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LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Lightning strikes across Lee County this week have been getting too close for comfort.
Luana Miller lives in Cape Coral. She said she’s taking care of her brother’s home while he is in Chicago. It’s next door to hers.
Lightning struck three of the palm trees in the backyard. Leaving damage all over the backyard.
If the lightning bolt had hit just a yard closer, it could have destroyed the home.
And the timing couldn’t be worse.
Miller said this is the second lightning strike to hit the property in 2 weeks.
“They just cancelled his insurance and yesterday they did the 4.0 and he needs a new roof and we have been here 13 years ,” said Miller.
In North Fort Myers, Bayshore Fire said lightning struck 2 trees.
The family who live on the property said they didn’t even know there was a fire until firefighters came knocking on their door.
Laurie Seitz and her daughter had to gather the animals that were on the field when they saw the flames.
“We had the horses, we had the cows, there were goats out. There were chickens and the ducks, everything was out except for the pigs,” said Seitz daughter,” said Lauren Carnduff.
Luckily, they were able to get their animals in the stables quickly.
Fire officials were able to contain the fire before it spread to the property. | https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2022/08/04/residents-concerned-after-lightning-strikes-spark-fires-in-lee-county/ | 2022-08-05T04:28:32 | 1 | https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2022/08/04/residents-concerned-after-lightning-strikes-spark-fires-in-lee-county/ |
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — On Thursday, 89 Wichita area students graduated from the YMCA’s Job Prep program.
This program has one simple goal, to get 15-17-year-old students ready to take on jobs. From applying and interviews to working and managing money.
“What’s so amazing is that Job Prep is now in its 13th year, and we are continuing to reach more and more teens who are discovering everything that they can contribute to the community,” said Tyrone Baker, who heads the initiative as the Y’s Community Development Branch Senior Program Director. “Watching youth recognize their potential before your very eyes, realizing there is more to their future than entry-level jobs, is a wonderful thing to witness.”
Job Prep graduate Alexandria Stubblefield says she proved to herself she has what it takes to hold a job.
“I showed myself that I could do this. If I wanted to, I could go into retail, I kind of want to start with my interests as a career first, but I think I really showed myself what I could do and where I could go in life,” Stubblefield said.
She says she would recommend the program to any students looking for experience and who want to meet new people.
For more information on the Job Prep program, visit the YMCA’s website. | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/89-wichita-area-students-graduate-from-ymcas-job-prep-program/ | 2022-08-05T04:30:02 | 1 | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/89-wichita-area-students-graduate-from-ymcas-job-prep-program/ |
ORLANDO, Fla. – A man who was working Sunday morning near where the downtown Orlando shooting took place spoke with News 6 about his experience and thoughts regarding the city’s response.
Avery Batistine, a worker at Pipe & Pouch Smoke Shop, said he was working when gunfire erupted on Orange Avenue. He told News 6 that a crowd of people ran inside the shop, looking for cover.
“We are used to this situation at this point now,” Batistine said. “It was just kind of random, actually. The shop itself was already busy, and then, all of a sudden, people were just running. People ran into the store, ran into the back.”
Monday, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer announced an increase in security checkpoints for downtown Orlando on Friday and Saturday nights.
A spokeswoman for the city of Orlando said police, K-9 units and hired private security guards will be stationed at six checkpoint locations in a four-block stretch along Orange Avenue.
City officials said the locations have been used in the past on holidays such as St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco De Mayo to limit how people can enter the downtown area and help curb violence.
Batistine said the increased law enforcement presence will help make people in the area feel more comfortable.
“I feel like that would actually help lock down — you know, try to keep not people away but safe, at least,” he said.
City leaders said anyone with a concealed carry permit cannot be stopped from carrying a firearm into the secured area.
Orlando police said they are still looking for the suspected shooter and are asking the public for tips about Sunday’s shooting. No arrests have yet been made. | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/08/05/we-are-used-to-this-worker-describes-orlando-shooting-ahead-of-security-changes/ | 2022-08-05T04:31:23 | 1 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/08/05/we-are-used-to-this-worker-describes-orlando-shooting-ahead-of-security-changes/ |
GREENSBORO — The results of July’s at-large City Council race remain intact after the Guilford County Board of Elections dismissed an election protest on Thursday.
Sal Leone, who raised the protest, said he is going to let the board’s decision stand and not appeal.
“I’m going to let the people speak,” said Leone, who ran for City Council in 2017. “That’s why we have a board.”
The elections board voted 3-1 for chairman Jim Kimel’s motion to dismiss the protest. According to the board’s lawyer, Matt Mason, the basis for the dismissal was “a failure to allege a violation of election law or irregularity or misconduct sufficient to cast doubt on the results of the election.”
Republican Kathryn Lindley joined Kimel and his fellow Democrat Carolyn Bunker in voting to dismiss. Republican Eugene Lester voted against the dismissal.
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Leone’s protest centered on City Councilman Hugh Holston’s campaign. City Council voted in September 2021 to appoint Holston to the at-large seat after Councilwoman Michelle Kennedy resigned.
Leone contended that by calling on voters to “reelect” him, Holston’s website and campaign signs were misleading and that they “manipulated” voters because Holston had been appointed rather elected in a previous election. Leone said he spoke with some voters who mistakenly assumed that Holston had been elected in 2017.
After Tuesday’s election, Holston had 15.7% of the vote behind longtime incumbents Yvonne Johnson and Marikay Abuzuaiter, securing him one of the three at-large seats. As Leone pointed out, 554 votes separated Holston from the closest runner-up, Katie Rossabi.
“I did it because I saw how hard people worked,” said Leone, referencing the three candidates who didn’t win in explaining why he lodged the protest. “They were fighting an uphill battle.”
Given that other City Council candidates who were running for reelection won, Leone suggested that voters who may have thought Holston had been previously elected could have made a difference.
Leone called for the July 26 results to be voided and suggested that the race be placed on the November general election ballot.
Kimel, however, said that the legal counsel for the State Board of Elections advised that state law doesn’t set any parameters or restrictions on the use of the word “reelected.” And he pointed to the complexity of the at-large council race in which voters could choose up to three candidates from among six.
That makes trying to figure out whether any particular factor was enough to sway the election even more challenging.
Holston is the first African-American man to be elected to an at-large seat since the council switched from all at-large to a combination of at-large and districted seats, according to Byron Gladden, the president of the Guilford County Democratic Party’s African-American caucus.
“He has made history and I think that needs to be acknowledged,” Gladden said.
Speaking after the meeting, Holston said he used the word “reelect” because he considered it accurate to the situation. | https://greensboro.com/news/local/protest-over-greensboro-councilmans-use-of-reelect-dismissed-by-elections-board/article_e12c3242-142a-11ed-935c-f7aecfccd5e0.html | 2022-08-05T04:34:28 | 0 | https://greensboro.com/news/local/protest-over-greensboro-councilmans-use-of-reelect-dismissed-by-elections-board/article_e12c3242-142a-11ed-935c-f7aecfccd5e0.html |
THE DALLES, Ore. — Alert around the clock, fire crews spent the last 48 hours fighting Oregon's largest wildfire so far this year — the Miller Road Fire near the town of Maupin in Wasco County.
In a Level 3 evacuation zone about three miles from where the fire actually began, fire crews were working Thursday to track down hot spots. While there wasn't much in the way of visible fire, officials said that the fire is still considered completely uncontained, since high winds could whip it back to life at any moment.
"This fire is far from being completely extinguished," said Larry Wooldridge with the Oregon State Fire Marshal's office.
On the fire line Thursday, crews worked to put out hot spots after a threatening scene of flames and smoke made its way across more than 10,000 acres of Wasco County earlier in the week.
"We had a couple of areas yesterday that took a run on us," Wooldridge said.
At Lee Liverman's house near Maupin, it's been an all-out fight to keep the flames away.
"I watched the actual fire and wind swoop right up over my head," said Liverman. "It was overwhelming, it was definitely overwhelming."
"We had to cut through our gate to let the fire department through to the other side so they could fight the fire over there and stop it from coming here," said Elizabeth Richley, who shares the home with Liverman.
Liverman and Richley said they won't leave their home, despite the evacuation orders in place for the area.
"My mom died in this house, so I really don't want to lose this property," said Richley.
"I said 'I'm sorry' I wanted to protect my animals — we decided that that was the best thing to do," said Liverman.
"They're my family," agreed Richley. "I have no kids, these are my children."
As of Thursday night the couple's home was still standing — but the threat isn't over.
"The fire can sit underneath some of the ground cover out here, and as the wind picks up and you get the right condition with a little bit of heat and that stuff will take off," said Wooldridge with OSFM.
While efforts to contain the Miller Road Fire were still going on Thursday, some of the fire crews were called to a second fire. This one rapidly started to spread within the city limits of The Dalles — billowing smoke across I-84 and threatening industrial buildings.
"It's a little too close for comfort," said Dominic Benson, an employee of Big Jim's in The Dalles.
The fire grew to cover about ten acres in the city, briefly causing evacuations before firefighters aggressively knocked it down.
"It's super close but there wasn't a lot of wind blowing in this direction so we didn't have to deal too much with smoke," said Benson.
For now both of these fires in Wasco County are under control — but for many, the fear of the past few days lingers on.
"This is one of the scariest things I've ever been through and I wouldn't wish it on anybody," said Richley.
The causes of both fires are still under investigation. For those living in the area, fire officials encourage people to keep an eye on evacuation levels, which can change rapidly. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/wildfire/wildfire-wasco-county-maupin-the-dalles-miller-road/283-127a69cb-45a9-4d7c-8b1d-4793d5db0832 | 2022-08-05T04:37:56 | 1 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/wildfire/wildfire-wasco-county-maupin-the-dalles-miller-road/283-127a69cb-45a9-4d7c-8b1d-4793d5db0832 |
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Thanks to a local business owner’s generous donation, five high school marching bands in Jefferson County are starting the new school year with brand new instruments.
Mike Cohen owns Mike’s Fine Jewelry and Pawn Shop. He teamed up with Bethel Baptist Church for the donation, and band members received their instruments Thursday. This act of kindness will help several of the local high school marching bands as they get ready for the upcoming season.
60 brand new instruments were donated. A.H. Parker High School band director Marvin Griffin said he’s overwhelmed by the generous gift.
“When I came here and saw the stuff was still in boxes, brand new, I was more than appreciative. I almost broke into tears again. It’s a blessing,” Griffin said.
Cohen is retiring soon. He said he wanted to thank the community who supported him and his business for the last 57 years.
“Appreciate the people that have given to me these 57 years in Birmingham, in downtown. It’s made me what I am right now,” Cohen said.
Griffin says the donation will be a blessing for his band for years to come.
“We’ll buy an instrument and keep the instrument for maybe 15 years so when new equipment comes we got to take it graciously,” Griffin said.
Griffin said band members will use the new instruments during the upcoming football season. Their first game is set for Aug. 19 against Fairfield High School. | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/business-owner-donates-brand-new-instruments-to-local-high-school-marching-bands/ | 2022-08-05T04:44:31 | 1 | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/business-owner-donates-brand-new-instruments-to-local-high-school-marching-bands/ |
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WIAT) — Eight different police agencies and 15 canine teams trained at the University of Alabama for three days this week on how to locate explosive devices.
UAPD Sergeant John Turner says this training is invaluable and helps prepare handlers and their K-9 partners for real-world experiences.
“We do a very good job of being proactive and lots of people around here see how proactive we are. Our dogs here at the University are sometimes used by other agencies,” Turner said. “We have assisted them with shell casing and firearm searches [and] have been successful in doing so.”
During the demonstration on Thursday, realistic threat devices were strategically placed throughout Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The canine teams were tasked with finding the threats.
Turner says the drills and practices help UAPD officers and their dogs prepare for the Alabama football season, as it’s their job to make sure Bryant Denny stadium and other sporting venues on campus are safe.
“Gameday is an extremely long day for us with a lot of K-9 searches there are multiple perimeters to establish,” Turner said. “We have lots of security measures in place to make a safe environment for our fans so they can enjoy their experience better.”
Police department agencies from Huntsville, Birmingham, UA, Demopolis, Pelham and Tuscaloosa participated in the training sessions this week alongside the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and the University of Mississippi Canine Team. | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/explosives-detection-dog-training-in-tuscaloosa/ | 2022-08-05T04:44:37 | 0 | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/explosives-detection-dog-training-in-tuscaloosa/ |
SAN ANTONIO — A local school district is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
South San Antonio ISD held its annual back-to-school birthday bash before the beginning of this school year. All students were given free school supplies, backpacks and even haircuts. Metro Health was also on standby to administer free back to school immunizations along with COVID vaccines.
Watch the below video for more.
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KENS 5 has brought numerous firsts to South Texas television, including being the first local station with a helicopter, the first with its own Doppler radar and the first to air a local morning news program.
Over the years, KENS 5 has worked to transform local news. Our cameras have been the lens bringing history into local viewers' homes. We're proud of our legacy as we serve San Antonians today.
Today, KENS 5 continues to set the standard in local broadcasting and is recognized by its peers for excellence and innovation. The KENS 5 News team focuses on stories that really matter to our community.
You can find KENS 5 in more places than ever before, including KENS5.com, the KENS 5 app, the KENS 5 YouTube channel, KENS 5's Roku and Fire TV apps, and across social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more!
Want to get in touch with someone at KENS 5? You can send a message using our Contacts page or email one of our team members. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/san-antonio-school-district-100-year-celebrations-students/273-9f98bf86-dfec-435e-9296-16b2115635f0 | 2022-08-05T04:47:02 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/san-antonio-school-district-100-year-celebrations-students/273-9f98bf86-dfec-435e-9296-16b2115635f0 |
SAN ANTONIO — Migrants travelling through San Antonio in June died in a hot trailer despite paying smugglers extra money for 'VIP travel' protections, some relatives say.
Of the 53 victims, at least three paid guides to ensure security and comfort on the journey through Mexico. Still, they did not survive the deadliest human smuggling event in recorded American history.
Reuters first identified the three victims.
Pablo Ortega's family sold a small home to afford extra benefits for the 20-year-old. He needed a good job to support his girlfriend, pregnant with the couple's son.
Once he crossed the border, Pablo intended to reunite with his mother in Florida. He would get a job and send earnings back to Mexico.
"He felt the need to leave to be able to give the best to his son and wife," Pablo's sister, Rosa Ortega, told KENS 5 in Spanish via Facebook messenger.
The siblings communicated by text through nearly every leg of Pablo's journey. He sent videos to Rosa, illustrating the 'VIP travel' perks.
Pablo and other migrants slept on beds in private residences, stocked with pizza and beer. In the evenings, they played video games and watched television.
The trip cost Ortega's family $13,000.
"He paid that because they told him he was safe there and there were not many risks to cross," Rosa Ortega said. "It was something 100 percent safe for all."
More smugglers are offering special travel accommodations for a steep price, said Elmer Romero, an educator for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.
"They use buses and private cars. They stay in a hotel or residential houses - very nice, some of them," he added. "(They may also get) the opportunity to try again if they're arrested along the way."
Romero said the smugglers call the deal "Paquete de translado complete," or the complete transfer package. Traffickers have offered these perks for at least 20 years, though it's recently become more commonplace.
It's a sort of investment, Romero explains, since entire families' economic security may depend on a relative's safe arrival in the United States.
"Families are willing to sell everything to get loans and to pay for more safe travel for the person," Romero said. "They want to invest in this person for a better future."
Immigrants who work with Romero have mostly told him the smugglers honor their promises in Mexico, he said.
"But (the smugglers) lose control when they are at the border," he said.
Stateside smugglers mix migrants who paid for 'VIP travel' with migrants who did not. Expensive travel packages often end in 18-wheeler trailers, Romero said.
But some migrants don't realize they'll have to risk the big rig ride when they set out on the journey.
Pablo Ortega didn't initially expect to ride in a big rig, his sister said. He believed he would travel to his destination in a private vehicle.
Once Pablo crossed the Rio Grande, he told Rosa he was worried about the number of people arriving to the stateside safe house. Then, traffickers told them they would spend three hours in a trailer before private vehicles picked the migrants up, Rosa said.
"I told him to move forward in the trailer so he would not suffocate," she added.
Rosa buried Pablo in Mexico in July.
"I would like to see my brother alive again," she said. "All his plans and dreams that had to fulfil did not come true."
She said she's "more or less getting used to" the pain left in his absence.
Romero smirked that 'VIP' should actually stand for 'Vulnerable Immigrant Paying too much.'
"They don't guarantee anything," he said. "This 'VIP'... it's a lie." | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/semitruck-migrants-died-san-antonio-vip/273-be2ca70b-f1dd-44db-bc45-c9ac5596d2bb | 2022-08-05T04:47:08 | 0 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/semitruck-migrants-died-san-antonio-vip/273-be2ca70b-f1dd-44db-bc45-c9ac5596d2bb |
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Along Hamestring Creek, the complex has experienced frequent flooding in recent years.
“We’ve seen over the past really since about 2008. 2008, 2011, 2017, and now 22 so almost on a 5-year frequency,” said Chris Brown- Director of public works and city engineer
The flood in May left people homeless. one resident says he woke up to use the bathroom and realized he was walking in ankle-deep water.
“So I look out the window…that whole yard ain’t nothing but a lake and just like rushing in,” Joie Thomas-Millwood recalled.
On Aug. 2, the Fayetteville city council heard from a city engineer about potential flood mitigation measures for residences near the creek.
“There is an opportunity to purchase that property and take the buildings down to reduce that flooding hazard,” said Brown.
Director of public works Chris brown says the complex is in the FEMA floodway.
“The floodway is a smaller area within the floodplain that’s more highly regulated. You really don’t want to have any structures within the floodway….so these structures were in place before the FEMA program began,” said Brown.
The property’s sale price is $1.39 million dollars. the city plans to buy the land, demolish the apartments, and see what’s best for the area.
“Some of it could actually be in the channel or a part of the creek and there may be some residual property left and could be resold or could be turned into a park,” Brown explained.
Millwood agrees with the city’s plan and hopes it takes action because he doesn’t want anyone to experience what he went through.
“I got me a place, a roof over my head, I’m not homeless anymore, because I started having flashbacks….where am I going to go? And everything else,” Millwood said.
The city council will meet on August 16th, to finalize its decision on the property. As for Millwood, he’s living across the street at a friend’s house.
Brown also says if the city council does decide to purchase the property the closing process would happen as soon as possible. | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/fayetteville-looking-demolish-apartment-complex-prevent-flooding/527-3a558409-0063-421e-8b85-17af722ae4cf | 2022-08-05T04:52:44 | 0 | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/fayetteville-looking-demolish-apartment-complex-prevent-flooding/527-3a558409-0063-421e-8b85-17af722ae4cf |
BOISE, Idaho — Mari Beth Stein and her family love to mountain bike.
"I've been mountain biking for probably 20 years," said Stein. "I started mountain biking with my husband when I lived in Colorado and he was very into cycling."
One of her favorite things about living in Boise is having close access to the foothills so she can ride.
"We're blessed to be [living] right at the base of Polecat Gulch," Stein said.
She tries to ride her bike in the Boise foothills as often as she can. One day, the opportunity presented itself after she got off work around noon.
"We hop on the bike and we decided we're gonna do a little bit longer loop, like two and a half hours or so to Seaman's Gulch," Stein said.
Riding on the path before, Stein knew she needed to be fast as she was going downhill on the connector trail from Seaman's to Cartwright Ridge. As she and her husband were getting ready to head onto the connector, she approached a big rut caused by spring runoff.
"My back tire slid into [the rut] and it was pretty deep which made my front end [of my bike] get really squirrely," Stein said. "I put my foot down and it made noises and it just broke."
Stein immediately knew she broke her leg. She flagged down her husband, who was just up ahead, and called Ada County's 911 dispatch.
"We got this lovely dispatch lady. She was trying to locate us and so we get on the phone she said, 'Do you have an Apple iPhone?' I'm like, 'Yes.' So we're trying to find the coordinates on the Apple iPhone," Stein said.
Ada County Sheriff's Office 911 Technical Operations Manager Stephanie Johnson said when a call comes in, particularly in the foothills area, the location information is dependent on how close a caller is to a cellular tower.
"However, when you get farther away from the cell towers on a trail, it's less accurate," Johnson said. "We're really reliant a little bit more on callers to clarify their locations for us. We have callers that aren't able to provide more information other than 'I'm at the trailhead' or something to that effect."
While struggling to find and send dispatch her location, Stein said the 911 operator asked if she had the app, 'what3words.'
The app has divided the entire world into 57 trillion 10-foot squares. It gives each square a unique combination of three words known as a what3words address.
"In an emergency, using a what3words address gives 9-1-1 callers a simple way to describe precisely where help is needed, allowing Emergency Services call centers to dispatch resources directly to the scene," wrote what3words in a news release.
Ada County Sheriff's Office said people do not need the app to receive help from first responders. All dispatch operators have access to the app through a program on their computers. They are able to access those in need of assistance's location with a cell phone ping, enter their coordinates into the app and send the information to first responders.
"Obviously, we want to give our responders the best kind of information that we can so that we can get to our callers as quickly as possible to help mitigate their emergency," Johnson said. She added the app also can track the caller if they're actively moving and it automatically updates to dispatch with new words.
While Stein didn't have the app, she was able to ping her location to dispatch and they used the what3words themselves. Dispatch then gave first responders the 'what3words' address.
"This is a tool that we have found that we're able to use to get that better information more quickly, get it out to our responders and it's easy for our callers to understand," Stein said. She added Ada County has been using what3words for a few years.
Because of her location, Stein said the rescue was about two hours. She added without 'what3words' it would've probably been much longer. Stein, who is a nurse practitioner, knows the importance of time in emergency situations. She encourages others to download the free app to their phones.
"Every second matters," Stein said.
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist: | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/what3words-app-helping-ada-county-dispatchers-response-times-location-accuracy/277-4d929dc7-5426-4e83-9017-a934bac48fd5 | 2022-08-05T05:14:04 | 1 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/what3words-app-helping-ada-county-dispatchers-response-times-location-accuracy/277-4d929dc7-5426-4e83-9017-a934bac48fd5 |
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The latest news from around North Texas. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/how-a-north-texas-firefighter-escaped-a-close-call-with-fast-moving-flames/3041031/ | 2022-08-05T05:16:52 | 1 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/how-a-north-texas-firefighter-escaped-a-close-call-with-fast-moving-flames/3041031/ |
GREENSBORO — People in the unincorporated areas of Guilford County and Pleasant Garden will soon see an increase in their trash bill.
After a public hearing in which no one spoke against the increase, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners approved allowing three contractors to raise their rates to a maximum of $25.50 per month with no consumer price index increase allowed. The figure was less than what two of the three contractors had sought for weekly garbage collection and twice monthly recyclables pickup.
The vote was 8-0. Commissioner Carly Cooke was absent.
Republic Services covers about 85% of the unincorporated areas, while GFL Environmental and Randolph County Garbage Service cover 14% and 1%, respectively, in Guilford County.
Republic Services had sought an increase from $21.50 to $26.56 — a rise of 23.5%. GFL Environmental offered two possible increases from its current rate of $21.50: An increase of $26.05 — a 21.2% bump — along with an annual “urban consumer price index adjustment” beginning next July; or $27.35 without the consumer price index adjustment — a 27.2% increase.
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Randolph County Garbage Service sought a 16.2% increase from $18.50 to $21.50.
The companies cited increased costs for labor, diesel fuel, plastic carts, truck parts and waste disposal as reasons for the increase.
The license agreements would be good through July 2025, though they can be amended annually if needed.
Commissioner Mary Beth Murphy said she didn’t want to approve a rate with a consumer price index adjustment because “it is worth the dialogue and the discussion that comes from inviting people back each year if you so wish to seek an increase.
“I think it gives us an opportunity to continue to balance the needs of our citizens and what we’re hearing from our constituents with the services that you all are providing.”
In Thursday night’s motion, commissioners also limited the charge for backdoor pickup to current rates: $3 each for Republic and GFL Environmental, and $7 for Randolph County.
Norma Yanez of GFL Environmental said Thursday night that the companies have not had an increase since July 2019, noting that operating expenses have risen since then.
It was the same sentiment echoed by Shane Walker of Republic Services, who said that the county’s rate has not kept pace with the company’s actual costs.
“What’s unique about this is we’ve had two increases since 2008,” he said. “We’ve been kind of stuck in the mud for many, many years.” | https://greensboro.com/news/local/guilford-pleasant-garden-residents-will-soon-see-an-increase-in-their-trash-bill/article_5ddb0ade-143f-11ed-8e49-5705de63b893.html | 2022-08-05T05:25:28 | 0 | https://greensboro.com/news/local/guilford-pleasant-garden-residents-will-soon-see-an-increase-in-their-trash-bill/article_5ddb0ade-143f-11ed-8e49-5705de63b893.html |
New York's iconic bus terminal, often held up as a forlorn reminder of the seedier elements of the city's past, could be transformed into a state-of-the-art facility by 2031 under plans detailed Thursday.
It could cost as much as $10 billion to overhaul the 72-year-old Port Authority Bus Terminal, with plans for a new terminal on the site of the existing one. The design calls for an adjacent staging and storage area for buses when they aren't in use, and for this staging area to be used to continue transit operations while the old terminal is demolished in stages.
About 3.5 acres of public green space would eventually cover up an enclosed ramp system connecting the terminal to the Lincoln Tunnel.
About $3 billion for the bus terminal project will come from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's capital budget, said Richard Cotton, the authority’s executive director. The authority will seek federal dollars, and it also plans to sell the air rights to four proposed towers to help pay for the new terminal. Cotton added that the project will be built on Port Authority land and won't require the taking of private property.
Architectural designs for the project will be handled by a joint venture comprising the London-based firm Foster + Partners and Chicago-based A. Epstein and Sons International, the Port Authority announced.
The bus staging area would alleviate congestion and pollution from intercity buses idling as they wait to pick up passengers on the street, and accommodate buses that originate in New Jersey which currently park in on-street lots or drive back out through the congested Lincoln Tunnel before returning to Manhattan for the afternoon commute.
“This design will get intercity buses off our streets, create park space and greatly improve the street level experience for the neighborhood,” said Rep. Jerry Nadler, a fierce opponent of earlier plans that would have relocated the terminal a block west in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood.
A similar Manhattan megaproject, the multibillion-dollar redevelopment of the aging Penn Station rail hub, has drawn criticism from neighbors over its plans for new commercial and residential buildings around the station.
Over the years, the bus terminal has been held up as a symbol of New York's grittiness. A statue of Ralph Kramden, the wisecracking bus driver from the 1950s show “The Honeymooners,” stands outside its main entrance, and the area provided an apt backdrop for “Midnight Cowboy,” the 1969 film that delved into the underworld of hustlers and addicts.
It has also been the butt of jokes for its leaky ceilings, faulty air conditioners, dirty rest rooms and frequent delays. Cotton on Thursday called the terminal “outdated, undersized and completely ill-designed for the number of people who want to use it.”
Pre-pandemic, the terminal handled more than 250,000 passenger trips on weekdays, making it the busiest in the world, according to the Port Authority. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/plans-detail-10-billion-overhaul-for-nycs-port-authority-bus-terminal/3811664/ | 2022-08-05T05:35:43 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/plans-detail-10-billion-overhaul-for-nycs-port-authority-bus-terminal/3811664/ |
A woman was found face-down and dead in a pool in New Jersey neighborhood, according to police.
Woodland Park officers were called to the area of Rifle Camp Road, where they found the 69-year-old woman being held above water by a man at the scene. The responding officers pulled the woman from the water, but found no signs of life, said Captain Michael Brady of the Woodland Park Police Department.
The woman, who was not identified, was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The cause of her death was not immediately clear. An investigation is ongoing. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/woman-found-dead-face-down-in-new-jersey-pool-police/3811353/ | 2022-08-05T05:35:49 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/woman-found-dead-face-down-in-new-jersey-pool-police/3811353/ |
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Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/still-want-to-enjoy-summer-staying-safe-while-outside-in-blazing-temps/3326811/ | 2022-08-05T05:43:12 | 0 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/still-want-to-enjoy-summer-staying-safe-while-outside-in-blazing-temps/3326811/ |
Undocumented immigrant killed in collision while fleeing DPS, driver suspected of impairment
An undocumented immigrant was killed Wednesday evening in a traffic collision on Interstate 10 while fleeing a DPS trooper in Pinal County, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Bart Graves, a department spokesperson, said a trooper stopped a vehicle traveling westbound near milepost 211 at around 11:06 p.m. when six or seven people bailed from the vehicle and fled.
Graves said the people, whom DPS identified as undocumented immigrants, fled across I-10 and over the median into the eastbound lanes when a tractor trailer struck two of them. One person was declared dead at the scene while another was taken to a Tucson hospital with no life-threatening injuries.
Graves said the tractor trailer's driver fled the scene before being found at an on-ramp at milepost 219 and is being investigated for impairment and potential drug use.
The troopers failed to locate the other undocumented immigrants as of Thursday evening. Graves added that U.S. Border Patrol was also participating in the investigation.
Reach the reporter Perry Vandell at 602-444-2474 or perry.vandell@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @PerryVandell.
Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-breaking/2022/08/04/undocumented-immigrant-killed-traffic-collision-while-fleeing-dps/10243604002/ | 2022-08-05T05:50:44 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-breaking/2022/08/04/undocumented-immigrant-killed-traffic-collision-while-fleeing-dps/10243604002/ |
Arizona lottery numbers, August 4
Associated Press
These Arizona lotteries were drawn Thursday:
Pick 3
1-0-6
Fantasy 5
04-14-26-39-40
Estimated jackpot: $102,000
Triple Twist
01-04-06-22-23-34
Estimated jackpot: $255,000
Mega Millions
Estimated jackpot: $36 million
Powerball
Estimated jackpot: $20 million | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2022/08/04/arizona-lottery-numbers-august-4/10244209002/ | 2022-08-05T05:50:50 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2022/08/04/arizona-lottery-numbers-august-4/10244209002/ |
AUSTIN, Texas — With multiple fires burning in Central Texas this week, we wanted to learn the most common causes in order to help prevent them from starting.
This year, we have seen more wildfires than in recent years, but the fires have luckily burned less acreage because they were caught earlier.
"Texas A&M Forest Service has responded to over 7,600 wildfires for almost 627,000 acres," said Kari Hines, project coordinator with Texas A&M Forest Service.
Hines said that 90% of the wildfires in Texas are human-caused.
"That does not mean that they're all malicious, but the majority of them are preventable," said Hines.
She said of the human-caused fires, more than 50% are caused by debris burning and equipment.
"Think lawn mowers, welding, driving a vehicle, pulling a trailer," said Hines of some of the possible uses of equipment that cause fires.
When it comes to the debris burning, most Texas counties are under burn bans, so that shouldn’t be happening anyhow.
"Depending on the county that you're in, they might also have further classifications of what isn't allowed," said Hines. "Sometimes they become much more strict with things like no outdoor welding and other classifications like that."
Statistics from the Texas A&M Forest Service show 80% of wildfires happen within two miles of a community. Hine said the idea that most wildfires are rural is false.
"Because we know that humans start the majority of our wildfires, that means most of them are closer to areas of human population," said Hines.
In order to protect both people and land, she said we all need to be taking precautions.
"Anything that produces heat or that can cause a spark can cause a wildfire," said Hines.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/90-of-wildfires-in-texas-are-caused-by-humans/269-1eced3e2-901a-4aba-98eb-e7f1c5247ecc | 2022-08-05T05:51:52 | 0 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/90-of-wildfires-in-texas-are-caused-by-humans/269-1eced3e2-901a-4aba-98eb-e7f1c5247ecc |
WASHINGTON — Four people have been taken to a nearby hospital following a lightning strike in Northwest D.C.
In a press conference Thursday night, officials explained that just after 6:50 p.m. officials received a call about the lightning strike in Lafayette Park involving multiple people.
U.S. Secret Service agents and U.S. Park Police officers were standing nearby when the lightning strike happened and was able to help the victims until first responders arrived.
According to a tweet from DC Fire and EMS, the four people were at the park outside the White House when the lightning strike happened. Witnesses tell WUSA9 that the four people were standing under a tree when the lightning strike hit.
The four people, two men and two women who have not been identified, were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. All four are currently in critical condition, according to officials.
There is no word on how old the victims may be or why they were in the park.
Officials advise the public to go indoors and seek shelter whenever there is lightning or thunder.
"If it roars, go indoors," a DC Fire/EMS official said during the press conference.
This is a developing story. More details will be added as they become available.
READ NEXT:
- Here's how long you should wait to go outside after a storm
- Lightning strike that caused Fairfax Co. house fire caught on video
- Did you hear that loud boom? It may have been lightning striking
- Mother rushes children into Edgewater pizza place to shelter from tornado
- Lightning strikes steeple of Waldorf church causing noticeable fire
WATCH NEXT: CRAZY lightning strike over Washington D.C.
WOW! Our cameras caught the lightning over D.C. Aug. 6, 2019, as big storms rolled through. Click here to watch and subscribe to the WUSA9 YouTube channel. | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/four-people-critical-condition-lighting-strike-dc/65-4132d822-9842-4ce0-8093-3a902ee9ac86 | 2022-08-05T05:51:58 | 0 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/four-people-critical-condition-lighting-strike-dc/65-4132d822-9842-4ce0-8093-3a902ee9ac86 |
LAGO VISTA, Texas — The City of Lago Vista could cut ties with Austin's Capital Metro.
The transportation authority has one bus route that takes passengers from Lago Vista to the Lakeline MetroRail station. CapMetro also offers its on-demand pick-up service in Lago Vista.
Right now, one cent of the sales tax in Lago Vista goes to CapMetro.
In a work session Thursday night, Lago Vista's city council talked about whether to let voters decide on withdrawing from the transportation authority and decided to place the issue on the November ballot.
"I just feel like the longer we wait, the more we kick the can down the road, the more it's going to cost the citizens of Lago Vista to potentially get out," Council member Chelaine Marion said.
City council members said during their meeting that they pay too much to CapMetro and don't get enough out of it.
Mayor Ed Tidwell said that although the council isn't satisfied with the current agreement with CapMetro, the decision of whether or not to cut ties with the transportation company is up to the voters.
"I just want to make sure the citizens out there understand this is still your choice. We're putting it on the ballot. Yes, you will see you'll hear council express our opinions, whether you know how we feel or whether we're going to put it on the ballot. But it's still up to y'all to decide," Tidwell said.
If voters decide to cut ties with CapMetro, the city would have to pay an exit fee of about $6 million.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/lago-vista-cut-ties-capmetro-november-ballot/269-93076a92-0831-4391-896f-b028d9673348 | 2022-08-05T05:52:04 | 1 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/lago-vista-cut-ties-capmetro-november-ballot/269-93076a92-0831-4391-896f-b028d9673348 |
BLOOMINGTON, Minn — Bloomington Police say an altercation at the Nike store in the Mall of America ended with someone shooting three times inside the store, which prompted a lockdown of the building Thursday afternoon.
Bloomington Police say no one was injured and the two suspects got away on foot.
Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges held a news conference shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday to update the investigation and answer questions from the media.
Chief Booker began the briefing by saying "I really wish we didn't have to be here today." He called the shooting a "complete lack of respect for human life."
Chief Booker said the shooting started after an altercation between two parties at a cash register in the Nike Store. One party (with two people) walked out of the store, but one of them in the group turned around and fired a pistol into the store "full of people."
Police say they are looking for the shooter and the other person. They did not provide a description of them.
If you have any information please call 952-563-4900.
The mall will remain closed for the remainder of the night, according to mall officials. Metro Transit service to he mall has also been halted for the rest of the night.
Mall officials say MOA will reopen Friday with increased security and police presence. Also, guest services will work with people who may have left any personal items at the mall during the chaos.
The lockdown, which lasted about two hours, was lifted at 5:45 p.m.
Ava Malloy, an employee at Air Traffic Toys in the Mall of America, spoke to KARE 11 over the phone during the lockdown. "I turned off the lights and everyone's huddled behind something," Ava said.
"We were working with customers and then all of a sudden there were people running in the store. There was probably about 25 to 30 people and we looked and thought they were kids just goofing around," Macy's employee Brenda Wachello said via phone while taking cover inside the store. "And then people were saying, 'There's a shooter."
KARE 11's Morgan Wolfe spoke to a woman who said she heard "two gunshots above the DSW." The woman was able to leave the mall, but said her daughter had to stay inside during the lockdown.
Wolfe spoke with employees at the Nike store in the mall and they say a fight started between two groups of men. One of the men took out a gun and started shooting. | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/mall-of-america-shooting-lockdown-lifted/89-a727b712-90e1-4c6b-bb7e-5d76a254e507 | 2022-08-05T05:52:10 | 1 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/mall-of-america-shooting-lockdown-lifted/89-a727b712-90e1-4c6b-bb7e-5d76a254e507 |
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The new Harbor Bridge has design flaws so significant that the Texas Department of Transportation said "the bridge would collapse under certain load conditions" should developer Flatiron Dragados LLC (FDLLC) finish the bridge without making design changes.
TxDOT on Thursday released the contents of a letter it sent to FDLLC on July 15, the same day it ordered construction crews to stop all work on the main span of the bridge. That's the portion over the water.
TxDOT said it has "concluded there is or will be an emergency or danger to persons or property related to the design deficiencies."
"We cannot and will not compromise on safety," TxDOT said in a prepared statement to the media on Thursday. "We can assure the public that we are prepared to take the steps necessary to complete this project in the safest and most efficient manner possible."
3NEWS has asked to speak to TxDOT about why so much of the bridge was built with design errors still in place, when it realized there was a problem, and whether it believes portions of the bridge that have already been built will have to come down.
Developer FDLLC has not commented at all since TxDOT halted construction nearly three weeks ago.
Lawmakers say these are serious concerns TxDOT has raised and it and FDLLC need to be very open about what got us here.
"The Harbor Bridge needs full transparency," Rep. Todd Hunter said Thursday. "We don't need to hide the information. Let's get it out now. Everybody has a right to know what's going on."
North Beach resident Britt Murray said that not seeing any positive outcome from the project is frustrating in the least.
They're running us ragged. My taxes have gone up every year for three years, almost four I think since this thing started," Murray said. "What have I got to show for it? A bunch of dirt, something that don't work, worse drainage than before. It's kind of like getting kicked in the groin and then having to pay for that, so I'm paying someone to do that."
TxDOT highlights 5 major areas of concern
In its letter to FDLCC, TxDOT said the firm International Bridge Technologies (IBT) confirmed in an independent review "significant design flaws that raise serious concerns about the safety of the New Harbor Bridge."
IBT had five primary areas of concern:
- Inadequate capacity of the pylon drilled shafts
- Deficiencies in footing caps that led IBT to report that the bridge would collapse under certain load conditions
- Delta frame design defects, primarily related to the connections between the delta frames and the adjacent precast box units
- Significant uplift at the intermediate piers
- Excessive torsion and other stresses related to crane placement during construction
Read the document in full below: | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/new-harbor-bridge-at-risk-of-collapse-under-current-design-txdot-says/503-5a483133-d207-4c46-b478-298e761b799e | 2022-08-05T05:52:16 | 0 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/new-harbor-bridge-at-risk-of-collapse-under-current-design-txdot-says/503-5a483133-d207-4c46-b478-298e761b799e |
AUSTIN, Texas — One person is dead after a single-vehicle crash on MoPac Expressway in North Austin on Thursday night.
Austin-Travis County EMS tweeted about the incident shortly after 8 p.m., saying they were at the scene of a vehicle rescue at 11700-11900 N. MoPac near Duval Road. They reported that a single vehicle had crashed into a guardrail.
Minutes later, ATCEMS said an adult patient had been pronounced dead at the scene.
Road closures are expected. ATCEMS said drivers should avoid the area.
No other details regarding the incident were immediately available.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/one-person-dead-single-vehicle-crash-mopac-north-austin/269-47873ecc-f4c5-499e-a0e0-c9f38baf99ad | 2022-08-05T05:52:22 | 1 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/one-person-dead-single-vehicle-crash-mopac-north-austin/269-47873ecc-f4c5-499e-a0e0-c9f38baf99ad |
THE TEXAS TRIBUNE – A lawsuit filed Thursday by 25 Texas cities claims that Disney, Hulu and Netflix have for years stiffed the cities out of dollars the streaming giants are required to pay under state law — and now cities are coming to collect.
Austin, Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth are among the cities that sued the streaming services in Dallas County to recover money they say they has been owed since 2007 and to require the services to pay each year going forward. Under state law, the services have to pay cities a franchise fee — which traditional cable providers also pay — in exchange for using communication lines over public rights of way to transmit their services into homes.
As more people abandon cable subscriptions in favor of streaming services, cities have lost franchise fee revenue — money that goes to fund city services like police and fire protection as well as roads, parks and libraries.
Cities haven’t made up that revenue with fees from streaming services, said Steven Wolens, a former Texas lawmaker and lead attorney for the cities. Even though state law classifies them as video service providers that must pay the fees, the major streamers haven’t paid cities a dime, Wolens said.
“They should have been paying this fee from the very beginning,” Wolens said. “Shame on them because they are using the public right of way that every other company pays the city to use.”
Exactly how much the streaming giants owe Texas cities isn’t known, Wolens said. For a smaller city, the losses could number in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said. For a larger city, that figure could be in the millions.
Other Texas cities that joined the lawsuit are Abilene, Allen, Amarillo, Arlington, Beaumont, Carrollton, Denton, Frisco, Garland, Grand Prairie, Irving, Lewisville, McKinney, Mesquite, Nacogdoches, Pearland, Plano, Rowlett, Sugar Land, Tyler and Waco.
The cities are seeking funds dating to when the services launched — Netflix in 2007, Hulu in 2008 and Disney+, The Walt Disney Co.’s streaming service, in late 2019. Their subscriber bases number in the tens of millions worldwide, with Netflix on top with more than 220 million subscribers.
Representatives for Disney, Hulu and Netflix did not immediately return requests for comment.
This story originally appeared in The Texas Tribune.
Texas Tribune mission statement
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/disney-hulu-netflix-owe-texas-cities-money-in-unpaid-fees/269-c084b97c-68ef-408b-851e-c2c34440509b | 2022-08-05T05:52:28 | 0 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/disney-hulu-netflix-owe-texas-cities-money-in-unpaid-fees/269-c084b97c-68ef-408b-851e-c2c34440509b |
THE TEXAS TRIBUNE – Texas’ application to extend Medicaid coverage for new mothers from two months to six months has been denied by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the agency offered no immediate reason for the rejection.
Legislators who pushed for the extension say they believe the application was rejected because of language that could be construed to exclude pregnant women who have abortions, including medically necessary abortions. The language in the bill that passed during the 2021 legislative session extended coverage to pregnant women who deliver a baby or have an “involuntary miscarriage.”
“That’s not a medical term, involuntary miscarriage,” said Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, a nurse and former health educator. “What I’m concerned about, and I think what maybe was the concern here, is those people who wanted their pregnancies to come to full term but have complications and a termination later in pregnancy and should be allowed to remain on Medicaid.”
Kelli Weldon, a spokesperson for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, said CMS has verbally confirmed that Texas’ application is not approvable; HHSC officials have requested written confirmation.
Weldon directed questions about why the application was not approvable to CMS, which did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The stalled-out application process is a “self-inflicted wound,” Howard said. As part of the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, the federal government eased the application requirements for states that expanded Medicaid for a full year postpartum.
The Texas House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill that offered 12 months of coverage, but the Senate amended the legislation to six months instead. Because of that change, the state was required to go through the more onerous application process.
House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, blamed President Joe Biden for the application being rejected.
“This is the latest hypocritical, disappointing move by the Biden administration that puts the care and needs of Texas mothers and babies at jeopardy — all in the name of partisan politics,” he said in a statement on Twitter.
Phelan indicated that he plans to once again push for a full year of postpartum Medicaid. State Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas, who filed the original bill last session, said she is optimistic about it passing both chambers next year.
“It was already my plan to work on adding this additional six months that we did not receive during the last legislative session,” Rose said. “But especially in light of today’s news and the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, it’s never been more critical that our moms have access to comprehensive health care.”
Rose said she will also push to remove any language that may have resulted in the application being denied.
Texas is one of just 12 states that has not expanded Medicaid; as a result, Medicaid in Texas mostly serves low-income children. Pregnant Texans are more likely to be uninsured and less likely to seek early prenatal care than the rest of the country, and the state has staggering rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, especially among Black women.
Expanding postpartum Medicaid to one year was one of the top recommendations of the state’s Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee. Howard said this is going to become only more pressing now that Texas has banned all abortions, except to save the life of the pregnant patient.
“Over half of births in Texas are Medicaid births already,” she said. “Women who have means will be able to access abortion by traveling, and those with more limited means will have more barriers, so logically, that means an increase in Medicaid births.”
Right now, due to the ongoing federally declared Public Health Emergency, no one is being moved off of the Medicaid rolls, even after their eligibility expires. That state of emergency is set to expire this fall, though the federal government has extended it many times already.
“We are hopeful CMS will work with us toward approval before the end of the Public Health Emergency to ensure women in Texas Medicaid continue to receive postpartum care,” Weldon said in an emailed statement.
This story originally appeared in The Texas Tribune.
Texas Tribune mission statement
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/feds-reject-texas-application-to-extend-postpartum-medicaid-to-6-months/269-c80933e9-0700-4ddf-aa7b-9bda02d95864 | 2022-08-05T05:52:35 | 1 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/feds-reject-texas-application-to-extend-postpartum-medicaid-to-6-months/269-c80933e9-0700-4ddf-aa7b-9bda02d95864 |
WIMBERLEY, Texas — A nonprofit and a man from Hays County are trying to provide some relief for people dealing with a flooding in eastern Kentucky.
Jay Bachman from Wimberley is also a managing chef with Mercy Chefs. It's a nonprofit made up of chefs around the country that respond to natural disasters and humanitarian crises. He is also the owner of the Wimberley Café.
Bachman just returned after spending a week in Whitesburg, Kentucky, bringing some of that home cooking to a community of people who really need it.
"Utter devastation, it is mountain communities that were not well off in the beginning and now they have lost everything,” said Bachman.
Bachman knows the devastation firsthand. He was there when Wimberley was hit with flooding in 2015, claiming the lives of more than a dozen people.
"Awful flood. I lost friends. It took us two years to recover from that. Take that flood that we had here in 2015 and multiple it by 20 communities," he said.
For him, this trip to Kentucky was personal. With his team of chefs, they are trying to help another community going through tough times by providing 3,000 meals a day there.
"These are proud people, these are do-it-yourselfers," said Bachman.
Bachman knows the restaurant-quality meals are really making a difference to these people.
"It provides hope in a little box. They welcomed us in with open arms like family and said, 'If there is anything I can do to help, you let me know.' We are there to help them. It’s just amazing,” he said.
He's so proud of how they are all coming together in a time of tragedy.
"I saw one road that was washed out in a culvert and, within a few days, that community had rebuilt that road with their own tractors," said Bachman.
For him and his organization, they are not going stop helping.
"How can we say no? We wouldn't, ever, and we'll be there as long as they need us," he said.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/wimberley-man-and-nonprofit-help-flood-victims-in-eastern-kentucky/269-0eae5514-6461-4a52-8fbf-1b0a9eb8bb41 | 2022-08-05T05:52:41 | 1 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/wimberley-man-and-nonprofit-help-flood-victims-in-eastern-kentucky/269-0eae5514-6461-4a52-8fbf-1b0a9eb8bb41 |
SEATTLE — The Blue Angels are back for the big Seafair weekend. For decades, the show has caused big backups, but this year’s flight plan is allowing the I-90 bridge to be open for drivers.
People packed into a perfect viewing spot Thursday afternoon, to see the sights and sounds of the Blue Angels during their practice flight.
For some it was their first time seeing the jets soar through the sky.
“It's awesome, you're kind of looking for them and then all of a sudden they come from behind you. It's just kind of impressive,” said Emmanuel Derouillat, who was watching the Blue Angels with his son Elliot.
For others like Lance Riche, it’s been a tradition since the ’70s.
“I never get tired of it. It’s something I love to come watch," Richie said.
The views are a little different this year with jets soaring along with traffic on the I-90 floating bridge.
WSDOT opened the bridge in 2019, but for decades the bridge was shut down during performances.
Rich Flieger helped work on the bridge.
“We just finished the I-90 bridge floating, putting a light rail across it.”
For the first time, he got to witness the Blue Angels from a new vantage point.
“Nothing better than that. That is so cool,” said Flieger
Some spectators prefer a different spot. Jeff Johnson has been coming to watch the Blue Angels for decades and wants the bridge to shut back down.
“Being able to walk out on the bridge allows you to have an uninterrupted view and it’s really the best view in the house,” said Johnson.
Despite the I-90 bridge being open, Seafair goers still may have some traffic headaches with revive I-5 work resuming this weekend.
“We did adjust our schedule a little bit this weekend. For example, keeping the I- 90 ramps and the southbound I-5 open because that's going to be a big thing for people going to the hydro races and the Blue Angels,” said Tom Pearce, spokesperson for WSDOT.
WSDOT is focusing on expansion joints on the right side south of the collector/distributor.
People entering the collector/distributor will have to exit to I-90, Dearborn Street, Fourth Avenue South or Airport Way. The ramp from the collector/distributor to southbound I-5 will be closed. People using the southbound I-5 James Street on-ramp will need to use a collector/distributor exit. The Spring Street on-ramp and the South Forest Street off-ramp also will be closed.
WSDOT is asking drivers to plan ahead this weekend and take alternate routes including I-405.
With two years of no Blue Angels show, spectators said you just have to be there.
“You can’t miss them. When they’re here you gotta see them,” said Johnson.
Washington State Patrol is stressing to drivers using I-90 during the airshow to be attentive and not distracted. The state patrol is also reminding people that it is illegal to stop on the bridge to watch the show, and will have extra troopers out to monitor the area. | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle/interstate-i-90-bridge-open-during-seafair-blue-angels-show/281-c6b1b166-9a79-4494-aa5a-ecc3d1d1be28 | 2022-08-05T05:54:14 | 0 | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle/interstate-i-90-bridge-open-during-seafair-blue-angels-show/281-c6b1b166-9a79-4494-aa5a-ecc3d1d1be28 |
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The Field’s Edge, a nonprofit organization, delivered on its motto to “cultivate home” by building a group of tiny houses to be inhabited by some of Midland’s homeless population.
The grand opening of “The Village” was at 6701 Cholla road in southwest Midland on Thursday. It was the culmination of many years of research and construction.
The Field’s Edge Founder and Chief Executive Officer John-Mark Echols first heard about a similar encampment for the homeless in Austin while doing volunteer work around seven or eight years ago.
“We went there to check it out and ended up going to live there for about four months. We trained and came back to replicate it since the middle of 2017,” he said.
There are 10 homes -- nine tiny homes and one home where Echols and his family will move in to -- at the close-quartered neighborhood. Chief Operating Officer Benjamin Harvey says expansion is certainly in the minds of The Field’s Edge leadership.
“Our five-to-10-year plan is to have 10 pods; each pod will have 10 homes. At the end we’ll have 90 tiny homes and 10 missional homes,” he said.
Echols, a devote Christian, explained how his faith has driven him to pioneer this life-changing project.
“I encountered the homeless and knew they were my neighbors and that I needed to serve them; I wanted to serve them. Then, the Lord just kept putting things in front of my wife and I, just small steps of obedience and next thing we knew were selling our house and moving into a travel-trailer with our 18-month-old daughter and going off to build a tiny home community,” he said.
The single-occupant homes will include a bed, sitting area, microwave, coffee pot, sink, air conditioner and heater with a separate area with a kitchen and bathing resources, according to Echols.
“The reason for that is we want to facilitate interaction and community. At the root of homelessness is the fact that someone has been through something traumatic and had no support and so the whole idea around this community is that it’s about rebuilding those relationships,” he said.
The homes all face each other and have front porches to create opportunities for new neighbors to socialize.
Though Echols has created this community, he had a simple explanation for why other areas of the country haven’t.
“It’s really hard,” he said. “The most challenging aspect is land and casting the vision in a community. A big part of the work is education in the community and making people realize it’s not as simple as they think.”
Echols does believe that more areas who have the benefit of vast land will begin to investigate similar projects for those in need.
During his brief speech, Echols thanked the community for the support they’ve shown him and his family over the six-year journey of turning his vision into reality.
Echols also said there were notecards on a desk in front of each house if the attendees wanted to write an encouraging message to the homes’ new inhabitants and mentioned that this grand opening was just the beginning of what he and his organization had planned for the future.
“Today feels like the finish line, but it’s actually the starting line. Now the work really begins; now the fun really begins in the community we’ve been working toward,” he said. | https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/The-Field-s-Edge-celebrates-grand-opening-17353072.php | 2022-08-05T05:55:55 | 0 | https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/The-Field-s-Edge-celebrates-grand-opening-17353072.php |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The victims in a deadly North Sacramento crash were identified by family as great grandparents who had been married for 56 years.
The crash happened on Aug. 2 at Northgate Boulevard and Sotano Drive, and sent four people to the hospital. Among them were Cayetana Espejel, 86, and Antonio Espejel, 86.
Cayetana was ultimately pronounced dead, and family members said Antonio is still in the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital.
Cayetana died days before her birthday on Sunday; she would have turned 87.
The couple was on their way home when their daughters said a driver speeding along Northgate Boulevard slammed into them. The crash remains under investigation by the Sacramento Police Department.
Between 2008 and 2020, there have been four deaths on Northgate Boulevard.
Family members said the thoroughfare is like a raceway, and there is some sort of crash at the Sotano intersection every day.
"People are just so quick to run through life now, and look at what ends up happening. Lives are ruined because of recklessness," said Erica Gonzalez, the victims' niece.
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WATCH ALSO: | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/grandmother-identified-killed-north-sacramento-crash/103-958cfeee-e5a0-4e20-a6ad-a0862a8a4038 | 2022-08-05T05:57:07 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/grandmother-identified-killed-north-sacramento-crash/103-958cfeee-e5a0-4e20-a6ad-a0862a8a4038 |
Delicate exhibit at Museum of Art
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Council to consider locking in $2.97 a gallon for city unleaded gasoline | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/art-tour/article_8bf2d198-143c-11ed-af63-b79f7d1b079b.html | 2022-08-05T06:13:02 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/art-tour/article_8bf2d198-143c-11ed-af63-b79f7d1b079b.html |
A Fort Wayne man has been sentenced to 25 behind bars on drug charges, federal officials announced Thursday.
Eddie M. Knox, 56, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl in U.S. District Court. Judge Holly Brady sentenced him to 25 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.
Between May 6, 2019, and Aug. 26, 2020, Knox was involved in a conspiracy with his co-defendants to distribute significant amounts of controlled substances, according to court records.
During the conspiracy, Knox personally distributed about 393 grams of methamphetamine and 98 grams of fentanyl in five controlled buys with law enforcement, officials said. Knox also provided a firearm to a felon during one of the controlled buys.
In addition, Knox maintained a residence where controlled substances were sold and stored during the conspiracy, and where additional narcotics and two firearms were recovered, according to a news release issued Thursday.
Knox was the last of six Fort Wayne defendants to be sentenced in the case. The other co-defendants and their sentences:
• Fredrick Morgan II, 43, 30 years in prison
Larry Lamb, 41, 24 1/2• years in prison
Frederick Morgan, 65, 7 1/2• years in prison
• James Russell Jr., 56, 7 years in prison
• Sarah Waltz, 41, 3 years, 1 month in prison.
Multiple law enforcement agencies conducted the joint investigation. The primary agencies were the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistance was provided by multiple local law enforcement bodies, including the Indiana State Police, Allen County Sheriff’s Department, Allen County Drug Task Force, Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Huntington Police Department, Auburn Police Department and Fort Wayne Police Department.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Stacey Speith and Brent Ecenbarger. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/fort-wayne-man-sentenced-to-25-years-in-prison-on-drug-charges/article_d8c00832-1447-11ed-bab0-87174a85afc4.html | 2022-08-05T06:13:08 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/fort-wayne-man-sentenced-to-25-years-in-prison-on-drug-charges/article_d8c00832-1447-11ed-bab0-87174a85afc4.html |
Kennisha Jackson remained silent Thursday evening as the Allen Superior Court jury delivered a guilty verdict against her for the murder of Diquan Meriwether.
Tears welled in her eyes, but she remained quiet, even when the jury returned with a second verdict. That time, the jurors found her guilty of using a firearm in the crime, making Jackson eligible for a 20-year sentence enhancement.
The 21-year-old faces a total of 85 years in prison; sentencing was scheduled for 10 a.m. Aug. 29. She showed some reaction when, after being handcuffed and about to be led away, she turned to look at her supporters in the gallery.
The verdict was emotional for many in the courtroom. This was the third time the case had gone to trial for a slaying that happened Jan. 14, 2020.
In October 2020, a jury was seated, but the trial postponed when defense attorney Donald Swanson wanted to introduce evidence the prosecution didn’t have time to examine. Last year, the judge declared a mistrial Aug. 11 when the jurors couldn’t reach a verdict.
The victim’s mother, Tara Meriwether, was also teary-eyed at the verdict.
“It feels good; it feels great,” she said. “I got a sense of closure now.”
Demari Meriwether, the victim’s cousin, was visibly and audibly shaking when the verdict came in. But he isn’t sure of closure.
“It felt like it would never be over,” he said. “It will never be over. But it feels good.”
The shooting happened when Meriwether went to Jackson’s house that January afternoon to allegedly collect $80 for a marijuana debt. Both sides used security video footage taken from the house to argue the case.
Defense team Swanson and Faith Welch argued that Jackson acted in self-defense. Swanson told the jury during Thursday’s closing arguments that when Meriwether forced open the front door and went in and started battering her, that’s where it fell under Indiana’s self-defense laws and became a matter of being safe in one’s own home.
He’d also said during arguments for the enhancement, “I still feel it was a self-defense case, and I feel that her use of the firearm was in self-defense in her home.”
Allen County deputy prosecutors Tasha Lee and Kamia Gatakala argued that if it had been self-defense, Jackson, with her family and others, wouldn’t have altered the crime scene afterward. Lee said in closings that the video showed Jackson pulling Meriwether into the house by the hood of his sweatshirt and not him going in.
She also reminded jurors that one expert noted there was no evidence Meriwether had a gun going in, and there was no blood on Jackson after Meriwether ran from the house, fatally shot. But Jackson said an eye wound Meriwether gave her was what put her blood around the house.
There were also things missing from the scene, such as Meriwether’s hoodie, the gun, the shell casing and the bullet that went through Meriwether’s heart, Lee reminded jurors.
Swanson said they will appeal the verdict, and it will automatically go to the Indiana Supreme Court because it’s a murder case.
He’s concerned whether jurors were compromised, he said. One juror had looked up the state’s law on self-defense and talked with another about it, and those two were dismissed.
But when Allen County Superior Judge David Zent questioned all the jurors, another said jurors talked about conviction before evidence even started, Swanson said.
Lee, however, said Meriwether’s family got justice because of all those who helped investigate and testify.
“There was a lot of work put into this case to serve justice,” Lee said. “Justice was served.”
She added, “this one felt really good because it was hard.” | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/woman-found-guilty-of-murder-in-2020-shooting/article_09e2f9ae-142c-11ed-8a63-1f69fa53fdd6.html | 2022-08-05T06:13:14 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/courts/woman-found-guilty-of-murder-in-2020-shooting/article_09e2f9ae-142c-11ed-8a63-1f69fa53fdd6.html |
Richard Gerald Mattioda, 55 died, Tuesday, August 2, 2022, at his home. Arrangements: Ward Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, Clear Lake.
David E. Wolter, 76, of Belmond, died, Wednesday, August 3, 2022, at MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center, Mason City. Arrangements: Andrews Funeral Home, Belmond. | https://globegazette.com/news/local/obituaries/death-notices/globe-death-notices/article_bb142b39-972c-5020-8b99-ad73d091a612.html | 2022-08-05T06:13:20 | 0 | https://globegazette.com/news/local/obituaries/death-notices/globe-death-notices/article_bb142b39-972c-5020-8b99-ad73d091a612.html |
One Florida man died Thursday and another was sent to a hospital after falling through the roof of a Waterloo commercial building in the 2300 block of County Road 27.
The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office responded to the call about 11:30 a.m. They discovered Kevin L. Rogers, 24, of Laurel Hill, Florida, was working with a contractor on the metal roof of a previously burned, 24-foot structure when he fell through a hole. Despite lifesaving efforts, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
A second worker, identified as William J. Rogers, 24, of Laurel Hill, Florida, was working in the same area at the time and also fell through the roof. He was taken to a hospital in stable condition with rib fractures.
Although both men were wearing safety harnesses at the time they fell, the equipment wasn’t secured. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/one-killed-one-injured-working-on-waterloo-roof/article_9fccf932-145f-11ed-8f94-9bfa8e7c7440.html | 2022-08-05T06:13:20 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/one-killed-one-injured-working-on-waterloo-roof/article_9fccf932-145f-11ed-8f94-9bfa8e7c7440.html |
Purdue University Fort Wayne plans to give the Rhinehart Music Center a neighbor – a $22 million music technology building that already has $6 million in private donations.
Site work for the 26,000-square-foot facility is expected to begin in 2024 with a projected opening date in fall 2027 – almost a decade after the university opened the music technology center on Sweetwater’s corporate campus, Purdue Fort Wayne said in a news release Thursday.
The School of Music expects more than 300 students this fall, which the university said is almost double the inaugural class of 170 students.
“This spectacular new facility will serve as the launchpad for the next generation of students enrolled in our music industry, popular music and music technology programs,” Chancellor Ron Elsenbaumer said in a statement.
The building will be adjacent to the Rhinehart Music Center, which is next to the Hilliard Gates Sports Center on the university’s main campus in northeast Fort Wayne.
The estimated cost is $22 million, with about $7 million expected to come from private philanthropy. Two lead gifts – $3 million from Chuck and Lisa Surack and $3 million from the Auer Foundation – are applied to the target expected to come from donations, university spokesman Geoff Thomas said.
“Of course,” he said, “if we get more than the remaining $1 million being sought from private philanthropy, the requests for additional funding will adjust accordingly.”
The Suracks have supported the School of Music since its inception in 2017, the release said. The couple partnered with Purdue Fort Wayne to create an 8,000-square-foot facility that opened in 2018 with studio and classroom space on the Sweetwater campus in northwest Fort Wayne.
Chuck Surack is CEO of Surack Enterprises and founder and chairman of Sweetwater.
“To know that interest in Purdue Fort Wayne’s programming on our Sweetwater campus has created a need to build a new structure to replace the one we dedicated just four years ago is a very positive sign for the university and the region,” Chuck Surack said in a statement.
The university said the expansion aligns with the broader community goal of turning Fort Wayne into one of the country’s top-10 music cities over the next decade. Local officials unveiled the Allen County Together economic development action plan in January.
“We are so grateful to Chuck and Lisa Surack and the Auer Foundation for demonstrating their confidence in Purdue Fort Wayne and for stepping forward to support this much-needed music technology building,” Elsenbaumer said. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/schools/purdue-fort-wayne-gets-6-million-boost-for-new-music-technology-building/article_2cc86172-1425-11ed-908d-03ab977ef4b8.html | 2022-08-05T06:13:27 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/schools/purdue-fort-wayne-gets-6-million-boost-for-new-music-technology-building/article_2cc86172-1425-11ed-908d-03ab977ef4b8.html |
Branching out on a limb
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Patrick M. Callahan, 64, of Twin Falls died Monday, Aug. 1, 2022, at St Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center, Twin Falls. Arrangements are under the care of Serenity Funeral Chapel & Cremation Services of Idaho, Twin Falls.
Thomas Owings, 73, of Blue River, Oregon, and formerly of Wendell, died June 20, 2022, at his home. Arrangements are under the care of Andreasen’s Funeral Chapel, Springfield, Oregon.
Larry Anderson, 75, of Twin Falls, died Sunday, July 31, 2022. Arrangements are under the care of Accent Funeral Home and Cremation, Meridian.
Patricia Ann Curtis, 82 of Twin Falls, died July 29, 2022, at her home. Funeral arrangements are under the care of White-Reynolds Funeral Chapel.
Thelma Conner, 92, of Wendell died Wednesday, August 3, 2022, at a local care facility. Arrangements are under the care of Farmer Funeral Chapel, Buhl. | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/death-notices/article_3c66a5b2-1416-11ed-a2a4-8790ad1111bf.html | 2022-08-05T06:20:38 | 1 | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/death-notices/article_3c66a5b2-1416-11ed-a2a4-8790ad1111bf.html |
BUENA — Monny Strickland reacted right away Thursday.
So did his teammates.
Strickland crushed a solo home run to lead the top-seeded South Jersey Surf to a 14-7 victory over the second-seeded Buena Blue Dawgs and the South Jersey South Shore Baseball League title at Bruno Melini Park.
Strickland’s homer gave the Surf a 6-5 lead. The Egg Harbor Township High School and Rowan University graduate motioned to his bench as soon as the ball hit the bat, and his teammates greeted him at home plate.
"I looked straight to the dugout because I knew it," Strickland said. "I fired my guys up. They fired me up. We just didn't look back from there. … It was a big spot. I love those moments."
The Surf, who won the league championship for the second straight season, scored eight runs in the top of the seventh inning. Thursday was the fourth game in a best-of-five series.
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The Surf won three straight after dropping Game 1 on Monday, including a 10-0 win Wednesday in Game 3.
"We were down, but like I said (Wednesday), when you are hitting the ball hard you have a lot of confidence," said Strickland, who did not play in the SJSSBL in 2021 as he played in the Tri-County League and with the Margate Hurricanes of the since-defunct Atlantic County Baseball League. He wanted to remain local this summer.
"This is my first year with the team. I love it. I absolutely love it. I had so much fun this year. Roll Surf, baby!"
Mainland Regional graduate Logan Petty played with the Surf in 2021.
Winning back-to-back titles was special for him.
"It was a very solid year," said Petty, noting the team added a lot of new faces. "It's a surreal feeling. It was a really fun year this year."
Petty homered in the seventh inning to extend the lead to 7-5. Jack Heineman was hit by a pitch and later scored. Kevin Foreman then singled and scored. Dante DiPalma hit an RBI single. Eric Fitzgerald drew a walk with bases loaded that made the score 9-5. Caden Dulin hit a grand slam that extended the lead to 13-5.
Petty, a rising junior at Arcadia University, hit an RBI double to make the score 14-5.
"I knew I had to come up big and be a leadoff guy there," Petty said. "We were only up one (run at the start of the seventh inning), and we knew one run was not enough to beat them. I was able to put a good swing on it, put a good bat together and be able to hit a homer."
In the top of the first inning, the Surf's Foreman was hit by a pitch to start the game. Strickland walked, and Dante DiPalma singled. With bases loaded and no outs, Fitzgerald and Dulin walked to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. Jimmy Pasquale then hit a two-run single that extended the lead to 4-0.
In the bottom half, Buena’s Luis Sauri walked and Alexi Colon hit a two-run homer to cut the deficit to 4-2. In the second, Auggie Uzdanovics doubled and scored on a wild pitch to make the score 4-3.
Jake Guglielmi hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the third that gave the Blue Dawgs a 5-4 lead.
It started raining in the sixth inning.
"They are a really good team and they battled the whole way," Surf coach Jeff Ball said of Buena. "Our team preserved through it and we came out and had quality at-bats at the end of the game and good things happened for us. But not to take anything away from that Buena team. They have some very good players over there."
In the bottom of the seventh, Jack Peacock (St.Augustine Prep) walked, and Uzdanovics doubled him in to cut the Blue Dawgs' deficit to 14-6. Sauri hit an RBI single that capped the scoring. Sauri pitched six innings and struck out eight.
Zach Steiger struck out six to earn the win.
"Buena is very well cached," Ball said. "To go back-to-back, it's tough. You have a bullseye on you all year long. To come out and repeat, it's a great feeling. These players make me look good. They go out there and bust their butts. I just go out there and try to coach them as best as I can. All the players, assistant coaches, it's just a great feeling.
"It's a great feeling to go back-to-back. It's tough to do." | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/surf-wins-second-straight-sjssbl-title/article_7244ffd2-1423-11ed-8823-bf7bd33bab3f.html | 2022-08-05T06:23:04 | 0 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/surf-wins-second-straight-sjssbl-title/article_7244ffd2-1423-11ed-8823-bf7bd33bab3f.html |
Carl A. Vernia
April 13, 1940 - Aug. 2, 2022
CROWN POINT - Carl A. Vernia, age 82, of Crown Point, IN, formerly of Merrillville, IN passed away on Tuesday, August 2, 2022.
Carl is survived by his wife, Mary Ann Vernia (nee Jadrnak) of 53 years; two daughters: Ann Marie (Jerry) Janda, Christina (Kit) Degenhart; five grandchildren: Josh and Kyle Janda, Rosalie, Madeline, and Annalise Degenhart; brothers: Henry (Barbara) Vernia; and sister, Rose (late Larry) Faitak; and his many loving nieces and nephews.
Carl was preceded in death by his parents: Rocco and Rosalie Vernia.
Carl was born in the Tolleston section of Gary and raised in Glen Park where he attended St. Mark's Catholic Grade School and graduated from Lew Wallace High School, Class of 1958. He served in the U.S. Army, earned an associate degree in electronic engineering, and worked for U.S. Steel for 25 years. He went on to work for Phillips Medical System for 18 years before retiring. Carl was a longtime member of St. Stephen, Martyr Catholic Church where he also taught C.C.D. He was also a member of the Men's Club, Knights of Columbus, Msgr. Ryder Council, and served on the Supervisors Committee for U.S. Federal Credit Union.
Carl was a die-hard Cubs fan and was so happy when they won the World Series. He was a history buff and also enjoyed reading, golfing, and all forms of sporting events. He was a very loving husband, father, and grandfather. He will be greatly missed.
Friends may visit with the family on Sunday, August 7, 2022, at Geisen-Pruzin Funeral & Cremation Services, 6360 Broadway Ave., Merrillville, IN 46410 from 2:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M., with a prayer service at 3:00 P.M.
Additional visitation will take place on Monday, August 8, 2022, at St. Stephen, Martyr Catholic Church, 5920 Waite St., Merrillville, IN 46410 from 9:30 A.M. until the Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 A.M.
Interment to follow at Calumet Park Cemetery in Merrillville, IN.
Visit Carl's online guestbook at www.GeisenFuneralHome.com 219-663-2500. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/carl-a-vernia/article_eb0a6d08-d20f-578d-b592-037a7be0da9c.html | 2022-08-05T06:27:51 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/carl-a-vernia/article_eb0a6d08-d20f-578d-b592-037a7be0da9c.html |
Florian A. Bolsega, Sr.
Oct. 27, 1927 - Aug. 2, 2022
HAMMOND - Florian A. Bolsega, Sr., age 94, affectionately known as Mr. B, of Hammond, formerly of East Chicago, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, August 2, 2022. He is survived by his loving wife of 64 years, Hildred Bolsega (Radzinski); children: Lynn (Thomas) Tyburski, Florian Bolsega, Jr. (Joni), and Debra Bolsega; granddaughters: Leslie and Valerie Tyburski; sister, Julie Ustanik; and numerous extended family and friends. Preceded in death by his parents: Simon and Kunegunda Bolsega; brothers: Joseph (Emily) Bolsega, Vincent (Leona) Bolsega, Stanley (Genevieve) Bolsega, Walter (Frances) Bolsega; sister, Helen (John) Oslawski; and brother-in-law, Arthur Ustanik.
A visitation will be held on Sunday, August 7, 2022 from 2:00 P.M. - 6:00 P.M. at SOLAN PRUZIN FUNERAL HOME, 14 Kennedy Avenue, Schererville, IN. A Funeral Mass will be Celebrated at 10:00 A.M. on Monday, August 8, 2022 DIRECTLY AT Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, 7132 Arizona Ave, Hammond, IN 46323. Florian will lie-in-state from 9:30 A.M. until time of service. Burial will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery in Calumet City, IL. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/florian-a-bolsega-sr/article_0cb1e007-bcb5-5e52-8a5f-0f6cf74bdd96.html | 2022-08-05T06:27:57 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/florian-a-bolsega-sr/article_0cb1e007-bcb5-5e52-8a5f-0f6cf74bdd96.html |
George Fayette Armstrong
Nov. 5, 1936 - Aug. 3, 2022
HEBRON - George Fayette Armstrong, 85 of Hebron, passed away Wednesday, August 3, 2022. He was born on November 5, 1936 in Hammond, Indiana to John S. Armstrong and Orrie Lucille Granger. He graduated Hebron High School in 1954 and went to Purdue University to study engineering. After two good years at Purdue, George enlisted in the United States Marine Corps where he achieved the rank of Corporal in Intelligence. In 1959 when he was discharged, he returned to college at Valparaiso University earning a degree in Biology. George met Norma Jane Park through a mutual friend, Byron McColly, who was teaching at Portage where Norma also taught. They were married in 1960. As the result of the marriage, they had two sons, two daughters-in-law and three grandchildren. Both sons met their wives while attending Purdue and are graduates from there. George worked five years in the engineering department at U.S. Steel before earning his degree at Valparaiso University. He spent most of his entire working career in the steel industry at virtually all of the mills in Northwest Indiana and South Chicago. During his working career, George was actively involved with the Boy Scouts, local politics (served one term on Valparaiso City Council), Orak Shrine Motor Patrol, Scottish Rite, and Church, as well as attending school sporting events that his sons participated in. George was a member of Technical Engineers 130 and retired in the spring of 2001.
George remained involved with Church and family, Growing Hope Globally, gardening, livestock, old tractors, and oilfield engines with memberships in South Lake County Agricultural Historical Society, Northern Indiana Historical Power Association and Northwest Michigan Engine & Thresher Club.
George is survived by wife, Norma; sons: Drew (Deb) and Fred (Susan); and grandchildren: Margaret, John and Sam.
Visitation will be held Tuesday, August 9, 2022 at First Christian Church D.O.C., 1507 Glendale from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM with a service beginning at 12:00 PM The family welcomes donations to First Christian Church Building Fund as an expression of sympathy instead of flowers. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/george-fayette-armstrong/article_85abb08d-cce5-50fa-aad7-c183605c3b2c.html | 2022-08-05T06:28:04 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/george-fayette-armstrong/article_85abb08d-cce5-50fa-aad7-c183605c3b2c.html |
Joe James
Aug. 21, 1937 - Aug. 3, 2022
PORTAGE - Joe James, 84 of Portage, passed away Wednesday, August 3, 2022. He was born August 21, 1937, in McHenry, KY to Obed and Mary (Austin) James. Joe made his career as a Steelworker with Bethlehem Steel for 40 years before retirement. He was a member of the USW Local 6787, Hoosier CoHo Club, and Izaak Walton League of America - Miller Chapter. Joe was an avid fisherman, who enjoyed indulging in a beer. He was also handy around the house and vehicles. Joe will be remembered as a hardworking man who was a loving husband, father, and grandfather.
On July 16, 1955, Joe married Shirley Moore, who preceded him in death in 2019. He is survived by their sons: Jerry James of Portage, Bruce James of Portage, and Brian James of LaPorte; grandchildren: Heidi Doolittle, John (Kara) James, Jason James, and Jessica (Adam) Shively; great-grandchildren: Logan, Evan, Landon, Lexie, Lilly, Hunter, Jackson, David, Austin, and Brendan; great-great-granddaughter, Ryatt; and siblings: Peggy Dean, Jim James, and Priscilla Smith. He was preceded in death by his father, Obed James; mother, Mary Ashby; brothers: Larry and Ricky James; and great-grandson, Liam.
A visitation will be held on Monday, August 8, 2022, from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. at MOELLER FUNERAL HOME, 104 Roosevelt Rd., Valparaiso, with the funeral service beginning at 12:00 p.m. Burial will follow at Angelcrest Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/joe-james/article_aa32c7c1-f7e4-524e-b614-3b379f6469a2.html | 2022-08-05T06:28:10 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/joe-james/article_aa32c7c1-f7e4-524e-b614-3b379f6469a2.html |
Linda Ann Allendorf
Nov. 10, 1943 - July 20, 2022
CROWN POINT - It is with great sadness that the family of Linda Allendorf announces her passing, on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, at the age of 78.
Linda will be lovingly remembered by her daughters: Kim (Randy) Rapchak, and Missy (Bobby) Fisher. Linda will also be fondly remembered by her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren who adored her. Linda was predeceased by her husband, Carl Allendorf.
Originally from Braddock, PA. Linda was a long time employee of Clean Harbors, followed by many years as a successful businesswoman. She and Carl enjoyed several years at the top of Conifer Mountain, CO before retiring to Arizona.
Her kindness and friendship will long be remembered by her family, friends and neighbors.
Final arrangements have been entrusted to Crown Cremation. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to a charity of choice. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/linda-ann-allendorf/article_0cba3b2b-8905-5177-8ae9-684f49fc86af.html | 2022-08-05T06:28:16 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/linda-ann-allendorf/article_0cba3b2b-8905-5177-8ae9-684f49fc86af.html |
Richard L. Koeppen
June 27, 1939 - Aug. 2, 2022
VALPARAISO - Richard L. Koeppen, 83, of Valparaiso passed away Tuesday, August 2, 2022. He was born June 27, 1939 in Valparaiso to Raymond A.C. and Gleda (Moore) Koeppen, graduated from Valparaiso High School in 1958, and received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue North Central along with AAS degrees in Industrial Engineering, and Supervision. Rich made his career with Boeing Aerospace in Tulsa, OK and Huntsville, AL. In recent years Rich has been a fixture at Morgan Blvd. and Erie Street as the school crossing guard because he was never content to "just sit at home". He was quite proud of this Valpo Police Dept. affiliation and chose to complete the Valparaiso Citizen Police Academy in 2008 to enhance his credentials. Always keenly aware of his social and civic responsibilities, Rich chose to donate over 14 gallons of blood to the Red Cross and received an Award of Merit from Joy Mfg. in Michigan City for implementing cost savings measures that topped $1 million. Faithful membership at Heritage Lutheran Church, various professional societies and the American Legion kept him grounded in service. Rich's humble nature, sense of community history, and "in the know" contacts always made for interesting conversation, which is what he seemed to relish the most.
Survivors include his son, Christopher E. Koeppen (Teresa); stepdaughters: Shelley Hickman and Lori Heffner; grandchildren: Nick, Ben, Ryan, and Isaiah Koeppen, Emma Heffner; siblings: Sharon Sherman, Janet Roempagel, Chuck Koeppen (Cathie), Donna Smoker and Brad Koeppen (Deb); and special friend, Janet Byrd. He was preceded in death by his parents; infant sister, Linda Carol Koeppen; and his former wife, Carolyn Jean Vass.
A celebration of life will be held Saturday, August 27, 2022 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at MOELLER FUNERAL HOME, Valparaiso. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/richard-l-koeppen/article_59877f04-6419-59e8-a08b-d8772c57e87b.html | 2022-08-05T06:28:22 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/richard-l-koeppen/article_59877f04-6419-59e8-a08b-d8772c57e87b.html |
Robert Eugene Stoddard
Aug. 11, 1950 - Aug. 5, 2018
IN LOVING MEMORY of Robert Eugene Stoddard On His 4th Anniversary in Heaven - When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure. Love, Lorraine, Michael, Elizabeth, Angeline, Joseph and your Grandchildren. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/robert-eugene-stoddard/article_b59aaf19-6a41-5c8c-baf2-ad862b843b72.html | 2022-08-05T06:28:28 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/robert-eugene-stoddard/article_b59aaf19-6a41-5c8c-baf2-ad862b843b72.html |
A fourth man has been arrested and charged with murder in a strange double homicide at a Manhattan recording studio earlier this year, authorities say.
Tashawn Sullivan, of Newark, was arrested Thursday in the in the May 5 shooting that killed 34-year-old Kamir King and 24-year-old Devon Dillahunt. Sullivan is the fourth person, and third from New Jersey, to face a murder charge in the alleged killing.
Attorney information for Sullivan was not immedaitely available.
His arrest comes one week after a Staten Island man, 18-year-old Justin Rodriguez, was the third person to be charged with murder in slaying. Daniel Williams, 21, and Kabal Reyes, 24, were arrested earlier in July. Both of those men also face murder charges, and both are from New Jersey as well.
The connection between the New Jersey men and the victims wasn't immediately made clear. No motive has been shared, either.
Dillahunt lived in Roselle, the same town Williams is from. King was from Manhattan.
Surveillance video from the May 5 shooting showed the wild scene after bullets flew, with four people sprinting away from the West 37th Street studio and head toward Eighth Avenue, and Dillahunt right behind them after he was shot in the torso.
Local
Dillahunt was found in front of the building, after collapsing on the sidewalk.
He was pronounced dead a short time later, police said. Cops had said a handgun was found on Dillahunt. While cops were tending to him, others went inside the three-story walk-up and found King shot in the head.
He was also pronounced dead at a hospital. It wasn't clear if either he or King was targeted.
An investigation is ongoing. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/4th-man-arrested-in-manhattan-recording-studio-murders-police-still-have-no-motives/3811688/ | 2022-08-05T07:06:41 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/4th-man-arrested-in-manhattan-recording-studio-murders-police-still-have-no-motives/3811688/ |
In a million-dollar drug bust on Long Island, police said a duo — a DJ and a U.S. Postal Service worker — were allegedly trafficking cocaine and fentanyl across the country, using the postal service to ship the drugs.
To his fans on his Sirius XM show and on social media, he’s known as DJ Love Dinero. But to prosecutors, he is 40-year-old Lance Holmes, an alleged drug trafficker.
Video provided by the Nassau County District Attorney’s office allegedly shows Holmes walking into a random apartment building to grab a package of drugs, which were left by Adrianna Lewis, a mail carrier who works out of Hempstead.
"She would get them as part of her route to deliver them, and instead of delivering them to the address she would rendezvous with him and give him the packages," said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
The DA estimates at least 27 kg of cocaine and fentanyl were sent through priority mail boxes from California to Nassau County from Oct. 2021 to Jan. 2022.
"It is shocking when a postal service employee decides to break the public’s trust," said Kathryn Searles, of the U.S. Postal Service Inspection Service.
Investigators said Lewis received $500 for each package she intercepted and delivered to Holmes. Her attorney said she’s a Rockville Centre resident and mother to a teenage boy. She pleaded not guilty.
News
"Several packages destined for Hempstead were intercepted from the mail stream, and K9 units conducted sniff tests with the dogs," said Donnelly.
Prosecutors estimated that they seized $1 million worth of cocaine and fentanyl during the investigation. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/sirius-xm-dj-and-usps-worker-arrested-in-1m-cocaine-fentanyl-trafficking-bust-da/3811655/ | 2022-08-05T07:06:47 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/sirius-xm-dj-and-usps-worker-arrested-in-1m-cocaine-fentanyl-trafficking-bust-da/3811655/ |
A worker at a New Jersey sandwich shop was seen on security camera springing into action to save a customer choking on food.
It occurred around lunchtime Thursday at the PrimoHoagies in the Rockaway Townsquare Mall. A woman was eating her sandwich, when part of it got stuck in her throat. After trying to take a drink but unable to swallow, the frightened woman stood up from her chair to get help.
She went up to the shop's counter while waving her arms, showing the workers she couldn't breathe. The worker recognized what was going on, and performed the Heimlich Maneuver on the choking woman.
The food was quickly dislodged, popping right out. The woman who was choking didn't suffer any further injuries.
PrimoHoagies said it was planning on honoring the worker for her quick thinking that may have saved the customer's life. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/video-shows-nj-sub-shop-employee-save-customer-from-choking/3811689/ | 2022-08-05T07:06:53 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/video-shows-nj-sub-shop-employee-save-customer-from-choking/3811689/ |
MESA, Ariz. — Buying a new car can be exciting, but for 18 Valley residents, it turned into a nightmare after they said they lost nearly $50,000 in cash.
All the victims used the same car salesman, a man identified in police records and lawsuits as Jorge Carlos Velarde Cruz.
Velarde promised to deliver the cars within weeks, but the victims never got a car or all the money they gave him as a down payment, according to documents.
“I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt,” Angelica Cabrera said.
Cabrera, her father, and brother combined gave Velarde $10,000 in cash for two trucks and a car they wanted to buy from him in June of 2021 at their Mesa home. He gave them receipts and told them their new cars would be transported from Nevada and arrive in Arizona within a week.
“That weekend, the cars didn’t come, and he just kept saying excuse after excuse. ‘Oh, the cars are not here; they’re going to take a little longer.’ And it went like that for months,” Cabrera said.
After pressure from Cabrera and her family, Velarde returned $2,800 on August 2, but that was the last time they heard from him, according to police.
“Once two, three weeks passed by, and it was just excuse after excuse, that’s when we were like ‘okay, this guy is scamming us,’” she said.
Cabrera’s mother filed a report with the Mesa Police Department while she took to Facebook and found out her family wasn’t the only one out of their money.
18 victims
On January 25, Edna Márquez said in a Facebook post that a man who had promised to sell her a car had allegedly taken off with her $5,000 in cash. She identified the man as Jorge Carlos Velarde Cruz and included a picture of his Mexican voter ID card.
“I published it to see if anyone recognized him and would tell him to pay me back, that I needed that money for my medical expenses,” Márquez said. “I was surprised I wasn’t the only one.”
The single mother of two suffers from multiple sclerosis. Her condition worsens by the day, which requires her to see doctors multiple times a week, she said.
“My need for a car led me to make that decision and trust my friend that referred me to him,” Márquez said.
Márquez agreed to purchase a Jeep Cherokee from Velarde. Her money was at the bank, and since she didn’t have a car, Velarde allegedly volunteered to take her.
“He came to my house, and we went to the bank,” she said. “He got in line for me because I can’t stand for too long because of my condition, and I gave him the money back at my home.”
Márquez handed Velarde $5,000 in cash, and like Cabrera, she also got a receipt for her “purchase” on June 4, 2021. The Jeep Cherokee was to arrive days later, but that didn’t happen.
Velarde told her there had been problems with the freight the cars were in, and he needed more time, she said. Márquez asked for her money back.
“I told him I could wait for him, but I needed an act of good faith, and that was we go to a notary public, and he would agree to pay me back,” Márquez said. “He came, picked me up again, and we got a letter done we both signed.”
The letter reads:
“This letter informs anyone that Jorge Carlos Velarde is going to pay in cash Edna L. Marquez Flores a lump sum of $5,000 on Sunday, June 27, 2021. This is for the 2017 Jeep Cherokee ZRT Sport. In case of no payment, she has the right to proceed in legal matters.”
But Velarde never returned a dime.
“He just crossed his arms and took the money, with no care about my medical condition,” Márquez said.
So, she sued.
On January 7, 2022, a judge ruled in her favor. She published all her documents and evidence online.
“It went viral in one day,” Márquez said.
A pattern
Márquez’s social media post was shared 1,700 times and got nearly 900 comments. People shared their own stories about alleged similar encounters with a man they also identified as Jorge Carlos Velarde Cruz.
“We just haven’t been able to hear back from him or anything,” Ana Orozco said.
Orozco, her sister, and her mother gave Velarde $6,000 in cash and Orozco’s 2014 Mercedes in exchange for three vehicles they never got, according to court records.
“He would just give us excuses; he was like, ‘my son is dying,' and then it was that his mom passed away,” Orozco said. “Obviously, you end up feeling bad for him, like [maybe] life is not going your way.”
12News learned of 18 victims who lost $47,300 in cash, and two cars valued at $23,000, according to police reports.
All the victims said that Velarde gave them excuses for weeks. In messages shared with 12News, Velarde is heard saying his mom died and that she “had been sick for two days.”
In another audio message, Velarde said, “my brother had an accident last night. Thank God he’s fine.”
Orozco’s mother received a video from Velarde where he showed an infant lying in a bed. Velarde claimed it was his son who had been sick at a hospital but was “finally at home” in his bed.
“I felt bad, honestly,” Javier Bojorquez said. “He called me with a broken voice he told me his mom had died. I fell for it, and I said I’d give him time.”
Bojorquez gave Velarde $4,500 as a down payment for a truck on August 3, 2021. His last contact with him was in December after repeated excuses and no money returned.
In all cases, Velarde eventually stopped responding to all the potential buyers.
12News made multiple attempts to reach Velarde and his home via phone but were unsuccessful.
Police investigate
Mesa police launched an investigation after they received six reports of fraud involving 12 victims relating to one suspect: Jorge Carlos Velarde Cruz.
Police reports show detectives spoke to Velarde at least three times in 2021, at a police station, at his home, and via phone in September, October, and December.
In September, Velarde met an officer at a police station after a woman reported she had agreed to trade her 2015 BMW and $3,500 in cash for a 2018 Jeep Rubicon, but the salesman had not produced the car, nor had he returned her vehicle, according to records.
Police let him go, as Velarde agreed to refund the victim her cash and the money he got for selling the BMW. At the time of the report, the car had been switched to another owner, according to documents.
In October, officers responded to Velarde’s Mesa home. A woman named Maria reported she gave the salesman $7,000 for a car he never produced, and he would not pay her back.
“Jorge acknowledged having made the transaction with Maria and Jorge acknowledged that he had not provided the vehicle he promised and that he has not refunded Maria’s money,” the police report said.
Then in December, while investigating yet another report of alleged fraud involving a woman who paid $4,000 for a car, officers spoke to Velarde on the phone, and he allegedly “admitted… that it is wrong what he is doing, and that he needed to change,” according to records.
During that same phone conversation, police said Velarde “expressed remorse for his ‘wrongdoing,’” documents suggest.
While investigating, officers noted several calls of service to Velarde’s home involving fraud reports. Since different officers had responded to those calls, it wasn’t until December’s investigation that they linked the reports to the same alleged suspect.
According to records, on August 1, 2021, Velarde called the police because “there were some subjects at his residence who he owed money to, and they were refusing to leave.”
Six victims positively identified Velarde in a photo lineup as the man who they said took their money, including a woman whose civil lawsuit against Velarde is still in progress.
Mesa police submitted their case to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, which turned down the case.
Records said the agency found prosecutors “cannot prove these transactions were criminal.”
In a statement to 12News, MCAO said the case “does not meet our charging standard of a reasonable likelihood of conviction and therefore charges will not be filed at this time.”
“We recognize that the business practices of Jorge Carlos Velarde Cruz are troubling and negatively impacting members of our community. Unfortunately, the facts and evidence, in this case, do not demonstrate criminal intent that can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. This office is extremely sympathetic to those who have had dealings with this individual,” the statement read.
Another agency, the Office of Inspector General of Arizona, tells 12News they handle criminal cases involving cars, and they are willing to assist Mesa police.
12News informed Mesa police about this, and a spokesperson said they are looking into it.
“We all worked hard for that money, and it’s just not fair that someone just comes and takes your money,” Cabrera said. “He needs to stop doing that, and I want him to pay for what he’s done.”
If you had a similar experience, please contact reporter Adriana Loya at Aloya@12news.com.
Up to Speed
Catch up on the latest news and stories on the 12News YouTube channel. Subscribe today. | https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/18-valley-residents-claim-to-lose-nearly-50000-trying-to-buy-used-cars/75-7649b7c4-2a88-4925-ac02-b8f0b318d28e | 2022-08-05T07:14:17 | 0 | https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/18-valley-residents-claim-to-lose-nearly-50000-trying-to-buy-used-cars/75-7649b7c4-2a88-4925-ac02-b8f0b318d28e |
SEATTLE — For almost three weeks, people living on the 6th floor of an apartment in the Capitol Hill neighborhood say they've had little to no running water.
Management, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) and a private plumbing company are all working to resolve what's been a mysterious and frustrating problem.
Since mid-July, the 6th floor of the Belmont Court apartments in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood has had low water pressure, according to building management.
Tyler Rogers moved in right as the problem started and says some days there's no water at all.
"It's resulted in a lot of creative thinking. I'm buying water from QFC in jugs and I'm using it to fill the tank in my toilet," said Rogers.
Thursday, the pressure appeared to show some improvement. Seattle Public Utilities sent a crew to inspect the infrastructure overnight Wednesday but said it didn’t notice any problems.
"I haven't noticed a specific pattern in my water. It's sort of everyday I discover if it's a no water day or a good water day," said Rogers.
Why the water was stronger Thursday remains a mystery.
"Our crews have been onsite multiple times in the last 3 weeks to investigate, and we haven't discovered any issues with the City's water infrastructure that would be causing some residents in the building to be experiencing problems," SPU said in a statement. Crews are expected to return Friday morning.
Seattle Public Utilities and Bona Vista, who manages the property, say they're still searching for a definitive answer and hoping to have a solution possibly as soon as Friday.
Once the issue began in mid-July, management said it was reported to SPU daily. They say SPU took more than a week to initially respond, so a private plumbing company was brought in to investigate. Now the two groups are working together to find an answer to this mysterious problem.
“We have made an apartment on the fifth floor available to residents for showering, laundry, or any need they have. We have offered to pay for laundry services, the owners have agreed to terminate any affected lease without penalty, we have and will agree to any reasonable request made by a resident affected by this,” Bona Vista manager, Mike Bessenyey wrote to KING5.
Rogers said as a new resident he wasn't made aware of the building's accommodations.
"I'm thankful I have solutions like showering at work, but its tough, it sucks," said Roger.
It's a problem puzzling crews that have left tenants like Rogers in a difficult and dry spot.
"I just want water, that's all I want," said Rogers. | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/issue-causing-lack-of-water-capitol-hill-apartment-building-seattle/281-3f0c77b7-97c3-4bfd-a4c4-f0c088835310 | 2022-08-05T07:51:30 | 0 | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/issue-causing-lack-of-water-capitol-hill-apartment-building-seattle/281-3f0c77b7-97c3-4bfd-a4c4-f0c088835310 |
Former TV news anchor Kari Lake is the GOP nominee for Arizona governor.
New figures released Thursday evening show Lake with 336,153 votes compared to 316,512 for business owner Taylor Robson. That compares with a 12,000-vote lead for Lake just 24 hours earlier.
It also puts her margin at nearly 3% — large enough for Robson to concede late Thursday night that it would be impossible for her to catch up.
"The voters of Arizona have spoken,'' Robson said in a prepared statement. "I accept the result, and I trust the process and the people who administer it.''
But Robson, while saying she hopes that Republican nominees are successful in November, stopped short of an actual endorsement of Lake.
In the November general election, Lake will take on Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.
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Lake had already proclaimed herself the victor at a press conference Wednesday, even as her lead at the time was only about 10,000 votes.
She said — and it proved true — that her backers were less likely to have voted early, especially after Lake and former President Donald Trump, who endorsed her, made unsubstantiated claims about how early votes could be manipulated. The result was that the Election Night returns, which contained only the votes of those who put their ballots in the mail, favored Robson.
That lead shrank and then evaporated as counties began counting the ballots that were cast at the polls.
The latest numbers back that trend up, with Lake tallying 55,000 more votes cast at polling places than Robson. That was more than enough to trump Robson's 34,330-vote edge in early ballots.
"Though the results took longer than they should have, Arizonans who have been forgotten by the establishment just delivered a political earthquake,'' Lake said in a prepared statement Thursday evening.
But it is not unusual to not have final tallies at this point, especially in close races.
Counties also have been tallying the votes of people who got ballots by mail but chose to turn them in on Election Day, a process that takes longer because of the need to verify them. And after that they have to input provisional ballots, cast by people who showed up at the polls but whose registrations could not be immediately confirmed.
Maricopa County alone reported it still has about 96,600 ballots to be processed and tabulated. Most of those fit into the category of the 122,000 residents who turned in their early ballots on Tuesday.
There also are about 9,100 "uncured'' ballots. These are early ballots where the signature on the envelope does not match what the county has on file.
In her Wednesday victory declaration, Lake said she would welcome Robson's support as well as that of former Congressman Matt Salmon.
Salmon had also made a bid for governor but dropped out before the ballots were printed, throwing his support behind Robson. Still, the latest tally shows that nearly 28,000 people marked their ballots for him.
The Republican Governors Association congratulated Lake Thursday night on what it also called her victory. "From tackling Biden's border crisis, to standing up for law enforcement, or keeping Arizona’s economy growing, Kari is ready to fight for Arizona," the group said in a written statement, adding: "In contrast, Katie Hobbs is nothing more than a radical far-left politician whose open borders, anti-law enforcement views are completely out of step with mainstream Arizona."
Hobbs, meanwhile, said she is ready to take on Lake, calling her "dangerous for Arizona.''
"Throughout her campaign, Lake has counted Nazi sympathizers and far-right extremists as part of her coalition,'' Hobbs said in a prepared statement. "We know where she stands on the issues that matter most, vowing to ban abortion and reproductive health care, putting cameras in our children's classrooms, and wasting taxpayer money relitigating the 2020 election and manipulating future elections if she doesn't like the results."
Of note, the Republican Governors Association statement came from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, the organization's vice chair, and not from Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who chairs the organization. There was no immediate response late Thursday from Ducey, who had endorsed Robson.
Much of Lake's campaign was focused not so much on current issues as her belief that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump despite official tallies showing that Joe Biden outpolled him in Arizona by 10,457 votes.
Lake, who was an anchor on the Phoenix Fox affiliate for two decades, also contends the election system in Arizona is beset by fraud. She also claimed evidence of fraud in her own primary fight but refused to provide any evidence.
The race between Lake and Robson became a nationally watched proxy war of sorts between elements of the Republican Party.
Lake boasted of her support by Trump and his allies.
Robson was backed not only by Ducey but also by two former GOP governors, Jan Brewer and Fife Symington. She also gained the support of former Vice President Mike Pence, who provoked Trump's wrath by refusing his bid that he not certify the electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021.
Robson's campaign, her first, cost $15 million of her own money.
"This part of my life's journey has come to an end,'' Robson said in her statement. "Now, I need time to be with my family and get back to my business.'' | https://tucson.com/news/local/kari-lake-wins-gop-nomination-for-arizona-governor-robson-concedes/article_d8bd3964-1464-11ed-b3b1-3349c1048c4e.html | 2022-08-05T07:55:55 | 0 | https://tucson.com/news/local/kari-lake-wins-gop-nomination-for-arizona-governor-robson-concedes/article_d8bd3964-1464-11ed-b3b1-3349c1048c4e.html |
Ballroom's back: How a local woman brought dancing back to the Roseland Ballroom
TAUNTON — Ballroom dancing has returned to the Roseland Ballroom in Taunton.
On two recent Sundays, July 10 and 24, the renovated Roseland Ballroom hosted a pair of dances to mark the return of regularly scheduled events open to the public, the first since the ballroom closed to dancing and functions in August 2019.
Mikki Micarelli, the organizing force behind the events, says 160 people turned out for the July 10 event, and this past Sunday, July 24, a crowd of 121 dancers beat the heat by dancing the afternoon away at the Roseland. Micarelli says dances will be held the second and fourth Sunday of each month. Tickets are $15 per person.
“It went even better, far better than I expected,” Micarelli said. “I knew it would be good, but the feedback has been especially good after Sunday.”
Micarelli says the closing and loss of the Roseland Ballroom in 2019 was felt among a wide community of dancers who over the years and decades gathered and danced at a variety of venues around the state. One by one the venues disappeared, but the dancers persisted. The Roseland was one of the few remaining by the end of the last decade, and its closing left those looking for an afternoon or evening of dancing with limited options.
COVID put further strain on those remaining venues, and with the recent close of Mosley’s on the Charles in Dedham and the announcement Lombardo’s in Randolph will be closing in September 2023 — both venues hosted popular ballroom dancing nights on a regular schedule — the rebirth of Sunday afternoon events at the Roseland was welcome news and the two kickoff events highly anticipated.
“It’s being just torn down, that's another beautiful ballroom, Mosley’s,” Micarelli said. “The same group of people would go to Moseley's in Dedham on a Wednesday night, and then we'd say, see you Sunday at Roseland. Those were our two ballrooms and we'd been doing that for about 10 years or so.”
Fortunately, the announcement of Lombardo’s impending shuttering was quickly followed by word the Roseland Ballroom was reopening.
A whole new ballroom
Micarelli says it took nearly two years of working, talking, begging and planning to bring ballroom dancing back to the Roseland Ballroom, but before that, it was an unplanned visit to the old hangout lighting the spark.
In October 2019, Micarelli got word of an open house at the Happy Health Center in Taunton. She put two and two together and realized it was a familiar spot, home of the current Hong Kong City Restaurant and former Roseland Ballroom.
She had no real interest in Happy Health Center, she freely admitted, but wanted to see what was advertised as the new, renovated space. Particularly, what she was after was a peak at the old ballroom.
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“Something said to me to go. I have to go see what they’ve done,” she said.
But Micarelli was not quite prepared to see what she came to see.
“So I walked in and I'm like, oh my God, right, like, the transformation was unbelievable,” she said, recalling her initial impressions walking through the back entrance to the building and into the renovated lobby.
“And everything was fine until I walked into that ballroom… I opened up those doors and I saw that room and I said, and I even wrote it online, I literally fell to my knees because the room was so spectacular.”
Micarelli said the last time she had seen the room the windows were boarded up, it was dark, and a bit depressing. But the once boarded windows had been replaced, natural light flooded the room, which was updated in every direction.
“There was no light, the floor was a walnut color. It needed paint. It needed everything. It needed a total renovation,” Micarelli said, describing the room as she had last seen it and prior to the renovations.
“So, I'm walking into this glamorous ballroom and I'm like, oh my. And then I see a ping pong table and card tables... and I'm like are you kidding me? The room was being used for social activities, and that’s great, but it's not being utilized for its real purpose.
“Look at the size of this room. It was being used by 10 people at a time. And it bothered me and I said I gotta do something now. I can't let this sit here.”
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New look, longstanding traditions
The Roseland Ballroom has a nearly 100-year history dating back to 1924, officially. Unofficially, and according to local history, Taunton-area folks were dancing at the future site of the Roseland Ballroom long before.
The Roseland was a big stop for nationally-recognized touring bands and hosted iconic performers including Count Basie, Benny Goodman and Ella Fitzgerald, just to name three, and it was common to pack the house with 1,000 plus visitors and dancers.
“I mean, you cannot believe the groups that have played in that place,” Micarelli said.
There was a time when the historic, landmark building on Broadway was the Roseland Ballroom. Today, the ballroom is the ballroom, and the property is longtime home of the Hong Kong City restaurant, and the more recently established Happy Health Center, which offers adult day services for seniors and the elderly.
Property owner Philip Fei Pan made the commitment and investment to update the building, and give the building a new purpose and viability through the Happy Health Center.
Though Fei Pan has a deep appreciation for the building’s history, ballroom dancing was not part of the new business plan; that is, until he met Mikki Micarelli.
Micarelli says when she initially approached Fei Pan about the ballroom dancing events he was open to the idea, but not convinced. And at the time contractual details and leasing agreements surrounding the ballroom space made it all but impossible.
The situation changed soon after, and Micarelli renewed her efforts to convince Fei Pan of her plan.
He agreed in March of this year, and on Sunday appeared to be happy with the decision.
“I think this is wonderful, and very meaningful to bring this historic dancing back to Taunton," Fei Pan said. "Ballroom dancing has been the tradition for this entire building, in the early 20th century to now.
"Things change a lot. The world changes, COVID changed a lot, but the dancing, you can see right away how happy it makes these people here today. To see the happiness here today is very satisfying.”
During Sunday’s dance, Fei Pan was all smiles and even took to the stage to sing a number with the day’s band, the Ray Cavicchio Orchestra. And he said, at some point, he hopes the Happy Health Center recreation staff can incorporate dancing, in some form, into their adult day programs.
Micarelli and Sunday’s guests recognized and presented gifts of appreciation to Fei Pan, and his wife, Linda Lin, for their efforts to bring dancing back to the Roseland and host the events.
But Micarelli’s passion for dancing and Fei Pan’s commitment to serving local seniors will not be enough to sustain the every-other-week events they know, and they hope to see more dancers come to the Roseland in the weeks and months ahead.
“I think we have a good, strong base now,” Micarelli said. “We have to have 100 or more people here for each event for it to survive. But I think word is going to get out and more and more people are going to come.”
Out on the dance floor
Most of the guests at the most recent event were seniors, many seniors who’ve been dancing for a lifetime, and the dance floor was full from start to finish.
The Ray Cavicchio Orchestra provided the soundtrack on Sunday and is one of two bands contracted to perform at the twice-a-month dance events. The other, DBs Orchestra, played the July 10 event and is on tap for the first of two dances in August.
“And you don't have to know how to dance. You can simply come and hear a fantastic band play, because they are great, great bands, both of them,” Micarelli said.
For those who might want to dance just a bit, or maybe do not have a regular dancing partner, mixers, like the Miami Mixer, offer the chance to pair with a random partner from the crowd for a quick spin around the dance floor. And then get back in line to do it again.
It’s all part of the plan to get everybody involved and make sure guests have a good time with old and new friends.
“That's when all those people get up that normally don't dance too much," Micarelli said.
"It gives a chance for people that don't dance much and they get up quick, too, when that dance starts. And it usually runs 15 minutes. So it gives them 15 minutes of dancing and exercise and interaction with other people and it's a great way for them to mix and meet people and you know, it boosts them up a little bit, too. Some don’t dance much, but they do look forward to that mixer.”
For those who want to learn, Micarelli says it’s never too late. She got started dancing after watching a popular television dance show about 10 years back.
“I never danced before. I just happened to watch Dancing with the Stars one day and said I want to do that. So that's how I got it involved.”
But most of the crowd comes to dance, and there were some skilled and experienced dancers on the floor Sunday.
“There are some of those dancers that dance five nights a week. There's a percentage of those people that take dance very seriously. They have professional dancing shoes and they will travel to events in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Massachusetts.”
Lou Carabello, age 101, and Barbara Hopwood, 89, are two of the senior members of the unofficial club. Hopwood was on the floor continuously Sunday, while Carabello was mostly taking it easy and socializing with friends. But Micarelli says he was dancing up a storm well into his late nineties.
“Up until two years ago, just two years ago, he traveled six nights a week to dances — six nights a week for the last 75 or 80 years. He's been dancing forever. He is our number one trooper. He’s a fabulous dancer.”
But the main idea is to give guests a nice afternoon out. Micarelli says many of the guests are of an age where driving at night and long distances is no longer an option.
“For some of these people this is one of their only chances to get out," she said. "This is the only place that they can go on an afternoon, where they can go and dance, because all of the other facilities are at night or too far or closed.
"But there’s a lot of people in that area that can get to Roseland easily. It's very convenient. We have a lot of people come up from the Cape and that area. It's a great location.”
Micarelli and Fei Pan hope to keep the dances on the schedule for good and welcome any and all who want to dance or just check it out to swing in some Sunday. For Micarelli, one goal is to keep it going long enough to celebrate the Roseland Ballroom’s centennial anniversary in 2024.
“I’ve already talked about it on Facebook, I said, ‘just think, in two years, we're going to have a centennial party.’ We're going to have a black tie party and we're gonna have surprise guests and surprise band. I'm already planning for 2024.”
But for now, she’s just happy to be back dancing at the Roseland.
“I think that the primary reason for the reopening… well, it's twofold. Not only is it a benefit for the people that have nowhere else to go and dance, but to have this magnificent room just sitting there, renovated like that. And it was crying to me like ‘please come back.’”
Taunton Daily Gazette staff writer Jon Haglof can be reached at jhaglof@tauntongazette.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Taunton Daily Gazette today. | https://www.tauntongazette.com/story/entertainment/local/2022/08/05/roseland-ballroom-taunton-hosts-dancing-twice-month-sundays/10092060002/ | 2022-08-05T08:20:48 | 0 | https://www.tauntongazette.com/story/entertainment/local/2022/08/05/roseland-ballroom-taunton-hosts-dancing-twice-month-sundays/10092060002/ |
Monday night Fun Run in Raynham
Jon Haglof
The Taunton Daily Gazette
Taunton Daily Gazette staff writer Jon Haglof can be reached at jhaglof@tauntongazette.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Taunton Daily Gazette today. | https://www.tauntongazette.com/story/news/local/2022/08/05/colonial-road-runners-host-5-k-every-monday-night-raynham/10210634002/ | 2022-08-05T08:20:54 | 1 | https://www.tauntongazette.com/story/news/local/2022/08/05/colonial-road-runners-host-5-k-every-monday-night-raynham/10210634002/ |
This Raynham mom is fighting stage 4 breast cancer. Through it all, she's helping others.
RAYNHAM — The middle of a chemotherapy treatment might not seem like the time to worry about having a phone charger handy, but it happens, just one of an array of unexpected day-to-day challenges that come about during cancer treatment.
Since being diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2019, Raynham mother of three Jenna Lyons has learned well all the many things that might come up in the course of a full day of doctor’s appointments, waiting rooms and treatment sessions. It’s hard to know what to bring or what’s needed, and with a mix of high emotions and monotony, Lyons says it helps to have everything in order and a few favorite comfort items within easy reach.
The Little Things: Jenna’s Wish List is her way of giving a little something back after an outpouring of support from family, friends and all the many people who have offered prayers or lent a hand over the past three years. The Amazon wish list, which is posted on all her social media pages, asks for a variety of practical items like phone chargers, face masks, water bottles; comfort items like lotions, nail polish and blankets; and a few more items for keeping busy, like books, puzzles and coloring books.
What's on Jenna's Wish List?
“Just so many different things are on there that have helped me, or you know, that I know would help other people,” Lyons said.
“Even like, oh especially, the phone charger thing… the worst thing in the world is being at, you know, an eight-hour day of infusions and you forgot to plug your phone in the night before. So I have a lot of portable phone chargers to give out.”
While a water bottle is certainly practical for hydration necessities, some nail polish or lip gloss or a cozy winter cap is a bit of everyday comfort in a life largely turned upside down.
“Just simple stuff that can help you still kind of feel pretty even when you're, you know, not really feeling pretty.” The little things help, she said, and Lyons hopes providing a bag full of things that just might help will bring a moment of relief here or brighten a day there.
Donations and daily deliveries
Lyons announced the start of the campaign on July 21 and two days later the packages started arriving at the door.
“Since it started, every single day we've probably gotten at least 20 packages, at least. And some days it’s even closer to like 40,” she said. “At this point I've probably made almost 70 care packages and they include, like, really nice things. People have been so generous.”
The Amazon delivery vans began stopping three times a day, leaving multiple packages at each stop. It got to the point Jenna thought she owed the drivers an explanation… and some snacks and refreshments.
“I've been leaving a cooler out front with a sign that says, ‘we're making care packages for chemo patients. Please take as many drinks as you'd like. You'll probably be here a lot.’
“It's amazing, so it'll be like first thing in the morning and then around noon time and then again at night. So it's usually like three stops, maybe more, sometimes more, but at least three deliveries a day.”
Aside from her own experiences, Lyons, who grew up in Swansea and worked as a neo-natal nurse at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, reached out to co-workers, friends and her fairly impressive crowd of social media followers — she's got about 100,000 followers on TikTok — for suggestions for the list.
And it’s quite a list. Lyons says between some large donations and many more small donations, it’s starting to pile up and she’s been able to assemble “a wagon full” of care packages to deliver to Mass General Hospital during her next treatment on Aug. 6.
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In all, she's arranged to deliver the care packages to five area treatments centers between Boston and Providence.
Jenna's story
In April 2019, Lyons was diagnosed with stage 1B breast cancer. It was thought that doctors caught it early, but she did some digging of her own and it turned out to be a bit more complicated than the initial findings, she suspected.
“Originally, I found a tiny tumor. It turned out to be four tumors, but still, they said it was small enough that I would just need a mastectomy and I'd be done. No radiation, nothing,” Lyons said.
“But three months later I was at work and I went to my chart and I saw that they had gotten it wrong. And I knew enough, because I had done enough research that I knew that I should have been getting chemotherapy months before.”
She checked in with her doctors soon after, and they confirmed Lyons' concerns.
She was treated with a three-month course of chemotherapy late in 2019 and then another full-year course through 2020. She started the new year on a positive note, but late in 2021 during an appointment with an orthopedist for her continuing back and hip pain it was discovered the cancer had metastasized, significantly.
After months of negative scans and failing to identify the source of the back and hip pain, and nearly another miss as the orthopedist was about to prescribe a few weeks of physical therapy, the doctor ordered an MRI after watching Jenna getting up and walking out of the exam room at what they all assumed was the conclusion of the appointment.
“When he saw me walk on my way out of the office he was like "wait a second? Is that how you're always walking?" I was, like "yeah, I told you, I'm limping, it's not OK, it’s excruciating pain.’
“And so they did an MRI and I was covered in cancer. Most of it was in my pelvis and my hips and my low back, but all up my vertebrae to my neck, and then I had broken bones — my tailbone, random places in my back and then also my ribs and my collarbone… so the cancer is like pretty much everywhere from my neck to my pelvis.”
It was shocking news, but really, no surprise to Lyons.
“I thought I was good, but I always had a bad feeling because of the three months where I wasn't getting chemo and I knew the cancer cells were just floating around my body and I always kind of knew it was gonna come back, even though everyone was like ‘you're fine, you're fine.’”
Focused on family
Today, Jenna is living with and treating stage 4 breast cancer, but is focused squarely on spending time with her family: her husband, Coley, and three boys, Colton, 11, Connor, 9, and Finn, 6. They just finished summer baseball this week and headed out for a short family vacation on Monday.
Soon it will be time for football.
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Jenna says The Little Things: Jenna’s Wish List care package collection will continue for the foreseeable future and hopefully grow and become something permanent that cancer patients can count on for years to come.
“I mean, I'll never be cured of this. It's terminal, incurable and I don't know how many years I have, but I just feel like this happened to me because, I don’t know, because I am the kind of person I am and I want to give something back.
"I also want to show my kids, you know, how to be a good person and that's a lot of it too. I want them to see, you know, don't let things just take you down. Some good can come of it one way or another.”
A Go Fund Me page, Team Jenna's Breast Cancer Battle, has been set up to benefit the Lyons family.
Taunton Daily Gazette staff writer Jon Haglof can be reached at jhaglof@tauntongazette.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Taunton Daily Gazette today. | https://www.tauntongazette.com/story/news/local/2022/08/05/the-little-things-jennas-wish-list-raynham-woman-collects-items-cancer-patients-amazon-tiktok/10158233002/ | 2022-08-05T08:21:00 | 0 | https://www.tauntongazette.com/story/news/local/2022/08/05/the-little-things-jennas-wish-list-raynham-woman-collects-items-cancer-patients-amazon-tiktok/10158233002/ |
CEDAR FALLS — A faster electric vehicle charger could be installed in Cedar Falls, but the local utilities company must first find the funding.
The Level 3 direct current fast charger would give vehicles 3 to 20 miles per minute, compared with the already available Level 2 dual-port charger on West Second Street, which gives vehicles 12 to 80 miles per hour.
“Some say you could be ready to go in 10-20 minutes,” said Mike Litterer, director of customer services and business development for Cedar Falls Utilities, about the faster charger.
The cost can range from a few hundred dollars to more than a thousand dollars, and sometimes closer to $2,000.
He pointed to Iowa’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plan, adopted by the Department of Transportation a couple of days ago, and how its initial target area for national electric vehicle infrastructure funding includes the corridors along Interstates 80, 35, 29 and 380.
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These corridors were identified because they are “all important” for drivers taking long-distance trips. The millions of dollars in funding comes from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“At some point, hopefully, they’ll open it up to other areas,” Litterer said. In the meantime, CFU continues to look at other infrastructure funding opportunities.
He estimates one fast charger could cost more than $100,000, after including the transformer, electric line and other specialized infrastructure and equipment.
“Our first choice is to wait for a grant,” Litterer said.
With seasonal employees departing for school activities and already limited staff, The Falls will not be able to remain open until the previously stated date of Aug. 21.
The alternative may be to wait for a truck stop, gas station or other business to add one, he said.
In December 2019, CFU and the city jointly funded a dual-port Level 2 charger along West Second Street for the public to use after paying a fee.
It cost about $20,000 to install and, on average, a vehicle will charge for four hours.
One parking spot was designated for charging vehicles, and the city has announced plans to add a second spot adjacent to the first after seeing an increase in usage.
The first full year, 2020, saw 401 charging sessions and 2021 saw 561 sessions at the Second Street charger, Litterer said. He estimated the station has been used anywhere from two to four times per day in 2022, or up to a total of 16 to 20 hours.
“At this point, we have no plans to install another level two,” Litterer said. “We think the future is the faster charger.”
He said the Level 3 charger would benefit people passing through Cedar Falls who want to quickly charge and be on their way.
Additionally, he said, many private businesses already offer Level 2 chargers; Holiday Inn and Suites on Hudson Road has six.
Most locals already have a way to charge their electric vehicle at home, Litterer said. | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/cfu-to-look-into-installing-faster-electric-vehicle-charger-once-funding-becomes-available/article_daf9794c-4be3-5b3d-ab98-3b96a1df0e7c.html | 2022-08-05T08:48:01 | 1 | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/cfu-to-look-into-installing-faster-electric-vehicle-charger-once-funding-becomes-available/article_daf9794c-4be3-5b3d-ab98-3b96a1df0e7c.html |
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NESCOPECK, Pa. — Overnight, a deadly fire ripped through a residential neighborhood in Luzerne County.
Crews were called to a single-family home along the 700 block of 1st Street in Nescopeck around 2:30 Friday morning.
Newswatch 16's Elizabeth Worthington spoke to family members who were inside the home at the time of the fire, and they say there was a total of 10 people inside when the fire broke out.
Four of them made it out safely. Six people are unaccounted for.
Fire officials confirm that not everyone made it out safely and that this fire is deadly. They found at least one victim inside the home.
The Luzerne County coroner and state police are also on scene investigating.
There is a lot of damage left behind.
Newswatch 16 talked to a neighbor who lives across the street who said he woke up around 3 a.m. to a loud popping noise he thought was a gunshot.
"I woke up this morning, and I was downstairs watching TV, and I heard a pop. I looked outside and on the front porch. It just started, and it was already almost fully involved," said Mike Frank, a neighbor.
Neighbors tell us several people were inside at the time of the fire.
"There was a gentleman out here running around the street. He was yelling- really upset- saying not everyone made it out. Animals. I mean, there was a lot of people living in there," added Frank.
There's no word on what caused Friday morning's deadly fire in Luzerne County.
Newswatch 16's Elizabeth Worthington is on scene and will provide more details as it becomes available.
See news happening? Text our Newstip Hotline. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/at-least-one-dead-after-fire-luzerne-county-nescopeck-first-street-flames/523-6546a9cd-57ec-4c16-ab45-22f15c26810a | 2022-08-05T10:08:15 | 1 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/at-least-one-dead-after-fire-luzerne-county-nescopeck-first-street-flames/523-6546a9cd-57ec-4c16-ab45-22f15c26810a |
MONTGOMERY CO, Va. – Montgomery County school officials will be recruiting at Steppin’ Out this weekend. They’re still working to fill 56 open positions.
Some of those positions include custodians, special education teachers and aides, bus drivers and more.
School spokesperson, Brenda Drake, says they’re offering a bonus to people who are hired by Sept. 1, 2022.
As of 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4, Montgomery County needs to fill the following positions:
- German Teacher
- Literacy Coach
- Reading Specialist
- Elementary Teachers - 2
- Special Education Teachers - 3
- Assistant Superintendent of Operations
- Computer Technicians - 2
- Carpenter
- Grounds Maintenance
- HVAC Technician
- Night Custodians - 8
- Day Custodians - 2
- Fleet Technician - 1
- Bus Drivers - 4
- Bus Aides - 1
- Special Education Aides - 11
- Lunch/Recess Aides - 10
- Early Literacy Aides - 2
- Instructional Aides - 3 | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2022/08/05/montgomery-co-schools-looking-to-fill-more-than-50-positions/ | 2022-08-05T10:12:41 | 0 | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2022/08/05/montgomery-co-schools-looking-to-fill-more-than-50-positions/ |
Rents are rising across the region and tens of thousands of local residents work in occupations that on average do not pay enough for them to afford modest rental units, according to a new report and a Dayton Daily News analysis.
Wages have increased, but not as much as rents, and new affordable rental options are needed to meet the demand, which the state can help provide if it puts some of its federal rescue funds toward these types of projects, according to the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO).
“Though rising wages help, the real solution is we need more affordable housing units all across the state of Ohio,” said Amy Riegel, executive director of COHHIO. “We have to start making substantial investments in the development of affordable housing.”
The average fair market rent in the Dayton metro area is about $872 for a modest two-bedroom apartment, according to the 2022 Out of Reach report by COHHIO and the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Rents in red-hot areas like downtown Dayton are far higher than that.
Full-time workers in the area would need to earn about $16.77 per hour to afford $872 per month, without shouldering a heavy housing cost burden, the report states.
Rent is generally considered affordable if renters do not have to spend more than 30% of their gross income on housing.
But renters in the region on average earn about $16.40 per hour, the report says, and many people make less than that.
More than one-third of households in the Dayton metro area are rentals, or more than 121,500 units. The metro area consists of Montgomery, Miami and Greene counties.
A Dayton Daily News analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data found that some major occupational categories on average pay less than $16.77 per hour in the Dayton region.
This includes jobs and professions in food preparation and serving ($12.69 per hour); personal care and service ($14.80/hour); healthcare support ($15.62/hour); building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($15.78/hour); and farming, fishing and forestry ($16.33/hour).
Combined, more than 61,000 people in the Dayton region work in those occupations, and food preparation and serving is the second largest local occupation, after office and administrative support jobs.
The third largest local occupational category — sales and related occupations — has about 30,200 local workers.
While its average pay is $20.22 per hour, these occupations’ median hourly wage is $14.12.
Some experts think median wages are a more accurate way to measure compensation levels than average wages, because a small number of high-income earners can skew the numbers.
Median wages mean half of workers earn more than that amount and half earn less. In every occupational category, median wages were less than average wages.
Dayton and the surrounding area need more affordable housing, said Wesley Young, executive vice president of St. Mary Development Corp.
“Most of the existing properties are fully leased with long wait lists,” he said. “Market rate rents downtown are approaching $2,000 per month or more. Most all affordable rents are less than half that.”
A recent market study that St. Mary Development Corp. helped commission says Dayton needs more than 3,800 additional rental units in the next five years to keep up with demand.
The study says nearly half of those units need to be affordable for households earning about $37,850 or less.
The analysis also found that about 43% of renter households in Montgomery County were burdened by housing costs.
Cost-burdened households may have difficulty paying for other necessities, said Riegel.
Without access to affordable housing, some people have to double up or live in substandard units that may have health and safety issues, she said.
Some people and families who are unable to find housing within their budgets end up homeless, she said.
COHHIO, the National Low Income Housing Coalition and more than 200 other organizations and companies are urging the governor and state lawmakers to dedicate about $308 million of its $5.6 billion in federal coronavirus rescue funds toward new affordable housing.
Riegel says state leaders have been receptive to this proposal, but there is tough competition for the funds and groups have many good ideas for how to spend them.
However, Riegel said affordable housing should be a top priority, since housing stability is a cornerstone of good health that plays an important role in meeting other fundamental needs.
Research suggests affordable housing is a cost-effective strategy for reducing childhood poverty, increasing economic mobility and improving the well-being of kids and families, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Major occupations and what they pay in the Dayton metro area
SOURCE: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
About the Author | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/many-area-jobs-do-not-pay-enough-to-afford-rent-report-shows/RJHIO6ZNONEE7KYPF4RZ3PVYTE/ | 2022-08-05T10:15:29 | 0 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/many-area-jobs-do-not-pay-enough-to-afford-rent-report-shows/RJHIO6ZNONEE7KYPF4RZ3PVYTE/ |
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Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/sheila-watkos-beyonce-themed-traffic-report-catches-a-special-persons-attention/3326903/ | 2022-08-05T10:21:19 | 1 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/sheila-watkos-beyonce-themed-traffic-report-catches-a-special-persons-attention/3326903/ |
ORLANDO, Fla. – A Winter Park woman not guilty of murdering her husband in their home in January 2019 will return to court Friday to be sentenced for tampering with evidence.
Danielle Redlick, 48, was acquitted in June in the murder of her husband, UCF executive Michael Redlick. The jury, however, found her guilty of tampering with evidence.
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Redlick posted a $15,000 bond for the charge and was released from jail shortly after her acquittal on murder charges.
During the trial, Redlick said she stabbed her husband in self-defense in 2019.
State prosecutors, though, argued Redlick waited 11 hours to call 911 and said she used the time to clean the scene.
It’s not clear what punishment Redlick could face for tampering with evidence, but in Florida a defendant could face up to five years in prison, five years of probation and a $5,000 fine.
Redlick’s sentencing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the Orange County Courthouse. | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/08/05/winter-park-woman-to-be-sentenced-for-tampering-with-evidence-after-murder-acquittal/ | 2022-08-05T10:36:15 | 1 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/08/05/winter-park-woman-to-be-sentenced-for-tampering-with-evidence-after-murder-acquittal/ |
WATERLOO — Changes may be coming to downtown with a potential parking ramp and apartment units.
The City Council this week approved a purchasing rights agreement with Cause-Related Opportunity Zone Fund LLC of Charles City to acquire the city-owned parking lot to the north of the SportsPlex across Jefferson Street during the next two years.
The corporation has 24 months to make plans and present ideas to the city for the site’s redevelopment. The developer’s investment would be no less than $40 million.
The current plan is to build a parking ramp topped by residential units. The project must replace the current parking space for the SportsPlex, Young Arena, Waterloo Center for the Arts and other nearby businesses.
Noel Anderson, community planning and development director, said the opportunity will let the business explore ways to improve the parking situation and add residential opportunities.
Anderson said the city will be in talks with Main Street Waterloo about the parking situation and what the city needs. The goal, he said, is to keep parking free.
The property is part of an Opportunity Zone, a federal program in which real estate developers receive tax incentives to build in economically distressed areas, according to the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
Waterloo has three opportunity zones: the riverfront area, the downtown area and the area near La Porte Road and Crossroads Mall.
In other business, the council approved:
An amendment to the lease agreement with the Cedar Valley Youth Soccer Association for a 10-year extension and addition of land located at the soccer complex on West Ridgeway Avenue. The land was formerly the site of the John Deere Supervisors Club.
A request by Hawkeye Community College for a site plan amendment for the construction of five one-story single-family homes at Williston Field. The ordinance was before the council for a first reading but the rules were suspended to approve second and third readings as well.
A real estate purchase agreement with Union Development Holdings LLC for a 10.78-acre parcel of land near Homer Street to develop at least 150 multi-family housing units.
A $1 million grant agreement with the Otto Schoitz Foundation for the Transforming Gates and Byrnes Park project.
Awarding a $121,563 bid to Peterson Contractors Inc. of Reinbeck for the construction of the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive/Northeast Industrial Park wetland mitigation.
A $749,772 contract to K&W Electric Inc. of Cedar Falls for the Fourth Street bridge and dam lighting project..
After saying Grow Cedar Valley would not receive county funding, supervisors amended the minutes Tuesday to approve the $25,000 voted on a week earlier.
On Monday morning, the supervisors unanimously approved sending a formal letter to the Iowa Utilities Board to express its opposition to the 'Navigator Heartland Greenway' project.
With seasonal employees departing for school activities and already limited staff, The Falls will not be able to remain open until the previously stated date of Aug. 21.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors had $100,000 to allocate to six services. Grow Cedar Valley requested $50,000 and the organization received no money. | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/developer-has-two-years-to-plan-parking-ramp-residential-units-near-sportsplex/article_36d1172a-7605-5429-86b8-4bb6466273a3.html | 2022-08-05T10:41:04 | 0 | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/developer-has-two-years-to-plan-parking-ramp-residential-units-near-sportsplex/article_36d1172a-7605-5429-86b8-4bb6466273a3.html |
WATERLOO — Waterloo Leisure Services is holding a $1 open swim event at Gates Park pool on Saturday and Sunday to celebrate its legacy in the community. Open swim hours for both days will be 1-5 p.m.
The community is invited to attend in celebration of the pool's more than 40 year history. Those who have fond memories of the pool are encouraged to attend.
Ground breaking for the transformation of Gates Park is set to begin in the days following the event. Project plans will be showcased at the pool house on those afternoons including drawings of the new basketball complex, splash pad, and amphitheater. To learn more about the plans, visit the Cedar Valley SportsPlex website at cvsportsplex.org and click on the "Transforming Gates & Byrnes" tab.
A couple of hundred people attended an hour-long celebration of life ceremony for Tyler and Sarah Schmidt and their six-year-old daughter, Lula. The Cedar Falls family members were found shot to death July 22 in their tent at Maquoketa Caves State Park.
Fester’s Pub, owned by Daniel Corbett – one of the owners of Hungry Charlie’s food truck and restaurant – is taking over what was formerly known as Anton’s Volks Haus. | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/waterloo-hosting-celebration-for-gates-pool/article_bf240eb5-e303-53db-92b4-ba6992b1c27d.html | 2022-08-05T10:41:04 | 0 | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/waterloo-hosting-celebration-for-gates-pool/article_bf240eb5-e303-53db-92b4-ba6992b1c27d.html |
Ready to celebrate the upcoming 75th anniversary of the Air Force?
The 75th Air Force Anniversary Gala and dinner will be at the Dayton Arcade in downtown Dayton on the evening of Sept. 9, and about 350 tickets have been set aside for the public, organizers say.
Interested? If so, you’ll have to act fast.
The venue holds 600 people. Organizers with the Air and Space Forces Association (AFA) Wright Memorial Chapter — a nonprofit that serves Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the Air Force community and the Dayton area — have about 250 tickets reserved for VIPs and sponsors, leaving 350 for sale.
Tickets will go on sale on Aug. 9 (first come, first served) via the AFA Wright Memorial Chapter website: https://wrightmemorial.afa.org/events
Attire will be formal, and it’s a red-carpet affair. Cocktails and reception are scheduled 6 to 7 p.m. Sept. 9, with dinner following. The after-party celebration is 8:30 to 10 p.m.
Ticket prices for non-active military members and employees are $125 per person.
Established in 1947, the Air Force marks its 75th anniversary on Sept. 18, 2022.
About the Author | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/anniversary-celebration-air-force-75th-anniversary-gala-tickets-go-on-sale-tuesday/TRXU47ECRVDLPAS44NCLIQ76JM/ | 2022-08-05T10:52:56 | 0 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/anniversary-celebration-air-force-75th-anniversary-gala-tickets-go-on-sale-tuesday/TRXU47ECRVDLPAS44NCLIQ76JM/ |
Helmets to Hardhats program looks to connect Stark veterans with apprenticeships
JACKSON TWP. – Cory Hudson finished his six-year stint in the Army in 2002. He went on to find a career in carpentry.
"I served my apprenticeship and became a journeyman and from there became a foreman in the field," he said.
Still, Hudson knows the transition from military to civilian life is difficult for many service members.
"There's a lot of veterans that fall between the cracks, and they don't know some of their options," he said.
That's why Hudson has made it his mission to introduce veterans to career opportunities in construction. He recently teamed up with the Stark County Veterans Service Commission to help spread the word about Helmets to Hardhats, a national program that connects veterans with apprenticeship programs that allow them to make money while learning a trade.
Helmets to Hardhats enables veterans to gain skills and make money
Hudson, who works as a business representative for the Carpenters Local Union No. 285 in Jackson Township, said returning from active duty to normal life can be a "terrifying" experience.
"It's hard for a lot of people, depending on your circumstances," he said. "And then you tack on not really knowing what's out there."
That's where Helmets to Hardhats comes in. The program allows veterans to participate in three- to five-year training programs free of charge. Service members learn the skills they need to become construction professionals in areas such as roofing, masonry and carpentry.
Hudson said many veterans thrive in construction jobs.
"A lot of them like to work with their hands. A lot of them want to see a result at the end of the day, and they're not shy from work," he said.
The Helmets to Hardhats apprenticeship programs are regulated at the federal and state levels. That means veterans can use their G.I. Benefits to supplement their income while they are going through training.
Hudson said the carpentry program is a four-year apprenticeship that starts at the "ground-level" by teaching participants the basics of construction and then building on the skills they develop with each subsequent class.
"In between these classes, they're working and they're earning money," he said. "So by the time they get to their third year, they're ready to be out on their own typically. They get their journeyman's certificate. And at the same time, everyone in the program is offered the opportunity to continue their education and complete the apprenticeship with an associate's degree for free."
Stark County Veterans Service Commission:Fuel cards available to eligible veterans
Hudson previously served as a carpentry instructor at the Ohio Carpenters' Joint Apprenticeship and Training Program. After he moved into his current position, he was able to start sharing more about the program with veterans service commissions and at job fairs in Northeast Ohio.
He said the training center has about 1,000 apprentices, and that between 120 and 130 are veterans.
"It's only growing through word of mouth, through working with the service commission and just bridging that gap and making those relationships," Hudson said.
Jacqueline Wagner, finance manager of the Stark County Veterans Service Commission, said the agency has been working with Hudson to raise awareness for the Helmets to Hardhats program for about a year.
She said the program is excellent because it enables veterans to have income while they are learning a specific skill.
'They flourish in this environment 99% of the time.'
Hudson said veterans have one of the highest success rates in the program.
"The responsibility that they're assuming at a young age in the military, it doesn't just go away. They flourish in this environment 99% of the time," he said.
One veteran who has found success in the program is Adam Fitts of Stow.
He served in the Air Force for four years. He said a lot of veterans, including himself, struggle with figuring out what to do after they leave the military.
"A lot of (my veteran friends) didn't really know what to do, and I know a few people that kind of went down a bad path of drugs and alcohol after the service," he said.
Fitts had always enjoyed carpentry, so he decided to join the Helmets to Hardhats program. He said the program is a great avenue for veterans because there is a camaraderie among the apprentices, similar to that in the military. He also said it's rewarding to be able to create something and see the results.
"I mean it gave me purpose again," he said.
Reach Paige at 330-580-8577 or pmbennett@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @paigembenn. | https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/stark-county/2022/08/05/helmets-hardhats-program-connects-veterans-apprenticeships-stark-county-cory-hudson/10165879002/ | 2022-08-05T11:04:18 | 1 | https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/stark-county/2022/08/05/helmets-hardhats-program-connects-veterans-apprenticeships-stark-county-cory-hudson/10165879002/ |
Amy Hicks, co-owner of Amy’s Garden, helps Herb Hill at Richmond’s Birdhouse Farmers Market, held near the Randolph Community Center.
photos by ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
George Ferguson, Amy’s Garden co-owner, picks habanero peppers on the farm in Charles City County.
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
Grace Moser, with Amy's Garden, puts a price tag on Juliet tomatoes while setting up for the Birdhouse Farmers Market Tuesday, July 26, 2022.
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
Basil from Amy’s Garden is for sale at the Birdhouse Farmers Market Tuesday, July 26, 2022.
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
Amanda Faller, with Amy's Garden, sets up Community Supported Agriculture boxes for customers at the Birdhouse Farmers Market Tuesday, July 26, 2022.
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
Kate Koconis, with Amy's Garden, unloads produce as (L-R) Bella Strel and Grace Moser set up tables for the Birdhouse Farmers Market Tuesday, July 26, 2022.
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
Bella Strel, left, and Kate Koconis set up a canopy as Amy Hicks, of Amy's Garden, unloads the truck in preparation for the Birdhouse Farmers Market Tuesday, July 26, 2022.
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
(L-R) Grace Moser and Amy Hicks, co-owner of Amy's Garden, unload a table for the Birdhouse Farmers Market Tuesday, July 26, 2022.
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
Amy’s Garden produce includes potatoes and leeks.
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
“We’ve always done farmers markets,” said Amy Hicks. “It gives us that connection with a customer.”
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
(L-R) Grace Moser (left) and Carolina Valverde, Amy’s Garden employees, work at the Williamsburg Farmers Market.
Amy Hicks and her husband, George Ferguson, have been farming together for nearly 30 years.
They live in a small house on their 140-acre farm in Charles City County, and spend seven days a week farming.
“We really just want people to eat more vegetables,” Hicks said.
As the only organic farmers in the Williamsburg area, their produce and cut flowers have been a mainstay at the Williamsburg Farmers Market for 20 years. Every weekend, Hicks and Ferguson set up rows upon rows of colorful vegetables. They sell about 20 varieties of peppers, and 30 to 40 types of flowers.
The organic farm operation began as a garden in the backyard of their Westover Hills home in 1995. They grew the produce for themselves, and eventually started selling it to Ellwood Thompson’s, an independent Richmond grocer.
The couple moved to New Kent County in 1998 and started a small farm on a few acres of land.
Hicks, who has a degree in art history, worked in restaurants as a server and manager before quitting in 2000 to work on the farm full time. Ferguson quit his contracting job in 2002, and the couple went all in on the farming business.
In 2002, the Williamsburg Farmers Market started up and the Amy’s Garden business built up from there. Many of the couple’s first customers still buy their organic produce at the market every weekend.
“We’ve always done farmers markets. We really set out that that was going to be our way to do it versus wholesale,” Hicks said. “It gives us that connection with a customer. I like being able to talk to the end user of our product every week.”
In addition to co-owners Hicks and Ferguson, there are four full-time workers who return to the farm each year. From April through October, they live in a house on the farm and work through an H-2A visa, which allows foreign national workers into the United States for temporary agricultural work.
“It’s a godsend for us,” Hicks said. ”I’ve got a trained workforce who can return every year because this is a seasonal job.”
There are also four women who work part time. A few are students at the College of William & Mary who study agriculture.
Kate Koconis, who works four days a week, has worked on the farm for 10 years.
“I guess you could call it an alternative lifestyle, but it’s very enjoyable. I don’t think I would have stayed for 10 years if I didn’t like it,” Koconis said. “Throughout the seasons, things change so much that there’s enough diversity and stuff to do that once you’re sick of cutting zinnias, the zinnias are gone and you’re onto something different.”
Each day, Koconis brings her toddler to the farm with her. He runs through rows of flowers and trucks around with Hicks most days.
“He’s definitely getting a unique experience compared to other children learning where food comes from and how it grows,” she said.
Organic farming
Hicks said she never considered conventional farming.
“It never made sense to me to do anything except organic,” she said. “I’m going to eat it, so I’m not going to put anything weird on it.”
At the end of every June, a bug comes for kale. So instead of doing what other farms do and try to kill those bugs, they just stop growing kale at the end of June at Amy’s Garden.
“We don’t try to fight mother nature.”
On the 140-acre farm, only 10-12 acres are cultivated in vegetables and flowers. The rest are fields, wild areas, pollinator habitats or “cover crops,” which are crops that aren’t harvested and are used only to enhance the soil by adding nitrogen or organic matter.
The farm keeps wild “pollinator habitats” to attract good bugs, and for monarch butterflies. The good bugs combat the bad bugs, Hicks said. It’s all part of the cycle.
Whenever milkweed pops up somewhere on the farm, everyone leaves the plants be and avoids planting around them, so the endangered monarchs can have a nice place to live. The young caterpillars need milkweed to survive.
Some rows of flowers that don’t work well as cut flowers, such as the Mexican sunflowers, aren’t sold. Rather, they’re planted to be something nice to look at, and for the bees. Walking through rows of crops and flowers, it’s easy to spot bees with pollen all over their back legs or a butterfly drinking nectar.
The bees are needed to help pollinate the other crops, so all the parts work together to create the farm that produces an abundance of produce each week.
The system has worked well enough to grow organic produce for Virginians for more than 20 years, and there’s no sign of it slowing down anytime soon.
“Work never ends and it becomes your lifestyle. It is really hard,” Hicks said. “But it’s rewarding to grow really, really tasty food that people come back for every week.”
PHOTOS: Amy's Garden, USDA Certified Organic for 22 years
Kate Koconis, with Amy's Garden, unloads produce as (L-R) Bella Strel and Grace Moser set up tables for the Birdhouse Farmers Market Tuesday, July 26, 2022.
Bella Strel, left, and Kate Koconis set up a canopy as Amy Hicks, of Amy's Garden, unloads the truck in preparation for the Birdhouse Farmers Market Tuesday, July 26, 2022. | https://richmond.com/business/local/amys-garden-provides-central-virginia-with-organic-produce-for-more-than-20-years/article_95f30602-4c96-54a4-80c4-8e3becb76153.html | 2022-08-05T11:33:39 | 0 | https://richmond.com/business/local/amys-garden-provides-central-virginia-with-organic-produce-for-more-than-20-years/article_95f30602-4c96-54a4-80c4-8e3becb76153.html |
100 years ago
Aug. 5, 1922: The Chicago & Alton management had decided to obey the recent decision of the United States railroad labor board, reducing the scale of pay for all track laborers and common laborers in the maintenance of way department and in all shops and roundhouses, by 5 cents per hour effective Aug. 1.
75 years ago
Aug. 5, 1947: Declaring that the Bloomington Belt Line is the most serious traffic hazard in Central Illinois, Hollis O. Frey, chairman of the Kiwanis Club Safety Committee, is asking the governor to investigate. Figures showed 14% of accidents reported to the sheriff's office from 1945-47 took place at three belt Line intersections.
50 years ago
Aug. 5, 1972: Whether McLean County taxpayers should continue to subsidize a state headquarters for the American Legion in Bloomington, as they have done for the past 50 years, seems due for the next McLean County Board meeting. The county owns the property.
25 years ago
Aug. 5, 1997: The next time you think you can't do something because you're too old, too young, too weak or too afraid, think about Mary and Jerry Parsons. At the tender ages of 83 and 79, respectively, the Bloomington couple went hang-gliding for the first time, soaring at 2,100 feet above the ground.
Compiled by Pantagraph staff | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/history/25-years-ago-bloomington-seniors-try-hang-gliding/article_decc9942-0bb0-11ed-9b07-13f4966848e8.html | 2022-08-05T11:38:37 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/history/25-years-ago-bloomington-seniors-try-hang-gliding/article_decc9942-0bb0-11ed-9b07-13f4966848e8.html |
An East Meadow man is in custody after cops say he went on a bizarre spree this week with a brick, smashing windows on 27 cars.
Nassau County Police responded to a 911 call Thursday morning for a man throwing bricks through car windows on East Meadow Avenue. After a brief search they arrested Tejinder Singh, 28, without incident.
Cops subsequently determined that Singh had allegedly damaged 25 cars Thursday morning, as well as one car on Aug. 1 and another Aug. 2.
He faces 27 counts of criminal mischief in the third degree and is due to be arraigned Friday.
Copyright NBC New York | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/window-smasher-allegedly-hit-27-cars-with-bricks-on-long-island-cops-say/3811861/ | 2022-08-05T11:40:33 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/window-smasher-allegedly-hit-27-cars-with-bricks-on-long-island-cops-say/3811861/ |
A 13-year-old girl visiting New York City with her parents was assaulted Tuesday afternoon in the Theater District near Times Square, and cops are hunting for a suspect caught on surveillance cameras.
The attack happened just after 2 p.m. Tuesday in the 700 block of Eighth Avenue, just off 47th Street. Cops say the girl was with her family when the unidentified assailant touched her private parts as he walked by, before fleeing up 48th Street.
The young victim was not hospitalized, police said.
Surveillance photos released by the NYPD show a man in a blue T-shirt and jeans with thinning gray hair in a distinctive top-knot.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit tips on the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/teen-tourist-groped-near-times-square-suspect-on-the-loose/3811882/ | 2022-08-05T11:40:39 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/teen-tourist-groped-near-times-square-suspect-on-the-loose/3811882/ |
Beachgoers, be cautious: Water advisory issued for parts of Rehoboth, Bethany, Dewey Beach
The state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is advising beachgoers to use caution and avoid prolonged periods in the water on Friday after test samples came back with elevated levels of bacteria at three different Delaware beaches.
After routinely testing the water at public beaches, the department issued a recreational water advisory late in the day on Thursday. The areas affected include Rehoboth Beach from Baltimore Avenue to Stockley Street, Dewey Beach from Dagsworthy Street to Collins Avenue, and Bethany Beach at Garfield Parkway.
These beaches remain open to visitors, all three towns confirmed in separate press releases Thursday night.
The advisory is expected to last through Friday afternoon, according to Rehoboth Beach spokesperson Lynne Coan. After DNREC takes daily samples, the advisory may be updated or lifted.
The elevated bacteria levels are likely due to wildlife feeding near the surf, according to DNREC.
PREVIOUS ADVISORY:Water advisory at Rehoboth Beach lifted Friday
Those little reddish-orange creatures called “sea angels” or “sea butterflies” that people have been noticing along the beach? DNREC says those, as well as high concentrations of baitfish, create more potential food sources that can increase the likelihood of wildlife coming closer into the surf zone.
The department has also previously said that increased rainfall and waves near the shoreline can add to more bacteria in swimming areas.
SEA BUTTERFLY:Naked sea butterfly are washing up on Eastern Shore beaches. What is it?
This is the second water advisory that DNREC has issued recently due to elevated bacteria levels in Rehoboth Beach. The last advisory happened on July 28 when the department noted increased levels of an indicator bacteria known as Enterococci.
This bacteria, which live in the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "are indicators of the presence of fecal material in water."
Enterococci themselves are not typically harmful to humans, but they can indicate other bacteria, viruses and protozoa that cause diseases are also present in the water, according to the EPA.
Reporter Shannon Marvel McNaught contributed to this report.
Emily Lytle covers Sussex County from the inland towns to the beaches, with a focus on health-related issues. Got a story she should tell? Contact her at elytle@delmarvanow.com or 302-332-0370. Follow her on Twitter at @emily3lytle. | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2022/08/05/delaware-beaches-water-advisory-rehoboth-beach-dewey-bethany/65392844007/ | 2022-08-05T11:42:46 | 0 | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2022/08/05/delaware-beaches-water-advisory-rehoboth-beach-dewey-bethany/65392844007/ |
ATLANTIC CITY — Paula Lunengas never imagined she’d be standing in line for food at the Bangladesh Community Center, but after much of her family died from COVID during the pandemic, she’ll take any of the help she can get to alleviate her woes.
Lunengas, who lives in Chelsea where the center is located, said she lost cousins, uncles, aunts and others to the pandemic, but a little more than a year ago when her husband lost his battle with COVID-19, things really got bad.
She said paying bills and keeping her household of four afloat has been challenging to do by herself.
“What they give for social security isn’t enough,” said Lunengas, 64. “It’s just enough to pay for the mortgage and bills, but ever since my husband passed, mostly everything is going towards the mortgage. That’s why I’m here.”
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Lunengas, along with at least 30 other people, stood outside the Bangladesh Community Center on Fairmont Avenue in Thursday morning’s heat, patiently waiting for the food distribution to begin.
“Everybody can come,” said president of the Bangladesh Association of Atlantic County, Mohammed Islam, who has been conducting the food distribution at the center for about three and a half years now. “We want to make sure that not just this community, but all of Atlantic City gets their fair share.”
Islam said about 200 to 400 people come out each week to seek aid for themselves or their families. He estimates that in turn, thousands of children, spouses and family members with food insecurities are given a little relief.
The weekly food distribution is hosted by the Bangladesh Association of Atlantic County in partnership with several organizations. The food distribution varies from week to week. Often different organizations such as Atlantic City’s Multicultural Affairs and Services are on hand to help residents fill out paperwork and gain access to social services whenever they can.
The Atlantic County Sherriff’s Office also participates weekly to help people in the diverse Chelsea community get services they need.
“The system is difficult to navigate mainly because of the language barrier,” said Chief Warrant Officer Timothy Reed of the Atlantic County Sherriff’s Office.
The Atlantic County Sherriff’s Office has community healthcare workers at the food distribution every week to assist residents not only with access to healthy food, but also with other social services, COVID-19 vaccinations, education and services under the Sherriff’s Office new Hope Exists program.
The program helps people in underserved and hard-to-reach communities get access to COVID-related services, including vaccinations, booster shots and necessary health screenings. The program also targets people who are particularly at-risk of dying from COVID due to underlying health concerns like obesity and diabetes, helping them to reduce their risks for severe COVID by providing them with access and information on services, helping them fill out paperwork and translating important health documents.
Other organizations like South Jersey Family Medical volunteers and Rowan University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine students occasionally offer COVID vaccinations and booster shots, provide routine medical screenings like blood pressure checks.
About 20 interns and volunteers from the Bangladesh Association of Atlantic County, South Jersey Family Medical, Rowan University and the Atlantic County’s Sherriff’s Office help out at the community center.
“We have every culture here, so with our weekly outreach we’ve built connections with the community,” said Catherine Biglan, one of the community health workers in the Hope Exists program. “We see them every week, so now people feel comfortable asking for our help.”
Biglan said the connection they’ve built with the community has allowed residents to feel comfortable asking volunteers at the food distribution for help getting vaccinated, transportation to doctor’s appointments, getting medication, and more.
Hope Exists, along with the Bangladesh Community Center and the Bangladesh Association of Atlantic County also deliver food to residents who cannot get to the event, but reach out for help.
The Community FoodBank of New Jersey provides the weekly food distribution with foods like rice, pasta, milk, and many other goods.
This was Lunengas’ second time at the Bangladesh Center’s weekly food distribution.
“The food helps a lot,” said Lunengas referring to feeding her family, which includes her daughter, son and granddaughter, Ailena, 4, since getting food at the center is easier to get than access to Medicaid, food stamps and other welfare programs. “When I don’t have little things like vegetables, fruit or milk for my girl, I come here.”
It was David Quintero’s first time at the Bangladesh Community Center’s food distribution event. The last time he tried to get assistance, he was late and missed out.
“The economic situation for everyone is difficult right now,” said Quintero, who decided to come on his day off from cleaning hotel rooms at the Claridge to get food assistance for his wife and two kids.
He said he decided to come to the food bank figuring if he saved on food, he would have more money for other things like paying his gas bill, since he has to pay more for air conditioning in the summertime.
“Everything’s going up. Gas is going up, food is going up. This shows how difficult everyone’s situation is,” said Quintero as he referred to the line of people waiting for help Thursday morning. “I just hope what they give me is enough.”
The Bangladesh Community Center and Bangladesh Association of Atlantic County provide several community outreach events to help residents in need, but the food distribution at the community center is every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“The little bit of help I can get is nice,” said Lunengas. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/weekly-food-distribution-at-bangladesh-community-center-feeds-neighborhood/article_41e614ee-1413-11ed-b0c9-bf7da4b29a64.html | 2022-08-05T11:43:45 | 0 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/weekly-food-distribution-at-bangladesh-community-center-feeds-neighborhood/article_41e614ee-1413-11ed-b0c9-bf7da4b29a64.html |
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Inside the sprawling H-E-B plus! store at U.S. 281 and Evans Road, customers browse colorful throw pillows, rugs, vases, frames, chairs, ottomans, doormats and bundles of dried lavender.
Mirrors and wall hangings are displayed near table linens, lamps and plant holders below a sign that reads: “Welcome to your happy place.”
The new department, dubbed Home by H-E-B, is one of the San Antonio-based grocer’s latest moves to grow its business. While adding store locations — which it’s doing as it pushes into the Dallas-Fort Worth area — is a key avenue to growth, in mature markets like San Antonio, growth can require something new.
“Integrating higher-margin categories like home into the mix allows H-E-B to plump up profits without stepping too far out” of its geographic footprint, said Carol Spieckerman, president of retail advisory firm Spieckerman Retail, based in Bentonville, Ark. “Retailers like Walmart and Target use grocery as a traffic-driving lure that translates to sales in more profitable categories. Grocers like H-E-B can reverse that game by layering on non-grocery categories.”
The strategy is not new. Supermarket chains such as Iowa-based Hy-Vee, Ohio-based Kroger and others have experimented with new formats that add home goods, apparel and even fitness equipment. They know expansion into such non food categories provides a means for increasing traffic, sales and profits.
H-E-B this year is pushing into the home goods segment. After launching the Home by H-E-B concept in April at its Walnut Avenue store in New Braunfels, the company has since expanded it to four other stores, in San Antonio, Brownsville, Burleson and Corpus Christi.
It plans to add it to about 27 stores across the state this year, including new stores in Frisco and Plano.
Two years of planning
Home by H-E-B has been in the works for nearly two years, said Sabina Israelian-Garcia, the company’s group vice president of general merchandise, drug store and beauty.
“We’re always looking at new categories and always making sure that we’re putting the best in front of our consumers,” she said.
At its store in San Antonio, the roughly 2,500-square-foot section within the 130,000-square-foot store includes more than 500 items and is among the largest Home by H-E-B departments.
It includes two brands: Haven + Key and Texas Proud. The former includes furniture, accent pieces and home textiles, and the latter features items made by Texas-based artisans and businesses, such as leather goods from Lucio Tailoring Co. in San Antonio.
The company is known for tailoring its stores to their surrounding areas, and the home department will be no different, Israelian-Garcia said.
Beyond local connections, H-E-B has long capitalized on the wellspring of Texas pride, and its foray into home decor reflects that — wall art is emblazoned with the state flag, longhorn throw pillows are lettered with “Howdy,” and a display features “God bless Texas” signs.
“From a product perspective and a brand perspective, we will continue to innovate and evolve as time goes on, so customers can expect continued freshness of products over time,” Israelian-Garcia said.
Why it makes sense
In the San Antonio area, where the company last opened a new store in 2020, H-E-B’s expansion into non food categories are necessary for increasing sales and profits, retail experts said. It and other grocers are facing more competition in an industry with razor-thin margins and must move beyond traditional grocery items to grow.
“Margins on nonfood, including homewares, are much better and can bolster H-E-B’s profits,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of the retail division at London-based data analytics and consulting company GlobalData.
“If the offer is good, adding home products can help boost sales as shoppers will explore the range as they do their grocery (shopping) and will probably buy things on impulse,” Saunders said.
Amid high gasoline prices, it’s also important to customers to get more of their shopping done at a single store — “offering yet another rationale for category expansion,” said Spieckerman, the Arkansas-based consultant.
Another factor in diversification is that H-E-B has large stores, providing it with room to test various concepts, said Venky Shankar, director of research at Texas A&M University’s Center for Retailing Studies.
“They have the space, and post-pandemic when people want to indulge in looking around, why not try a few concepts?” he said.
While H-E-B has built a loyal following in part by emphasizing its Texas ties through its product assortments, competitors such as Walmart and Target are not nearly as proficient at that, said Jon Hauptman, senior director of e-commerce at Inmar Intelligence, a retail analytics company in Winston-Salem, N.C.
“They’ve built their entire business on appealing to local tastes and local needs,” Hauptman said.
But new product lines come with new challenges. Managing housewares and decor involves a different business model than managing groceries, Hauptman added.
The speed at which an item is put on a shelf and purchased is much longer for nonfood items, and higher gross margins are necessary to offset higher costs of bringing in and handling those items, he said.
“By bringing in the right people to do it and dedicating the resources and space in the store, it is possible to do it very well,” Hauptman said. “But it’s not easy.”
H-E-B’s other efforts
H-E-B has experimented with other departments inside its stores.
Along with Home by H-E-B, the store at U.S. 281 and Evans includes nearly 4,000 square feet devoted to beauty items.
The company added the department in 2019. It includes cosmetics, hair products and skin care, along with test stations and an interactive screen where customers can pose for photos.
The store also has H-E-B’s first two-story True Texas BBQ restaurant, which provides another stream of customers who may come for a bite and stay to pick up groceries.
It also has small shops at some of its stores: Mia’s Mirror, Bonita Brows Bar, Diamond Decks and River City Flooring.
And the company is pursuing other avenues to boost its bottom line.
H-E-B is opening more health clinics, which offer primary care, nutrition and pharmacy services, and physical therapy.
In May, it added its first clinic in Austin after opening locations in San Antonio and Houston, and said it “plans on rapidly expanding throughout Texas with both primary care and nutrition services over the next few years.”
The clinic openings are reflective of “retailers’ pushes into solutions and services, particularly in health and wellness,” Spieckerman said.
Also in Austin, H-E-B’s Central Market in April opened what it calls a “meatless butcher,” the company’s response to increasing demand for plant-based foods. If it works there, it could be rolled out to H-E-B’s other stores.
The company is also investing in curbside and delivery services by building more facilities and devoting more square footage within its stores to stocking and preparing orders.
“Convenience is another major expansion area for retailers,” and curbside and delivery services “add to H-E-B’s convenience arsenal,” Spieckerman said.
Such moves are important as competition keeps growing for online shoppers. In recent days, for example, Kroger has re-entered San Antonio with a delivery-only service.
H-E-B opened an e-commerce fulfillment center in Leander in mid-July, the fifth it has constructed since 2018. The company plans to add more such facilities across Texas, including in Plano, as it pushes into the Dallas-Fort Worth market with its first namesake stores.
It has operated its upscale Central Market stores in North Texas since 2001 but not H-E-B stores. Its namesake stores in Frisco and Plano are scheduled to open later this year, and two others under construction in McKinney and Allen are slated to be finished next summer.
H-E-B also continues to expand in its existing markets, including in the San Antonio area. New stores in Cibolo and near Fair Oaks Ranch are in the works.
madison.iszler@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/H-E-B-homes-in-on-growth-San-Antonio-retailer-17352904.php | 2022-08-05T11:50:19 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/H-E-B-homes-in-on-growth-San-Antonio-retailer-17352904.php |
San Antonio-based pipeline and terminal operator NuStar Energy L.P. reported a slight decline in second quarter profit, but the company reduced its debt and saw record-breaking amounts of crude oil flow through its Permian pipeline network.
NuStar posted adjusted profit of $57.6 million, or 19 cents per unit, in the three months ending June 30. That was down 9 percent from a year ago.
Over the past year, NuStar has sold eight storage terminals on the East Coast and one in Nova Scotia, resulting in lower earnings than a year ago, when the company still had those terminals in its portfolio. The company sold the storage terminals for more than $300 million and used the proceeds to pay down debt.
Revenue increased slightly to $430 million from $427 million. Its results were largely in line with Wall Street analysts’ expectations.
NuStar said it had debt of $3.18 billion at the end of June, down from $3.49 billion at the same time last year.
“We are pleased that our recent divestitures have enabled us to continue to move toward our stated goal of significantly improving our debt metrics and building our financial strength and flexibility,” President and CEO Brad Barron said in a statement.
The total throughput — or daily volume of fuel flowing through a pipeline — of NuStar’s 10,000-mile pipeline system declined nearly 3 percent from last year to 1.8 million barrels of crude oil and refined products. It attributed the decline to operational issues at customer refineries.
Still, NuStar’s Permian crude oil pipeline system handled a record 522,000 barrels per day, an increase of 16 percent from the same period last year.
The company’s pipeline business generated income of $101 million, up from $96.5 million a year ago.
“While overall U.S. oil production has faced supply chain and other challenges this year, our top-tier Permian producers have continued to successfully execute on their drilling plans,” Barron said.
NuStar’s storage terminals saw throughput of 396,000 barrels per day, a nearly 3 percent increase from last year. Income from the segment fell to $31.2 million from $46.2 million.
On the West Coast, NuStar operates an extensive pipeline network delivering low-carbon fuels such as renewable diesel and ethanol. The company recently expanded its ability to store and transport cleaner fuels, which “should further solidify the significant role that NuStar plays in facilitating California’s transition to low-carbon renewable fuels,” NuStar said.
It currently handles 87 percent of California’s sustainable aviation fuel, 21 percent of its renewable diesel and 13 percent of its ethanol.
The company declared a quarterly cash distribution of 40 cents per unit. NuStar’s distributed cash flow this quarter was $83 million, down 15 percent.
On Thursday, stock analysts at Wells Fargo and Barclays both set price targets of $18 per NuStar share.
NuStar shares closed Thursday at $14.89, down nearly 6 percent from Wednesday’s close.
diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/San-Antonio-s-NuStar-Energy-chips-away-at-debt-17351800.php | 2022-08-05T11:50:26 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/San-Antonio-s-NuStar-Energy-chips-away-at-debt-17351800.php |
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The owners of SeaWorld San Antonio, Aquatica and Schlitterbahn reported record-breaking financial results in the second quarter as visitors spent more at their parks.
But both companies are struggling with attendance that remains below pre-pandemic levels and rising costs.
SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., which owns its namesake park and Aquatica in San Antonio, reported record revenue of $504.8 million, up 14.8 percent from the same period last year and up 24.3 percent from 2019.
The Orlando, Fla.-based company reported profit of $116.6 million, or $1.62 a share, the second-highest second quarter total in its history. That was down from $127.8 million, or $1.59 a share, a year ago but up from $52.7 million, or 64 cents a share, in the pre-pandemic period three years earlier.
“While our second quarter ... results were strong, these results still do not reflect a normalized operating environment and we still have significant scope to improve our execution and our financial results,” CEO Marc Swanson said.
SeaWorld said 6.3 million guests visited its parks during the three months ended June 30, up 7.8 percent from 2021 but down 3.1 percent from 2019. Traffic from groups and international visitors is improving but has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels, he said.
Still, park visitors are spending more than prepandemic because of higher ticket, retail and food and beverage prices. In-park per capita spending increased nearly 33 percent from 2019’s second quarter. SeaWorld’s annual passholder base was up by about 20 percent last month from July 2019.
Admission per capita — admissions revenue divided by attendance — and visitors’ spending at SeaWorld’s parks reached record levels.
Inflation is also affecting costs and hiring employees amid a tight labor market remains a challenge.
The company does not break out individual attendance figures for its 12 parks.
Swanson said he expects the company’s Halloween events to provide a boost this fall.
Schlitterbahn owner
Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., which owns Schlitterbahn water parks in New Braunfels and Galveston, also reported record results.
The Sandusky, Ohio,-based company reported a record $509 million in revenue, up 127 percent from second-quarter 2021 and up 17 percent from pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
“I’ve never had more confidence in our business than I do right now,” said President and CEO Richard Zimmerman.
Cedar Fair reported profit of $51 million in the three months ended June 26, or 89 cents per diluted L.P. unit. That compared with a loss of $59 million a year earlier, or $1.04 per diluted L.P. unit, and profit of $63 million three years earlier, or $1.11 per unit.
The company said 7.8 million guests visited its parks in the second quarter, up 4.4 million from 2021 but down 654,000 from 2019.
Cedar Fair also said record spending by visitors to its 13 properties boosted results.
madison.iszler@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/SeaWorld-San-Antonio-Schlitterbahn-owners-report-17351238.php | 2022-08-05T11:50:32 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/SeaWorld-San-Antonio-Schlitterbahn-owners-report-17351238.php |
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By Thursday afternoon, firefighters appeared to have the upper hand over the 1,459-acre Big Sky Fire north of Fredericksburg, more than two days after the wildfire broke out.
Authorities estimated fire crews had contained about 60 percent of the blaze, which had been driven by wind and fueled by parched grasses and brush.
In a news release, Fredericksburg officials blamed the wildfire — which started eight miles north of the picturesque Hill Country town on Tuesday at about noon — on “mechanical malfunction on a piece of equipment.” It was unclear what kind of equipment they were referring to or who was operating it.
The fire did not destroy any homes, and 40 residents who evacuated on Tuesday the area returned to their homes the following day.
The nearby Enchanted Rock State Natural Area and Pedernales Falls State Park, both of which had been closed because of the blaze, reopened Thursday.
About 80 firefighters remained on the ground Thursday.
A near-historic drought and whipping, 20- to 30-mph winds factored into the fire’s speed and intensity. Nearly two-thirds of Texas faces the same wildfire threat as the Fredericksburg area, said Robert Edmonson, a Texas A&M Forest Service biologist.
“Pretty much draw a line from I-35 west,” Edmonson said. It’s a “tinderbox, absolute tinderbox.”
Drought conditions are expected to continue until at least September. Rain, and lots of it, would be needed to lessen the danger wildfires pose.
Jason Runyen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the area would need about a foot of precipitation to catch up with the average rainfall for the year. Even as temperatures drop heading into the fall, dry grasses, brush and dead trees will remain extremely flammable without rain.
Edmonson said a wildfire can start from numerous sources — such as welding, vehicles dragging chains or outdoor grilling.
“It just takes a spark to start these fires,” Edmonson said. “We’ve got a lot of fuel, and we’ve got the absolute perfect conditions for wildfire right now.”
Edmonson said last year’s unprecedented wet season spurred vegetation growth across the region, providing even more fuel. These conditions are becoming more regular in the Hill Country, Edmonson said, as “below-average precipitation” periods become longer and are broken up by harsher downpours.
Those rains “tend to be big storms and catastrophic things,” Edmonson said. “Basically, what I tell folks out here in the Hill Country: It’s perpetual drought interrupted by occasional flash floods.”
A wet season preceded a comparably harsh drought in 2011, Runyen said, so the Hill Country can expect similar patterns in the future.
“It’s cyclical,” he said. “We’ll eventually break out of the drought and fire activity will subside, and we’ll get new fuel growth and go back into a drought.”
ricardo.delgado@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Big-Sky-wildfire-update-Texas-17352877.php | 2022-08-05T11:51:46 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Big-Sky-wildfire-update-Texas-17352877.php |
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A jury convicted a San Antonio man for fatally shooting his girlfriend in 2020 and leaving her body in a pool of blood to be found the next morning by the couple’s young children — then sentenced him to 50 years in prison the same day.
Jurors took a little more than two hours to find Jorge Izquierdo, 31, guilty of murder Thursday. Supporters of the defendant and the victim erupted in tears at the verdict. The jury took less than two hours to decide the sentence.
Izquierdo could have received life in prison for shooting Cora Nickel, 27, his on-and-off girlfriend, on Aug. 20, 2020, at her duplex in the 8900 block of Maverick Draw on the Northwest Side.
He took the stand after the verdict to testify in the sentencing phase of the trial, telling Nickel’s mother, Lynette Robinson, who was in the audience, “I’m sorry for your loss and give my condolences.”
Prosecutor Kristen Mullinar rose, leaning forward in her chair to ask, “Do you take responsibility for shooting her in the head?”
“That’s not what happened, so I’m not agreeing with that,” Izquierdo replied in an even tone. “I don’t remember everything that happened that night.”
A large man in black glasses, he went on to ask for leniency from the jury and said he was writing letters to his two girls every month. He has not been allowed to have any contact with them while in custody.
Robinson called San Antonio police to the house on the morning of Aug. 20, 2020, after finding her body. She had received a text from her granddaughters, then 8 and 5, that said, “Something’s happened, there’s red stuff all over the floor. I think mom is dead.”
Investigators found no weapon at the scene. Izquierdo’s car was parked in Nickel’s driveway, and his car keys were located near the backyard fence, but he was not there.
A few days later, Izquierdo, then 29, was arrested in California.
Arguing for a guilty verdict, prosecutors Mulliner and Oscar Peña said Izquierdo fled after shooting his girlfriend in the head while holding her over a sink as their two daughters were upstairs asleep.
The girls, now 10 and 7, testified earlier this week and “said on the stand everything that they told police,” Peña said — that their parents argued, “she was yelling at him to leave,” but he refused to go.
Defense attorneys Jennifer Zarka and Sean Simpson argued that prosecutors delivered nothing but circumstantial evidence. They implied that Nickel committed suicide and that Izqueirdo reacted the way he did because he was traumatized.
“Nobody wins in this case,” Simpson told the jury. “This is terrible. Guilty will not bring Cora back.”
He criticized the police investigation, suggesting that investigators and officers did not properly secure the scene and could have left behind other evidence.
Peña reminded the panel that experts testified that gunshot residue found on the victim’s hands was not unusual when a gun was in close proximity but not necessarily being held, and that the Bexar County medical examiner ruled the cause of death a homicide, not a suicide.
Zarka said there were too many unknowns for the jury to come back with a guilty verdict.
“Jorge and Cora had a relationship some say was toxic; they had two children together; we know they argued, and their kids, family and friends said it was not unusual,” she told the panel.
In her closing statement before the guilty verdict, Mulliner noted Izquierdo left “the kids in the house to find their dead mom for 10 hours, and didn’t come back. Everything he did, he did to save his own skin.”
“He didn’t answer calls or texts from his kids, from his mom, from his best friend,” Mulliner said.
In the sentencing testimony, relatives of Izquierdo said he was supportive of their dreams and always stood up for an older male cousin who was bullied in the neighborhood for being gay.
“My cousin probably knew I was different,” said the cousin, as family members wiped their eyes. “But Junior would protect me even though I was the older one. And he would do it (when I was not there) so that I would not be ashamed. I loved him for that.”
Zarka asked the six men and six women of the jury to give Izquierdo the lower end of the sentencing scale.
“He’s not a lost cause. He’s not a monster,” she said. “It’s a tragic event and he is so sorry that Cora is gone.”
Once again, Mulliner had little patience for sentimentality.
“I want you to think about what he destroyed. … Why would you give him leniency?” she said to the jury. “He cussed at her. He pushed her around. That’s the guy he was and he left her body there for someone else to find.”
ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Guilty-verdict-for-San-Antonio-man-who-left-his-17352019.php | 2022-08-05T11:51:52 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Guilty-verdict-for-San-Antonio-man-who-left-his-17352019.php |
The Lighthouse Lounge near Woodlawn Lake Park is expanding, and those who live near the Northwest Side bar are concerned a new patio and outdoor speakers will further disrupt their sleep.
Over protests from the bar’s neighbors and against city staff’s recommendation, San Antonio City Council this week approved a zoning change that allows the bar’s owners to move forward with an expansion. District 1 Councilman Mario Bravo, who represents the area, expressed his support, and the measure passed 9-0.
The community surrounding Woodlawn Lake and the Lighthouse Lounge is residential, and some neighbors said loud music is a problem even now. Athena Santos said she’s already lost sleep. Margie Santos said the expansion would be “devastating” for residents who need a good night’s rest.
But Lighthouse Lounge owner Rene Zamora said he’s monitored sound coming from his bar, and it has remained in compliance with the city’s limits on noise.
Not everyone was against the expansion. Zamora had the support of Woodlawn Lake Community Association and others.
Feel the noise: San Antonio businesses with the most noise violations, from bars to BBQ restaurants
JD Morales, president of the Woodlawn Lake Community Association, said the majority of neighbors supported the expansion. They feel the Lighthouse Lounge is a cultural hub and asset in the community, offering artistic experiences and special events.
City staff had recommended council deny the zoning change because it could create noise in the neighborhood and would create a higher intensity use for the property that doesn’t align with the surrounding community. But both the planning and zoning commissions gave the go-ahead, with certain conditions.
Zamora opened the Lighthouse Lounge in 2019. It then had a lakeside deck with a view of the city skyline and outside music that drew people in. But late last year, a neighbor made a noise complaint.
Also last year, the city told him the deck was not in compliance with occupancy rules under its zoning designation. Zamora removed it. Now, he wants to rebuild it.
Bravo said the zoning change was really about outdoor speakers and the patio.
“To those in opposition, I heard you and your concerns. I’m concerned about the amount of noise you may hear at your house,” Bravo said. “But I’m also hearing those noise complaints don’t have to do with outdoor speakers.”
He’s worked with the city’s “noise whisperer” at Lighthouse Lounge before and said they might need to visit again. They could work with Zamora to change the direction of the speakers or make other adjustments.
District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran, who represents the South Side, said she saw the opposition as a citywide issue. Everyone should join a discussion on San Antonio’s growth and possible revisions to the city’s noise ordinance, she said.
The city last fall created a task force to look into its noise ordinance and determine if it needs to be updated. Noise complaints had been consistent near popular San Antonio nighttime hangouts. Residents near the St. Mary’s strip, also represented by Bravo, have expressed similar issues as a residential community with nearby bars.
Earlier this year, the city hired an outside consulting firm, Sound Music Cities, whose founder is known as the “noise whisperer.” The group was meant to review San Antonio’s noise ordinance and help find a balance of relief for both residents and business owners.
megan.stringer@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-bar-noise-complaints-17353040.php | 2022-08-05T11:51:58 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-bar-noise-complaints-17353040.php |
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UVALDE — More families uncomfortable with returning to Uvalde schools because of the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School have asked neighboring Hill Country school districts to accept their kids as the fall semester approaches.
But the student exodus has been limited to a few dozen so far from a district that enrolled more than 9,000 students last year. The neighboring districts are much smaller, and the ones receiving most of the requests, Knippa and Sabinal independent school districts, have had to turn some parents away, officials there said.
The deaths of 19 fourth-graders and two teachers brought a torrent of criticism to Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District. It postponed the start of its school year to Sept. 6 to upgrade security and prepare other campuses to absorb students from Robb, which it will demolish and replace.
But other schools in the area, public and private, are hardening their campuses, too, dealing with the same questions and trade-offs, officials said.
The tragedy at Robb “has impacted our community as well,” said Richard Grill, superintendent at Sabinal ISD. “There’s a lot of fright impacting parents. They aren’t mad at the (Uvalde) district, they are just scared and uncertain about the situation.”
Eighteen students from Uvalde applied for transfer to Sabinal ISD, just a 20-minute drive away, he said. Only one has been turned down so far, in its pre-K program, for lack of space.
“We are a small school so 18 is a significant number for us to accommodate,” Grill said. “We are not going to take so many kids in that we have to hire additional personnel or buy portables. … And overcrowding classrooms isn’t in the best interest of the kids.”
Elda Alejandro, the interim superintendent at Knippa ISD, estimated her district fielded about 50 calls in the past two weeks from parents in Uvalde who wanted to transfer their students. She only had room for 16 more kids, she said.
“On one hand, we are glad we are here for them but we are also having to tell them we are full and, ‘Sorry,’” Alejandro said Thursday. “We also feel bad for Uvalde CISD.”
Sacred Heart Uvalde, the city’s only Catholic school, has doubled its enrollment since last school year, from 55 to 111, but it has room for more and gets calls from interested families daily, principal Joseph Olan said Thursday.
The San Antonio Archdiocese has been raising funds to help provide tuition assistance, a full-time school counselor, bullet resistant windows and other safety measures at the campus, which teaches up to sixth grade.
Enrolling students from Uvalde isn’t unusual for Sabinal ISD. Last year, 17 percent of its students were from Uvalde, and a bus shuttled about 50 of them back and forth. With the additional transfers, the district wants to add a second bus, but will struggle to find a driver for it given the national bus driver shortage.
“We might have to run two routes with the same driver,” Grill said.
He said a third of his teaching staff are either from Uvalde or live in Uvalde now and commute.
Sabinal ISD upgraded security in recent years, adding solid fencing and electronic access on all doors, Grill said. Right now, the district is installing bulletproof windows and doors and investing in undercover officers and more uniformed officers.
It has also offered teachers the option to become licensed to carry weapons on campus, but Grill doesn’t predict many will take up the offer because “it is a huge responsibility which comes with many hours of additional training.”
“There’s no pressure on our end that they have to carry (a weapon) at school or be in a defensive posture at school,” Grill said.
Uvalde Classical Academy, a private Christian school in Uvalde, saw only a couple of new students who transferred because of the tragedy, said Larri Ann Wright, the head of school.
“We have had a lot of people inquiring and asking if there is space, particularly in our fourth and fifth grade classes,” Wright said. “Some parents were even considering having their student repeat the fourth grade because of COVID-19 and what happened at Robb.”
The school only has 10 students per grade so there is not a lot of room for expansion. It, too, is adding security, enclosing the back of the campus with fencing.
Leakey ISD, which is about 40 minutes from Uvalde, is taking in one student who lost a sibling at Robb on May 24, said Katherine Antes, the business manager and communication liason at the district.
D’Hanis ISD so far has not received requests from Uvalde families, but it might still happen, said Bunny Voigt, the district’s information management system coordinator.
“That’s the dilemma we have, because we are such a small school. We have to go by class size and we might not have a spot for a certain student in a certain grade,” Voigt said.
claire.bryan@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/School-districts-near-Uvalde-get-some-Robb-17353226.php | 2022-08-05T11:52:05 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/School-districts-near-Uvalde-get-some-Robb-17353226.php |
A man has been barricaded in a standoff with San Antonio police on the North Side since Wednesday night.
Investigators received a tip that a man wanted on a murder warrant was residing at the Agora Stone Oak Apartments, 1207 Agora Palms Drive, said Officer Ricardo Guzman, a police spokesman.
About 11 p.m., officers went to the apartment to arrest the man, but he barricaded himself inside, according to police.
SWAT and negotiators were called to the scene, police said.
The standoff was ongoing as of 5 p.m. Thursday.
The negotiators could be heard attempting to talk to the man over a loud speaker, footage shared online by an apartment resident shows.
“We are trying to resolve this as peacefully as possible,” Guzman said. “There is no threat to the public.”
The man has four felony warrants overall from another county, Guzman said.
This is a developing story.
jbeltran@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Stone-Oak-San-Antonio-Police-17351648.php | 2022-08-05T11:52:11 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Stone-Oak-San-Antonio-Police-17351648.php |
Drive down any rural stretch of a Texas highway and you'll likely catch a glimpse of livestock.
You may, however, not expect to see a cow sitting shotgun in the vehicle next to yours. That's what one TikTok user, @shelbysorrel, witnessed in July while driving past a pickup truck on a highway between Austin and College Station.
A calf appeared to be just hanging out in the passenger seat of its best friend's ride.
The TikTok video has gained more than 3.2 million views and 348,000 likes since it was posted on July 15.
Apparently, it's not completely unusual in Texas.
On ExpressNews.com: Busy cattle auctions warn of drought’s tightening grip on Texas agriculture
"We’ve done that with our show goat but it was cold and there was no way she was riding in the back," one person said in response to the video.
"I work at a feed store, I went to load a lady's feed, she a had a calf in the back of her Subaru with her three children," another person responded.
"Gotta do what you gotta do. Maybe he had to get it to the clinic and didn’t have a trailer or no time to hook up the trailer," another individual commented on the video.
The TikToker summed up the video with the perfect caption: "Yeehaw baby buckle up."
shepard.price@express-news.net | @shepardgprice | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/TikTok-Texas-calf-passenger-seat-17351249.php | 2022-08-05T11:52:17 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/TikTok-Texas-calf-passenger-seat-17351249.php |
Eight years before Uvalde school police Chief Pedro “Pete” Arredondo led a disastrous law enforcement response to a mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, he was demoted from a high-ranking position at the Webb County Sheriff’s Office.
Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar said he demoted Arredondo from an assistant chief to a commander in October 2014 because “he couldn’t get along with people.”
“Basically, that’s what happened,” Cuellar said on Thursday. “He was difficult to get along with — with his coworkers, especially upper staff. The basic thing I want to say is he just didn’t fit the qualifications or the work that I set out for him.”
Before coming to Webb County, Arredondo served 16 years with the Uvalde Police Department.
“Even in Uvalde PD, when he was over there, they disliked the (expletive) out of him,” Cuellar said. “They were hoping he would get a job in Laredo.”
Cuellar said Arredondo clashed with then-Webb County Chief Fred Garza, who was the department’s second in command and Arredondo’s supervisor. Garza, who is now police chief of Eagle Pass, declined to comment on Thursday.
An Oct. 8, 2014, letter from Cuellar to Arredondo said he was being “reassigned from Assistant Chief to Commander.” Two days earlier, someone had written “demotion” in a payroll worksheet for Arredondo.
Neither Arredondo nor his attorney responded to messages seeking comment Thursday morning.
Records show Uvalde Consolidated ISD might not have fully reviewed Arredondo’s employment history when it hired him as its police chief in 2020.
RELATED DOCUMENTS:
- See Arredondo's demotion record
- Read clips from Arredondo's service record
On Feb. 13, 2020, the school district announced on Facebook that it was “proud to introduce our District Chief of Police, Pedro ‘Pete’ Arredondo,” a native of Uvalde who was focused on “providing safety for all students, staff and our community.”
Six days later, a human resources coordinator at Uvalde CISD emailed Arredondo’s previous employer, United ISD in Laredo, seeking “a copy of his service record,” according to emails obtained by the San Antonio Express-News.
Arredondo worked as a captain in the Laredo school district for about three years after leaving the Webb County Sheriff’s Office in 2017.
Uvalde CISD spokeswoman Anne Marie Espinoza did not respond to questions about whether the Uvalde school district was aware of Arredondo’s demotion in Webb County when it hired him.
Cuellar said Uvalde CISD never called him directly to ask about Arredondo’s job performance in Webb County. If the school district had called, Cuellar would not have recommended Arredondo for the job, he said.
“I don’t think I would, based on the performance,” he said. “If Uvalde had asked the proper questions, especially on the chief position, the high-ranking position, I would have said, ‘I don’t think (Arredondo was) capable of running even a small department.’ But they never asked.”
Cuellar added, “They do investigations based on, ‘Hey, I worked here, I worked there.’ But then they never asked us. To do a good, clean background on somebody, they need to ask the sheriff. I would have been honest with them and said, ‘Hey, this is why he was demoted. Basically, he didn’t fit my criteria of being a chief.’”
In his application to work at United ISD in Laredo, Arredondo listed Garza as a reference.
Arredondo also boasted in the application that the Webb County Sheriff’s Office had awarded him a Life Saver’s Award “for 2 different incidents and 6 different lives saved during my actions as a hostage negotiator.”
Cuellar said he recalled one standoff in 2012 at a house in El Cenizo with a man who was holding “four or five” undocumented immigrants hostage. Arredondo was among many officers who spoke to the suspect, Cuellar said.
“It wasn’t him,” Cuellar said. “It wasn’t him completely. I think he exaggerated a little bit” on the application.
Cuellar said he and Victor Escalon of the Texas Department of Public Safety were primarily responsible for ending the standoff, persuading the suspect to drop his gun before moving slowly into the house and handcuffing him.
“I know that (Arredondo) was in the command center talking,” Cuellar said. “This is teamwork. You can’t say, ‘I did it all myself.’ Everybody talked to (the suspect), even Victor Escalon. It was a team effort. It wasn’t just one person.”
Botched response to rampage
On May 24, a gunman entered Robb Elementary with an assault-style rifle and killed 19 children and two teachers inside two classrooms.
Arredondo, a 29-year law enforcement veteran, was among the first officers to arrive — about three minutes after the gunman, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos of Uvalde, entered the school and started shooting inside the classrooms.
But it took officers on the scene more than an hour to breach a door to the classrooms to confront and kill the gunman. Investigators said the door likely was unlocked the entire time.
Arredondo’s own policy placed him as incident commander during the mass shooting. But he wasted vital time inside the school looking for a master key and trying unsuccessfully to negotiate with the shooter, who was not responding, even as injured students inside the classrooms called 911 pleading for help.
Uvalde CISD placed Arredondo on unpaid leave last month. The school district was scheduled to hold a termination hearing for Arredondo on Thursday, but postponed the meeting for a second time “to once again ensure Pete Arredondo’s due process rights are met,” Espinoza said in a written statement.
A Texas House committee investigating the law enforcement response to the massacre learned from DPS in June about Arredondo’s demotion in Webb County, said state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, a member of the committee.
Moody said DPS told the committee about the demotion during a closed-door meeting that included Steve McCraw, the director of DPS.
At the time, DPS officials told the three-member committee — including its chairman, state Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock; former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman; and Moody — that they did not know the reason that Cuellar demoted Arredondo, Moody said.
But the state agency was “hyper-critical” of Arredondo nonetheless, Moody said.
“I remember it shocking me, the pointed language they used,” Moody said. “They gave us the impression that this is a guy who was essentially bouncing from one place to the next.”
Arredondo received active-shooter training before he joined Uvalde CISD.
United ISD Police Chief Ray Garner told the Express-News in June that Arredondo was responsible for the Laredo district’s north side schools before he joined Uvalde CISD.
“Down here, we do a lot of training on active-shooter scenarios, and he was involved in those,” Garner said. “We train (officers) to go straight for the shooters and neutralize them.”
Since the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999, officers have been trained to confront and kill active shooters swiftly, prioritizing the lives of victims over those of officers.
That didn’t happen at Robb Elementary.
Instead, Arredondo treated the crisis as if Ramos were hunkered down inside the classrooms. He told the Texas House committee that he “prayed” no children were inside, and he treated the gunman as a “barricaded subject” rather than an active shooter because he couldn’t see any injuries, according to the committee’s report.
Body-camera footage, however, captured Arredondo saying, “There’s probably some casualties,” the report said.
Arredondo was born in Uvalde, a town of 16,000 that serves as a gateway for recreation along the Frio River, Garner State Park and the South Texas shale.
His first job after graduating from the Southwest Texas Junior College law enforcement academy in 1993 was as a 911 dispatcher for the Uvalde Police Department.
He served 16 years with the Uvalde PD and had multiple roles, including patrol officer, detective and an assistant chief.
Arredondo was hired at the Webb County Sheriff’s Office in January 2009. He spent about a year — from 2011 to 2012 — working as a jailer there. He was promoted to an assistant chief before his demotion in 2014 to commander.
He applied to work at United ISD in Laredo in 2017. In his application, Arredondo described an array of responsibilities as assistant chief in Webb County, including oversight of “all the divisions.”
A description of his subsequent role as commander of the patrol division was more limited: “Supervise the division, work and create policy as needed, internal affairs, human resources, armory and evidence management, departmental inventory.”
Joshua Eaton is a freelance investigative reporter based in Washington, D.C.
bchasnoff@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Uvalde-police-chief-pete-arredondo-demoted-17351761.php | 2022-08-05T11:52:23 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Uvalde-police-chief-pete-arredondo-demoted-17351761.php |
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Mike Hirsch was an editor at The Morning Call since 2001, the last few years as director of Content/Opinion and Community Engagement. He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, in 2019 and periodically wrote about his battle with the disease. This is his final installment. Mike died Wednesday night. He had just turned 62 years old.
I died as I was born: a “nichtsnutz.”
That was my German-American grandfather’s term for me, Michael Alan Hirsch, born July 29, 1960.
I grew to appreciate the description. Nichtsnutz means mischievous child. I took it to mean someone who was willing to liven up a get-together and make people laugh.
(My family usually tolerated my high jinks, even enjoyed them, but collectively put their foot down, saying I went too far to set up a betting pool to choose which day I would die.)
Perhaps it was because I was the youngest of four, or maybe it was that I took after the fun-loving Irish side of the family, but it was probably because I was like my mother.
I saw humor as a way to bring people together.
My mother wanted me to follow in her father’s footsteps and work as an accountant. But I should have known in high school that I had the wrong temperament. In my senior accounting class, I wrote a newspaper called The CPA Daily that mocked bean counters.
I made the switch in my junior year of college, changing from accounting to communications, the smartest move of my life.
It’s how I met my Mel, the woman I had been searching for during my first 20 years. She shone with beauty and intellect and a light in her eyes that still made my heart stop a beat up until I took my last breath. She was my North Star, and I would follow her anywhere.
I also discovered a love of writing, journalism and quirky newsrooms. I followed this path and began a fascinating career.
Mel, journalism and I were loyal companions over the decades. Right out of college, we landed the only two reporting jobs at the weekly Lake Placid News, and we married four months after graduation.
[ Morning Call editor with ALS: How a window brings me comfort and joy in my last days ]
I found my writing voice late in life. I was diagnosed with ALS in late 2019, at age 59. The next two years I started writing occasional essays about my journey as I slowly lost my ability to walk and move my arms, and began to struggle to talk and breathe. It was cathartic for me, and readers said it helped them as they or loved ones struggled with degenerative diseases.
I was honored this year to win first prize for best commentary from the Society of Features Journalism for newspapers our size. I was also named the second best columnist in Pennsylvania by the Keystone Press Awards for the same essays.
When I was first diagnosed, I came up with a daily mantra: “ALS will kill me, but it won’t break me.”
I’ve tried to live the last three years of my life this way. Yes, this disease is terrible and exhausting for the entire family. However, I did my best to be in the moment as much as possible and to enjoy my time with my Mel, my daughters and their partners, my neighbors, friends, co-workers and pets.
They all brought me tremendous joy during this time. Every night just before drifting off to sleep, Mel and I would count our blessings, and there were many despite our adversities.
And boy, did I have fun. Some of my Facebook postings reflected my nichtsnutz personality. I drove my power wheelchair at top speed — 6 miles an hour — into 10 full-size garbage cans arranged in the middle of our street in a Lower Macungie development. In my “Grinches get Stinches” video, I attached a 10-foot spear to my wheelchair and, using a scalpel from a doctor buddy, severed the head of an inflatable Christmas icon.
I drove through an 8-foot pile of leaves, followed by a pack of tweens and teens popping wheelies on their bicycles. And finally, I dressed as a bulldog and drove over five beloved Boo-Bah toys of mine, leaving streaks of Boo-Bah color on the pavement.
The point of these videos was to make readers laugh, entertain myself and to show that a full life with ALS is possible.
As a journalist, I worked just about every job in the newsroom ― reporter, copy editor, bureau chief, assistant news editor, arts and entertainment editor, business editor, features editor and, finally, opinion editor.
I was always gratified when my reporters won national awards. My business reporters for The Morning Call won more than 10 awards. I’m particularly proud of an award won by former staff writer Sam Kennedy for stories that shut down Lehigh Valley College. At the time, the for-profit school was the fastest-growing in the Lehigh Valley, and the stories showed the college saddled students with high-interest loans.
The Morning Call features staff was named one of the best sections in the country four times in six years. One year it was named the best features section in the country for newspapers our size.
[ Morning Call editor with ALS: I have journeyed to the mountains to die ]
But my family has always provided the greatest joy. Our eldest daughter, Emily, and her husband, Erick (whom I usually call “Erick with a K”), run a successful photo studio based in Brooklyn. Emily has been a joyful kindred spirit for 31 years, and I admire her devotion to her family as well as her job. Erick quickly became a son, a friend and a fellow adventurer.
Daughter Mathilde has the most amazing sense of social and environmental conscience that I have ever seen. She moved with her partner, Grayson, to the Adirondacks to help care for me as I entered hospice in June. They have proven to be loving and capable caregivers.
A few of my other blessings: amazing neighbors Fran and Judy Naab, who walked our rescue dog, Marcy, and helped us in innumerable other ways over the last three years. There was also my “Pennsylvania brother,” Tom Warren, who has risen to every challenge and has helped me each step of the ALS journey, with his wife, Janet. Dozens of friends and neighbors helped and I’m grateful for each and every one.
It’s sad for me to be the youngest child, but the first to pass away. I will miss my brother Bob, sister Linda and sister Kathy more than I can ever let them know. All of them — Bob, in particular — stepped forward in recent months to help me and my family as we struggled with growing caregiving demands.
I have one message to pass on to my family, friends, neighbors and co-workers: I love you to Pluto and back.
Calling hours are 4-8 p.m. Aug. 10 at the Stephens Funeral Home, 274 N. Krocks Road, Upper Macungie Township. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Aug. 11 at Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
―
Read more of Mike’s columns:
Morning Call editor with ALS: How I was reborn on the Fourth of July
Morning Call editor with ALS: Confronting my greatest fear – losing my voice
Morning Call editor with ALS: I thought my days as a photographer were over. Then something clicked | https://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-nws-mike-hirsch-obituary-20220805-qgnxfgmihrfyxlt4cyk746jewq-story.html | 2022-08-05T11:58:39 | 1 | https://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-nws-mike-hirsch-obituary-20220805-qgnxfgmihrfyxlt4cyk746jewq-story.html |
SANFORD, Fla. – Seminole County school and sheriff’s officials on Friday will hold a back-to-school news conference.
The event will take place at noon at the Seminole County Public Schools Educational Support Center in Sanford.
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SCPS Superintendent Serita Beamon and Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma will “provide remarks for families in preparation for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year,” according to a news release issued by the district.
The news conference will be streamed live at the top of this story.
Check back for updates. | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/08/05/seminole-county-school-sheriffs-officials-to-hold-back-to-school-news-conference/ | 2022-08-05T12:07:47 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/08/05/seminole-county-school-sheriffs-officials-to-hold-back-to-school-news-conference/ |
Officials in Bismarck have launched a program that aims to bridge the gap between emergency services for overdose victims and treatment for opioid addiction.
The city is getting $900,000 in grant money over three years from the federal Justice Department for a comprehensive opioid, stimulant and substance abuse site-based program. The money will place staff from Heartview Foundation, a nonprofit alcohol and drug treatment center, in hospital emergency rooms.
“Typically, if Narcan is given by a police officer or member of the public, the overdose victim is taken to the ER, stabilized and released,” Heartview Executive Director Kurt Snyder said, referring to the nasal spray that reverses opioid overdoses. “This grant has given us the ability to meet individuals at one of the lowest points of their lives and provide peer support and buprenorphine, a medication-assisted treatment, for a few days, when they can either enter services at Heartview, another treatment facility, or we can help them transition safely into the community.”
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Heartview has hired six recovery coaches, a nurse practitioner and a case manager for the program, with plans to eventually add a nurse and a licensed addiction counselor.
The nonprofit is partnering with the Bismarck Police Department, Ministry on the Margins and the two hospitals in the city. The program began Monday at Sanford Health, with plans to expand to CHI St. Alexius Health, as well as to other hospitals in the state.
Overdose victims who participate in the program will be assigned a peer support specialist and case manager to help them in getting into Heartview’s treatment programs. The nonprofit has a waiting list for residential services but plans to add 13 beds in Bismarck this month to help alleviate wait times.
Bismarck police officers as of late July had responded to 83 overdoses, 14 of which resulted in death.
“Law enforcement cannot arrest our way out of the opioid epidemic,” Police Chief Dave Draovitch said. “There must be a way to get people help for their addiction at the time they need it. This program allows that to happen.”
Heartview Grant Project Manager Cathy Palczewski said research shows that starting an overdose patient on medication-assisted treatment while the person is in the ER decreases death rates by half.
Overdose victims not ready to commit to treatment will receive initial peer support services from Heartview and then be transitioned to community outreach provided by Ministry on the Margins, a nonprofit volunteer-based ecumenical ministry. The end goal is to eventually get those people into treatment.
Narcan training
Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health is partnering with Heartview and the North Dakota Safety Council to provide free Narcan training.
The events are Monday at 6:30 p.m. and Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. at the Safety Council campus at 1710 Canary Ave. in Bismarck.
“Training our community and workplaces in the use of Narcan is an important life-saving solution," Safety Council Executive Director Chuck Clairmont said.
Participants will learn how to recognize an opioid overdose and how to properly administer Narcan. Each attendee will receive a free Narcan kit. To register, call 701-355-1594 or go to https://bit.ly/3JsSYPH. Registration is limited. | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/health/bismarck-program-takes-new-approach-to-fighting-opioid-epidemic/article_bc405c96-13fe-11ed-91e5-4b7137b8e22e.html | 2022-08-05T12:08:26 | 1 | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/health/bismarck-program-takes-new-approach-to-fighting-opioid-epidemic/article_bc405c96-13fe-11ed-91e5-4b7137b8e22e.html |
When a lower price on diesel and natural gas presents itself, the Mason City Community School District will jump on it.
The Mason City School Board was given a presentation at its Monday night meeting on the changing diesel and natural gas markets and 2022-23 contracts.
"It's not an easy time. I'm at the point where I just want to make sure we have some diesel and we don't ever run short," said Transportation Supervisor Randy Meyer.
The school district bought into a short-term diesel contract in June, around the time the supply ran out.
The district pays for half of the fuel, and North Iowa Bus Company, which has a contract with the school district, covers the rest. The school district purchases the fuel for the buses since it receives a 32 cent tax rebate.
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"It's been a hard time buying diesel from basically last fall until now. The prices have not gone down at all, so you're waiting to see if it goes down, and it never did," said Meyer.
Meyer said he and several others talked with a broker from Kansas City for guidance on how to proceed. What was developed was just buying a set amount of gallons that day due to how unstable the diesel situation currently is.
"We bought enough diesel to get us through like the middle of November, which was 15,000 gallons. That'll get us through the trips and stuff that are happening in September and October," said Meyer.
Meyer said he paid $4.69 per gallon, with tax rebate removing a portion of the cost. It is the highest amount the district has ever paid for fuel but ensures the district will have a supply.
Meyer said he would visit with Board Secretary Cherie Yoder and Superintendent Pat Hamilton if something comes up, or possibly jump into a contract to get through the end of the school year.
Mason City works with a company to purchase natural gas using forecasts, according to Energy Manager Rich Patras. Patras typically purchases 25% to 50% of the district's natural gas in February or March and then another 25% in September. Most of the gas is used during the "winter strip," or during part of October, November, December, January, February and a part of March.
"This year was quite unique. March came around, and gas prices were terrible. We wait and we waited," said Patras. "I said we have to do something. We cannot continue (to wait)."
The district's most-recent purchase of natural gas was in July at $8.56 MMbtu, according to Patras. It is the highest price the district has ever paid for gas.
Patras predicts the district will spend $270,000 for natural gas for the 2022-23 school year.
"We've made the right decision and like Randy (Meyer) was saying, it's not a good situation," said Patras.
Both Meyer and Patras mentioned weather or supply issues can lead to further price spikes. Markets have been relatively calm recently, and both want to purchase now and avoid negative factors like a natural disaster resulting in a bump in prices.
"We don't have control over some things, and that is one thing we don't have control," said board director Alan Steckman.
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/mason-city-school-board-receives-diesel-and-natural-gas-update/article_25ef821d-abce-5574-b119-82600855a068.html | 2022-08-05T12:10:12 | 1 | https://globegazette.com/news/local/mason-city-school-board-receives-diesel-and-natural-gas-update/article_25ef821d-abce-5574-b119-82600855a068.html |
With inflation at a 40-year high, Iowa’s annual sales tax holiday will offer some relief to parents outfitting their children for the upcoming school year.
The tax-free weekend runs all day Friday through midnight Saturday this year. In Mason City that means no 7% sales tax (state sales tax of 6% as well as local option tax of 1%) when you buy clothing and footwear items priced under $100. There is no limit on the number of items you can buy, including items ordered online.
One of Mason City’s biggest retailers, Walmart, has been getting ready for this weekend for weeks.
“We have a system in place. We get to know our community and what’s coming up,” said Tina Badker, assistant manager at the Mason City Walmart. Store managers know what special events are coming up 60 to 90 days in advance, giving them plenty of time to prepare.
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“We make sure we have the extra staff, and we bring everything out of the back room and make it readily available,” Badker said. Part of getting ready includes putting up extra signage reminding shoppers of the tax-free weekend.
“Racks are already filled," she said. "We have all our clearance items out, and we’re stocked up on all the basics" like socks and underwear.
Tax-exempt items have already been programmed into cash registers by the corporate offices, so all sales staff have to do is ring up the sales.
At Brown Shoe Fit, the tax-free weekend leads right into one of the biggest sales seasons -- summer clearance.
“We always say, ‘come early,’ because what's available now may not be available at noon,” said Aaron Henry, sales associate at Brown’s.
“Middle schoolers and high schoolers love getting sandals for late summer and early fall,” he said, “and a (pair) of flip- flops or two.”
Brown’s does not bring in extra sales people for big events. The store has five employees who work the same hours every day, Henry said. “We’re so used to different speeds (busy or slow), that nothing is really going to change.”
He still likes to do the “traditional sit and fit, because we want to make sure the shoe fits right for each customer. But I know with the madhouse the next couple of days that might not be ideal.”
Sales items have been put on the shelves throughout the week, and there are still plenty of athletic shoes under $100.
“How do we prepare?” Henry commented. “Basically, we do what we do every day -- make sure everyone walks out with a bag and with a smile on their face.”
Mary Loden covers city and county government for the Globe Gazette. You can reach her by emailing Mary.Loden@globegazette.com | https://globegazette.com/news/local/sales-tax-holiday-friday-saturday/article_3277dbbc-c19f-59d1-87f3-82d5fd001653.html | 2022-08-05T12:10:18 | 0 | https://globegazette.com/news/local/sales-tax-holiday-friday-saturday/article_3277dbbc-c19f-59d1-87f3-82d5fd001653.html |
TEMPLE, Texas — Say goodbye to sales tax this weekend on select items, especially those school supplies.
The National Retail Federation expects each U.S. family to spend $864 on average this year for school supplies, with a total expected spending of $36.9-billion.
Dr. Tennant, an economist at A&M University of Central Texas, said a family will spend $150 to $200 on school supplies per child, which means the savings will amount to approximately $15 or $20 per child.
RELATED: Tax-free weekend guide: It starts tomorrow! Here's a list of what qualifies and what doesn't
"You may find that you're having substantial savings, and with this period of inflation – every dollar matters as we find our groceries going up every week," Tennant added.
Tennant also said prices are going to rise with inflation, which could impact the supply chain.
"So if you see it and you need it for the back to school season, now is a good time to get it with the tax savings," he said.
Some community members are jumping into the tax free weekend by purchasing school supplies they'll donate.
Dwayne Holley said he's buying school supplies for The Wheatley School.
"We always support them with their school supply drives, so we're definitely going to take advantage of the tax free weekend," Holley said.
Veronica Bolivar, a mom and community member, choosing to give back, said she is going to help with her local "back to school extravaganza," an event where members in the community will shop this weekend for those in need.
"That helps out a lot of families," Bolivar said.
While you're out looking for savings, you might also look for a place to donate.
Staples will let you buy a back to school kit that is only five-dollars and will go back to a local Central Texas school, Scott Elementary.
Candice Dennick, a local manager for Staples said these kits are also part of the tax free weekend.
"As well as any other back to school supplies that students parents and teachers might need to finish up their back to school shopping – we're very excited to support this tax free weekend," Dennick said.
If you're looking to donate elsewhere, local Walmart's are hosting a "Stuff the Bus" event, to help collect school supplies.
RELATED: Tax-free weekend guide: It starts tomorrow! Here's a list of what qualifies and what doesn't | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-tax-free-weekend/500-38abc6be-197f-4ac3-b040-a80bb424ac4d | 2022-08-05T12:20:42 | 0 | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-tax-free-weekend/500-38abc6be-197f-4ac3-b040-a80bb424ac4d |
Slater-Marietta to end fire protection services in River Falls by year's end. Here's why.
The Slater-Marietta Fire Department will no longer provide fire and rescue services to it's neighboring River Falls Fire Service Area after Dec. 15, according to a news release from Slater-Marietta Fire Chief Adam Brown.
Brown said the decision stemmed from a disproportionate amount of calls coming from River Calls combined with a lack of tax revenue creating a lack of funding in the area.
"The Slater-Marietta Fire District and its elected Commissioners owe their highest duty to the 10,000 citizens and residents of the Slater-Marietta Fire District," Brown wrote in his statement.
According to the release, a significant portion of funds paid by Slater-Marietta taxpayers were being diverted to calls for service coming from River Falls.
Read this:Here's a look at who makes up the staff of The Greenville News in 2022
In other news:Testimony in death penalty trial gives new information in SC execution protocols, raises more questions
"We're essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul," Brown told the Greenville News.
Much of the land in the River Falls Fire Service Area is owned by non-taxable entities, according to Brown's release, diminishing revenue for the River Falls Fire Service Area.
Brown said River Falls has its own fire department with two fire stations, but there just is not enough funding for the department to be self-sufficient.
"They're doing the best they can with what they have," Brown said of River Falls firefighters. "The issue is not personnel, it’s a lack of funding."
Bob Mihalic, a spokesperson for Greenville County, said the county is exploring many different options for funding the River Falls Fire Service Area.
- Tim Carlin covers county government, growth and development for The Greenville News. Follow him on Twitter @timcarlin_, and get in touch with him at TCarlin@gannett.com. You can support his work by subscribing to The Greenville News at greenvillenews.com/subscribe. | https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2022/08/05/river-falls-lose-fire-protection-services-slater-marietta/10234767002/ | 2022-08-05T12:22:28 | 0 | https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2022/08/05/river-falls-lose-fire-protection-services-slater-marietta/10234767002/ |
Plaintiffs ask for a decision 'guided by mercy' as SC death penalty trial comes to an end
After four days, the trial against South Carolina’s death penalty reached an end. Thursday morning, attorneys on both sides provided closing arguments, wrapping up a week’s worth of expert testimony and debate.
The lawsuit originally filed by Justice 360, a nonprofit organization in SC working to reform policies and practices in capital cases, presented several claims against the state’s recently implemented death penalty statute that makes the default method of execution the electric chair and added the firing squad.
Yet, as both sides discussed in their closing arguments, the main focus was on the plaintiff’s claims that those methods should be considered cruel, unusual, and corporal punishment under the state’s constitution.
Day one:After a day of pretrial motions, attorneys in death penalty trial start witness testimony Tuesday
Day three:Expert witnesses debate pain, consciousness in SC execution protocols
Now that the trial is finished, Judge Jocelyn Newman has 30 days to reach a decision as ordered by the state Supreme Court. However, attorneys expect an appeal regardless of the outcome.
"This case isn't all about science," said Joshua Kendrick, attorney for the plaintiffs at the start of his closing statement. "Our decisions today are guided by mercy."
William Grayson Lambert, senior counsel for Gov. Henry McMaster, countered the sentiment in his closing.
For subscribers:The death penalty has a racist past. In SC, evidence shows that hasn't changed.
"We are in a court of law. This court's job is to decide questions of law based on the law and based on the facts that it’s heard," Lambert said. "The question of mercy is one of clemency that our Constitution commits exclusively to the government."
Kendrick said he did not ask for mercy in disregard of the law in his rebuttal.
"I asked you for mercy because the definition of mercy is compassion," Kendrick said. "Opposite of compassion is cruelty. The South Carolina Constitution prohibits cruelty in punishment for prisoners and therefore dictates compassion."
Here are other key takeaways from the last day of trial:
- In a discussion about the claims of cruel, unusual, and corporal punishment, the plaintiffs reminded Judge Newman about what was presented in the expert testimony over the week. Kendrick mentioned forensic pathologist Dr. Jonathan Arden's testimony that 10% of the cases he reviewed contain evidence of a prisoner being alive and conscious after the first shock in judicial electrocutions.
- "The pictures, Your Honor, you will see are graphic. They contain cooking and burning," Kendrick said of the autopsies left for Judge Newman to review over the next couple of weeks.
- Both sides discussed whether the debate was based on an originalist argument, an interpretation of the Constitution as it was originally adopted.
- Lambert asserted that it was, pointing to definitions of cruel, unusual and corporal used over the centuries in the U.S. and the state constitution and debated in other case law as precedent.
- During the week, the plaintiffs claimed the firing squad was unusual due to how infrequently it's been used in U.S. history, only 130 times since 1700. However, in Lambert's argument about the definition of unusual, he pointed out the use of lethal injection, which was first adopted in SC in 1995.
- "At some point, someone has to be the first person subjected to it," Lambert said. "So by their own definition, lethal injection would have been unusual in 1995."
- However, Kendrick argued an originalist view hinders societal growth. "Originalism has become a way to keep us from progressing as people," he said. "It's a cold-hearted view of people we don't know. It forces us to forget our historical moments when we decided to progress."
- Attorneys briefly discussed claims in Justice 360's lawsuit about the use of the word "available" in the death penalty statute and what the South Carolina Department of Correction has done to obtain drugs to perform lethal injection executions. Information about SCDC's attempts to obtain drugs was barred by the protection order implemented by the court.
- "Even if the court did not allow the plaintiffs to explore what SCDC had done, the plaintiffs are free to offer evidence of their own efforts to locate a source of drugs, and they put up nothing," Lambert said. "And their silence on that fact is deafening."
- The lawyers also discussed a claim that the statute violated a non-delegation doctrine that prohibits the SC legislature from delegating powers to other agencies to make laws. The statute approved by the legislature in 2021 states, "a person convicted of a capital crime and having imposed upon him the sentence of death shall suffer the penalty by electrocution or, at the election of the convicted person, by firing squad or lethal injection, if it is available at the time of the election, under the direction of the Director of the Department of Corrections."
- Justice 360 attorneys argued that the SCDC director's power in deciding whether certain methods of execution are available is a violation of that doctrine. However, Lambert argued the statute was is "clearly what the general assembly intended."
- "It was for the state to be able to carry out lawfully imposed sentences without further and unnecessary delay," he said.
- Lambert also mentioned how the general assembly was the people's representatives and reflective of society. "A conscious decision was made to use these particular methods. And that decision reflects society's current standards and thinking on ways to carry out an execution," he said.
- However, in his rebuttal, Kendrick came back to the secrecy of the state's execution protocols when it comes to the general public's ability to have input in such legislation.
- "We're one of the only states, if not the only state in the United States of America, that hides the protocol we use to kill inmates," Kendrick said. "People know nothing about this."
Kathryn Casteel is an investigative reporter with The Greenville News and can be reached at KCasteel@gannett.com or on Twitter @kathryncasteel. | https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/south-carolina/2022/08/05/sc-death-penalty-trial-plaintiffs-ask-decision-guided-mercy/10240966002/ | 2022-08-05T12:22:29 | 1 | https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/south-carolina/2022/08/05/sc-death-penalty-trial-plaintiffs-ask-decision-guided-mercy/10240966002/ |
SC Judge denies gag order request in Alex Murdaugh murder case
South Carolina Judge Clifton Newman has denied a request for a pre-trial "gag order" in the Richard "Alex" Murdaugh murder case.
Murdaugh, a disbarred SC attorney facing multitudes of financial and drug crime charges, was indicted by the Colleton County Grand Jury on July 14 on murder and weapons charges in the June 7, 2021 shooting deaths of his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul.
During Murdaugh's July 20 bond hearing and arraignment, his attorneys, Richard Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, and Creighton Waters, a chief prosecutor with the SC Attorney General's Office, told Newman that they would be filing a joint motion for a gag order to seal disclosures of evidence and curtail extra-judicial statements to the press so that the high-profile case would be "tried in the courts and not in the media."
For subscribers:How murder charges impact other death investigations, lawsuits surrounding Alex Murdaugh
Power, prestige and privilege:Inside the rise and fall of the Murdaugh dynasty in South Carolina
On Thursday, Newman's office filed a three-page order with the Colleton County Clerk of Court's office denying that joint motion. The order stated that Murdaugh's right to a fair trial must be balanced by other constitutional rights, and to issue such as order at this early stage of the trial could jeopardize the public's and press's rights.
"The right of the Defendant to a fair trial must be balanced against these rights and the issuance of such an order would likely constitute the improper closure of this courtroom," wrote Judge Newman. "...the public is entitled to know how justice is being administered."
The order also indicates that South Carolina already has rules of professional conduct in place for legal counsel and public officials to ensure defendants' right to a fair and impartial trial.
More:What we know, and don't know, about the Alex Murdaugh crime saga
Harpootlian and Griffin did not respond to emails seeking comment on the ruling.
"This doesn't change anything with our office because we don't comment on pending cases anyway," said Robert Kittle, spokesperson for the SC Attorney General's Office.
Both parties have also made a joint motion for a speedy trial in this case, if possible and practical, and that motion has also been filed in Colleton County. The defense stated it would like for the case to be heard within 90 to 120 days, preferably by the next terms of Colleton County General Sessions in October or November.
"We would like to get this matter before a Colleton County jury as soon as possible so Alex can get this behind him and so SLED could look for the real killer," Harpootlian said.
Murdaugh pleaded not guilty to the murder charges on July 20. Currently facing a total of 88 criminal charges, he remains jailed in Richland County on a $7 million bond. | https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/south-carolina/2022/08/05/sc-judge-denies-gag-order-request-alex-murdaugh-murder-case/10237111002/ | 2022-08-05T12:22:33 | 1 | https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/south-carolina/2022/08/05/sc-judge-denies-gag-order-request-alex-murdaugh-murder-case/10237111002/ |
A 747 landed in Kenosha last week.
And it has nothing to do with the Boeing jet.
That’s the number of Kenosha-related cars featured at the “big show” on Saturday in Kennedy Park.
Tracy McCarthy brought her pink 1959 Nash Metropolitan to Saturday’s Kenosha Homecoming Car Show. Her car won the History Center’s Choice Award.
The “big show” is the Kenosha Homecoming Car Show, hosted by the Kenosha History Center to celebrate the city’s long history in auto manufacturing.
Gremlins are parked in Jeffrey Elementary School’s parking lot for an AMC Gremlin show at Jeffrey Elementary School on July 28.
“We had 747 cars and 226 vendor spaces filled,” said Chris Allen, the History Center’s executive director.
A line of classic AMC vehicles stretched down the streets in Downtown Kenosha on July 29 during the 2022 AMC Homecoming parade.
As for how many people participated in the event — returning for the first time in five years — Allen estimates 15,000 to 20,000 spectators came to Kennedy Park for the car show. That’s in addition to the 150 to 200 cars in the parade and the History Center’s Block Party on July 29, the night before the lakefront show.
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“It was a great turnout all week,” Allen said, “and the numbers grew at our events as the week went on.”
There were a number of AMC cars lined up at the ice cream social on July 29 at Nash Elementary School as part of the AMC Homecoming Car Show events.
The Homecoming also included “cruise-in” events at local venues and a Gremlin gathering at Jeffery Elementary School, home of the Gremlin mascot.
Overall, Allen is thrilled with how the Homecoming celebration turned out.
“We had a ton of positive feedback from the participants and the public,” he said. “ To have that many AMCs around town all week, it brought back great memories from Kenoshans who lived here and worked at the car factory when it was still here.
“Our visitors from out of state had nothing but great things to say about Kenosha, and they loved their time here. We have had businesses reach out to us and tell us it was their best week of the year in sales.”
The Homecoming attracted AMC fans from all over the world who “came to Kenosha and celebrated our rich auto history — and spent money locally,” Allen said.
After waiting through two years of COVID-19 cancellations, Allen and the other organizers and volunteers who worked on the Homecoming enjoyed a week of ideal weather and big crowds.
For that, he is breathing sighs of relief.
“When you put so much time and effort into planning an event,” he said, “it is nice to see everything come together so well. It was a joy to see people having a great time and enjoying Kenosha all week.”
Award winners
Four local officials handed out “Choice Awards” to their favorite cars at the Big Show:
Mayor’s Choice from John Antaramian: Rick and Cheryl Hessler’s 1928 Nash 333
County Executive’s Choice from Samantha Kerkman: Matthew and Jim Skowronski’s 1970 AMC Gremlin
Police Chief’s Choice from Eric Larsen: Travis Groff’s 1971 Jeep Commando
Kenosha History Center’s Choice: Tracy McCarthy’s 1959 pink Metropolitan
Looking ahead
The Homecoming typically takes place every three years, and planning is already starting for the next event, Allen said.
“The next Kenosha Homecoming Car Show will be back at Kennedy Park on Saturday, July 26, 2025,” he said. “We will wrap up 2022 and start looking ahead to 2025.
“I am sure we will add an event or two, but the Gremlin Gathering at Jeffery School will not be going away. That was such a great turnout this year, and we love to celebrate the Gremlins.” | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/amc-homecoming-2022-event-a-huge-success/article_064cb166-142e-11ed-866a-8f2959949d7a.html | 2022-08-05T12:23:50 | 1 | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/amc-homecoming-2022-event-a-huge-success/article_064cb166-142e-11ed-866a-8f2959949d7a.html |
I came away a loser — again — in last week’s Mega Millions jackpot drawing, so I’ll have to build my wealth the old-fashioned way: Through Chuck-O-Luck.
Granted, mastering this staple of church festivals is unlikely to yield millions in winnings, but I could amass a king’s ransom in shampoo, jigsaw puzzles and flashlights.
And, unlike the heartless lottery, Chuck-O-Luck offers a consolation prize to losers, often in the form of a Tootsie Roll, to soothe us.
It’s a simple game: You shake out dice and pick your “lucky number.” Each time you roll those dice, you count how many times “your” number pops up. Every time, say, the dice show a “five,” you get a point. You win a prize (or not) depending on how many times that number comes up.
Yes, it’s a gateway drug for gambling, but it’s also low stakes, extremely entertaining and can, in a pinch, double as a counting lesson for early learners.
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I first encountered Chuck-O-Luck as a young child, playing for what seemed like hours with my grandmother, a grand wizard of the Chuck-O-Luck circuit.
We happily made the rounds of the local church festivals to play the greatest game ever invented. The fact that we were also helping local parishes, in my grandma’s eyes, made gambling with an 8-year-old practically a holy sacrament.
‘Top shelf’ rewards
There are three levels of prizes, depending on your score, and you strive to be a Top Shelf winner.
That’s where they keep the good stuff, like stuffed animals or a pasta strainer still in the original packaging.
Winning at all is a plus, of course, but Bottom Shelf prizes tend toward the mundane: Air fresheners and packages of Kleenex. Walking around with that loot instead of a flashy Top Shelf cobalt blue desk lamp — with an extra bulb! — marks you as a Chuck-O-Luck also-ran on the festival grounds.
Still, even a Bottom Shelf winner understands the thrill of besting those Chuck-O-Luck dice.
It’s a good thing this is my only gambling addiction (one shared with my younger sister, Pat) because it’s a low-cost game. For $10, I can hold a Chuck-O-Luck chair for half an hour. That’s a lot of chances to feel like a winner and to grab that can of Pledge I see on the Middle Shelf.
Chuck-O-Luck is once again available at a church festival near you — St. Peter’s Catholic Church (starting today) and Holy Rosary (starting Aug. 14).
I do have a suggestion for organizers of the revived Kenosha casino project.
While the traditional table games are fine — poker, black jack and whatever craps is — I’d love to see a Chuck-O-Luck table or two included in the plans. Just think of the fun prizes we’d find on the Hard Rock Top Shelf!
Until then, let’s roll those dice. | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/tgif-for-chuck-o-luck-rolling-the-dice-for-fame-and-fortune/article_20635e94-0e96-11ed-bce6-b7bd0c5e9ca5.html | 2022-08-05T12:23:56 | 0 | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/tgif-for-chuck-o-luck-rolling-the-dice-for-fame-and-fortune/article_20635e94-0e96-11ed-bce6-b7bd0c5e9ca5.html |
Cheers to you on International Beer Day. Celebrate by enjoying a brew from one of our local craft breweries. International Beer Day celebrates the history of this magnificent drink, which has been around since ... well, forever!
The St. Peter’s Catholic Church Festival opens with a fish fry from 4 to 8 p.m. today outside the church, 2224 30th Ave. The festival continues thrgouh Sunday, with live music, games and raffles. Live music tonight is from Bourbon Country, performing from 6:30 to 10 p.m. The popular dessert and ice cream booth is open all three days.
Batter up! The Kenosha Kingfish are hosting the Kalamazoo Growlers today at Simmons Field. The 6:35 p.m. game is also Italian Heritage Night. To purchase tickets, call 262-653-0900, log on at kingfishbaseball.com or go to the ticket office at Simmons Field.
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The Peacetree Music Festival opens today in Pennoyer Park, 3601 Seventh Ave. on the lakefront. Presale tickets -– available at Union Park Tavern, The Flair, Herbert’s Jewelers Kenosha and Peacetree Originals -– are $15; $20 at the gate. The music fest is open 3 to 11 p.m. today and noon to 11 p.m. Saturday.
It’s time for cream puffs, fried foods on sticks and that giant yellow slide! The Wisconsin State Fair is open at the fairgrounds in West Allis. Daily highlights include free Kids From Wisconsin shows at the Amphitheater, the ever-popular Racing Pigs and talented canine performers in the K-9 Sports Arena. For more details, go to wistatefair.com. | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/todays-events-for-friday-aug-5/article_c2e7ec34-136e-11ed-96fb-9b039dac035c.html | 2022-08-05T12:24:02 | 1 | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/todays-events-for-friday-aug-5/article_c2e7ec34-136e-11ed-96fb-9b039dac035c.html |
The Blue Angels are back for the big Seafair weekend.
For decades, the show has caused big backups, but this year’s flight plan is allowing the I-90 bridge to be open for drivers.
Despite the bridge being open, people looking to attend the weekend events could still hit heavy traffic at times.
Revive I-5 work continues, with Washington State Department of Transportation crews focusing on expansion joints along I-5 in Seattle.
The department is asking drivers to plan ahead and consider finding alternative routes, including I-405. Read more
On Thursday, officials from the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) released new information surrounding monkeypox cases the same day as the federal government declared it a public health emergency.
As of Aug. 3, the state DOH said 166 cases have been reported, with the majority of cases in King County. Other cases were reported in Whatcom, Snohomish, Pierce, Lewis, Yakima, Benton, Cowlitz, Clark, Mason and Kitsap counties. Read more
The man suspected of assaulting and exposing himself to multiple women near Seattle Center was charged with a hate crime on Thursday.
Kristopher Glenn Brown, 35, also faces charges of assault in the third degree and assault in the fourth degree. His arraignment is set for Aug. 18.
On July 18, Brown followed Laura Van Burkleo while she was walking her three Boston terriers. He allegedly called her a neo-Nazi and yelled homophobic slurs, according to charging documents. Brown allegedly punched Van Burkleo in the face multiple times and threatened to kill her. Read more
King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn conceded in the primary election race for Congressional District 8 on Thursday.
Incumbent Kim Schrier, who leads with 48% of the vote, and challenger Matt Larkin will move onto the general election. Larkin trailed with 17% of the vote on Thursday, two points ahead of Dunn.
Locke said Larkin's emphasis on agricultural issues and his agricultural roots could help him best Dunn for the second spot in the November election by appealing to eastern Washington voters. Read more and get the latest election results
A new mural aiming to share local baseball history often overlooked will be on display in the Seattle Mariners' new taproom and restaurant that will open later this month across the street from T-Mobile Park.
That is where they are putting the finishing touches on the new space in SODO and paying tribute to baseball’s diverse history at the same time.
Artist Damon Brown said he is just trying "to tell the whole story in one mural." Read more
RELATED: Western Washington Forecast
Have the "5 things you need to know" delivered to your inbox. Sign up for the daily morning email here. | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle/5-things-to-know-friday-august-2022/281-13085fb3-7d35-4afc-ad0d-59111257a607 | 2022-08-05T12:29:05 | 1 | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle/5-things-to-know-friday-august-2022/281-13085fb3-7d35-4afc-ad0d-59111257a607 |
Providence mayoral candidates face tough questions on addiction and recovery issues
Providence mayoral candidates got their first major chance to tell voters how they would address addiction and recovery issues as the state continues to struggle with an opioid crisis.
On Thursday, more than 100 people attended a forum at the Anchor Recovery Center moderated by NBC 10's Alison Bologna, though individuals currently in recovery were able to pose tough questions of their own on how the candidates would support their community.
'There's no housing'
Katie Pariser, a peer recovery specialist at Sojourner House and Parent Support Network of RI, described finding herself homeless while dealing with addiction, entering recovery housing and emerging only to struggle to find permanent housing.
"Some of my really good friends are still in recovery houses and they have nowhere to go, so they're there, and some are safe, but not in their own place, and they're ready to leave, and they're ready to find housing, and there's no housing," Pariser said.
Pariser wondered what candidates would do to fix that.
Brett Smiley
"Housing is healthcare and housing is critical to sustaining recovery," said Brett Smiley, who drew from his experience in long-term recovery from alcohol addiction. Smiley emphasized a "need to work through community partners" such as Amos House to create more recovery housing, including making use of vacant and abandoned property.
Smiley criticized what he described as a tendency in the city to build "apartments for rich college kids" instead of families, and spoke of the importance of down payment assistance and help for first-time homebuyers.
Gonzalo Cuervo
Gonzalo Cuervo said the city already has the resources it needs to act through the Providence Housing Authority, the Providence Redevelopment Agency, the city planning department and "the power of zoning that we can change, that we have to change."
"We’re in an excellent spot," Cuervo said. "We just need to pull the trigger and move forward."
Nirva LaFortune
"Not only is housing healthcare, housing is a human right." said Councilwoman Nirva LaFortune, who spoke about her time on the council helping to create a housing trust fund and allocating American Rescue Plan Act dollars, many of which went to housing. LaFortune also reminded voters of her plans to redesign North Main Street -- a massive project idea that could include a housing element -- though it remains in its early stages.
Longstanding barriers to normal life
Tarah Dorsey, a court support navigator at Project Weber/RENEW, a local nonprofit focused on recovery, reflected on the story of a friend who faced three drug charges. Dorsey explained that the third, which rose to the level of a felony, came less than one year ago from possession of drug residue. Dorsey said the charge has impacted her friend's ability to find housing help through RIHousing, which typically requires a minimum of five years without criminal activity to receive assistance. Dorsey said her friend, who is living in a hotel and commuting to work each day on public transit, has been in recovery for nearly a year.
Dorsey wondered whether mayoral candidates could change the rules.
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Smiley said the RIHousing board, which is appointed by the governor, would need to change its policies but that "the mayor, in order to be effective, needs to have a working relationship with the governor to be able to speak with conviction on issues that are important."
Smiley added that "this is where we need a mayor who understands, who's willing to be an advocate, who's willing to use the power of the office to fight for policy changes."
LaFortune said that community members should be involved in the decision-making process as it relates to RIHousing, and that barriers to housing needed to be broken.
Aside from housing, Cuervo noted that criminal records are also an issue, claiming that "the mayor has significant authority and control over the way misdemeanors are charged and prosecuted by the police."
Cuervo contended that Dorsey's friend should never have faced a third charge.
Police interactions in question
In a final question, Dorsey raised criticism over police interactions with people suffering from addiction, concerned over how often police use naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug also known as NARCAN, when witnessing an overdose.
In 2014, Providence police devised its NARCAN policy, equipping and training more than 350 officers.
"We should not be criminalizing anyone who suffering from a behavioral health disorder," LaFortune said, contending that "there needs to be some additional training within public safety," but did not connect that specifically to drug overdoses.
LaFortune added that police need to approach their work "from a diversity, equity and inclusion lens."
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Cuervo said the city needs to expand its non-police intervention options, which currently include enlisting the help of social workers in responding to emergencies.
Cuervo also advocated for more community policing to develop "more personal interactions, more empathy, more human-level connections."
Smiley, who during the forum vowed to ensure that individuals in recovery are placed in senior leadership roles, said police training "needs to include a component around recovery," not only in the academy but continuously.
Mayor Elorza:Want to be the next mayor of Providence? Prepare to be 'attacked from every angle' | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/08/05/providence-mayoral-candidates-face-tough-questions-addiction-housing/10239362002/ | 2022-08-05T12:37:14 | 0 | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/08/05/providence-mayoral-candidates-face-tough-questions-addiction-housing/10239362002/ |
To keep beaches safe, RI is making changes to lifeguard certification requirements
Facing a continuing shortage of lifeguards, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management is changing its certification process in the hope of keeping more guards at beaches this season and attracting more applicants in coming summers.
The DEM says it's not easing the requirements for certification but changing the schedule, extending some certifications into next year and giving potential applicants more flexibility.
What has the lifeguard shortage meant for beachgoers?
Like swim-area supervisors across the country, the DEM has struggled in recent years to find lifeguards to fill the chairs and watch the crowds. As of mid-June, the DEM had filled just 71 of 157 lifeguard positions but has since added another 34 guards for a total of 105. In 2021, the DEM started the season with 18 lifeguard positions unfilled.
The shortage has affected beachgoers. For example, the DEM didn't have enough guards this season to staff the Burlingame Picnic Area, Burlingame Campground or Pulaski State Park. Instead, it had rangers monitor the areas.
Also, the staffing shortage typically worsens in August as some lifeguards leave for school. As a result, the DEM will reduce the swimming area at Scarborough Beach starting Aug. 14. As of that date, Scarborough South will not have lifeguards, although lifeguards will remain on duty at Scarborough North. This is the sixth year the DEM has had to leave Scarborough South unguarded in late August.
Lifeguards must be 15 or older. The job pays $13.25 to $16.25 per hour.
What changes are planned?
A big change allows some current lifeguards to recertify next spring instead of this month. The DEM says it will extend through June 15, 2023, certifications for lifeguards whose credentials are set to expire on Sept. 30. Typically those guards would recertify this month.
"This second part of the certification process (in August) left many facilities unguarded or low on staff when these lifeguards needed to go to these tests," the DEM said. "It also placed a double burden on state facilities because we are using our captains for our testing process.... Having full certification at the beginning of the year before or just as the beach season begins will allow facilities to maintain as many guards as possible in chairs without this interruption."
The DEM is also providing more flexibility for anyone trying to get certified next year. Certification requires a timed endurance swim, and the DEM will now allow applicants to make that 400-meter swim in a pool on a day prior to the rest of their certification test. The swim must be completed in less than 10 minutes, in front of approved aquatic examiner, the DEM said.
"This change allows for more flexibility for lifeguards around the state to cut down driving miles for their certification and allows guards to complete this part of the certification in their hometown or state or wherever they may be attending college," the DEM said.
This will mark the first time the DEM has allowed candidates to qualify by swimming in a pool. However, the DEM notes that it previously required lifeguards who weren't assigned to surf beaches to make the swim in Watchaug Pond at Burlingame Picnic Area, which the DEM says is similar to swimming in a pool.
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"The purpose of this swim is to test the candidate’s endurance and ensure they are a competent swimmer," the DEM said. "Lifeguards continue conditioning and training at their individual facilities throughout the summer, so they become acclimated with the water bodies they will be protecting."
In responding to questions from The Journal, the DEM emphasized, "Swimming is an inherently risky activity. Swimming accidents and drownings can occur when lifeguards are present."
"DEM highly recommends that people of all ages learn to swim, respect the water and know their swimming limitations. When lifeguards are not present, swimmers are responsible for their own safety," the DEM said. "Parental or adult supervision is critical. Children and teenagers should always be supervised while swimming, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. A lifeguard is just one very important layer of public safety."
(401) 277-7614
On Twitter: @jgregoryperry
Be the first to know. | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/08/05/ri-dem-changing-lifeguard-certification-rules-beaches-summer/10222755002/ | 2022-08-05T12:37:26 | 0 | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/08/05/ri-dem-changing-lifeguard-certification-rules-beaches-summer/10222755002/ |
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