Hornsby was 32-years-old at the time of his death and he is survived by his wife, daughter and son.
The Killeen Police Department posted to Facebook stating, "We shall never forget Officer Hornsby's dedication, courage and commitment to the citizens of Killeen!"
To learn more about officer Hornsby, please visit here. | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/killeen-pd-remembers-fallen-officer-10-years-after-tragic-death/500-ce881f10-a50c-480d-9084-45e9f4f6a0e4 | 2023-07-14T17:37:14 | 1 | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/killeen-pd-remembers-fallen-officer-10-years-after-tragic-death/500-ce881f10-a50c-480d-9084-45e9f4f6a0e4 |
MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas — Editor's Note | The abstract of this article was modified for formatting.
Since Waco judge Dianne Hensley received a public warning from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for refusing to perform same-sex marriages in 2019, she’s waged a public battle against the state agency.
She’s long claimed the governmental body violated state law by punishing her for actions taken in accordance with her religious faith. Now, she has submitted a brief arguing that the recent Supreme Court ruling in favor of a business owner who refused services to same-sex couples will help her case.
After Hensley was warned by the judicial conduct commission, she filed a lawsuit claiming the investigation and warning “substantially burdened the free exercise of her religion, with no compelling justification.” She seeks damages of $10,000. She has been represented by the First Liberty Institute, a high-profile religious liberty legal group based in Plano. The legal group also has strong ties to suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Her lawsuit alleges that the commission violated her rights under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Her lawsuit was dismissed by a lower appeals tribunal, but last month, the Texas Supreme Court said it will hear arguments on whether to revive the state judge’s lawsuit.
This new brief, submitted last week by Hensley’s legal team, argues that though the Supreme Court used the First Amendment and not state law in the 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis case, the decision is also applicable in her lawsuit. The First Amendment case decided last month said a Colorado web designer cannot be forced by the state to compromise her beliefs and serve same-sex couples.
“303 Creative was interpreting the First Amendment’s Speech Clause rather than the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Its holding is nonetheless instructive because it rejects the idea of a ‘compelling interest’ in forcing wedding vendors to participate in same-sex and opposite-sex marriage ceremonies on equal terms,” the brief states.
Justin Butterfield, an attorney for Hensley at First Liberty Institute, has maintained throughout the lawsuit that religious liberty is Hensley’s right as a citizen.
“303 Creative affirmed that religious liberty is not a second-class right in America,” Butterfield wrote in an email to The Texas Tribune. “We look forward to vindicating Judge Hensley’s rights in the Texas Supreme Court.”
Hensley was not available for comment on Wednesday.
According to the Texas judicial commission’s 2019 warning, Hensley referred gay couples who wanted her to preside over their marriage ceremony to other people who would officiate. The state’s judicial code requires judges to conduct “extra-judicial activities” in ways that don’t cast doubt on their impartiality on the bench. The commission issued a public warning, saying she cast doubt “on her capacity to act impartially to persons appearing before her as a judge due to the person’s sexual orientation.”
According to Dale Carpenter, chair of constitutional law at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, the U.S. Supreme Court case has little to do with Hensley’s case, since one is dealing with private businesses, and Hensley is a government official acting in an official capacity. Carpenter has written extensively on the Colorado case and agreed with the 6-3 Supreme Court decision. He says the two cases are similar in that they include services to a same-sex couple, but “that’s where the similarities end.”
“The service in [Henley’s] case is the service of a government official, so if 303 Creative had involved that government denying services to a same-sex couple, then that’d be a very different case,” Carpenter maintained. “I don’t think 303 helps the judge’s case at all.”
He believes this is the first of a “slew” of cases that will be coming through the state and country that will attempt to expand the reach of the Colorado case and when LGBTQ+ people can be denied certain services on First Amendment grounds.
“This is going to have to be worked through the judicial system, including trial courts and appellate courts, over a period of probably several years at this point because 303 Creative is going to lead us to see many, many more of these cases,” Carpenter said.
Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston, says it’s also important to understand that if the Texas Supreme Court were to rule in Hensley’s favor, they “would have to expressly extend the holding of 303 Creative” to her case. This means that Hensley’s case goes beyond the current bounds of what the SCOTUS decision says.
Johnathan Gooch, a spokesperson for Equality Texas and a University of Texas at Austin School of Law graduate reiterated Carpenter’s points on the differences between the two cases, and pointed to Hensley’s position as a purveyor of the law.
“The law of the land is marriage equality. It’s as simple as that,” Gooch said. “If judges and justices of the peace were empowered to only enforce the laws that they agreed with, we would quickly descend into anarchy.”
Carpenter says the implications of Hensley’s case are hard to predict, since the Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments only on whether to revive the lawsuit, not if the lawsuit has merit. He believes it will be a long time before Hensley’s lawsuit has real effects.
Conversely, Ash Hall, an ACLU of Texas policy and advocacy strategist, believes that the case could be substantial, if the lawsuit is eventually won.
“If Judge Hensley were to actually win this case, it would basically gut a good portion of marriage equality that we got,” Hall said. “Your ability to get married then would be dependent on your ZIP code and kind of what resources were around you.”
LGBTQ+ activists aren’t surprised by Hensley’s attempt to use the SCOTUS case in her favor. Some say a continual onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed in the Texas Legislature have left them numb.
“I have nothing to say anymore,” said Verniss McFarland, founder and executive director of the Mahogany Project, which advocates for LGBTQ+ communities of color. “As a Black trans femme person, we are already on the margins. When something like this happens, it’s just like: ‘Oh, this again.’”
Hall says that the ACLU was not surprised by Hensley trying to use the 303 Creative case. They said once the SCOTUS decision was passed down, they all bolstered themselves, preparing for the lawsuits that they knew were on the way.
“Traditionally, that is what has happened: When the courts have ruled in a way that gives people an option to refuse service or discriminate against other people, you get a whole bunch of court cases pertaining to that to see how far they can take it,” Hall said. “It’s not surprising, just disappointing.”
Disclosure: Equality Texas, Southern Methodist University and University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Also on KCENTV.com: | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/texas-judgedoesnt-want-to-perform-gay-marriage-ceremonies-hopes-web-designers-supreme-court-case-helps-her-fight/500-32e0616f-a026-4a8e-bbd8-d9e1818389e1 | 2023-07-14T17:37:17 | 0 | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/texas-judgedoesnt-want-to-perform-gay-marriage-ceremonies-hopes-web-designers-supreme-court-case-helps-her-fight/500-32e0616f-a026-4a8e-bbd8-d9e1818389e1 |
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Have you noticed your SunPass bill is a little higher, even if you're getting that rebate? Even if you haven't seen a difference, it's there — as of July 1, toll rates have increased.
The increase was required by Florida Statutes and was changed based on the annual Consumer Price Index, according to the Florida Department of Transportation. The last time rates were adjusted was back in 2017, FDOT says.
However, not every toll road will be affected, although a majority in the Tampa Bay area will be impacted. The new rate adjustment applies to the 511-mile Florida Turnpike System and FDOT-owned toll facilities including the following in the Tampa Bay area:
- Veterans Expressway
- Suncoast Parkway
- Polk Parkway
- I-4 Connector
- Sunshine Skyway Bridge
- Pinellas Bayway
Express lanes are not included in this toll rate change. The Selmon Expressway, which is operated by the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) also won't be affected by this change.
Costs still vary depending on which toll road you take and for how long, but here are a few of the newer prices:
A trip along the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, for example, will now cost $1.16 for all 2-axle vehicles using a SunPass. Drivers using Toll-by-Plate/cash will be charged $1.75 each way.
The I-4 Connector has increased SunPass trips to $1.13 for both "S" and "T" moves and $0.57 for "Z" moves for 2-axle vehicles.
For the full breakdown of the new toll rates both in the Tampa Bay area and across Florida, click here.
It's been more than six months since Florida lawmakers passed a law to give Florida drivers who use SunPass or E-ZPass a 50% credit back on their accounts for taking at least 35 trips through a toll road. | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/florida-toll-rate-increase-sunshine-skyway-polk-parkway-suncoast-parkway/67-503af5c8-98ef-4a06-81ed-765d789cafb3 | 2023-07-14T17:38:46 | 0 | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/florida-toll-rate-increase-sunshine-skyway-polk-parkway-suncoast-parkway/67-503af5c8-98ef-4a06-81ed-765d789cafb3 |
TAMPA, Fla. — This hurricane season, the city of Tampa is urging residents to keep their drains clear of oil, cooking fats and grease to help prevent "fatbergs" from clogging pipes and causing sewage overflows, according to a news release.
The city said grease and other liquid fats solidify in lower temperatures. While wet wipes, even the ones marketed as "flushable," are made of materials that aren't biodegradable. The city says these materials combined can clump together in pipes and sewers and form massive blockages called "fatbergs."
"Fatbergs" can lead to sewage floods, environmental damage and public health risks, the city says.
The city of Tampa has experienced these risks firsthand. In 2022, "fatbergs" caused thousands of gallons of sewage to spill into the Tampa Bay area waterways. The same year, Florida enacted a new state law regulating the way restaurants could legally dispose of excess oil and other grease waste.
To help prevent more sewage leaks, the City of Tampa Wastewater Department filters wipes and other non-biodegradable waste from its sewage treatment process using tools called bar screens. Department officials estimate that these screens filter out 99.6 trash cans worth of wipes, rags, and other "fatberg" materials every week.
But with hurricane season underway, officials warn that tropical storms and other forms of extreme weather increase the risk of sewer overflows, making it more vital than ever that residents do their part too.
"By properly disposing of wipes in the trash, this simple change in behavior will have a significant impact on preserving our environment, reducing the risk of sewer overflows, and saving costs associated with repairs and equipment failures," the City of Tampa Wastewater Department said in a release.
City leaders have also advised residents of other things they can do at home to keep fatbergs at bay, including:
- Don't pour grease down the sink or toilet
- Avoid putting food scraps down the garbage disposal and throw them away instead
- Allow hot oils, sauces and gravies to cool before scraping them into a bag and throwing them in the trash
- Report any sewer overflows you see to the city | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/hillsboroughcounty/tampa-issues-fatberg-warning-this-hurricane-season/67-f422fb17-84e9-434d-9f1b-b96ae0ab1d1f | 2023-07-14T17:38:52 | 0 | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/hillsboroughcounty/tampa-issues-fatberg-warning-this-hurricane-season/67-f422fb17-84e9-434d-9f1b-b96ae0ab1d1f |
HOUSTON — A Houston couple says they're out of nearly $5,000 after delays getting their passports prevented them from taking an international trip with their young grandson.
Pam Rogers said she and her husband both applied to renew their passports at the same time, about 10 weeks before their trip to Canada was scheduled, which was in late June. She said the U.S. State Department received both of their applications at the same time. Five weeks later, Rogers says she got her passport. Her husband's didn't arrive until shortly after they were meant to leave.
"We renewed the passports. We used the expedited service. We went directly through the State Department on their, online, submitted our prior passports, which were only expired like a year, paid the expedited fee for processing, paid the expedited fee for mailing even," she said. "They said seven to nine weeks, the trip was 10 weeks out."
Rogers said the State Department has a tracking feature meant to update applicants about the process. She said the tracking system did not work.
"Never an email of anything happening. Even my own passport was in my mailbox before anything was changed on the system," she said.
Passport renewal/application tips:
Rogers waited a week after receiving her passport to reach out to the State Department to try and figure out where her husband's was.
"The calling is just a lesson in futility," she said about her experience trying to get in touch with the department.
Rogers said she spent hours on hold, day after day, and wasn't able to get any help.
“I have probably spent about 30 hours of my time, personal time, not including my husband’s time, trying to get information,” she said.
Eventually, she said she reached out to Sen. Ted Cruz's office to try and get help.
The senator has been outspokenly critical of the State Department's "backlog of passport approvals." He's even asked Texans struggling to get passports to reach out to his office through his website, so long as they meet certain requirements, like having a trip planned within the week, an urgent life-or-death emergency or business travel.
Even after reaching out to the senator's office, the day of their trip came without receiving the passport.
"I canceled everything that Thursday night," Rogers said. "Friday afternoon, I got notification, I went online and looked again and it said, 'Mail should arrive today.'"
"My whole point is, had they put on there on Wednesday, 'Hey, this is mailed you'll have it by Friday noon,' I might have been able to change things."
Rogers said they were refunded for their flights and hotels but still had to pay for a rental home and ferry ride.
She said she felt like she was let down by the State Department.
"There's only a few times in your life where you need your government. This is one of those moments," Rogers said. "If this was a public or private company, they would be out of business."
Rogers said they had saved up for the trip over two years but were more concerned about other people who may be in a similar situation.
"My story is just a cautionary tale that's probably happened to tens of thousands of people out there," she said. "No one is doing anything to fix it."
For more information on expedited passports, click here. | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/passport-delays-houston-help/285-347fe5fd-a59c-41a1-8a0e-b6b85a3f46ba | 2023-07-14T17:38:58 | 1 | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/passport-delays-houston-help/285-347fe5fd-a59c-41a1-8a0e-b6b85a3f46ba |
MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. — Pinellas County deputies said the cause of the fire that killed about 50 to 100 animals on Thursday "does not appear suspicious in nature," according to an update.
The fire, which killed animals ranging from reptiles to mammals, was seen around 3 a.m. by deputies on foot patrol at the John's Pass Village.
Authorities said those deputies saw flames coming from the Alligator & Wildlife Discovery Center, located at 12973 Village Boulevard in Madeira Beach.
Sonny Flynn, the owner of Alligator & Wildlife Discovery Center, said all mammals at the refuge died in the fire. In a later update Thursday afternoon, crews with the Clearwater Marine Aquarium identified about 40 small mammals died, including a pig, chinchillas, skunks and more.
Flynn has owned the center for six years but has managed it since it opened in 2011. She says she's heartbroken, but hopeful to rebuild.
"We're gonna rebuild, because this is a very valuable resource for this community and the animals themselves," she said in an interview with 10 Tampa Bay. "The pet surrenders are necessary to be loved and cared for. So we're gonna keep that strong, don’t know what that looks like – haven’t had time to think about that."
The fire damaged three surrounding businesses. Robin Miller, president of the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce, said the community is vowing to help Flynn and her team rebuild.
10 Tampa Bay's Claire Farrow and Aaron Paresghian contributed to this story. | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/pinellascounty/alligator-wildlife-discovery-center-fire-madeira-beach/67-3aeb0b9b-3873-4fa7-9370-d0af9ed6e0fa | 2023-07-14T17:39:04 | 1 | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/pinellascounty/alligator-wildlife-discovery-center-fire-madeira-beach/67-3aeb0b9b-3873-4fa7-9370-d0af9ed6e0fa |
David Kunkle, a longtime North Texas law enforcement officer and chief of police who had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, has died at the age of 72, his family confirms.
For nearly 40 years, Kunkle wore a badge in North Texas during which he served as the chief of police in three of North Texas's largest cities. After leading the departments in Grand Prairie, Arlington and Dallas, Kunkle retired from law enforcement in 2010.
It was during a visit to Arlington in 2021, to talk about a policing museum, that Kunkle talked with officers about his diagnosis of Lewy body dementia.
“Ultimately, it’s going to be fatal. I don’t know if it’s going to be two years or 10 years, but it’s progressive and each day it gets a little bit worse. But I’m honored to be here,” Kunkle said.
Kunkle began his law enforcement career in 1972 with the Dallas Police Department. He quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the youngest captain in the history of the department.
From there he took his first job as chief, in Grand Prairie, before moving to Arlington in 1985. Kunkle led the Arlington Police Department for 14 years before being named deputy city manager. In 2004, he left Arlington for Dallas where he was chief of police until he retired in 2010.
Following his retirement from the Dallas Police Department in 2010, Kunkle was named the "executive in residence" for the W.W. Caruth Jr. Police Institute at the University of North Texas at Dallas.
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The latest news from around North Texas.
In 2011 he launched an unsuccessful bid for Dallas Mayor, losing to eventual two-term Mayor Mike Rawlings.
Last December, Kunkle was among the first five recipients of the city of Dallas' Distinguished Service Awards. He was recognized by Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson for his six years leading the police department and his work instituting reforms and lowering the city’s murder rate.
“David Kunkle changed our city's direction and its attitude when it comes to public safety,” Johnson said.
Kunkle is survived by his wife Sarah Dodd and his son, Mike Kunkle. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.
WHAT IS LEWY BODY DEMENTIA?
According to the Mayo Clinic, "Lewy body dementia is the second most common type of dementia after Alzheimer's disease. Protein deposits called Lewy bodies develop in nerve cells in the brain. The protein deposits affect brain regions involved in thinking, memory and movement."
Lewy body dementia causes a decline in mental abilities over time and may include severe symptoms including hallucinations. People with Lewy body dementia may also experience symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease such as movement disorders, trouble walking, or tremors.
The clinic said Lewy body dementia is often fatal within seven years of the onset of symptoms. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/former-dallas-arlington-chief-of-police-david-kunkle-dies/3296108/ | 2023-07-14T17:40:57 | 0 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/former-dallas-arlington-chief-of-police-david-kunkle-dies/3296108/ |
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The latest news from around North Texas. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/heat-affecting-daily-lives-of-north-texans/3296121/ | 2023-07-14T17:41:03 | 0 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/heat-affecting-daily-lives-of-north-texans/3296121/ |
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News from around the state of Texas. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/families-ask-judge-to-block-texas-transgender-healthcare-law/3296126/ | 2023-07-14T17:41:09 | 1 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/families-ask-judge-to-block-texas-transgender-healthcare-law/3296126/ |
MERRILLVILLE — Police issued an arrest warrant Monday for a Gary woman in connection with fraud at Members Source Credit Union.
Emily Fisher, 28, was charged with forgery, theft and two counts of fraud. If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Officers said in reports that they received a complaint from James Falls, CEO of Members Source, about multiple attempts to pass fraudulent checks at the Griffith and Merrillville branches.
On April 12, Fisher deposited a $4,850 check from Ford Motor Co. and withdrew $4,500 30 minutes later. What concerned Falls and police, however, was the address and signature on the check.
In the probable-cause affidavit, officers said the same address and signature was used on a different check, deposited by Clifford Hill, and was determined to be fraudulent by Merrillville police detectives. In the same document, officers said they charged Hill for the fraud, but as of Thursday, no charges appeared to be filed.
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Fisher remains at large as of Thursday. Her first court date has not been set.
What you missed this week in notable Northwest Indiana crimes and court cases
This week's local crime and court updates from The Times.
CROWN POINT — A Gary man was charged with inappropriately touching a pair of preteen girls.
Khalil Gipson, 17, was charged Saturday with attempted murder and robbery resulting in serious bodily injury. If convicted, Gipson faces up to 70 years in prison.
Lake Criminal Court Magistrate Mark Watson recommended bail be granted for Marcus Mathis but not Cordero Miller. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-courts/fraud-forgery-gary-merrillville-theft-creditunion-griffith-crime/article_6487a900-21a9-11ee-b51e-9b13d31310e8.html | 2023-07-14T17:43:08 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-courts/fraud-forgery-gary-merrillville-theft-creditunion-griffith-crime/article_6487a900-21a9-11ee-b51e-9b13d31310e8.html |
TACOMA, Wash. — A federal lawsuit alleges police in Washington state had no plan other than to use deadly force against a fugitive who was on the run in 2020 after shooting a supporter of a far-right group during clashes between supporters of then-President Donald Trump and Black Lives Matter in the streets of Portland, Oregon.
“The actions of the officers, before, during, and after the shooting, show that they either had no plan to arrest the man without injury, made no effort to follow such a plan, or planned to use deadly force from the start," said the lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma by the estate of Michael Forest Reinoehl, who identified as an anti-fascist.
Reinoehl fatally shot Aaron “Jay” Danielson during chaotic clashes between racial injustice protesters and far-right groups who held a pro-Trump car rally in downtown Portland. The shooting attracted Trump's attention and further inflamed tensions in Oregon's largest city, which saw weeks of violent protests against racial injustice and police brutality following George Floyd's murder.
Reinoehl was caught on surveillance video shooting Danielson, a supporter of the far-right group Patriot Prayer, on Aug. 29, 2020, after a demonstration backing Trump.
Trump cheered on the manhunt for Reinoehl, tweeting just before he was killed for police to “Do your job, and do it fast.”
A federal task force was trying to arrest Reinoehl, 48, at an apartment complex in Lacey, near Olympia, in September 2020 when four officers fired at him as he exited his car.
Law enforcement officers in “militia-style fatigues” raced through a quiet residential neighborhood in unmarked vehicles, the lawsuit said: “Meanwhile, the officers sprayed more than 40 bullets through the neighborhood, killing (Reinoehl), grazing a child playing nearby, and striking cars, fences, backyard playground equipment, buildings, and residences."
At least five bullets struck him, the lawsuit said.
A Washington state prosecutor decided not to file criminal charges against police who shot and killed him.
Washington state and local police were operating as a U.S. Marshals Service task force.
“As a matter of policy we do not comment on pending litigation,” Chris Loftis, spokesperson for the Washington State Patrol, said Wednesday.
The U.S. Department of Justice, the city of Lakewood and the Pierce County Sheriff's Department didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Last year, a judge dismissed a federal lawsuit filed against the city of Portland, the mayor and the Multnomah County district attorney by Danielson's estate.
The lawsuit had alleged that negligence around increasingly violent clashes between competing groups in Portland created an environment that encouraged lawlessness and led to the killing. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/anti-fascist-shot-killed-police-washington-state-wrongful-death-lawsuit/281-9a752fdf-0da1-4f82-81b0-6d9a74627d62 | 2023-07-14T17:44:54 | 1 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/anti-fascist-shot-killed-police-washington-state-wrongful-death-lawsuit/281-9a752fdf-0da1-4f82-81b0-6d9a74627d62 |
SEATTLE — Critical grant funding that has traditionally helped fund drug enforcement operations in western Washington is at risk of being reallocated, according to the Washington Department of Commerce.
The funding, which comes from the U.S. Department of Justice in the form of the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, makes up a large portion of operations for several drug task forces. For the past 30 years, grant money is distributed in Washington state annually. Currently, the funds support a portion of the operating budgets of 16 active task forces at a cost of around $2.9 million per year.
As it has done in the past, the Department of Commerce is reconsidering where the money should be spent. The grant money is federal dollars. But the Washington Department of Commerce determines where it goes.
"It's unfortunate," said Tobin Meyer, chief criminal deputy with the Skagit County Sheriff's Office.
The Skagit County Inter-Local Enforcement Unit gets about a third of its funding from Byrne-JAG funds. Recently, the unit was praised for conducting a large drug bust, seizing more than half a million fentanyl pills along with other drugs.
Meyer believes cutting any kind of funding for drug enforcement operations is a mistake. Especially at a time when opioids are ravaging local communities.
“We've not really been given an opportunity to come to the table and discuss any of these changes with the policymakers," Mayer said. "We want to come to a consensus or a solution that works for everybody."
The Department of Commerce recently concluded a public comment period on the reshuffling of grant funds. A majority of public comment was opposed to the funding changes. Meyer was among them.
A Department of Commerce spokesperson said the Byrne-JAG funding program is going through a strategic planning process "to identify the highest and best use of these funds in the context of evolving community safety needs and practices."
Among those in favor of reallocating some of the funding is Attorney General Bob Ferguson. Ferguson, who also is expected to formally announce his candidacy for governor, wants some of the grant money to be spent on election workers' security.
A state advisory committee is now reviewing the potential reallocation of Byrne-JAG funding and is expected to announce grant recipients by the end of summer.
The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant is named after a New York City police officer, killed in the line of duty in 1988 while working a drug case. Since then, the grant money has always been spent on law enforcement.
Meyer is one who wants it to remain that way.
"Fentanyl is destroying communities. And as a drug task force commander, having to have to try to advocate for funding in the middle of that is counterintuitive," he said. "It boggles my mind at this point." | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/funding-fight-fentanyl-jeopardy/281-961576bb-6c40-49b4-bba7-e0e3b78374b7 | 2023-07-14T17:45:00 | 0 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/funding-fight-fentanyl-jeopardy/281-961576bb-6c40-49b4-bba7-e0e3b78374b7 |
PORTLAND, Ore. — For over 40 years, pride has been celebrated in Portland to recognize lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ+) communities. This year, the annual celebration was moved to July, a month later than usual, to prevent overlapping with other significant cultural events in the Rose City.
“We have often been placed in a position of being seen as 'competing' with other community celebrations," said Pride Northwest' Executive Director Debra Porta.
Portland is event heavy in the spring and summer, and moving weekends wasn't an option because there were no available alternative dates for the Waterfront Park, according to a news release from Pride Northwest.
In the month of June — LGBTQ+ Pride Month — Juneteenth and the Delta Park Pow Wow celebrations have always been held almost at the same time with Portland Pride Waterfront Festival. Last year's Pride festival overlapped with Juneteenth, which Pride Northwest honored during its events.
"Although we work on the backend to build relationships and support diverse identities within the LGBTQIA2S+ community, at the end of the day, none of us really have the opportunity to support each other's celebrations in truly meaningful ways, or proactively build toward an environment that empowers LGBTQIA2S+ people to express themselves without the perception that they are being asked to choose between the various parts of themselves," said Porta.
The Portland Pride Waterfront festival will be held this weekend, July 15-16, with the Portland Pride Parade being held on Sunday.
For more information visit portlandpride.org. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/pride/why-portland-pride-parade-festival-held-july/283-9203cc2c-3baa-45b2-94c2-fd8f4875332c | 2023-07-14T17:45:06 | 0 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/pride/why-portland-pride-parade-festival-held-july/283-9203cc2c-3baa-45b2-94c2-fd8f4875332c |
The Allen County commissioners today approved two measures to help ensure the current jail runs smoothly.
The commissioners approved an amendment to the contract with Florida-based Trinity Services Group Inc., stipulating the food service business will put aside $50,000 for potential kitchen equipment replacement or upgrades at Allen County Jail. They also approved a $9,600 contract with Fort Wayne’s Engineering Resources Inc. for jail lift station repairs, which could cost $155,000.
Commissioners Rich Beck and Nelson Peters unanimously approved the requests. Commissioner Therese Brown was absent.
Chris Cloud, the commissioners’ chief of staff, said the lift station has needed repairs for a while, but when Engineering Resources did initial work on it two years ago, the firm recommended waiting. Supply chain issues would have put the cost about $100,000 more than the new estimate, so county workers made fixes to keep it operating.
The lift station sends the jail’s sewage to Fort Wayne’s Water Pollution Control Plant. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/allen-county-commissioners-approve-work-on-current-jail/article_8d5e04bc-225f-11ee-800a-fb1bddef5a31.html | 2023-07-14T17:46:09 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/allen-county-commissioners-approve-work-on-current-jail/article_8d5e04bc-225f-11ee-800a-fb1bddef5a31.html |
The Fort Wayne man charged for shooting someone at Glenbrook Square said he was defending himself, but police say the evidence conflicts with that claim.
Gregory Normil, 27, was arrested Thursday and charged with battery with a deadly weapon and criminal recklessness. He is accused of shooting a man near clothing store H&M.
Normil told officers the two had been at odds for the past several weeks over a woman with whom they both had relationships, according to a probable cause affidavit written by Fort Wayne Police Detective Brian Martin.
On the day of the shooting, the two men ran into each other at the mall, and Normil said the victim threatened to kill him and his children, records show. Normil said he told a cashier to call the police because something was about to happen.
Normil said he was trying to leave the store when he was pushed from behind, according to the affidavit. He said he then shot at the victim three times and left because the victim had friends nearby.
A witness, an employee of H&M, backed up Normil's claims, saying he saw Normil and the victim arguing with each other and getting louder and louder, court documents show. The employee said he heard the victim say, "If they touch me, just watch, you better watch."
The witness said Normil appeared to be just standing there when the victim and his friends returned with two or three more people and pushed the alleged shooter, court records show. The employee said he saw Normil be pushed when he started walking away before turning around and firing three shots.
The employee said he thought the victim was the one who continued the argument.
When interviewed by police, the victim said he and the shooter had a small argument, but he then stopped answering questions, records show.
Later that evening, police were told Normil wanted to turn himself in for the shooting and said he would come to the station with his attorney, Bart Arnold, court documents show. He then turned over his Glock 19 handgun to detectives.
Martin later watched security camera footage from H&M that allegedly showed Normil shopping in the store, records show. The alleged shooter was walking out of the store then pulled out a gun, turned around and began firing.
Normil was then seen calmly walking around the store with the gun in his hands before walking out, according to the affidavit. Martin said Normil appeared to be talking with the victim and walking up closer to him.
Twelve people were in the store at the time of the shooting. Bullet holes could be seen in the store's walls and clothing, as well as in the wall of neighboring business Auntie Anne's Pretzels.
The evidence, Martin wrote, is contrary to Normil's self-defense claims. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/court-records-detective-says-evidence-conflicts-with-glenbrook-shooters-self-defense-claim/article_68b9b100-225b-11ee-a1b2-63ba4c3143d1.html | 2023-07-14T17:46:16 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/court-records-detective-says-evidence-conflicts-with-glenbrook-shooters-self-defense-claim/article_68b9b100-225b-11ee-a1b2-63ba4c3143d1.html |
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is issuing a statewide Air Quality Action Day for Sunday, forecasting high levels of fine particles from Canadian wildfires will be moving into the state.
Particulate levels will be unhealthy for sensitive groups, the department said in a statement. It said sensitive groups should reduce or avoid exertion and heavy work outdoors during these conditions. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/indiana/idem-issues-statewide-air-quality-action-day-for-sunday/article_13a04898-2268-11ee-a2f9-1f2895c3493f.html | 2023-07-14T17:46:22 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/indiana/idem-issues-statewide-air-quality-action-day-for-sunday/article_13a04898-2268-11ee-a2f9-1f2895c3493f.html |
A rare earth and battery material refiner said it has taken a controlling interest in Marion's former RCA Thomson plant, and plans to create 30 to 300 jobs there depending on state incentives.
In a statement, ReElement Technologies LLC said Marion was selected after several months analyzing and examining several potential sites throughout the Midwest.
"This community lost nearly 4,000 jobs when the RCA Thomson facility shut down, and our redevelopment of this site is an incredible opportunity to become a major hub in the growing electrified economy for generations to come," said Mark Jensen, CEO of American Resources Corp., ReElement Technologies' parent, in the statement.
At full scope, the company said, the site and facility will seek to produce at least 2 metric tons per day of purified rare earth elements sourced from end-of-life magnets, the largest such producer outside China.
It said the site would also seek to produce 50 metric tons per day of lithium-ion battery input material sourced from end-of-life batteries and manufacturing waste. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/indiana/refiner-takes-controlling-interest-in-former-marion-rca-plant-expects-to-create-up-to-300/article_d65cd846-2255-11ee-946e-0fdbc430a3fc.html | 2023-07-14T17:46:28 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/indiana/refiner-takes-controlling-interest-in-former-marion-rca-plant-expects-to-create-up-to-300/article_d65cd846-2255-11ee-946e-0fdbc430a3fc.html |
A jury is out to deliberate whether a 29-year-old man killed one man and injured three others in a 2017 strip club shooting.
James Starks of Fort Wayne is accused of fatally shooting 22-year-old Marcus Rogan at the now-defunct Bleu Diamond. Rogan was shot about 10 times and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Starks has been charged with murder, criminal recklessness, carrying a handgun without a license and a sentencing enhancement for using a firearm in the alleged offenses. If jurors find him guilty of the murder, they will go back to deliberate the sentencing enhancement.
Throughout the four-day trial, the Allen County Prosecutor's Office's Tesa Helge and Tom Chaille pointed to witness testimony naming Starks the killer and testimony from several people claiming the defendant admitted to being the shooter. Helge said it took several years for witnesses to come forward because they feared being labeled as a snitch.
"We don't have to like snitch culture, but it's a reality," Helge said.
William Lebrato, who is joined by Jamie Egolf in representing Starks, said it comes down to accountability.
Lebrato talked about a key witness in the trial who said she saw Starks shoot Rogan the night of the shooting and later agreed to testify when facing felony charges of her own. He said jurors shouldn't believe a word she said because she was just looking out for herself and wasn't actually afraid.
Lebrato used expletives multiple times when describing the key witness.
Jurors were sent out at about 11 a.m. to deliberate.
After they were sent out, Allen Superior Court Judge David Zent sternly told the attorneys not to curse in the courtroom – unless they are quoting someone. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/jury-deliberating-on-2017-strip-club-shooting/article_f5b37c28-225e-11ee-b1e4-9badc945c4dc.html | 2023-07-14T17:46:34 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/jury-deliberating-on-2017-strip-club-shooting/article_f5b37c28-225e-11ee-b1e4-9badc945c4dc.html |
Sampson Road between Paulding Road and Lincoln Highway will close from 9 a.m. Monday to 4 p.m. Wednesday during road repair, the Allen County Highway Department said today.
Sampson Road section to close Monday through Wednesday
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Normalcy returns to Fort Wayne mall in wake of non-deadly shooting | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/sampson-road-section-to-close-monday-through-wednesday/article_f722fbb4-225a-11ee-9cf2-b71eefdafbc2.html | 2023-07-14T17:46:40 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/sampson-road-section-to-close-monday-through-wednesday/article_f722fbb4-225a-11ee-9cf2-b71eefdafbc2.html |
Warren police seize 2 kilos of fentanyl, 3,500 meth pills in Roseville raid
Warren police seized two kilograms, or more than four pounds, of fentanyl along with several other drugs Thursday during a raid Thursday of a home in Roseville.
The raid followed an investigation after police received a tip that a resident was allegedly selling narcotics out of his Roseville home. They said they learned the suspect, a convicted felon, is on probation for various drug crimes in Macomb County.
Investigators were able to confirm the suspect was selling drugs out of his residence and obtained a search warrant, which they executed Thursday.
Police seized two kilograms, or more than four pounds, of fentanyl, one kilogram, or more than one pound, of methamphetamine, about 3,500 methamphetamine pills as well as small amounts of cocaine and heroin in the search. A 23-year-old man also was arrested.
During the raid, police also found narcotic manufacturing equipment, including a pill press, and four firearms — one of which was modified with a fully automatic switch intact, they said.
Officials said detectives are finalizing their report and will meet local and federal prosecutors to determine what charges the suspect will face and in which jurisdiction. A decision could come early next week, they said.
"The DEA has said that one kilogram of fentanyl can kill up to 500,000 people," Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer said in a statement. "This suspect is a convicted felon who was in possession of two kilograms of fentanyland illegal firearms. Thanks to the efforts of (our investigators), a large amount of deadly fentanyl and illegal weapons are off the streets."
cramirez@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @CharlesERamirez | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/macomb-county/2023/07/14/warren-police-seize-2-kilos-of-fentanyl-3500-meth-pills-in-roseville-raid/70413496007/ | 2023-07-14T17:51:30 | 0 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/macomb-county/2023/07/14/warren-police-seize-2-kilos-of-fentanyl-3500-meth-pills-in-roseville-raid/70413496007/ |
Cyclist, 50, with serious injuries after crash in Casco Township
A 50-year-old cyclist was seriously injured Thursday in St. Clair County after colliding with Chevrolet Equinox.
A preliminary investigation and witnesses say the collision happened just after 6 p.m. when both the unidentified cyclist and driver of a 2015 Chevrolet Equinox were traveling northbound near County Line Road and the Interstate 94 overpass in Casco Township.
The cyclist allegedly crossed over into the northbound lane and collided with the Chevrolet Equinox, police said in a news release.
The cyclist, according to police, was transported to McLaren Macomb Hospital with serious injuries. The driver of the Chevrolet Equinox, a 43-year-old Casco Township woman, was not injured.
Further details were not released.
Deputies were assisted by Michigan State Police, Richmond Lenox EMS and the Ira Fire Department.
The crash remains under investigation, police said.
jaimery@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @wordsbyjakkar | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2023/07/14/cyclist-50-with-serious-injuries-after-crash-in-casco-township/70413680007/ | 2023-07-14T17:51:36 | 0 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2023/07/14/cyclist-50-with-serious-injuries-after-crash-in-casco-township/70413680007/ |
Employee who set teen on fire at Riverview party store sentenced
Before the man who lit him on fire last year was sentenced, the now-18-year-old Riverview man told the court he prayed no one, including his attacker, had to experience the pain he went through in the past 13 months.
Mazin Shaya, an employee at Victor’s Market in Riverview, lit the teen on fire when he came into the party store during his lunch break at Riverview Community High School in June 2022. Police said witnesses indicated the boy's backpack was leaking and soaked in lighter fluid and Shaya wanted to see if the fluid was flammable. He held the lighter near the teen and lit it, igniting his shirt.
"I remember few things of the incident," the teen said Friday during Shaya's sentencing hearing. "Mazin said the burn only looked like a sunburn. ... It was as if I was in front of evil itself."
Shaya was sentenced to two years of probation, the first 63 days of which will be served in the Wayne County Jail. He has to partake in cognitive behavioral therapy and do 80 hours of community service. He pleaded guilty to being a disorderly person, a deal that was made so the teen and his family could receive more money in a civil case to pay for the teen's medical bills, which has already been settled.
"The final charges certainly are not proportional with the actions in the case," Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Joshua Holman said during the sentencing hearing, "It is a bit tragic ..., but it is the best course of action for (the teen) and his future."
Holman said the family was in a unique position where the lower the criminal penalty was, the more civil damages they would be able to receive in the civil lawsuit.
Shaya originally was charged with attempted murder and assault with the intent to cause great bodily harm.
"I’m sorry to the family, I'm sorry to the court, I'm sorry about this incident that happened, it was no more than an accident," Shaya said before he was sentenced.
Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Margaret Van Houten said she was limited in what she could do because of the sentencing agreement, which prosecutors said was in the teen's best interest. Van Houten indicated it was a horrible case and nothing that happened in court Friday would take away the pain and suffering the teen went through.
"I hope that you and your family can find some peace and start to move on and try to put this horrible horrible set of events behind you," Van Houten said. "I hope that (the teen) heals as best he can and hopefully at some point the pain will subside."
Teen, family five victim impact statements
His mother talked about how her son is an amazing child who is thoughtful, generous and kind.
"I will not forget the statement he made the third day in the hospital," his mother said. "'I'm glad it happened to me and not my friends because I would never want them to feel the pain I am in now.'"
She said she has seen no sympathy or regard for her family come from Shaya. She said Shaya, nor anyone else in the store, called for help for her son. The teen called his dad in a panic, and when Shaya got on the phone, his attitude was lighthearted and happy-go-lucky, the teen's father said, something he will never forget.
"Knowing that a child is cloaked with lighter fluid, why in God's name would you light it?" his father asked. "This is not an accident, normal human beings do not commit these atrocities."
When the teen's mother arrived to pick her son up, his body was leaking fluids excessively and his skin was falling off in her truck, she said.
"It was a trauma I wish on no one, even the worst of human beings," she said. "I was literally living a nightmare … watching my child go through some of the most horrific, traumatic pain a person can go through."
The teen said he wonders to this day what would cause someone to do what Shaya did to him. He said everything he loved — sports, being outdoors, enjoying his senior year of high school — was stripped away when Shaya activated that lighter. He'll have PTSD, anxiety and pain for the rest of his life, the teen said.
The teen is still receiving treatments and may need more skin grafts done in the future, his mother said.
kberg@detroitnews.com | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2023/07/14/employee-who-set-teen-on-fire-at-riverview-party-store-sentenced/70413490007/ | 2023-07-14T17:51:42 | 0 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2023/07/14/employee-who-set-teen-on-fire-at-riverview-party-store-sentenced/70413490007/ |
12 people in Maricopa County have died due to heat-related causes. Half are unhoused
There have been 12 confirmed deaths associated with heat in Maricopa County this year so far, according to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.
According to a weekly report published by the department on Tuesday, out of the 12 deaths, nine were directly caused by heat and three had contributing heat-related illnesses or symptoms. About 55 more deaths were also believed to be associated with heat, but were still being investigated by Maricopa County Office of Medical Examiner.
This year's numbers are smaller than last year's. By July 11, 2022, there had been 17 confirmed deaths and 126 were under investigation.
This year's first heat-associated death was on April 11, which came nearly a month later, compared to 2022's first registered death on March 13.
Data in the report showed that about half of this year's confirmed heat deaths were homeless people. In terms of age, about a third were people 75 or older.
The report also showed that hospital visits due to heat-related illnesses have increased as temperatures around the county approached 110 degrees in the beginning of July.
Last year:Unsheltered and unhoused in the heat: 'The urgency now is greater than it’s ever been'
Heat wave not ending any time soon
According to experts, the current heat wave is one of the most prolonged and intense ones the state has ever seen.
Phoenix hasn’t seen a day where high temperatures didn’t reach triple digits since June 13, and there are no signs that the heat will let up soon.
The Phoenix area broke the record for the most days under an excessive heat warning, which started on July 1 and will be in place through July 17. The number of days of the current warning nearly doubles Phoenix's past record, which was eight days.
The National Weather Service warns that it could get worse, with high temperatures of 110 degrees or more forecasted well into next week. Computer models that project the weather 16 days into the future "do not show an end to this heat wave," the weather service wrote in a discussion. "This should go down as one of the longest, if not the longest-duration heat wave."
Meteorologists have warned people the heat will reach "very dangerous" levels, and have advised residents planning on doing activities outdoors to stay hydrated and try to find shade.
Phoenix will likely break or tie more records by this weekend, including the largest stretch of consecutive days with temperatures of 110 degrees or above, and the highest temperatures predicted for this weekend's dates.
Temperatures into next week could get even hotter, with major to extreme heat risk expected for most of Arizona, according to the weather service.
Maricopa County offers cooling and hydration stations that are open to the public throughout the heat season. A map to find cooling stations can be found at https://hrn.azmag.gov/#/map.
When is the hottest time of the day?The answer is not so simple
Hot weather tips
More tips to prevent heat-related illness, provided by The Arizona Department of Health Service, include:
- Drink water: It is recommended to drink at least 2 liters of water per day if people are staying inside all day. Those who spend time outdoors should drink 1 to 2 liters per hour they are outside.
- Dress for the heat: Wear light-weight and light-colored clothing. Sunscreen should always be applied to exposed skin and it is recommended to wear a hat or use an umbrella when outdoors.
- Eat small meals and eat more often: Officials recommend avoiding foods high in protein that increase metabolic heat.
- Monitor those at risk: Check on friends, family or others for signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
- Slow down and avoid strenuous activity: It is recommended to only do strenuous activity during the coolest hours of the day, between 4 and 7 a.m.
- Stay indoors.
- Take breaks when engaged in physical activity: Take a break in a cool place when doing activity outside on a hot day. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-weather/2023/07/14/heath-deaths-in-maricopa-county-for-2022-reach-12/70407132007/ | 2023-07-14T17:54:54 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-weather/2023/07/14/heath-deaths-in-maricopa-county-for-2022-reach-12/70407132007/ |
What Phoenix-area freeways are closed this weekend? Numerous ramp closures on Interstate 10
The Arizona Department of Transportation released their list of upcoming improvement projects set to close and restrict some Phoenix-area highways this weekend.
Notable closures will be seen along stretches of US 60, Loop 202 and Interstate 17. A slew of ramp closures along Interstate 10 and State Route 143 will also be in place beginning Friday at 10 p.m. as part of the ongoing I-10 Broadway Curve Improvement Project.
ADOT advised drivers to allow for extra time and plan alternate routes. Drivers should be prepared to slow down and merge safely when venturing through work zones.
Travel and roadway conditions can be checked at az511.gov.
Eastbound US 60 closed between Interstate 10 and Loop 101
Details: Eastbound US 60 will be closed between I-10 and Loop 101 (Price Freeway) for a pavement improvement project.
The I-10 ramps to eastbound US 60 will be closed.
When: 9 p.m. Friday, July 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, July 17
Alternate Routes: Eastbound Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway) to southbound Loop 101 (Price Freeway) in Tempe.
Eastbound Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) to northbound Loop 101 to reach US 60 past the closure. Eastbound Baseline or Broadway roads can also be used to head beyond the closure.
Westbound Loop 202 closed between Loop 101 and Van Buren/52nd streets in Phoenix
Details: Westbound Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway) will be closed between Loop 101 (Price Freeway) and Van Buren/52nd streets in Phoenix for a pavement improvement project.
Both of the Loop 101 ramps to westbound Loop 202 will be closed, as well as the northbound Loop 101 ramp to eastbound Loop 202.
When: 9 p.m. Friday, July 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, July 17
Alternate Routes: Southbound Loop 101 to westbound US 60 and westbound I-10 to travel past the closure on Loop 202.
ADOT Note: The westbound I-10 ramp to northbound SR 143 will be closed for the weekend. East Valley drivers that usually take westbound Loop 202 to reach Sky Harbor International Airport are advised to allow extra time for travel. Westbound McDowell Road to southbound 44th Street can be used as a good local route.
Northbound Interstate 17 closed between Union Hills Drive and Pinnacle Peak Road
Details: Northbound I-17 will be closed between Union Hills Drive and Pinnacle Peak Road for a pavement improvement project.
The northbound I-17 on-ramps at Thunderbird, Greenway and Bell roads will be closed.
When: 9 p.m. Friday, July 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, July 17
Alternate Routes: Northbound I-17 drivers can exit ahead of the closure and take northbound 19th Avenue to travel beyond it.
Loop 101 drivers can exit before I-17 and utilize local routes to bypass the closure.
I-10 Broadway Curve Improvement Project closing multiple ramps
Details: As crews continue their work on the I-10 Broadway Curve Improvement Project, these ramps will be closed or restricted for the weekend:
- Westbound I-10 ramp to northbound SR 143 (Hohokam Expressway)
- Southbound SR 143 ramp to westbound I-10
- Westbound I-10 on-ramp at Broadway Road
- Southbound SR 143 on-ramp at University Drive
- Southbound SR 143 narrowed to one lane at I-10
- Northbound 40th Street closed between Broadway Road and Raymond Street
When: 10 p.m. Friday, July 14 to 4 a.m. Monday, July 17
Alternate Routes: Westbound University Drive to southbound 32nd Street can be used to reach westbound I-10.
Westbound I-10 drivers can get to Sky Harbor Airport by using its west entrance from 24th Street and Buckeye Road. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-traffic/2023/07/14/phoenix-area-freeways-closed-this-weekend-july-14/70411858007/ | 2023-07-14T17:55:00 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-traffic/2023/07/14/phoenix-area-freeways-closed-this-weekend-july-14/70411858007/ |
A man is charged with prowling after police on the Main Line said he was caught peering into windows. Investigators said this isn't his first prowling accusation and they fear there could be more victims.
Radnor Township, Pennsylvania, police announced the arrest of Daniel Razionale on their social media channels on Friday morning.
Police said they were called to the 400 block of Morris Road on July 5 after a resident at an apartment complex called to say that a "suspicious person" was peering into the windows of ground-floor units. The caller said he first saw the person looking into windows around 8 p.m. and called around 11 p.m. when he saw the person peering into his apartment, investigators said.
Officers who arrived on the scene saw a person matching the description of the alleged prowler trying to exit the apartment complex, police said. Police said Razionale matched the description of the suspect.
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Police said that Razionale -- a 34-year-old Ardmore resident -- has a history of similar accusations.
"Mr. Razionale was previously arrested by RPD in 2020 for similar incidents at a Bryn Mawr apartment building," Radnor Township police said.
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Court records show Razionale reached a plea deal on that 2020 prowling at night charge and was sentenced to one year probation.
Razionale was arrested at his home Wednesday, July 12. He was arraigned on a loitering and prowling at night charge and held on 10,000 bail, according to court records.
NBC10 has left a message for the attorney listed as representing Razionale.
Police asked for the public to reach out since there could be other victims.
"Based on this continued behavior, Radnor Police feel there may be additional victims," police wrote. "If you believe you recognize Mr. Razionale, please contact RPD Detectives at 610-688-5603."
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/radnor-prowler-arrest-main-line/3604283/ | 2023-07-14T17:55:40 | 1 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/radnor-prowler-arrest-main-line/3604283/ |
Check out the newest water ice flavor, it's just peachy for the summer.
Available for a limited time only, water ice favorite Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard is offering a delicious Peach Ring flavor complete with Peach Ring Gummy candy toppings.
"Perfect for summer, Peach Ring is both sweet and tart, and is a nostalgic taste of childhood for millennials who grew up with flavorful, gummy peach ring candy," Mark Jenkins, vice president of marketing at Rita’s, said in a statement. "With this second new ice flavor introduced this year, Rita’s remains focused on delivering new, memorable flavors and unique, crave-worthy treats that create excitement at Rita’s shops, build buzz and drive value for Rita’s loyal guests and app users.”
Rita's confirmed in a tweet that customers can enjoy the peachy-candy-inspired flavor as a signature water ice treat, a gelati or a frozen drink.
Get Philly local news, weather forecasts, sports and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia newsletters.
There are nearly 400 Rita's Water Ice locations across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. To find the nearest location click here.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/ritas-gets-peachy-with-new-water-ice-flavor/3604256/ | 2023-07-14T17:55:46 | 0 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/ritas-gets-peachy-with-new-water-ice-flavor/3604256/ |
MILLER, S.D. — A policeman for the city of Gregory who was arrested for driving under the influence and possession of a firearm while intoxicated is still on active duty, according to Chief of Police Doug Catts.
Jeremy Atkins, 38, was taken into custody on June 16 after he was arrested in Miller. He is scheduled for his initial appearance at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 8 at the Hand County Courthouse.
Catts told the Mitchell Republic this week that Atkins, who was hired in January as a Gregory police officer, is still on active duty and he has not been suspended.
A traffic ticket says the arrest occurred at 5:02 p.m. near North Broadway and Ninth Street in Miller. He was released on a personal recognizance bond by agreeing to make all court appearances, obey all laws and not be in possession of alcohol, consume illegal drugs, alcohol or enter places that serve alcohol.
A police report from the arrest has not been filed. Hand County Sheriff Shane Croeni declined to comment on the case when reached by phone Friday.
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An official with the city of Gregory said Atkins is paid $22 an hour.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Mitchell Republic does not report on all DUIs cases. However, because this incident involved a public official, elected official or other notable community member, the Mitchell Republic felt this case was necessary to report. | https://www.mitchellrepublic.com/news/local/gregory-police-officer-arrested-for-dui-possession-of-firearm-while-intoxicated | 2023-07-14T17:56:13 | 0 | https://www.mitchellrepublic.com/news/local/gregory-police-officer-arrested-for-dui-possession-of-firearm-while-intoxicated |
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — The Birmingham Parking Authority announced it’s seeking help from people who live, work or visit downtown as it looks to transform the parking experience in that area.
Though the first round of stakeholder meetings were completed for the BPA’s strategic parking plan’s planning stages, the public can still weigh in by completing surveys on the BPA’s website. There are surveys for those who work downtown, business owners and BPA permit holders. Friday is the deadline for completed responses. The BPA stated surveys should take 10 or less minutes to complete.
“We are asking the public to tell us about their parking experiences downtown – the good and the bad,” said BPA Executive Director and CEO Andre Davis in a release. “We also want any suggestions the public may have to improve the parking situation. Thousands of people park downtown every day, some in BPA parking decks and lots, and many use on-street parking spaces and private parking lots. We want their ideas.”
The BPA noted it has three goals when working through its strategic parking plan:
- Supporting economic growth through partnerships and projects that maximize the parking supply and aid businesses.
- Creating a unified parking experience that aligns off-street and on-street parking so they complement each other.
- Using technology to allow drivers to find, reserve and pay for parking using a smartphone or other electronic device.
The BPA runs seven parking decks and three surface level parking lots in downtown Birmingham and surrounding areas. The City of Birmingham oversees on-street parking, and there are almost 200 private parking lots in downtown. | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/birmingham-parking-authority-seeking-publics-opinion-on-downtown-parking-experience/ | 2023-07-14T17:56:28 | 1 | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/birmingham-parking-authority-seeking-publics-opinion-on-downtown-parking-experience/ |
CIBOLO, Texas — Amazon Prime Day is over, and now that you're waiting for those packages to be delivered, it can be a prime time for porch pirates to strike.
One area police department has something new to help.
Cibolo police partnered with Amazon so residents can now select the their police station as a delivery location. A secured locker is located at the front of their building where people can pick up their packages to make sure they're safe. The location is also under surveillance 24/7.
If you decide to have a package sent to your home, police offered these tips:
-Utilize a video doorbell
-Deliver the package to a neighbor when you're not home
-Deliver the package to a place of work where people are
While police say property crimes are low at the moment, they are still urging residents to also get on what they call a '9 p.m. Routine'. This means turning on porch lights, locking doors, securing windows and taking out valuables from the car.
Learn more about KENS 5:
Since going on the air in 1950, KENS 5 has strived to be the best, most trusted news and entertainment source for generations of San Antonians.
KENS 5 has brought numerous firsts to South Texas television, including being the first local station with a helicopter, the first with its own Doppler radar and the first to air a local morning news program.
Over the years, KENS 5 has worked to transform local news. Our cameras have been the lens bringing history into local viewers' homes. We're proud of our legacy as we serve San Antonians today.
Today, KENS 5 continues to set the standard in local broadcasting and is recognized by its peers for excellence and innovation. The KENS 5 News team focuses on stories that really matter to our community.
You can find KENS 5 in more places than ever before, including KENS5.com, the KENS 5 app, the KENS 5 YouTube channel, KENS 5's Roku and Fire TV apps, and across social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more!
Want to get in touch with someone at KENS 5? You can send a message using our Contacts page or email one of our team members. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/cibolo-pd-installs-amazon-locker-to-safeguard-prime-day-packages-south-texas/273-a66fca22-549e-40e0-b466-d45b4eea0aac | 2023-07-14T18:13:23 | 0 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/cibolo-pd-installs-amazon-locker-to-safeguard-prime-day-packages-south-texas/273-a66fca22-549e-40e0-b466-d45b4eea0aac |
The Corpus Christi Marina will undergo a $20 million make over beginning right after Labor Day, which involve the renovation of piers and docks.
Corpus City Manager Peter Zanoni told 3NEWS about the specifics of the marina project when the $20 million project commences.
"We will replace about 200 slips here," he said. "In total, there’s about 600 here in total, so about a third will be replaced with a very modern pier and dock system. In fact, it’s the best in the market, it’s a floating concrete composite system it’s top-of-the-line."
Zanoni said the $20 million will be sourced from the Seawall Sales Tax Initiative fund. He said the the planned work will help maintain the marina as the gateway to downtown. It will also facilitate the connection between both areas and the upcoming construction between of the hotel and convention center at the American Bank Center.
"From McGee Beach all the way to the American Bank Center, this is a beautiful part of our city. We are excited about the investment. We are excited about the mayor and the council's willingness to invest in it," he said.
City of Corpus Christi Assistant Manager Heather Hurlbert said that despite recent storm damage, the marina is financially stable.
"We are putting a lot of investment, over $20 million worth of investment into the marina. Part of that is caused by the damage that was done during Hanna," she said.
Corpus Christi Marina Manager Jonathan Atwood said he is also grateful to see the renovation begin in September.
"A shiny new dock; it’s like anything else you get: a new car, a new house and it looks better. You feel good about it and people want to come and enjoy it," he said.
The renovation project is expected to take a few years to complete. Once it’s done, it promises to turn the marina into an even bigger attraction for both boaters and tourists alike.
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Email tell3@kiiitv.com so we can get in touch with you about your story should we have questions or need more information. We realize some stories are sensitive in nature. Let us know if you'd like to remain anonymous. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/corpus-christi-marina-set-for-20m-renovation-to-enhance-boating/503-0c6ee536-03a4-4d04-981a-452fa3d9416d | 2023-07-14T18:13:26 | 0 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/corpus-christi-marina-set-for-20m-renovation-to-enhance-boating/503-0c6ee536-03a4-4d04-981a-452fa3d9416d |
SAN ANTONIO — The superhero suit of Blue Beetle will be on display at a movie house right here in San Antonio.
The authentic Blue Beetle Scarab suit worn by actor Xolo Mariduena during filming of the movie will be displayed at Santikos Casa Blanca until July 31.
The character is DC's first Latino superhero for the franchise. The story follows Jaime Reyes as he gains his superpowers from an ancient alien relic. Along with his powers, he gets an incredible blue suit of armor.
Take a look at some real-life and in-story facts about the original costume now on display at Casa Blanca:
Real Life Suit Facts:
- The costume Designer is Mayes C. Rubeo.
- The suit was in development for nine months.
- There were over 500 designs created before they locked in the final design.
- The suit came together via a fantastic collaboration with Ironhead Studios in Los Angeles, CA.
- Every piece of the Blue Beetle suit is custom—the concept, digital designs, 3D printing, the fabrics, and physical armor pieces—everything had to be created and all built for an exact fit that allowed star Xolo Maridueña to bring the character Blue Beetle to life.
- The fabric was designed to evoke an alien-derived pattern, with every element meticulously crafted to reflect the out-of-this-world nature of the Scarab's alien biotechnology.
In-Story Suit Facts:
- The suit is made from alien biotechnology and is both armor and, in some ways, skin.
- The suit is derived from the Scarab, a sentient being named Khaji-da who symbiotically fuses with its host—in this case, Jaime Reyes.
- The suit is designed to protect its host, although it can behave unpredictably, too.
- The suit can create any form of weapon the host can imagine. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/costume-of-dcs-first-latino-superhero-on-display-at-santikos-casa-blanca-san-antonio-texas-movies/273-22d4f89d-a67a-483b-9b8f-9a1476a5799e | 2023-07-14T18:13:29 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/costume-of-dcs-first-latino-superhero-on-display-at-santikos-casa-blanca-san-antonio-texas-movies/273-22d4f89d-a67a-483b-9b8f-9a1476a5799e |
SAN ANTONIO — This week marks five years since the shooting death of an east side woman.
Grace Seward was just 24-years-old when someone fired at her and a friend outside of their home on Gorman Street. Seward died while her friend Danish Walker survived what police called an 'ambush attack'.
The parents of both victims, and police still don't know who shot at their daughters the night of July 15, 2018. As the families wait for answers, they are honoring Seward's memory by helping others.
Their organization The Grace Seward Foundation give back to causes she cared about: the city's youth.
Tonight, the organization is hosting its annual fundraiser in Cibolo at 6. The event raises money for The Victims of Crime Compensation Fund. It's the same fund Seward's family benefitted from after her death. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/five-years-after-her-shooting-death-the-family-of-an-east-side-woman-give-back-in-her-memory/273-60165cd8-31e9-46d8-9547-71c3f81cce62 | 2023-07-14T18:13:44 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/five-years-after-her-shooting-death-the-family-of-an-east-side-woman-give-back-in-her-memory/273-60165cd8-31e9-46d8-9547-71c3f81cce62 |
SAN ANTONIO — The singer of a South Texas Tejano band will be in court Friday on sexual assault of a child charges.
Jesse Farias, lead singer with La Tropa F Tejano band, was arrested back in 2021. Court records show the crime happened in February of 2021, and Farias was not arrested until October. His bond at the time was set at $440,000, which was made the same day.
The jury was selected Thursday in his trial in the 379th District Court. Opening statements are expected to start at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
This is a developing story and further details will be provided as they are received.
Learn more about KENS 5:
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Over the years, KENS 5 has worked to transform local news. Our cameras have been the lens bringing history into local viewers' homes. We're proud of our legacy as we serve San Antonians today.
Today, KENS 5 continues to set the standard in local broadcasting and is recognized by its peers for excellence and innovation. The KENS 5 News team focuses on stories that really matter to our community.
You can find KENS 5 in more places than ever before, including KENS5.com, the KENS 5 app, the KENS 5 YouTube channel, KENS 5's Roku and Fire TV apps, and across social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more!
Want to get in touch with someone at KENS 5? You can send a message using our Contacts page or email one of our team members. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/tejano-singer-accused-of-sexual-assault-of-a-child-in-court-friday-san-antonio-texas/273-bc766f3b-7871-4aac-a0fe-5e8eed4c16bd | 2023-07-14T18:13:46 | 0 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/tejano-singer-accused-of-sexual-assault-of-a-child-in-court-friday-san-antonio-texas/273-bc766f3b-7871-4aac-a0fe-5e8eed4c16bd |
The above video is a previous segment on the Dallas Zoo.
DALLAS (KDAF) — A new addition to the Dallas Zoo can be deemed a miracle after continued efforts were made to save such an iconic species that’s on the brink of extinction.
The Dallas Zoo announced Monday the first-ever successful hatching of a whopping crane chick at the zoo. “With decades of conservation efforts, whooping cranes, which were once on the brink of extinction, are now on the path to recovery, and we are proud to join the effort to save this iconic species from the threat of extinction,” the Dallas Zoo tweeted.
With decades of conservation efforts, whooping cranes, which were once on the brink of extinction, are now on the path to recovery, and we are proud to join the effort to save this iconic species from the threat of extinction. Stay tuned for updates on this little one's journey!
— Dallas Zoo (@DallasZoo) July 10, 2023
After four months of age, the cinnamon-brown color chick will soon start to develop the whooping crane’s signature white coat. A name for the chick is unknown at this time.
In order to protect the endangered species, the Dallas Zoo keeps the cranes at a five-acre off-site breeding facility, located in Mesquite, TX. To get updates on our new friend’s journey, stay updated on its process via the Dallas Zoo’s official Twitter. | https://cw33.com/news/local/dallas-zoo-celebrates-miracle-birth-of-endangered-whooping-crane/ | 2023-07-14T18:14:16 | 0 | https://cw33.com/news/local/dallas-zoo-celebrates-miracle-birth-of-endangered-whooping-crane/ |
PHOENIX — A river guide has recently pleaded guilty to leading an unpermitted trip at Grand Canyon National Park, resulting in a $2,500 fine and two years of probation.
Samuel Edwards plead guilty to misdemeanor charges related to an illegal backcountry packrafting trip, according to the National Park Service.
It was the second time he's been convicted of leading an illegal trip at the Grand Canyon, officials said.
The defendant will be banned from visiting all national parks and monuments while he's on probation.
It can be quite dangerous for unpermitted guides to lead trips in the canyon since the park rangers have no knowledge of their whereabouts in case there is an emergency, NPS said.
More than 10 fatalities occurred at the Grand Canyon last year, making it all the more important for visitors to be led by permitted guides.
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>> Live, local, breaking. Download the 12News app | https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/arizona/river-guide-pleads-guilty-leading-unauthorized-trip-grand-canyon-arizona/75-ec34dd89-b67b-469a-a3fc-87002925919c | 2023-07-14T18:15:24 | 1 | https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/arizona/river-guide-pleads-guilty-leading-unauthorized-trip-grand-canyon-arizona/75-ec34dd89-b67b-469a-a3fc-87002925919c |
Du Pont's 'greatest gift' to Delaware also paved way for timely hooch deliveries
“Tomorrow morning, with no more ceremony than the post of a notice,” the Wilmington Sunday Morning Star announced on Nov. 18, 1923, “one of the most important public works ever undertaken in the State of Delaware will have reached its practical conclusion.
"The last concrete has been poured on the Du Pont Boulevard … With this simple announcement, one of the greatest gifts ever made by an individual to the people of his state will became an actual fact, and the work of over twelve years of tireless effort ended.”
The newspaper went on to explain, “By means of this wonderful highway, Delaware farmers are enabled to get their crops out to the best markets; over it travels much of the business of the State; it has more closely knit the bonds that unite the citizens of the state; and pleasure seekers have found this fine stretch of highway one of the best in the East.”
Many of the roads of rural Delaware originated as narrow forest paths that the Native Americans established long before the first European colonists arrived. The trails were widened into roads, but in wet weather, Delaware’s unpaved “highways” became muddy quagmires that made land travel nearly impossible.
When the first horseless carriages appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, the poor condition of Delaware’s roads made driving long distances an intimidating challenge.
By 1911, cars were becoming commonplace, when T. Coleman du Pont announced an extraordinary plan to build a divided, paved highway from one end of Delaware to the other; and to present it as his gift to the state. Over a decade later, in 1923, the highway was completed, and it was used by vehicles carrying cargo that no one foresaw.
A week before Christmas in 1925, six empty trucks started from Philadelphia; and when they reached the southern edge of Wilmington, they began to drive on the northern leg of the Du Pont Boulevard (Route 13). Just south of Dover, Route 13 intersected with Route 113, which formed the southern leg of the Du Pont Boulevard.
Using the new highway, the empty trucks crossed into Maryland at near Selbyville, and from there they headed for the beach at Ocean City, where they would pick up their clandestine cargo.
In 1925, Prohibition banning the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages, was in full force; but bootleggers continued to land illegal booze on deserted Delmarva beaches. December was the height of the offseason, and there were few people in Ocean City to interfere with the delivery of the illegal hootch.
A small fleet of 20 fast motor boats had successfully unloaded a horde of bootleg liquor on the Maryland sand. Both the rumrunners and the enforcement agents had their sources within the other’s operations. A snitch alerted government officials that a big delivery of booze was going to be made on the Ocean City beach, and 22 agents were dispatched from Washington, D. C. to intercept the illegal alcohol.
At that time, crossing the Chesapeake Bay required a lengthy ride on a ferry, and reaching Ocean City from Washington took a half day or more. On the other hand, an informer in cahoots with the bootleggers could make a simple phone call to Salisbury that would enable a messenger to reach the rumrunners in Ocean City in plenty of time.
Knowing that the agents were on their way, the bootleggers quickly loaded their trucks with the illegal cargo valued at $200,000 and headed out of town. The bootleggers believed that the government agents might pursue them on the Du Pont Boulevard, so they swung westward and used back roads to reach Philadelphia, where the hooch, perhaps “the greatest gift”, was delivered in time for the Christmas holidays.
Principal sources
Sunday Morning Star, Nov. 18, 1923.
State Register, Dec. 18, 1925.
SAVING MARINE LIFE:How this Lewes nonprofit has spearheaded marine animal conservation in Delaware | https://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/delaware/2023/07/14/how-du-ponts-greatest-gift-also-helped-delawares-rumrunners/70397924007/ | 2023-07-14T18:15:45 | 0 | https://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/delaware/2023/07/14/how-du-ponts-greatest-gift-also-helped-delawares-rumrunners/70397924007/ |
Ocean City police use of force questioned as video apparently shows suspect being punched
When Ocean City Police officers approached 34-year-old Denzel Elam-Ruff on Thursday, July 6, for vaping on the Boardwalk, what followed was an incident that was filmed for evidence of possible police brutality.
When police ordered Ruff to stop as vaping is banned, he continued to use his device, at which time a number of officers detained him, the incident escalated, and they brought him to the ground. In a video taken of the incident and posted to YouTube by a Ruff family member, one of the officers is seen striking Ruff once officers were on top of him.
Following the incident, Ruff was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting/interfering with an arrest, second degree assault and failure to provide proof of identification, which are all misdemeanors.
More on other sentencingWorcester man sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2022 West Ocean City murder
"Our officers are permitted to use force, per their training, to overcome exhibited resistance. All uses of force go through a detailed review process. In this instance, the use of force will go through a multi-level examination by the Assistant Patrol Commander, the Division Commander and then by the Office of Professional Standards. This is an active investigation," the Ocean City Police Department stated in a statement on the incident.
Past incidents with police on Ocean City Boardwalk
The Washington, D.C. native was not the first individual to be detained by such means by Ocean City police.
In 2021, two black teenagers were detained for vaping, leading to a violent arrest. A lawsuit was threatened over the use of such force, but was never filed.
MORE ON PAST INCIDENTS:Ocean City Boardwalk viral video arrests: What happened next
"We want to make sure everyone gets fair treatment, and we need to know what triggered (officers) to handle it in this way," said the Rev. James Jones, convener for the Caucus of African American Leaders on the Eastern Shore. "We feel this didn't constitute the roughness police used with this gentleman. Our goal is to reach out to the Ocean City mayor, City Council and police department to explain cause for this situation."
Jones added that vaping ban violations are misdemeanor offenses and noted they are requesting data tracking how many minority and nonminority individuals are stopped by police.
"We only see this type of treatment happening to people of color and enough is enough," Jones said.
More on the new SPD ChiefMeet Salisbury's acting police chief, a Parkside graduate and Air Force veteran | https://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/maryland/2023/07/14/ocean-city-police-filmed-in-questionable-use-of-force-in-vaping-arrest/70410910007/ | 2023-07-14T18:15:51 | 0 | https://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/maryland/2023/07/14/ocean-city-police-filmed-in-questionable-use-of-force-in-vaping-arrest/70410910007/ |
EUREKA — A 3-year-old Washington girl drowned in a Eureka pond this week, according to a news release from the Peoria County Coroner's Office.
Eureka-Goodfield Fire and Emergency Medical Services were called just before 5 p.m. Tuesday to 1905 Eastview Circle in Eureka for reports of a 3-year-old who had drowned in a pond and was unresponsive, not breathing and had no pulse, according to the news release.
The child, Essence Toft, of Washington, was transported to OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria and was pronounced brain dead at 10:35 p.m. Thursday, the coroner's office said.
According to the news release, an autopsy will ensue following organ donations.
It is unknown at this time how long the child was in the water before she was discovered. No foul play is suspected.
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been organized by family friend Shari Evans for parents Alyssa Berry and Tyler Toft to help pay for medical bills, the funeral and other expenses.
The family is working with Gift of Hope, a nonprofit organization that coordinates organ and tissue donation and other services for families of donors in most of Illinois and northwest Indiana. | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/3-year-old-washington-girl-drowns-in-eureka-pond/article_559bc5da-2257-11ee-982a-d3e37f252c2d.html | 2023-07-14T18:22:13 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/3-year-old-washington-girl-drowns-in-eureka-pond/article_559bc5da-2257-11ee-982a-d3e37f252c2d.html |
ATLANTA — Community leaders are speaking out– saying they are fed up with violent crime and asking Atlanta's City Council to push through an ordinance to require security cameras at gas stations.
A similar ordinance took effect two weeks ago in DeKalb County.
Some in Atlanta think the mandate could work here too. Faith leaders in Atlanta said they've already started engaging business owners to get on board.
"We are working to call forth the business sector to partner with us because we believe if we come together we can address this in the best way possible," said Pastor Darryl Winston of the Save Our City Coalition.
It's personal for Pastor Winston, he's lived in the city all of his life and has been the victim of violence at a gas station.
"I have been pumping gas at convenience stores, been robbed at gunpoint only to find out they didn't have the footage, or the light of the camera was out, or there was not enough footage there to capture the entire space," he said.
Just after midnight on Thursday, police were called out to the 1900 block of Sylvan Road SW where two people had been shot at a gas station. One of them died.
In an update, APD said Walter Favors, 43, was arrested in connection to the shooting. He faces several charges including murder, according to Atlanta Police.
"It appears that the victim was involved in an escalating dispute with another involved party. While we were on scene we discovered another victim who'd been shot and is now being treated at Grady Hospital," APD Homicide Commander Germaine Dearlove said.
It's unclear if the gas station– where the city's latest deadly shooting happened had any working security cameras.
But a proposed ordinance, being considered by the council, would make it mandatory to have cameras installed at gas stations. Those businesses would also be required to turn over surveillance video to police.
The full council is expected to vote on the proposed ordinance in August.
In DeKalb County, officials have started auditing businesses to find out if they are complying with the new rules. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/atlanta-city-council-considers-security-cameras-gas-stations/85-b942d793-3838-40e0-b908-aef9e7b6b0c0 | 2023-07-14T18:23:51 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/atlanta-city-council-considers-security-cameras-gas-stations/85-b942d793-3838-40e0-b908-aef9e7b6b0c0 |
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Update: Clayton County Water Authority lifted the precautionary boil water advisory for its customers just after midnight on Thursday.
Officials said after testing the water, samples came back negative for any harmful bacteria and the water is safe for residents to drink.
Original story:
Clayton County Water Authority (CCWA) issued a precautionary boil water advisory for parts of the county Tuesday night.
The advisory comes after customers experienced low pressure or no water Tuesday afternoon after a Georgia Power contractor hit a 24-inch water main while drilling, a release from CCWA stated.
Officials said the incident happened along the 1100 block of Morrow Road in Forest Park.
Impacted cities
Due to a main water line being hit, officials said residents in the following cities are affected:
- Forest Park
- Ellenwood
- College Park
- Morrow
- Lake City
Officials estimate the boil water advisory will be in effect until Wednesday night-- for at least the next 24 hours. It's estimated to end by 11:45 p.m.,
"Any customers in these areas who experienced low pressure, or no water for a short time should boil water before consuming it as a boil water advisory has been issued as a precaution," CCWA said.
CCWA added its water quality lab staff are in the process of collecting water samples for testing. Once they are able to finish the testing and determine the water to be safe to consume, the advisory will be lifted, officials said.
Those in other areas of the county, who are not affected by the advisory, do not need to boil their water, the release stated.
Boil water advisory tips
The CCWA said customers should use boiled water that has cooled or bottled water for:
- Drinking
- Brushing teeth
- Washing fruits and vegetables
- Preparing food and baby formula
- Making ice
- Giving to pets
Customers should:
- Fill a pot with water.
- Heat the water until bubbles come quickly from the bottom of the pot to the top.
- Keep heating the water for one more minute.
- Turn off the heat source and let the water cool.
- Pour water into a clean, sanitized container with a cover for storage.
Anyone still experiencing water issues should call CCWA at (770) 960-5200 or you can message @ClaytonCountyWater via Facebook. CCWA added the Georgia Environmental Protection Agency has also been notified. You can also find the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidance on boil water advisories online here.
News happens fast. Download our 11Alive News app for all the latest breaking updates, and sign up for our Speed Feed newsletter to get a rundown of the latest headlines across north Georgia. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/boil-water-advisory-issued-parts-of-clayton-county/85-e600f0c4-0805-4b64-831f-bef31a84b4fb | 2023-07-14T18:23:57 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/boil-water-advisory-issued-parts-of-clayton-county/85-e600f0c4-0805-4b64-831f-bef31a84b4fb |
COBB COUNTY, Ga. — The Cobb County synagogue where Nazi protesters gathered outside in June is responding to recent acts of antisemitism.
They’re doing this by handing out free mezuzahs, which serve as an important symbol for the Jewish community.
Rabbi Ephraim Silverman, whose grandmother survived the holocaust, said that protest was meant to divide the community, but instead, has done the opposite.
"These are letters that we received, cards, from hundreds of individuals out there," he said while showing a basket full of envelopes. "This has made us feel more loved and more respected and part of the community than anything else."
The support continues to flood in. On Wednesday night, his synagogue received a donation of 100 mezuzahs to hand out to his congregation and put on their doors for free. In less than 24 hours, more than 30 have been distributed.
"It brings protection. It brings blessing," he explained. "We’re thankful to the Hercenberg family that have the Hercenberg Mitzvah Mission, which helped fund this project."
Each mezuzah, he said, cost about $100, and with 100 free ones, it amounts to a $10,000 donation.
Mitchell Kopelman already put his up, and is helping install his partners' later this week.
"She came to the U.S. in the early 90's when Russia opened up the ability for Jewish people to leave because they were not allowed to leave before that or practiced Judaism openly," Kopelman said. "So she didn't grow up with having a mezuzah on her house because she had to hide her Judaism. A lot of people in the south have had felt anti-Semitism over the years. They were afraid to have mezuzahs on their houses. To me, we're commanded to do it.”
As described by Chabad.org, the mezuzah is "a small parchment scroll upon which the Hebrew words of the Shema are handwritten by a scribe. Mezuzah scrolls are rolled up and affixed to the doorposts of Jewish homes, designating the home as Jewish and reminding those who live there of their connection to God and their heritage."
David Asarnow, who witnessed the Nazi protest and whose son is living in Israel, said it helps him feel proud of his religion, and recognize the work that still needs to be done, one doorframe at a time.
"When I first witnessed (the protest), the feeling was being upset... it was anger. Then when you realized they weren’t people from the local community, they are trying to disrupt and turn people against each other. So what’s the best response to hate? It's light," he said.
The mezuzahs, bringing pride and unity, while the anti-Semitic group tried to fight just that.
“If their intention was to make the Jewish people feel more proud and feel more engaged and feel better about their place in society and community, they have far surpassed their goal," Rabbi Silverman said. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/cobb-county-synagogue-unites-free-mezuzahs-nazi-protests/85-71121f27-662a-48e5-9e46-1857246fde4c | 2023-07-14T18:24:04 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/cobb-county-synagogue-unites-free-mezuzahs-nazi-protests/85-71121f27-662a-48e5-9e46-1857246fde4c |
ATLANTA — Dr. Christine King Farris is set to lie in state at Georgia's Capitol on Friday, with a memorial service planned in the afternoon.
On July 14, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., King Farris will rest beneath the Capitol Rotunda. This esteemed recognition marks her as the fourth Black Georgian to receive this honor, according to a statement from the King Center. A memorial service is also scheduled to take place from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m.
King Farris, the elder sister of Martin Luther King, Jr., passed away last Thursday at the age of 95.
The King and Farris families previously announced additional memorial services, which started Tuesday, July 11, ending on Sunday, July 16. Each day will focus on different aspects of King Farris' career, faith, or legacy.
Legacy of Dr. Christine King Farris, oldest sister of MLK
More about Dr. Christine King Farris
King Farris was one of the foundational influences in establishing both the King Center after her brother's assassination and what would become the Learning Resources Center at Spelman's Department of Education.
She was a Spelman educator, and director of the Learning Resources Center, for 56 years before retiring in 2014.
During the Civil Rights Movement, she participated in the landmark Selma to Montgomery March in 1965 and the March Against Fear in Mississippi the next year.
Born Sept. 11, 1927, she and younger brothers MLK and Rev. Alfred Daniel King were "three peas in a pod," according to a Spelman profile.
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/dr-christine-king-farris-lying-in-state-georgia-capitol-today/85-dfe2d302-840a-4d98-8640-a96e73f200cb | 2023-07-14T18:24:10 | 0 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/dr-christine-king-farris-lying-in-state-georgia-capitol-today/85-dfe2d302-840a-4d98-8640-a96e73f200cb |
HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — The chief deputy in the Henry County Sheriff's Office was recently pulled over for speeding, allegedly going 96 mph in a 35 mph zone.
The sheriff's office told CNN the chief deputy, Michael Yarbrough was on duty at the time, but simply did not on his lights or sirens.
The stop was made by another agency in Henry County - the police department, with the officer's bodycam video showing him slightly incredulous upon discovering who he was pulling over.
"Really?" he says during the stop, with the chief deputy sitting in the driver's seat.
CNN reports the chief deputy was suspended for 40 hours and had pay docked over the incident.
The bodycam also shows the Henry County Police Department officer making a call back to someone else in his office, saying: "Guess who I just pulled over?"
"Who?"
"Yarbrough."
"Who?"
"Yarbrough."
"Really?"
"Yeah, the chief deputy driving a ******* Dodge Charger, a souped-up Dodge Charger, belongs to the sheriff's office. I just clocked this son of a ***** at 96 in a 35."
The rest of the bodycam video shows the officer conducting the stop and issuing a citation.
According to CNN, attempts were made to reach Yarbrough directly for comment but were unsuccessful.
"Please slow down and have a nice day," the officer told Yarbrough as he concluded the traffic stop.
News happens fast. Download our 11Alive News app for all the latest breaking updates, and sign up for our Speed Feed newsletter to get a rundown of the latest headlines across north Georgia. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/henry-county-chief-deputy-traffic-stop-henry-county-police-bodycam-video/85-428ac01d-8e66-4d77-b2ca-6a5d72a7e000 | 2023-07-14T18:24:12 | 0 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/henry-county-chief-deputy-traffic-stop-henry-county-police-bodycam-video/85-428ac01d-8e66-4d77-b2ca-6a5d72a7e000 |
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia Coach Kirby Smart, according to a recent study conducted by an online betting guide, has emerged with the highest college coach buyout.
Smart's remarkable achievements with the Georgia Bulldogs have not only earned him unprecedented success on the field but also secured him a jaw-dropping contract extension last year.
With a staggering buyout clause exceeding $91 million in that contract, Smart is atop the list of college football coaching list of contract buyout stipulations.
Not that the school would have any plans to use it - Smart's coaching and leadership have propelled the Bulldogs to back-to-back championship victories, solidifying their position as one of the most dominant teams in recent memory.
In recognition of his achievements, Smart was awarded the extension last year worth an astounding $112.5 million, with a guarantee that extends through 2026.
Taking the second spot on the list is Jimbo Fisher, the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies. Fisher's recent contract extension, valued at $94.95 million over ten years, was granted during a successful season for the Aggies.
However, unlike Smart, A&M's recent struggles and losing record have raised questions about the school would ever considering swallowing the massive buyout in his deal.
Rounding out the top three is Mel Tucker of Michigan State University. Despite commanding an impressive salary, Tucker has faced difficulties in terms of on-field performance since taking charge of the program. The university would face a daunting $76 million buyout if they were to part ways with Tucker.
Only one coach in the top-10 of college sports, Kentucky's basketball coach John Calipari, appears on the list from outside the football world.
Top 10 college coaches with the largest buy-out clauses
| Rank | Coach | College | Role | Buy-Out Clause |
|------|-----------------|------------------|---------------------|-------------------|
| 1 | Kirby Smart | Georgia | Head Football Coach | $91.3 million
| 2 | Jimbo Fisher | Texas A&M | Head Football Coach | $77 million
| 3 | Mel Tucker | Michigan State | Head Football Coach | $76 million
| 4 | Brian Kelly | LSU | Head Football Coach | $68 million
| 5 | Dabo Swinney | Clemson | Head Football Coach | $64 million
| 5 | James Franklin | Penn State | Head Football Coach | $64 million
| 7 | Nick Saban | Alabama | Head Football Coach | $46 million
| 8 | Ryan Day | Ohio State | Head Football Coach | $44.5 million
| 9 | Brent Venables | Oklahoma | Head Football Coach | $36.5 million
| 10 | John Calipari | Kentucky | Head Basketball Coach | $33.3 million | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/kirby-smart-college-football-coach-buyout-claus-list/85-4ee3b1e5-2ff2-43ff-ad29-e7bf8e14a9a5 | 2023-07-14T18:24:18 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/kirby-smart-college-football-coach-buyout-claus-list/85-4ee3b1e5-2ff2-43ff-ad29-e7bf8e14a9a5 |
ATLANTA — Board directors for MARTA voted unanimously to expand the streetcar to the BeltLine's popular east trail on Thursday.
At their meeting, the board awarded an $11.5 million contract to engineer the plan.
Thursday's vote also included proposed recommendations that could improve future expansion projects. The board also agreed to meet in the future that they will continue to review the project.
Backers previously said the trail is incomplete without public transit running alongside the pedestrian walkway.
MARTA's existing streetcar line runs mostly on a loop through downtown.
The extension would take north by northeast to connect with the BeltLine at Irwin Street. From there, the streetcar would have five stops on a one and a half mile stretch along the BeltLine’s eastside trail before reaching Ponce de Leon Avenue.
"I think it finally delivers on a promise for folks who moved there ten or fifteen years ago when this was promised," said Matthew Rao, who founded BeltLine Rail Now, an advocacy group.
Some fans of the trail believe adding the streetcar could raise some concerns.
"I think it boils down to one thing and that’s space, if it becomes too congested. Because right now on a Saturday or Sunday, it’s pretty congested on the BeltLine," said Mike Worley, a regular BeltLine user who also said he's a fan of public transit and used it when he worked in Downtown Atlanta.
Officials with the BeltLine reIeased a statement after the resolution's vote:
“At the Atlanta BeltLine, we’re envisioning the end result of our work as being the creation a ‘whole community,’ where everyone can live, work, start a business, buy groceries, see a doctor, walk, ride a bike and take transit,” said Clyde Higgs, President and CEO of Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. “The vote today is an exciting continuation of our partnership with MARTA and the City of Atlanta to fulfill the promise of high-quality transit, bringing more accessibility to all, while still maintaining the natural, green experience of the BeltLine. An important piece of this work will be continuing community conversations around the Streetcar design as it progresses toward final design.”
There is no time frame to when the expansion could move forward with construction.
Do you have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at WhereAtlantaSpeaks@11Alive.com. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/marta-streetcar-beltline-east-trail-expansion/85-e7f75a2b-1874-487c-90cb-d9ca6f791e7f | 2023-07-14T18:24:32 | 0 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/marta-streetcar-beltline-east-trail-expansion/85-e7f75a2b-1874-487c-90cb-d9ca6f791e7f |
ATLANTA — The aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, is expected to give sky gazers in 17 American states a chance to see the beautiful show. Here's how many states over Georgians would have to go to see the lights.
Northern Lights are most often seen in Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia, but an 11-year solar cycle that’s expected to peak in 2024 is making the lights visible in places farther to the south. Three months ago, the light displays were visible in Arizona, marking the third severe geomagnetic storm since the current solar cycle began in 2019.
Here's how far Southerners in Georgia would have to go to see the show:
The Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks has forecast auroral activity on Thursday in Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Indiana, Maine and Maryland.
Light displays are expected to be visible overhead in Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Helena, Montana, and low on the horizon in Salem, Oregon.; Boise, Idaho; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Annapolis, Maryland; and Indianapolis, according to the institute.
This would mean Georgians would have to at least drive to Annapolis, Maryland, and Indianapolis for a chance at seeing the display.
Auroral activity also has been forecast for Canada, including Vancouver.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center said people wanting to experience an aurora should get away from city lights and that the best viewing times are between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time.
Northern Lights occur when a magnetic solar wind slams into the Earth’s magnetic field and causes atoms in the upper atmosphere to glow. The lights appear suddenly and the intensity varies.
A geomagnetic index known as Kp ranks auroral activity on a scale from zero to nine, with zero being not very active and nine being bright and active. The Geophysical Institute has forecast Kp 6 for Thursday’s storm. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/northern-lights-aurora-borealis-17-states/85-3532f42f-2fe2-45c0-a536-2d2249d1e907 | 2023-07-14T18:24:38 | 0 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/northern-lights-aurora-borealis-17-states/85-3532f42f-2fe2-45c0-a536-2d2249d1e907 |
NORFOLK, Va. — Virginia is poised to become the only state in the region to allow abortion at 26 weeks into a pregnancy.
Several Southern states have tightened their abortion restrictions within the past year, after the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022. In North Carolina, abortion is legal up to the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. In South Carolina, a judge halted a new law banning most abortions around six weeks of pregnancy, according to the Associated Press.
Rae Ann Pickett with Planned Parenthood said the organization has seen an untold amount of women entering Virginia to access their services.
"We see patients who are driving from places like Georgia and Mississippi to Virginia," Pickett said. "They're driving all night long, getting their procedure, and driving back."
Abortion providers in Virginia feel the strain
The influx of patients is putting pressure on in-state providers who have already felt the strain. Wait times to set an appointment can be longer, and the pool of qualified healthcare professionals is getting slimmer.
Pickett said they try to limit any negative impacts on those that utilize their services, but sometimes it can be unavoidable as more people flood into Virginia.
"Each state that is passing that sort of restrictive legislation acknowledges that there will be repercussions with other states in the region and they do not care," Pickett said.
With thousands of women entering the state, it has also put a strain on abortion funds set aside to help women who cannot afford to get the procedure done.
Organizers with Hampton Roads Reproductive Justice League said they have received solidarity requests for help reaching up to $26,000.
"It's so much more than just the price of the abortion now, it's everything that comes with it," Ammie Pascua said. "It's the travel fare, the hotel, the childcare, the gas."
Pascua joined Hampton Roads Reproductive Justice League after they were able to help her pay for her own abortion. She said she knows all too well how overwhelming the experience can be.
"You can just feel so alone, if there is no one there to help you, it's beyond isolating," Pascua said. "I don't want any person to feel that way."
Could Virginia lawmakers pass an abortion ban?
In Virginia, those seeking an abortion can get one up to 26 weeks into their pregnancy. A doctor can also perform an abortion in the third trimester if the life of the mother is at risk.
This could change in the future, as some Virginia legislators have indicated their support for a 15-week ban. In January, Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly blocked this ban proposed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Pickett said if an abortion ban comes to Virginia, it will only continue a ripple effect the state has seen by pushing it onto other neighboring states.
"I am concerned that folks will think 'there's no way this could happen here, and I'm really concerned that folks will wake up one day to an abortion ban that is extreme in this state," Pickett said. "It is absolutely possible."
The governor has gone on the record to state that he will sign any anti-abortion legislation that does cross his desk. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/pressure-on-virginia-abortion-providers-grows-neighboring-states-enforce-bans/291-96a362b7-1b91-48ae-b7ae-ec9892e60c2f | 2023-07-14T18:24:44 | 0 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/pressure-on-virginia-abortion-providers-grows-neighboring-states-enforce-bans/291-96a362b7-1b91-48ae-b7ae-ec9892e60c2f |
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — After years of practice and competing in local competitions, 89-year-old Willow Valley Communities resident Rachel Williams is going for the table tennis gold and the national title at the 2023 National Senior Games in Pittsburgh, proving age is just a number.
“I wanted to do something that was different,” Williams said
Williams began playing table tennis in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdowns. She purchased a ping pong ball shooting robot to help her improve her aim and coordination. She says the game was too fast-paced for her at first, however, she was determined to improve.
“Who’s telling me I can’t do it, so I changed the conversation,” Williams said.
Williams spent hours practicing and gradually learned the ins and outs of the game. She later began playing against other residents in the community.
In 2021, she competed in Lancaster County’s Senior Games and placed second. In 2022, Williams returned and placed first. These local victories qualified her to participate at the national level.
“It’s one of those things I’ve been picturing in my mind is how to play the game as graciously as I could and as well as I could,” Williams said.
Williams hopes she can bring home the gold but says she’s leaving for Pittsburgh to have fun and enjoy the comradery of the games.
“That would really be the epitome of excitement,” she told FOX43 News.
However, table tennis isn’t the only activity Williams has picked up. She enjoys tap-dancing and outdoor activities that get her moving. She adheres to an exercise schedule that has helped her maintain an active lifestyle even in her senior years.
Staff at Willow Valley hope a win could inspire other residents to take on something new.
"She would come back and be that perfect example of what ‘live your life forward’ is like at Willow Valley,” said Stacy Musser, senior director for resident life and Wellness Valley.
Williams is expected to compete at the games on Monday, July 15. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/retirement-senior-competition-athlete-table-tennis-national/521-c77a2d56-6cc0-4e39-b284-6874d5da0c76 | 2023-07-14T18:24:50 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/retirement-senior-competition-athlete-table-tennis-national/521-c77a2d56-6cc0-4e39-b284-6874d5da0c76 |
COBB COUNTY, Ga. — An alert for dog owners with missing pets -- scammers are hoping to take advantage of the love for your furry friend and cash in.
Cobb County Animal Services explained scammers are pretending to find missing pets and convincing people to pay out big money.
"It was the most believable scam I have ever heard of," Connie Davis, a resident in Cobb County said.
Davis is talking about what officials are calling the lost dog scam, when someone calls the owner of a lost pet and ask for money for the pets return.
Davis said the person explained that her dog Darla was in surgery and they would call her back when the surgery was done with more details of what they would need to do next to get the animal back. But before receiving that call, she got in her car and rushed Cobb Animal Service be reunited with her missing pet.
"The whole way I’m like so happy and then I get there... I have the paper and I was so sure, I was so sure because of the number and the name," Davis said fighting back tears. "And it wasn't her, it was a scam."
Ross Cavitt with Cobb County said Davis is not the only victim. In fact he said scammers have taken advantage of more than a dozen people already.
"You can imagine if you lose a pet and you're little bit in an emotionally fragile state, so people tend to go to social media, they put up signs along the side of the road that contains information about their lost pet and their contact information," Cavitt said. "So scammers have been using that contact information to pretend they're with Cobb County Animal Services."
Cavitt explained the scammers aren’t just using your person information, but they are also requesting money.
"The scammer says, 'The animal was sick, it requires medical attention so we need you to pay up for that before you get your pet back,'" he explained,
Cavitt said Cobb County Animal Services does not call and request payment over the phone and now they want pet owners to be on alert.
As for Davis she’s hoping someone will return Darla soon.
"She's just the sweetest," Davis said. "She deserves a really good home and to be inside."
For anyone who thinks they have seen Davis' dog Darla, you can call 813-LOST-PET to help bring her home. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/scammers-target-pet-owners-missing-animals/85-b27aef98-17fc-443c-8325-6ec14bc86c6d | 2023-07-14T18:24:56 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/scammers-target-pet-owners-missing-animals/85-b27aef98-17fc-443c-8325-6ec14bc86c6d |
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Clayton County grand jury decided not to indict jailers who were allegedly involved in an inmate's death, according to the District Attorney Tasha Mosley.
Terry Lee Thurmond died after an hour-long struggle with jailers on Nov. 28, 2022 at the Clayton County Jail. Medical examiners determined he suffered cardiac arrest during his struggle and ruled his death a homicide.
Thurmond was arrested and booked into the jail a day before his death on a criminal trespass charge at the airport.
According to the Clayton County Sheriff's Office, the jailers involved in the incident were fired. Video released earlier this year showed officers gripped Thurmond by his jumpsuit and lift him back onto the floor after inmates called them for help when he began to hang over the second floor railing.
Three officers are seen trying to subdue Thurmond, and it appears a Taser is used on him. He leaned on the railing after the supposed shock and it seems he is pushed to the ground. After forcing Thurmond to break his hold of the railing, five officers are left trying to subdue Thurmond.
At 7:19 p.m. it is recorded that the 38-year-old is face down as "most/all officers appear to be placing their knees and their body weight on Thurmond," the medical examiner's timeline reads. A minute later, medical examiners recorded that he died.
“It’s disheartening to see that we continue to have these types of issues within law enforcement, even after George Floyd," Thomas Reynolds, the attorney representing the family, previously said about the video that was released.
11Alive has requested a copy of the court records from the Clayton County Superior Clerk's Office after the grand jury decided not to indict the jailers.
More about the case
Southern Regional Hospital accounts cite the patient was brought to them because he "was trying to commit suicide by jumping off a landing," records show, adding he suffered cardiopulmonary arrest.
A Clayton County death investigation report revealed at the hospital, stun gun sites were found on his left arm and hip and Thurmond had a bruise on his left leg. Investigators also discovered he had a medical history of bipolar, paranoid schizophrenia and hypertension diagnosed at Grady Hospital and he was not taking prescribed medications. There are no jail medical records of his history with bipolar or paranoid schizophrenia diagnosis or a list of medications, meaning it may have not been disclosed or recorded at the time of Thurmond's jail booking.
Reynold's claimed this was an oversight and caused the shortfall of the jailers' response to Thurmond's actions that day.
Following his death, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked to step in.
Meanwhile, the Clayton County Sheriff's Office conducted an internal investigation which resulted in the firing of “all employees directly involved" for policy violations. Authorities clarified that the jail’s policies and procedures weren’t followed when officers were interacting with Thurmond. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/terry-lee-thurmond-death-jailers-not-indicted/85-47854c28-0ef1-4995-a604-ba032f69aea5 | 2023-07-14T18:25:02 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/terry-lee-thurmond-death-jailers-not-indicted/85-47854c28-0ef1-4995-a604-ba032f69aea5 |
ATLANTA — Moviegoers checking out an early screening of the new "Mission Impossible" screening in Atlanta Tuesday got an unexpected surprise when its star, Tom Cruise, popped by for a quick hello.
Also in attendance was the movie's director, Christopher McQuarrie.
The Regal at Atlantic Station was part of a five-city tour Cruise and McQuarrie were making in 24 hours to promote the movie.
Since the end of pandemic, Cruise has been an outspoken advocate for the theatrical experience, encouraging moviegoers to take to the big screen to view the latest releases.
News happens fast. Download our 11Alive News app for all the latest breaking updates, and sign up for our Speed Feed newsletter to get a rundown of the latest headlines across north Georgia. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/tom-cruise-mission-impossible-regal-atlantic-station-atlanta/85-99aae57f-43a0-4d25-804e-2f43b3e3294a | 2023-07-14T18:25:08 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/tom-cruise-mission-impossible-regal-atlantic-station-atlanta/85-99aae57f-43a0-4d25-804e-2f43b3e3294a |
FLOYD COUNTY, Ga. — A worker died after falling down a manhole at Armuchee High School on Wednesday, according to the Floyd County Police Department.
The police department responded to a distress call around reporting that an individual had fallen into a manhole in front of the school. When Officer William Wacker arrived, he said Danny Couzzort from K and D Plumbing informed him that another man, identified as Nicholas Damron, was shouting down the manhole while holding a strap.
The manhole, police said, appeared to have been recently dug adjacent to a trench.
Shining his flashlight into the deep hole, Officer Wacker made a disheartening discovery. At the bottom of the hole was an unconscious man, later identified as Robert, who was found wearing jeans, boots, and a dark blue work shirt.
The man's legs were folded, and the concrete wall appeared to support his head, with his chin possibly touching his chest. There were no visible signs of breathing or movement from the victim, Floyd Police said.
According to Damron, Robert had been standing on the second rung of a ladder attached to the manhole, leaning over to assist with a pipe. Unfortunately, Robert slipped and fell to the bottom of the hole. Initially, he managed to regain his footing and audibly exhaled in relief. However, moments later, Robert lost consciousness and fell once more. Damron and Danny expressed concerns about the possibility of gas emanating from the manhole. They also noted that Robert had repeatedly mentioned the intense heat and had not taken any breaks throughout the work period.
Officer Wacker promptly reported the condition of the victim to dispatch and awaited the arrival of the Fire Department. Meanwhile, Officer Bryant notified the school administration about the incident. Despite calling out Robert's name and searching for signs of life, there was no response or movement from him.
The Fire Department arrived on the scene at 2:37 p.m. to rescue Robert from the manhole. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were present, and a Life Flight helicopter was en route to provide further assistance. As the fire personnel worked to extract Robert from the deep hole, officers stood by to support the rescue operation.
Eventually, around 3:48 p.m., Robert was successfully pulled from the manhole, and the coroner declared him dead.
Investigators documented the scene through photographs while Robert's body was transported to the morgue for further examination at the crime lab. At present, police said no evidence of foul play has been detected, suggesting that the incident was a tragic accident.
Floyd County Schools offered a statement on the death of Robert
"It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we inform the Floyd County Schools’ community of a situation that occurred on July 12, 2023. Our school system learned about the death of an employee of a contracting company who was working a job site at Armuchee High School’s campus. This accident has impacted our school system family and stakeholders in many ways and we are actively sending support to those directly affected by this. During this time, we have extended our deepest sympathies and condolences to the family. We also understand this is a difficult time for the company who lost this employee, and we would like to extend our thoughts to them and anyone else who knew and loved this individual." | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/worker-dead-armuchee-high-school-fell-manhole/85-50832d50-c0e9-4612-a7da-774c41edf9cd | 2023-07-14T18:25:15 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/worker-dead-armuchee-high-school-fell-manhole/85-50832d50-c0e9-4612-a7da-774c41edf9cd |
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A 2-year-old has been rushed to the hospital after an incident southeast of Wichita.
It happened over the noon hour on Friday in the 8900 block of South Greenwich, east of Derby.
Sedgwick County dispatchers say the call came in as a possible drowning. First responders raced to the scene. Dispatchers say one person is in potentially critical condition.
KSN News has a crew on the way to the scene. We will update this story as more information becomes available. | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/toddler-injured-in-sedgwick-county-submersion/ | 2023-07-14T18:26:59 | 1 | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/toddler-injured-in-sedgwick-county-submersion/ |
Originally published July 13 on KTVB.COM.
An investigation is underway after a decomposed body was found partially submerged in the Boise River on Thursday evening, an Ada County Sheriff's Office spokesperson told KTVB.
...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT MDT /11 PM PDT/ SATURDAY NIGHT TO MIDNIGHT MDT /11 PM PDT/ SUNDAY NIGHT... * WHAT...Temperatures from 101 to 109 expected. * WHERE...Portions of south central, southwest and west central Idaho and southeast Oregon. * WHEN...From midnight MDT /11 PM PDT/ Saturday night to midnight MDT /11 PM PDT/ Sunday night. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Take extra precautions, if you work or spend time outside. When possible, reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear light weight and loose fitting clothing when possible and drink plenty of water. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. &&
Originally published July 13 on KTVB.COM.
An investigation is underway after a decomposed body was found partially submerged in the Boise River on Thursday evening, an Ada County Sheriff's Office spokesperson told KTVB.
Police said a group of people recreating in the Boise River found the body after smelling an odor just south of East Whitby Lane in Eagle around 6:40 p.m. The body was located on the banks of the river.
Officials have not yet identified the body, or the person's gender, based on its condition. The sheriff's office said there are no immediate signs of a crime, but they are still investigating.
The Ada County coroner, Eagle police and additional investigators are gathering evidence. Crime tape was set up in the area where the body was found along the Boise River Greenbelt, and officials are asking people to avoid the general area. The Greenbelt is still open.
An Ada County spokesperson told KTVB the body appears to have been there for an extended period of time.
The sheriff's office said it will provide more information as it becomes available, and the Ada County coroner will identify the person.
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A receipt was sent to your email. | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/body-found-along-boise-river-in-eagle/article_6f4b2bbe-2267-11ee-8493-8fdcfbb97ec5.html | 2023-07-14T18:28:13 | 0 | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/body-found-along-boise-river-in-eagle/article_6f4b2bbe-2267-11ee-8493-8fdcfbb97ec5.html |
Originally published July 13 on KTVB.COM.
A former Kuna Middle School teacher, 51-year-old Cory Gaylor, pleaded guilty on Thursday to lewd conduct with a child under 16 and enticing a child over the internet.
...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT MDT /11 PM PDT/ SATURDAY NIGHT TO MIDNIGHT MDT /11 PM PDT/ SUNDAY NIGHT... * WHAT...Temperatures from 101 to 109 expected. * WHERE...Portions of south central, southwest and west central Idaho and southeast Oregon. * WHEN...From midnight MDT /11 PM PDT/ Saturday night to midnight MDT /11 PM PDT/ Sunday night. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Take extra precautions, if you work or spend time outside. When possible, reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear light weight and loose fitting clothing when possible and drink plenty of water. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. &&
Originally published July 13 on KTVB.COM.
A former Kuna Middle School teacher, 51-year-old Cory Gaylor, pleaded guilty on Thursday to lewd conduct with a child under 16 and enticing a child over the internet.
Gaylor was originally charged with four sex crimes and pleaded guilty to two. His plea was part of an agreement, the Ada County Prosecutor's Office said.
Kuna police began investigating Gaylor and found that he was texting a child for several weeks trying to entice sex until he eventually engaged in illegal sexual conduct, the prosecutor's office said.
Gaylor was arrested at the school in December of 2022. He taught Spanish, Introduction to World Cultures and Advisory. He has not returned to the school as he has been in custody since — the Kuna School District also previously stated in an email to families that Gaylor "will not return to teaching in our school or district pending the resolution of the charges against him."
Gaylor is set to be sentenced Sept. 14, court records show. He could face up to life in prison.
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A receipt was sent to your email. | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/former-kuna-middle-school-teacher-pleads-guilty-to-sex-crimes-against-a-child/article_44bb8fd6-2269-11ee-ba62-d391bc34fb11.html | 2023-07-14T18:28:14 | 1 | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/former-kuna-middle-school-teacher-pleads-guilty-to-sex-crimes-against-a-child/article_44bb8fd6-2269-11ee-ba62-d391bc34fb11.html |
Lancaster County Sheriff's deputies found drugs, cash, a samurai sword and 47 knives in a search of a north Lincoln hotel room Thursday morning, the sheriff's office chief deputy said.
Investigators with the Lincoln-Lancaster County Metro Fugitive Task Force searched the room after converging on the WoodSpring Suites at around 11:30 a.m. Thursday to arrest 36-year-old Robert Ramey, a Lincoln man who was wanted on three felony warrants, Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said.
Deputies arrested Ramey at the hotel, on Fletcher Avenue just south of Interstate 80, before drafting a search warrant, which turned up $5,095 in cash, 116 grams of suspected methamphetamine, 28 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, 102 grams of marijuana, 198 grams of THC edibles and wax and less than a gram of cocaine, Houchin alleged.
Investigators also found a samurai sword and 47 knives — including 13 with blades longer than 3.5 inches and another 34 with shorter blades, the chief deputy said.
Ramey, who had a warrant out for his arrest after skipping a plea hearing this week in a separate felony case where he is facing numerous drug charges, was arrested on suspicion of new charges Thursday.
Deputies arrested the 36-year-old on suspicion of possession of meth with intent to deliver, possession of deadly weapons by a prohibited person and possession of money while violating a drug law. | https://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-courts/lancaster-county-deputies-find-47-knives-in-search-of-lincoln-hotel-room-authorities-say/article_bc0cdddc-225b-11ee-9c06-7febf82c5199.html | 2023-07-14T18:33:59 | 1 | https://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-courts/lancaster-county-deputies-find-47-knives-in-search-of-lincoln-hotel-room-authorities-say/article_bc0cdddc-225b-11ee-9c06-7febf82c5199.html |
ELK GROVE, Calif. — An Elk Grove chiropractor was arrested Thursday amid a sexual assault investigation.
According to a news release from the Elk Grove Police Department, it happened back in April 2023.
Police say the 17-year-old victim was being treated by 57-year-old Jeffrey Labrado at the Elk Grove Chiropractic Office on East Stockton Boulevard when they were sexually assaulted.
Labrado was arrested Thursday at the office and it’s unknown if there are more victims.
He was booked on suspicion of sexual penetration with a foreign object by force or fear, sexual battery and indecent exposure. His bond was set at $300,000.
Anyone with information in this case or about additional victims can call the Elk Grove Police Department Detective Bureau at (916) 627-3732. | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/elk-grove-chiropractor-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-teen/103-12a3bf0a-6b31-4fcd-b730-c6bc78b014eb | 2023-07-14T18:37:03 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/elk-grove-chiropractor-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-teen/103-12a3bf0a-6b31-4fcd-b730-c6bc78b014eb |
APOPKA, Fla. – The city of Apopka and Orange County are hoping to get results for Central Florida residents with the construction of a new affordable housing development.
The Hannibal Square Community Land Trust broke ground on the new 24 town home development called Cornerstone on Sixth on Friday.
The town homes will be located off of 6th Street near downtown Apopka.
Despite several obstacles over the last few years, the Hannibal Square Community Land Trust, city of Apopka and Orange County didn’t give up on the development.
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“Oh man, we survived some hurricanes, a pandemic, and a couple of financers dropping out,” said Juan Hollingsworth, Hannibal Square Community Land Trust president. “It’s been a long road.”
Hollingsworth said the land where development will be built sat desolate prior to the project.
“We had an opportunity to acquire this land, to build affordable housing for this particular community that is underserved,” Hollingsworth said.
Each town home will have three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms with an open-concept floor plan, a contemporary design and stainless steel appliances. In total, the project is estimated to cost $8 million.
Construction costs will be covered by the Black Economic Development Fund, an investment fund created to address economic disparity and the wealth gap in Black communities.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said the county will also throw in another $1.5 million from the Orange County Housing Trust to help keep the homes affordable.
“We’re living in inflationary times,” Demings said. “We’re living during a high growth period of time in which our population is increasing significantly. The one thing that hasn’t kept pace is the wages within our community. And so to make housing more affordable for those who are working class people is very important.”
Hollingsworth said thanks to community partnerships and funding, they’ll be able to keep the mortgages around $200,000. He said the construction is estimated to take 18 months.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/apopka-orange-county-officials-build-new-affordable-housing-development/ | 2023-07-14T18:37:04 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/apopka-orange-county-officials-build-new-affordable-housing-development/ |
MODESTO, Calif. — A Modesto father accused of killing his 8-year-old daughter has died a few days after an attempt to take his own life.
Modesto police swarmed Havenhurst Court Wednesday night after someone called 911 saying 50-year-old Donovan Halstead was making suicidal threats.
When police arrived, they saw Halstead through a window holding a gun.
“They reached out to him. He said he would come out unarmed, so they backed away and they heard a couple gunshots,” said Modesto Police Department spokesperson, Sharon Bear.
Police say that’s when he shot and killed his eight-year-old daughter and then tried to take his own life.
Court records show his wife filed for divorce in April and on Wednesday — the day of the shooting — they were in court.
Records show his wife accused him of domestic violence and he filed for a temporary restraining order.
“I guess this was one of his problems and he wanted to end it all,” said a neighbor who didn’t want to be identified.
Halstead posted on social media in Aug. 2022 saying he had struggled with clinical depression his entire life, but he also made numerous posts about being a father. The latest was from Father’s Day, where he also thanked his wife.
Watch more on ABC10: Homeless woman dead after being runover by lawnmower at Modesto Park | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/modesto-father-killing-8-year-old-daughter-dies/103-c6ce1dee-085a-47df-bfa7-7d26b734920f | 2023-07-14T18:37:09 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/modesto-father-killing-8-year-old-daughter-dies/103-c6ce1dee-085a-47df-bfa7-7d26b734920f |
ORLANDO, Fla. – Thanks to the upcoming Greta Gerwig film, Barbie mania is everywhere. The “Barbie” movie doesn’t hit theaters until July 21, but that hasn’t stopped her signature pink hue from taking over.
The latest participant? Dezerland Action Park.
Dezerland is gearing up for the movie by offering Barbie-themed attractions all throughout the park.
The park houses the Orlando Auto Museum, which will now feature several pink vehicles, including a pink Barbie buggy selfie station.
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Not a fan of cars? Dezerland’s go-karting and axe-throwing stations will also be saturated in pink.
There is also a Barbie cocktail menu at the 007 Bond Bar and special pink desserts at Glida.
Additionally, guests are invited to see “Barbie” at Dezerland Action Park’s on-site movie theater once it’s out.
For tickets and more information, click here.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/barbie-takes-over-dezerland-action-park/ | 2023-07-14T18:37:10 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/barbie-takes-over-dezerland-action-park/ |
ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando police said they are investigating an incident near an apartment complex Friday afternoon.
Police said around 1:15 p.m. that their investigation is focused on the 12000 block of Pioneers Way, which is off of Narcoossee Road south of State Road 417.
>>> STREAM AN UPDATE ON THE CASE LIVE HERE <<<
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Police have not elaborated on what the investigation involves, but said there is “no immediate danger to the public at this time.”
Police said they will provide an update on the investigation at 2:45 p.m. You can stream that news conference live here.
Read: FHP: Woman, 26, dies after crash near Lake Nona
Stay tuned to Channel 9 Eyewitness News for updates.
Read: Disney hopes Florida judge will dismiss lawsuit over improvement district control
Officers are conducting an investigation in the 12000 block of Pioneers Way. Please avoid the area at this time. Updates to follow. pic.twitter.com/VHXGqHzPfl
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) July 14, 2023
See a map of the scene below:
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/orlando-police-investigating-incident-near-apartment-complex/P43FMGPHTFEBDNKEPSCCKJUR3Y/ | 2023-07-14T18:37:12 | 1 | https://www.wftv.com/news/local/orlando-police-investigating-incident-near-apartment-complex/P43FMGPHTFEBDNKEPSCCKJUR3Y/ |
ROCKLIN, Calif. — The NCAA approved William Jessup University to move to Division II athletics, ensuring the university will start NCAA competitions in Fall 2024.
The university will finish the 2023-2024 season as part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). William Jessup will join PacWest once it starts in the NCAA.
"The NCAA is the gold standard of collegiate athletics. For us to join and be a member of not only the NCAA but the esteemed PacWest Conference speaks volumes to what our university and our department have been able to accomplish over the past decade," Jessup's Vice President of Athletics, Lance Von Vogt, said in a statement
The three-year transition period beings this fall and lasts until fall 2026, which is when the university will be able to compete for a national championship. The university will be ineligible to compete for national championships during its first two NCAA seasons.
So, the university plans to compete in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) so student-athletes can compete on a national level.
"This may or may not be our final space. You look at Cal Baptist and what they did in short order, moving from the GSAC to the PacWest and from the PacWest to NCAA Division I," Von Vogt said in a statement. "I believe that if things continue to go the way they are, there's nothing saying we couldn't become a University that makes the double jump from the NAIA into Division II. And then, if and when the time is right, up to Division I."
William Jessup University has Rocklin and San Jose campuses.
Find more information about the move to the NCAA HERE.
Watch more on ABC10: Eric Abril appears in court after escaping custody | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/william-jessup-university-ncaa-division-ii-athletics/103-02c1a2c8-72d1-4db4-bc65-0219f84d0032 | 2023-07-14T18:37:15 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/william-jessup-university-ncaa-division-ii-athletics/103-02c1a2c8-72d1-4db4-bc65-0219f84d0032 |
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A Brevard County woman won a $1 million prize from a scratch-off ticket in Port St. Lucie on Friday.
40-year-old Jordan Kowalak purchased the winning $5 million CASHWORD scratch-off ticket from a RaceTrac at 8630 S U.S. Hwy 1 in Port St. Lucie. In addition to Kowalak’s $1 million prize, the gas station will receive a $2,000 prize for selling the winning ticket, according to Florida Lottery officials.
A relatively new game, the $20 5 million CASHWORD game launched in May 2020, with eight top prizes of $5 million and 24 second-tier prizes of $1 million. The game’s overall odds of winning are 1 in 2.91, the Florida Lottery said.
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Officials said in a statement that Kowalak traveled to the Florida Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee to collect her prize. She chose to receive her winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $780,000.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/brevard-county-woman-wins-1m-florida-lottery-prize/ | 2023-07-14T18:37:16 | 1 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/brevard-county-woman-wins-1m-florida-lottery-prize/ |
ORLANDO, Fla. – Students at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida now have a new place to enhance their STEM skills and reach for their dreams.
On Friday, leaders from Walt Disney World and the nonprofit group shared that after several months of construction, a new robotics room had opened at the Walt Disney World Clubhouse.
The opening at the Orlando location along Hernandes Drive is just the latest collaboration between Disney and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida. Back in December, leaders said the new center was made possible all thanks to a $500,000 Disney grant that was given out during the resort’s 50th anniversary celebration.
Students at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida named the new facility the Walt Disney World “Rock Star Robotics Center.”
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“We always love seeing local students in our community dream big and grow their skills, and that’s why it’s been exciting to work with Boys & Girls Clubs to help bring this new robotics center to life,” said Rena Langley, the senior vice president of communications and public affairs at Walt Disney World.
Disney said its relationship with the Boys & Girls Clubs organization spans over three decades and builds on its long legacy of supporting students as part of the Disney Future Storytellers initiative – a mission to empower the next generation of storytellers and innovators to dream about their futures, build their talents and become who they imagine they can be.
Click here to learn more about the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida.
Use the form below to sign up for the ClickOrlando.com In the Loop: Theme Park Scoops newsletter, sent every Friday morning. | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/disneys-rock-star-robotics-center-opens-at-boys-girls-clubs-of-central-florida/ | 2023-07-14T18:37:23 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/disneys-rock-star-robotics-center-opens-at-boys-girls-clubs-of-central-florida/ |
ORLANDO, Fla. – Sky 6 flew over a large police presence near an Orlando apartment complex on Friday afternoon.
Officers said they were “conducting an investigation” in the 12000 block of Pioneers Way, near Cortland Nona, an Orlando apartment complex.
No details about the investigation have been provided at this time.
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Officers ask that that people avoid the area, but added there is no immediate danger to the public at this time.
The department said it will provide an update on the investigation at a 2:45 p.m. news briefing. News 6 will stream the briefing live in the media player above.
No other information is available at this time. Check back here for updates.
UPDATE: There is no immediate danger to the public at this time. The scene is still being investigated. Media, an OPD Deputy Chief will be giving a briefing at OPD Headquarters at 2:45 p.m. https://t.co/R7Ry60qGrB
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) July 14, 2023
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/investigation-prompts-large-police-presence-near-orlando-apartment-complex/ | 2023-07-14T18:37:29 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/investigation-prompts-large-police-presence-near-orlando-apartment-complex/ |
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A 54-year-old man arrested in 2022 after driving off from Orange County deputies who were attempting to speak with him was sentenced last week to three years in prison over the ordeal, according to court records.
Jeffrey Berry on July 7 pleaded nolo contendere to charges of criminal mischief with damage of $1,000 or more and fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer with siren and lights activated.
No action was taken on a charge of resisting an officer without violence, and an entry of nolle prosequi was made regarding a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, both of which Berry pleaded not guilty to January 19.
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Berry had been accused of ramming multiple sheriff’s office cruisers early Dec. 7, 2022, in an attempt to escape deputies responding to a suspicious vehicle in the 8800 block of Rose Ave. He then crashed into a telephone pole at Lake Weston Point Apartments shortly after taking off, according to the sheriff’s office.
According to his court records, Berry has been allowed 213 days as credit for time served. A one-year driver’s license revocation will also be imposed, Berry’s plea agreement shows.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/man-gets-3-years-after-destructive-attempt-to-flee-orange-county-deputies/ | 2023-07-14T18:37:35 | 1 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/man-gets-3-years-after-destructive-attempt-to-flee-orange-county-deputies/ |
ORLANDO, Fla. – Two of Florida’s top tourist transportation services have announced the decision to merge efforts shuttling guests between Orlando International Airport and Walt Disney World resorts, presenting “Mears Connect Driven by Sunshine.”
Shuttle service companies the Sunshine Flyer and Mears Connect may have been competitors in the past, but they have always shared the same goals, according to Rebecca Horton, chief operating officer of Mears Connect.
“By merging operations, sharing ideas, expanding services, collaborating on what’s best for the guest, we believe we can provide an even better guest experience,” Horton said.
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Mark Sherman, general manager of the Sunshine Flyer, said he hopes that as partners, they will be able to provide even more features and benefits to guests visiting Walt Disney World.
Mears Connect Driven by Sunshine is the only 24-hour shuttle service for arrivals and departures at all terminals of MCO, according to a news release.
The brand new service will begin operations on Aug. 1.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/mears-connect-sunshine-flyer-merge-service-from-disney-world-to-orlando-international-airport/ | 2023-07-14T18:37:42 | 1 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/mears-connect-sunshine-flyer-merge-service-from-disney-world-to-orlando-international-airport/ |
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A Cocoa woman who worked as a pet sitter on Rover.com was sentenced to one year of probation after a dog in her care died of heatstroke, court records show.
Heather Chambers, 33, pleaded guilty to a charge of cruelty to animals, according to a document released Wednesday.
In addition to serving probation, she was ordered to pay $1,000 in restitutions to the dog owner, complete a 12-hour animal cruelty and prevention class and 40 hours of community service, not care for others’ pets for two years and not contact the dog owner in the case.
Chambers was initially arrested on Oct. 14, 2022, after deputies said she was taking care of two dogs at her home for a family out of town. Later that day, she informed the family one of the dogs, Rolo, was found dead in her yard, an arrest affidavit shows.
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The family asked Chambers if Rolo had been left outside long, as he was brachycephalic and couldn’t be in the yard unattended, and she said he had not been, according to the affidavit.
Deputies said Chambers then told them she hadn’t seen Rolo for six hours leading up to his death and thought it was possible her children had left the sliding door to the yard open, letting the dog out, the affidavit reads.
The sheriff’s office said it later determined the dog died of heatstroke.
According to the affidavit, Chambers told deputies she tried “tossing him back and forth on the ground in the yard, as she tried to raise a response from him.”
Chambers’ boyfriend later contradicted her, saying the dog had been outside for a while.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/rovercom-sitter-sentenced-to-1-year-of-probation-after-dog-in-care-dies-of-heatstroke/ | 2023-07-14T18:37:48 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/rovercom-sitter-sentenced-to-1-year-of-probation-after-dog-in-care-dies-of-heatstroke/ |
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – An Orange County woman won a $1 million prize from a Florida Lottery scratch-off ticket on Friday.
56-year-old Mary Walker of Winter Park purchased the winning ticket from the Circle K at 31734 E State Road 44 in Eustis, lottery officials said. The gas station will also receive a prize of $2,000 from the Florida Lottery for selling the winning ticket.
Walker purchased a Diamond Mine 20X scratch-off ticket and claimed her prize at the Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee.
Officials said in a statement that Walker chose to receive her prize as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $695,000.
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The $10 Diamond Mine 20X game offers more than $158 million in prizes with four top prizes of $1 million. The game’s overall odds of winning are 1 in 3.32, the Florida Lottery said.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/winter-park-woman-wins-1m-prize-from-florida-lottery-scratch-off-ticket/ | 2023-07-14T18:37:49 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/07/14/winter-park-woman-wins-1m-prize-from-florida-lottery-scratch-off-ticket/ |
ROUND ROCK, Texas — People in Round Rock are being asked to conserve water as crews work to repair a water main break.
According to the City of Round Rock's website, the break happened on the south side of RM 1431, which is approximately west of Interstate 35. On Thursday, crews started isolating the problem in order to get repairs underway.
While they work to fix the break, City officials are asking those who live west of I-35 to conserve water until Tuesday, July 18. These restrictions include the following Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs): Fern Bluff, Vista Oaks, Walsh Ranch and the Tonkawa Springs neighborhood.
City officials say the best way for people to help reduce their average usage of 10 to 11 million gallons a day is to stop outdoor watering or switch to hand watering until repairs are completed. There are more than 11,000 families that live in the impacted area.
For more information about the repair process, check out the City of Round Rock's website. | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/round-rock-water-main-break/269-af7cbb9c-4caa-49ac-bea4-afc8b195b9e9 | 2023-07-14T18:41:02 | 1 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/round-rock-water-main-break/269-af7cbb9c-4caa-49ac-bea4-afc8b195b9e9 |
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Airport Authority has announced that it will receive a grant of $22.8 million from the Federal Aviation Administration to help construct sustainable and energy efficient infrastructure.
The FAA's Airport Improvement Program is investing a total of $92 million to help airports reach the Biden Administration's goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
Indianapolis International Airport (IND) will use the funds to transition the terminal's electricity consumption to an on-site, renewable option. This will include installing solar panels atop a new metal canopy that will shelter surface parking lots.
“This is a huge win for the Indy airport, our environment and our community,” said Mario Rodriguez, IAA Executive Director. “We’re committed to environmental sustainability, minimizing the impact of airport operations on the environment, and we’re doing that by exploring continuous improvements and opportunities for innovation.”
The first phase of the transformation will reportedly meet 25% of the terminal's energy needs. The Indianapolis International Airport is already home to one of the largest airport solar farms in the country and the new funding will expedite the effort to reduce the airport's carbon footprint.
“With this newly FAA-funded project, the Indy airport will have on-site solar generation, which will help to reduce its carbon footprint and provide operational resiliency,” said Todd Cavender, IAA director of environment and sustainability.
Additional solar panels aren't the only sustainable change coming. One effort to reduce carbon emissions is the installation of carbon capture technology in the pavement of the runway and taxiway. That project will use a technology called "CarbonCure" where recycled CO2 is introduced to fresh concrete, reducing its carbon footprint without compromising safety or operational performance.
“We’re committed to positive carbon reductions, year over year, for our entire airport system so that we meet the long-term goal of net-zero by 2050,” said Rodriguez. | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/indianapolis-international-airport-awarded-22-million-faa-grant/531-6c8f3053-db58-42d8-a1cb-ea61b50e8095 | 2023-07-14T18:44:11 | 1 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/indianapolis-international-airport-awarded-22-million-faa-grant/531-6c8f3053-db58-42d8-a1cb-ea61b50e8095 |
History Channel heads to Bridgewater Triangle to investigate 'Native American curse'
The History Channel will head to the Brockton area’s own backyard to investigate an ancient "Native American curse" in a one-hour episode, “Bridgewater Triangle,” airing on Tuesday, July 18.
The episode will air as part of the first season of “Beyond Skinwalker Ranch,” a spinoff of the History Channel’s multi-season realty show, “The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch.”
“Since 2020, Dr. Travis Taylor along with Erik Bard and their investigative team have been working around the clock to collect, analyze and decode as much data as possible associated with the phenomenon occurring at [Skinwalker Ranch],” The History Chanel said.
“Their experiments have yielded amazing results, but not enough to fully unlock the secret of the ranch,” they continued.
What is 'Beyond Skinwalker Ranch'?
This seven-episode season will feature former CIA Intelligence Officer Andy Bustamante and actor, writer and producer Paul Beban as they investigate paranormal hotspots across the U.S — from Arizona to Nevada and Colorado and all the way to The Bridgewater Triangle, a 200-square-mile area within Southeastern Massachusetts that is a hotspot for reports of paranormal activity.
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What is the Bridgewater Triangle episode about?
According to IMDb’s description of the episode, Bustamante and Beban "are in Massachusetts to investigate one of America's oldest sites of High Strangeness and discover that an ancient Native American curse could still be active."
Why a 'Native American curse'?
Author and paranormal investigator Jeff Belanger told our sister paper the Taunton Daily Gazette in 2020 he believes the phenomena associated with the Bridgewater Triangle have their origins in the King Philip's War — a war between the English settlers and the Native Americans in the mid 1670s. The bloodiest war per capita in U.S. history, it took place largely in the Bridgewater Triangle region and ended with the Wampanoag chief Metacom, also known as King Philip, being hung, beheaded, drawn and quartered and his head displayed on a pike for 200 years at Plymouth Colony.
"You've probably heard the trope of the 'unfinished business.' The unfinished business really has nothing to do with the dead. It has everything to do with the living," Belanger said. "We don't like people getting away with murder, even if it happened a long time ago. So there's this nagging feeling that happened in this area."
But many other Triangle investigators believe King Philip's War is merely a symptom of the negative energy there, and that its mysteriousness is much older, having something to do with the land and possibly even being conscious.
"There are these areas all over the globe that are nicknamed 'window areas,'" Andrew Lake of Greenville Paranormal research told the Taunton Daily Gazette in 2020. "There are these locations that seem to be like a tear in the veil to other realities."
'No one's been enforcing anything'Inside Brockton's heated school forum
How did the Bridgewater Triangle get its name?
The modern cultural origin of the Bridgewater Triangle legend is widely thought to lie within cryptozoologist Loren Coleman's 1983 book "Mysterious America." In it, he coined the term "Bridgewater Triangle," inspired of course by the Bermuda Triangle, established its rough boundaries and identified some of the Triangle's most notable places and legends, calling it a "window area of unexplained occurrences."
Coleman establishes Rehoboth in the southwest, Abington in the north and Freetown in the southeast as the three points of the Triangle — meaning hundreds of thousands of people in Taunton, Brockton, Raynham, Berkley, Dighton, Easton, Norton, Mansfield and the Bridgewaters live inside it.
The History Channel did not immediately return requests for comment or more information about where they filmed locally for the episode.
How can I watch the Bridgewater Triangle episode of 'Beyond Skinwalker Ranch'?
The “Bridgewater Triangle” episode of "Beyond Skinwalker Ranch" will air on The History Channel on Tuesday, July 18 at 10 p.m. It will be available to stream the day after it airs, on Wednesday, July 19, on History.com and will be available for purchase on Amazon Prime Video.
Where can I learn more about the Bridgewater Triangle?
Want to get up to speed on the Bridgewater Triangle? You can binge read the Taunton Daily Gazette's 2020 series by reporter Susannah Sudborough on the Triangle here:
What is the Bridgewater Triangle anyway?A look at the dark and paranormal tales of this 'window area of unexplained occurrences'
Legend trippers:The keepers of the Bridgewater Triangle
Exploring the Bridgewater TriangleOur reporter heads out when the lights go down and the legends come out
Susannah Sudborough contributed to this report. | https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/bridgwater-triangle-massachusetts-episode-history-channel-beyond-skinwalker-ranch/70411797007/ | 2023-07-14T18:44:37 | 0 | https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/bridgwater-triangle-massachusetts-episode-history-channel-beyond-skinwalker-ranch/70411797007/ |
'A catalyst for development:' Empresa - Brockton's newest apartment complex - is now open
BROCKTON – Downtown Brockton’s newest apartment complex is officially completed as Mayor Robert Sullivan and Massachusetts’ Housing Secretary Edward Agustus unveiled Empresa – a 111-unit, mixed-income development located on Petronelli Way.
The opening of the apartment building marks the final phase and completion of the new Enterprise Center: a freshly developed block of the city’s downtown located between Montello, Center and Main streets, directly next to the Brockton Commuter Rail station.
The block includes apartments, offices and commercial businesses centered around The Enterprise’s old office building on Main Street.
Trinity Financial, the development company who led and funded the construction of the Enterprise Center, held a ribbon cutting Tuesday to celebrate the opening of the building.
Empresa, which translates to “enterprise” in Spanish and Portuguese, will house 65 one-bedroom units, 42 two-bedroom units and 4 three-bedroom units of both affordable and market-rate flats.
Residents began moving into the building in late February and all of the units are currently occupied. Augustus said they received “several thousands” of applications to move into the building.
“Every time we bring a new project online, it is unburdening to the families,” Augustus said.
Construction began in early 2020, roughly a year after the 113-unit Enso Flats opened next door at 50 Center St., which shares a lush courtyard with Empresa. According to Sullivan, Trinity Financial spent $60 million up front to pursue the project.
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Empresa is one of several apartment complexes popping up in the center of the downtown neighborhood. More are under construction just a block or two away.
"We think of it as a celebration of the completing of a neighborhood," said Chrystal Kornegay, executive director of MassHousing - a state-wide organization that invests over $1 billion every year in affordable housing.
Inside Empresa
The five-story apartment building sits where Brockton’s old Traymore Shoe Co. used to stand before it was razed. Empresa’s brick and metal exterior, and much of the interior design, was built to resemble the old shoe factory.
The artwork hung in the building’s public spaces was created by local artists – including Nuno Ribeiro, who’s a resident of the building, and Sarah Feragan, who lives next door in Enso Flats. Much of the art depicts typewriters, shoe making machines and old school boxing match advertisements.
"I was impressed with the quality of the construction," said Jeff Thompson, who toured the complex for the first time several months ago.
A one-bedroom market-rate apartment costs between $1,575 and $1,780 per month. Affordable housing units start at $549 every month for one-bedroom.
The main floor of the building has a fitness center, a community lounge and a children's playroom - which was added to the plan after developers realized how many families with children would be moving in.
"Empressa Flats is a key piece of our ongoing downtown renaissance as we seek to reimagine underutilized spaces and create much needed transit-oriented, affordable housing for Brockton and the surrounding region," said Sullivan in a press release.
Affordable housing in downtown Brockton
As luxury apartment complexes are under construction nearby, Empresa and Enso Flats qualify for a state affordable housing law that Brockton adopted, called Chapter 40R, or smart growth zoning. The law requires that any residential development built in the downtown area must reserve at least 20% of its units for affordable housing. Only residents who make at least 30% of Brockton's area median income - the average salary of the city's residents - can qualify for those units.
“I tried to express that it truly would be a catalyst for development," Sullivan said Tuesday. "Smart growth zoning lets us harness the intellectual integrity of what we have downtown.”
Between Empresa and Enso Flats, 224 units of affordable housing now exist downtown.
“Why we do this is about the residents, creating houses for people," Kornegay said. "It’s about creating homes for people and creating communities.”
John Yazwinski, president of Father Bill's & MainSpring homeless shelter, said in January that there's a major need for more units of affordable housing in Brockton, and across the commonwealth.
"As long as I'm mayor there will always be a happy medium of market price and affordable housing," Sullivan said in an interview with The Enterprise. | https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/empresa-enterprise-center-brocktons-downtown-opens-affordable-housing/70403553007/ | 2023-07-14T18:44:43 | 0 | https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/empresa-enterprise-center-brocktons-downtown-opens-affordable-housing/70403553007/ |
Microshelter village for young adults opens in South Salem
Young adults struggling with homelessness will soon have a new place to find shelter in Salem.
A new microshelter village on Turner Road in South Salem that can house up to 28 people will serve individuals ages 18 to 24, starting Aug. 1. Salem community leaders held a ribbon cutting for the shelter Thursday.
It will be Salem's third microshelter location.
It joins the Village of Hope on Center Street, which serves 80 people, and a site specifically for families on Portland Road near Catholic Community Services.
The sites are managed by local nonprofit Church at the Park and have 24/7 security and staffing.
DJ Vincent, founding pastor at Church at the Park, said 400 people are currently on waitlists for the villages, and over the years, the program has helped shelter 935 people. The majority have moved on to permanent and transitional housing.
The microshelter model allows people experiencing homelessness to secure their belongings; and gives them a safe, warm place to sleep. Advocates say this allows people experiencing homelessness to stabilize, get treatment and connect to more permanent housing solutions.
Trash services, meals, showers, portable toilets and connection to health services are provided on-site.
Local advocates have made it their goal to have microshelter villages in all eight wards of the city. A community effort has raised more than $770,000 in donations — enough for at least 154 shelters.
Despite having enough funds, the city has struggled to find land to host the villages and so far, the sites have been concentrated in north and north-central Salem. Staff said adding the Turner Road village would bring the much-needed service into South Salem.
The living units at the Turner Road location go beyond the simple shed-like style of other microshelters. The housing consists of four bedrooms and a bathroom with a shower connected in one modular unit.
Vincent said a training kitchen is planned to connect residents to jobs in the region, and other job training assistance. The site once operated as a drop-in day space, but will now transform into a secure facility.
Vincent said they've already identified 100 people in the 18-24 age range needing immediate shelter and will begin taking residents in August.
About 1,500 youth are estimated to be homeless in the Mid-Valley at any given time. This village will have room for 38 people.
Vincent said nationwide, about 40% of young people experiencing homelessness identify as LGBTQ. He said he saw that as a mandate to have that statistic represented in the staff at the microshelter village.
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/2023/07/14/microshelter-village-for-young-adults-homeless-opens-in-south-salem/70406383007/ | 2023-07-14T18:51:48 | 0 | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/microshelter-village-for-young-adults-homeless-opens-in-south-salem/70406383007/ |
Salmon catch the ‘fish taxi’ as Corps plans billions to save iconic fish, keep dams
A lone salmon hovered in a holding tank just below Cougar Dam, waiting to begin his road trip in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers fish taxi waiting below.
Just a single fish wasn't what Greg Taylor had hoped to find on a warm June morning, but when you're trying to rebuild a critically endangered population of fish, one is better than none.
"Every fish's important," said Taylor, supervisory fish biologist for the Corps in the Willamette Basin.
Sleek and silver, with a cut near his tail fin, the 3-year-old spring chinook had swam hundreds of miles from the ocean into the Columbia, Willamette and McKenzie rivers. His ancestral waters were almost within reach — until he smacked into a 519-foot dam with no way to pass through.
That’s where the fish taxi — a heavy truck with a 1,500 gallon tank — was waiting. It would drive the solitary salmon around the dam and release him into the upper South Fork McKenzie, where the water is cold, clean, shaded and home to habitat biologists hope becomes a stronghold for wild salmon and steelhead.
“Sometimes when we release them, they’ll swim around and jump out of the water like a porpoise,” Taylor said. “It’s almost like they’re saying, ‘Ah! That feels good. That feels like home.’”
The fish taxi runs twice a week during migration season — primarily April to July for salmon, January to April for winter steelhead. It's a critical step in a multi-billion dollar plan with an almost paradoxical goal: to keep 13 flood control dams in place while also rebuilding wild fish runs.
Dams and wild fish do not coexist well, particularly in the Upper Willamette Basin where dams block 70-100% of spawning habitat. Historic estimates put the number of spring chinook above Willamette Falls at around 300,000. Today, just 4,000 to 7,000 wild fish remain.
The Corps, after losing a major lawsuit, is proposing around $1 billion to $2 billion and drastic changes to its reservoirs to try to boost that number.
The fish taxi is a big part of that effort. Biologists plan to move an increasing number of fish above dams in streams such as Quartzville Creek, the Middle and North Santiam rivers, and the upper forks of the Willamette.
“If we’re ever going to improve the status of spring chinook in this basin, we have to use the high-quality habitat above the dams,” Taylor said. “Is taking them on a salmon taxi or a salmon Uber the best method? Definitely not. But this is a highly modified system. It’s not the Willamette Basin of history or even 100 years ago. We have to intervene to help them complete their life cycle.”
Impassable dams in Oregon
One of the biggest moments in the Willamette Valley’s history was the establishment of 13 dams and reservoirs, mainly from 1940 to 1960. The dams were designed for flood control — to stop winter storms from destroying homes. The system brought other benefits, too: storage for drinking water and irrigation, hydropower and recreation.
The downside is it turned a natural river system into a mechanized one. And that’s not good for wild, native fish, in this case spring chinook and winter steelhead, which had been migrating high into the Upper Willamette’s tributaries, spawning and coming back down since time immemorial.
Unlike some dams that have fish ladders salmon can use to swim upstream, the dams of the Willamette Basin are “high-head” — hundreds of feet tall — which makes creating similar ladders impossible.
That's where the fish taxi comes in.
The rise of trap and haul
The process of “trap and haul” — collecting fish below the dams and driving them upstream for release — has been around at a few dams for decades, though it was often a crude and limited process.
That changed when spring chinook and winter steelhead were protected under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1999. Facilities and practices were improved over the ensuing decades.
“The Corps was required to upgrade their facilities to make it less stressful on fish, because what they were doing in the past often led to delayed mortality,” said Jennifer Fairbrother, conservation director of the Native Fish Society, a group that has filed lawsuits that forced some of the recent changes. “At this point they’re doing a pretty good job of moving adult fish upstream.”
Even so, wild chinook numbers have continued to decline, dropping to between 4,000 to 7,000 fish over the past five years in the Upper Willamette Basin, down from 18,000 in 2004. That brought lawsuits pushing a new urgency to establish populations above the dams.
'Fish Disneyland'
Before they’re loaded into the fish taxi, the salmon and steelhead visit “fish Disneyland.”
That’s the colloquial name given to the twisting tubes and churning ladders at the base of Fall Creek and Cougar dams that serve as a model for moving fish above the dams.
Here’s how it all works.
First, the salmon run into the base of the dam. The current gradually encourages them into a small ladder they climb into a trap — a freshwater holding pool. When the fish taxi arrives for loading, the fish, without being touched, are coaxed down a flume — basically a waterslide — and into a tank of water filled with anesthetic, which puts the them to sleep.
At this point, any fish, like rainbow trout or other species, can be filtered out and sent back into the lower river. Wild salmon are measured and a sample of DNA is taken before they’re transferred into another holding tank. The fish gradually wake up as the tank empties into the back of the truck.
From Cougar Dam, the truck drives upstream for about 4 to 5 miles, then pulls into a dispersed campground where the fish are released into the free-flowing river above the dam.
"The habitat up here is the best in the system," Taylor said of the South Fork McKenzie. "If we can't establish populations up here, it's probably not going to happen many other places."
What is a wild fish?
The phase wild fish gets thrown around so much it almost starts to lose meaning. But it’s not a simple thing, especially since hatchery programs have added millions of artificially-raised salmon to almost every basin in Oregon for almost a century.
Here’s a simple way to describe it: a wild salmon or steelhead is a fish that completes its full lifecycle in the wild. It’s born in the river, migrates to the ocean, then returns and spawns additional wild salmon.
Salmon raised in hatcheries have a clipped adipose fin to distinguish them from wild fish.
The offspring of hatchery salmon can become wild salmon, Taylor said, if they’re naturally produced in the wild. An imperfect analogy would be a domesticated dog returning to live and hunt in the wild and having puppies that stay wild, evolving into something that more closely resembles a wolf.
“All hatchery programs begin with the DNA of wild fish,” he said. “That’s the foundation.”
Corp could spend average of up to $200,000 on each fish
The point of trapping and hauling the salmon is to replicate the lifecycle of a salmon or steelhead with as little human interaction as possible. But to truly make it happen — to get adults upstream of the dams and baby fish downstream — is expensive and disruptive.
Earlier this year, the Corps estimated that under its “preferred alternative” — the plan it wants to follow going forward — it would cost $1 billion to $2 billion of new money (likely more with inflation) to build more fish taxis and fish Disneylands, towers that control water temperature and ways to move juvenile fish downstream.
That makes for an extreme amount of money spent on improving the lot of what's now under 10,000 fish — in the neighborhood of $200,000 per fish, in fact.
The impact of the proposed changes goes beyond the money.
In the same way you need a fish taxi to get fish upstream above the dams, you need a way for the baby fish to get downstream through the dams and back to the ocean, which is even harder. It's a process that will require fish collection facilities to get them downstream, or simply dropping reservoir levels so low they're almost transformed into rivers so baby fish can more easily get through dam openings.
Turning the reservoirs into rivers means a loss of recreation, tourism and quality of life in communities near them.
"It's sad, and it's frustrating," said Blair Larsen, economic director for the City of Sweet Home, about Green Peter Reservoir being nearly emptied beginning in late summer. "It will mean some loss in the quality of life here. One of the reasons people move here is to be close to these reservoirs."
All the money and changes could be for naught. The Corps could easily take these actions and the runs might not improve. In the Deschutes and Lewis river systems, similar actions have not led to higher fish runs yet. In the Clackamas, it has.
Getting baby salmon downstream might not work. Climate change could torpedo ocean conditions, river pollution could short-circuit fish health or the fish could just get eaten by sea lions.
“I’ve certainly heard from people who say that it’s insane to spend that much money on fish — but it’s an investment for the next 30 years of these fish runs,” Taylor said. “We spend a lot on keeping salmon runs going across the Pacific Northwest, because people value these fish — for recreation, the economy and just to know that there are still these iconic species in wild places.”
The survivors of Fall Creek
Taylor has a soft spot for the salmon of Fall Creek.
“They’re survivors,” he said.
The stream is small and gets very warm in summer — it reached 74 degrees during the 2021 heat dome, which is terrible for salmon. There’s numerous small waterfalls and deep pools that draw masses of people for swimming, which makes it tough for spawning.
“We’ve also had issues with poaching,” Taylor said. “It’s such a small stream and you see people with giant rods targeting them when they’re in these small pools.”
It’s illegal to harvest endangered wild salmon in Fall Creek or anywhere on the Willamette.
Yet even in this small, crowded and warm stream, each year an average of 350 wild salmon return, take the fish taxi and spawn on the same gravel river bottom their ancestors did a century ago. In 2020, a whopping 834 salmon returned to upper Fall Creek.
“The Fall Creek salmon are underdogs — they’re in subpar habitat with every challenge you can imagine, yet they still make it. That gives me hope that if we take these actions, give these fish a chance, they can do this,” Taylor said. “They’re my inspiration.”
The Clackamas River example
The best place to look for hope is the Clackamas River, a lower tributary of the Willamette that also has dams.
Using "trap and truck" and downstream passage, wild spring chinook runs have been restored to an average of 3,125 fish per year over the past five years. Just one tributary almost matches the wild salmon population of the entire Upper Willamette Basin.
“The dams of the Clackamas are different from the dams of the Upper Willamette Basin, but it does show that it can work, even in a highly modified river,” Fairbrother said.
But Fairbrother said the Corps is still moving too slow.
"It's been years of talking about these actions," she said. "If it takes a decade to even break ground or get funding on this, I fear it will be too late.”
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. To support his work, subscribe to the Statesman Journal. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors. | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/oregon-endangered-spring-chinook-salmon-winter-steelhead-river-dams-reservoirs/70403403007/ | 2023-07-14T18:51:54 | 1 | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/oregon-endangered-spring-chinook-salmon-winter-steelhead-river-dams-reservoirs/70403403007/ |
Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard Giveaway
Rita’s Italian Ice celebrates the grand opening of the Edgmont location with free Rita’s for a year to the first 50 guests to arrive at 3 p.m. today.
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June 18th, 2023Your Summer just got sweeter, and Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard has you covered with delicious Italian ice and Frozen Custard treats that will leave you wanting more, with a freshly made on-site selection from over 75 flavors that oaths to create an everlasting taste that your tastebuds will be grateful for.
Rita’s has been known for giving away free water ice on the first day of spring for the past 31 years, and what better way to commemorate the grand opening of its first location in Edgmont at 4815 West Chester Pike on Friday, July 14 than by rewarding the first 50 guests in line with Free Rita’s Italian Ice for a Year! Limit 1 per household in line, and verification information may be required. The event will start at 3 p.m.
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The store will also offer guests $2 Small Italian ice and $ Small Gelati— the perfect treat for this hot and humid temperature.
The guests will also enjoy free giveaways from Rita’s prize wheel, photo opportunities with Rita’s mascot Ice Guy, and swag giveaways. | https://www.aldianews.com/en/local/philadelphia/ritas-italian-ice-giveaway | 2023-07-14T18:54:42 | 0 | https://www.aldianews.com/en/local/philadelphia/ritas-italian-ice-giveaway |
Somerset, Pa — A 13-year-old boy from Coraopolis drowned while tubing on the Stonycreek River in Somerset Thursday.
Pennsylvania State Police in a release said the 13-year-old became trapped underwater after falling off an innertube while on a guided tubing trip through Coaltubin Adventures.
Authorities say he was pulled from the water and pronounced dead on the scene.
His death was deemed accidental but remains under investigation.
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©2023 Cox Media Group | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/coraopolis-boy-13-drowns-after-falling-innertube-into-river/GQVFBP5QXBFJDM23KRKELXJYLA/ | 2023-07-14T18:55:59 | 1 | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/coraopolis-boy-13-drowns-after-falling-innertube-into-river/GQVFBP5QXBFJDM23KRKELXJYLA/ |
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed defenseman Emil Pieniniemi, their third-round draft pick in the NHL Draft last month, to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Pieniniemi, 18, is 6-foot-2, 176 pounds and played one game with Karpat in Liiga, Finland’s top league, last season.
He spent most of 2023-24 with Karpat’s under-18 and under-20 clubs.
Read more on Pittsburgh Hockey Now
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©2023 Cox Media Group | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/penguins-sign-third-round-draft-pick-emil-pieniniemi/FUXL6MZA4VAXTDAGWRTMB7SLMA/ | 2023-07-14T18:56:05 | 1 | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/penguins-sign-third-round-draft-pick-emil-pieniniemi/FUXL6MZA4VAXTDAGWRTMB7SLMA/ |
City crews are keeping busy after storms Thursday snapped several trees, leaving a lot to clean up.
“Bang, it hit the bedroom...in comes the tree and me and the dog, we had to run.”
Ranelle Touchstone is pretty rattled as she looks at the mess in her Manchester backyard.
You can see a burnt part of the tree trunk struck by lightning. She says it all happened so fast. She said she saw lightning, heard a crack, then looked out the window and saw the tree.
Other parts of Allegheny County saw 50-mile-per-hour winds around 8 p.m. Thursday.
A street in Brookline was blocked as Duquesne worked to repair a live power line taken down by fallen trees. On Norwich and Ardsley avenues, a tree was knocked into a car, destroying a back window.
Pittsburgh Public Works crews removed about a dozen trees from streets throughout the city. Just after 1 p.m. Friday, Duquesne Light said they were working to restore power to about 1,500 customers.
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©2023 Cox Media Group | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/strong-storms-cause-damage-knock-out-power-pittsburgh-region/AVFAOZM3MFF6LGLIMBQAEPVML4/ | 2023-07-14T18:56:11 | 0 | https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/strong-storms-cause-damage-knock-out-power-pittsburgh-region/AVFAOZM3MFF6LGLIMBQAEPVML4/ |
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