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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has reportedly told Yellowstone Bear World it needs to investigate accusations of employee endangerment at its facility.
A notice was sent to Bear World after the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claimed an undercover investigator witnessed workers being sent into an enclosure with adult bears, equipped with sticks to defend themselves. Yellowstone Bear World is a popular roadside drive-through wildlife park at Thornton, where tourists can see bears and other animals up close.
"When a yearling escaped from an enclosure and was being chased by adult bears, a supervisor told a worker to 'beat' any bear who came toward her," PETA wrote on a web page discussing its investigation.
Among the incidents PETA listed in its complaint to OSHA were employees being approached by several bears while repairing an electric fence on June 25, with one employee having to distract the animals by hand feeding them. No barrier was between the workers and the employees.
On May 22, an employee reportedly approached a bear in the enclosure and began petting it. A second bear approached, which the employee also petted.
On April 28, an employee reportedly directed two bears away from a pile of wood from a broken fence by hand feeding them and threatening them with a stick.
PETA also claimed the undercover investigator witnessed bear cubs biting employees almost every day, acting on an instinct to nurse. In a video released earlier this month, the animal rights nonprofit claimed injured bears also were denied medical care and pain medications.
OSHA notified Bear World that it has until Aug. 1 to take corrective action and show the agency it has taken corrective action. Bear World also can request more time.
"If we do not receive an adequate response indicating that appropriate action has been taken or that no hazard exists and why, an inspection will be conducted," an OSHA letter emailed to Bear World on Monday said.
Yellowstone Bear World is certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is not certified by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which has higher standards than the USDA.
The findings of PETA's undercover investigation match statements former Bear World employees told the Post Register in 2021. One worker told the Post Registerthey were given a baton and a can of bear spray, and were told to monitor bears being introduced from the yearling group in with the adults. They said one of the adult bears attacked and chased a younger bear while they were standing next to it.
PETA included a video of footage captured while the investigator was working at Bear World, with narration from actor Alec Baldwin, a PETA supporter.
"Sending in 20-somethings with a stick and a can of bear spray is utterly insane," Jay Pratte, director of animal care, conservation and education at New York's Utica Zoo and president of Bear Care Group, said when told of the reported practice at Bear World.
Pratte, who has worked with bears for 30 years and trains zookeepers around the world on their care, previously told the Post Register he does not enter an enclosure with bears unless there is a barrier between himself and the animals.
PETA's investigator reportedly began working at Yellowstone Bear World in April and left in June.
During that time, the investigator reportedly witnessed a bear cub with a broken leg being denied pain medications, having a veterinarian examine a different, uninjured bear after a visitor ran over another bear's paw, and not calling a vet when animals appeared injured.
Infant bears also reportedly bit staff, which PETA claimed was in an attempt to suckle them. In a recording posted by the animal rights group, a staff member is heard threatening to knock a cub's teeth out if it does not stop biting.
Bear World said it did not want to comment when reached by the Post Register. However Courtney Ferguson, the president of Bear World, told a Rexburg Standard Journal reporterthat the accusation of animals not receiving proper medical treatment were taken "extremely out of context," but did not deny any specific accusations by the animal rights group.
"The health and safety of the animals is always our number one priority, so that's our main focus and goal," Ferguson said.
Ferguson confirmed Bear World is investigating the issues raised about employee safety, including that bears regularly bit employees.
Brittany Peet, deputy general counsel of captive animal law enforcement for the PETA Foundation, said the two-minute video PETA posted on its website is taken from hours of footage collected by the investigator. She denied that the footage was made to mislead on the medical care of the animals.
"There's no context needed when you are talking about a baby bear who needs pain medicine," Peet said.
PETA has also reported its findings to the United States Department of Agriculture and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, claiming the medical care violated regulations at those agencies.
David Pace from the Rexburg Standard Journal contributed to this report. | https://www.postregister.com/news/local/osha-opens-inquiry-into-bear-world-after-undercover-investigation-by-peta/article_c06288fa-0dcb-11ed-a715-9f39ebc2fec6.html | 2022-07-27T18:09:38 | 1 | https://www.postregister.com/news/local/osha-opens-inquiry-into-bear-world-after-undercover-investigation-by-peta/article_c06288fa-0dcb-11ed-a715-9f39ebc2fec6.html |
NICHOLAS COUNTY, WV (WOWK)—Two people are stranded in Nicholas County after high waters left them on an island.
The Nicholas County Office of Emergency Management says that crews are on their way to rescue the people who were camping near Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park. Officials say that when the campers woke up, the river had risen so much around them that it created an island.
This is a developing story, and we will provide updates as more information becomes available. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/campers-stranded-on-island-in-nicholas-county-floodwaters/ | 2022-07-27T18:10:51 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/campers-stranded-on-island-in-nicholas-county-floodwaters/ |
CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK)—A man has been arrested for making terroristic threats over Twitter against certain West Virginia officials.
The West Virginia Department of Homeland Security (WVDHS) said that 35-year-old Michael Edward Herman threatened members of the state legislature and law enforcement officials that advocate for or enforce abortion bans.
WVDHS says Herman also used intimidating language against Governor Jim Justice, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Capitol Police, the WV Fusion Center and the Romney Detachment of the West Virginia State Police worked together on this case.
WVDHS along with Governor Justice’s office say that they urge citizens to abide by the “see something, say something” principle when they read, hear or see something that could threaten the safety of the community. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/man-arrested-for-terroristic-twitter-threats-against-west-virginia-officials-over-abortion-legislation/ | 2022-07-27T18:10:57 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/man-arrested-for-terroristic-twitter-threats-against-west-virginia-officials-over-abortion-legislation/ |
HUNTINGTON, WV (WOWK)—A man was charged with a felony after allegedly breaking into a Huntington pawn shop.
A criminal complaint says that T.J. Jazz Cremeans was caught on footage with three other suspects breaking into Tri-State Pawn and Jewelry on 29th St. in Huntington on July 18.
The complaint says that Cremeans stole about $7,300 worth of merchandise.
Huntington PD says that Cremeans was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with felony breaking and entering.
HPD says that they are still searching for the other three suspects and that anyone with information should call the Huntington Police Criminal Investigations Bureau at 304-696-4420 or the Police Department’s anonymous tip line at 304-696-4444. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/man-in-custody-after-allegedly-stealing-7300-worth-of-items-from-huntington-pawn-shop/ | 2022-07-27T18:11:03 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/man-in-custody-after-allegedly-stealing-7300-worth-of-items-from-huntington-pawn-shop/ |
SCIOTO COUNTY, OH (WOWK) – Another victim has come forward following the arrest of a 30-year-old woman accused of raping a 12-year-old.
That is according to Scioto County Sheriff David Thoroughman who says the second victim in the new case is also 12 years old.
Kimberly Polachek, 30 of Portsmouth, is now facing another charge in connection to this most recent case.
She was originally charged with kidnapping and rape of a boy, whose parent thought he was staying the night with a friend.
A concerned citizen alerted the Scioto County Sheriff’s Department about the situation and discovered the boy asleep at her house.
Investigators uncovered that the original victim came to her house when her husband was at work.
“I will continue to work closely with our other law enforcement, prosecutor and other partners, both government and private, to ensure that we do everything possible to protect our most vulnerable,” Sheriff Thoroughman said. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/portsmouth-woman-charged-with-rape-of-12-year-old-facing-additional-charge/ | 2022-07-27T18:11:09 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/portsmouth-woman-charged-with-rape-of-12-year-old-facing-additional-charge/ |
CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — A West Virginia International Yeager Airport (CRW) police officer is being recognized for going above and beyond the call of duty.
On July 5, Officer Brian Jones helped two military recruits stranded at Charleston’s airport after their flight was rescheduled for the next day. The two men were traveling to boot camp with only a $10 meal voucher.
Around 10:30 p.m., the Defense Travel Management Office (DTMO) booked the men two hotel rooms over an hour away in Beckley, West Virginia. This allowed them little time to rest and travel back to Charleston for their flight the next morning.
Overhearing this, Officer Jones paid and arranged for a ride to and from a Charleston hotel and bought the men pizza.
One of the men told his mother about the experience and how nice the CRW police officers were. The mother later called Eric Johnson, Yeager Airport Police Chief, and said her son hopes to be a police officer after his military service.
CRW officials said this is not the first time Officer Jones went above and beyond for airport visitors. In March, Officer Jones noticed a child needed to burn off some energy before his flight. The officer received permission from the kid’s grandmother to give him an airport tour. The child walked on a terminal ramp, saw police cruisers, met CRW K-9 Hercules, and visited with a pilot in the cockpit of a Spirit Airlines plane.
Officer Jones’ dedication to serving passengers earned him CRW’s Employee of the Month for July. Yeager Airport officials made the announcement and thanked Officer Jones in a press release.
“CRW would like to thank Officer Jones for creating memorable moments for our passengers and congratulate him on being named Employee of the Month for July,” officials said. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/yeager-airport-officer-helps-2-stranded-military-recruits-after-canceled-flight/ | 2022-07-27T18:11:15 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/yeager-airport-officer-helps-2-stranded-military-recruits-after-canceled-flight/ |
CONROE, Texas — Baily Cowart may just be 11 years old, but the last six years of the Montgomery County girl’s life are a testament to the power of faith and community.
A year ago KHOU 11 reported on Cowart’s newly formed non-profit organization, B.E. Blessed. The B.E. are the first and middle initials of Cowart’s s name, Baily Elizabeth, and the charity’s focus is to bless “students with resources for academic success.”
Cowart began donating school supplies to others when she was just five years old. That’s when she learned not all families can afford a complete list of school supplies requested at the beginning of the year.
At the start of the 2021 school year, and with the help of donations from all over the country, Cowart and volunteers were able to pack more than 400 backpacks with all the supplies 400 students would need for the year.
This school year supplies are stacked on both floors of her family’s home.
“It’s a lot,” said Cowart. “It’s overwhelming to see how much this has grown.”
An Amazon Wish List allows anyone to donate to Cowart’s cause. B.E. Blessed helps to wrangle in cash donations that can help purchase toiletries, shoes, socks and other things students might need throughout the year.
This school year Cowart will pack 800 backpacks full of supplies that will distributed across 11 Conroe ISD campuses.
“And it makes me want to help more,” she said.
This year, the rising seventh-grader is funding a trio of college scholarships for local students.
“Some of these kids want to be doctors or teachers and you need money for that,” said Cowart. “So the scholarships may not pay for much, but they will help.”
Mom Stephanie Cowart runs logistics while rooting for her daughter.
“She sees the world differently than we do,” said Stephanie Cowart, who allows her daughter to store donated supplies in a spare bedroom and in the family’s garage.
“There are hard times in life. I don’t really know what it’s like to be struggling with money, but I know my parents do,” Baily Cowart said. “Just keep your faith. Just keep your faith in something.”
Faith, is starting with a single backpack and supplying hundreds more. | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/outreach/conroe-backpacks-baily-cowart/285-05b74902-721c-4393-b141-058a5e9e0dcd | 2022-07-27T18:22:15 | 1 | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/outreach/conroe-backpacks-baily-cowart/285-05b74902-721c-4393-b141-058a5e9e0dcd |
BLOOMINGTON — A Bloomington woman was killed after she and her mother were hit by a vehicle in Nebraska on Sunday while walking on a dirt road.
Katelyn Einck, 28, was pronounced dead on scene following a collision July 24 near the 1800 block of Stagecoach Lane in Ogallala, Nebraska, according to Keith County Attorney Randy Fair.
She suffered from multiple injuries due to blunt force trauma and succumbed to those injuries.
Einck's mother, Patricia O'Meara, 61, was taken to Ogallala Community Hospital for treatment of her injuries until she was flown out for additional medical services. She is expected to live.
Investigators determined that the mother and daughter were walking east along a dirt road at approximately 6:15 a.m. when a 2006 Chevrolet Blazer driven by a 14-year-old hit the pair.
According to a witness, the juvenile reportedly did not see the pedestrians until it was too late. The angle of the sun at the time of day may have contributed to the collision, Fair said.
According to a post made before 7 a.m. on the Bloomington Fire Department's Facebook page, crews were on the corner of Market and Lee streets and asked the public to avoid the intersection. | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/accident-and-incident/bloomington-woman-dead-after-pedestrian-collision-in-nebraska/article_9ab51c70-0d22-11ed-a17b-b3ec74885444.html | 2022-07-27T18:22:31 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/accident-and-incident/bloomington-woman-dead-after-pedestrian-collision-in-nebraska/article_9ab51c70-0d22-11ed-a17b-b3ec74885444.html |
BLOOMINGTON — A Normal teenager is in custody after police responded to reports of shots fired Tuesday evening.
Bloomington officers were dispatched at approximately 6:52 p.m. for a call about shots fired in the 100 block of North Williamsburg Drive, according to a statement from the Bloomington Police Department.
Upon arrival, witnesses saw a subject or subjects running from the area; police later located a 17-year-old Normal male near an apartment complex.
During a discussion with the juvenile, a pistol was observed in his pants pocket, and officers removed it and placed him custody without incident.
He was arrested on preliminary charges of unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated discharge of a firearm.
BPD Spokesperson Brandt Parsley said no injuries were reported and no other information will be released about the juvenile.
The Pantagraph does not name suspects before they are formally charged, and juvenile courts protect the identity of persons under the age of 18 who are charged with crimes.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Paul Swanlund of BPD’s criminal investigation division at 309-434-2373 or pswanlund@cityblm.org .
To submit a tip anonymously, contact the crime and intelligence analysis unit at 309-434-2963 or CIAU@cityblm.org .
Photos: Marcfirst Disability Pride Parade marches through downtown Bloomington
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade on Monday in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Hannah Gallee watches the Marcfirst Disability Pride Parade with her pup, Carli on Monday in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade on Monday in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Bloomington Police Chief Jamal A Simington, left, and Assistant Chief Ken Bays, right, lead members of the annual Marcfirst Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Mateusz Janik pets a dog, Sunny Chalupa, at the annual Marcfirst Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Lanada Cunningham, community engagement program manager at Bloomington Best Buddies, hands out bracelets at the annual Marcfirst Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Homes for Hope drives in the downtown Bloomington Disability Pride Parade.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Bloomington Police Chief Jamal Simington, left, and Assistant Chief Ken Bays walk in the annual Marcfirst Disability Pride Parade on Monday in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Marcfirst held its annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
D. Jack Alkire
Representatives from Mid America Insurance walking in the annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, through downtown Bloomington.
Mateusz Janik
Bloomington Police Chief Jamal Simington walking with other paradegoers for the annual Disability Pride Parade Monday, July 25, in downtown Bloomington.
Mateusz Janik
Lucy Tudor, left, and Patty Downey sit on the back of a truck with their dogs Zuko, left, and Zoe for the annual Disability Pride Parade on Monday in downtown Bloomington.
Mateusz Janik
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Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/teen-in-custody-after-shots-fired-tuesday-in-bloomington/article_e148ce4a-0dca-11ed-a710-a7c2a7ea4db4.html | 2022-07-27T18:22:37 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/teen-in-custody-after-shots-fired-tuesday-in-bloomington/article_e148ce4a-0dca-11ed-a710-a7c2a7ea4db4.html |
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Multnomah County officials instituted a ban on wood-burning Wednesday, citing the extreme heat and poor air quality as significant health hazards.
The ban on smoke from burning wood goes into effect at noon and will be lifted “when conditions improve,” officials said. While it does not apply to cooking, the county’s website says it applies to wood or pellet stoves, fireplaces and chimeneas. Some households can apply for an exemption.
It comes one day after the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality advisory for heavy levels of ozone pollution, otherwise known as smog. A similar ban was also issued Monday from the Multnomah County Fire Defense Board, which prohibited using recreational campfires, fire pits and burning yard debris in the name of fire safety.
The DEQ said ozone forms when hot temperatures and low winds combine with pollution from cars, gas-powered engines and chemicals in paints and aerosols. These pollutants then react with sunlight and heat to produce ozone and haze.
Air with high levels of ozone pollution is unhealthy to breathe, and officials hope to reduce it by keeping residents from adding to the emissions by burning wood, driving, mowing the lawn and using aerosol sprays.
This week’s high temperatures and sunlight can exacerbate air pollution, health officials said. As the day gets warmer and brighter, ozone pollution increases. Pollution levels tend to be highest during afternoons and early evenings.
Officials urge community members to check in on groups that are sensitive to air pollution, such as children, people over 65 and those with respiratory problems like asthma and COPD.
The DEQ’s Air Quality Index has up-to-date information on the current air quality conditions. | https://www.koin.com/local/multnomah-county/smog-heat-prompt-wood-burning-ban-in-multnomah-county/ | 2022-07-27T18:23:53 | 1 | https://www.koin.com/local/multnomah-county/smog-heat-prompt-wood-burning-ban-in-multnomah-county/ |
Tony Michael “Mike” Dahl passed away on Friday, July 22, 2022 at OHSU Hospital in Portland, surrounded by his family. He had endured a 3 year courageous battle with a rare lymphoma.
Mike is survived by his wife, Sherry Dahl; his father, William “Bill” Dahl; mother, Candice Murphy; stepfather, Francis Murphy; brothers, Bill Dahl Jr. and Sean Murphy; sister, Gypsy Warrick; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.
A Funeral Service will be 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 31, 2022 at Stehn Family Chapels, 2906 SE Harrison St. Milwaukie, OR. Private interment will be at Pacific View Memorial Gardens in Lincoln City, OR. For more information, please visit stehnfuneralhomes.com. | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/obituaries/tony-michael-mike-dahl/article_ce8c554e-0dc8-11ed-995d-bfdfdf274041.html | 2022-07-27T18:27:11 | 1 | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/obituaries/tony-michael-mike-dahl/article_ce8c554e-0dc8-11ed-995d-bfdfdf274041.html |
JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (WJHL) — A local 10-year-old is taking her love of cooking and sharing it with other kids by hosting her first cooking class, and a local farm is trying to continue the trend.
“We had a building project here on the farm, and there was a group of volunteers that came over to help us one day,” said David Wiley, owner of Serenity Knoll Farms. “One of the children who was a part of one of the families that came to help us walked into the kitchen and said, ‘Can I help?’ And I said, ‘Well, sure, what can you do?’ And she said, ‘I can do it all.'”
Wiley said it was immediately clear how talented 10-year-old Ellarose Boone was in the kitchen, but she wasn’t done yet.
“I enjoyed cooking for so long that I think it would be a good idea to teach other kids how to cook,” said Ellarose Boone, a 10-year-old chef.
To everyone’s surprise, Ellarose came ready with a business pitch.
“A few minutes later, she walks back into the kitchen and has her iPad and she has this class, all scripted out to teach,” said Wiley “And I said, ‘Okay, well, let me talk to your mom.'”
“She approached David on her own,” said Kristin Boone, Ellarose’s mom. “I didn’t even know she was doing what she was doing, but it’s really amazing to see her take charge like that.”
Wiley met with his culinary director, Sheridan Nice, to get the course rolling. Nice said they’ve held other children’s cooking courses at the farm but never one taught by a child.
“Another child can see that [Ellarose] has these skills and that she’s able to pull this off and make a beautiful batch of cinnamon rolls, then they’ll feel confident that they can do it themselves,” said Nice.
Eventually, after several months of planning, they settled on cinnamon rolls, a recipe Ellarose is very familiar with already.
“It’s been really awesome to see all the people that are willing to support her,” said Boone.
Wiley and Nice said Ellarose’s motivation has them considering a series of courses taught by kids for kids.
Wiley and Nice say they are looking forward to having other courses like the one taught by Ellarose in the future. As for Ellarose, her cooking journey is just getting started. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/cooking-up-opportunity-jonesborough-10-year-old-teaches-cooking-course/ | 2022-07-27T18:27:44 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/cooking-up-opportunity-jonesborough-10-year-old-teaches-cooking-course/ |
Tucson police have arrested a man in connection to a shooting that left a man dead in May.
Paul Richard Miranda, 32, was identified as the suspect in the death of Ricardo Fragoso, 28, and detectives obtained an arrest warrant for second-degree murder. On July 26, Miranda was found near South Kino Parkway and East Silverlake Road and was booked into the Pima County jail.
On May 23, police received numerous 911 calls that reported at shooting at a residence in the 440 block of East Calle Aurora and a shooting victim less than half-a-mile away at an apartment complex, located at 4301 E. 29th St.
Upon arriving at the apartment complex, officers found Fragoso and took him to St. Joseph’s Hospital with life threatening injuries, police said. Fragoso succumbed to his injuries the next day.
Detectives learned that Fragoso had been involved in an argument with an acquaintance at his home on Calle Aurora. Shortly after that argument, a vehicle arrived and Fragoso was involved in a confrontation with the vehicle’s occupants. During the confrontation, Fragoso was shot, and he fled in a vehicle seeking help.
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Miranda is currently being held on a $1 million bond.
Jamie Donnelly covers breaking news for the Arizona Daily Star. Contact her via e-mail at jdonnelly@tucson.com | https://tucson.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/tucson-police-arrest-man-in-connection-to-may-homicide/article_0e1fcf3a-0dd1-11ed-b7aa-67cafa1f007b.html | 2022-07-27T18:27:44 | 1 | https://tucson.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/tucson-police-arrest-man-in-connection-to-may-homicide/article_0e1fcf3a-0dd1-11ed-b7aa-67cafa1f007b.html |
ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (WJHL) – An Elizabethton High School teacher has been selected as one of the Tennessee Department of Education’s (TDOE) nine finalists for the 2022-23 Teacher of the Year.
According to a release from the department, one teacher from each of the state’s eight Center of Regional Excellence (CORE) areas was chosen, along with one from the Shelby County area. Three are chosen from West Tennessee, three from Middle Tennessee and three from East Tennessee.
Representing the “First Tennessee” CORE Region is Meg Foster from Elizabethton High School. According to her staff profile on the school’s website, Foster teaches drama and is the instructor for the Cyclone Experience program.
Foster’s finalist status drew praise from state lawmakers. The release included the following statements of congratulations:
“I applaud each finalist who has been nominated for Tennessee’s 2022 Teacher of the Year Award, and I am especially proud of Ms. Megan Foster for her efforts in having such a positive impact on the lives of the students she has worked with throughout the years, as well as those that will be a product of her teaching in the future. Megan is a great example of a teacher that gives their all for the young students whom will determine the future of our state. Tennessee is lucky to have not just a few, but 9 finalists for this prestigious award.”
State Senator Rusty Crowe
“Being named a finalist for Tennessee Teacher of the Year is an incredible accomplishment. I congratulate Meg Foster on being recognized for her hard work and commitment to the students of Elizabethton High School. Her efforts highlight the tremendous impact educators have every day on the lives of students across our state.”
State Representative John B. Holsclaw Jr.
Each of the nine finalists will be able to serve on the Tennessee Teacher Advisory Council under Commissioner Penny Schwinn. The teacher who is named the winner will represent the state in the National Teacher of the Year competition and serve as an education ambassador for Tennessee throughout the year.
The Tennessee Teacher of the Year will be announced at a banquet in the fall. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/elizabethton-teacher-named-finalist-for-tennessee-teacher-of-the-year/ | 2022-07-27T18:27:50 | 0 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/elizabethton-teacher-named-finalist-for-tennessee-teacher-of-the-year/ |
The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
The January 6th Select Committee has held a series of public hearings in recent weeks to lay out its findings of the investigation into the attack on the Capitol and the months-long criminal conspiracy leading up to it. The hearings have proven that former President Donald Trump and his MAGA allies abandoned their oaths and attempted to overthrow the will of the people in a scheme they knew was illegal and unconstitutional.
As a lawyer and professor, I have spent my career studying American politics, the legal system and how these systems can impact equality. Never before has an American president so egregiously violated the terms of his oath of office. The committee has shown that Trump and his associates planned, promoted and paid for the criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the election. The fact that Trump incited the violence that occurred on that day is now without dispute. From testimony from his own former staffers, we now know that he knew some of his rally-goers had military-grade weapons and guns and he encouraged them to go to the Capitol anyway. We know he waited to act, and we know he thought those overrunning the Capitol had the right idea.
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And the hearings aren’t even over yet.
In the coming days and weeks, we will learn more about the violent extremist groups and the MAGA wing of the Republican Party’s ongoing attempts to take control of our election systems. By trying to replace state and local election officials with election deniers, passing laws making it harder to vote and diminishing Arizona’s faith in our elections, Republicans in our state and across the country are set on seizing and holding on to power through whatever means necessary.
The illegality of former President Trump’s actions is beyond dispute, thanks to the work of the investigators on the January 6th hearings. We know that his ultimate goal was to seize power through an unconstitutional scheme, whatever it took, starting with an illegal pressure campaign and culminating with a violent attack on his own vice president.
But the Republican reaction, or lack of one, to the jarring and damning evidence presented by the committee shows that this goes far beyond a former president. With Republican state legislatures passing laws making it harder to vote, election officials being replaced, and even with the Supreme Court, Republicans are set on overturning the next election, and the one after that, if it doesn’t go their way. Watching state Rep. Mark Finchem run for secretary of state — a primary administrator of Arizona elections — makes it clear that our Republican Party has given up on trying to win fair and square.
Getting to the truth during these hearings and then demanding accountability at the courts and the ballot box is how we stop the current campaign to sabotage future elections by changing state laws, threatening state officials, and packing election administration offices so that they can have the final say over election results — even when they lose.
I hope Arizona will continue to tune into the hearings and hear more of the full truth as the hearings continue.
Lisa Queen is an attorney in Arizona. She is a professor of practice at the University of Arizona and teaches American politics at Arizona Nursing College. The opinions shared in this piece are solely the views of the author and do not reflect any official policy of any academic institution. | https://tucson.com/opinion/local/local-opinion-trump-tried-to-seize-power-through-unconstitutional-scheme/article_8ce16126-0c3c-11ed-bceb-4b7875dd7dcf.html | 2022-07-27T18:27:50 | 1 | https://tucson.com/opinion/local/local-opinion-trump-tried-to-seize-power-through-unconstitutional-scheme/article_8ce16126-0c3c-11ed-bceb-4b7875dd7dcf.html |
Google is moving into the Thompson Center, the state building in downtown Chicago, officials announced Wednesday.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the state is selling the building to a developer for $30 million in cash and also getting another downtown building valued at $75 million.
"The Thompson Center gives us a presence in the central business district, enabling us to get in on the ground floor of revitalizing the Loop with its unparalleled access to public transit, which is so important to today's hybrid workforce," said Karen Sauder, Google's president of global clients and agency solutions.
The Thompson Center, a hulking all-glass building designed by Helmut Jahn, opened in 1985 as the State of Illinois Center. It was renamed in 1993 for Jim Thompson, who served as governor from 1977-91.
JRTC Holdings LLC will renovate the Thompson Center to meet Google's needs.
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The state, meanwhile, will move nearly 1,800 employees from the Thompson Center and other downtown office space to the newly acquired building on South LaSalle Street.
"This transformative agreement will save our taxpayers nearly a billion dollars over the next thirty years and further Chicago's reputation as one of the great tech hubs not just of the United States, but of the world," Pritzker said. | https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/thompson-center-sold-in-downtown-chicago-google-moving-in/article_27e6493f-669a-58bd-b15e-d2c1b8d356f3.html | 2022-07-27T18:28:29 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/thompson-center-sold-in-downtown-chicago-google-moving-in/article_27e6493f-669a-58bd-b15e-d2c1b8d356f3.html |
Nebraska football fans will once again get a quick and easy way to travel to a Husker road game this fall.
United Airlines on Tuesday announced it would add 120 flights to its schedule this fall, including three direct flights to and from Lincoln to accommodate fans.
"College football fans love following their team on the road and this year we're making it easier than ever," said Michael Weeks, managing director of domestic schedule development and publication at United.
A flight will bring Oklahoma fans to Lincoln for the Sept. 17 clash at Memorial Stadium. Fans can depart Friday afternoon, fly straight to Lincoln and then fly back to Oklahoma City on Sunday morning.
On Nov. 11, Husker fans can board a direct flight to Detroit to cheer on the team when it plays Michigan on Nov. 12, then return home on another direct flight on Nov. 13. That flight will be on an Airbus 320, which seats around 150 passengers. That's more than double the size of the United planes that normally fly out of Lincoln.
United also said it plans to offer larger planes for some connecting flights from Chicago to Big Ten destinations throughout the season.
This is the second year in a row and third overall that United has offered additional flights to and from Lincoln. Last year, flights were added surrounding the Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State games.
In 2019, United offered direct flights from Columbus, Ohio, to Lincoln to accommodate OSU fans traveling here for the game.
Owner Mark Suleiman said he is working on adding bathrooms to the space above Barry's Bar and Grill and hopes to have them ready in time for the football season.
One advantage Lincoln has, a consultant said, is that it is moving into this next phase of strategic planning from a position of strength, with a vibrant economy, low unemployment and a wealth of growing employers.
The six startups, which range in industries from real estate, networking, software and products, mark the inaugural cohort to receive investments from the NMotion program.
The project is expected to employ 1,000 full-time workers who will work alongside robots to pick, pack and prepare items for delivery to front porches.
The undisclosed contribution from the National Guard Bureau will help cover a likely shortfall in what the Federal Aviation Administration is willing to pay to keep the airport's main runway at nearly 13,000 feet long.
The Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission has given approval for WarHorse Gaming and the Nebraska Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association to begin work at Lincoln Race Course to accommodate the temporary casino.
Volunteers greet Ohio State football fans arriving on a special direct United Airlines flight from Columbus, Ohio, at the Lincoln Airport in September 2019. | https://journalstar.com/business/local/united-adding-direct-flights-to-and-from-lincoln-for-husker-football-games/article_e9a7fcef-2471-5176-870b-ba3b48dbb63a.html | 2022-07-27T18:31:06 | 0 | https://journalstar.com/business/local/united-adding-direct-flights-to-and-from-lincoln-for-husker-football-games/article_e9a7fcef-2471-5176-870b-ba3b48dbb63a.html |
Two Lincoln teenagers were referred to juvenile court after they partially disassembled someone else's vehicle in the Lincoln Children's Zoo parking lot Tuesday afternoon in an attempt to hotwire the car as a part of a nationwide social media challenge, according to police.
The teenagers — 13 and 15 years old — had partially taken apart the ignition of a 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe in the parking lot of the zoo, near 27th Street and Capitol Parkway, by the time officers arrived around 5 p.m. Tuesday, Lincoln Police Investigator Scott Parker said.
A witness told police the teens had been filming themselves as they tampered with the vehicle, Parker said.
Investigators believe they were filming the crime to participate in a TikTok challenge that "basically ... shows you how to steal certain types of vehicles by hotwiring them," Parker said. TikTok is a popular video-sharing app that often generates viral trends to be repeated endlessly by users around the globe.
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Trend participants often target Hyundais and Kias. Police linked the two teens to a Hyundai taken July 9 in Lincoln, Parker said.
They were referred to juvenile court on suspicion of possession of burglar's tools and theft by unlawful taking. Police released the teens, who caused $500 in damage to the Hyundai, to their parents.
The incident doesn't mark the first time the social media app has played a role in local crime.
Last November, at least Lincoln four homes were vandalized as a part of a trend that prompted participants to kick — and sometime break through — residential front doors. And similar TikTok-encouraged hijinks have plagued Nebraska schools in recent school years.
Tom Casady's list of the 10 most infamous crimes in Lincoln history
Crimes of the times
This is simply one man’s perspective from the early 21st century (first written in 2010). I had to make a decision about crimes that occurred at locations that are inside the city today, but were outside our corporate limits at the time they occurred. I chose the latter.
Before beginning, though, I have to deal with three crimes that stand apart: the murders of three police officers in Lincoln. I’m not quite sure how to place them in a list. They all had huge impacts on the community, and on the police department in particular. Because these are my colleagues, I deal with them separately and in chronological order.
Patrolman Marion Francis Marshall
Shot in the shadow of the new Nebraska State Capital, Gov. Charles Bryan came to his aid and summoned additional help.
Lt. Frank Soukup
Marion Marshall was technically not a Lincoln police officer, so Lt. Soukup was actually the first Lincoln police officer killed on duty. One of his colleagues who was present at the motel and involved in the gunbattle, Paul Jacobsen, went on to enjoy a long career and command rank at LPD, influencing many young charges (like me) and leaving his mark on the culture of the agency.
Lt. Paul Whitehead
In the space of a few months, three LPD officers died in the line of duty. Frank Soukup had been murdered, and George Welter had died in a motorcycle crash. Paul Whitehead's partner, Paul Merritt, went on to command rank, and like Paul Jacobsen left an indelible mark at LPD and the community.
No. 1: Starkweather
The subject of several thinly disguised movie plots and a Springsteen album, the Starkweather murders are clearly the most infamous crime in Lincoln’s history — so far. One of the first mass murderers of the mass media age, six of Charles Starkweather’s 11 victims were killed inside the city of Lincoln, and the first was just on the outskirts of town. I didn’t live in Lincoln at the time, but my wife was a first-grader at Riley Elementary School and has vivid memories of the city gripped by fear in the days between the discovery of the Bartlett murders and Starkweather’s capture in Wyoming.
The case caused quite an uproar. There was intense criticism of the police department and sheriff’s office for not capturing Starkweather earlier in the week after the discovery of the Bartletts' bodies. Ultimately, Mayor Bennett Martin and the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners retained a retired FBI agent, Harold G. Robinson, to investigate the performance of local law enforcement. His report essentially exonerated the local law officers and made a few vanilla recommendations for improving inter-agency communication and training.
Now I know that many readers are mumbling to themselves “how obvious.” Hold your horses, though. It’s not quite as obvious as you might think. I had two experiences that drove this fact home to me. The first was a visit by a small group of journalism students. Only one member of the class had any idea, and her idea was pretty vague. You need to remember that the Starkweather murders were in 1957 and 1958 — before the parents of many college students were even born.
The second experience was a visit by a Cub Scout den. I was giving the kids a tour of the police station one evening. We were in the front lobby waiting for everyone to arrive. As I entertained the boys, I told the moms and dads that they might enjoy looking in the corner of the Sheriff’s Office display case to see the contents of Starkweather’s wallet — discovered a couple of years ago locked up in the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office safe. After a few minutes, one of the confused fathers asked me who Starkweather was, and why it was significant.
No. 2: Lincoln National Bank
On the morning of Sept. 17, 1930, a dark blue Buick carrying six men pulled up in front of the Lincoln National Bank at the northwest corner of 12th and O streets. Five of the men entered the bank, while a sixth stood outside by the Buick, cradling a machine gun. Observing the unusual events, a passerby called the police. The officer who responded, Forrest Shappaugh, was casually instructed by the machine-gun-toting lookout to just keep going, which he wisely did. Returning with reinforcements, he found that the robbers had already made good on their getaway, netting $2.7 million in cash and negotiable securities.
Ultimately, three of the six suspects were arrested. Tommy O’Connor and Howard Lee were convicted and sentenced. Jack Britt was tried twice but not convicted by a hung jury. Gus Winkeler, a member of Al Capone’s gang, winged a deal with County Attorney Max Towle to avoid prosecution in exchange for orchestrating the recovery of $600,000 in bearer bonds. The following year, Winkeler was murdered in Chicago, the victim of a gangland slaying. The final two robbers were never identified.
The Lincoln National Bank robbery stood as the largest cash bank robbery in the United States for many decades. It precipitated major changes at the Lincoln Police Department. Chief Peter Johnstone was rapidly “retired” after the robbery, the department’s fleet was upgraded to add the first official patrol cars, the full force was armed and a shotgun squad was organized. Forty-four years later when I was hired at LPD, the echo of the Lincoln National Bank robbery was still evident in daily bank opening details, and in the Thomspon submachine guns and Reising rifles that detectives grabbed whenever the robbery alarm sounded at headquarters.
No. 3: The Last Posse
My first inkling about this crime came when I was the chief deputy sheriff. One of my interns, a young man named Ron Boden (who became a veteran deputy sheriff), had been doing some research on Lancaster County’s only known lynching, in 1884. I came across a reference in the biography of the sheriff at the time, Sam Melick, to the murder of the Nebraska Penitentiary warden and subsequent prison break. Melick had been appointed interim warden after the murder and instituted several reforms.
Several years later, a colleague, Sgt. Geoff Marti, loaned me a great book, Gale Christianson’s "Last Posse," that told the story of the 1912 prison break in gory, haunting and glorious detail.
To make a long story short, convict Shorty Gray and his co-conspirators shot and killed Warden James Delahunty, a deputy warden and a guard on Wednesday, March 13, 1912. They then made their break — right into the teeth of a brutal Nebraska spring blizzard. Over the course to the next few days, a posse pursued. During the pursuit, the escapees carjacked a young farmer with his team and wagon. As the posse closed in, a gunfight broke out and the hostage was shot and killed in the exchange, along with two of the three escapees.
There was plenty of anger among the locals in the Gretna-Springfield vicinity about the death of their native son, and a controversy raged over the law enforcement tactics that brought about his demise. Lancaster County Sheriff Gus Hyers was not unsullied by the inquiry, although it appears from my prospect a century later that the fog of war led to the tragedy.
Christianson, a professor of history at Indiana State University who died earlier this year, notes the following on the flyleaf:
“For anyone living west of the Mississippi in 1912, the biggest news that fateful year was a violent escape from the Nebraska state penitentiary planned and carried out by a trio of notorious robbers and safe blowers.”
Bigger news on half the continent than the sinking of the Titanic during the same year would certainly qualify this murder-escape as one of the most infamous Lincoln crimes in history.
No. 4: Rock Island wreck
The Aug. 10, 1894, wreck of a Rock Island train on the southwest outskirts of Lincoln was almost lost in the mist of time until it was resurrected in the public consciousness by author Joel Williams, who came across the story while conducting research for his historical novel, "Barrelhouse Boys."
The wreck was determined to be the result of sabotage to the tracks, perhaps an attempt to derail the train as a prelude to robbery. Eleven people died in the crash and ensuing fire, making this a mass murder, to be sure. G.W. Davis was arrested and convicted of the crime but later received a full pardon. The story was told in greater detail earlier this year by the Lincoln Journal Star.
A historical marker is along the Rock Island Trail in Wilderness Park, accessible only by foot or bike from the nearest trail access points about a half-mile away at Old Cheney Road on the north, or 14th Street on the south.
Here’s the big question that remains unanswered: Was there really significant evidence to prove that George Washington Davis committed the crime, or was he just a convenient scapegoat? The fact that he received a gubernatorial pardon 10 years later leads me to believe that the evidence must have been unusually weak. If he was railroaded, then my second question is this: who really pried loose the tracks with the 40-pound crowbar found at the scene?
No. 5: Commonwealth
On Nov. 1, 1983, the doors to Nebraska’s largest industrial savings and loan company were closed and Commonwealth was declared insolvent. The 6,700 depositors with $65 million at stake would never be fully compensated for their loss, ultimately receiving about 59 cents on the dollar for their deposits, which they all mistakenly believed were insured up to $30,000 through the Nebraska Depository Insurance Guaranty Corporation, which was essentially an insurance pool with assets of only $3 million.
The case dominated Nebraska news for months. The investigation ultimately led to the conviction of three members of the prominent Lincoln family that owned the institution, the resignation of the director of the State Department of Banking and the impeachment of the Nebraska attorney general and the suspension of his license to practice law. State and federal litigation arising from the failure of Commonwealth drug on for years.
At the Lincoln Police Department, the Commonwealth failure led to the formation of a specialized white-collar crime detail, now known as the Technical Investigations Unit. At the time, municipal police departments in the United States had virtually no capacity for investigating financial crime and fraud of this magnitude, and we quickly became well known for our expertise in this area. The early experience served LPD very well in the ensuring years.
No. 6: Candice Harms
Candi Harms never came home from visiting her boyfriend on Sept. 22, 1992. Her parents reported her as a missing person the following morning, and her car was found abandoned in a cornfield north of Lincoln later in the day. Weeks went by before her remains were found southeast of Lincoln.
Scott Barney and Roger Bjorklund were convicted in her abduction and murder. Barney is in prison serving a life term. Bjorklund died in prison in 2001. Intense media attention surrounded the lengthy trial of Roger Bjorklund, for which a jury was brought in from Cheyenne County as an alternative to a change of venue. I have no doubt that the trial was a life-changing event for a group of good citizens from Sidney, who did their civic duty.
I was the Lancaster County sheriff at the time, involved both in the investigation and in the trial security. It was at about this time that the cellular telephone was becoming a consumer product, and I have often thought that this brutal crime probably spurred a lot of purchases. During my career, this is probably the second-most-prominent Lincoln crime in terms of the sheer volume of media coverage.
No. 7: Jon Simpson and Jacob Surber
A parent’s worst nightmare unfolded in September 1975 when these two boys, ages 12 and 13, failed to return from the Nebraska State Fair. The boys were the victims of abduction and murder. The case was similar to a string of other murders of young boys in the Midwest, and many thought that these cases were related -- the work of a serial killer. Although an arrest was made in the case here in Lincoln, the charges were eventually dismissed. William Guatney was released and has since died.
No. 8: John Sheedy
Saloon and gambling house owner John Sheedy was gunned down outside his home at 1211 P St. in January 1891. The case of Sheedy, prominent in Lincoln’s demiworld, became the talk of the town when his wife, Mary, and her alleged lover and accomplice, Monday McFarland, were arrested. Both were acquitted at trial. The Sheedy murder is chronicled in a great interactive multimedia website, Gilded Age Plains City, an online version that builds upon an article published in 2001 by Timothy Mahoney of the University of Nebraska.
No. 9: Patricia McGarry and Catherine Brooks
The bodies of these two friends were found in a Northeast Lincoln duplex in August 1977. Their murderer, Robert E. Williams, was the subject of a massive Midwest manhunt during the following week. Before his capture, he committed a third murder in Sioux Rapids, Iowa, and raped, shot and left for dead a victim who survived in Minnesota. He is the last man to be executed in Nebraska, sent to the electric chair in 1997.
No. 10: Judge William M. Morning
District Court Judge William Morning was murdered in February 1924. He was shot on the bench by an unhappy litigant in a divorce case. His court reporter, Minor Bacon, was also shot, but a notebook in his breast pocket deflected the bullet and saved his life.
Many other crimes
Choosing Lincoln's 10 most infamous crimes was a challenge. Although the top two were easy, the picture quickly became clouded. We tend, of course, to forget our history rather quickly. Many of the crimes I felt were among the most significant are barely remembered today, if not completely forgotten.
Some readers will take issue with my list. In choosing 10, here are the others I considered, in no particular order. They are all murders:
-- Mary O'Shea
-- Nancy Parker
-- Charles Mulholland
-- Victoria Lamm and Janet Mesner
-- Martina McMenamin
-- Regina Bos (presumably murdered)
-- Patty Webb
-- Marianne Mitzner
I also thought about the five murder-suicides in which a mother or father killed multiple family members before taking their own life. Though tragic, these crimes did not command the same kind of attention as the others, perhaps because there was no lengthy investigation, no tantalizing whodunit, no stranger-killer, nor any of the details that come out in the coverage of a major trial. | https://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/lincoln-teens-partially-disassembled-car-in-hotwiring-attempt-for-tiktok-challenge-police-say/article_db2ddd18-6448-54cc-913e-f295d2ed2c7a.html | 2022-07-27T18:31:13 | 1 | https://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/lincoln-teens-partially-disassembled-car-in-hotwiring-attempt-for-tiktok-challenge-police-say/article_db2ddd18-6448-54cc-913e-f295d2ed2c7a.html |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — This story was originally published by CalMatters.
Things don’t look great for tenants in California.
After more than two years, statewide eviction protections are over, and landlords will be allowed to bump up rents on some apartments by as much as 10% come Aug. 1 — the maximum allowed under state law thanks to ballooning inflation rates.
As with any California housing crisis story, though, it’s complicated. In some cities, the end of statewide eviction laws has meant the start of even stronger local protections, such as bans on evictions over non-payment of rent in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
And if you’re lucky enough to live in a rent-controlled unit in Los Angeles — which make up about three quarters of the rental stock in the city — rent hikes are also prohibited until at least next summer.
Confused? So are tenants and landlords.
On this episode of “Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast,” CalMatters’ Manuela Tobias and the Los Angeles Times’ Liam Dillon walk through the patchwork of laws with Ari Chazanas, a landlord who manages about 1,000 apartments across Los Angeles, and Kamilah Miller, a child care worker in Antioch in the East Bay who’s long battled housing insecurity.
“It felt like you almost needed to take a college course breaking down and analyzing what you can do and what you can’t do, and it’s still confusing for t e most part,” Chazanas said.
Meanwhile, Miller, one of the hundreds of thousands of tenants helped by the state’s rent relief program, worries about making next month’s rent.
“I don’t have it coming up,” she said. “I’m not quite sure what we’re going to do next month. And it’s not even next month. We’re counting down the days.”
CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
Watch more from ABC10: Lodi opens $2 million shelter as unhoused population increase by 50% | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/calmatters/housing-crisis-for-renters-califronia/103-472fd1f2-836d-4fc4-9440-b929fe286e75 | 2022-07-27T18:33:36 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/calmatters/housing-crisis-for-renters-califronia/103-472fd1f2-836d-4fc4-9440-b929fe286e75 |
MODESTO, Calif. — A man has been found guilty in the 2017 drive-by shooting death of a 5-year-old Modesto boy.
After a three week trial, Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager announced 25-year-old Robert Earl Davis Jr. had been found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and premeditated attempted murder.
According to police, on October 28, 2017, 5-year-old Xavier Smith and another 6-year-old boy were playing inside the garage of a home on Lake Park Court.
Davis shot at the home and into the garage where Smith and his friend were playing. Smith was killed and his friend was wounded.
After a three-month investigation, Modesto police were able to arrest and locate Davis. He now faces a maximum possible sentence of 77 years to life in state prison for the two charges.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 7, 2022.
Watch more from ABC10: Video | Modesto Police release footage of Entrada Way shooting as family sues city | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/modesto/man-convicted-in-death-of-5-year-old-xavier-smith-modesto/103-67f2cb43-0c6b-48f1-b40e-beeb08740b99 | 2022-07-27T18:33:43 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/modesto/man-convicted-in-death-of-5-year-old-xavier-smith-modesto/103-67f2cb43-0c6b-48f1-b40e-beeb08740b99 |
BLOOMINGTON — For the first time in 24 years, Bloomington District 87 has a superintendent new to the district, but David Mouser is far from a stranger to education in the area.
Mouser took the helm at District 87 on July 1, as Barry Reilly retired after more than 30 years in the district. Reilly had led the district since 2010, and his predecessor, Robert Nielsen, started as superintendent in 1998.
Mouser grew up in Bloomington-Normal and attended McLean County Unit 5 schools, including Normal Community High School. His father had a farm in Carlock, and Mouser still keeps a sign from the farm next to his degrees in his office. He has spent the last eight years leading Downs-based Tri-Valley School District, and before that was principal at Tri-Valley High School.
"I don't feel like I ever left (Bloomington-Normal). To be honest with you, I feel like Tri-Valley, in a lot of ways, is part of the Bloomington-Normal school system. Eighty percent of our addresses at Tri-Valley are Bloomington addresses," he said.
Mouser has had a slow introduction to the district over the past few months, he said, as Tri-Valley let him spend some time learning the ropes at District 87.
“(Mouser and Reilly) were able to meet together a lot and meet with various community leaders and organizations,” District 87 Board President Mark Wylie said.
Mouser said he was also able to visit every district school, as well as meet with leaders of McLean County Unit 5, Illinois State University, Illinois Wesleyan University and Heartland Community College.
With Mouser having been a superintendent in the region, he had already worked with many of the education leaders in the area before. Reilly and LeRoy superintendent Gary Tipsord both helped Mouser as he learned the ropes as a superintendent, he said.
“Dr. Reilly has been a mentor for me for years,” Mouser said.
Mouser had the right temperament, a strong track record at Tri-Valley and, like all the candidates, the needed qualifications, Wylie said. As the board got to know him, Wylie felt it was clear Mouser was the right choice.
The board will probably have its first full meeting with Mouser as superintendent on Aug. 17, the day before the first day of school. The board was glad to have Reilly as long as they did, Wylie said.
“We were fortunate to have Dr. Reilly for 12 years,” Wylie said.
He looks forward to working with Mouser and said he hopes Mouser will be at District 87 for a similar amount of time as his predecessors.
Relationships are his big focus for the next few months, Mouser said, adding it does not help to come in with an agenda. He hopes to be visible and engaged in the community. A big part of that will be meeting district staff and students and attending events.
"I hope that by me being visible, engaged and interactive, I'll earn the trust of those around me so that we can move forward and really do some creative, innovative things," he said.
One of the events he is most looking forward to is that first Friday night football game, and all of the events where students are enjoying their time in school.
“When kids are back doing what kids are supposed to do, which is being completely engaged in their activates that they love, that's the stuff that I look forward to, and that's the stuff that I missed so much during COVID,” he said.
Mouser has had to adapt to a new organization, a district that is larger and more diverse than Tri-Valley. District 87 has about 5,000 students, compared to about 1,100 last year at Tri-Valley. District 87 also has significantly higher populations of historically marginalized students, including ethnic and racial minorities, students with individual education plans, and low-income students, state data shows.
That transition is what Mouser anticipates will be his biggest personal challenge coming into the role. On the other hand, many of the things he is used to handling at the smaller district have dedicated staff at District 87, like human resources and finances. He is glad to have a strong staff helping him transition, he said.
His big hope for the fall is that the district can find a way to provide regular attendance and normalcy for students. Still, he said the district will follow any rules from the county and state health departments.
"Our students and teachers have been through a lot over the last two years, and in some ways, some of what they've been through with COVID manifests like trauma,” Mouser said.
That changes what school is likely to look like going forward, as students and teachers address the lasting social-emotional impacts of the pandemic, he said.
“I'm hoping we're ready for a reset and in some ways a return to normalcy while still providing the social-emotional supports that are necessary for students and teachers to be successful,” Mouser said.
He wants the district to focus on meeting kids where they are.
“My message to teachers is focus on the child in front of you (…) If you focus on the child in front of you, I think the rest will take care of itself," he said. | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/education/watch-now-a-month-in-new-district-87-head-focuses-on-trust-relationships/article_e0ef15b0-0dc2-11ed-b247-d39418b314b4.html | 2022-07-27T18:40:01 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/education/watch-now-a-month-in-new-district-87-head-focuses-on-trust-relationships/article_e0ef15b0-0dc2-11ed-b247-d39418b314b4.html |
FAIRBURY – The Prairie Dirt Classic returns to Fairbury Speedway during a weekend of racing Friday and Saturday.
The 32nd Prairie Dirt Classic is a 100-lap event that pays $50,000 to the winner. Also, the leader after each lap receives $500 so a driver who leads the entire race would net $100,000.
The weekend begins Friday with qualifying followed by four 25-lap, $3,000 to win Prairie Dirt Showdowns to help set Saturday’s field.
Drivers have more opportunities to qualify for the main event during three Last Chance Showdowns on Saturday. The final chance to qualify comes in the 25-lap Prairie Dirt Shootout. The winner chooses between $2,500 or a spot in the Prairie Dirt Classic.
Joining the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models for the weekend are the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals, who will finish their summer tour with a 40-lap, $5,000-to-win feature.
Among the drivers to watch is Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpenterville, who has five wins in World of Outlaws CASE Late Models competition, along with 14 top-fives and 21 top-10s in 26 races.
Erb has previously found success in the Prairie Dirt Classic, winning the event in 2004. Erb enters the weekend with a 186-point lead over second-place Max Blair in the chase for the World of Outlaws championship.
World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year contender Tanner English may have a leg up on his competition heading into the Prairie Dirt Classic.
The Benton, Kentucky driver already found Victory Lane at Fairbury this season, winning the Pappy and Bob Allen Memorial at the ¼-mile track in June.
English also is closing the gap on Blair in the battle for Rookie of the Year, standing just eight points behind.
Veteran Oakwood driver Bobby Pierce has won some of dirt Late Model racing’s most notable events. However, he has never taken the checkered flag in the Prairie Dirt Classic.
Pierce finished second to Kyle Larson last year and took third after a thrilling battle with Brandon Sheppard for the win in 2019.
A Prairie Dirt Classic win would also be the sixth win for the Pierce family, as his father Bob has won the event five times.
Also on hand this weekend will be a contingent of Fairbury track regulars.
Ryan Unzicker of El Paso leads the track’s points standings entering the weekend and already has a World of Outlaws top five this season (Tri-City). Unzicker has three wins at Fairbury this season.
Other Fairbury winners on hand include hometown driver McKay Wenger and Manhattan’s Mike Spatola, who scored a World of Outlaws victory last season at Farmer City Raceway.
Gibson City’s Kevin Weaver won the Prairie Dirt Classic in 1991. Bloomington’s Jason Feger took first in the event in 2012.
Perhaps no driver enters the Prairie Dirt Classic with more momentum than Jonathan Davenport.
The Eldora Million winner has already won $73,000 this week, including his $20,000 Hawkeye 50 triumph at Boone Speedway.
Davenport also has also found success at Fairbury, winning the Prairie Dirt Classic in 2015. A win on Saturday would be his fourth World of Outlaws CASE Late Models Feature win of the season. | https://pantagraph.com/sports/motor-sports/local/prairie-dirt-classic-returns-to-fairbury-speedway/article_2c37dea0-0dc1-11ed-8264-a3898194fefd.html | 2022-07-27T18:40:07 | 0 | https://pantagraph.com/sports/motor-sports/local/prairie-dirt-classic-returns-to-fairbury-speedway/article_2c37dea0-0dc1-11ed-8264-a3898194fefd.html |
Lakeland Regional Health gets naming gift for psychiatric unit
The Lakeland Regional Health Foundation has received a naming gift from Bill and Kathy Pou for its behavioral health capital campaign.
The facility, now under construction and scheduled to open in late summer, will be home to the Bill and Kathy Pou Pediatric & Adolescent Unit, LRH said in a news release. The foundation did not disclose the amount of the donation.
Also:Lakeland Regional Health names behavioral center for Harrells
More:Lakeland Regional Health recognized for early COVID care
The Pou Family Adolescent Unit & Courtyard will have 12 beds to provide care for pediatric and adolescent patients who suffer from serious psychiatric illnesses or disorders, the release said.
Bill Pou recently retired as Chairman of the Board of W.S. Badcock Corporation, the home furnishing retailer founded by his great-grandfather, Henry S. Badcock, and based in Mulberry. He serves on the board of Lakeland Regional Health and is a past chairman of the LRH Foundation, the release said.
Kathy Pou, a graduate of Appalachian State University, is involved with charitable giving at Southeastern Guide Dogs in Palmetto and Therapy Dog International. The couple has contributed to past projects at Lakeland Regional Health, including donations to the Carol Barnett Pavilion for Women and Children naming the Fetal Medicine Unit, the release said. | https://www.theledger.com/story/news/local/2022/07/27/bill-and-kathy-pou-provide-naming-gift-lrh-psychiatric-unit/10156496002/ | 2022-07-27T18:41:18 | 1 | https://www.theledger.com/story/news/local/2022/07/27/bill-and-kathy-pou-provide-naming-gift-lrh-psychiatric-unit/10156496002/ |
Southwest Florida Water Management District board proposes lower tax rate
The governing board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District voted Tuesday to reduce its millage rate for the 2023 fiscal-year budget.
The board adopted a rate that is 10.8% lower than the rate for the current fiscal year, the district said in a news release. For the owner of a $150,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption, the district’s tax would be $22.60 a year, or about $1.88 per month, the release said.
'It needs to be left the way it is':Peace River tract in Bartow is on state conservation list
Also:Revised Morgan Creek plans move forward for second at-bat before Lakeland officials
The district’s total proposed budget is $212.9 million for the 2023 fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2023. That amount includes $91.8 million for cooperative funding initiatives and district grants, the release said.
The funding partnerships will allow the district to invest $168 million for sustainable alternative water supply development, water quality improvements and other water resource management projects, the release said.
The district will hold a tentative budget hearing on Sept. 6 at 5:01 p.m. at the Tampa Service Office, 7601 U.S. Highway 301. The board will vote on the final budget on Sept. 20 at 5:01 p.m., at the Tampa Service Office.
The board includes Polk County residents Jon Hall and Ashley Bell Barnett. | https://www.theledger.com/story/news/local/2022/07/27/southwest-florida-water-management-district-board-proposes-lower-tax-rate/10156300002/ | 2022-07-27T18:41:30 | 1 | https://www.theledger.com/story/news/local/2022/07/27/southwest-florida-water-management-district-board-proposes-lower-tax-rate/10156300002/ |
LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — A motorcyclist died Sunday after being thrown off his bike when it crashed into a car that was trying to make a U-turn, police said.
Police were called to the Garden State Parkway overpass on Route 539 about 2 p.m. to find that the motorcycle had smashed into the car's driver side. The car had been stopped on the road's northbound shoulder and was trying to make a U-turn when the motorcycle struck it, police said.
The rider, a 30-year-old man from the West Creek section of Eagleswood Township, was thrown from the bike and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Police did not release the name of the motorcyclist.
The crash is still being investigated, police said Monday. Anyone with additional information can call police at 609-296-3666. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/accident-and-incident/motorcyclist-killed-in-little-egg-harbor-crash/article_0f79dc94-0dcd-11ed-adcc-07da6ec12489.html | 2022-07-27T18:43:23 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/accident-and-incident/motorcyclist-killed-in-little-egg-harbor-crash/article_0f79dc94-0dcd-11ed-adcc-07da6ec12489.html |
ATLANTIC CITY — Yes, Golden Nugget Atlantic City is aware that its Dionne Warwick billboard on the Atlantic City Expressway is outdated.
That's because the casino is letting a group of ospreys stay comfortable on top of the billboard after they built nests there.
The birds are currently in nesting season, so the casino will wait until Sept. 1 to take down the billboard promoting R&B legend Warwick's May 10 show, as well as an April 30 show headlined by '60s pop singers Frankie Avalon, Fabian and Bobby Rydell. Rydell died April 5.
"Golden Nugget is doing our part in helping to conserve our local wildlife, the Ospreys," the casino wrote in an Instagram post Tuesday.
The osprey inhabits the Jersey Shore and other East Coast areas, according to audubon.org.
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The bird mostly consumes fish, therefore it can be found near waterbeds, including rivers and lakes. They're often seen flying low to the water and plunging feet-first to catch their prey, the website says. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/nesting-ospreys-living-behind-outdated-golden-nugget-billboard-on-atlantic-city-expressway/article_318b6c4e-0daf-11ed-8c4b-93d0df3d46d5.html | 2022-07-27T18:43:29 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/nesting-ospreys-living-behind-outdated-golden-nugget-billboard-on-atlantic-city-expressway/article_318b6c4e-0daf-11ed-8c4b-93d0df3d46d5.html |
Here’s an update of the COVID-19 numbers in the state.
New positive cases: 2,849
New deaths: 13
Total positive cases: 2,202,564
Total number of deaths: 31,159
Total vaccine doses administered: 14,137,070
Rate of transmission: 1.05
CASES BY COUNTY
Atlantic: 62,034 cases, 959 deaths, 380,604 doses administered
Cape May: 12,277 cases, 264 deaths, 134,439 doses administered
Cumberland: 36,542 cases, 579 deaths, 186,774 doses administered
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Ocean: 150,672 cases, 2,876 deaths, 703,536 doses administered
Figures as of 1 p.m. July 27
Source: N.J. Department of Health | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/new-jersey-reports-more-than-2-800-new-covid-19-cases-13-new-deaths-rate/article_5db55f28-0dd2-11ed-acd1-5fef6cf219cf.html | 2022-07-27T18:43:35 | 0 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/new-jersey-reports-more-than-2-800-new-covid-19-cases-13-new-deaths-rate/article_5db55f28-0dd2-11ed-acd1-5fef6cf219cf.html |
Downtown Mason City was buzzing with activity as anticipation was building for the first riders to roll into town. RAGBRAI Mason City officials were checking in with each aspect of the event, making sure volunteers were where they needed to be and that details were in order.
Food vendors and trucks were zooming around their space, hooking up electrical cables and preparing ingredients. Smells wafted through the air as food prep began as early as 7 a.m.
Isabel Garcia, who was getting food ready for Luna’s Tacos of Iowa City, was stirring beans and checking on the progress of her tamales. She said she had been food prepping for the last 48 hours.
“I haven’t slept all night. I don’t have time to sleep, so I just close my eyes for an hour last night. We got to make homemade tamales here,” said Garcia.
Garcia said it was a family effort to feed the riders coming into Mason City, marinating and preparing the meat they would serve.
People are also reading…
“We appreciate the opportunity to be here. It’s our first time (doing RAGBRAI) so we will see how it goes,” said Garcia.
Head Chef Joseph Low was organizing his crew at Philly cheesesteak food truck, called All About Cheesesteaks. His crew planned on serving food at both the Mason City stop and Thursday in Charles City, where they are from. The truck had two cheesesteak options for riders: with or without onions.
“This is our first-ever RAGBRAI and our second season in operation. I’m just excited to see what our team can do, how much value we can do, and to provide a good sandwich,” said Low.
Low said several riders from Philadelphia contacted him and plan to try out his cheesesteak sandwiches.
“We had posted that we’re going to be here, and a lot of people were saying ‘Well, we’re from Philly. We’re going to put you to the test. We’re going to make sure your sandwich is legit.’ I say come on and try it,” Low said with a smile.
John Freese at the Barlea Roots food truck was working hard flipping burgers and hot dogs as riders began to trickle into town Wednesday morning. Owner Stephanie Larson said friends riding in RAGBRAI inspired her crew to set up their truck.
“I was like since we’re coming this far, we might as bring the food truck,” said Larson.
Larson's large menu centers on grilled items. One of the most popular is "roadkill," made up of curly fries, cheese balls, barbeque pork and topped with barbequed meat and cheese sauce.
“We’ve been on the go this month between fairs and figure-eight races and couple concerts and festivals. It’s been busy, and it’s a lot of work,” said Larson.
Emily Ginneberge of RAGBRAI Mason City was walking around downtown helping people out and answering questions. She was happy to see weeks of effort and planning come together.
“Today is the day. It’s RAGBRAI day. I don’t care who hears me, I want them all to hear me. It feels great to have finally made it to this day, and it’s beautiful day,” said Ginneberge.
Brett Bachtle, Visit Mason City brand accelerator and engagement specialist, said he was proud to see everyone’s efforts with planning the RAGBRAI "Century Day" come together. He experienced an unexpected feeling while walking around in the cool air.
“I wasn’t prepared for the sadness, because for months we have been working towards this day,” Bachtle said. “It’s just been this far off distant thing that we’ve talked about and planned for. Then to actually get downtown today and physically see all of the things that I’ve been a part of for months ...”
Denise Strohmayer and her husband were taking part in the volunteer efforts in the beverage area downtown. She was working from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then an evening shift while headliners Don Felder and Sugar Ray play their shows.
“I think it’s just a great statement for Iowa to have all these bike riders coming in and riding together and having Mason City to host. I think it’s really showing off the Iowa community,” said Strohmayer.
Abby covers education and entertainment for the Globe Gazette. Follow her on Twitter at @MkayAbby. Email her at Abby.Koch@GlobeGazette.com | https://globegazette.com/news/local/ragbrai-rolls-into-mason-city-and-volunteers-food-vendors-are-ready/article_8d89287d-3b20-5d43-9f9e-d9b3e7a53e3e.html | 2022-07-27T18:45:31 | 1 | https://globegazette.com/news/local/ragbrai-rolls-into-mason-city-and-volunteers-food-vendors-are-ready/article_8d89287d-3b20-5d43-9f9e-d9b3e7a53e3e.html |
DALLAS — Warning: This story contains graphic images that some may find disturbing.
The two women scalded with hot water by a north Dallas Taco Bell employee are out of the hospital. But their attorneys are talking for the first time about the extensive injuries and the lawsuit they have filed against Taco Bell Corporation and the, so far, unnamed Taco Bell employees.
"This is not just some hot water. It burned them very badly," said attorney Paul Grinke who represents Brittany Davis, Kira Davis and a 16-year-old identified in the lawsuit only as "C.T."
Grinke, speaking for the women, detailed to WFAA what they believe happened the night of June 17 at the Taco Bell at 11829 Abrams Road in Dallas. He says the women, with Kira Davis driving, went to the drive-thru and placed an order worth approximately $31. On the restaurant's own surveillance video, with a total of 12 camera angles, you can see the women drive away but return to the drive-thru a few minutes later.
It was a Sunday night after 11 p.m. and the dining room was not open. On video you can see, but not hear, the women and the employees discussing the problem they had with their order for a full seven minutes. The women drive away again and then drive around to the dining room door. Taco Bell employees unlock the door and let them in.
"Most of the time what you see is C.T. and Brittany standing peacefully and calmly at the counter," Grinke said.
But two and a half minutes later, as an apparent argument begins about the order, the women step forward into the kitchen.
"At some point a male Taco Bell employee started threatening her to a fight," Grinke said. "She's a 16-year-old girl. She's got a tough heart. She wasn't going to back down."
Which is when another employee can be seen dipping a pitcher into a sink of boiling water in the kitchen, walking toward the women and then dumping it on them. The 16-year-old falls to the floor. Then both women run for the door with employees following them. As they do, the same employee who doused them the first time can be seen filling up the pitcher again and then joining the employees who follow the women out.
In their lawsuit, the women claim that a Taco Bell employee "came outside the front door, laughing, clapping, and taunting the family."
Kira Davis, who was waiting for the women in the parking, drove them immediately to an emergency room where they say the 16-year-old "ran naked into the emergency room to get help."
And that Brittany who has a history of seizures, suffered at least 10 seizures and had to to be "sedated, intubated, and care-flighted to Parkland's ICU burn unit in Dallas." The 16-year-old was taken by ambulance to Parkland, as well.
Photos shared with WFAA show the women suffered severe burns: the 16-year-old with bubbling skin that extends from her shoulder all the way down to her left thigh, Brittany with deep burns to her chest and stomach.
In their lawsuit, the attorneys for the women also question what appears to be one of the employees pulling a handgun from his pants during the incident. Surveillance video also shows him handing the apparent weapon to another employee as the women fled.
"It's beyond comprehension to me that any employee inside of a Taco Bell store would be armed," Grinke said. He also said the two women did not have a weapon of any kind.
Taco Bell of America LLC has offered WFAA the following statement in response:
“We take the safety and wellbeing of team members and customers seriously. Taco Bell is in contact with the franchise owner and operator of this restaurant on this matter and cannot comment on specifics of pending litigation.”
"Hopefully Taco Bell will do the right thing here. If they don't, then we are prepared to go the distance," Grinke said.
Dallas police, who can also be seen on video responding to the Taco Bell approximately 10 minutes after the incident, confirm to WFAA that they are investigating potential charges of assault and aggravated assault by the Taco Bell employee.
Dallas police telling WFAA that "this remains an ongoing investigation with no arrest at this time." | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/texas/attorney-explains-graphic-video-boiling-water-incident-dallas-taco-bell/287-8440d6fa-705d-4cb0-b155-61a5ba115a02 | 2022-07-27T18:46:54 | 1 | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/texas/attorney-explains-graphic-video-boiling-water-incident-dallas-taco-bell/287-8440d6fa-705d-4cb0-b155-61a5ba115a02 |
NEW YORK — Investigators with the New York Police Department confirmed early Wednesday afternoon that a previously unidentified man found in The Bronx is not missing Texas State University student Jason Landry.
Investigators in Texas and New York worked to figure out if the man was the missing student but, in an update, the NYPD said the man was later identified as a resident of Yonkers.
Landry went missing on Dec. 13, 2020, on his way to the Houston area. His family lives in Missouri City, Texas.
His vehicle was discovered crashed in Luling, Texas. He seemed to have stripped out of his clothing, leaving behind his belongings. Among them was a backpack, a useable amount of marijuana, a laptop, gaming equipment, a bag of toiletries and more.
Law enforcement officials have been trying to solve his disappearance for a year and a half. Investigators believed they had a possible new lead when the unidentified man was found in New York.
On Tuesday, the New York Police Department posted a tweet asking for the public's help identifying a man found unconscious and unresponsive but apparently uninjured in the streets of The Bronx. The man did not possess any identification.
Jason Landry's father, Kent Landry, then confirmed to KVUE that detectives were working to see if the man found by New York police is his son.
A post on the Facebook page "Missing Person - Jason Landry" also states that detectives with the Texas Attorney General's Office were in contact with the New York detectives about Jason Landry. According to the post, the Texas detectives sent the necessary identification information for Jason Landry to New York and detectives should be able to positively conclude if the man is Jason Landry or not sometime Wednesday. The afternoon update confirmed the man was not Jason Landry.
"Thank you to everyone who have contacted us to let us know about this young man," the post reads in part. "Please be in prayer for whoever this young man is and his family. We pray that he'll be identified, recover and be able to rejoin his family."
Britny Eubank on social media: Twitter
RELATED COVERAGE:
- Billboard in Luling, Texas, installed to help find missing Texas State student
- Caldwell County investigators release body cam footage in Jason Landry case
- Where is Jason Landry? Texas State student still missing one year later
- 'It's been over 300 days' | TEXSAR returns to Caldwell County in search of Jason Landry
- Phone data reveals final known moments before disappearance of Texas State student Jason Landry | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/texas/jason-landry-missing-new-york-man/269-4b94e7ad-0794-4af5-8e1c-c586265bf935 | 2022-07-27T18:47:00 | 1 | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/texas/jason-landry-missing-new-york-man/269-4b94e7ad-0794-4af5-8e1c-c586265bf935 |
DALLAS — A Dallas County jury found Charter Communications, which also operates as Spectrum, acted negligently in hiring a field technician who killed one of its customers. The company now owes billions of dollars in damages.
The jury awarded $7 billion in punitive damages against Charter for "systemic safety failures" in connection to the 2019 murder of 83-year-old Betty Thomas by one of the technicians. Earlier in June, a jury also said Charter had to pay 90% of $375 million in compensatory damages to Thomas' family.
During this June verdict, the jury found Charter liable for the robbery and stabbing death of Thomas by a company employee. In December 2019, officers arrested 43-year-old Roy Holden Jr., and he later pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison in April 2021.
Dallas-based Hamilton Wingo represented the family in this case.
“This was a shocking breach of faith by a company that sends workers inside millions of homes every year,” Hamilton Wingo trial lawyer Chris Hamilton said. “The jury in this case was thoughtful and attentive to the evidence. This verdict justly reflects the extensive evidence regarding the nature of the harm caused by Charter Spectrum’s gross negligence and reckless misconduct. For the safety of the American public, we can only hope that Charter Spectrum and its shareholders are listening.”
The complaint against Charter from the victim's family said the cable company got rid of an employee screening program that Time Warner Cable had in place when Charter bought the multiple-system operator in 2016. Spectrum allegedly hired Holden without verifying his employment history, which would have shown he lied about his work history.
A review of Holden's previous employers would have revealed firings for forgery, falsifying documents and harassment of fellow employees, according to trial testimony.
Holden was the Spectrum field technician who visited Thomas' house back in December 2019 to help with her phone line. He went back to her place the next day using a Spectrum van and stabbed her with a utility knife supplied by the cable company.
Authorities discovered Thomas' body after responding to an unconscious person call. According to detectives, Thomas had multiple stab wounds and was dead when officers arrived.
Holden took her credit cards and went on a "spending spree," attorneys said in June. They also said Thomas' death could have been prevented and Spectrum had "systemic failures" in its hiring practice.
In the days leading up to Thomas' murder, Holden allegedly made multiple outcries to supervisors about significant personal and financial issues having to do with a divorce that left him no money or a place to stay, according to trial testimony. He also allegedly broke down crying in a meeting telling his supervisor he was not OK.
Immediately after being denied money, the evidence showed he began scamming elderly female Spectrum cable customers by stealing their credit cards and checks, testimony revealed.
Holden allegedly had complete unauthorized access to his Spectrum vehicle, and in the weeks preceding the murder, had likely been sleeping in the van.
According to testimony, Spectrum ignored requests by police and prosecutors to preserve evidence. One Spectrum security executive testified the company was “not necessarily” obligated to tell the truth or cooperate with police.
After Thomas' family filed the lawsuit, Hamilton Wingo said Spectrum attorneys used a forged document to try and force the lawsuit into a closed-door arbitration, where the results would have been secret and damages for the murder would have been limited to the amount of Thomas’ final bill.
The jury found that Spectrum committed forgery beyond a reasonable doubt, which is conduct that constitutes a first-degree felony under Texas law, according to Hamilton Wingo.
Attorneys said Thomas' family later received a bill from Spectrum that included a $58 charge for the murderer’s service call and continued to receive bills for service weeks after Thomas died.
During the trial, it was also revealed there had been more than 2,500 thefts by Spectrum employees against customers in the past several years, which the company refused to investigate or report to police.
“Charter Spectrum had too many chances to prevent this tragedy, and the company showed a complete disregard for the safety of its customers. Worse, the trial reveals how vulnerable Charter Spectrum customers remain today at the hands of a company that appears not to care about public safety,” Hamilton Wingo trial lawyer Ray Khirallah said. “This verdict fairly reflects the extent of the evidence against Charter Spectrum and the dangerous nature of the company’s serious misconduct and violations of the law.” | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/texas/spectrum-7-billion-punitive-damages-murder-of-83-year-old-texas-customer/287-11135ab6-58f9-467b-9383-f8d60f0de83c | 2022-07-27T18:47:06 | 0 | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/texas/spectrum-7-billion-punitive-damages-murder-of-83-year-old-texas-customer/287-11135ab6-58f9-467b-9383-f8d60f0de83c |
HOUSTON — Parents about to do their back-to-school shopping may be in for sticker shock.
It pays to do your homework ahead of time and compare prices for the best bang for your buck. The Passionate Penny Pincher blog is chock full of suggestions and price comparisons.
The best time to shop for supplies across Texas will be the Sales Tax Holiday weekend coming up on Aug. 5-7.
- You won't pay taxes on school supplies or most clothing and footwear that cost up to $100.
- There's no limit on the number of items you can buy and the $99.99 limit is per item -- not per purchase.
- Many stores will have sales that weekend to help save even more money!
We've put together this tax-free weekend guide to help craft your game plan.
School supplies that qualify for Sales Tax Holiday
- Binders
- Blackboard chalk
- Book bags
- Calculators
- Cellophane tape
- Compasses
- Composition books
- Crayons
- Erasers
- Folders – expandable, pocket, plastic, and manila
- Glue, paste and paste sticks
- Highlighters
- Index cards
- Index card boxes
- Kits offered by retailers
- Legal pads
- Lunch boxes
- Markers (including dry erase markers)
- Notebooks
- Paper – loose leaf ruled notebook paper, copy paper, graph paper, tracing paper, manila paper, colored paper, poster board, and construction paper
- Pencil boxes and other school supply boxes
- Pencil sharpeners
- Pencils
- Pens
- Protractors
- Rulers
- Scissors
- Writing tablets
Clothing and footwear that qualify for Sales Tax Holiday
- Adult diapers
- Aprons (household)
- Athletic socks
- Baby bibs
- Baby clothes
- Baby diapers (cloth or disposable)
- Backpacks for elementary/secondary students
- Baseball caps
- Baseball jerseys
- Blouses
- Boots: General purpose; fashion; cowboy; hiking
- General purpose/fashion
- Bow ties
- Bowling shirts
- Bras
- Camp clothes
- Caps (baseball, fishing, golf)
- Chef uniforms
- Children’s novelty costumes
- Clerical vestments
- Coats and wraps
- Coveralls
- Diapers (cloth and disposable)
- Dresses
- Earmuffs
- Employee uniforms (unless rented)
- Fishing caps
- Fishing vests (non-flotation)
- Football jerseys
- Gloves: General use; leather
- Golf caps
- Golf dresses
- Golf jackets and windbreakers
- Golf shirts
- Golf skirts
- Graduation caps and gowns
- Gym suits and uniforms
- Hats
- Hooded shirts and hooded sweatshirts
- Hosiery, including support hosiery
- Hunting vests
- Jackets
- Jeans
- Jogging apparel
- Knitted caps or hats
- Leg warmers
- Leotards and tights
- Mask, costume
- Mask, cloth and disposable fabric face masks
- Neckwear and ties
- Nightgowns and nightshirts
- Painter pants
- Pajamas
- Pants
- Pantyhose
- Raincoats and ponchos
- Rain hats
- Religious clothing
- Robes
- Safety shoes (adaptable for street wear)
- Scarves
- Scout uniforms
- Shawls and wraps
- Shirts
- Shirts (hooded)
- Shoes
- Boat
- Cross trainers
- Dress
- Flip-flops (rubber thongs)
- Jellies
- Running (without cleats)
- Safety (suitable for everyday use)
- Sandals
- Slippers
- Sneakers and tennis
- Tennis
- Walking
- Shorts
- Skirts
- Sleepwear, nightgowns, pajamas
- Slippers
- Slips
- Soccer socks
- Socks
- Suits, slacks, and jackets
- Support hosiery
- Suspenders
- Sweatshirts
- Sweat suits
- Sweaters
- Swimsuits
- Tennis accessories
- Tennis dresses
- Tennis shorts
- Tennis shoes
- Tennis skirts
- Ties (neckties - all)
- Tights
- Trousers
- Underclothes
- Underpants
- Undershirts
- Uniforms (school, work, nurse, waitress, military, postal, police, fire)
- Veils
- Vests (generally)
- Fishing (non-flotation)
- Hunting
- Work clothes
- Work uniforms
- Workout clothes
Items that don't qualify for Sales Tax Holiday
- Items sold for $100 or more
- Clothing subscription boxes
- Specially-designed athletic activity or protective-use clothing or footwear
- For example, golf cleats and football pads are usually worn only when people play golf or football, so they do not qualify for the exemption.
- Tennis shoes, jogging suits and swimsuits, however, can be worn for other than athletic activity and qualify for the exemption.
- Clothing or footwear rentals, alterations (including embroidery) and cleaning services
- Items used to make or repair clothing, such as fabric, thread, yarn, buttons, snaps, hooks and zippers
- Jewelry, handbags, purses, briefcases, luggage, umbrellas, wallets, watches and other accessories
- Barrettes
- Belt buckles (sold separately)
- Bobby pins
- Elastic ponytail holders
- Ribbons
- Hair bows
- Hair clips
- Headbands
- Computers
- Software
- Textbooks
- Certain baggage items: Framed backpacks; luggage; briefcases; athletic, duffle or gym bags; computer bags; purses
- Office supplies under a business account
Online Purchases and Telephone Orders
During the holiday you can buy qualifying items in-store, online, by telephone, mail, custom order or any other means. The sale of the item must take place during the specific period. | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-sales-tax-holiday/285-866aee38-4a37-4d2d-8091-f0fd53613ec6 | 2022-07-27T18:47:13 | 1 | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-sales-tax-holiday/285-866aee38-4a37-4d2d-8091-f0fd53613ec6 |
NEW YORK — Investigators with the New York Police Department confirmed early Wednesday afternoon that a previously unidentified man found in The Bronx is not missing Texas State University student Jason Landry.
Investigators in Texas and New York worked to figure out if the man was the missing student but, in an update, the NYPD said the man was later identified as a resident of Yonkers.
Landry went missing on Dec. 13, 2020, on his way to the Houston area. His family lives in Missouri City, Texas.
His vehicle was discovered crashed in Luling, Texas. He seemed to have stripped out of his clothing, leaving behind his belongings. Among them was a backpack, a useable amount of marijuana, a laptop, gaming equipment, a bag of toiletries and more.
Law enforcement officials have been trying to solve his disappearance for a year and a half. Investigators believed they had a possible new lead when the unidentified man was found in New York.
On Tuesday, the New York Police Department posted a tweet asking for the public's help identifying a man found unconscious and unresponsive but apparently uninjured in the streets of The Bronx. The man did not possess any identification.
Jason Landry's father, Kent Landry, then confirmed to KVUE that detectives were working to see if the man found by New York police is his son.
A post on the Facebook page "Missing Person - Jason Landry" also states that detectives with the Texas Attorney General's Office were in contact with the New York detectives about Jason Landry. According to the post, the Texas detectives sent the necessary identification information for Jason Landry to New York and detectives should be able to positively conclude if the man is Jason Landry or not sometime Wednesday. The afternoon update confirmed the man was not Jason Landry.
"Thank you to everyone who have contacted us to let us know about this young man," the post reads in part. "Please be in prayer for whoever this young man is and his family. We pray that he'll be identified, recover and be able to rejoin his family."
Britny Eubank on social media: Twitter
RELATED COVERAGE:
- Billboard in Luling, Texas, installed to help find missing Texas State student
- Caldwell County investigators release body cam footage in Jason Landry case
- Where is Jason Landry? Texas State student still missing one year later
- 'It's been over 300 days' | TEXSAR returns to Caldwell County in search of Jason Landry
- Phone data reveals final known moments before disappearance of Texas State student Jason Landry | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/jason-landry-missing-new-york-man/269-4b94e7ad-0794-4af5-8e1c-c586265bf935 | 2022-07-27T18:47:57 | 0 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/jason-landry-missing-new-york-man/269-4b94e7ad-0794-4af5-8e1c-c586265bf935 |
Detroit police seek help to find man who vanished from assisted living facility
Charles E. Ramirez
The Detroit News
Detroit — Police are asking the public for help to find a 63-year-old man who walked away from an assisted living facility Monday.
Shagardo Perkins also suffers from schizophrenia, his caregiver told officials.
The facility where he lives is located in the 800 block of East Grand Boulevard, according to authorities. He was last seen at the facility at about 6:30 p.m.
Police said he is known to frequent the area around Helen Street and East Grand Boulevard.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts should call the Detroit Police Department's Seventh Precinct at (313) 596-5740. | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2022/07/27/detroit-police-seek-help-find-man-who-vanished-assisted-living-facility/10164482002/ | 2022-07-27T18:53:22 | 0 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2022/07/27/detroit-police-seek-help-find-man-who-vanished-assisted-living-facility/10164482002/ |
Eastpointe police seek woman who tried to rob bank
Eastpointe — Police are looking for a woman who tried to rob a bank Wednesday morning.
Officers were called at about 11:40 a.m. to the Huntington Bank branch on Nine Mile east of Gratiot for a report of an attempted robbery, according to authorities.
Witnesses told officers a female in her 40s or 50s with a thin build and weighing 110-120 pounds came into the bank and passed a teller a note demanding money, police said.
The attempt was not successful and the woman fled the scene in a black or dark blue car, possibly a Ford Fusion. The car was last seen traveling north on Donald Street.
Police released images of the woman captured by the bank's security cameras.
Anyone with information about the suspect should call Eastpointe Police Det. Brian Showers at (586) 445-5100 ext 128. | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/macomb-county/2022/07/27/eastpointe-police-seek-woman-who-tried-rob-bank-wednesday/10165347002/ | 2022-07-27T18:53:28 | 1 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/macomb-county/2022/07/27/eastpointe-police-seek-woman-who-tried-rob-bank-wednesday/10165347002/ |
New Jerseyans have reason to celebrate the Garden State Wednesday as July 27 is National New Jersey Day. (Yes, that's a thing.)
Whether you're from South Jersey, North Jersey or that place in between that's sometimes called Central Jersey here are our favorite things in the Garden State on this National New Jersey Day.
From "The Boss" to Snooki to the Jersey Shore there's plenty to celebrate, but these are our Top 5.
The Gas Pump
No need to hop out the car -- unless you're at Wawa grabbing your coffee -- because a gas station attendant will pump your gas for you. That's right, the Retail Gasoline Dispensing Act prohibits anyone that's not a gas station attendant to pump the gas. If you decide to not sit back and relax you can receive a fine of up to $500 for pumping your own.
Local
So, sit back, relax and let someone else watch the gas dial go up. (Hold on, with gas prices where they are, maybe this one isn't as great as we thought.)
Bruce Springsteen
There's no one more Jersey (not even the Jersey Boys) than "The Boss" himself, Bruce Springsteen. Arguably, best known for his album "Born in the U.S.A", Springsteen hails from Freehold and has even put an ode to the Garden State in the title of his debut album, "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J."
The rockingest of rock stars is one of the most accomplished musicians of our time, he's been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and awarded with a Kennedy Center Honor to name a few.
The Boss also started foundations to give back to communities in need. In 2016 he was awarded the highest civilian honor by former President Barack Obama, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
And through it all, Springsteen never forgets his Jersey roots.
Honorable mention to Jon Bon Jovi, Lauryn Hill and plenty of other music stars.
The Jersey Shore
Did you really think we could skip the Jersey Shore? We're not talking about the show (which is gave us the icon Snooki) but the 141 miles or so of oceanfront fun.
You can relax in Avalon, live out your "Jersey Shore" dreams in Seaside Heights or play the slots in Atlantic City and still have around 57 more beaches to visit in the state.
People from all across the country, but mostly the East Coast, travel to the shore for summer fun with their families.
Diners
If you want breakfast, lunch or dinner -- or all of them at once -- look no further. New Jersey might be the diner capital of the world. The state is home to more than 500 diners, some of them being 24-hour establishments.
Be sure to bring your appetite.
Pork Rolls
Hungry yet?
If you didn't know, the pork roll was created in 1856 by a man named John Taylor in Trenton. Still in 2022 New Jerseyans are divided by the north and south by what to call it. The north calls it "Taylor's Ham" and the south calls it "pork roll." Gov. Phil Murphy calls it "taylor pork," so who knows.
Whichever side you fall on, one thing you know is that it's good.
Honorable foodie mention to salt water taffy and boardwalk pizza. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/national-new-jersey-day-best-things/3797431/ | 2022-07-27T18:55:27 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/national-new-jersey-day-best-things/3797431/ |
New video released by the NYPD Wednesday shows three masked men in black wanted for allegedly walking into a Brooklyn church during Sunday's live-streamed morning service, flashing guns and stealing $1 million in jewelry from the preacher and his wife -- just as the first sermonized about keeping faith in the face of grave adversity.
Bishop Lamor Miller-Whitehead, who is known for his close friendship with Mayor Eric Adams and is often seen driving around the Big Apple in his Rolls Royce, was delivering a sermon at his Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries when the three armed robbers walked inside around 11:15 a.m.
Cops say the trio showed their weapons and demanded property from the 44-year-old Miller-Whitehead and his 38-year-old wife, Asia K. DosReis-Whitehead, police said. They took jewelry from the couple and only the couple and left.
No injuries were reported.
The live stream captured some of the fracas, though the video has since apparently been removed from the church’s social media channels. Before it was, Miller-Whitehead could be heard asking his flock, “How many of you have lost your faith because you saw somebody else die?” moments before the robbers enter the church, located above a Haitian restaurant.
He’s then seen dropping to his hands and knees and repeatedly saying, “alright, alright,” before a man holding a gun and wearing a black sweatshirt enters the frame. The man, who was also wearing a black face mask, is then seen approaching Miller-Whitehead, who was hiding behind a gold-colored lectern, and stuffing the bishop’s jewelry into his pockets.
Another man, dressed in similar garb, is then seen heading toward Miller-Whitehead, lingering near him for a few minutes and then running off. Miller-Whitehead said in a video posted to Instagram that the robbers ripped his collar off to grab his chain and held a gun to his infant daughter’s face while stealing his wife’s jewelry.
News
In all, police said that the robbers made off with a woman's wedding ring, earrings, Rolex and Cavalier watches, a man's gold chain and wedding ring, a Cuban chain, a diamond and emerald cross, and other church items.
Police said the robbers fled in a white Mercedes that was last seen on Avenue D near the church, in Brooklyn’s Canarsie neighborhood.
Miller-Whitehead said in an Instagram video he felt a “demonic force” enter the church and wasn’t sure if the gunmen “wanted to shoot the church up or if they were just coming for a robbery.” He said he was thankful no one was hurt.
“When I see them come into the sanctuary with their guns, I told everybody to get out, everybody just get out,” said Whitehead, who on Monday offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the robbers. "When you put a gun to my 8-month-old daughter, who is just beginning life, you must be caught."
Miller-Whitehead, 44, formed Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries in 2013, after serving a five-year prison sentence for identity theft and grand larceny. Miller-Whitehead claims he was illegally convicted.
A City Hall spokesperson said New York Mayor Eric Adams spoke with Miller-Whitehead after the robbery Sunday.
“No one in this city should be the victim of armed robbery, let alone our faith leaders and congregants worshiping in a House of God,” Adams said in a statement. “The NYPD is investigating this crime and will work tirelessly to bring the criminals involved to justice.” | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/new-video-shows-masked-men-just-before-armed-nyc-church-heist-at-sunday-service/3797372/ | 2022-07-27T18:55:28 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/new-video-shows-masked-men-just-before-armed-nyc-church-heist-at-sunday-service/3797372/ |
What to Know
- With this in mind, WalletHub released this year's list of states with the best and worst public school systems and the tri-state area overall glowing grades when it comes to their education systems.
- According to WalletHub, Connecticut came in second and New Jersey ranked third overall among the states with the best school systems.
- Meanwhile, New York ranked among the top 20, coming in at No. 17 overall.
Choosing the right school system is a concern for many families.
With this in mind, WalletHub released this year's list of states with the best and worst public school systems and the tri-state area received overall glowing grades when it comes to their education systems.
According to WalletHub, Connecticut came in second and New Jersey ranked third overall among the states with the best school systems.
The overall rankings were compiled by taking into consideration the quality and safety of a state's school system. Connecticut is second when it comes to the quality of education and ninth when it comes to safety. Meanwhile, New Jersey came in third when it comes to quality and 21st when it comes to safety.
Meanwhile, New York ranked among the top 20, coming in at No. 17 overall. For quality and safety, the state came in at No. 13 and 20, respectively.
The tri-state area also made appearances in specific metrics. For example, New Jersey tied with Kentucky, both coming in fourth place, among the states with the lowest dropout rates. The Garden State is also the third highest when it comes to math test scores and second highest for reading scores. Additionally, New Jersey is among the states with the highest student-teacher ratio, coming in fourth.
News
Meanwhile, Connecticut came in third when it comes to reading test scores and was tied for first place -- along with Massachusetts and D.C. -- when it comes to having the highest median ACT scores.
Even though overall the tri-state area placed high in the overall best public school ranking, which state was deemed the best and which state was deemed the worst by WalletHub?
Massachusetts came in at No. 1 overall, with top quality and safety as well. Meanwhile, New Mexico came in as the state with the worst public school system, according to WalletHub.
To learn more about the methodology used, or to see the complete list, click here. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/tri-state-area-ranks-among-best-state-school-systems-study-says/3794148/ | 2022-07-27T18:55:30 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/tri-state-area-ranks-among-best-state-school-systems-study-says/3794148/ |
A federal judge has ruled that a transgender girl must be allowed to play on her school’s girls softball team.
U.S. District Court Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday against Indianapolis Public Schools, preventing the district from stopping her from rejoining her school’s girls softball team.
The plaintiff, A.M., was initially prevented from playing on the team under Indiana’s new law, which took effect July 1, that prohibits transgender girls in grades K-12 from participating in girls school sports.
The Republican-controlled state legislature passed the law as House Enrolled Act 1041 earlier this year. Gov. Eric Holcomb vetoed the ban, but his veto was overridden by another vote by the General Assembly in late May.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in May on behalf of a 10-year-old transgender girl, referred to in the case as A.M. Under the new law, she would not be allowed to play on her school’s girls softball team.
The ACLU argued that the law discriminates on the basis of sex, a violation of Title IX. The lawsuit also asserted that the new statute “represents discrimination on the basis of transgender status, as well as sex,” violating the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause.
In her ruling, Magnus-Stinson wrote that A.M. “has established that she has a strong likelihood of succeeding on the merits of her claim” that the law violates Title IX.
“She has also established that she would suffer irreparable harm for which there is no adequate legal remedy,” Magnus-Stinson wrote, “and that both the balance of harms and the public interest favor issuing an injunction.”
Because she granted an injunction based on the Title IX claim, however, Magnus-Stinson wrote that the court would not consider whether A.M. is entitled to an injunction on the basis of the equal protection claim.
Ken Falk, legal director at the ACLU of Indiana, said in a statement Tuesday that the organization is “pleased” the judge issued the injunction.
While the injunction only applies to A.M. and does not prevent the law from remaining in effect, a spokeswoman for the ACLU said the organization would pursue litigation against Indiana schools that attempt to prevent transgender students from playing sports.
“If other students are being denied the right to join a sports team at their school due to their transgender status,” Falk said, “we encourage them to contact the ACLU of Indiana immediately.”
Attorney General Todd Rokita, who defended the law in court, also released a statement Tuesday.
“The law (HEA 1041) remains in effect across the state and we will continue our work to defend this law and to protect Indiana’s students,” Rokita said. “The court’s ruling allows only this particular plaintiff to play this particular sport at this particular elementary school.”
Despite that, Falk said he believes the reasoning behind the court’s decision would apply “in any situation.”
“If another school district does the exact same thing, they are violating the court’s order, because the court’s order only binds IPS for this one student. However, they are engaging in conduct which a court has already found to be a violation of federal law.” | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/judge-rules-indiana-transgender-girl-can-rejoin-school-softball-team/article_20beb8ca-0d0b-11ed-b416-dbdac066dc1a.html | 2022-07-27T18:57:40 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/judge-rules-indiana-transgender-girl-can-rejoin-school-softball-team/article_20beb8ca-0d0b-11ed-b416-dbdac066dc1a.html |
The city can secure the future home of the fire station that serves the Waynedale area after City Council members approved Tuesday the purchase of land on Lower Huntington Road.
Fire Station 5 sits on less than an acre at 5801 Bluffton Road, said Chris Carmichael, the city’s property manager. The city has found an ideal location at 2000 Lower Huntington Road, he said, but it needed the Redevelopment Commission’s help to buy it.
The city is unable to buy land priced higher than the average of two appraisals, but the Redevelopment Commission can. The commission members recently approved the request.
The appraisals for the property were $110,000 and $120,000. Carmichael said Ron Stone of Adams Radio Real Properties LLC initially listed the property for $250,000 but agreed to reduce the price to $150,000 for the city. “We feel it’s a fair compromise,” Carmichael said.
Building a new home for Fire Station 5 will allow the city to update a station that has been operating since the mid-1960s, Carmichael said. The move is also expected to reduce response times.
“It will allow us to update the facilities for our firefighters and put us in a better position to service the fire zone on the whole,” Carmichael said.
The property is 7.5 acres, and Carmichael said the fire department will likely need about two acres. The land the fire department doesn’t use could be utilized by the redevelopment department or other city operations.
City Council members approved the purchase unanimously. Councilman Russ Jehl, R-2nd, was absent.
Fire Station 5 isn’t the only city firehouse that is getting a new home. In September, City Council members approved the purchase of land at 4820 E. State Blvd to replace Fire Station 14, currently located at 3400 Reed Road.
The new Fire Station 14 was estimated to cost $2.3 million, the fire department announced about a year ago. However, a construction contract for $4.3 million was introduced Tuesday and will be considered by members at an upcoming meeting. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/fort-wayne-city-council-approves-lower-huntington-road-property-for-fire-station/article_86a43ad4-0d42-11ed-979a-87bdc5d0b652.html | 2022-07-27T18:57:42 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/fort-wayne-city-council-approves-lower-huntington-road-property-for-fire-station/article_86a43ad4-0d42-11ed-979a-87bdc5d0b652.html |
The Northwest Allen County Schools superintendent joined two other Hoosier school leaders in Washington, D.C., this month to put education issues on legislators' radar.
The AASA, The School Superintendents Association, says on its website that its Legislative Advocacy Conference is the premier opportunity for superintendents and school business officials to make their voices heard on Capitol Hill and learn about federal policy issues that will affect their districts.
Wayne Barker is one of three Indiana superintendents on the association's governing board. The others are Scott Hanback of Tippecanoe School Corporation and Daniel Hile, formerly of Smith-Green Community Schools and now of Noblesville Schools.
Together, they met with Sen. Todd Young and Rep. Victoria Spartz as well as staffers for Reps. Jim Baird, Jim Banks and Jackie Walorski, Barker told the school board Monday.
"I will say, just because we're meeting doesn't mean that I'm trying to endorse them as candidates," Barker said, calling the visits nonpartisan. "We're trying to build relationships with legislators to create partnerships."
The superintendents' talking points addressed special education funding, school safety, the National School Lunch Program, school staffing shortages and the deadline to spend federal coronavirus dollars.
Barker assured the board at a previous meeting that the superintendent's association paid for the trip.
"This will come to zero expense to Northwest Allen," he said. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/local-politics/political-notebook/northwest-allen-county-schools-superintendent-talks-education-on-capitol-hill/article_53815c68-0dc4-11ed-ab32-4b14b5d0ab31.html | 2022-07-27T18:57:43 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/local-politics/political-notebook/northwest-allen-county-schools-superintendent-talks-education-on-capitol-hill/article_53815c68-0dc4-11ed-ab32-4b14b5d0ab31.html |
Two candidates have filed to run in Saturday’s Republican Party caucus to replace Allen County Surveyor Jeff Sorg.
Michael Fruchey and David Devine each filed declarations of candidacy before Wednesday’s 9 a.m. deadline, Allen County Republican Party Chairman Steve Shine announced.
Sorg has missed 65% of county drainage board meetings and 77% of plan commission meetings since January, Commissioner Therese Brown told The Journal Gazette earlier this month.
On July 8, the Allen County commissioners voted to transfer Sorg’s duties to Fruchey, a former hydrologist in the county surveyor’s office who now works with the Allen County Highway Department.
In a letter dated July 7, Sorg announced he will step down as surveyor effective Sept. 16.
Fruchey attended Carroll High School, then later received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics from Taylor University and Ball State University, respectively.
He holds a professional engineering license and has experience as an engineering technician with the city of Fort Wayne. Fruchey previously served as associate director of transportation engineering with the city as well.
Fruchey told The Journal Gazette earlier this month he has no ill will toward Sorg.
Devine unsuccessfully challenged Sorg for the Republican nomination in 2020, receiving just under 36% of the vote. He is a licensed professional surveyor and a professional engineer, according to a news release.
After attending Bishop Dwenger High School, Devine received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree from Purdue University — both in civil engineering.
Devine served as director of undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame from 2007 to 2009, assistant professor at the former IPFW from 2001 to 2007 and lecturer at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He also has held visiting and adjunct instructor positions at other colleges.
According to the release, Devine has experience working for engineering and surveying consulting firms, as well as with the Indiana Department of Transportation, the Allen County Department of Planning Services and the Tippecanoe County Surveyor’s Office.
Fruchey and Devine will compete for votes at a caucus Saturday where 197 Republican precinct committee people will vote for Allen County’s next surveyor.
Shine said the public is invited to attend the meeting, which will be held at the Allen County GOP headquarters at 9 a.m. He said it is a positive sign that the vacancy drew two candidates.
“There are two very qualified individuals who will be lobbying each of the 197 precinct committeemen and women for their vote,” Shine said. “It is a good sign that we have qualified individuals who are seeking public service.”
The winning candidate will serve out the remainder of Sorg’s current term, which ends on Dec. 31, 2024. The new surveyor would then need to run for re-election in the 2024 primary and general elections.
Sorg served as deputy surveyor until his appointment as surveyor in 1993 following the death of Surveyor Louis Machlan in 1993. He held the position until 1997, when he was forced out of the position after news came out about his felony convictions for burglary and theft in the 1970s. State law bans felons from running for or holding elected office.
Those convictions were set aside in 2006, clearing the way for a return to elected office. In the 2016 Republican primary, Sorg defeated Al Frisinger, the surveyor the local GOP picked to replace him in 1997. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/local-politics/two-candidates-file-for-allen-county-republican-surveyor-caucus/article_c35ef258-0dcd-11ed-8a35-372c55bf7874.html | 2022-07-27T18:57:43 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/local-politics/two-candidates-file-for-allen-county-republican-surveyor-caucus/article_c35ef258-0dcd-11ed-8a35-372c55bf7874.html |
DANVILLE, Va. — A Virginia company and its owner have agreed to pay $310,000 to resolve allegations that they violated federal and state law by submitting false bills to Medicare and Medicaid, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Piedmont Infusion Services did not employ a physician or “physician extender” such as a physician’s assistant to provide patient care.
From 2013 through the beginning of 2018, Patterson and Piedmont Infusion Services falsely billed Medicare and Medicaid for high-level office visits that didn’t occur, a news release said. In addition, Patterson and Piedmont Infusion Services also fraudulently double-billed Medicare Part B for medications already billed to Medicare Part D.
Prosecutors said a former employee of Piedmont Infusion Services came forward as a whistleblower and helped the government in its investigation. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-company-pays-310k-to-resolve-false-claims-charges/2022/07/27/824254c4-0dda-11ed-88e8-c58dc3dbaee2_story.html | 2022-07-27T19:02:19 | 1 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-company-pays-310k-to-resolve-false-claims-charges/2022/07/27/824254c4-0dda-11ed-88e8-c58dc3dbaee2_story.html |
PITTSFIELD, N.Y. – A 36-year-old woman died early Wednesday morning when her vehicle caught on fire after crashing into a tree in the town of Pittsfield.
According to New York State Police, reports came in around 12:30 a.m. about a car on fire with a person trapped inside near County Highway 13.
Troopers responded to the highway near Hawks Road and saw firefighters already at the scene. Fire officials confirmed the vehicle was fully engulfed and the person inside was deceased.
Following an investigation, state police say the woman was driving north on County Highway 13 when she went off of the road and struck an embankment and a tree.
The woman’s name has not yet been released. | https://www.wktv.com/news/local/state-police-woman-dies-in-fiery-crash-in-town-of-pittsfield/article_646072c0-0dcf-11ed-9ff5-138c9e0161bf.html | 2022-07-27T19:05:32 | 0 | https://www.wktv.com/news/local/state-police-woman-dies-in-fiery-crash-in-town-of-pittsfield/article_646072c0-0dcf-11ed-9ff5-138c9e0161bf.html |
New Jerseyans have reason to celebrate the Garden State Wednesday as July 27 is National New Jersey Day. (Yes, that's a thing.)
Whether you're from South Jersey, North Jersey or that place in between that's sometimes called Central Jersey here are our favorite things in the Garden State on this National New Jersey Day.
From "The Boss" to Snooki to the Jersey Shore there's plenty to celebrate, but these are our Top 5.
The Gas Pump
No need to hop out the car -- unless you're at Wawa grabbing your coffee -- because a gas station attendant will pump your gas for you. That's right, the Retail Gasoline Dispensing Act prohibits anyone that's not a gas station attendant to pump the gas. If you decide to not sit back and relax you can receive a fine of up to $500 for pumping your own.
So, sit back, relax and let someone else watch the gas dial go up. (Hold on, with gas prices where they are, maybe this one isn't as great as we thought.)
Bruce Springsteen
There's no one more Jersey (not even the Jersey Boys) than "The Boss" himself, Bruce Springsteen. Arguably, best known for his album "Born in the U.S.A", Springsteen hails from Freehold and has even put an ode to the Garden State in the title of his debut album, "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J."
The rockingest of rock stars is one of the most accomplished musicians of our time, he's been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and awarded with a Kennedy Center Honor to name a few.
The Boss also started foundations to give back to communities in need. In 2016 he was awarded the highest civilian honor by former President Barack Obama, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
And through it all, Springsteen never forgets his Jersey roots.
Honorable mention to Jon Bon Jovi, Lauryn Hill and plenty of other music stars.
The Jersey Shore
Did you really think we could skip the Jersey Shore? We're not talking about the show (which is gave us the icon Snooki) but the 141 miles or so of oceanfront fun.
You can relax in Avalon, live out your "Jersey Shore" dreams in Seaside Heights or play the slots in Atlantic City and still have around 57 more beaches to visit in the state.
People from all across the country, but mostly the East Coast, travel to the shore for summer fun with their families.
Diners
If you want breakfast, lunch or dinner -- or all of them at once -- look no further. New Jersey might be the diner capital of the world. The state is home to more than 500 diners, some of them being 24-hour establishments.
Be sure to bring your appetite.
Pork Rolls
Hungry yet?
If you didn't know, the pork roll was created in 1856 by a man named John Taylor in Trenton. Still in 2022 New Jerseyans are divided by the north and south by what to call it. The north calls it "Taylor's Ham" and the south calls it "pork roll." Gov. Phil Murphy calls it "taylor pork," so who knows.
Whichever side you fall on, one thing you know is that it's good.
Honorable foodie mention to salt water taffy and boardwalk pizza. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/national-new-jersey-day-best-things/3317051/ | 2022-07-27T19:06:33 | 1 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/national-new-jersey-day-best-things/3317051/ |
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — The Birmingham Police Department is investigating a shooting that left an 18-year-old dead Tuesday night.
According to BPD, officers were called to the 1400 block of 21st Street North on reports of shots fired. While they were en route to the location, the officers were told that a vehicle had wrecked at an apartment complex parking lot.
Once authorities arrived at the scene, they discovered a victim lying unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound outside of the damaged vehicle. The Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service arrived shortly thereafter and pronounced the victim deceased.
The victim was later identified as Daniel Edward Fowler, 18, of Birmingham.
No suspects are in custody at this time. If you have any information on the case, you’re asked to contact BPD at 205-254-1764. | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/18-year-old-shot-killed-while-inside-vehicle-in-north-birmingham/ | 2022-07-27T19:09:23 | 0 | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/18-year-old-shot-killed-while-inside-vehicle-in-north-birmingham/ |
SAN ANTONIO — The Texas Fourth Court of Appeals sided with SAISD in its mandate that all employees be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The mandate was issued back in August 2021 and required all employees of San Antonio Independent School District to get vaccinated against the virus. THe mandate directly challenged Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on COVID-19 vaccine mandates under the Texas Disaster Act. The rule drew lawsuits from Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Wednesday, San Antonio ISD issued a statement saying the Fourth Court of Appeals ruled the vaccine mandate was not a violation of the Texas Disaster Act. The court also determined the district could issue its vaccine mandate under the Education Code.
Read the district's full statement below:
Today, we are gratified to learn the Fourth Court of Appeals upheld San Antonio ISD’s power to take action to protect the safety and health of students, staff, and visitors. The ruling affirmed the trial court’s denial of the State’s request for a temporary injunction against SAISD’s vaccine mandate. The district implemented a vaccine mandate in August 2021 when the FDA announced it was about to grant full approval of available COVID-19 vaccines.
In the Fourth Court of Appeals ruling, it was determined that the provisions of the Education Code permitting the school district to issue its vaccine mandate are not subject to suspension by the Governor under the Texas Disaster Act, and we fully support this ruling.
Our district led the way with our response to COVID-19. No matter the challenge before us – whether a pandemic or other school safety issue – it is our state and federal responsibility to protect children in our charge, and we will always act in the best interests of our students, families and community. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/fully-support-this-ruling-appeals-court-sides-with-saisd-in-employee-vaccine-mandate/273-3a44c509-3ed0-484b-8f01-2fcdf389e2e4 | 2022-07-27T19:14:11 | 0 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/fully-support-this-ruling-appeals-court-sides-with-saisd-in-employee-vaccine-mandate/273-3a44c509-3ed0-484b-8f01-2fcdf389e2e4 |
SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio city councilwoman is introducing a resolution aimed at protecting abortion rights.
Councilwoman Teri Castillo held a news conference Wednesday making the announcement more than a month after the US Supreme Court officially overturned Roe v. Wade.
The decision enacted a trigger law in Texas that bans abortions in the state.
“We will protect San Antonio women and the right to healthcare,” Councilwoman Castillo said in the news conference.
According to the resolution draft, city funds would not be used to store, catalog any report of abortion, miscarriage, or other reproductive healthcare act for the purpose of pursuing a criminal investigation.
The resolution says this does not apply in cases where coercion or force is used against a pregnant person.
Councilwoman Castillo was asked if this means authorities like the San Antonio Police Department will investigate abortions.
“With the city charter, the city council cannot direct SAPD or the Chief on which laws to enforce, but we can give a policy recommendation to not criminalize women,” Castillo responded.
The resolution is similar to the GRACE Act passed by the city of Austin earlier this week.
As part of the resolution, the city council wants to make abortion access a priority in the city’s legislative agenda for the State of Texas legislative session next year.
Council members who stood in support of the resolution included Mayor Ron Nirenberg, council members Mario Bravo (District 1), Phyllis Viagran (District 3), Melissa Cabello Havrda (District 6), and John Courage (District 10).
Bexar County district attorney Joe Gonzales also spoke in support.
Read the full resolution below:
This is a developing story and will be updated. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/san-antonio-city-councilmember-leads-charge-defend-abortion-rights/273-4810586f-e682-42d2-bfb2-9a5473d9d940 | 2022-07-27T19:14:18 | 0 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/san-antonio-city-councilmember-leads-charge-defend-abortion-rights/273-4810586f-e682-42d2-bfb2-9a5473d9d940 |
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A 15-year-old boy is dead following a shooting Tuesday night in DeKalb County, police say.
Around 6:35 p.m., officers were called to the 3300 block of Peppertree Circle in Decatur and located the boy.
"Our Homicide detectives responded to the scene to further the investigation," DeKalb County Police said in a statement. "We have no additional information at this time."
The circumstances surrounding the shooting have not been released. The medical examiner tells 11Alive the boy's name is Romello Heard.
His family tells us that Heard, who went to Stone Mountain High School, was the oldest of 12 kids. They said he was shy, cool and observant who lit up the room with the energy he brought into a room.
Family members are feeling confused and hurt over the crime, they said.
This is a developing story. Check back often for new information.
Also download the 11Alive News app and sign up to receive alerts for the latest on this story and other breaking news in Atlanta and north Georgia. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/teen-killed-peppertree-circle-dekalb-county/85-802ec87c-58a8-445d-9e12-79fc95f2e741 | 2022-07-27T19:14:26 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/teen-killed-peppertree-circle-dekalb-county/85-802ec87c-58a8-445d-9e12-79fc95f2e741 |
SELINSGROVE, Pa. — A little bit of paint and some raking transform a woman's front yard near Mount Pleasant Mills. The volunteers are from Selinsgrove Church of the Nazarene. This is the first year for "Sun Area Work and Witness," a mission trip organized by the church.
"We're in a season where everyone has a need nowadays, and so one of our priorities was, 'How can we identify and come alongside and meet some needs in our community?'" said Pastor Bill Foss.
Pastor Foss put an application on the church's website, which members promoted on social media and by word of mouth.
"We were just inundated with multiple projects that we had to go to site evaluations and figure out, 'What can we do?'"
Newswatch 16 caught up with a group painting a shed roof at Marie and Larry Heintzelman's house near Freeburg.
"We are blessed beyond measure. God is good!" said Marie Heintzelman.
Marie and Larry are grateful for the help.
"These people would come out on a hot summer day voluntarily, climb up on those roofs, and paint for the day. It's like, what a blessing," Marie said.
They have a lot to keep them busy. Over the next four days, the group aims to fix nearly 30 properties.
"About 102 volunteers through Saturday, and then we actually have another church, their youth group is going to partner with us, Grace Covenant, on Saturday to kind of give us a shot in the arm for the last couple of projects we are finishing on Saturday," Pastor Foss explained.
The pastor says they hope to expand the mission next year and make it even bigger.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/snyder-county/selinsgrove-church-groups-mission-is-to-help-church-of-the-nazarene-volunteers-paint-fix-up/523-765cbd4d-3f60-4683-a6ed-4583a5d050a2 | 2022-07-27T19:15:08 | 0 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/snyder-county/selinsgrove-church-groups-mission-is-to-help-church-of-the-nazarene-volunteers-paint-fix-up/523-765cbd4d-3f60-4683-a6ed-4583a5d050a2 |
Ex-Sebring Fire Chief James Cannell Sr. dead at 78
SEBRING – James Cannell Sr. had many passions, but his love for family and village topped them.
Cannell, 78, who served more than 50 years on Sebring Village's Fire Department died July 23 after a battle with leukemia.
Calling hours for Cannell and his funeral will take place at Sebring Fire Station No. 1, at 235 E. Ohio Ave. in Sebring. Details are at the end of this story.
"Everybody says his heart was as big as him," said current Fire Chief Mike Springer.
More:Sebring festival to honor late Sebring fire chief
Springer's father Richard, who died in 2016, served as an assistant fire chief with Cannell. In June 2021, Cannell and Springer's widow, Laurie, rode in the Sebring Fire Association's annual Fireman's Festival parade, which paid tribute to the longtime chief.
Cannell was born in Youngstown, but his family moved to Sebring Village and made it home. He graduated from Sebring High School in 1961 and worked at Mercer's Ashland until he bought it.
He eventually sold the gas station and retired as service manager at Bailey Ford.
Cannell joined Sebring Volunteer Fire Department in 1965 and rose in the ranks. In 1979, he became chief, and remained in the job that served the town of nearly 4,200 people until his retirement in 2015.
The village's Fire Station No. 1, on East Ohio Avenue, is named for him.
According to his obituary with Dean's Funeral Home, Cannell was "proud of knowing SFD had the best personnel, fastest response time, state-of-the-art facilities of any volunteer fire department around."
It continued, detailing Cannell's pride in his post.
"Chief Cannell proudly wore his fire helmet as a king's crown, but also wore many other hats in Sebring and the surrounding communities," the obituary stated.
Springer said one of Cannell's passions was helping Sebring Village gain notice outside the area, sharing a story involving Austintown Township Fire Chief Andrew Frost.
"Frost said he never heard of Sebring until he met Jim Cannell," Springer said.
Cannell also served 28 years as treasurer of the Sebring Booster Club and 23 years on Sebring's Board of Education. He also served on the village's Park and Recreation Board and Sebring Village Council.
Sue Risbeck Sanor, owner of Leonard Hardware, said she and her late husband, John Risbeck, were friends with Cannell. She served on council with him, and her husband served on the fire department.
"We didn't always agree (on council) but we were always friends. He wanted Sebring to stay a quaint little town," she said.
Those who knew Cannell said the leader always had the village's best interest in mind, while also devoting much of his personal time to his family. Some of his accolades included Sebring Lions Club Citizen of the Year and Sebring High School Distinguished Alumni.
"He had a mind of his own, but he did so much in all areas of the village." Sanor said. "If you needed something, he was there. He was always busy." Sanor point out that Cannell mowed village lots for free.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Bobbi; three children; nine grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; a brother, Jac; and many nieces and nephews.
"He was will be missed," Sanor said. "He never gave up and he was always willing to lend a hand or his opinion."
Cannell's family will receive friends from 1 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Sebring Fire Station No. 1, with the family present from 5 to 9 p.m. A Masonic service will be held at 5 p.m., and a Fire Service will be at 6 p.m.
A funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Station No. 1. Burial will be noon Friday in Grandview Cemetery on South Johnson Road. | https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/alliance/2022/07/27/sebring-james-cannell-fire-leukemia-mahoning-dead-78-ohio/10142394002/ | 2022-07-27T19:15:09 | 0 | https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/alliance/2022/07/27/sebring-james-cannell-fire-leukemia-mahoning-dead-78-ohio/10142394002/ |
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Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/local/comcast-rise-helping-small-businesses/3317263/ | 2022-07-27T19:19:23 | 1 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/local/comcast-rise-helping-small-businesses/3317263/ |
President Barack Obama released his annual summer reading list on Tuesday, and it was heavy with Bay Area writers. Every year Obama makes a summer reading list and a summer playlist, which he releases to his massive social media following.
“I’ve read a couple of great books this year and wanted to share some of my favorites so far,” Obama wrote Tuesday on Instagram. “What have you been reading this summer?”
Famed political analyst and podcaster Ezra Klein's most recent work “Why We're Polarized” made Obama’s list. Klein, who went to UC Santa Cruz for two years, moved to Oakland from Washington, D.C., in 2019. As the title suggests, the book focuses on how we’ve arrived at this hyper-polarized political moment.
Novelist Jennifer Egan’s most recent work, “The Candy House,” about a tech billionaire who is able to monetize people’s memories, was named one of Time’s “most anticipated” books of the year. Apparently the work lived up to the hype for Obama, who added the Lowell High School graduate’s work to his summer reading list.
Charmaine Wilkerson, whose work “Black Cake” was praised by Obama, graduated from Stanford before writing her lauded debut novel. Based partially in present-day California, “Black Cake” focuses on two estranged siblings who delve into their mother’s past and Caribbean upbringing. The novel is already in development as a TV series by Hulu.
Lan Samantha Chang, whose recent work “The Family Chao” focuses on the plight of an American Chinese restaurant-owning family in Wisconsin, also made the list. Chang was a Wallace Stegner fellow at Stanford.
One more author, Hanya Yanagihara, doesn't have a Bay Area connection but does have a very close tie to Obama. Like the former president, Yanagihara grew up in Hawaii and went to the elite Punahou School. Yanagihara’s “To Paradise” spans multiple story lines and three centuries as it ruminates on America. | https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/obama-reads-bay-area-authors-17332149.php | 2022-07-27T19:21:44 | 1 | https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/obama-reads-bay-area-authors-17332149.php |
On the way into Meridian’s Sky Mesa subdivision, a sign advertises new homes and large lots. A family with floats and pool noodles crosses the street to an infinity pool.
Construction workers, contractor vehicles and porta-potties line the streets as workers lift boards over their heads. Several homes are wrapped in Tyvek behind the backyard of a newly constructed $1.3 million home for sale.
It’s this higher end of the market that is still moving pretty quickly in the Boise area, since people buying million-plus-dollar homes don’t have to worry about interest rates that have nearly doubled in a few months.
But builders are holding back on other projects in the lower end of the market as buyers, with new options, take their time looking and buying.
“Ironically, if you price it competitively, I’m seeing the luxury market, which is that inventory, to actually be going a little bit more quickly than some of the other ones,” RE/MAX Capital City Realtor Sheila Smith said. “I think it’s because they’re a little bit insulated.”
Homebuyers with deep pockets can use private financing or cash, which aren’t as affected by rising interest rates.
Inventory is still rising in all price points, but “we’re actually getting those (luxury homes) moved,” Smith said.
However on the construction end, production builders are holding off on building homes in the lower end of the market, said Matt Weston, principal at Weston Real Estate Services powered by Amherst Madison. The company focuses on infill development and construction in Boise.
Many builders have slowed down or stopped new projects, and are just finishing up what they have going on while they wait to see what the market will do.
However, rising supply in June led to drops in Ada County home prices, the Idaho Press previously reported.
For example, Smith listed a condo for $315,000 this winter. Another comparable unit in the same building is for sale right now, but for $290,000, a drop of about $25,000 for similar units with the same number of bedrooms and square feet.
Some people are reacting too quickly, Smith said, and aren't94 used to being patient. Homes used to sell much more quickly and now, sellers think a home is overpriced because it doesn’t sell immediately. But the reality is people have choices now.
Homes are sitting on the market for an average of 14-30 days, Smith said. But in an even market, houses may be on the market for 60-90 days, she said.
“There’s this kind of jumping the gun, which I think that that is part of what we’re seeing,” Smith said. “We’re seeing values drop because we’re doing all these price drops in reaction to this increased supply.”
But affordability is still a major issue. Even if prices dropped 10%, Smith said, with the increased interest rates, buyers are coming out behind. Plus, those who want to move from their current house into the next one may have a rate locked in at 3% and are reluctant to buy another home.
“Until interest rates come down or prices come down, there are more and more people that are still priced out of the market that are Boise workforce,” Smith said
Smith thinks the market will correct itself. Either there will be a mass increase in renting and a corresponding increase in multifamily units, or the market will adjust down, she said.
But right now, there are more opportunities than in the overheated seller’s market Boise has experienced the last few years. VA loans, for veterans, and FHA loans, which require lower credit scores and down payments, are being honored. FHA loans are popular with first-time homebuyers.
“I’m so happy for these buyers to finally have a voice again,” she said. “I don’t think people need to be frightened … this is a healthier market.”
Weston agreed. He said the market has changed but numbers for sales rates show that Boise is not too far off from where it was from 2016-2018.
“That might not be a bad thing,” Weston said. “I don’t know if the market was very sustainable the last couple years. Our poor local buyers have just been hammered the last couple years.”
There’s a lot of inventory in western Ada and Canyon counties, Weston said, but production home builders are holding off on new starts in those areas as well. The supply-and-demand ratio is changing.
Weston said builders holding off on new construction affects some price points more than others, particularly the lowest end and the extremely high ends.
“We’re afraid to do anything over $1.2 million because that market has softened quite a bit in all areas,” Weston said. “The COVID years, those price points exploded because of the low inventory and high demand and the out-of-state money influence.”
There’s a silver lining to the Boise market right now, Weston said. The market is recalibrating. The nation as a whole is missing millions of housing units. The Boise area is growing and will continue to grow and attract people.
“This is a fantastic time for our local buyers to find their homes, their dream homes and make the investment for the five to 10-year future,” Weston said. “This could be the window over this next year.
Soon as we recalibrate and our market tightens right back up, we’re going to see surges of out-of-state buyers again.” | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/is-boise-housing-market-looking-up-heres-what-the-data-and-experts-say/article_46819515-4dfb-510f-be13-7acf6c0c7b91.html | 2022-07-27T19:24:59 | 1 | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/is-boise-housing-market-looking-up-heres-what-the-data-and-experts-say/article_46819515-4dfb-510f-be13-7acf6c0c7b91.html |
...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON MDT /11 AM PDT/
TODAY TO 9 PM MDT /8 PM PDT/ SATURDAY...
* WHAT...High temperatures of 100 to 107 expected.
* WHERE...Southeast Oregon and portions of southwest Idaho.
* WHEN...From noon MDT /11 AM PDT/ Wednesday to 9 PM MDT /8 PM
PDT/ Saturday.
* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur.
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.
&&
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The suspect of a Tuesday bank robbery in Garden City is seen exiting the bank located in the 4100 block of Adams Street.
The Garden City Police Department is investigating a bank robbery that occurred Tuesday afternoon.
Officers were dispatched to the incident at the 4100 block of Adams Street in Garden City around 4:30 p.m. Witnesses reported seeing an adult male in his late teens or early 20s entering the bank and giving a teller a demand note. He received an undisclosed amount of money and fled the bank on foot, according to a press release from Garden City Police.
The suspect was seen wearing a black sweatshirt, black pants, a black hat with a logo, and white shoes. He's described as white, approximately 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, the release said. He was last reported seen near the intersection of East 41st and Adams in Garden City.
Anyone with information about the crime or the identity of the suspect is asked to contact the Garden City Police Department at 208-472-2950, or call Crime Stoppers at 208-343-COPS (2677). | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/police-searching-for-boise-area-bank-robbery-suspect/article_89a3401c-3751-540d-8d96-53275007b5c5.html | 2022-07-27T19:25:01 | 1 | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/police-searching-for-boise-area-bank-robbery-suspect/article_89a3401c-3751-540d-8d96-53275007b5c5.html |
Originally published July 25 on IdahoEdNews.org.
The price tag for the Reclaim Idaho education initiative could be much higher than expected.
According to language of the initiative, which qualified for the November ballot Friday, the measure could roll back the income tax cuts passed by the 2022 Legislature. Attorney General Lawrence Wasden’s chief deputy confirmed this in an email last week. And this wording would drive up the cost of the initiative to $573 million a year, according to the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a conservative lobbying group opposing the Reclaim initiative.
Reclaim maintains its intent is to increase corporate taxes and income taxes on Idaho’s wealthiest residents, raising $323 million a year for K-12, while leaving the rest of the tax code untouched.
In three months, voters will have to figure out what they make of Reclaim’s Quality Education Act, and its costs. And if a simple majority of voters approve the initiative, the Legislature gets a chance to put its mark on the law.
What does the initiative say?
The ballot language includes the tax increases Reclaim has discussed all along.
It creates a new, 10.925% income tax rate, for individual incomes exceeding $250,000 and family incomes exceeding $500,000.
It increases the corporate tax rate to 8%, up from 6%.
These changes are expected to generate the $323 million, which would go into a dedicated fund for K-12. The money could then be used for a variety of purposes — such as increasing teacher pay, recruiting and retaining teachers or counselors, or career-technical education, music or special education.
But the initiative language also calls for individual income tax rates ranging from 1% to 6.5% — even though the 2022 Legislature reduced or eliminated most of these rates. For Idahoans making more than $5,000 in taxable income, for instance, the Legislature reduced the tax rate from 6.5% to 6%.
Part of this could be a function of timing. Reclaim began gathering signatures for its K-12 initiative before the 2022 legislative session, and before the new tax cuts became law, and the initiative language reflects the pre-2022 income tax rates.
But regardless, the initiative turns back the clock on Idaho’s income tax rates, months after Republican lawmakers and Gov. Brad Little agreed on what they hailed as the largest tax cut in state history.
“The ballot measure reverses recent tax cuts … in the 2022 legislative session,” chief deputy attorney general Brian Kane wrote in a Tuesday email to Chad Houck, the chief deputy to Secretary of State Lawerence Denney, Idaho’s chief election official. Idaho Education News obtained the email Monday.
So what does this mean?
Depends who you ask.
As the Reclaim initiative secured its spot on the Nov. 8 ballot, the Freedom Foundation went on the offensive.
The group — which does not respond to most media requests — sent out more than two dozen tweets over the weekend, labeling the Reclaim initiative a tax hike on Idahoans both rich and poor, and saying reporters have lowballed the cost of the initiative. The Freedom Foundation is also armed with a recent report from the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C., think tank, which labels the Reclaim initiative as “gaffe-riddled.” This is the report that prompted Houck to seek a legal opinion from Kane.
Reclaim, meanwhile, focuses on other language in the initiative, and its stated intent.
Reclaim has maintained that its initiative will increase income taxes only for 1% of individuals and households. And on Sunday, Reclaim co-founder Luke Mayville said his group has been clear: It wants only to create a new income tax bracket for the wealthiest of Idahoans. He points to the initiative’s fiscal note, which says the measure would only affect Idahoans making more than $250,000 a year, who would fall under the new, top-end tax bracket.
“There is no evidence in our initiative of legislative intent to alter the lower brackets,” Mayville said in an email.
And on Monday, Mayville dismissed Kane’s email — saying Reclaim has a legal opinion of its own. Former Idaho Supreme Court Justice and Attorney General Jim Jones has told the group that its initiative would clearly affect only the wealthiest Idahoans.
“In any case, an opinion issued by the (attorney general) is only advisory,” Mayville said. “The only definitive opinion would be the opinion of the court. In the event that our initiative passes in November and public officials decide to undermine the intention of the initiative, we are prepared to take the issue to court and we are confident that we would prevail.”
So who sorts this out?
There’s no way to change the language of the initiative at this point. So at some level, voters will have to decide who they believe.
Expect Reclaim and the Freedom Foundation to continue to spar over this issue. The two groups have filed written arguments for or against the initiative with the secretary of state’s office, the state’s elections arm. Now, the groups must file their rebuttals with the secretary of state by Aug. 1. The arguments and rebuttals will appear in a voter pamphlet that will be mailed out a few weeks before the election.
“We accept them as written, and don’t make judgment calls up or down on them,” Houck said Monday.
And voters won’t have the last word.
Mayville says it will fall to the Idaho Code Commission — a relatively obscure offshoot of the secretary of state’s office — to come up with the code language for a successful initiative. This panel of three attorneys, appointed by the governor, updates Idaho code annually.
And the Legislature would certainly weigh in. Lawmakers are not obligated to sign off on an initiative as written. They have the chance to amend — or even reject — a voter-approved initiative.
In this case, for example, lawmakers could simply pass the same income tax cuts they voted into law in 2022.
“There is nothing that we can do at this point about the ballot language or the text of the initiative,” Kane wrote last week. “If it passes, it will be up to the Legislature to sort it out as it sees fit.” | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/reclaim-idaho-initiative-could-carry-an-unexpectedly-high-price-tag/article_ea0c496f-07cf-5ab9-979f-b6f47825bbda.html | 2022-07-27T19:25:03 | 0 | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/reclaim-idaho-initiative-could-carry-an-unexpectedly-high-price-tag/article_ea0c496f-07cf-5ab9-979f-b6f47825bbda.html |
WATERLOO — A Mason City man has been sentenced to prison for a 2020 drug robbery in Waterloo and for selling meth and heroin with his father, according to federal prosecutors.
Antione Deandre Maxwell, 34, was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Monday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. Following prison, he will be on supervised release for 10 years.
Authorities said Maxwell and two others took part in a November 2020 robbery of a marijuana dealer at a Shamrock Drive apartment. During the heist, Maxwell held a gun to a victim’s head and threatened to kill him. They fled with marijuana products and more than $1,000 in cash, according to court records.
Waterloo police detained the robbers during their attempted getaway. Maxwell and Chavee Harden were convicted of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery. Harden was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.
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About a month before the robbery, Maxwell and his father, Charleton Everett Maxwell, were indicted for selling drugs in the Mason City area between 2018 and 2020. Investigators used controlled drug transactions with the two and others and then searched a home in July 2020 where they found more than three pounds of pure meth, 80 grams of heroin and four firearms, court records state.
Charleton Maxwell was sentenced to more than 17 years in February. | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mason-city-man-sentenced-in-waterloo-drug-robbery-heroin-sales/article_7f3746a1-e661-57d7-93a8-7d31042229ca.html | 2022-07-27T19:27:38 | 1 | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mason-city-man-sentenced-in-waterloo-drug-robbery-heroin-sales/article_7f3746a1-e661-57d7-93a8-7d31042229ca.html |
The detective who led the investigation into the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School attack testified Tuesday that there are three types of people who deny that it happened and harass the victims’ families: the mentally ill, those who believed bad or incomplete information, and those who knew the truth but twisted it for their own “power or money.”
Investigators put conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in that final group.
“They were the most dangerous. That’s where we put Alex Jones,” Connecticut State Police Detective Daniel Jewiss told the jury on the first day of testimony in a Texas trial to determine how much Jones, who hosts Infowars, owes for defaming the parents of one of the children who died in the deadliest school shooting in American history.
“It’s absolutely horrific the amount of trauma they’ve had to endure in the wake of having lost a loved one,” said Jewiss, who called supporting the Sandy Hook families the “most honorable” thing he’s ever been part of.
Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse was killed in the attack on the Newtown, Connecticut, school, are seeking $150 million for emotional distress and reputational damage that Jones caused them, and more money in punitive damages, their lawyer, Mark Bankston, told the court during his opening statement as Jones looked on, shaking his head at times.
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Jones repeatedly “lied and attacked the parents of murdered children” when he told his Infowars audience that the shooting was a hoax, Bankston said. He created a “massive campaign of lies” and recruited “wild extremists from the fringes of the internet ... who were as cruel as Mr. Jones wanted them to be” to the families of the 20 first-graders and six educators who were killed, the lawyer said.
Jones tapped into the explosive popularity of Sandy Hook conspiracy stories that became an “obsession” for the website, even years after the shooting, said Bankston, who played video clips of Jones claiming on his program that the shooting was a hoax and “the whole thing was completely fake. ... It just didn’t happen.”
Anticipating that Jones’ lawyers would argue that what Jones said about Sandy Hook was speech protected by the First Amendment — Jones arrived at the courthouse wearing tape over his mouth with the message “Save the 1st” printed on it — Bankston told the jury, “This has nothing to do with the Constitution. Defamation is not protected by freedom of speech. ... Speech is free, but lies you have to pay for.”
During the defense’s opening remarks, Jones’ lawyer Andino Reynal called Jones one of the “most polarizing figures in this nation,” who made statements about Sandy Hook “that we don’t dispute were wrong.” But he said Jones has already been punished for those statements when he was kicked off of Facebook, YouTube, Spotify and Twitter for violating their hate speech policies.
Jones has “already been canceled” and lost millions of dollars, said Reynal, who called on the jury to limit the damages to $1.
Reynal painted a picture of a talk show host who “tries to give an alternative view” but who was duped by some of his guests.
“Alex Jones was wrong to believe these people, but he didn’t do it out of spite. He did it because he believed it. ... He believed a citizen has a right to get on Infowars and talk about what their questions are,” Reynal said.
He also called the case an important one for free speech.
“I believe in his right to say it, and I believe in every American’s right to choose what they watch, and listen to, and believe,” Reynal said.
Between the two sides’ opening statements, Jones stepped outside of the courtroom to rant to reporters, calling it a “kangaroo court” and “show trial” that was an assault on the First Amendment. He didn’t return to the courtroom for the afternoon start of testimony, which included Infowars producer Daria Karpova taking the stand.
Jones’ media company designated Karpova to testify about Infowars’ audience reach and some of the videos produced by the website after the Sandy Hook shooting. The trial took a break for the rest of the day before she finished her planned testimony.
The jury could deal Jones a major financial blow that would put his constellation of conspiracy peddling businesses into deeper jeopardy. In addition to being banned from major social media platforms, he claims he’s millions of dollars in debt — a claim the plaintiffs reject.
The Texas court and another in Connecticut found Jones liable for defamation for his portrayal of the Sandy Hook massacre as a hoax involving actors aimed at increasing gun control. In both states, the judges issued default judgments against Jones without trials because he failed to respond to court orders and turn over documents.
In total, the families of eight Sandy Hook victims and an FBI agent who responded to the school are suing Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems.
Jones has since acknowledged that the shooting took place. During a deposition in April, Jones insisted he wasn’t responsible for the suffering that Sandy Hook parents say they have endured because of the hoax conspiracy, including death threats and harassment by Jones’ followers.
Jones claimed in court records last year that he had a negative net worth of $20 million, but attorneys for Sandy Hook families have painted a different financial picture.
Court records show that Jones’ Infowars store, which sells nutritional supplements and survival gear, made more than $165 million between 2015 and 2018. Jones has also urged listeners on his Infowars program to donate money.
The trial began Monday in Austin, Texas — where Jones lives and broadcasts his show — following months of delays. It also comes about two months after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, which is about 145 miles southwest of Austin. It was the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/detective-says-alex-jones-among-most-dangerous-type-of-attack-denier-as-trial-begins/3032678/ | 2022-07-27T19:33:30 | 0 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/detective-says-alex-jones-among-most-dangerous-type-of-attack-denier-as-trial-begins/3032678/ |
FLINT, Mich. (WJRT) - Two corrections officers in the Genesee County Jail owe their lives to Narcan after they were exposed to fentanyl in the facility on Friday evening, according to Sheriff Chris Swanson.
He said a man arrested earlier in the evening stuck fentanyl in a body cavity, where it went undetected during searches when the inmate was booked into the jail. The inmate later removed it while in a holding cell and used some.
Swanson said the inmate dropped the rest of his fentanyl on the floor while he was moving to a different area of the jail. A different inmate picked up the fentanyl off the floor and overdosed.
While treating that inmate's overdose, Swanson said Deputy Forrest Bradley and a partner were exposed to the fentanyl.
An ambulance rushed the inmate to Hurley Medical Center, where he survived the overdose. Bradley, who was near the end of his shift, clocked out and was leaving the jail when he started experiencing overdose symptoms in a back area.
"I just remember my body going numb and my lungs felt like they cramped up and it was just hard to get a breath in me," Bradley said.
Surveillance cameras inside the jail show him lean against a wall and go down to his knees as the overdose symptoms worsened. Bradley said he started passing out, but he was able to get up and walk into a busier part of the jail with more people around.
"I don't remember how I did. I just remember kind of getting up and knowing I can't go down here," he said.
Another deputy in the jail's control center saw Bradley struggling and called a code blue. More deputies came to Bradley's aid and began administering Narcan to him.
Bradley, who is trained as a paramedic, helped the other deputies render aid to himself. He received a total of four or five Narcan doses before an ambulance brought him to Hurley Medical Center.
Bradley spent two days in the hospital and was on a Narcan drip while he recovered from the fentanyl exposure. Another deputy was exposed to fentanyl during the incident and recovered.
Both have returned to work at the jail this week.
Swanson said the incident shows how powerful fentanyl can be. He described fentanyl as a synthetic opioid that is much more potent than heroin, which can be derived from poppy plants.
"Fentanyl is what's killing people around the country," Swanson said.
So far in 2022, Genesee County medical first responders have reported 517 lives saved thanks to Narcan, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. The county has seen 137 deaths attributed to overdoses since Jan. 1.
The inmate who allegedly brought fentanyl into the jail is facing several criminal charges related to the incident in addition to what he initially was arrested for. | https://www.abc12.com/news/local/narcan-saves-two-genesee-county-jail-officers-exposed-to-fentanyl/article_54157ce0-0dd8-11ed-a5c6-2b8e2af7504a.html | 2022-07-27T19:35:00 | 1 | https://www.abc12.com/news/local/narcan-saves-two-genesee-county-jail-officers-exposed-to-fentanyl/article_54157ce0-0dd8-11ed-a5c6-2b8e2af7504a.html |
CAPE CORAL, Fla. – Authorities are on the scene of a death investigation in Cape Coral.
Multiple units have responded to a house on SW 17th Avenue, near Beach Parkway.
Forensics unit have also showed up to the scene.
Trust NBC-2 to bring you the latest details as they become available. | https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2022/07/27/authorities-responding-to-death-investigation-in-cape-coral/ | 2022-07-27T19:36:38 | 0 | https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2022/07/27/authorities-responding-to-death-investigation-in-cape-coral/ |
LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. (WBBH) – Family and friends of Dyanna Diaz gathered on Tuesday night for a candlelight vigil to remember the 25-year-old killed in a crash last Friday.
Diaz was riding her motorcycle along Homestead Road South near Parkdale Boulevard around 7:30 p.m., according to Florida Highway Patrol Troopers. Another vehicle, driven by a 31-year-old Lehigh Acres man crossed the road, hitting Diaz.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Lehigh Acres motorcyclist dies in crash near Homestead Road
“I still can’t believe it myself,” said Nashaly Negron, who says Diaz was her best friend.
Dozens of family and friends gathered at the corner where Diaz was killed, bringing flowers and memories of the wife and mother.
They set up a memorial with her picture and candles to honor her.
“She was this great human being, beautiful voice, always happy, in great spirits,” Negron said.
She worked with Diaz and just saw her the morning of the crash. They had plans to hang out that evening, but Diaz never shower. That’s when Negron became concerned.
“I knew we were going to hang out later that night and I had texted her and she didn’t answer me,” she said. “Then her mom started calling me and then she told me that she couldn’t get ahold of her and that she was out on her bike and it had been a couple hours.”
By the time she got to Diaz’s home, troopers were already there delivering the tragic news.
Diaz leaves behind a husband and seven-year-old son. Negron knows that her best friend is now looking over them.
“That I love her. To keep flying high and watching over all of us here who miss her dearly. And I’ll miss her for the rest of my life,” she said.
The crash remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. | https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2022/07/27/candlelight-vigil-held-to-remember-lehigh-acres-motorcyclist-killed-in-crash/ | 2022-07-27T19:36:45 | 0 | https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2022/07/27/candlelight-vigil-held-to-remember-lehigh-acres-motorcyclist-killed-in-crash/ |
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A Richmond police officer and the driver of a vehicle whom authorities said crashed while speeding were shot and wounded early Monday after exchanging gunfire, police said. | https://richmond.com/news/local/watch-now-mayor-stoney-briefs-the-media-on-covid-19-monkeypox-and-national-night-out/article_8756020e-0dca-11ed-bb2c-b74050910253.html | 2022-07-27T19:38:31 | 0 | https://richmond.com/news/local/watch-now-mayor-stoney-briefs-the-media-on-covid-19-monkeypox-and-national-night-out/article_8756020e-0dca-11ed-bb2c-b74050910253.html |
BUDA, Texas — The Hays County Sheriff's Office says that first responders are working to put out a grass fire in Buda.
The fire was reported on FM 967 near Coves of Cimarron in Buda. That's in northwest Buda off of 1626.
A KVUE crew on the scene reports that multiple fire trucks and law enforcement officers from Buda, Kyle and the sheriff's office are at the scene. Helicopters are also there assisting in the response.
The HCSO is asking drivers to avoid the area until further notice.
An evacuation order has been issued out of an abundance of caution and reverse 911 calls are being made.
A temporary evacuation shelter has been set up at Hays Hills Baptist Church at 1401 N. FM 2626 in Buda. Pets are allowed but officials ask that cats be held in carriers and that dogs remain on leashes at all times.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/fire-crews-battling-grass-buda/269-97393f59-5678-4751-b363-dab555575f22 | 2022-07-27T19:42:50 | 1 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/fire-crews-battling-grass-buda/269-97393f59-5678-4751-b363-dab555575f22 |
BUDA, Texas — The nearly eight-acre Doc's Drive-In Theatre property in Buda is for sale, according to a listing from Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
The property, priced at almost $4 million, comes with the drive-in theatre, a subterranean speakeasy club and three tiny houses themed after "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "Harry Potter" and "Star Wars."
The listing states the property buyer will also receive, to name a few elements, the commercial kitchen, short-term rental income from the tiny houses and "all proprietary elements and income of business to be disclosed to inquiring buyers."
The drive-in opened in 2018 and based its look on drive-in theaters from the 1950s and 1960s. The theatre offers a variety of food for moviegoers, from traditional popcorn to entire brisket chili bowls to cook-your-own s'mores kits. The bar serves drinks.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/hays-county/docs-drive-in-theatre-sale-4-million/269-4d6e79f7-9e0b-424f-8410-1590a4e0a4a6 | 2022-07-27T19:42:56 | 0 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/hays-county/docs-drive-in-theatre-sale-4-million/269-4d6e79f7-9e0b-424f-8410-1590a4e0a4a6 |
Paying the tab: Increasing alcohol tax would curb deaths in New Mexico, studies show
Alcohol costs New Mexico dearly. It killed 1,878 residents in 2020, three times the nation’s rate.
But getting hammered here is cheap.
At the Shop-N-Save on Gallup’s west side, a thirty-rack of Natural Ice beer sells for $24.95 after tax, a little over two hours’ earnings at minimum wage. Total Wine in Santa Fe offers a five-liter box of Franzia Crisp White wine for $15.15, or 45 cents per drink. And you can’t do better than Wal-Mart in Rio Rancho, where a 1.75-liter handle of Aristocrat vodka sells for $11.84, just 30 cents a drink.
Rock-bottom prices, experts say, are at the heart of the state’s drinking problem.
Other factors also contribute to New Mexico’s high rate of alcohol-related deaths: cycles of violence and trauma that perpetuate alcohol-dependence, opiates and methamphetamines that make for a toxic mix with drink, and the unequal treatment of Native communities that produces yawning disparities. But the easy availability of cheap alcohol makes all this worse.
And over the last 50 years, the price of alcohol has declined dramatically compared to the average person’s income. According to one study, in order to drink heavily of even the cheapest liquor in 1970, a person would have to spend 22% of average after-tax income. By 2010, doing so required just 3%.
To reverse the state’s ballooning rate of alcohol-related deaths, experts say New Mexico has to make drinking more expensive. That can be done by taxing it at a higher rate — but the politics of doing so are difficult. The most recent push to increase alcohol taxes, in 2017, demonstrates the feeble advocacy for change, the robust opposition to it, and the powerful inertia of the status quo.
Basic economics and public health
Alcohol taxes have been around since the birth of the country — the first U.S. Congress placed a tax on imported alcoholic drinks on July 4, 1789. New Mexico’s Liquor Excise Tax Act, drafted shortly after the repeal of Prohibition, reflects its age in arcane terminology like “spirituous liquors.” The statute sets rates by the liter or gallon but converted to "standard drinks" the state taxes beer at 4 cents per 12-ounce can, wine at 7 cents per 150-milliliter glass, and liquor at 7 cents per 1.5-ounce shot.
These tiny amounts add up, netting the state just shy of $50 million a year. This revenue is what alcohol taxes are best known for, but they are also a tool of public health.
“Back in the day when I got started on this, nobody thought tax mattered,” said Philip Cook, a professor emeritus of economics at Duke University who has studied alcohol policy all his career. But his research, and that of other scholars, demonstrates the way governments tax alcohol also affects how people drink.
It is a basic economic principle that when the price of a normal good rises, consumers demand less of it. Over 100 studies have shown this is true of alcohol: when governments raise alcohol taxes, businesses that sell alcohol raise prices, and consumers respond by drinking less. (Bars and restaurants have turned this logic on its head by lowering prices during “happy hour” to encourage customers to drink more and earlier.)
The same economic principle has been used to reduce smoking by raising taxes on cigarettes. When it comes to alcohol, studies generally find a 10% increase in price results in a 5% reduction in overall demand.
Not all drinkers react to price changes in the same way. Young people typically have less money to spend so price increases prompt sharp reductions in consumption or delay the age at which they start to drink. Contrary to conventional wisdom, even heavy drinkers consume less as prices rise, in part because the hit to the pocketbook is greater when you buy greater volumes of alcohol. “It's people who drink a lot that are likely to be sensitive, not the people who drink on Christmas and Easter,” Cook said.
Most important are the impacts alcohol taxes have on health, and they are sweeping and unequivocal.
Study after study has shown that higher alcohol prices curb cirrhosis deaths, drunk driving, violence and crime, and even sexually transmitted disease. When Alaska raised its alcohol taxes by a few cents a drink in 1983 and again in 2002, a study found it cut alcohol-related mortality by 40%. In 2009 when Illinois raised taxes on a drink of liquor by less than a nickel, with smaller hikes for beer and wine, it cut fatal alcohol-related crashes by 26%, with an even larger reduction among drivers under 30. And in 2011 in Maryland, where advocates raised the sales tax levied on alcohol, the change reduced alcohol sales, accelerated a decline in binge-drinking, and cut alcohol-involved crashes and unsafe sex.
But opportunities to study increases in alcohol taxes are rare because these rate increases are the exception across the country. The overwhelming trend has been for states to let real tax rates fall, and legislators typically needn’t lift a finger to do it.
That’s because of inflation. Both federally and in almost all states, alcohol is taxed by the volume sold rather than as a percentage of its price. So over time as inflation pushes alcohol prices higher, the taxes are unchanged and the real tax rates slowly erode. A six-pack priced at $5.99 25 years ago is taxed the same amount as a $10.99 six-pack is today.
Between 1970 and 2010, total federal and state excise tax rates fell by nearly two-thirds after accounting for inflation. In New Mexico, where legislators last raised alcohol tax rates in 1994, they are the lowest they’ve been in a generation — even as the harms that alcohol imposes on the state have risen exponentially.
And scientists say these harms are the best measuring stick for judging how far current tax rates fall short.
For a market to work efficiently, people choosing what to consume must face the full price of that decision. But for a significant share of the costs of drinking, the whole of society picks up the tab — economic losses due to sick or injured workers, healthcare expenditures by public programs, criminal justice responses to alcohol-fueled crimes.
Federal and state researchers calculated these costs at $2.77 per drink in New Mexico as of 2010 ($3.71 in 2022 dollars), the highest of any state and far in excess of what alcohol is taxed anywhere in the United States. When drinkers don’t have to factor these consequences into their actions, they are prone to consume more than they would otherwise. According to Tim Naimi, director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, that leaves non-drinkers with the bill. “The taxpayers of New Mexico are massively subsidizing alcohol consumption.”
Passionate but inexperienced advocates
Peter DeBenedittis might not have been the champion for raising alcohol taxes New Mexico needed, but he was the one it got.
Originally from Colorado, he’d earned a doctorate in communications and had a varied career. He’d worked in advertising and staffed a successful gubernatorial campaign in the remote island territory of Guam, been a motivational speaker,and taught media literacy. He had an idealism that sometimes bordered on grandiosity. On a month-long retreat he once undertook at a temple in India, a monk asked him to envision the biggest thing he could think of. DeBenedittis answered, and the monk responded: think bigger. “That was influential,” DeBenedittis recalled.
After resettling in New Mexico, and drawing in part on his own struggle with alcoholism, he built a business marketing a trademarked curriculum for preventing substance misuse, the Alcohol Literacy Challenge. That’s why he was at a public health conference in 2014, where he saw a presentation about alcohol taxes.
DeBenedittis could point to a handful of studies that found his program was effective at reducing underage drinking, but he could only influence people who took it. A self-professed “research geek,” he also recalled being stunned by calculations showing the number of lives saved for each additional penny of tax imposed on alcohol. When he got home he called acquaintances, hoping to motivate one of them to pursue an increase in New Mexico’s tax rate. But he found himself leading the campaign.
“It became my mission,” he recalled.
The first person he recruited was Shelley Mann-Lev, the founder of the Santa Fe Underage Drinking Prevention Alliance. They dubbed their new coalition Alcohol Taxes Save Lives and Money.
The two had helped the city of Santa Fe pass a smoke-free ordinance a decade earlier, but alcohol taxes were a bigger challenge. Sporadic efforts to raise them in the state legislature had repeatedly sputtered.
A decade earlier when then-Gov. Bill Richardson was exploring reforms to the tax code, he proposed a dime-a-drink increase in the alcohol tax but dropped the proposal after key legislators resisted.
In 2009, Brian Egolf, newly elected to the House of Representatives, endorsed a dime-a-drink increase but the measure quickly died. He told a newspaper “an unholy alliance” of liquor interests, the hospitality industry, and grocery and convenience stores scuttled the bill.
Then for a few years Democratic Attorney General Gary King lobbied to allow counties to impose their own local tax of up to 4 cents per drink, but members of his own party bottled up the bill.
“Democrats are fluent at discussing prejudice and social inequality,” King’s chief lobbyist Phil Baca told New Mexico In Depth of the loss, but they are “completely unwilling to take on predatory industries like the liquor industry.”
Chances for a higher levy on alcohol in 2017 weren’t promising. Plunging oil and gas revenues meant the state was running a $600 million budget deficit and higher alcohol taxes were viewed by some as a way to raise revenue — but Republican Gov. Susana Martinez opposed increasing state taxes of any kind.
DeBenedittis was undaunted. To lay the groundwork for a legislative campaign, the coalition asked for and received money from Bernalillo County to project the impact of raising alcohol taxes by a quarter a drink — an amount far greater than lawmakers in other states had ever considered. But the advocates focused on the science, not the politics.
“We considered a dime but felt like to get the kind of impact — both in terms of the reduction of underage drinking as well as the revenues — that it needed to be meaningful,” said Mann-Lev. Each year, the report concluded, the tax increase would prevent over 12,000 new cases of alcohol dependence and save 52 lives. It would raise $154 million for New Mexico, too.
DeBenedittis published op-eds in local newspapers, launched a Facebook page, and crisscrossed the state educating audiences and recruiting volunteers to help.
But none of the advocates were familiar with how the Legislature works, recalled Holly Mata, then a public health specialist in Alamogordo. ”People get involved in advocacy because they're passionate about something, but very few people have training or experience in navigating the ins and outs of political systems,” she said.
A majority of the public supported increasing taxes on alcohol, according to a poll released by the coalition, and some public health associations endorsed the plan. But major progressive organizations such as New Mexico Voices for Children, the Center for Civic Policy, and the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty didn’t lend their muscle to the effort. Nor were people in recovery or the state’s hard-hit tribal communities a visible presence among its members.
The coalition hammered home the message about the social costs of alcohol borne by taxpayers. It was “the only argument that held sway” in the Legislature, DeBenedittis felt.
In the House, they recruited freshman Democratic Rep. Joanne Ferrary of Las Cruces to carry the legislation. Ferrary had long worked in DWI prevention but was new to the Roundhouse. “I wish I knew then what I know now about having to lobby the different committee members and things like that,” she said.
The sponsor in the Senate, outspokenly progressive Cisco McSorely, a Democrat from Albuquerque, anticipated opposition from the state’s popular craft breweries. So he exempted from the proposed tax increase brewers who produce fewer than 15,000 barrels a year — nearly every brewery in New Mexico. Larger, out-of-state brewers, which produce over 90% of the beer consumed in the state, would be subject to the proposed tax hike.
Organized opposition
The businesses that profit by selling alcohol are numerous and diverse. Observers disagree about how much influence they wield in the state Legislature but the advocates certainly felt overmatched.
Mann-Lev recalled Roundhouse meeting rooms crowded with opponents.
“I’m literally talking about 20 men in suits, very expensively dressed, there all the time," she said.
Lawmakers felt the pressure too, said Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque. Most communities around the state have businesses that sell alcohol.
“It’s not like we’re dealing with something that only benefits one county,” Ortiz y Pino said.
And those who lobby on alcohol stick together, said Rep. Antonio Maestas, a Democrat on Albuquerque’s west side, “So they’re very successful at killing bills.”
Others said the alcohol industry is more organized than omnipotent, lacking the sway of oil and gas, attorneys, or hospitals. “They don’t have an overbearing influence,” said Charlie Marquez, a longtime lobbyist who for decades has represented the state’s green chile growers among other clients.
One of the most knowledgeable opponents of the tax increase was Maurice Bonal. His grandmother had opened a bar and restaurant in Santa Fe and he’d grown up around the alcohol industry, later becoming the state’s leading broker of liquor licenses. He estimated he’d owned nine businesses with alcohol licenses at one point, and has worked with more than two-thirds of the other licensees around the state.
He also commanded a deep understanding of state government and was intimately familiar with the Legislature, where relationships matter.
“Since 1973, I have attended every session,” he said. “I’ve known all the leadership throughout the years, and then of course all the members.”
Bonal contracted a lobbyist to fight the tax increase, saying license holders utterly opposed it. A quarter-per-drink increase wouldn’t reduce excessive consumption, he said. “You could double (the price) and all that would happen is the black market would kick in.”
Another opponent of the tax increase, Ruben Baca, had gotten familiar with the legislature through his wife Patricia Baca, a state representative from Albuquerque between 1985 and 1994. He’d lobbied for a racetrack and a for-profit college but his main clientele was gas stations, which he represented as the executive director of the Petroleum Marketers’ Association.
Baca called the proposed tax increase a “boondoggle” and recalled showing lawmakers maps of New Mexico’s neighboring states that taxed alcohol even less.
“I talk to the people who vote,” he said, adding the advocates weren’t as focused on that strategy. “The nonprofits and these other people that are just activists, they don’t mean anything.”
The founder of La Cumbre Brewing Company, Jeff Erway also lobbied against the bill. He said a tax increase might curb drinking and prevent some chronic illness but making alcohol more expensive would never help the most desperate alcoholics. "You are going to take food out of the mouths of children," he said. "You are not going to tax their parents into making a better life choice."
Working against the advocates, too, was alcohol’s often-hidden role in lawmaking. During each legislative session, lobbyists wine and dine New Mexico’s unpaid lawmakers at renowned watering holes such as Santa Fe’s Bull Ring and Rio Chama steakhouses.
The pervasiveness of alcohol in lawmaking makes reform difficult, Maestas said.
“Every restaurant we go to, there’s the liquor license guy,” he said. “You’re choosing good public policy over people you know, and that’s a tough vote.”
A forgone conclusion
By the time the 2017 legislative session began, opponents of the tax increase were fired up. The first hint came Feb. 5, Super Bowl Sunday, when McSorely held a town hall for constituents in Nob Hill’s Immanuel Presbyterian Church.
Erway was among the crowd of 300, many wearing New Mexico Brewers Guild shirts, according to a blog post by attendee Chris Jackson, who published under the byline "Stoutmeister." The mood was contentious. When McSorely tried to correct the misconception that the bill would impose a tax on small breweries, which it in fact exempted, Erway shouted “Liar!” and was nearly ejected.
On Feb. 20, the bill was heard by the Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee at the end of a hearing that started in the afternoon and stretched into the evening. As McSorely prepared to present the bill to his colleagues, one joked, “I’d hoped he’d gone to bed,” to laughter.
“Did you bring beer before it’s taxed?” another asked.
McSorely made opening remarks and introduced DeBenedittis, whose testimony brimmed with facts and figures about how hiking the tax on alcohol would raise revenue and reduce public expenditures but wearied some.
Committee chairman Clemente Sanchez, a Democrat, interrupted, “You’re not gonna go through every one of these slides, are you?”
DeBenedittis concluded by thanking the committee “for hearing how this bill creates jobs and grows New Mexico’s economy.”
Then opponents spoke. Jeff Lewis, executive director of the New Mexico Brewers’ Guild, acknowledged the bill would exempt craft brewers but signaled unity with the rest of the industry. “We're part of an ecosystem that includes restaurateurs, hoteliers, our partners in the distribution business, the grocers,” he said, “and for that reason we can’t support it.”
Asked if the industry would be open to negotiating a smaller increase, Jimmy Bates, the head of Premier Distributing, rejected compromise. “Any tax increase, Mr. Chairman, we’d be opposed.”
And Nancy King, a lobbyist for Anheuser-Busch, noted that raising the tax by a quarter per drink would amount to “a 589% increase,” although the jump seemed dramatic only because the existing rate was so low. Later that fall as legislators approached re-election, Anheuser-Busch would shower them with $30,000 in political contributions.
Democratic senator Michael Padilla, whose Albuquerque district includes another major distributor, Admiral Beverage Corporation, said he saw the tax as both too high and too low. “Even though it’s excessive, I just don’t think it’s going to really change behavior.”
By a vote of 5 to 4, the committee tabled the measure and retired for the night. That proved to be the high watermark of the campaign.
“All the doors I had opened in the senate closed shut,” DeBenedittis said. He went on to pursue a quixotic run for governor, dropping out in the spring of 2018 when Michelle Lujan Grisham was effectively coronated the Democratic candidate. (Premier Distributing,Admiral Beverage Corporation, and another distributor Southern Wine & Spirits of New Mexico each contributed the maximum $5,500 to her campaign committee). DeBenedittis is now offering Channeled Spiritual Coaching Sessions under the brand Becoming Awesome.
Mann-Lev stepped down from the Santa Fe Prevention Alliance and her successor took the organization in a different direction. Without leadership, the other volunteers lost steam. “It just seemed like we were screaming into the wind,” Mata said.
Ferrary wished the campaign had held together. “It takes many years of effort to educate legislators,” she said. “We should have kept trying.”
What it would take
Any effort to raise New Mexico’s alcohol taxes today would encounter different challenges.
A wave of state senators who took office in 2018 shifted the balance of power in that chamber leftward. And Lujan Grisham made her early career heading the state health department and has taken aggressive measures against another public health threat, COVID-19.
But on alcohol, she has not followed the advice of her scientific advisors, according to former health department staff. Michael Landen, New Mexico’s state epidemiologist from 2012 to 2020, said when he sought permission from her staff to talk with legislators about reducing alcohol-related deaths by increasing alcohol taxes, they rebuffed him.
“We'd have to get a go-ahead to do something like that,” he said. “We did not get a go-ahead.”
Asked to comment, the governor’s office wrote in a statement that she “fully recognizes the scourge of alcohol and substance abuse in New Mexico and will continue to take every evidence-based action to combat this epidemic.”
Those concerned about the state’s over-reliance on oil and gas revenue repeatedly call for diversifying the tax base, and earlier this month the senate’s interim Revenue Stabilization and Tax committee held public hearings about alternative sources of revenue.
The committee’s chairman, Sen. Benny Shendo, D-Jemez Pueblo, said raising alcohol taxes is among the options under consideration.
“I think everything should be fair game.”
On the other hand, oil and gas production has pushed the state budget into surplus, relieving the urgency for finding revenue that animated the 2017 session. And in an election year, no one sees political advantage in supporting a tax hike.
But not acting allows inflation to eat away at the value of the tax. The present historically high inflation rate will effectively grant alcohol the biggest tax cut in 40 years.
Meanwhile, alcohol’s harms are growing and with them the need for remedies: Since 2017 alcohol has killed at least 8,000 New Mexicans.
Ferrary argued that public health should trump political considerations.
“If we can't be elected on the things that need to be done to help our citizens, it basically isn't worth it,” she said.
Outgoing Speaker Egolf sees the issue differently than he did in 2009, when as a freshman he blamed the demise of his dime-a-drink tax increase on special interests. He no longer thinks the alcohol industry has an undue influence. Instead, he attributed the failure to pass a tax increase to the absence of a truly sustained, strategic effort by supporters.
“Quite often there are advocates — and pick the area, it really makes no difference — who have an idea. They have a study or they have data that shows that their ideas are going to make a positive impact,” he said. “They find a member to file a bill on their behalf, and are outraged or devastated or something in between when it doesn't pass. And the reality is: passing a bill on any topic that generates any controversy or disagreement is hard.”
Raising alcohol taxes “could absolutely be done,” Egolf said. “It's just a question of who is going to step in and put forward the effort to turn an idea into a law.”
This reporting was made possible by support from the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, the McCune Charitable Foundation, the Con Alma Health Foundation, and a fellowship from the Association of Health Care Journalists supported by The Commonwealth Fund.
Ted Alcorn is a writer raised in New Mexico whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post Magazine, among other publications. Follow him at @tedalcorn. | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2022/07/27/new-mexico-nm-alcohol-deaths-costs-impact-whos-paying-the-tab/65382580007/ | 2022-07-27T19:46:58 | 0 | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2022/07/27/new-mexico-nm-alcohol-deaths-costs-impact-whos-paying-the-tab/65382580007/ |
A sober appraisal: How New Mexico can reduce rate of alcohol-related deaths
At a 12-steps meeting in Albuquerque’s foothills, one of hundreds held each week statewide, there were cowboys, Anglo women in golf shirts, and Hispanic day laborers. A woman without housing asked around for a place to stay the night. A downcast man in nurse’s scrubs said he had relapsed but hoped to go home that night, if his wife would have him.
New Mexicans can’t neglect the state’s enormous alcohol problem even if they want to. Tens of thousands have to confront it each day in their roles as clinicians and cops and probation officers and teachers, as family of people dependent on alcohol, and in personal struggles with addiction.
Yet for years, the state’s political leaders have largely turned a blind eye, failing to take substantive, statewide action to curb the escalating crisis. Instead of reducing hazards for people who consume alcohol, they have improved the business climate for people who sell it. Last year, as the number of alcohol-induced deaths in the state hit record highs, legislators and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made it easier to get alcohol in restaurants and via home-delivery.
On more than half the measures recommended for reducing alcohol-related harms by the Community Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of scientific experts, the New Mexico Department of Health acknowledges the state “needs improvement” or is moving in the wrong direction.
Many people — including those who benefit from alcohol sales — view the challenge with fatalism.
“We do have an alcohol problem in New Mexico. We always have and always will,” said lobbyist Ruben Baca, who in 2017 helped kill one of the recommended measures, an increase in alcohol taxes.
In 1990, many thought the state’s elevated rate of intoxicated driving crashes couldn’t be changed — until lawmakers mustered a whole-of-government response and cut the rate of fatal crashes by two-thirds.
And overwhelmed by a wave of opioid overdose deaths long before it hit the nation as a whole, New Mexico developed policies that experts credit with preventing deaths from climbing higher.
Not typically thought of as an innovator, in both cases New Mexico adopted first-of-their-kind laws that later spread across the country. The state required motorists convicted of intoxicated driving to install ignition interlocks, and made it easier for people who inject drugs to report overdoses to emergency responders and access the medication naloxone to revive overdose victims.
Today, no state has a higher rate of alcohol-related deaths than New Mexico, including those that consume more alcohol and where more residents drink. “Drinking is more dangerous in New Mexico,” said Michael Landen, the state epidemiologist from 2012-20, so the state needs stronger safeguards than other places, too.
And the rest of the country is again following in our footsteps: alcohol-related deaths rose 25% nationwide in 2020, according to the most recent data. If New Mexico rises to the challenge of addressing its drinking problem, it could create a roadmap for other states.
Actions we can take
To significantly reduce alcohol’s harms would require efforts across New Mexican society, including by the governor, the Legislature, courts, clinicians, not to mention alcohol producers, sellers and drinkers. In interviews, state and national experts suggested necessary elements:
Set a measurable and meaningful goal, and lead:First, the state needs to acknowledge the problem and commit to addressing it, Landen said. Lawmakers could enshrine the clear, measurable goal of reducing alcohol-related deaths and empower a high-level task force to propel action — “to keep the recommendations coming and the evaluation moving forward.” A potential template is the state’s Overdose Prevention and Pain Management Advisory Council created in 2012. Lawmakers could require the task force to make annual reports to the Legislature so it doesn’t “disappear into irrelevance,” said David Jernigan, a professor at the Boston University School of Public Health.
Renew the fight against DWI, and look beyond it:Thirty years ago, New Mexico’s campaign to reduce intoxicated driving significantly changed behaviors and saved lives — but in the last 15 years those reductions bottomed out. [Hyperlink to Article 2]. There are ways to renew those efforts.
The state’s .08 legal blood alcohol concentration is lax — a 180-pound person might consume four drinks in an hour without exceeding it — and lawmakers could lower it to .05. This is already the standard in many middle- and high-income countries. In Utah, the first state to implement it, fatal crashes fell afterward by 20%, faster than in neighboring states or nationwide.
New Mexico could expand DWI Recovery Courts to all counties. These courts are an alternative to incarcerating people with repeat DWI convictions, and typically supervise participants through 12 to 18 months of substance use treatment. Participants aren’t allowed to drink and are monitored with random drug tests at least twice a week to ensure they don’t. Those who don’t put in the required effort may be returned to jail to serve out their sentences. “It's not a cakewalk,” said Judge Christine Rodriguez, who runs Bernalillo County’s DWI Recovery Court, the state’s largest. Participants’ rate of rearrest is low, yet most counties lack such programs, including those where repeat convictions account for as many as half of DWIs. (After years without DWI Recovery Courts, Rio Arriba and McKinley counties are starting them this year, according to the Administrative Office of the Courts.)
But deaths caused by intoxicated driving represent only 1 in 10 of the state’s alcohol-related fatalities and should be addressed as a facet of a much larger problem. The state has long funded Local DWI (LDWI) councils in each county to address intoxicated driving but they focus on problem drinkers rather than population-wide strategies to reduce alcohol consumption. Landen said the Legislature could broaden their mandate to explicitly address all alcohol-related deaths with evidence-based approaches.
Raise the price of alcohol:Experts agreed the most important step New Mexico can take to reduce alcohol-related deaths is to make it less affordable to drink excessively by raising alcohol taxes.
“There are more studies of this than any other preventive intervention that we've done, and the findings are more consistent,” said Alex Wagenaar, a professor emeritus at the University of Florida College of Medicine. “As the tax goes up, alcohol problems go down.”
In New Mexico, Landen said an increase in alcohol taxes ought to be the “centerpiece” of any robust response to alcohol-related deaths, whether raised statewide or by empowering local counties to impose their own taxes, which McKinley County already does.
Raising the price of alcohol matters more than how the revenues from the tax hike are spent, experts say, but legislators typically focus on the latter. Rep. Jason Harper, R-Rio Rancho, a member of the House tax committee, said he didn’t object to a tax increase but insisted that its revenues go to alcohol treatment and prevention instead of the state general fund, where about half of alcohol tax revenues are currently deposited. A bill introduced last year would have made that change, diverting those funds to counties and a state-administered fund for Medicaid (where the state would reap matching funds from the federal government). The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Dayan Hochman-Vigil, D-Albuquerque, said she plans on reintroducing the bill in 2023.
There are other ways of reducing the affordability of alcohol, such as setting a price floor sellers cannot go below. In Oregon, 750ml bottles of 40-proof spirits must be priced at $8.95 or more. Ireland recently enacted a minimum unit price for alcohol, prohibiting sales for less than US $1.13 per standard drink, regardless of whether the beverage is beer, wine or liquor. In contrast, the cheapest liquor sold at a Rio Rancho Wal-Mart is priced at 30 cents per standard drink.
Measure alcohol sales:To curb rising opioid overdose deaths, New Mexico began monitoring the distribution of prescription drugs to help crack down on dangerous prescribing practices. Landen said the Legislature could create a comparable monitoring system for alcohol, by authorizing the Tax and Revenue Department to use alcohol tax data from individual wholesalers and retailers to “track where alcohol has been purchased, in what settings, by what communities.”
The Legislature could also appropriate money to expand the state health department’s team that tracks alcohol-related harms. To address one of the largest preventable causes of death in New Mexico, the state currently employs just one alcohol epidemiologist.
Address the connection between alcohol and violence:Over 40% of New Mexican homicide victims were drinking at the time of their deaths, and alcohol is the most common intoxicant in violence in the state. Charlie Branas, the chair of the epidemiology department at Columbia University, said “there are many untapped opportunities” for the state to prevent violence by tackling alcohol.
Research has recently demonstrated that handgun owners with a prior conviction for intoxicated driving are four to five times more likely to commit violent or firearm crimes. Lawmakers could prohibit them from possessing guns. Scientists have also repeatedly shown that businesses that sell alcohol influence crime rates in their proximity. New Mexican policymakers and law enforcement could study whether the number and concentration of alcohol outlets have contributed to the state’s alarming rates of violence.
Address disparate harm to Native communities: Alcohol-related deaths in New Mexico are characterized by stark racial disparities. State and sovereign tribal governments share responsibility to close these gaps.
The most critical step is to establish a coordinated strategy, said Michelle Brandser, a member of the Navajo Nation and the Health Services Administrator for their Division of Behavior and Mental Health Services. The state and tribes have consulted but she urged “a renewed effort.” Better collaboration between the Indian Health Service and Navajo Nation to crosstrain the Nation’s limited behavioral and mental health workforce is needed too, she said.
Many experts suggested ways to make effective treatment more accessible to Native people. Spero Manson, who is Pembina Chippewa and a professor of public health and psychiatry at the University of Colorado, recommended that Medicaid, the government’s health insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities, pay for navigators to help patients transition from detoxification programs into alcohol treatment. Many Native Americans don’t make that jump successfully.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University Center for American Indian Health underscored the importance of home visiting programs. These connect expecting mothers with Indigenous clinicians and have been shown to prevent maternal substance use and reduce adverse childhood experiences.
Dr. Jennie Wei, an addiction specialist at Gallup Indian Medical Center, emphasized screening and treating Native peoples for mental health disorders such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and historical trauma, which many patients cope with by drinking. “If we don’t make this a priority, alcohol will continue to be the main treatment.”
People have divergent views about how to address the availability of alcohol near reservations. Kamilla Venner, an associate professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico who is of the Ahtna Athabascan in Alaska, suggested the state work with tribal governments to identify alcohol outlets that exploit proximity to the reservations for commercial gain, and look into closing them.
In contrast, Democratic state senator Benny Shendo of Jemez Pueblo wondered if reservations should drop their restrictions on alcohol consumption. “That way, people can be drinking in their own homes, instead of trying to sneak something in or going off through border reservations and so forth.”
Both views speak to the challenges of moderating drinking in border towns like Gallup, where criminalizing alcohol can create stigma and foster abnormal habits but where unrestrained flows feed existing addictions.
Make counseling and medications for alcohol disorders universal:Primary care doctors can play a crucial role identifying harmful drinking behaviors, counseling their patients to cut back, and prescribing medications and other services to help them do it. New Mexican doctors are not living up to this responsibility.
Professional associations and teaching institutions could prioritize the diagnosis and treatment of alcohol disorders in their educational efforts.
Gallup Indian Medical Center has shown that with thoughtful protocols, investments in appropriate staff and sustained leadership, a healthcare organization can radically increase counseling for alcohol disorders and use of medications such as naltrexone. Every medical institution in the state could embrace similar practices.
Address the number of businesses that sell alcohol: For more than 70 years, New Mexican law has limited the number of businesses licensed to sell alcohol in any given municipality or county to 1 per 2,000 people — but the law has never had many teeth. In communities that already exceed their cap, such as Albuquerque and Santa Fe and the towns of Gallup, Farmington and Española, the state does not issue new licenses — but existing license holders can resell them to others. In effect, the law does nothing to diminish the profusion of alcohol businesses.
Shelley Mann-Lev, former president of the New Mexico Public Health Association, said the state’s Regulation and Licensing Division could establish clearer limitations on areas where alcohol businesses are restricted, with an efficient process for localities to assess potential businesses’ impact on safety.
In Baltimore, Maryland, which for decades had alcohol outlets in excess of a limit dictated by state law, a 2017 zoning rewrite barred most outlets from locations within 300 feet of each other, and required outlets out of conformance with the law to relocate or stop selling alcohol. Although alcohol sellers fought the change, researchers believe it could profoundly reshape the city.
Applying this to New Mexico, Mann-Lev said the division could extend the distance around certain sensitive spaces like schools and places of worship where alcohol sales are prohibited and add other categories of facilities, such as supportive housing and licensed childcare centers. It could also require alcohol outlets to be at least 1,000 feet from another, breaking up dense concentrations. Colorado enacted similar legislation in 2016, prohibiting new retail liquor licensees to locate within 1,500 feet of existing licensees, and within 3,000 feet in more sparsely populated areas.
Limit alcohol ads that target youth: Globally, the alcohol industry spends billions of dollars each year marketing its products, and youth absorb many of those messages. That’s dangerous because early initiation of drinking is a significant risk factor for addiction later in life.
Data from Kantar Group, a firm that monitors advertising spending, showed that just four brands — Michelob, Miller, Coors, and Budweiser — spent $982,000 on marketing in New Mexico in the year ending in May 2022. This estimate does not include national or digital ads that also reached New Mexican audiences, nor marketing to bars and restaurants themselves, which can be substantial. An advertising executive who spoke on condition of anonymity said one of her former clients, a major liquor producer, spent half its advertising budget promoting itself to retailers.
Some states have attempted to limit alcohol advertising by prohibiting false or misleading ads and restricting outdoor ads on college campuses and in locations where children are likely to be present. They also have given alcohol control agencies jurisdiction over electronic media. New Mexicohas no such laws.
Redefining responsible drinking
Curbing alcohol-related deaths in New Mexico will also require a fundamental shift in the state’s drinking culture.
Many people quoted in this series drink alcohol, as does its author. None suggested prohibiting alcohol was realistic, reasonable, or required — although the science is increasingly clear that drinking confers no health benefits, and imposes increasing risk as a person consumes more than one drink per day.
This reporting was made possible by support from the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, the McCune Charitable Foundation, the Con Alma Health Foundation, and a fellowship from the Association of Health Care Journalists supported by The Commonwealth Fund.
Ted Alcorn is a writer raised in New Mexico whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post Magazine, among other publications. Follow him at @tedalcorn. | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2022/07/27/new-mexico-nm-alcohol-related-deaths-how-state-can-curb-rate/65382608007/ | 2022-07-27T19:47:04 | 0 | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2022/07/27/new-mexico-nm-alcohol-related-deaths-how-state-can-curb-rate/65382608007/ |
Alcohol and your health explainer: How much is safe to drink
People generally overestimate the share of their peers who drink. In New Mexico, a majority of the adult population abstains: just 49% reported having consumed a drink in the previous month.
Drinkers’ beliefs about what constitutes safe and appropriate levels of consumption are powerfully shaped by drinkers around them. Hence the old joke, “The definition of an alcoholic is someone who drinks more than their doctor.” Allowing norms to guide your behavior is problematic because people tend to associate with people who have similar drinking habits, and heavy drinkers gravitate to heavier drinkers as their companions.
The science is increasingly clear that alcohol use confers no health benefits and any level of consumption poses risks. But there are objective measures for the amount of alcohol you can consume before those risks markedly increase.
Beer, wine, and liquor all contain the same intoxicating ingredient, ethanol, which affects every organ in the body in proportion to the volume one drinks. Due to their different concentrations, a 12-ounce beer (at 5% ABV), a 150 ml-glass of wine, or a 1.5 oz-shot of 80-proof liquor each contain about the same amount of alcohol and are therefore equivalent to one "standard drink."
Experts currently recommend that men limit their consumption to two drinks a day and women to one. That’s because alcohol has a more profound impact on women than men: For any given quantity consumed, women reach higher blood alcohol levels than men and experience more profound effects. The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines heavy drinking as 14 drinks a week for men and seven drinks a week for women.
What are signs of alcohol use disorder?
Scientists have discarded the notion that drinkers can be easily divided between those who consume responsibly and ‘alcoholics’ who can’t. In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association revised its diagnostic criteria to describe alcohol use disorders as a continuum ranging from mild to severe, all “characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences.”
There are a number of tools for diagnosing alcohol use disorder but one of the simplest follows the acronym CAGE:
- Have you ever felt you should CUT down on your drinking?
- Have people ANNOYED you by criticizing your drinking?
- Have you ever felt bad or GUILTY about your drinking?
- Have you ever had an EYE-OPENER in the morning to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover?
Answering ‘yes’ to any two of these questions is highly predictive of having an alcohol use disorder.
There are also online tools for quickly screening your own alcohol use and exploring the risks your current level of consumption has for your health.
How can I help a loved one find motivation to change?
Like someone with another chronic illness such as diabetes or asthma, a person with an alcohol use disorder may not at first feel motivated to alter their long-standing patterns of behavior.
According to Dr. Larissa Lindsey, director of clinical services at UNM’s Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program, allowing the patient to wait for motivation “can lead to a deepening of unhealthy patterns that can send someone down a much harder road and possibly a much worse outcome.”
Instead, friends and family can encourage the person to find that motivation, but it is generally unhelpful to criticize, admonish or shun. According to William Miller, a UNM professor emeritus, “When you tell an ambivalent person what they should do, their natural, normal response is to say why they don't want to do it and why it's not important. And if you persist in that, you essentially are helping the person talk themselves out of making a change.”
It is more persuasive to do “exactly the opposite,” said Miller, by asking the person to talk about their drinking and its consequences, and helping them talk themselves into changing. He advises friends and family to talk about the impacts of alcohol use without judgment, to offer options and support, and to convey to the affected person that they can and deserve to make the change.
Where can I find help?
Statewide
- Various search engines can help locate treatment services in your community: one is hosted by the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and another by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
- The state’s Behavioral Health Service Division also has a search engine for finding local treatment providers.
- Alcoholics Anonymous chapters host meetings every day across the state. Not everyone embraces the 12-steps approach but for some it can be a powerful community of support.
- SMART Recovery is an alternative community that is not 12-steps based.
Online
- Moderation Management is an online community of people who want to cut back on their drinking but not necessarily abstain. They host meetings online and in person where members share their experiences and coping strategies.
- Ria Health is a telehealth program that offers medical consultations, online coaching, medication and other tools to help people reduce their drinking or to quit entirely. The annual program costs $350 a month, cheaper than most rehab programs, and accepts some forms of health insurance.
Learn more
Doctors recommend this brochure on addiction’s impact on the brain, which can help impacted families understand the science of what they are going through.
This reporting was made possible by support from the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, the McCune Charitable Foundation, the Con Alma Health Foundation, and a fellowship from the Association of Health Care Journalists supported by The Commonwealth Fund.
Ted Alcorn is a writer raised in New Mexico whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post Magazine, among other publications. Follow him at @tedalcorn. | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2022/07/27/new-mexico-nm-alcohol-use-how-much-is-safe-to-drink-your-health/65382613007/ | 2022-07-27T19:47:10 | 1 | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2022/07/27/new-mexico-nm-alcohol-use-how-much-is-safe-to-drink-your-health/65382613007/ |
Red-flag law: New Mexico expands gun safety efforts
SANTA FE – Gun-safety advocates in New Mexico say police, prosecutors and even judges are still learning how to harness a 2020 red-flag law that can be used to seize guns from people who pose a danger to others or themselves.
Shiela Lewis offers training to police, prosecutors and school administrators on how to petition a judge for a red-flag order to temporarily seize guns for a one-year period that can be extended. She told a panel of state legislators Tuesday that an incomplete understanding of the current law is limiting its use as a precaution against gun violence.
Just nine petitions have been filed to have guns removed since New Mexico’s red-flag law went into effect in May 2020.
“Our (red-flag) laws are new, we don’t have interpretations, they’re not comfortable using them,” said Lewis, whose training is underwritten by New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence. “When I have talked to officers they always have a story to tell me about why they wanted to use it but didn’t think they could use it.”
'This will save lives.'US Sen. Martin Heinrich talks about Senate gun safety compromise
President Joe Biden in June signed gun safety legislation that helps states put in place red flag laws that make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people adjudged to be dangerous.
State health officials say they may be able to tap into that funding as New Mexico establishes an gun violence prevention unit at the Department of Health.
The Department of Health plans to begin soliciting grants aimed at preventing gun violence, starting in August.
New Mexico traced 479 deaths to firearms in 2020 in a state of about 2.1 million residents. That places New Mexico in the top 10 states in firearms death per capita.
More:New Mexico Democrats seek new gun restrictions, enforcement
Democratic state Rep. Dayan Hochman-Vigil on Tuesday presented a draft bill that would establish a permanent office of gun violence prevention in state statute. She said the office would collect reliable gun violence data that is desperately needed to determine whether the state’s gun laws are effective or if new approaches are needed.
The bill would be considered when the Legislature holds it next regular legislative session in January 2023.
The Democratic-led Legislature and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham adopted red-flag legislation in response to the 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, where a gunman killed 23 people at a Walmart two years ago in a racially motivated attack.
Some sheriffs in rural areas were openly hostile to the legislation and threatened to avoid enforcement. | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2022/07/27/new-mexico-nm-gun-safety-expands-efforts-red-flag-laws/65384038007/ | 2022-07-27T19:47:16 | 1 | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2022/07/27/new-mexico-nm-gun-safety-expands-efforts-red-flag-laws/65384038007/ |
Southern NM struggles to receive funds for damage caused by Black Fire
Other fires in the state soak up federal dollars, which local officials say is fair. But there are costly damage in and around the Gila.
This story was originally published by Source New Mexico.
The Black Fire’s destructive effects still linger in the rural communities in southern New Mexico, and how these small counties and individuals will pay for recovery is still largely uncertain.
Commission chair Jim Paxon from Sierra County talked to the Legislative Finance Committee last week about infrastructure damage caused by the fire, and repairs the counties and their people are struggling to cover.
Lack of federal funding
The Burned Area Rehabilitation fund provides assistance for charred landscapes that aren’t likely to recover without human assistance, according to the Department of the Interior. But all of those funds are going to other fires in the state, including the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire, Paxon said.
“That was a much more severe fire on the landscape. Plus, it affected a whole lot more people,” Paxon told Source NM. “We didn’t have any communities affected. It was just the individual ranchers and the structures that were lost were all on national forest lands — cabins and that sort of thing. And so our resulting risk to the communities is lessened. But still, it’s still there.”
Nearly all of the Black Fire burned on federal land, but ranches that use U.S. Forest Service land for grazing were damaged, too, and Paxon urged the legislative committee to put some pressure on the Forest Service to cover those costs. He said the legislative committee or even the Governor’s Office can put more political pressure on the Forest Service than the individual counties can for infrastructure damage to get repaired.
“I would ask and exhort you to apply all the pressure you can, because they are going to have to respond — especially if it’s unified and united,” Paxon said.
The legislative subcommittee plans to draft a letter to give to the full committee about the Forest Service’s role in managing federal land and resulting infrastructure damage from disasters. Paxon also talked with U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell’s office recently, who are investigating if there’s a way to get Forest Service funds to be directly applied to the victims of the Black Fire.
“We’re going to continue to put pressure on and see if there’s not a way to get them to redeem their responsibilities,” Paxon told Source NM. “This isn’t an adversarial situation. It’s trying to get support so they can get the dollars to the ground.”
Ranchers’ struggles
While there aren’t many people living in the area where the Black Fire blazed, Paxon said five ranchers specifically had substantial damage to their lands. Sierra County and the National Resources Conservation Service requested that the ranchers assess their damage, which they’re trying to do, Paxon said, but the size of the ranch and the extent of the damage on their ranches determine how long that takes.
So far, ranchers have found damaged fences, water pipes and tubs, and solar technology, he said. About 600 to 700 cattle between the five ranches have been displaced by the fire.
Fences are an especially prevalent issue because the U.S. Forest Service won’t let the cattle graze unless they’re contained on a grazing-permitted pasture, Paxon said, but fences are expensive to fix. He said just one mile of fencing costs around $20,000-30,000 to replace in those rural areas. “With no fences, that means they’re not going to allow those cows back on,” he said.
Paxon brought up rancher Jack Diamond, who installed new fences last year that would have lasted decades. But after being damaged by the fire, about 20 miles need to be replaced, Paxon said. Diamond would likely have to hire someone to fix that, he said, and material costs are expensive, on top of the expense of just transporting them out there.
“It seems to be much more equitable if the Forest Service paid for the contract to bring a contractor in and built that fence and materials fees,” Paxon told Source.
But time is of the essence to get the cows back on the pastures, he said, as monsoon season allows the grass to grow for grazing, and planting seeds needs to happen while the soil is wet from the rains.
Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup) suggested that the ranchers try to get funds from the emergency declaration Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared on Sierra County in early June, which provided $750,000 to the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for repairs and future damage prevention.
Conversations are ongoing with the department’s Deputy Secretary Kelly Hamilton to see if this would be possible, and while Paxon said he hopes for an answer soon, nothing is definitive yet.
Another potential avenue of funding Paxon has looked into is through the local Soil and Water Conservation District, which is ready to sponsor the five ranchers, Paxon said. Rep. Nathan Small (D-Las Cruces) suggested setting aside more state funding for the Soil and Water Conservation Districts, which Rep. Patricia Lundstrom (D-Gallup) backed up.
But Muñoz said there can be limitations with the conservation districts because they would be spending state funding on federal land, which can get dicey.
Paxon fears that ranchers could be forced to sell their cattle or leave the business if they can’t afford all these repairs.
“It is very stressful on our livestock producers,” Paxon said. “The future is so uncertain that it’s causing them a lot of angst.”
A lot of these ranchers survive year to year financially, he said, and costs add up through feed, gas and groceries, and just trying to make ends meet.
Counties’ economic uncertainties
Some of the counties are facing economic difficulties as well.
Chris Ponce, the commissioner for Grant County, said monsoon rains pushed ash and debris from the fire to roads and a lot of money from the county’s budget is going toward clearing it. Because they’re county roads, it’s the county’s responsibility to fix them and not the Forest Service, regardless of the burn scar intensifying the runoff issue.
Another economic issue stems from tourist sites that could be shut down because of flooding.
In rural communities like Grant County, people rely on tourism to boost the economy, Ponce said. But he fears what would happen to Grant County’s economy if the risk of flooding forced campgrounds and other areas to start shutting down, which hasn’t happened yet.
“What do we have here in Grant County? We have the Gila National Forest,” Ponce said.
Sierra County also depends on tourism, and Paxon said a lot of people visit the county to hunt in the Gila. But if things start shutting down, he said the county is worried about being able to “draw people in” on its limited budget.
“We’ve seen this fire change things,” Paxon said. “Change is not permanent, but it’s going to be many years before we recover, and we’re apprehensive about what the future holds economically.”
Megan Gleason is a reporter for Source New Mexico.
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- Lincoln County family keeps Billy the Kid's memory alive for decades at Old Lincoln Days | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2022/07/27/southern-nm-struggles-to-receive-funds-for-damage-caused-by-black-fire/65384699007/ | 2022-07-27T19:47:22 | 1 | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2022/07/27/southern-nm-struggles-to-receive-funds-for-damage-caused-by-black-fire/65384699007/ |
BRISTOL, Tenn. (WJHL) – After 30 years of offering services in Northeast Tennessee, the Bristol Regional Women’s Center — one of the only clinics to offer abortion services in the region — will close.
The Tennessee Attorney General’s office announced Tuesday that the state’s so-called “trigger law” banning all abortions would take effect on Aug. 25, 2022. The Bristol facility will cease to offer abortion services at midnight on Aug. 24.
“I’m not getting any younger,” Dr. Wesley Adams told News Channel 11.
Dr. Adams has worked at the center for over 30 years. He said he has helped thousands of people over the decades by providing services that would save either or both of the lives of the person who is pregnant and/or the fetus.
“It was controversial 50 years ago, and it will be controversial 50 years from now,” he said, adding that he was disappointed by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Apart from offering abortion services, Adams’ practice offered a myriad of gynecological services as well.
These services will continue to be available to patients through the end of November, after which facility staff will take the month of December to take care of administrative duties connected with closing a medical practice.
“We have 11, 12-year-old rape victims too”
Adams said that though the Tennessee practice is closing and he is retiring, abortion services will still be available to people of the region at a new Virginia facility. It will be called the Bristol Women’s Health and will be located on Osborne Street in Bristol, Virginia.
“What people don’t understand is we have 11, 12-year-old rape victims too that we’ve helped over the years,” he said.
He said people will always need abortions, and banning the procedure has caused a major influx of cases in areas where it is not banned.
“As strict as Tennessee laws are, that’s how lenient Virginia laws are,” he said.
Adams added that he will have a limited role at the new facility on Osborne Street in Bristol, Virginia.
He also recalled helping many pregnant people with the adoption process over the years as well as with fertility treatments.
Adams said if patients of the Bristol facility wish to collect their medical records, they should visit his office at 2901 West State St. Bristol, TN 37620, and collect them. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/bristol-regional-womens-center-to-close-following-abortion-trigger-law/ | 2022-07-27T19:47:26 | 0 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/bristol-regional-womens-center-to-close-following-abortion-trigger-law/ |
DALLAS (KDAF) — When you have the opportunity to hop on a show with world-famous chef Gordon Ramsey you don’t hesitate to hop on a plane, train or automobile to make it happen. That’s exactly what a popular chef out of Dallas did.
In episode eight of the 12th season of the Fox show MasterChef starring Gordon Ramsey among other culinary giants, Dallas chef Tiffany Derry was a guest. In the episode, contestants were treated to a cooking demonstration with Derry alongside Ramsey as the two worked together to create a southern fusion take on fish and chips.
The episode’s description says, “The remaining chefs must cook a Southern dish inspired by flavors from countries around the world.” Derry helped the other judges critique the contestants’ dishes that had to fuze together cuisine from the around world with southern flavors.
Derry is no stronger to TV cameras as she’s been featured on Top Chef, Cutthroat Kitchen and other food shows. In the video player above is an interview with Derry from a 30-minute Second Shot Sitdown. Click here to listen to the full episode.
Her restaurants include:
- Roots Chicken Shak (Plano & Austin)
- Roots Southern Table (Farmers Branch) | https://cw33.com/news/local/dallas-chef-featured-on-foxs-masterchef-with-gordon-ramsey/ | 2022-07-27T19:48:00 | 0 | https://cw33.com/news/local/dallas-chef-featured-on-foxs-masterchef-with-gordon-ramsey/ |
DALLAS (KDAF) — North Texans finally have a timeline for when the new Major League Cricket Stadium in Grand Prairie will finish construction and open up to the public.
Officials say the stadium is set to open in the spring of 2023 and that it will play host to the Major League Cricket’s Texas franchise.
Work began this week on the $20 million dollar renovation of the Grand Prairie Stadium which used to be the home of the Texas AirHogs. The renovation will transform the stadium’s former baseball diamond into a cricket field with a natural grass turf wicket.
Seating will also be expanded during renovation. Current plans say that the conversion will increase permanent capacity to more than 7,000 with the ability to expand to a capacity of more than 15,000 for major events.
“I am excited to see the vision of bringing Major League Cricket to the US and to North Texas is beginning with the construction of the Grand Prairie Stadium,” Anurag Jain, Managing Partner of Perot Jain, LP and Chairman of Access Healthcare, said in a news release. “What has been a grassroots sport with tremendous support, will now have a home stadium with world-class professional matches for many fans to watch. It will be exciting to watch a tremendous rise in interest for the game among North Texas sports fans once the stadium opens.”
This stadium will be the most extensive, fully-dedicated cricket facility in the nation and will be a base for USA Cricket National Teams. For more information, click here. | https://cw33.com/news/local/heres-when-the-major-league-cricket-stadium-in-grand-prairie-is-set-to-open/ | 2022-07-27T19:48:06 | 0 | https://cw33.com/news/local/heres-when-the-major-league-cricket-stadium-in-grand-prairie-is-set-to-open/ |
DALLAS (KDAF) — Before the North Texas weekend makes its way into the forefront, a Heat Advisory and Elevated Fire Danger are well present on Wednesday.
NWS Fort Worth says, “A Heat Advisory is in effect for the counties shaded in orange until 9 PM on Wednesday. In the advisory area, heat indices up to around 105 are expected. Make sure to drink plenty of water, avoid excess time outdoors, and make sure to look for children and pets before locking your vehicle.”
The center also shared some reminders to keep safe during the Heat Advisory as avoiding spending too much time outdoors, staying hydrated, wear light-colored and lightweight clothing and as always, check the back seat.
“Hot and dry late-July weather will continue today, but low rain/storm chances will exist across portions of Central Texas this afternoon. High temperatures will be in the upper 90s to near 104 degrees with heat index values up to 107. Winds will be out of the south near 10 to 15 mph under mostly sunny skies. Elevated fire danger continues today due to the hot and dry conditions,” NWS Fort Worth says.
As the weekend draws closer so does more hot weather alongside some scattered showers and possible storms.
The center says, “Scattered showers and storms will be possible across the region Friday and Saturday with the best chances north of the Interstate 20 corridor. Unfortunately, not everyone will see rain. Temperatures will still be hot Friday and Saturday with highs from the upper 90s to around 102.” | https://cw33.com/news/local/hot-temperatures-scattered-showers-storms-possible-in-north-texas-friday-saturday/ | 2022-07-27T19:48:12 | 1 | https://cw33.com/news/local/hot-temperatures-scattered-showers-storms-possible-in-north-texas-friday-saturday/ |
FORT WORTH, Texas (KDAF) — The MTV Video Music Award nominations have been released and it looks like North Texas is getting a shoutout.
Amongst the many nominations, the music video for Kendrick Lamar’s song ‘N95’ received a nomination for Best Cinematography.
What does this have to do with North Texas? Well, the video was shot in Fort Worth, featuring the Kimberly Art Museum and Fort Worth Water Gardens.
The video, co-directed by Kendrick, shows the rapper playing piano in the museum’s Piano Pavilion Auditorium, first featured 53 seconds in.
Museum officials confirmed this in a tweet sent back in May, saying “We were honored to host such a legendary artist. In the video, you can see natural light pouring in through the auditorium backdrop. The Piano Pavilion has never looked better!”
To watch the video and see it for yourself, click here. | https://cw33.com/news/local/mtv-video-music-awards-kendrick-lamar-music-video-shot-in-fort-worth-nominated-for-best-cinematography/ | 2022-07-27T19:48:18 | 1 | https://cw33.com/news/local/mtv-video-music-awards-kendrick-lamar-music-video-shot-in-fort-worth-nominated-for-best-cinematography/ |
DALLAS (KDAF) — For the fifth year in a row, Dallas’ Southwest Airlines has been named among the top of Forbes’ list of 2022 best employers for diversity in America.
The Airlines said in a press release, “Southwest Airlines Co. proudly receives more accolades for its continued commitment to making Southwest a more diverse and inclusive organization, where Employees thrive, feel appreciated, valued, and have an authentic sense of belonging. For the fifth consecutive year, Forbes named Southwest Airlines as one of America’s Best Employers for Diversity in 2022.”
Forbes, along with Statista selected 2022 America’s best employers for diversity through a survey from a over 60,000 employees and found the companies most dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion.
The press release states, “Southwest Airlines was also recently honored by the Disability:IN® Disability Equality Index with a score of 100 (perfect score) on its annual index. To learn more about the airline’s commitment to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace, visit the Southwest One Report and DEI Report.” | https://cw33.com/news/local/southwest-airlines-named-among-top-of-forbes-2022-best-employers-for-diversity/ | 2022-07-27T19:48:24 | 1 | https://cw33.com/news/local/southwest-airlines-named-among-top-of-forbes-2022-best-employers-for-diversity/ |
DALLAS (KDAF) — Dallas filmmakers, it is not too late to submit your film to the Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF).
The late deadline for the festival is Aug. 12, meaning you still have a chance at being featured in this year’s festival. Here is how to submit your film!
- Click here to be taken to the Dallas International Film Festival’s Film Freeway Page
- In the top right corner, you will click the green button saying “submit now”
- If you do not have a Film Freeway account, you will be directed to make an account
- Once you have an account, fill out the information and submit
This year’s DIFF will have a new focus on family films, films featuring people with disabilities, veterans and sports-based content. For more information, click here. | https://cw33.com/news/local/you-can-still-submit-your-film-to-the-dallas-international-film-festival-heres-how/ | 2022-07-27T19:48:30 | 1 | https://cw33.com/news/local/you-can-still-submit-your-film-to-the-dallas-international-film-festival-heres-how/ |
MAINE, Maine — Maine's first deadly shark attack happened two years ago this day.
Dr. James Sulikowski is among the shark experts and marine biologists who want to remind Mainers these kinds of attacks are very rare.
The sharks we see in Maine waters are here looking for food, he said.
There are a lot of seals off the coast, which makes the area attractive for the sharks to stick around during their peak season, which is typically lasts from June until November.
"Maine has a great seal population. It's large. And that's what these white sharks are eating," he said. "When there's lots of competition around certain areas, it's natural for those sharks to look in different areas. That could be one reason that they are up in this area."
The normal beachgoer shouldn't be be worried while swimming in the Maine close-to-shore sea waters, he said, but he also provided several simple yet important tips:
- Don't go into areas that are deep and off-shore
- Don't swim in those areas right
- Don't swim where there are seal haulouts
- Don't wear shiny objects
- Don't swim at dawn and dusk
- Pay attention to lifeguards
- Don't swim near schools of fish
- Don't wear black wet suits or bathing suits
"Our actions in the water produce vibrations, and those vibrations mimic those of a hurt or sick animal," Sulikowski said. "Even the best swimmer produces those. So when we could that with something that might look like a food item, particularly for white sharks, that really can spell trouble."
The shark expert said there have always been sharks in our waters, but now there are more resources for tracking them. And it's important to note that an increase in shark detections doesn't necessarily mean there are more sharks in Maine this year. Scientists are more aware nowadays of their behaviors and trends, thanks to more shark research.
Sulikowski said he sometimes sees sharks closer to the shore because of what they are eating, their food sources.
Sharks move all year round, so it's hard to tell if there are actually more sharks in Maine waters, he explained.
"We have more scientific research going on, which also provides information about the sharks that are there. We are more aware. Are there more sharks there than a few years ago? I mean there are a lot of seals, and it makes sense for those sharks would look for resources. Over the years we have seen more sharks from Cape Cod move into Maine, but a lot of it has to do that we have more research going on," Sulikowski said. "If an interaction occurs, it's not because a shark wants to attack you. It's because they want to eat and make a living. Sharks need that space. We need to take precautions."
Sulikowski said people shouldn't blow anything out of proportion.
"If you look at the incident rates across the board, the chances of anyone interacting with sharks are extremely low," Sulikowski said. "Humans are coastal. We love being on the water but we don't belong in the water. Sharks belong in the water. We need sharks to balance our ecosystems to keep things in check... with that in mind we have to really understand that if we want to go in the ocean, we have to respect their areas." | https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/improved-shark-detection-technology-informs-safety-measures-scientists/97-83d1d1cf-aa01-4878-8635-1854e0f4dbb7 | 2022-07-27T19:50:24 | 1 | https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/improved-shark-detection-technology-informs-safety-measures-scientists/97-83d1d1cf-aa01-4878-8635-1854e0f4dbb7 |
YORK, Maine — York police were dispatched to the Cliff House Maine resort for a reported stolen vehicle on Sunday.
According to a news release issued by the York Police Department on Wednesday, upon arrival at the scene, police were told that a gray 2021 Ferrari CP 812GT was stolen from the Cliff House's front parking lot, where it was last seen around 11:30 p.m. Sunday by a security officer.
"The vehicle owner had parked the Ferrari in front where it stayed until it went missing," the release says. "The vehicle owner gave the keys to the valet to store in the valet office until morning."
In addition to responding to that report, police also responded to a report of a vehicle on the side of the road at the Route 1 and Mountain Road intersection around 5:28 a.m. on Monday, the release stated. Police determined the vehicle was the Ferrari stolen from the Cliff House.
"The vehicle was impounded for evidence processing, and the owner was notified," the release stated. "The 2021 Ferrari is valued at over $400,000."
The release stated detectives are looking for anyone who has recorded video on the Shore Road, Route 1, and Mountain Road area to check their surveillance cameras on Saturday from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Sunday.
Police asked that anyone who may have information regarding this incident to contact Detective Sgt. Thomas Cryan at the York Police Department at 207-363-4444.
If a tipster prefers to remain anonymous, they can report any information to Seacoast Crime Stoppers by calling (603) 431-1199, texting CRIMES (274637), and including TIPSCS in the message, according to the release.
The release also stated anyone can submit a confidential tip online by visiting the Seacoast Crime Stoppers website or their Facebook page.
According to the release, rewards of up to $1,000 may be paid for helping solve cases if the information leads to the arrest or indictment of a suspect(s). | https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/york-police-investigate-stolen-ferrari-at-cliff-house-cape-neddick-maine-crime/97-13694577-9c4f-4b62-97df-10719f0ac441 | 2022-07-27T19:50:25 | 1 | https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/york-police-investigate-stolen-ferrari-at-cliff-house-cape-neddick-maine-crime/97-13694577-9c4f-4b62-97df-10719f0ac441 |
A San Antonio physician has been sued for allegedly performing unnecessary and expensive spinal surgeries and procedures on patients injured in auto accidents to inflate the value of their insurance claims.
Dr. Sanjay Misra recommended and/or performed spinal injections on 300 patients and, of those, about half were advised to undergo spinal surgery, the lawsuit alleges. The complaint was filed Tuesday in San Antonio federal court.
Plaintiffs State Farm Mutual Insurance Automobile Insurance Co. and State Farm County Mutual Insurance Co. of Texas say Misra submitted hundreds of fraudulent bills and supporting documentation to the companies.
Misra didn’t immediately respond to a message left with an answering service Wednesday. The Texas Medical Board website shows Misra has no criminal history and no disciplinary actions against him. He’s been a licensed physician for almost three decades.
In their causes of action, the insurers cite a federal law often associated with prosecutions of mob bosses — the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.
Submitting fraudulent bills through the U.S. mail amounts to a “pattern of racketeering activity” meant to defraud the insurers, the companies allege.
They say the fraudulent bills and supporting documentation “were at the very least a substantial factor in inducing” them to settle bodily injury and uninsured/under-insured motorist claims they otherwise might not have settled.
The companies say they paid more than $6.5 million to settle the claims. They are seeking restitution, though they don’t know precisely how much Misra received. They suspect the amount is “substantial” based on Misra’s $2.5 million in charges for the associated claims.
The companies say they are entitled to damages of more than $1.1 million.
Illinois-based State Farm Mutual was the second largest auto insurer in 2020 in Texas, with 13.4 percent market share, ranking just behind Progressive County Mutual Insurance Co. Dallas-based State Farm County ranked 33rd with a market share of less than one-half of a percent, according to the Texas Department of Insurance.
The State Farm companies say in their complaint that “Misra falsely purports to legitimately exam individuals (“patients”) reporting neck and/or back pain and prescribe spinal injections, namely medically unnecessary epidural steroid injections (“ESIs”) in at least one region of the spine, for nearly all such patients” seen by him.
Misra performed the injections “without regard to whether they are needed to exaggerate the severity and inflate the potential value of personal injury claims,” the insurers add. Each injection costs $3,300.
When the injections don’t resolve patients’ complaints, the insurers say, the doctor recommends “expensive, medically unnecessary surgeries.” The surgeries cost more than $50,000 — not including anesthesia and related items that can double the cost — and are intended to inflate the value of insurance claims, the insurers say.
Treatment plans for individuals who suffer neck or back pain as a result of a car accident generally start with “conservative care that is not invasive,” the insurers say. This includes prescribing anti-inflammatory medications, chiropractic care or physical therapy. If those don’t work, injections may be appropriate, they add.
The State Farm companies identified 335 patients treated by Misra for neck and/or back pain. They say his medical evaluations were performed as a “pretext” to perform the injections.
“The evaluations do not reflect the patients’ legitimate examination findings or a medically necessary treatment plan tailored to each patient’s unique circumstances,” the suit says. “Rather, they are boilerplate, include nonspecific information about the patients’ conditions, and reveal noncredible patterns.”
The complaint adds, “Misra virtually always documents patient complaints of ‘Radiating Pain” and ‘Numbness.’”
The suit recounts various patients’ interaction with the doctor. One patient, identified as A.M., a 16-year-old female who was seen by the doctor in 2019, said she told Misra she didn’t like his recommendation that she receive an injection.
“He said something along the lines of, ‘Well, no shot, no money’ or something,” she said. And I was like, ‘Okay. That’s not what I’m here for.’”
That was Misra’s way of telling her that she should receive the injection so she could receive more money in her insurance claim, the companies allege.
State Farm declined to comment.
pdanner@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/State-Farm-sues-doctor-Texas-17332756.php | 2022-07-27T19:52:56 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/State-Farm-sues-doctor-Texas-17332756.php |
Melbourne woman dies after running into tree south of Suntree Wednesday morning
A 64-year-old Melbourne woman died Wednesday morning after crashing into a tree in unincorporated Brevard south of Suntree.
The woman was driving her 2012 Mazda 5 south on North Wickham Road just before 9:08 a.m. south of Promenade Drive when she lost control and crossed into the median, Florida Highway Patrol troopers said.
She cut into the northbound lanes of Wickham Road before driving onto the sidewalk and crashing into a tree.
She was transported to Health First's Viera Hospital and pronounced dead, troopers said. They did not know why she lost control of her vehicle.
More:Man dies after driving into a tree near Titusville intersection
Pedestrian killed in Sharpes:75-year-old West Palm Beach man hit by truck, killed in Sharpes early Wednesday
Motorcyclist dead:Titusville motorcyclist dies after running into side of pickup
FHP did not release the name of the woman, citing Marsy's Law passed in 2018.
Introduced in memory of a young woman murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Marsy’s Law was created to give crime victims a slate of rights, including protecting them and their families from harassment by their attackers.
Some law enforcement officials have interpreted the statute as applying to any victim, as well as to law enforcement officers being entitled to privacy and having their identity protected.
Finch Walker is a Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker | https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2022/07/27/melbourne-woman-hits-tree-and-dies-wednesday-morning/10166311002/ | 2022-07-27T19:53:20 | 0 | https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2022/07/27/melbourne-woman-hits-tree-and-dies-wednesday-morning/10166311002/ |
Palm Bay woman dies Wednesday morning after crashing into two vehicles in Palm Shores
A 22-year-old Palm Bay woman died after she drove her Mini Cooper into the path of two other vehicles in Palm Shores Wednesday morning, highway troopers said.
The woman was driving her 2004 Mini Cooper north in the outside lane of U.S. 1 north of McCormack Way at about 8:06 a.m. when she made a lane change to the inside lane, cutting into the path of a 2019 Mercedes Sprinter van, Florida Highway Patrol troopers said.
The woman hit the van, then crossed over the median and into the southbound lanes of U.S.1, troopers said. The left side of her Mini Cooper hit the front of a 2018 Tesla Model S.
The Palm Bay woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The 39-year-old van driver and 49-year-old Tesla driver, both Melbourne men, were uninjured.
Pedestrian dies:75-year-old West Palm Beach man hit by truck, killed in Sharpes early Wednesday
Missing man found dead:Cocoa police conduct investigation into death of 50-year-old father reported missing by son
FHP did not release the name of those involved in the crash, citing Marsy's Law passed in 2018.
Introduced in memory of a young woman murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Marsy’s Law was created to give crime victims a slate of rights, including protecting them and their families from harassment by their attackers.
Some law enforcement officials have interpreted the statute as applying to any victim, as well as to law enforcement officers being entitled to privacy and having their identity protected.
Finch Walker is a Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker | https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2022/07/27/palm-bay-woman-dead-after-crashing-into-two-vehicles-wednesday-morning-palm-shores-us-1/10166106002/ | 2022-07-27T19:53:26 | 1 | https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2022/07/27/palm-bay-woman-dead-after-crashing-into-two-vehicles-wednesday-morning-palm-shores-us-1/10166106002/ |
75-year-old West Palm Beach man hit by truck, killed in Sharpes early Wednesday
A 75-year-old West Palm Beach man was hit by a truck while crossing U.S. 1 in Sharpes and killed Wednesday morning, highway troopers said.
The man was attempting to cross the southbound lanes of U.S. 1 from the east to the west side in an area not marked as a crosswalk north of Canaveral Groves Boulevard at about 5:20 a.m. Wednesday, troopers said.
He walked into the path of a 2016 Dodge Ram 1500 traveling south, driven by a 66-year-old man from Mims.
The front of the pickup truck struck the man, troopers said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver was not injured.
Missing man found dead:Cocoa police conduct investigation into death of 50-year-old father reported missing by son
Daycare worker arrested:Daycare worker in West Melbourne arrested on charge of child abuse
FHP did not release the name of those involved in the crash, citing Marsy's Law passed in 2018.
Introduced in memory of a young woman murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Marsy’s Law was created to give crime victims a slate of rights, including protecting them and their families from harassment by their attackers.
Some law enforcement officials have interpreted the statute as applying to any victim, as well as to law enforcement officers being entitled to privacy and having their identity protected.
Finch Walker is a Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker | https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2022/07/27/wednesday-morning-crash-us-1-kills-west-palm-beach-man-75-sharpes/10161752002/ | 2022-07-27T19:53:32 | 0 | https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2022/07/27/wednesday-morning-crash-us-1-kills-west-palm-beach-man-75-sharpes/10161752002/ |
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University Health’s board of managers has approved budget adjustments to enable a pharmacy to be built inside the county’s new women’s and children’s hospital.
Bexar County Hospital District’s has so far allocated $837.9 million to pay for the major expansion, which includes a 12-story tower, a 900-space parking garage, an advanced diagnostic center and a podium expansion that will be used for a new kitchen, servery, dining room and conference rooms.
Don Ryden, vice president for planning, design and construction, told the board Tuesday night that the $14.4 million pharmacy would be built into shell space and would largely be funded by project cost savings that includes unused contingency funds from the podium and parking garage’s construction.
The new pharmacy will include space for compounding, prescription review and processing, patient and staff dispensing windows, administrative staff to oversee construction and installation of equipment, according to materials provided to the board.
Ryden said that while the women’s and children’s tower is expected to be completed next summer, the new pharmacy portion won’t be finished until the end of 2023.
The board approved a recommendation from staff to amend contracts with its construction manager at risk agreement with Joeris+JE Dunn and adjust the project schedule with two other contractors.
The new 628,000-square-foot women’s and children’s hospital tower adjoins University Hospital’s 10-floor Sky Tower, which opened in 2014 and was part of the largest construction project in the county’s history at a cost of $899.4 million.
The architectural design from Marmon Mok plans for 30 intensive care unit rooms, 68 neonatal intensive care unit rooms, 30 acute care rooms, 60 rooms for OB-GYN services and 30 antepartum rooms.
The Bexar County Hospital District did not raise its property tax rate to fund this expansion. Money for the new women’s and children’s hospital comes from cash reserves and certificates of obligations, which is debt issued by local governments to finance projects without voter approval.
University Health is moving forward with another major expansion approved last month that would add two community hospitals to the system — a 140-bed hospital on the Southwest Side near Texas A&M University-San Antonio and a 140-bed hospital on the Northeast Side at Retama.
The total cost for both proposed hospital projects is estimated at $950 million, to be funded with $450 million in cash reserves and $500 million in tax-exempt municipal bonds.
Hospital officials said there will be no increase in property taxes, but they are required by law to inform residents through a notice in the newspaper and wait 45 days before the Bexar County Commissioners Court can proceed with the bond transaction.
An April Express-News investigation on health inequities found that medical facilities in San Antonio are heavily concentrated in the northern parts of the city, placed in areas where patients generally are healthier and more affluent and where providers can collect higher reimbursements from insurance companies.
The report found that for every eight hospitals and freestanding emergency room facilities on the northern parts of the city, there is only one on the South Side.
The Retama hospital could open as soon as 2026, and the Texas A&M hospital as soon as 2027.
laura.garcia@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Bexar-County-new-pharmacy-San-Antonio-17332861.php | 2022-07-27T19:53:33 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Bexar-County-new-pharmacy-San-Antonio-17332861.php |
If you're looking for a last-minute summer getaway, it doesn't have to cost a fortune to fly out of San Antonio International Airport.
For just $50, you can fly to Denver to hike the Rocky Mountains, catch a concert at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheater, or even explore the conspiracies behind the city's airport.
On ExpressNews.com: Photographer Erik Gustafson creates hauntingly beautiful images of downtown
Other destinations under $100 include Las Vegas, Boston and Minneapolis.
All flights listed are one-way and are nonstop unless otherwise noted. Flight prices should be double-checked because there may be additional fees for some flights with checked bags or selected seats.
Fully vaccinated individuals can safely travel in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of April 18, masks are no longer required on public transportation conveyances and at transportation hubs, although the CDC continues to recommend that people wear masks in indoor public transportation settings.
The CDC advises those exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, testing positive, or who have recovered from the virus within the past 90 days not to travel.
shepard.price@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Flight-deals-Boston-Denver-Minneapolis-17332326.php | 2022-07-27T19:53:39 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Flight-deals-Boston-Denver-Minneapolis-17332326.php |
One month after retiring the Mary Barrett train that helped serve millions of visitors to the San Antonio Zoo, the local attraction on Tuesday welcomed the Union Pacific Mini Train to its fleet.
This is the zoo's second new locomotive in the last year, and it's "bringing its own unique beauty and flare onto the 2-mile track," Tim Morrow, president and CEO of the zoo, said in a statement.
Last September, the zoo added the "CWT Express," designed based on the San Antonio Zoo's color palette. The CWT Express is the first addition to the lineup since the early 2000s, according to Cyle Perez, a zoo spokesman.
The new train is led by Union Pacific Locomotive No. 210, designed after the Streamliner engines of the 1950s and 60s. Perez wrote in an email that the design was chosen as a nod to the history of the zoo's fleet of trains, which were added in 1956.
The new train was funded 100 percent by donations, the zoo wrote, with the lead naming gift of $300,000 coming from Union Pacific. A third train is being designed, according to the zoo, which will be "very distinct" from the two currently operating trains, although the zoo is still working on plans and designs, Perez wrote.
On ExpressNews.com: Former San Antonio Zoo lion kills female companion
All three of the new trains will feature improvements over the old models, including more leg room, more seating space, improved sound systems and Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility.
The zoo's trains operate in Brackenridge Park along the banks of the San Antonio River and include various stops near the Witte Museum, the Sunken Garden Theater and the Japanese Tea Garden.
"We are excited for this new train to fuel many more memories in the years to come," Perez said.
shepard.price@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-Zoo-Union-Pacific-17332067.php | 2022-07-27T19:53:45 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-Zoo-Union-Pacific-17332067.php |
When it comes to San Antonians settling down in young adulthood, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
The U.S. Census Bureau and Harvard University recently conducted a study using census, survey and tax data to track the migration of young adults based on where they lived at age 16 and where they resided at age 26. The study included those born between 1984 and 1992.
It found that 75% of San Antonio 16-year-olds still lived here when they turned 26. Nationwide, only 54% continued to reside in their hometown.
In Brownsville and Laredo, nearly 90% of young adults in the area are from their respective cities.
San Antonio is also the third-most popular city for Hispanics born between 1984 and 1992, according to the report.
About 3.1% of young Hispanic people nationwide moved from their respective hometowns to San Antonio. Los Angeles and New York City attracted the highest percentages of young Hispanic transplants, with 5.2% and 3.2% moving to those cities, respectively.
Throughout the U.S., Black and Hispanic people, as well as those with lower-income parents, tend to stay close to where they lived when they were 16, the study found.
Who’s moving to San Antonio?
According to the data, the young adult population in San Antonio has grown to include new residents from a variety of cities across the U.S., including 18% from other cities in Texas and 16% from out-of-state areas such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
However, the young adult population here is still overwhelmingly made up of San Antonio natives, at 66%.
Where are San Antonians moving to?
About 13% of San Antonio's young adults moved elsewhere in Texas, with nearly 4% moving to Austin. The average San Antonian moved 155 miles away from home, which is less than the national average of 181 miles.
Roughly 11% of the age group who left San Antonio moved to cities such as Los Angeles, New York or Seattle.
Following the study’s trend, around 82% of San Antonio's young adults who grew up with an income level in the bottom 20% stayed in the city. In contrast, only about 59% of young adults whose parents were in the top 20% of income brackets remained here.
The majority of Hispanic individuals — 84% — remained in San Antonio, while 71% of Black young adults and 62% of Asian and white individuals continued living in the city. | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/millennials-moving-to-from-San-Antonio-17326959.php | 2022-07-27T19:53:52 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/millennials-moving-to-from-San-Antonio-17326959.php |
TUALATIN, Ore. — A suspect stole a minivan in Tualatin Wednesday morning with the owner's 9-month-old infant child still inside, according to a press release from the Tualatin Police Department.
The owner of the van had parked in the lot of Oregon Dog Rescue in Tualatin and left the car running while he went inside to drop off his dog. The suspect, identified by police as 24-year-old Marcus Esa Paul of Tualatin, then got into the van and drove away.
The owner called the police and told them that the van had been stolen and the child was still inside. The suspect dropped the infant off on the side of a road in Oregon City a short time later, police said, and a passerby found the child and turned it over to the police. The child was not injured.
Police were able to locate the van with the help of the owner by tracking the owner's cell phone, which had also been left inside.
The van and the suspect were found at the intersection of Northeast 95th Avenue and Northeast Prescott Street in Portland, and after a brief chase on foot the suspect was arrested at the nearby Parkrose Transit Center, police said.
Paul was booked in Washington County jail and has been charged with first-degree kidnapping, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and endangering the welfare of a minor, police said.
Three similar thefts have happened in the Portland metro area in the past six months — incidents in which a car theft became an apparently inadvertent kidnapping because a child was in the stolen vehicle.
OTHER STORIES: Police identify suspect who stole car with child inside
In February, a suspect allegedly jumped into a running car with a 3-year-old child in the back seat in Northeast Portland and drove away. The boy's mother called police and his father followed the suspect and eventually crashed his own car into the stolen car near where Northeast 21st Avenue crosses Interstate 84.
The suspect, later identified by police as 40-year-old Justin Hill, reportedly got out and ran away. When the father told people passing by what happened, they chased the suspect down on foot and held him down until police arrived. The child was not hurt.
OTHER STORIES: Man in custody after stealing vehicle with child inside from Northeast Portland hospital
In March, a suspect — later identified by police as 26-year-old Colton Ian Suckow — was taken into custody after stealing a minivan with a 6-year-old girl inside from the parking lot of Providence Medical Center in Northeast Portland.
The girl's parents told police they drove to the hospital because one of them was feeling sick, and when the driver walked around to the passenger side to help his wife into a wheelchair, the suspect jumped in and drove away. Police later found the van in Southeast Portland. The girl was still inside and was unharmed.
In April, a suspect allegedly stole a woman's SUV with her 3-year-old daughter still in the back seat. The mother told police she had parked in her babysitter's driveway in east Vancouver and left her daughter in the car seat while she dropped off her other kids, but came back outside to find the car gone.
The suspect dropped the child off, still in the car seat, outside the front door of a nearby clinic a short time later before driving off again, and the mother and daughter were reunited. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/car-stolen-infant-inside-tualatin/283-b52a6a79-1f52-4821-9a27-8d20f4c0b275 | 2022-07-27T20:05:00 | 1 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/car-stolen-infant-inside-tualatin/283-b52a6a79-1f52-4821-9a27-8d20f4c0b275 |
GARY — A Portage man was flown to a Chicago hospital Tuesday night after he was shot while driving in the city's Glen Park section and crashed into a home's front porch, police said.
Gary police were dispatched about 8:15 p.m. for a report of a crash in the 1100 block of E. 45th Ave., Cmdr. Jack Hamady said.
Officers arrived to find a 23-year-old man outside a red 2014 Honda that had hit a porch, he said. The man had a gunshot wound to his back.
While nonfatal shootings remained down this year compared with last year, homicide numbers were up.
Tuesday's case marked the 75th nonfatal shooting so far this year in Gary, compared with 99 at the same time last year, Hamady said.
The city had logged 34 homicides as of Wednesday, up from 25 at the same time last year.
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Anyone with information about Tuesday's shooting is asked to call Detective Sgt. Mark Salazar at 219-881-1209. To remain anonymous, call 866-CRIME-GP.
Gallery: Recent arrests booked into Lake County Jail
Kyra Willis
Age : 29
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206110
Arrest Date: July 15, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jonathan Thien
Age : 38
Residence: Crown Point, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206094
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: OPERATE VEH AFTER BEING HABITUAL TRAFFIC OFFENDER; POSSESSION - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Kevin Rodriguez
Age : 36
Residence: Lowell, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206098
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Thomas Silaj
Age : 34
Residence: Highland, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206096
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
David Moore III
Age : 47
Residence: St. John, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206095
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - SIMPLE - TOUCH W/NO INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Arionn Parent
Age : 52
Residence: Hobart, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206108
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Christopher Philbin
Age : 34
Residence: Dyer, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206105
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGGRAVATED - W/MODERATE BODILY INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Germon Jones
Age : 26
Residence: Crown Point, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206101
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: INTIMIDATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Nicole McGregor
Age : 30
Residence: Lake Station, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206078
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: DEALING - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Courtney Johnson
Age : 39
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206112
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: FRAUD - DECEPTION - IDENTITY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jeff Henderson Jr.
Age : 40
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206090
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Christopher Dukes
Age : 37
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206083
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - FIREARM - BY A SERIOUS VIOLENT FELON
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Michael Edwards Jr.
Age : 39
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206082
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: THEFT - PROPERTY - POCKET-PICKING - $750 TO $50,000
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jasmine Clayton
Age : 32
Residence: Hammond, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206079
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: INTIMIDATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
James Ballard
Age : 58
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206092
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: SEX OFFENDER RESIDENCY VIOLATIONS
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Dawn Burton
Age : 56
Residence: Calumet City, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206091
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION VIOLATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Tre'Vion Carlisle
Age : 24
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206086
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: ROBBERY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jeremy Asfall
Age : 33
Residence: Sacramento, CA
Booking Number(s): 2206106
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Juan Aguero Jr.
Age : 53
Residence: Hammond, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206081
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: CONFINEMENT
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Brian Suckey
Age : 36
Residence: LaPorte, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206045
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Simona Trajceski
Age : 27
Residence: Portage, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206050
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Andrew Stover
Age : 35
Residence: Steger, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206068
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
David Storey Jr.
Age : 24
Residence: Hobart, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206047
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGGRAVATED - STRANGULATION; DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE; DEALING - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Jason Sivak
Age : 43
Residence: Crown Point, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206067
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: BURGLARY - PROPERTY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Annette Roberts
Age : 48
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206060
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: THEFT - PROPERTY - POCKET-PICKING - $750 TO $50,000
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Joseph McLeroy
Age : 48
Residence: Hobart, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206066
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGGRAVATED - STRANGULATION; DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony; Misdemeanor
Kewon Price
Age : 21
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206073
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Jonathan Huemmer
Age : 23
Residence: Crown Point, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206041
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING LAW ENFORCEMENT - VEHICLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Dontrell Henderson Jr.
Age : 24
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206054
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGGRAVATED - STRANGULATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Tamika Graves
Age : 42
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206058
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: HOMICIDE - MURDER (ATTEMPTED)
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Malik Gross
Age : 26
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206059
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGGRAVATED - W/SERIOUS BODILY INJURY; BURGLARY - PROPERTY - RESIDENTIAL ENTRY - BREAKING AND ENTERING - W/NO INTENT OF FELONY THEFT
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Jamey Goin
Age : 44
Residence: Valparaiso, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206051
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING LAW ENFORCEMENT - VEHICLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Antonio Collins
Age : 46
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206071
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Brigida Fortoso Gomez Rodriguez
Age : 49
Residence: Lowell, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206056
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - STRANGULATION - AGAINST A PREGNANT WOMAN
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Missy Buhrmester
Age : 30
Residence: Linden, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206049
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Geno Carta
Age : 29
Residence: Cedar Lake, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206075
Arrest Date: July 14, 2022
Offense Description: BURGLARY - PROPERTY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Glorivette Bonilla
Age : 45
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206063
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Benjamin Seramur
Age : 31
Residence: Hebron, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206013
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING LAW ENFORCEMENT - FORCIBLY RESISTING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Vashon Sherman
Age : 33
Residence: Indianapolis, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206020
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - FIREARM - BY A FELON
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Hannah Wagner
Age : 25
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206039
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jessica Whitlow
Age : 31
Residence: Hobart, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206015
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Santiago Reyes
Age : 34
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206018
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: INTIMIDATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Bradley Schulten
Age : 38
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206029
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Kenneth Plucinski
Age : 49
Residence: Lowell, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206021
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: THEFT - PROPERTY - SIMPLE - < $750
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jonathan Popa
Age : 40
Residence: Highland, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206009
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Alan Hughes
Age : 41
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206010
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jonathan Johnson
Age : 41
Residence: Hobart, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206011
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: DEALING - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Melissa Johnston
Age : 39
Residence: Hobart, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206031
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Stafford Henderson
Age : 64
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206016
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION VIOLATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Vincent Banks
Age : 55
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206019
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Nicole Bowersox
Age : 26
Residence: Lake Station, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206023
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Francisco Flores
Age : 32
Residence: South Holland, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206035
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Stewart Foley IV
Age : 49
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206037
Arrest Date: July 13, 2022
Offense Description: CONFINEMENT
Highest Offense Class: Felony
John Kryda
Age : 32
Residence: Crown Point, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205991
Arrest Date: July 11, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Kyle Hanaway
Age : 30
Residence: Medaryville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205988
Arrest Date: July 11, 2022
Offense Description: MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Derek Johnson
Age : 60
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205999
Arrest Date: July 11, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Favian Juarez
Age : 25
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206005
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jason Haddock
Age : 42
Residence: Valparaiso, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206000
Arrest Date: July 11, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESS HYPODERMIC SYRINGE OR NEEDLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Ryan Dobos
Age : 29
Residence: Schererville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205998
Arrest Date: July 11, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Mary Granter
Age : 31
Residence: Hobart, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205986
Arrest Date: July 11, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESS HYPODERMIC SYRINGE OR NEEDLE; POSSESS LEGEND DRUG OR PRECURSOR
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Charles Barber
Age : 42
Residence: Schererville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206003
Arrest Date: July 12, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING LAW ENFORCEMENT DEFENDANT USES A VEHICLE; BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Michael Warren
Age : 62
Residence: Beecher, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205965
Arrest Date: July 10, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jereyl Willis
Age : 29
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205977
Arrest Date: July 10, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Zeondre Shenault
Age : 22
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205978
Arrest Date: July 11, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Mark Stovall Jr.
Age : 35
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205973
Arrest Date: July 10, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Tasha Barnes
Age : 42
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205982
Arrest Date: July 11, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Eugene Golston
Age : 52
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205980
Arrest Date: July 11, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Charlene Sandoval
Age : 60
Residence: Crown Point, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205974
Arrest Date: July 10, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Lamarr Thompson
Age : 51
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205959
Arrest Date: July 10, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Dyron Wash
Age : 36
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205963
Arrest Date: July 10, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Edward Zurawski
Age : 35
Residence: Portage, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205956
Arrest Date: July 10, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Marcus Lucio
Age : 29
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205955
Arrest Date: July 9, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Angelee Luick
Age : 28
Residence: Lake Station, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205947
Arrest Date: July 9, 2022
Offense Description: FRAUD - DECEPTION - IDENTITY; NEGLECT OF DEPENDANT/CHILD VIOLATIONS; INTIMIDATION; BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Gilbert Ortiz
Age : 40
Residence: Hammond, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205951
Arrest Date: July 9, 2022
Offense Description: CONFINEMENT
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jesus Perez Jr.
Age : 28
Residence: Dyer, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205946
Arrest Date: July 9, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Carmella Lawrence
Age : 55
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205948
Arrest Date: July 9, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
James Gilliam
Age : 47
Residence: Grant Park, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205957
Arrest Date: July 10, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Orlando Guerra
Age : 47
Residence: Schererville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205954
Arrest Date: July 10, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Rondell Johnson
Age : 23
Residence: Rockford, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205950
Arrest Date: July 9, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGGRAVATED - W/INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Joshua Bennett
Age : 28
Residence: Calumet City, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205943
Arrest Date: July 9, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jonathan Bermingham
Age : 38
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205952
Arrest Date: July 9, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Veronica Quijano
Age : 29
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205913
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: FRAUD - DECEPTION - IDENTITY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Alantae Thornton
Age : 29
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205908
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - FIREARM - BY A FELON
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Armaun McKenzie
Age : 33
Residence: Hammond, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205927
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - AGGRAVATED - MODERATE BODILY INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Robert McKenzie Jr.
Age : 27
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205920
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: FAMILY OFFENSE- INVASION OF PRIVACY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Sharita Parks
Age : 38
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205911
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: FRAUD - DECEPTION - IDENTITY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Angelos Lujano
Age : 21
Residence: Hammond, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205918
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - FIREARM - HANDGUN - W/NO PERMIT
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jeffrey Lambert
Age : 49
Residence: Lake Station, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205898
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: INTIMIDATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Paris Larkin Jr.
Age : 26
Residence: Park Forest, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205915
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: DEALING - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Kemetka Leftridge
Age : 44
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205894
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: FRAUD - OBTAINING PROPERTY - BY CREDIT CARD
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Deauntre Lester
Age : 34
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205919
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Michael Kaufman
Age : 25
Residence: Valparaiso, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205897
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: INTIMIDATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Cordarryl Jones
Age : 35
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205914
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: FRAUD - FORGERY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Olivia Justice
Age : 18
Residence: Lowell, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205904
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Pamela Jenkins Reynolds
Age : 51
Residence: Indianapolis, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205901
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: FRAUD - FORGERY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Timothy Irvin
Age : 44
Residence: Sauk Village, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205909
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: THEFT - PROPERTY - SHOPLIFTING - < $750
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Nedal Hamed
Age : 40
Residence: Hobart, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205895
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: BURGLARY; ROBBERY
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Quinton Hicks
Age : 36
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205910
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: COUNTERFEITING AND APPLICATION FRAUD
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Cortney Dixon
Age : 36
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205923
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - AGGRAVATED - SERIOUS BODILY INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Brian Agee
Age : 26
Residence: Ford Heights, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205912
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING LAW ENFORCEMENT - VEHICLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Paul Brown Jr.
Age : 43
Residence: Cedar Lake, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205902
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGGRAVATED - W/MODERATE BODILY INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
David Buczek
Age : 32
Residence: Hobart, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205903
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Lamont Walls
Age : 48
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205861
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Rickey Washington
Age : 31
Residence: Danville, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205862
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Jessica Sanchez
Age : 24
Residence: Cicero, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205878
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Monique Smoot
Age : 39
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205874
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Davion Torry
Age : 21
Residence: Griffith, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205854
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE - PRESENCE OF CHILD < 16 YEARS OLD
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Anthony Kirkland
Age : 37
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205853
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: PUBLIC INDECENCY - PROMOTING PROSTITUTION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Amber Mackey
Age : 23
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205855
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Daniel McGraw
Age : 36
Residence: Rensselaer, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205875
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Gerald Purkey
Age : 34
Residence: Hobart, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205871
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION HYPODERMIC SYRINGE OR NEEDLE; POSSESSION - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Marta Rodriguez
Age : 43
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205869
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: NEGLECT OF DEPENDANT/CHILD VIOLATIONS; FALSE REPORTING - REPORT, CRIME, OR COMPLAINT
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Nyia Hunter
Age : 22
Residence: Riverdale, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205881
Arrest Date: July 8, 2022
Offense Description: NEGLECT OF DEPENDANT/CHILD VIOLATIONS
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Stacy Gorgas
Age : 44
Residence: Cedar Lake, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205856
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION VIOLATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Andrei Guta
Age : 19
Residence: Baltimore, MD
Booking Number(s): 2205872
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: THEFT - PROPERTY - SIMPLE - < $750
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Adam Garcia
Age : 25
Residence: Schererville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205852
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: CRIMINAL RECKLESSNESS - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Dustin Freely
Age : 54
Residence: DeMotte, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205868
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Matthew Creekbaum
Age : 39
Residence: Porter, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205873
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT; RESISTING - ESCAPE
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Saya Dhiman
Age : 22
Residence: Palatine, IL
Booking Number(s): 2205891
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Andrea Brown
Age : 30
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205867
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - SIMPLE - TOUCH W/NO INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jason Clark
Age : 44
Residence: Grffith, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205860
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - AGGRAVATED - MODERATE BODILY INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Anthony Bonner
Age : 37
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2205850
Arrest Date: July 7, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE - W/PRIOR AN UNRELATED CONVICTION REFERENCE SAME PERSON
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Brian Stewart Jr.
Age : 26
Residence: Hammond, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206122
Arrest Date: July 15, 2022
Offense Description: THEFT - PROPERTY - POCKET-PICKING; OWI
Highest Offense Class: Felony; Misdemeanor
Elijah Harris
Age : 24
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206344
Arrest Date: July 21, 2022
Offense Description: CRIMINAL RECKLESSNESS
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Kenyata Williams
Age : 32
Residence: Fort Wayne, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206247
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Shaquille Nailon
Age : 27
Residence: Hammond, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206141
Arrest Date: July 16, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Ryan Scott
Age : 35
Residence: Munster, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206236
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - SIMPLE - AGAINST A PERSON < 14 YEARS OLD
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Kenshawn Anderson
Age : 35
Residence: Hammond, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206279
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: BURGLARY - PROPERTY - RESIDENTIAL ENTRY - BREAKING AND ENTERING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Lamont Wilkerson Jr.
Age : 19
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206301
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - FIREARM - BY A FELON; RESISTING
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Robert Conner
Age : 32
Residence: Evanston, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206334
Arrest Date: July 21, 2022
Offense Description: ARSON
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Benjamin Terry
Age : 25
Residence: Lake Station, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206225
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Davon Jones
Age : 18
Residence: Hammond, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206254
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: HOMICIDE - MURDER
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Henry Meadows III
Age : 43
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206191
Arrest Date: July 18, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION HYPODERMIC SYRINGE OR NEEDLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Adrian Duran
Age : 22
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206212
Arrest Date: July 18, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGGRAVATED - W/BODILY INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Amber Mazoch
Age : 31
Residence: Muskego, WI
Booking Number(s): 2206331
Arrest Date: July 21, 2022
Offense Description: BURGLARY - PROPERTY - RESIDENTIAL ENTRY - BREAKING AND ENTERING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Lindsey Delgado
Age : 37
Residence: Portage, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206119
Arrest Date: July 15, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION HYPODERMIC SYRINGE OR NEEDLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Skarlet Cooper
Age : 38
Residence: Portage, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206288
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL; PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION - OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Emanuel Barnes
Age : 27
Residence: Dolton, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206229
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGGRAVATED - STRANGULATION; BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Laquette Cain-Allison
Age : 32
Residence: Milwaukee, WI
Booking Number(s): 2206193
Arrest Date: July 17, 2022
Offense Description: THEFT - PROPERTY - SIMPLE - < $750
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Abel Moreno
Age : 32
Residence: Hammond, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206333
Arrest Date: July 21, 2022
Offense Description: HOMICIDE - RECKLESS
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Anthony Cooper
Age : 50
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206337
Arrest Date: July 21, 2022
Offense Description: THEFT - PROPERTY - SHOPLIFTING - < $750
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Erich Boone
Age : 46
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206314
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: BURGLARY - PROPERTY; - SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION VIOLATION
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Darion Key
Age : 20
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206348
Arrest Date: July 21, 2022
Offense Description: INTIMIDATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Sarah Morden
Age : 29
Residence: Dyer, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206248
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Sommer Nicholson
Age : 36
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206125
Arrest Date: July 15, 2022
Offense Description: CASINO GAMBLING VIOLATIONS
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Trenton Terry
Age : 42
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206124
Arrest Date: July 15, 2022
Offense Description: CASINO GAMBLING VIOLATIONS
Highest Offense Class: Felony
David Freeborn
Age : 36
Residence: Lansing, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206268
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG; RESISTING - ESCAPE
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Clarion Phillips
Age : 32
Residence: Burnham, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206186
Arrest Date: July 17, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - SIMPLE - TOUCH W/NO INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Darnell Turner
Age : 53
Residence: Lansing, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206207
Arrest Date: July 18, 2022
Offense Description: INTIMIDATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Reginald Ryals
Age : 22
Residence: Dolton, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206237
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGGRAVATED - STRANGULATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Mathew Demakas
Age : 39
Residence: Portage, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206118
Arrest Date: July 15, 2022
Offense Description: INTIMIDATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Dwayne Fields
Age : 57
Residence: Milwaukee, WI
Booking Number(s): 2206335
Arrest Date: July 21, 2022
Offense Description: THEFT - PROPERTY - SHOPLIFTING - < $750
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Kenneth Peterson
Age : 51
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206130
Arrest Date: July 15, 2022
Offense Description: ROBBERY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Emanuel England
Age : 32
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206218
Arrest Date: July 18, 2022
Offense Description: ROBBERY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Durell Rhymes
Age : 36
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206241
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - FIREARM - HANDGUN - W/NO PERMIT; OWI; SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION VIOLATION
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Samantha Cardenas
Age : 26
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206180
Arrest Date: July 17, 2022
Offense Description: FRAUD - DECEPTION - IDENTITY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Hannah Kuckuck
Age : 26
Residence: Fort Myers, FL
Booking Number(s): 2206340
Arrest Date: July 21, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Samuel Sledge
Age : 21
Residence: Decatur, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206246
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: CHILD MOLESTATION - STATUTORY RAPE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Rebecca White
Age : 31
Residence: Rensselaer, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206142
Arrest Date: July 16, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Patrick Nuttall
Age : 20
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206137
Arrest Date: July 15, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Sammie Garrett Jr.
Age : 54
Residence: Chicago Heights, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206274
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: THEFT - PROPERTY - POCKET-PICKING - < $750
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Scott Porta II
Age : 22
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206179
Arrest Date: July 17, 2022
Offense Description: BURGLARY - PROPERTY - RESIDENTIAL ENTRY - BREAKING AND ENTERING; RESISTING - ESCAPE
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Leroy Williams
Age : 35
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206312
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: BURGLARY - PROPERTY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jorie Fink
Age : 26
Residence: Schererville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206139
Arrest Date: July 15, 2022
Offense Description: FRAUD - OBTAINING PROPERTY - BY CREDIT CARD
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Takyra Cunningham
Age : 26
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206273
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGGRAVATED - W/BODILY INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Denise Houldieson
Age : 23
Residence: Hammond, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206171
Arrest Date: July 17, 2022
Offense Description: DEALING - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Clark Smith
Age : 27
Residence: Lowell, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206252
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Lakethia Johnson
Age : 31
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206275
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Lawrence Galia II
Age : 42
Residence: Crown Point, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206214
Arrest Date: July 18, 2022
Offense Description: INTIMIDATION; CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE - POSSESSION - SCHEDULE I
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Cynthia Peach
Age : 47
Residence: Dyer, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206132
Arrest Date: July 15, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE - PRESENCE OF CHILD < 16 YEARS OLD
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Kristy Gibson-Miller
Age : 32
Residence: Hammond, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206345
Arrest Date: July 21, 2022
Offense Description: BURGLARY - PROPERTY - RESIDENTIAL ENTRY - BREAKING AND ENTERING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jeremiah Parker
Age : 44
Residence: Portage, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206357
Arrest Date: July 22, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Maurice Farley
Age : 24
Residence: Calumet City, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206251
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGGRAVATED - W/PERMANENT INJURY OR DISFIGUREMENT
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Aubrey Wilson
Age : 22
Residence: Portage, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206271
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESS HYPODERMIC SYRINGE OR NEEDLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Ellery Williams
Age : 49
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206189
Arrest Date: July 17, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Victor Hernandez
Age : 30
Residence: Hammond, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206199
Arrest Date: July 18, 2022
Offense Description: HOMICIDE - MURDER
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Robert Hudson Jr.
Age : 31
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206183
Arrest Date: July 17, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - FIREARM - HANDGUN - W/NO PERMIT; RESISTING - ESCAPE
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
John Davis
Age : 71
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206291
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG; RESISTING
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Ramon Jones
Age : 28
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206296
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING; CRIMINAL RECKLESSNESS
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Maximilian Aldridge
Age : 25
Residence: Sauk Village, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206272
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Cameron Bush
Age : 23
Residence: Lansing, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206354
Arrest Date: July 21, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Lorenzo Padilla
Age : 20
Residence: Calumet City, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206276
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: DEALING - SCHEDULE I, II, OR III
Highest Offense Class: Felony
David Wilson
Age : 32
Residence: St. John, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206318
Arrest Date: July 21, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING; PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION - OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE; OPERATING A VEHICLE AFTER DRIVING PRIVILEGES ARE SUSPENDED
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Tonya Negele
Age : 47
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206299
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Julian Sanchez
Age : 23
Residence: Crestwood, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206332
Arrest Date: July 21, 2022
Offense Description: INTIMIDATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Timothy Gorman Jr.
Age : 40
Residence: Schererville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206328
Arrest Date: July 21, 2022
Offense Description: SEXUAL BATTERY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
DeSean Goings
Age : 25
Residence: Sauk Village, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206200
Arrest Date: July 18, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Bobby Hall
Age : 41
Residence: Indianapolis, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206259
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: DEALING - METHAMPHETAMINE; DEALING - SCHEDULE I, II, OR III
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Keith Davis
Age : 49
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206277
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jack Hampton
Age : 42
Residence: Hammond, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206127
Arrest Date: July 15, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING LAW ENFORCEMENT - VEHICLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Michael Voigt
Age : 24
Residence: Highland, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206255
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Daveontay Clark
Age : 22
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206351
Arrest Date: July 21, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE - PRESENCE OF CHILD < 16 YEARS OLD
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Mandi Powers
Age : 40
Residence: Chicago Heights, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206265
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Gregory Jackson
Age : 30
Residence: Calumet City, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206182
Arrest Date: July 17, 2022
Offense Description: RACKETEERING - CORRUPT BUSINESS INFLUENCE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jermani Keys
Age : 20
Residence: Portage, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206286
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jamal Smith
Age : 21
Residence: Hobart, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206304
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Marshall Alfred
Age : 36
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206311
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING - ESCAPE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Arthur Stueber Jr.
Age : 33
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206338
Arrest Date: July 21, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - SIMPLE - TOUCH W/NO INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Anthony Carns
Age : 38
Residence: Crown Point, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206224
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION HYPODERMIC SYRINGE OR NEEDLE; POSSESSION - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felonies
Jefforey Winn
Age : 43
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206175
Arrest Date: July 17, 2022
Offense Description: OPERATE VEHICLE AFTER BEING HABITUAL TRAFFIC OFFENDER
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Douglas Ferguson
Age : 41
Residence: Crown Point, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206266
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: INTIMIDATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Benjarmin Jeffries
Age : 19
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206245
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: INTIMIDATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Devon Mitchell
Age : 27
Residence: Chicago, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206126
Arrest Date: July 15, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Edward Norton
Age : 24
Residence: Richport, IL
Booking Number(s): 2206267
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: UNLAWFUL GAMBLING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Tywann Wilkerson
Age : 26
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206233
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: BURGLARY - PROPERTY - RESIDENTIAL ENTRY - BREAKING AND ENTERING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Christopher Walden
Age : 52
Residence: Gary, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206289
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL; OWI
Highest Offense Class: Felony; Misdemeanor
Nicholas Nash
Age : 30
Residence: Indianapolis, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206196
Arrest Date: July 18, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Jordan Greer
Age : 23
Residence: Highland, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206202
Arrest Date: July 18, 2022
Offense Description: SEX CRIME - CHILD EXPLOITATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Torrey Allen Jr.
Age : 20
Residence: Portage, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206290
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Sandra Rose
Age : 33
Residence: Kingsville, OH
Booking Number(s): 2206240
Arrest Date: July 19, 2022
Offense Description: THEFT - PROPERTY - SHOPLIFTING - < $750
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Lamont Murdaugh
Age : 22
Residence: Schererville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206197
Arrest Date: July 18, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Michael Seabrook
Age : 27
Residence: Highland, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206303
Arrest Date: July 20, 2022
Offense Description: BURGLARY - PROPERTY
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Marc McCollum
Age : 31
Residence: Munster, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206355
Arrest Date: July 22, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Gregory Cox
Age : 44
Residence: Griffith, IN
Booking Number(s): 2206136
Arrest Date: July 15, 2022
Offense Description: OWI
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Maurice Farley
Maurice Farley
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Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/man-flown-to-hospital-after-shooting-crash-into-porch-police-say/article_73874990-2b1b-5a63-9cac-bbd9a8f98924.html | 2022-07-27T20:13:16 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/man-flown-to-hospital-after-shooting-crash-into-porch-police-say/article_73874990-2b1b-5a63-9cac-bbd9a8f98924.html |
WESTVILLE — Flames from a 50-foot tall pile of scrap metal that burned early Wednesday at a Westville junk yard were seen from miles away.
Firefighters from multiple agencies responded about 2:30 a.m. to Paul’s Auto Yard on Ind. 2.
It took about five hours to completely extinguish the flames that reached more than 100 feet into the air, Coolspring Township Assistant Fire Chief Warren Smith said.
Smith said an aerial truck applying up to 600 gallons of water a minute was used to put out the flames in the 100-foot wide scrap pile.
The fire was seen from as far away as the Indiana Toll Road between Westville and Michigan City.
“It was quite the glow in the sky,” Smith said.
A crane was also used to knock down the scrap pile to allow water to reach hot spots at the bottom.
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NWI Business Ins and Outs: Southlake Mall restaurants, Morkes Chocolates, Pandora Jewelry and Junkluggers of Greater NW Indiana opening
Firefighters from Westville, Noble Township and Cass Township assisted with the blaze.
Smith said there were no injuries.
Dennis Bom, involved in sales and purchasing at the company, said the office building was never threatened since it was about 100 yards from the burning pile of scrap.
He said there were no junk vehicles in the pile, which contained a wide variety of things like old washers and dryers, stoves, lawn mowers and sheets of tin.
The items are brought in by customers paid based on the scrap value.
Smith said the cause of the fire was not known, but one possibility is an ember from a torch used to cut the metal into smaller pieces came into contact with something flammable inside the pile.
Bom said other possible sources include the igniter from an old propane barbecue grill becoming activated, or a battery-operated part to an appliance overheating.
“It could be a multitude of things,” he said.
Smith said scrap metal piles can burn because of the plastics, foam and other flammable materials used in making the products.
He said even the paint on metal burns when the heat reaches a high enough temperature.
Bom said the charred metal will be hauled off in trucks and melted like other scrap from the yard for use in making other products.
He said scrap pile fires are not uncommon.
“It’s part of the business, I guess,” he said.
NWI Business Ins and Outs: Southlake Mall restaurants, Morkes Chocolates, Pandora Jewelry and Junkluggers of Greater NW Indiana opening
Coming soon
Chicken Paradise and Cinco De Mayo will soon open in the food court of the Southlake Mall at U.S. 30 and Mississippi Street in Hobart.
The fast food restaurants are chains that operate in other mall food courts.
"It's a local operator," said Kristyn Filetti, Southlake Mall Marketing & Business Development Manager. "They have other locations in our other centers as well. The same operator will be opening two spots."
Cinco De Mayo specializes in Mexican food while Chicken Paradise has chicken sandwiches, fried chicken and wings.
They should open in the next two months, she said.
"We have a lot of new tenants, a lot of action coming to the center," Filetti said. "We're excited about our leasing activity."
Joseph S. Pete
Coming soon
Morkes Chocolates, a chocolate shop with more than a century of history in Chicagoland, will soon open in Cedar Lake.
Founded in Chicago in 1920, the vintage sweet shop has sold candy since 1920. It has locations in Palatine and Huntley, specializing in sophisticated, fine chocolates.
Kris VanderPloeg, who had worked at the Paltantine location, plans to open a Morkes in Cedar Lake in August on West 133rd Avenue in front of Strack & Van Til. It's been a longtime dream.
"It's historic," she said. "William Morkes, who worked at Nabisco, opened the first one in 1920 at 26th and Trumball in Chicago. It was a chocolate shop with sodas, ice cream and doughnuts. That was the original. His son Bill Morkes opened in Palantine in 1967. It was the same thing, very old school with wicker baskets with different hard candies, different chocolates, caramel apples and everything. We've served chocolates to generations."
Joseph S. Pete
Historic roots
The Cedar Lake sweet shop will be located in a historic 2,400-square-foot building that belonged to Dr. Robert King.
"He was the first medical practitioner in Cedar Lake. It was a medical doctor's office where he's making house calls and things like that," she said. "He's been called the father of Cedar Lake. We realized that when we bought the building. There was a plaque to Robert King and we knew his son. We were floored when we found out."
The space is decorated with black-and-white photos procured from the Museum at Lassen's Resort to play up the historical vibe.
She drove by the building and knew it was where she wanted to open the chocolate shop she always dreamed of.
"It was like a wedding dress," she said. "You just know it's the one."
Joseph S. Pete
Many different sweets
Morkes Chocolates offers many candies chocolates, caramels, caramel apples, toffees, fudge, Mint Creams, Original Silks, truffles, peanut butter cups, chocolate bars, double stuffed cookies, chocolate graham crackers, Peppermint Barque, Morchunkies, Coconut Haystacks and Sponge Candy. It will have a line of sugar-free chocolates for diabetics. Velvety French Cream is the signature item.
It also has Pecan Puppets, which are like turtles with caramel, pecans and chocolate but thicker. The store will have eight different candy dispensers with jelly beans, malted milk balls, Swedish fish and other sweets.
The Cedar Lake candy shop will carry Dairy Belle ice cream. It will seat 12 to 15 people and have a party room with another 20 seats and closed-circuit television cameras that will let parents and grandparents watch the kids from another room if they prefer.
Morkes will furnish candy, ice cream and pizza for the parties. The kids can play and make their own chocolates.
"We'll have a lot of kids' birthday parties," she said. "They'll get to do chocolate-making, dipping things in chocolate and taking home whatever they make. I want to make it easy for moms who have to do so much. I'm a mom myself. It's a one-stop shop for moms for birthdays and other parties."
Joseph S. Pete
A place where people are going to be motivated to try every single different piece of chocolate
She expects it will be a destination since people would drive as far as an hour away to visit the Palatine location. The Cedar Lake Morkes will not carry the doughnuts but will otherwise be very similar.
"I want to create a place where people are going to be motivated to try every single different piece of chocolate," she said. "I want to create a place where people are going to be very comfortable to go back to, a place where the owner is nice and independent."
Morkes Chocolates will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
For more information, visit morkeschocolates.com , find the business on Facebook or call 219-390-7161.
Joseph S. Pete
Open
Surf's Up recently opened in the Southlake Mall in Hobart.
The restaurant specializes in seafood, fish, shrimp and fried lobster. It also has salads, wings, tacos, desserts and fountain drinks.
"It just opened," said Kristyn Filetti, Southlake Mall Marketing & Business Development Manager. "There's a lot of action going on in our food court."
The menu includes crab legs, lobster, perch, catfish, tilapia and whiting. Most of the seafood can either be ordered fried or grilled.
Sandwich options include salmon burgers, shrimp po'boys and The Bomb Sandwich, which stuffs a lobster tail and shrimp in a toasted garlic brioche bun, topping them with lettuce, pickle, tomatoes and house-made surf sauce. Sides include potatoes, corn on the cob, collard greens, cheese grits, shrimp and grits and fried green tomatoes.
The restaurant is located on the second floor of the mall at 2109 Southlake Mall.
For more information, call 708-516-4924.
Joseph S. Pete
Coming soon
Pandora Jewelry will soon open a location in the center court at the Southlake Mall in Hobart.
The Danish jeweler sells customizable charm bracelets, designer rings, earrings and necklaces. It sells jewelry at more than 6,700 retailers in more than 100 counties on six continents.
"Bridal & Co. had Pandora and Albert's Diamond Jewelers did too when it was here," said Kristyn Filetti, Southlake Mall Marketing & Business Development Manager. "But this is actually their first location here and their first location in our portfolio. They specialized in the personalized bracelets you can add onto with charms."
The company was founded by Danish goldsmith Per Enevoldsen in 1982 and debuted its signature charm bracelets in 2000. It became the world's third-largest jewelry company in sales volume in 2011, trailing only Cartier and Tiffany & Co. The company employs more than 26,000 people worldwide, including at its manufacturing site in Thailand.
Though worldwide in scope, Pandora's business is concentrated mainly in Europe and the United States.
Pandora Jewelry plans to open in an 882-square-foot space on the first floor on the superregional Southlake Mall near the other jewelry stores that flank the center court in the new few months.
"It should be open by the end of summer, in August or September," she said.
Joseph S. Pete
Open
The Duneland Chamber of Commerce recently hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for The Junkluggers of Greater NW Indiana, which opened last year at 157 W. 1050 N. in Chesterton.
The business specializes in eco-friendly junk removal. It's a nationwide franchise that a University of Connecticut student founded while drinking boxed wine and listening to a friend play guitar while studying abroad in Australia. A friend mentioned he made $100 for lugging away a neighbor's fridge and CEO Josh Cohen realized he could do that.
It offers residential and commercial junk removal, curbside pickup, e-waste recycling, senior downsizing, estate cleanouts, appliance removal, construction site cleanouts and furniture removal. It will clean out attics, basements, garages and storage units.
For more information, call 219-248-2094 or visit junkluggersofnwin.com .
Joseph S. Pete
NWI Business Ins and Outs: Geitonia Greek Grill, Las Delicias Mexican Ice Cream, Underground Thrift Clothing, gym, courthouse patio opening; T…
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Get local news delivered to your inbox! | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte/scrap-metal-fire-lights-up-laporte-county-sky/article_10a84f8b-b379-5b19-8907-d1c3d9570af3.html | 2022-07-27T20:13:16 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte/scrap-metal-fire-lights-up-laporte-county-sky/article_10a84f8b-b379-5b19-8907-d1c3d9570af3.html |
WASHINGTON — Millions of people every year pass the Korean War Veterans War Memorial, and most never know it was unfinished. Since its dedication in 1995, the memorial has a had a key piece missing: The names of the fallen soldiers.
“It was always envisioned that they would have a wall of remembrance about it,” Executive Director Jim Fisher explained.
Fisher said a lack of funding led to the wall being left off the original memorial. But over the last several years, donations poured in from a world away.
“The Republic of Korea, the people and government, have paid a huge amount of money for this, and we are will be forever grateful for it,” Fisher said.
This year, the names of over 36,000 U.S. servicemembers who were either killed or missing in action have been etched into a wall that surrounds the Pool of Remembrance.
Names that resonate with people like Jeff Cribben from San Diego, California.
“My dad and my uncle both joined the Marine Corps. together at 17 years old,” he said looking at the wall. “Then soon found themselves in Korea near the 38th parallel."
The Cribben brothers were identical twins. Walter was the name of Jeff’s father and James was the name of his uncle.
“If they were ever given an order that they didn't like they would flip a coin, and then switch shirts,” Jeff laughed. “So the loser had to go do whatever it was that they needed to go do.”
In March of 1953, one of those switches had fateful consequences. Swapping duties sent James directly into combat.
“The last time my dad ever saw his identical twin was heading out to the outpost,” Jeff said as emotions flooded him.
James Joseph Cribben was never seen again.
The Cribben story is one of the thousands of stories that have been told silently around the memorial since 1995. Until this week, the memorial never had names to go with those stories.
Tuesday, the families of Korean War soldiers got the first chance to see their family members names etched in stone. Among the names on the wall, Jeff found his uncle. A simple gesture that offered his family a small amount of closure.
“It's always just such an honor to be here,” he said. “Now to go see his name on one of these memorials, it's overwhelming.”
But it’s not just U.S. servicemembers that adorn the wall. The new Wall of Remembrance also lists the names of than more than 8,000 Korean troops that died alongside them.
“This is the first memorial United States that has foreign soldiers that have fought side by side with the Americans listed,” Fisher said.
The executive director of the Korean War Veterans Memorial said if it wasn’t for the funding from the Republic of Korea, he isn’t sure the new wall would have ever happened. According to him, the donations never amounted to enough to cover the cost. | https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/korean-war-veterans-memorial-adds-remembrance-wall/65-277165b5-522e-4374-8a90-6f7f5e398c64 | 2022-07-27T20:15:19 | 0 | https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/korean-war-veterans-memorial-adds-remembrance-wall/65-277165b5-522e-4374-8a90-6f7f5e398c64 |
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A popular car auction returned to Harrisburg for the first time since 2019.
The Mecum Car Auction officially opened its doors to the public Wednesday at 8 a.m. at the Harrisburg Farm Show Center located on 2300 North Cameron St.
The world's largest collector car auction will host an estimated 1,200 American muscle cars, classics, Corvettes, trucks, Hot Rods, and custom cars. All these cars are expected to roll across the auction block within the next couple of days.
The auction features rare and exotic customer cars which can bring in top dollar, some cars are even expected to sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Organizers say they're also just happy to see spectators at the event, even if purchasing one of the featured cars is just a dream.
"First of all, it is important to know you don't have to be a buyer or seller to come and enjoy what is a great car show," said Dave Magers, the CEO of Mecum Auctions.
"Most are just spectators, they paid the entry fee just to walk in have a seat watch the auction, and see a great car show," said Magers.
The car auction runs Wednesday through Saturday, July 30.
Auctions for vehicles began at 11 a.m. Wednesday and will begin again at 10 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Tickers can be purchased at the door and are $30 per person. Children 12 years and younger receive complimentary admission.
A full schedule for the auction can be found here. | https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/mecum-car-auction-returns-harrisburg-farm-show-complex/521-d96fc3d6-e8d4-45b6-aa75-ddb6f34f8d24 | 2022-07-27T20:15:26 | 1 | https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/mecum-car-auction-returns-harrisburg-farm-show-complex/521-d96fc3d6-e8d4-45b6-aa75-ddb6f34f8d24 |
Here's a daily map of coronavirus cases in Arizona, broken down by county.
The numbers were updated July 27.
Gallery: A year of the Pandemic in Tucson
Photos: A Year of the Pandemic in Tucson
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Pop Cycle, 422 N 4th Ave. March 20, 2020.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Roxanne Lee, manager of the Tucson Medical Center cath lab, stands with nurses and other colleagues in Lifegain Park during a memorial ceremony to remember those who have died of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), on Jan. 19, 2021.
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Most of the students are learning remotely (screen at the back of the room) in Alyssa Keri's math class at Catalina Foothills High School in the Catalina Foothills School District, Tucson, on Feb. 4, 2021.
Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Costco shoppers line up early at the Tucson Marketplace at The Bridges in Tucson on March 14, 2020.
Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Volunteer Bill Rauch loads food supplies into the trunk of a car at the Community Food Bank at 3003 S. Country Club Road, on March 18, 2020. The food bank started a drive through pick up service to allow for social distancing in response to Coronavirus disease (COVID-19.)
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
A pedestrian walks by the shuttered doors and windows of the Surly Wench Pub, the day after the city's drinking establishments were shut down due to COVID-19 distancing measures, March 18, 2020, Tucson, Ariz.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Victor Sanchez, a cook at Robert's Restaurant, holds a sign up to let to let passing drivers know they are still open at 3301 E Grant Road, on March 19, 2020. Restaurants and other small businesses are taking huge losses as people self quarantine and self distance to diminish the spread of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19.)
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Banner UMC’s drive up system is for emergency room triage for a variety of illnesses and is not for random testing for COVID-19. It has been put in place to keep crowds from the ER and protect the health of patients and staff.
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
A line grows outside the doors to Trader Joe's at Swan and Grant as an employee limits customers entering the store to one-out one-in, March 20, 2020, Tucson, Ariz.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
A group of friends from St. Louis enjoy their lunch along Sentinel Peak after a 40-mile bike ride on March 20, 2020. The cycling friends planned their trip to Tucson months ago and decided to keep their vacation plans. They arrived on March 1st and leave this weekend. For the past three weeks they've been cycling through Saguaro National Park, up Mt. Lemmon, Kitt Peak and The Loop. On Friday they got takeout from Seis Kitchen and their bicycle touring company set up tables and chairs for them. They felt they self-quaratined with just the six of them during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Madelyn Hardy takes a phone-in order behind the locked doors at Renee's Organic Oven, March 20, 2020, Tucson, Ariz. The restaurant is now taking no cash, doesn't allow customers into the building and leaves bagged orders on an outside table for diners to pick up.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
A largely closed and nearly empty Park Place Mall early in the afternoon following COVID-19 restrictions, March 20, 2020, Tucson, Ariz.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Sarah Lang views responses from her fifth-grade students while teaching remotely on Google classroom at Centennial Elementary School in the Flowing Wells School District, Tucson, on March 20, 2020, after the shutdown of schools due to the pandemic.
Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Marina Cornelius, owner of Floor Polish Dance + Fitness, teaches her Cardio Party-o class via Periscope to her students on March 20, 2020. Cornelius says this is the first time she's trying to livestream classes and is learning as she goes.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Jo Schneider stands in the empty outdoor seating area of La Cocina located at 201 N. Court Avenue, on March 26, 2020.
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
A woman walks along a nearly empty street in downtown Nogales, Arizona, on March 24, 2020.
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Dana Reed-Kane, co-owner of Reed's Compounding Pharmacy, 2729 E Speedway Blvd., pours a finished batch of hand sanitizer into a bottle at her store on March 27, 2020. Kane is making gallons of hand sanitizer and selling it to the public each day as part of a movement among such pharmacies to help out with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Michelle Don Carlos, founder of Mending Souls, sews masks in her home on Tucson's west side, on March 25, 2020. She and other volunteers are producing masks for emergency responders using anti-viral fabric donated by local hospitals.
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Vanessa Richards, 18, left, and Ella Dotson, 17, take a selfie as their friend, Camilla Hamilton, 17, gets her photo taken by Vanessa's mother, Chrissi, along Scott Ave. in downtown Tucson on March 31, 2020. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic the rest of the schoolyear has been canceled. Richards, Dotson and Hamilton are seniors at Marana High School and will not have a formal graduation ceremony. The trio came to downtown to get photos of themselves in their caps and gowns.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
A dinosaur statue over the doors of MATS Dojo at 5929 E. 22nd St., sports an athletic cup for a face mask in the second week of COVID-19 restrictions, March 31, 2020, Tucson, Ariz.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Raj Paudel hands a bag of food to a customer at Govinda's to-go-tent located at 711 E. Blacklidge Drive, on April 1, 2020.
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Angel Perez and Dan Hawk perform from Perez's balcony, giving the neighborhood a COVID-19-isolation style concert from his balcony, April 1, 2020, Tucson, Ariz.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Tessa DeConcini, senior at University High School, poses for a portrait with her prom dress and graduation cap at University High School, 421 N. Arcadia Ave., in Tucson, Ariz., on April 1, 2020. DeConcini, along with many other high school students, will miss out on prom festivities as well as their graduation ceremony due Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Dr. Liz Almil chats with one of her group from afar as members of the Tucson Cancer Conquerors distribute exercise gear, apparel, citrus and coffee during a handout at Brandy Fenton Park, April 11, 2020, Tucson, Ariz. The group is trying to find ways to keep their members exercising despite being forced into isolation by COVID-19 restrictions.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Rachel Huante greets her son Zeddicus Atherton as he trots out the door ahead of Lanee Pender carrying his sister Xena Atherton, part of the the new procedure of no parents inside the building at Kids First Preschool, April 15, 2020, Tucson, Ariz.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Cheri Carr grimaces as she receives a nasal swab while getting tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a drive-thru testing site at Escalera Health & Wellness, 2224 N. Craycroft Rd., on April 17, 2020. Patients can receive a COVID-19 and an antibody test.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Dalia Meshirer waves to a friend as the Golder Ranch Fire District trucks begin to roll by as dozens drive by her home to wish her a happy eighth birthday, April 2, 2020, Tucson, Ariz.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
A sign strapped to the median at 6th Street and Campbell Avenue gives southbound motorists a little pep-talk in the COVID-19 times, April 23, 2020, Tucson, Ariz.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Kitchen manger Koa Hoffmann tosses dough while working up a crust for a call-in order as he and few others keep cooking at Bear Canyon Pizza despite COVID-19 restrictions, April 22, 2020, Tucson, Ariz.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Jesse James Tucker, owner and trainer at Tucson Rising Phoenix Fitness and Defense, records a video response on techniques for one of his members outside his home in Tucson, Ariz., on April 14, 2020.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Kyria Sabin Waugaman, right, pilates instructor at Body Works in Tucson, and one of her teachers, Alessangra Lima, host an online workout class at Body Works, 1980 E. River Rd., in Tucson, Ariz., on April 17, 2020.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Homer Cass, left, talks to his son, Richard, middle, and grandson, Jason, 22, through a window at Tucson Medical Center on April 27, 2020. The hospital is making adjustments during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic to now allow visitors. Upon entry everyone's temperature is taken and then friends and family members can use their cell phones to talk to their loved ones through a window for 15 minutes.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Emily Wolfgang, manager at Little Anthony's Diner, talks with a customer during the first day of Little Anthony's Diner Carhop at Little Anthony's Diner, 7010 E. Broadway Blvd., in Tucson, Ariz., on April 28, 2020. Little Anthony's Diner, in response to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), started an old fashioned 1950's carhop. "It's been a long time since we had a carhop," said Tony Terry, president and owner of Little Anthony's Diner and The Gaslight Theater. "It fits our life right not." Little Anthony's Diner Carhop runs from 11am to 8pm Monday through Sunday. Customers can park in designated parking spots and order and pay for their food from the safety of their car, said Terry. Employees, dressed in 1950's attire with masks and gloves, will come out to check on customers and deliver drinks and food on trays, which resemble trays used in the 1950's that can attach to car windows. There is a Carhop menu, which include burgers, salads and shakes, but customers can order other items off the menu. DJ Phil, Little Anthony's Diner DJ, will play music that can be heard though speakers outside. "We may keep it after the virus," added Terry.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Alex Swain, a member of Beloved in the Desert - Tucson's chapter of the Episcopal Service Corps, carries bags of groceries to the home of an elderly man, on April 3, 2020. Swain and his housemates have volunteered to shop for elderly and at risk populations as people quarantine and stay at home during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Mike Pfander, left, and his wife Jeanne talk with Mike's mother Margaret Pfander from the service driveway just outside Margaret's apartment in Villa Hermosa, April 25, 2020, Tucson, Ariz. With the COVID19 lockdowns relatives have to meet without breaking isolation protocols, through windows or over walls.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Ralph Acosta, valedictorian of the Amphitheater High School senior class, is greeted at his home near 22nd Street and 12th Avenue by principal Jon Lansa in Tucson on May 1, 2020. Acosta will speak during Amphi's video graduation ceremony.
Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Detective Mary Pekas and Lt. Michelle Pickrom carry trays of food as they deliver meals with Mobile Meals of Southern Arizona, on April 29, 2020. Police officers with Tucson Police Department are volunteering while off duty with the program to allow for elderly volunteers to stay at home during the epidemic.
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Stylist Rahnay Curtis, left, and owner Jennifer Ball at CDO Barbershop on May 8, 2020, in Tucson.
Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
A nurse sporting a "Save Lives" mask takes part in a car procession honk-a-thon driving by Carondelet St. Mary's Hospital after departing from the Safeway across the street, on Jan. 12, 2021.
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Tucson Fire paramedics roll a gurney through a tent setup outside the Carondelet St. Joseph's Hospital's emergency room, on April 14, 2020. The tents are used to screen staff and patients for potential Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) before entering the hospital.
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Catalina Foothills High School graduates throw their hats in the air as they are videoed on the stage on the football field at Catalina Foothills High School, 4300 E. Sunrise Dr., in Tucson, Ariz., on May 11, 2020. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Catalina Foothills High School is videoing all 415 graduates individually over three days crossing the stage with their diploma cover. Small groups of graduates are escorted toward the stage and stand next to cones set apart for social distancing. After video and still pictures, graduates are given a t-shirt as they leave. "Its an amazing amount of work and planning, but our grads are worth it," said Julie Farbarik, director of Alumni and Community Relations at Catalina Foothills School District.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Lunchtime is normally standing room only at R&R Pizza Express, 13,905 N. Sandario Road, Marana. But it was sparsely attended on May 11, 2020, as the state allowed restaurants to re-open their dining rooms. Owner Linda Molitor carefully spaced tables to maintain social distancing for dining-in.
Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Jordan Wentzel works on a customer's return at DSW located at 7191 E. Broadway, on May 12, 2020. Shoes tried on and returned by customers are cleaned with disinfectant and then stored for three days before being put back on the floor.
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Dr. Susan McMahon, left, lifts a healthy Camille Keicher as mother Audrey gives a reassuring nudge during Camille's six-month well-visit at Mesquite Pediatrics, 2350 N. Kibler Place, Tucson, on May 15, 2020.
Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Carolina Castillo, house keeping staff member, wipes down a chair and table in the food court at Park Place Mall, 5870 E. Broadway Blvd., in Tucson, Ariz. on May 19, 2020. Malls reopened today under CDC guidelines and Gov. Ducey's new rules for businesses due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Park Place Mall has signs throughout the mall reminding customers to keep a six feet distance as well as hand sanitizer stations near each entrance. About half of the tables in the food court have been removed to allow for social distances as well as less than half of the stores have opened with new guidelines. Of the stores open, only 10 customers are allowed to shop in each store at a time.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
The B Gates are largely empty on the Friday afternoon before Memorial Day, less than a dozen people waiting for flights at Tucson International Airport, May 22, 2020, Tucson, Ariz.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Brian McKinley carts out the extra chairs for temporary storage after the seating had been rearranged to meet COVID19 restrictions at Rincon Presbyterian Church, May 21, 2020, Tucson, Ariz. Houses of worship are searching for ways to adapt to the new reality.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Ernie Villalobos, general manger of Roadhouse Cinemas, talks with returning employees about some of the new safety measures at Roadhouse Cinemas, 4811 E. Grant Rd., in Tucson, Ariz. on June 9, 2020. Roadhouse Cinemas will reopen on Wednesday June 10 at 3:15 p.m. with new safety measures in place due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The new safety measures include plexiglass set up in front of cashier stations, informational signs placed through out the theater as well as signs on the floor indicating 6-feet distances. Each of the nine theaters will be at 50% capacity to allow for distancing between seats.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Fatuma Mohamud, employee, walk past two plexiglass stands infant of registers at Funtasticks, 221 E. Wetmore Rd., in Tucson, Ariz. on June 17, 2020. Funtasticks has reopened with new safety procedures in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. All attractions are open with equipment being cleaned after ever use, social distancing signs and plexiglass placed in front of registers.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Students in the "Let's Spin" class ride their stationary bikes outdoors at Let's Sweat, 439 N 6th Ave., on August 19, 2020. Soleil Chiquette, owner of the fitness studio and gym, says she moved her classes outdoors and limited class sizes in order to adhere to coronavirus disease guidelines. She's had to cancel some classes that involve students to be indoors. Chiquette says an app was created for her business when the pandemic first started so that members can have access to fitness classes and challenges.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Cafeteria worker Francis Fontes sorts chicken nuggets into bags for grab-and-go distribution use at the Tucson Unified School District-Food Services building located at 2150 E. 15th Street, on Sept. 23, 2020. The TUSD Food Services Department has continued to provide services for students and families throughout the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by distributing thousands of meals a week for students. In addition to the daily grab-and-go distribution throughout the city, the district has implemented an alternative weekly pickup of a week’s worth of meals (including breakfast, lunch, and five days of snacks) at the TUSD Food Services Department Central Facility off of 15th street.
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Alyssa Cossey, conductor and director of the University Community Chorus (UCC), sets up for a webinar series she is directing from her home on September 8, 2020. The webinar takes place twice a month for the school semester. Cossey wanted to create something for people to participate in during this lack of physical choir performances and rehearsals due to the coronavirus disease pandemic. The series is free and open to the public.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Music director Eric Holtan leads the True Concord Choir during rehearsal for their upcoming performance, "The Nurturer – Brahms Requiem," at Dove of Peace Lutheran Church, 665 W. Rollercoaster Road, on Oct. 19, 2020.
Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Eli Hyland, left, 78, starts to form a heart with her hands while watching her daughter Karen Shea form a heart during their outdoor visit at Elderhaven Assisted Living, 2501 N. Soldier Trail, in Tucson, Ariz., on October 22, 2020. They started making hearts with their hands during their window visits and it has stuck, said Shea. Shea was able to visit her mother through window visits during the pandemic but recently Shea was able to visit her mom in an outdoor setting under strict protocols. They were required to wear masks, get their temps taken, maintain a six-foot distance at all times and were not allowed to touch each other.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Tiana Hair, PCC psychology clinical instructor, grabs a filled COVID-19 saliva test tube during a COVID-19 drive-thru testing site at Pima Community College East Campus, 8181 E. Irvington Rd., in Tucson, Ariz. on Dec. 11, 2020. Arizona State University in partnership with the Arizona Department of Health Services is now offering appointment only drive-thru COVID-19 testing, via a saliva test, at three Pima Community College campuses.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Second-grade students make gingerbread cookies while a warm fire burns on the Smart board at Mesa Verde Elementary School, 1661 W. Sage St. on Dec. 17, 2020.
Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Marcos Moreno, a volunteer for 15 years with Miracle en el Barrio, writes the number of children on the front of a mini-van as he welcomes families to the Tucson Rodeo Grounds for the 18th year of the event, on Dec. 18, 2020. As a precaution against the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the annual event used a drive-thru style format to handout toys, gift cards and other items to children and families
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Five-year old Antonio Moreno reaches out to Santa Claus, getting as close to him as the COVID-19 protective snow-globe bubble will allow during the Tucson Parks and Recreation's drive-thru Cookies With Santa at Donna R. Liggins Recreation Center, Tucson, Ariz., December 16, 2020. It was slow at the drive-thru and when there were no others around, a few kids like Antonio got a chance to almost touch the Big Guy.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
A playground structure closed due to the coronavirus pandemic at Arthur Pack Regional Park north of Tucson on May 8, 2020.
Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Kris Green stands with hands over heart as students pass by on her last day as a teacher at Manzanita Elementary School on Oct. 23, 2020. After nearly 40 years, she decided to retire before in-person instruction begins on Oct. 26. Green was a district teacher of the year.
Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Elana Bloom: It was very shocking. Everything I had planned for, my whole business was canceled over a two day period. Bloom owns Solstice, a textile business and would make most of her money in the Spring to help with the slower months of the summer. April 14, 2020
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Sgt. Michael Moseley receives the Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine during the administration of the vaccination to members of the public who meet the 1B priority eligibility of at Tucson Medical Center's Marshal Center, on Jan. 15, 2021.
Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
People are directed into the line at the University of Arizona's COVID19 drive-thru vaccination facilities on the school's mall, Tucson, Ariz., February 5, 2021.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coronavirus Pandemic in Tucson
Resident Victor Braun laughs with a CVS Pharmacy health care worker after getting his first dose of the Moderna COVID vaccine at Hacienda at the Canyon, Tucson, Ariz., January 27, 2021. The facility's residents and staff were part of a two day vaccination program in conjunction with CVS Pharmacy and monitored by the in-house personnel from TMCOne clinic.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
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Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. | https://tucson.com/news/local/coronavirus-cases-in-arizona-mapped-by-county-july-27/article_e243e6c0-0de0-11ed-b85a-634c2d3fe39a.html | 2022-07-27T20:16:12 | 0 | https://tucson.com/news/local/coronavirus-cases-in-arizona-mapped-by-county-july-27/article_e243e6c0-0de0-11ed-b85a-634c2d3fe39a.html |
Medical Examiner says Kayaker who died Saturday in Lincoln Woods drowned
Paul Edward Parker
The Providence Journal
LINCOLN — The kayaker who died Saturday in Lincoln Woods State Park drowned, the state medical examiner ruled, a spokesman for the state Health Department said Wednesday.
Jason Robinson, 40, of Cranston, was fishing in a kayak when it overturned at about 3 p.m. He went under and did not resurface. He was found without a life jacket, according to a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Management, which is still investigating what happened.
More:Kayaker who drowned at Lincoln Woods State Park identified as Cranston man, 40
Robinson's body was recovered about two hours after a search by divers from several surrounding communities. | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/07/27/jason-robinson-kayaker-who-died-lincoln-woods-drowned-medical-examiner/10165626002/ | 2022-07-27T20:20:27 | 0 | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/07/27/jason-robinson-kayaker-who-died-lincoln-woods-drowned-medical-examiner/10165626002/ |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A new plan to reroute how water moves from wetter Northern California to drier Southern California would ferry it through a single, 45-mile (72-kilometer) underground tunnel, wrapping around the state’s existing water delivery system and dumping the water straight into the main aqueduct that sends it south to vast swaths of farmland and millions of people.
The scaled back proposal released Wednesday would build one tunnel to take water from the Sacramento River, the state's largest, to the California Aqueduct for delivery to millions of people and farmland further south.
It's a change from the two-tunnel plan championed by former Gov. Jerry Brown and the latest iteration of a project that has been talked about and planned in some form since the 1980s, but never been under construction.
State water officials say the project is badly needed to modernize the state's water infrastructure in the face of climate change, which scientists say is likely to cause both prolonged droughts and major deluges of rain and snow.
Though California is in the third year of a punishing drought, it also saw record rain falls last October and another major dump of rain and snow in December, some of which the state was unable to capture and store for later use.
“Our water infrastructure was not built for that," said Wade Crowfoot, secretary of California's Natural Resources Agency.
The Department of Water Resources plan analyzes the effects of the project on the environment, residents, fish and farmland. Critics say it will harm communities in the fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which rely on water that could instead be diverted to the tunnel.
Officials did not release a price tag for the latest iteration of the project. A prior estimate for a different route put it at about $16 billion, which would ultimately be paid by water agencies that contract with the state to use it, said Carrie Buckman, environmental program manager for the project. If it moves ahead, construction likely wouldn’t break ground until at least 2028 and would take more than a decade.
That preferred route would build two new intake stations that pull water from the Sacramento River just south of the capital city near the small communities of Hood and Courtland.
It would then carry that water underground south alongside Interstate 5 before breaking off toward Bethany Reservoir at the top of the California Aqueduct, the state's main channel for moving water south, built in the 1960s.
California conveys water through a system known as the State Water Project, which supplies about 27 million people and 750,000 acres (303,400 hectares) of farmland with fresh water. That water comes from the Delta, a vital estuary where the two rivers mingle with tidal flows from the Pacific Ocean.
In the southern end of the Delta, two major state and federally run pumping plants suck up the water and send it south. The proposed tunnel project would instead take the water from the Sacramento River before it reaches the Delta and route it around the system, delivering it below the pumps and into the aqueduct.
The Delta region is home to millions of people, more than 400,000 acres (161,870 hectares) of farmland and critical species like salmon and the Delta smelt. It relies on adequate flows from the two rivers to stay in balance, and advocates in the region worry the tunnel will divert that fresh water before it reaches them.
The state already lacks enough water to keep the Delta flourishing and fulfill its existing contracts to deliver water.
“We believe, once we get into the details, that the proposed project will take out more water," said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta.
State officials downplay those doubts, saying the tunnel would only be used at times of year when there is a lot of water pouring through the river, like after a major rainstorm. Had the tunnel existed during a major rain storm last December, the state would have been able to pump 236,000 acre feet of water south, enough to supply about 2.5 million households for a year, Crowfoot said.
Water officials say the chosen path would have the least negative consequences of the various options. Still, the 10-year construction could affect local air quality and would increase greenhouse gas emissions.
Construction would require removing 71 buildings, including 15 homes, as well as overtaking 2,340 acres of farmland and running through cultural resources and sites significant to tribal communities, the report said.
As for fish, the project could hurt both the Delta smelt and the endangered winter-run Chinook salmon, though the state said it has plans to mitigate those impacts. The project could harm water quality by increasing the amount of bromide and chloride as well as the salt content.
Crowfoot, the natural resources secretary, acknowledged managing the Delta is challenging but said the newly approach strikes a better balance than previous attempts.
“It is a conundrum to be able to manage the Delta in a way that protects the environment, respects the communities that live there and provide for the water supplies for a large portion of the state," he said.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is the state's largest water contractor, using water from the Delta to help supply 19 million people. The district is working to expand its water supply with non-Delta sources, but the project is critical to provide flexibility and ensure the state is capturing all of the water that it can, said Adel Hagekhalil, the district’s general manager.
Watch more from ABC10: New drug could offer hope for people who can't get a COVID-19 vaccine | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/california-water-tunnel-plan/103-5042a60a-45ea-495e-bbab-534ab13a9aa3 | 2022-07-27T20:26:35 | 0 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/california-water-tunnel-plan/103-5042a60a-45ea-495e-bbab-534ab13a9aa3 |
DENTON, Texas — Pilar Rivera, 20, is getting everything in order for her big move to Denton in August.
She’s about to join the Mean Green family as a first-year student in the ELEVAR program.
“I’m like so excited to come!” the Austin native told WFAA.
We told you about this brand-new program back in May. This postsecondary education program for students with intellectual disabilities just wrapped up its first school year last spring. Now, UNT ELEVAR is getting ready to welcome its second round of first-year students in August, including Rivera.
“It is my dream to come. Like, I got accepted!” Rivera said.
And Rivera is bringing some serious hardware to her dorm in Denton after competing in the Special Olympics USA Games in June.
She won silver in the all-around and uneven bars and gold in vault and balance beam.
“From Austin, Texas, Pilar Rivera got first place in balance beam. It’s like, ahhh!!! Got excited!” Rivera said.
ESPN even featured her on their Instagram page!
For Rivera, the medals are just the cherry on top of an experience that pushed her to grow as an athlete -- and as a person.
“I’m going to challenge myself. Hard and hard, I have worked on gymnastics,” Rivera said. “If you still lose, you’re always going to be proud of yourself no matter what.”
She’s no doubt proud of all the medals. But she’s even prouder to be bringing that winning mentality to campus this fall. And she’s grateful to have a strong support system behind her.
“I’m trying not to cry,” Rivera said. “It’s because, like, I was not expecting mom and dad to get me here this far to college.” | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/incoming-unt-elevar-student-excited-move-denton-winning-gold-special-olympics/287-b14bf96c-5132-48be-8dc0-4e5b28087716 | 2022-07-27T20:36:04 | 1 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/incoming-unt-elevar-student-excited-move-denton-winning-gold-special-olympics/287-b14bf96c-5132-48be-8dc0-4e5b28087716 |
TEXAS, USA — A federal judge has asked Texas to cooperate with a new investigation into child abuse allegations at youth treatment facilities around the country, including 11 that are housing Texas children out of state.
Two U.S. senators launched an investigation last week into the largest organizations operating youth residential treatment facilities around the country — Vivant Behavioral Healthcare, Universal Health Services, Acadia Healthcare and Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health. The facilities have until Aug. 5 to provide documentation about operations and reports of maltreatment and abuse in the past five years.
U.S. District Judge Janis Jack, who is overseeing the 11-year-old lawsuit against Texas’ troubled foster care system, ordered the state to develop a plan within 60 days to remove the children residing at facilities run by the organizations under investigation.
Texas can send some of the foster care children under its care to out-of-state facilities, including treatment centers that offer mental health services and support for children with disabilities. The organizations under investigation have facilities in Texas, but none of their residential treatment centers are housing foster care children in the state.
Jack criticized the state for allowing children to be placed in out-of-state facilities run by organizations facing abuse allegations. At least 48 Texas children in the long-term care of the state are housed at facilities run by the groups under the senators’ investigation, but that number could be an undercount, Jack said.
Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health is facing a class-action lawsuit over abuse allegations between 2003 and 2019, according to a National Disability Rights Network report. A New Mexico facility run by Acadia Healthcare shut down in 2019 due to allegations of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and another Acadia facility in Montana shut down after reports surfaced of antihistamines being used there to restrain children.
Vivant Behavioral Healthcare opened in 2021 and continued the operations of Sequel, a group that shut down after facing reports that children were improperly secluded and physically restrained. Sequel’s co-founder Jay Ripley is Vivant’s CEO.
And Texas hospitals overseen by Universal Health Services have faced a litany of safety violations. Mayhill Hospital in Denton threatened to hold a teen in solitary confinement in 2017, and Millwood Hospital in Arlington detained an 11-year-old boy without consent, WFAA-TV reported.
Jack has previously criticized the state for failing to shut down unsafe child care placement facilities or stop the sexual abuse of children who are in the state’s care.
Jack also raised concerns Tuesday over inconsistencies in how the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is legally classifying children in its care.
Children who have been in the foster care system for more than a year are required to be classified as being under permanent care of the state. But court-appointed monitors report that as of June 6, nearly 3,500 children are in temporary care status, even though they have been in the care of the state for 13 months or more. Court-appointed watchdogs found that at least 497 children had the incorrect legal status, Jack said.
The decadelong lawsuit to reform the state’s foster care system only protects children in permanent care of the state, which means that accurate record-keeping of foster care children’s legal status is critical in determining whether the state is in compliance with court orders, Paul Yetter, the attorney representing the children, said Tuesday.
A child’s legal status also dictates their rights: Only children in permanent care of the state, for example, are eligible for adoption.
Jack ordered the state to provide the correct legal status of each child in foster care within 30 days, which court-appointed watchdogs will then verify. | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-remove-kids-from-out-of-state-facilities-facing-child-abuse-investigation/285-0c9b8de8-1eca-4a74-afa2-fb8c12fff905 | 2022-07-27T20:36:10 | 1 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-remove-kids-from-out-of-state-facilities-facing-child-abuse-investigation/285-0c9b8de8-1eca-4a74-afa2-fb8c12fff905 |
Evidence photo of marijuana products seized during the investigation into the November 2020 robbery at a Shamrock Drive apartment in Waterloo.
Contributed photo
WATERLOO — A Mason City man has been sentenced to prison for a 2020 drug robbery in Waterloo and for selling meth and heroin with his father, according to federal prosecutors.
Antione Deandre Maxwell, 34, was sentenced to 30 years in prison Monday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. Following prison, he will be on supervised release for 10 years.
Authorities said Maxwell and two others took part in a November 2020 robbery of a marijuana dealer at a Shamrock Drive apartment. During the heist, Maxwell held a gun to a victim’s head and threatened to kill him. They fled with marijuana products and more than $1,000 in cash, according to court records.
Waterloo police detained the robbers during their attempted getaway. Maxwell and Chavee Harden were convicted of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery. Harden was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.
Evidence photo of a Springfield XD pistol seized during the investigation into the November 2020 robbery at a Shamrock Drive apartment in Waterloo.
Douglas Hines
About a month before the robbery, Maxwell and his father, Charleton Everett Maxwell, were indicted for selling drugs in the Mason City area between 2018 and 2020. Investigators used controlled drug transactions with the two and others and then searched a home in July 2020 where they found more than three pounds of pure meth, 80 grams of heroin and four firearms, court records state.
Charleton Maxwell was sentenced to more than 17 years in February.
Sen. Grassley holds roundtable on challenges with local law enforcement leaders
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U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, center, talks with local law enforcement leaders during a roundtable to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks during a roundtable to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks speaks during a roundtable hosted by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, talks with members of the media after hosting a roundtable discussing challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, center, talks with local law enforcement leaders during a roundtable to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, talks with local law enforcement leaders during a roundtable to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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Iowa State Patrol Lt. Brian Votroubek, left, and Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner participate in a roundtable hosted by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, center, poses for a photo with, from left, Scott County Sheriff Tim Lane, Davenport Police Chief Paul Sikorski, Grassley, Iowa State Patrol Lt. Brian Votroubek and Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner after a roundtable discussing challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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Iowa State Patrol Lt. Brian Votroubek during a roundtable hosted by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, center, talks with local law enforcement leaders during a roundtable to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, left, talks with local law enforcement leaders during a roundtable to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday in Davenport.
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U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, talks with Scott County Sheriff Tim Lane after hosting a roundtable discussing challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, talks with local law enforcement leaders during a roundtable to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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Davenport Police Chief Paul Sikorski, right, speaks during a roundtable hosted by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks with local law enforcement leaders during a roundtable to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
NIKOS FRAZIER
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Davenport Police Chief Paul Sikorski talks with U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, during a roundtable to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday in Davenport.
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Scott County Sheriff Tim Lane speaks during a roundtable hosted by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
NIKOS FRAZIER
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Davenport Police Chief Paul Sikorski speaks during a roundtable hosted by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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Davenport Police Chief Paul Sikorski poses for a photo with U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, right, talks with local law enforcement leaders during a roundtable to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday in Davenport.
NIKOS FRAZIER
060122-qc-nws-grassley-16.jpg
Davenport Police Chief Paul Sikorski, center, talks with U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, right, during a roundtable to discuss challenges with local law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Davenport.
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Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. | https://globegazette.com/news/local/mason-city-man-sentenced-in-waterloo-drug-robbery-heroin-sales/article_3d2862eb-be76-5d00-98cf-37f2d76ad870.html | 2022-07-27T20:38:42 | 1 | https://globegazette.com/news/local/mason-city-man-sentenced-in-waterloo-drug-robbery-heroin-sales/article_3d2862eb-be76-5d00-98cf-37f2d76ad870.html |
RAGBRAI campers pulled into Mason City with the sunrise Wednesday morning, setting up camp before volunteers arrived to set up information booths.
At the North Iowa Events Center campsite, RVs were seen choosing their real estate for the day as early as 6:15 a.m., almost two hours before event volunteers arrived. Volunteers were in good spirits, enjoying the cool morning underneath the Rockwell Lions Club tent as the campground steadily filled throughout the morning.
"It is so cool" one volunteer said.
"We have riders staying at our home" another volunteer said, so she won't be joining the festivities in the evening. But other volunteers joked about taking a nap, heading downtown and enjoying the celebration.
Volunteers take shifts throughout the day, moving to different stations as the day wears on. The first group at the events center was made up of retirees, enjoying the opportunity to come together and spend a day in the community. A few of the volunteers worked RAGBRAI when it came through Mason City in 2014. Others shared the excitement of their first RAGBRAI.
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City workers were moving through East Park campsite throughout the morning. By 10a.m. charter vehicles were coming into campgrounds to set up campsites for clubs and RAGBRAI charters. Volunteers like Stacy Lancaster found themselves offering help on the spot.
"I just like getting out and being part of the community." Lancaster signed up to volunteer in the evening for the beer garden barricade, but during a morning walk she stopped to help with the East Park barricade. She had been meeting people from across the United States all morning, from Alaska to Oregon.
Perry Buffington, RAGBRAI Sanitation Committee chair, was overseeing city workers and campers as they trickled into the campground.
"It's going well," Buffington said of the day so far. "I've got all the help I need here, and it's a beautiful day. We've already seen some riders that didn't ride the full 100 come into town."
Around 11:30 a.m. century riders -- who biked the full 100-mile Wednesday ride -- began arriving in Mason City.
The Mason City High School campground was filling quickly by noon, with buses full of bikes, riders, tents and luggage unpacking across the grounds. Central Iowa Charters set up more than 100 tents on the west side of the school. Heidi Venem, who has worked at Mason City schools for five years, volunteered for her first RAGBRAI.
"It's fun," she said. "Everybody is happy and content," Venem said of campers as arrived. As campers grabbed what little shade was left at the campgrounds, riders began arriving in waves.
Rae Burnette is a GA and Crime & Courts Reporter at the Globe Gazette. You can reach her by phone at 641.421.0523 or at Rae.Burnette@GlobeGazette.com | https://globegazette.com/news/local/ragbrai-campgrounds-welcome-early-visitors-in-mason-city/article_f66d3ec0-6ec3-5f3d-81d9-9ef7c11a70ae.html | 2022-07-27T20:38:48 | 0 | https://globegazette.com/news/local/ragbrai-campgrounds-welcome-early-visitors-in-mason-city/article_f66d3ec0-6ec3-5f3d-81d9-9ef7c11a70ae.html |
ODESSA, Texas — The Texas Department of Public Safety is searching for two suspects in Odessa after a car chase.
According to DPS, the vehicle the suspects were in crashed in an alleyway near 87th Street and Duke Avenue. The suspects then ran from the scene.
DPS said there is no known threat to the public at this time.
The suspects' vehicle has been towed from the scene and troopers have cleared the area.
This is all the information we have on the incident. We will update this story as more information is released. | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/dps-searching-for-suspects-in-odessa-following-car-chase/513-71cc00e0-fb0a-4b7e-9ac3-bdd043d82120 | 2022-07-27T20:39:54 | 1 | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/dps-searching-for-suspects-in-odessa-following-car-chase/513-71cc00e0-fb0a-4b7e-9ac3-bdd043d82120 |
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — A clinic in New Port Richey has been ordered by a federal court to shut down its business after being accused of prescribing opioids to patients illegally.
The U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release that Dr. Tobias Bacaner wrote prescriptions for opioids without accurate medical reasoning and also prescribed them outside of Paragon Community Healthcare.
A complaint filed in February 2021 states that the clinic's owners, Theodore Ferguson II and Timothy Ferguson, ran the operations at the clinic and made money from illegally prescribing opioids while ignoring signs of drug diversion and abuse. The complaint also says Bacaner and the Fergusons used Cobalt Pharmacy, their jointly owned pharmacy, as a way to fill prescriptions at the clinic without any serious examination of the opioids.
“Physicians who prescribe opioids without a legitimate medical purpose and outside of the usual course of professional practice and others who facilitate that conduct will be held accountable,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division Brian M. Boynton stated in the news release. “The department will continue to aggressively use all available enforcement remedies to prevent the unlawful diversion of potentially dangerous prescription drugs.”
The owners and physicians will now reportedly face a $600,000 fine in civil penalties with Bacaner having to pay $500,000 that will prevent him from prescribing, dispensing, distributing or administering controlled substances in the future. The Fergusons will have to $100,000 of the fine, the news release said.
“Dr. Bacaner and his associates profited from unlawfully prescribing opioids without a legitimate medical purpose,” U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Roger B. Handberg said in a statement. “We will continue to protect the community from those who place a higher value on profit than the safety of the public.”
The federal court says they will also place restrictions on the Fergusons from owning or working at health centers that distribute or dispense controlled substances in the future. The Fergusons have also reportedly agreed to permanently shut down Cobalt Pharmacy.
“Our communities place trust in their medical professionals to help them. The actions of Dr. Bacaner and owners of this clinic violated this trust,” DEA Miami Field Division Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter said in a statement. “This settlement highlights DEA’s commitment to hold medical providers accountable for violating laws designed to protect the health and safety of our communities. The closure of these businesses and the prohibition to continue to exploit those in need, ensures the wellbeing of patients everywhere.”
The DEA's Tactical Diversion Squad in the Tampa District Office conducted the investigation for this case, the news release mentioned. | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/hillsboroughcounty/new-port-richey-clinic-illegally-prescribing-opioids-federal-court/67-0f95fe48-9509-4d7c-bd8b-e878b38e7a8c | 2022-07-27T20:40:30 | 1 | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/hillsboroughcounty/new-port-richey-clinic-illegally-prescribing-opioids-federal-court/67-0f95fe48-9509-4d7c-bd8b-e878b38e7a8c |
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