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Heartbreaking photos show a 6-year-old boy from Connecticut covered in burns and bandages in the hospital, after his family said he was set on fire by a bully in a horrific attack.
Most of Dominick Krankall's body is now swollen and bandaged up after the Bridgeport boy suffered second- and third-degree burns to his face and legs on Sunday. The boy's sister, Kayla Deegan, said her brother was playing in the backyard of their home off Louisiana Avenue in the afternoon with other children who live below them.
"As soon as he walked down the stairs, the bully called his name and lured him over around the corner, and in a matter of seconds he came back around the corner screaming, saying 'Mommy, they lit me on fire,'" said Deegan.
She said that an 8-year-old neighbor got into a shed on the property, and he somehow gained access to some gasoline and lighters. That's when the boy called Deegan's little brother over.
"What he did was pour gasoline on a tennis ball, took a lighter, lit it up and just chucked it right at my brother's face — and then ran away from him and watched him burn," Deegan said.
Dominick was rushed to the burn unit at Bridgeport Hospital just before 4 p.m. Police said Tuesday that they are investigating preliminary reports of four unattended children seen playing with gasoline and lighting objects on fire.
Hospital officials said that the boy is expected to recover. Dominick is lucky to have survived the incident, but what happened to him left loved ones outraged — because they said that this incident isn't the first time the alleged bully has put him in the hospital.
News
"Two months ago under the bully’s mother's supervision, he was pushed into a wall and fell to the floor. And again, the mother refuses to admit her kid did it," said TKTK.
The family of the other boy did not wish to address the incident when reached at their home.
Police, fire, and the state fire investigation teams are investigating the cause of the child’s injuries, as well as the incident. As of Tuesday evening, no charges have yet been filed.
But Dominick's loved ones are calling for justice.
"It's heartbreaking, it's sickening to know the family. There's nothing being done about this," said TKTK. "This needs to be seen everywhere so everyone knows Dom’s story and what he had to go through, and the extent it went to for someone to hopefully do something."
The family is looking to raise money in order to help pay for the hospital expenses — and so they can move out, and find somewhere else safer to live.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/mommy-they-lit-me-on-fire-ct-6-year-old-burned-in-horrific-bully-attack-family-says/3664919/
| 2022-04-27T04:42:19
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/mommy-they-lit-me-on-fire-ct-6-year-old-burned-in-horrific-bully-attack-family-says/3664919/
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Meaningful changes could be implemented within days at the troubled Rikers Island jail complex, the head of New York City’s jails told a federal judge Tuesday.
The city has insisted that years of failed reforms could be overcome without the court taking control of the nation’s second-largest jail system.
“You will see change,” Department of Correction Commissioner Louis Molina promised Judge Laura Taylor Swain.
Molina said he's “in alignment” with recommendations from Steve Martin, a monitor tasked with reporting on changes that are needed at a jail system which includes Rikers Island, where about 5,500 inmates are held.
In a recent report, Martin said about 30 percent of the workforce at the jails was not coming to work or not available to work with inmates. On Tuesday, he said of Molina: “Every time I’ve called on the commissioner for a remedy or attention, he has stepped up.”
“I don’t need to wait three weeks to take some actions,” Molina said, promising some changes would occur within days.
Sixteen inmates died at Rikers last year, and three have died so far in 2022.
Molina spoke after he was ordered to appear by the judge after she received a scathing letter about the jails from prosecutors, who suggested Molina appear before the court as they warned that court oversight of the jail system might be necessary.
“We remain alarmed by the extraordinary level of violence and disorder at the jails and the ongoing imminent risk of harm that inmates and correction officers face every day,” prosecutors wrote. “The jails are in a state of crisis, inmates and staff are being seriously injured, and action is desperately needed now.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Powell noted at Tuesday's electronically held hearing that city officials had repeatedly promised there would be reforms that never materialized, as officials constantly sought new deadlines for planned improvements that would then be found to be blocked by local laws or regulations.
“We can’t agree to continue to hit the reset button,” he said.
Powell said there might be alternatives to the appointment of a receiver who would essentially take control of the jails. He said one improvement would be for a judge to order the removal of legal impediments, such as a clause in the contract with workers that requires unlimited sick leave.
He said prosecutors “don't doubt the commissioner's dedication,” but he said the government was giving serious consideration to the appointment of a receiver.
His viewpoint was shared by attorney Hayley Horowitz, who represents plaintiffs in a court case brought in 2011. She said the situation had gotten so dire that some inmates are not allowed out of cells because there are no guards to open them.
“There’s not an easy answer, easy fix. But operational changes must be made,” she said.
Horowitz called the possibility of a receivership “a meaningful possibility,” adding: “We need to break the stalemate.”
In a statement last week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Molina “is laying the groundwork for long-term change.”
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/big-changes-could-be-coming-to-troubled-rikers-island-within-days-nyc-jails-boss-says/3665065/
| 2022-04-27T05:47:31
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/big-changes-could-be-coming-to-troubled-rikers-island-within-days-nyc-jails-boss-says/3665065/
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A handyman and on-again-off-again former lover of a Queens mother he allegedly killed and dragged away inside a hockey duffel bag appeared in court for a short hearing on Tuesday, as the murder case that shocked NYC continues.
David Bonola went before the judge during the short hearing. His attorneys told the court that their client would not testify before a grand jury.
The court developments come less than a week after the 44-year-old Bonola, who lives in South Richmond Hill, was arrested and charged with murder, among other offenses, in relation to the grisly death of Orsolya Gaal.
The body of the 51-year-old mother from Forest Hills was found in the morning of April 16, after a trail of blood from where the bag her body was in was dumped led back to her home not far away.
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Bonola told police that he and Gaal argued over their relationship. The two allegedly had an intimate affair, as Gaal also employed him for odd jobs around her Juno Street home for a few years. He didn't live far away and allegedly went there around 12:40 a.m. Saturday, just after she got home.
He was either let inside voluntarily or used a key that he knew was hidden in the home's barbecue, said NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig.
According to the NYPD, Bonola and Gaal got into a "heated argument" in her basement. Katz said that he got a knife and slashed the woman's throat before stabbed her more than 55 times — knifing her so violently that he ended up with blood all over his clothes and wounds to his hands as Gaal tried to fight back.
The knife later recovered at the scene was similar to other ones in her home, police said, but additional forensic analysis is pending. Bonola and Gaal had been on-again-off-again for about two years, police said, and last reunited romantically in early April. At the time of her death, they were considered "off," police clarified.
According to investigators, once Gaal was dead, Bonola allegedly took her teenage son's hockey bag, put her body inside and headed out to dump it. Video showed him rolling her body down sidewalks, leaving a trail of blood through her neighborhood.
Investigators believe that after Gaal was murdered, Bonola fled the dumpsite via Forest Park, which is where they found a jacket he allegedly wore during the crime.
Detectives also developed leads that led them to bloody bandages, boots and a T-shirt they believe Bonola was wearing at the time of Gaal's killing. They say he was treated at Bellevue Hospital for wounds to both hands, but didn't describe the injuries other than to suggest they were the result of Gaal's desperate effort to save her life.
As investigators were searching for evidence in the case, Bonola voluntarily returned to the precinct, according to police. That's when he made incriminating statements and allegedly admitted his guilt during questioning, according to two senior police officials with direct knowledge of the conversation.
Police also preciously said that Bonola admitted to sending a threatening text from Gaal's phone to her husband Saturday morning, believed to be an effort to take suspicion away from himself. That text referenced a previous unrelated crime.
He was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree evidence tampering and fourth-degree weapon possession in relation to Gaal's slaying, one which Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said left "a trail of blood and a terrified community."
Bonola has been held by the city's Department of Corrections and was said to be on suicide watch. Katz said that "two boys are left without a mother and a young teenager faces the added trauma of being home when this heinous murder took place."
Information on a possible attorney for Bonola wasn't immediately available.
Queens Mom Killing Terrifies Forest Hills
For nearly a week, the case mystified investigators and those who knew Gaal.
Gaal had last been seen alive at the Forest Hills Station House, a gathering spot popular with locals, the night before her death. The bar manager, Gabriel Veras, last recalled seeing the victim a bit after midnight at the gastropub on Saturday.
Veras said Gaal always wore a smile, dined alone and was kind to employees — and while she recalled seeing her for about 45 minutes Friday night into early Saturday, the manager didn't remember that she seemed to be in any kind of danger or disturbed.
"She was here on Friday, right in the center of the bar. Had a Moscow mule, had a bite to eat. Spoke to a few of my staff members that know her, joking around in conversation," Veras said. "She was a very, very sweet regular. She left alone and we were in shock the next day. Shock."
"She was composed, collected, in the middle of the bar, just keeping to herself and talking to staff," Veras added. "Nothing unusual. She didn’t seem frightened or scared or panicked. Just enjoying her one drink before going home."
Details of the attack are gruesome, as law enforcement sources said Gaal was stabbed some 58 times in the neck, torso, and left arm. The sources also said that she had wounds to her hands that were likely from her attempts to fight off the attacker.
Chilling surveillance video showed a person who police believed may have killed her, according to sources. That person, later identified as Bonola, was seen on home security camera footage wheeling a hockey duffel bag down 75th Avenue, with Gaal's body believed to be inside.
Police made the disturbing discovery of her body Saturday morning after a 911 caller alerted officials to the roadside crime scene. The NYPD said Gaal's body was found near Jackie Robinson parkway and Metropolitan Avenue about a half-mile from her home, after a jogger spotted the blood-soaked duffel bag near a busy walking trail.
Investigators believe that Gaal was attacked in her basement, while her 13-year-old son was asleep on the top floor of the home. Police said her husband and another son were out of town, visiting colleges on the West Coast, when she was killed.
The medical examiner's office confirmed Gaal's death was classified a homicide due to "sharp force injuries of the neck."
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/alleged-killer-in-nyc-mom-duffel-bag-case-wont-testify-before-grand-jury-lawyers-say/3665050/
| 2022-04-27T05:47:38
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/alleged-killer-in-nyc-mom-duffel-bag-case-wont-testify-before-grand-jury-lawyers-say/3665050/
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The Permian Basin Bicycle Association and West Texas Trail Alliance are welcoming the public to the Midland Trail Park grand opening on Saturday.
The event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the park, 3215 Farm-to-Market Road 307.
The event will feature basic bike prep and maintenance clinic, bike gear clinic, lunch and speakers, a medium pace group ride of the complete trail, a women’s group ride and beginner and family group ride on the green trail. The trail park features a hiking and trail running area, disc golf, skills park and all skill level trails. There will also be a mountain bike raffle, bike clinics, burgers and hotdogs plus door prizes.
Park officials have stated there is not an entrance fee and if a person decides he or she likes the park they can join the PBBA for $30 a year or $35 a year for the entire family. That fee provides access to the Midland Trail Park and the Odessa mountain bike park and helps to defray the ongoing maintenance costs of the facility. The city’s involvement in this public-private partnership is the donation of land.
Midland Trail Park is located near Harris Field Fire Training Facility, which resides on Farm-to-Market Road 307.
Online: https://pbbatx.com/
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https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/Midland-Trail-Park-to-have-opening-Saturday-17129107.php
| 2022-04-27T06:11:48
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https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/Midland-Trail-Park-to-have-opening-Saturday-17129107.php
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A man with a knife tried to rob a Bronx flower shop — but quickly found out that he messed with the wrong guy.
The armed would-be robber demanded all the cash in the drawer from the vendor of a flower shop in the Highbridge section of the Bronx earlier in April, video showed. The vendor said that the man displayed the weapon before demanding the cash.
The suspect lunged at the vendor, but that man refused to become a victim, saying that he could only think of defending himself. He said he grabbed something he could use to fend off the attack: an awning pole.
The robber eventually ran off empty-handed.
Jonathan Diaz, the general manager of Fine Fare Supermarket — which the flower shop is part of — said he loved seeing the vendor be able to ward off the attacker.
"I loved it. It shows the spirit of this community, we are never gonna back down to anybody," Diaz said. "They mean everything. They’re family. It’s very unfair what’s going on to them, and not just them but everyone in the neighborhood."
Diaz said that he understands times are tough, but said violence cannot be the answer.
News
"When is this going to stop? It’s not fair. They come to work everyday, like we come to work, and we just want to provide a service to the community and things like this are unnecessary," he said. "If they need money, if they need something to eat, like I do with people that come into the store, I feed them. They’re hungry, I give them a sandwich, instead of coming to steal. That’s not right."
The flower vendor is very shaken up and said he’s hoping for an arrest — but in the meantime, he’s keeping the awning pole close by.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/video-shows-bronx-florist-fight-off-armed-would-be-robber-with-awning-pole/3665091/
| 2022-04-27T06:13:16
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/video-shows-bronx-florist-fight-off-armed-would-be-robber-with-awning-pole/3665091/
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Seattle Public Schools is weighing a decision to change regular school hours.
In a letter sent to parents Thursday, the district said the proposed changes would help solve transportation issues related to its shortage of school bus drivers.
“We know that school leaders and families would like safe, reliable, and on-time transportation service without school schedule changes,” the district said on its website. “Unfortunately, because of the ongoing bus driver shortage, it isn’t possible to provide both of those things for everyone in the district.”
The district, which has already suspended 50 bus routes, anticipates the driver shortage to persist through next year.
Right now, most of the district’s elementary school students start class at 7:55 a.m. and get out of school at 1:10 p.m. Most students in the district’s middle schools — as well as most students in the district’s K-8 schools — start class at 8:55 a.m. and are released between 2:10 and 2:30 p.m. Most high schoolers start class at 8:45 a.m. and get out of school around 2:30 p.m.
Under the district’s new proposal, which its board of directors will vote on next month, the most drastic changes would happen at the elementary level.
Most elementary schools — 43 of the district’s 64 — would start class at 7:30 a.m. and end at 2 p.m. Four elementary schools would start at 8:30 a.m. and end at 3 p.m., and the remaining 17 schools would start at 9:30 a.m. and end at 4 p.m.
You can view the proposed start time for individual schools on the district’s website.
Under the changes, all but one of the district’s middle schools would start at 8:30 a.m. and end at 3:20 p.m. Denny International Middle School in West Seattle, the lone exception, would start at 9:30 a.m. and end at 4:20 p.m. All of the district’s K-8 schools would start at 9:30 a.m. and end at 4 p.m.
Each of the district’s 15 high schools would start at 8:30 a.m. and end at 3:20 p.m.
The board of directors is scheduled to vote on the changes at its regular May 18 meeting. If approved, they will go into effect at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year.
The district is welcoming public input on the changes through May 18. Parents and community members can submit their feedback through a Seattle Public Schools online form.
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https://www.seattlepi.com/local/seattlenews/article/Seattle-district-may-change-school-hours-17120439.php
| 2022-04-27T07:17:40
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https://www.seattlepi.com/local/seattlenews/article/Seattle-district-may-change-school-hours-17120439.php
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The Hearst Foundations announced Everett's Imagine Children's Museum has been awarded a $100,000 grant. The grant will go toward supporting its Imagine the Possibilities campaign.
The William Randolph Hearst Foundation and The Hearst Foundation Inc. are independent private philanthropies established in the 1940s by William Randolph Hearst, founder of the Hearst Corporation, which owns the SeattlePI. The two foundations act as a unified national philanthropic resource for nonprofit organizations and institutions working in the fields of education, health, culture and social service. The two foundations give the grants together.
In addition to grantmaking, two unique programs are administered and funded by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation: the United States Senate Youth Program for high school juniors and seniors and the Journalism Awards Program for undergraduates at accredited schools of journalism.
The Hearst Foundations have awarded more than 21,500 grants to nearly 6,000 organizations since their founding. Last year, the Hearst Foundations gave 429 grants worth a total of $104 million to 125 organizations. Of that total, $55.5 million was in COVID-19-realted grants, officials said.
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https://www.seattlepi.com/local/seattlenews/article/hearst-foundations-Imagine-Childrens-Museum-17128161.php
| 2022-04-27T07:17:46
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https://www.seattlepi.com/local/seattlenews/article/hearst-foundations-Imagine-Childrens-Museum-17128161.php
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KEIZER, Ore. — A Keizer woman whose cat was shot by an arrow earlier this month has set up a GoFundMe page to cover veterinary expenses.
Taleaha, who asked not to use her last name, said her neighbors found her 2-year-old cat Milo with an arrow sticking out of its side on April 12.
The neighbors said they found the cat under a backyard trailer and alerted the Keizer Police Department. Taleaha said the description of a white cat with black spots was a dead giveaway.
"My heart dropped when I heard the description of the cat. I immediately knew it was him," she said. "How he ran around and got home with the arrow is beyond me. He made it home, which is what we’re all grateful for."
Milo was able to get the arrow out of him before returning home to Taleaha and her fiancé. They immediately took him to an emergency vet where he received treatment, including staples, for his wounds.
The arrow was found near their backyard the following day and turned in to police.
The following week, Taleaha started a GoFundMe page for Milo. A week after going live, the fundraiser has surpassed its goal of raising $2,500. Taleaha said she plans on donating the excess funds to other pet owners in need.
"I was extremely surprised and really grateful because I probably couldn’t have paid for Milo’s medical expenses," said Taleaha. "I didn’t expect so many people to reach out and care the way that they did. I didn’t even expect to get many donations at all, to be honest."
Milo recently had his staples removed and his owners are hopeful that he will make a full recovery.
Keizer police told KGW that the incident remains under investigation.
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/keizer-cat-injured-bow-and-arrow-attack/283-f3d1fb1b-46ab-4750-bfd8-171f06a2f6bc
| 2022-04-27T07:43:09
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/keizer-cat-injured-bow-and-arrow-attack/283-f3d1fb1b-46ab-4750-bfd8-171f06a2f6bc
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PORTLAND, Oregon — Like so many people, John Taylor cherishes Forest Park in Northwest Portland. It's a place where he can clear his head and breathe in fresh air.
“This is my retreat,” said Taylor. “I come hiking here three days a week.”
Lately, the park has lost a little appeal to Taylor for safety reasons. Three weeks ago, Taylor’s wife parked along Northwest 53rd Drive near Thompson Road and went for a short run on the Wildwood Trail.
“She came back and there were five cars including hers that were broken into,” said Taylor. “They broke both the side window and the back window.”
Taylor said his wife had not left any valuables inside the vehicle so nothing was stolen, but they still had to deal with the damage.
“It's extremely frustrating, it's infuriating,” said Taylor.
And then there's Jay, who lives in the Northwest Heights Neighborhood and rides his bike along Northwest 53rd Drive regularly.
“Just a few days ago I came through and there were three car break-ins here,” he said.
RELATED: Thieves are targeting Clackamas County homes while residents are out of town, sheriff's office says
Jay shared that his daughter’s car was also recently broken into in the same area, though he admits she had left her valuables out in plain sight. He warned his neighbors about the break-ins only to be flooded with messages about their similar experiences around Forest Park.
In nearly every turnout along Northwest 53rd Drive near the Wildwood Trailhead, KGW found broken glass on the ground. In one parking area, Portland Parks & Recreation posted a sign warning people to remove all valuables from their vehicles.
A spokesperson with Portland Parks & Recreation told KGW they don't have comprehensive data on vehicle break-ins but their response to them includes increasing patrols.
“The cops don't do anything. It's very low priority for them to come out,” said Taylor. “So there really isn't any recourse.”
While it might feel pointless to file a police report, Portland Parks & Recreation said it’s an important way to help them and police track where the break-ins are happening so they can work together on finding solutions.
Things work a little differently in Oregon's State Parks system.
“We have a really robust tracking system,” said Clay Courtright, district manager with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.
For example, Courtright said at the Tryon Creek State Natural Area, they’ve tracked around six break-ins in the last six months. In other, more secluded state park areas, he said numbers are higher.
“Wherever you may be in an Oregon State Park, it's a good idea to safeguard your valuables,” said Courtright. “Criminal activity is up nationwide. We want everyone to do their part to keep each other safe.”
Courtright suggested taking what you need with you on the trail and natural areas and leaving the rest at home. He said many people take that basic advice for granted. He warned that crooks often case parking areas and see when visitors put valuables under their car seats, glove boxes or trunks.
“Once you smash the window, [they] have a trunk lever so that's the access to your trunk,” said Courtright.
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/park-visitors-report-increase-car-break-ins/283-f60a4cdd-9813-4041-809d-1e5275033648
| 2022-04-27T07:43:09
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/park-visitors-report-increase-car-break-ins/283-f60a4cdd-9813-4041-809d-1e5275033648
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TUPELO • The Lee County Board of Supervisors has quashed a potential $85 million bond issue that would have funded a new county jail, upgrades to the library and a 911 system.
In an unanimous vote on Monday, the board rescinded its intention to issue an $85 million bond with little fanfare and no discussion among members. The board originally approved advertising its intent to issue the bonds on July 6, 2021, but County Administrator Bill Benson said this week the board is not ready to take the plunge until “more concrete” figures can be provided for the jail project.
“The notice was a procedural thing, and the rescinding of (the intent) was procedural,” he said.
Board President Phil Morgan offered a similar explanation for the board's actions.
“It was just a window of opportunity that we saw when interest rates were low, but it was never anything concrete,” Morgan said. “We wouldn’t be able to get the plans before the bond issue was up and the initial price was out of range of what we wanted.”
Local political organizers had sought to require a referendum vote before any of the bonds could have been issued. Last August, Lee County Circuit Clerk Camille Roberts Dulaney disqualified some 755 signatures, dropping the petition under the required 1,500 signatures needed to trigger the special election.
Reporting by the Daily Journal at the time discovered inconsistencies among the disqualifying decisions made by the clerk's office, however, and supervisors never definitively determined whether the petition effort was successful or not.
Dinetia Newman, an organizer with the political advocacy organization Indivisible Northeast Mississippi and a key organizer of the petition, said she was happy to see the bond issue rescinded but believes the main thrust of what brought on the petition still stands.
Newman noted that she wanted more transparency and discussion on all topics the supervisors consider.
“Everyone in the community was concerned with the jail," she said. "What I am hopeful will happen is that there will be multiple public forums about the issue. We haven’t heard anything in the past few months. We all want to know what is going on and to be kept abreast of things, and that just hasn’t happened in the past.”
The topic of building a new county jail is a thorny one, Newman said, calling the original design proposal a "wishlist” for county officials. The cost of the new jail construction alone was estimated at $50 million by consultant Tom Weber last April. The other $35 million would have gone toward the cost of library upgrades, administrative buildings for the sheriff's department and a new E911 system.
“We want to help the community figure out what it needs to do with the jail,” Newman said. “We want humane conditions for people who are incarcerated. We don’t want Lee County’s jail to be a regional prison. That is not what we want to be known for, and that is where we are heading.”
Benson said the petition was not a deciding factor the board's decision this week to withdraw its bond intent. He also said the upcoming county elections net year did not factor into the change of course.
Morgan, the board president and a District 1 supervisor, said the jail is an important issue but is not coming before the board “in the immediate future.”
“It is something we are going to have to address,” he said. “We are going to have to wait and see.”
To move forward, Benson said the county would have to hire an architect. District 5 Supervisor Billy Joe Holland attempted to do just that in November, but the board took no action. Benson said Holland had mentioned the prospect to him again since, but it had not reached the full board.
Holland told the Daily Journal that he would speak with Benson and try to get the matter back on the agenda at the next board meeting, set for May 2.
“Looks like it is going to be a long, drawn-out process,” Holland said. “We either need to do it or quit worrying about (a jail) until we are forced to build one. That is coming.”
If the board decided to approve another bond issue on the jail, organizers would be able to create a new petition and again try to force a special election, Newman said.
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https://www.djournal.com/news/local/lee-supervisors-reverse-course-on-85-million-bond/article_4f2d7658-646c-5235-a6c9-ffcf799313b2.html
| 2022-04-27T09:08:39
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https://www.djournal.com/news/local/lee-supervisors-reverse-course-on-85-million-bond/article_4f2d7658-646c-5235-a6c9-ffcf799313b2.html
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LONDON (AP) — The 23rd novel by acclaimed American author Louise Erdrich and an adult fiction debut by Trinidadian stand-up comedian Lisa Allen-Agostini were named finalists on Wednesday for the 30,000-pound ($38,000) Women’s Prize for fiction.
Erdrich’s “The Sentence” — set in a haunted Minneapolis bookstore — and Allen-Agostini’s Caribbean story of gender violence and liberation, “The Bread the Devil Knead,” are on a six-book shortlist for the prestigious British award.
The finalists also include New Zealand author Meg Mason’s bold and funny novel about love and mental illness, “Sorrow and Bliss”; U.S.-Canadian writer Ruth Ozeki’s bibliophilic novel “The Book of Form and Emptiness”; Turkish-British author Elif Shafak’s Cyprus-set love story “The Island of Missing Trees”; and American writer Maggie Shipstead’s “Great Circle,” the story of a pioneering female aviator and her legacy.
Founded in 1996, the prize is open to female English-language writers from around the world. Previous winners include Zadie Smith, Tayari Jones and Maggie O’Farrell. Last year’s winner was Susanna Clarke’s literary fantasy “Piranesi.””
The winner of the 2022 Women’s Prize will chosen by a jury led by British journalist Mary Ann Sieghart and announced June 15 at a ceremony in London.
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https://www.cbs42.com/local/louise-erdrich-among-6-finalists-for-literary-womens-prize/
| 2022-04-27T11:58:02
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https://www.cbs42.com/local/louise-erdrich-among-6-finalists-for-literary-womens-prize/
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TUPELO • The Lee County Board of Supervisors has quashed a potential $85 million bond issue that would have funded a new county jail, upgrades to the library and a 911 system.
In an unanimous vote on Monday, the board rescinded its intention to issue an $85 million bond with little fanfare and no discussion among members. The board originally approved advertising its intent to issue the bonds on July 6, 2021, but County Administrator Bill Benson said this week the board is not ready to take the plunge until “more concrete” figures can be provided for the jail project.
“The notice was a procedural thing, and the rescinding of (the intent) was procedural,” he said.
Board President Phil Morgan offered a similar explanation for the board's actions.
“It was just a window of opportunity that we saw when interest rates were low, but it was never anything concrete,” Morgan said. “We wouldn’t be able to get the plans before the bond issue was up and the initial price was out of range of what we wanted.”
Local political organizers had sought to require a referendum vote before any of the bonds could have been issued. Last August, Lee County Circuit Clerk Camille Roberts Dulaney disqualified some 755 signatures, dropping the petition under the required 1,500 signatures needed to trigger the special election.
Reporting by the Daily Journal at the time discovered inconsistencies among the disqualifying decisions made by the clerk's office, however, and supervisors never definitively determined whether the petition effort was successful or not.
»OUR OPINION: Supervisors should validate petition for jail bond vote
Dinetia Newman, an organizer with the political advocacy organization Indivisible Northeast Mississippi and a key organizer of the petition, said she was happy to see the bond issue rescinded but believes the main thrust of what brought on the petition still stands.
Newman noted that she wanted more transparency and discussion on all topics the supervisors consider.
“Everyone in the community was concerned with the jail," she said. "What I am hopeful will happen is that there will be multiple public forums about the issue. We haven’t heard anything in the past few months. We all want to know what is going on and to be kept abreast of things, and that just hasn’t happened in the past.”
The topic of building a new county jail is a thorny one, Newman said, calling the original design proposal a "wishlist” for county officials. The cost of the new jail construction alone was estimated at $50 million by consultant Tom Weber last April. The other $35 million would have gone toward the cost of library upgrades, administrative buildings for the sheriff's department and a new E911 system.
“We want to help the community figure out what it needs to do with the jail,” Newman said. “We want humane conditions for people who are incarcerated. We don’t want Lee County’s jail to be a regional prison. That is not what we want to be known for, and that is where we are heading.”
Benson said the petition was not a deciding factor the board's decision this week to withdraw its bond intent. He also said the upcoming county elections net year did not factor into the change of course.
Morgan, the board president and a District 1 supervisor, said the jail is an important issue but is not coming before the board “in the immediate future.”
“It is something we are going to have to address,” he said. “We are going to have to wait and see.”
To move forward, Benson said the county would have to hire an architect. District 5 Supervisor Billy Joe Holland attempted to do just that in November, but the board took no action. Benson said Holland had mentioned the prospect to him again since, but it had not reached the full board.
This issue impacted recent Lee County Board of Supervisors elections. Here's what candidates
Holland told the Daily Journal that he would speak with Benson and try to get the matter back on the agenda at the next board meeting, set for May 2.
“Looks like it is going to be a long, drawn-out process,” Holland said. “We either need to do it or quit worrying about (a jail) until we are forced to build one. That is coming.”
If the board decided to approve another bond issue on the jail, organizers would be able to create a new petition and again try to force a special election, Newman said.
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https://www.djournal.com/news/local/lee-county-supervisors-reverse-course-on-85-million-bond-that-wouldve-funded-new-jail/article_4f2d7658-646c-5235-a6c9-ffcf799313b2.html
| 2022-04-27T12:11:42
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https://www.djournal.com/news/local/lee-county-supervisors-reverse-course-on-85-million-bond-that-wouldve-funded-new-jail/article_4f2d7658-646c-5235-a6c9-ffcf799313b2.html
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) –The Birmingham Public Library is celebrating International Jazz Day on Thursday, April 28.
An event will be held from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. at the central library.
Cheyenne Trujillo joined CBS 42 News to discuss the event. Her full interview can be watched in the video player above.
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https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/birmingham-public-library-helps-celebrate-international-jazz-day/
| 2022-04-27T12:41:37
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https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/birmingham-public-library-helps-celebrate-international-jazz-day/
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April 27, 2011 is a day no Alabamian will ever forget. One of the largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history hit the Southeast, and Alabama felt some of the worst Mother Nature had to offer that day. Forecasters were warning of a major tornado outbreak days in advance, and unfortunately, the forecast was accurate. 62 tornadoes touched down in the state of Alabama that day, cutting a combined damage path of over 1200 miles. 253 people lost their lives in the state of Alabama alone as a result of the storms that day.
Morning Squall Line
A Quasi-Linear-Convective-System (QLCS), or squall line, intensified as it moved across Eastern Mississippi and into Alabama. This line of storms produced widespread wind damage across the state, and produced multiple tornadoes, some of which were very strong. You can slide through the radar imagery of those morning tornadoes below.
In addition to strong tornadoes, this morning line of storms produced widespread wind damage, leaving many in the state without power and interrupting lines of communication before additional violent storms would develop in the afternoon.
No Break For North Alabama
While Central Alabama saw a few hours of sunshine and a break from storms, North Alabama dealt with a second QLCS that produced more tornadoes through the middle of the day. While tornadoes touched down in Morgan, Limestone, and Madison counties, the temperature and dewpoint were climbing behind the morning round of storms, and the atmosphere was becoming primed for a tornado outbreak.
Afternoon Supercells
The atmosphere quickly rebounded after the morning round of storms over Alabama, and supercell storms began forming in parts of East Mississippi and West Alabama by mid-afternoon. While the morning round of storms left behind significant damage and killed 2 people in the state, the afternoon and evening round would prove to be the most devastating 8 hours Alabama witnessed. Supercell thunderstorms produced multiple, violent, long-track tornadoes across the state. Many of these tornadoes hit large cities, producing catastrophic damage and killing 319 people in the Southeast. 253 of those fatalities occurred in the state of Alabama. You can slide through the afternoon supercell storms below.
The Numbers
These storms produced widespread devastation. Across the Southeast, 199 tornadoes touched down that day, a record for the most in a single day in U.S. history. 62 tornadoes touched down in the state of Alabama. 34 tornadoes were EF-3 or greater. 4 EF-5 tornadoes touched down, and three of the four did damage in the state of Alabama. April 27, 2011 went down as the deadliest single-day tornado outbreak in the United States since the 1925 Tri-State tornado. 319 people lost their lives that day, including a staggering 253 in the state of Alabama.
Since that day, forecasters have worked hard to get better at both forecasting severe weather in the Southeast, as well as better communicate risk to people in harm’s way. The events of April 27, 2011 have shaped the field of meteorology and have led to advancements in warnings, and research on severe weather in the Southeast.
Be sure to follow the CBS 42 Storm Team:
Follow Us on Facebook: Chief Meteorologist Ashley Gann, Meteorologist Dave Nussbaum, Meteorologist Michael Haynes and Meteorologist Alex Puckett
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https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/looking-back-at-april-27-2011/
| 2022-04-27T12:41:37
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https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/looking-back-at-april-27-2011/
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ROCHESTER, Minn. - A Mayo Clinic pilot got quite the surprise Tuesday night after nearly a dozen years working for the Air Ambulance service.
Mayo Chief Pilot Bob Ringold took his last flight with Mayo Clinic on Tuesday and he was honored by a water cannon salute from the Rochester International Fire Department on the taxiway.
Mayo Clinic says Ringold has led many advancements at the Air Ambulance program. He is also one of few dual-certified to fly both Mayo Clinic’s medical helicopter and airplane according to the health care giant.
Ringold tells KIMT News 3 the surprise send-off made him reflect on his career.
He said of the experience, "A little bit of melancholy in that I know it's my last day and the people here are so great so I'm going to miss the people. So, we're coming back and it's a little overwhelming in one way and in the other way I understand it. I appreciate all the effort that went into it to set this up."
Ringold says he plans to spend his retirement spending more time with his grandchildren.
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https://www.kimt.com/news/local/mayo-clinic-pilot-receives-surprise-water-cannon-salute-to-mark-retirement/article_d9b9efc2-c5ce-11ec-b6b4-3fd12b4775f8.html
| 2022-04-27T12:49:40
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https://www.kimt.com/news/local/mayo-clinic-pilot-receives-surprise-water-cannon-salute-to-mark-retirement/article_d9b9efc2-c5ce-11ec-b6b4-3fd12b4775f8.html
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DALLAS — After nearly 1,000 days in captivity in Russia, Granbury native Trevor Reed was released from a Moscow jail in exchange for a convicted Russian drug trafficker serving a long prison sentence in America, a senior U.S. official told the Associated Press.
The surprise deal would have been a notable diplomatic maneuver even in times of peace, but it was all the more extraordinary because it was done as Russia's war with Ukraine has driven relations with the U.S. to their lowest point in decades.
Reed, a Marine veteran, was arrested in the summer of 2019 after Russian authorities said he assaulted an officer while being driven by police to a police station following a night of heavy drinking. He was sentenced to nine years in prison, though his family has maintained his innocence and the U.S. government has described him as unjustly detained.
In a statement, the Reed family, his parents Joey and Paula, thanked President Joe Biden “for making the decision to bring Trevor home” as well as other administration officials and Bill Richardson, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations whom the family said traveled to Moscow in the hours before the Ukraine war began in hopes of securing Reed's release.
Joey Reed, Trevor Reed's father, told ABC News that his son was flown from Russia to Turkey, where he was exchanged on a tarmac for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot serving a 20-year federal prison sentence in Connecticut.
Reed then boarded a flight for the U.S. He was still in the air Wednesday morning, flying directly to the U.S.
"He said it was like a movie," Joey Reed said. "They walked past each other like in a spy swap."
Joey Reed told ABC News that doctors were assessing Trevor Reed on the plane.
WFAA spoke with Reed's family nearly two weeks ago, just after his 970th day of captivity.
Paula Reed, Trevor's mom, expressed concern for her son's health after seeing an image of him appearing in court via video on April 12. While he said in court that he was not coughing up blood and didn't have a fever – both issues he's reportedly been battling in recent months – Paula Reed said her son's condition "looks terrible."
"We're really concerned," she said, "because he looks thin. He just doesn't look like himself."
Though officials on Wednesday did not initially say where the transfer took place, in the hours before it happened commercial flight trackers identified a plane belonging to Russia’s federal security service as flying to Ankara, Turkey. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons also updated its website overnight to reflect that Yaroshenko was no longer in custody.
President Joe Biden released the following statement on Wednesday morning:
"Today, we welcome home Trevor Reed and celebrate his return to the family that missed him dearly. Trevor, a former U.S. Marine, is free from Russian detention. I heard in the voices of Trevor’s parents how much they’ve worried about his health and missed his presence. And I was delighted to be able to share with them the good news about Trevor’s freedom.
I’m grateful for the tireless and dedicated work of Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation John Sullivan, and many others across our government to ensure that Trevor came home safely. The negotiations that allowed us to bring Trevor home required difficult decisions that I do not take lightly. His safe return is a testament to the priority my Administration places on bringing home Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained abroad. We won’t stop until Paul Whelan and others join Trevor in the loving arms of family and friends."
Reed was one of several Americans known to be held by Russia, including WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was detained in February after authorities said a search of her bag revealed a cannabis derivative, and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan, who is being held on espionage-related charges his family says are bogus. It was unclear what if any impact Wednesday's action might have on their cases.
United States Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken released this statement regarding Reed's release and Whelan's continued captivity:
"I am pleased to announce the release of U.S. citizen Trevor Reed, who was wrongfully detained in Russia. We extend our deep appreciation to our many allies and partners who helped us in this effort. I also wish to commend Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Ambassador Carstens, Ambassador John Sullivan, and others in our government who have worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. We welcome this important release, while continuing to call for the release of wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan. We also remain committed to securing the freedom of all U.S. nationals wrongfully detained abroad."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/granbury-trevor-reed-returning-to-us-in-prisoner-swap-with-russia-officials-say/287-1ea2cd6f-30a9-404b-964a-7702156b8f8c
| 2022-04-27T14:23:32
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https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/granbury-trevor-reed-returning-to-us-in-prisoner-swap-with-russia-officials-say/287-1ea2cd6f-30a9-404b-964a-7702156b8f8c
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ELBA, N.Y. — New York State Police are investigating a deadly crash in Genesee County involving a Mercy Flight helicopter.
Troopers say the crash happened in the Town of Elba near Norton Road around 1 p.m. Two people were in the helicopter at the time of the crash. Both were killed.
The victims have been identified as Mercy Flight Pilot James Sauer, 60, Churchville, NY and Bell Helicopter Flight instructor/pilot Stewart M. Dietrick, 60, of Prosper, TX.
Mercy flight said Sauer is a retired NYS Police Pilot, who began working with Mercy Flight in October 2020.
Mercy Flight released this statement:
At approximately 1:00 p.m EST today, the Mercy Flight Communications Center was notified that aMercy Flight helicopter had sustained an accident in the area of Elba, NY in Genesee County during Mercy Flight’s annual Bell Helicopter factory training.
Mercy Flight Pilot James Sauer and a Bell Helicopter Flight instructor perished in the accident. Mr. Sauer, a retired NYS Police Pilot, began working with Mercy Flight in October 2020.
“It goes without saying that our
attention needs to be focused on the families of those lost and on our own employees as we deal with this unspeakable tragedy. This is a very dark day for the Mercy Flight family, we are so grateful for the expressions of love, concern, and support expressed by many,” said Margaret Ferrentino, Mercy Flight’s President.
“Mercy Flight has temporarily suspended operations in order to allow time for our employees to process the event, and to ensure the complete safe mechanical operation of our other helicopters pending a preliminary accident team investigation. The Mercy Flight Communications Center will remain operational and will refer any requests to other area resources who are standing by to assist,” states Scott Wooton, Mercy Flight’s Executive Vice President.
The cause of the accident has not been determined. FAA, NTSB, Bell Helicopter and Underwriter Accident Investigation teams are responding to the scene. We will provide additional information as it becomes available.
According to New York State Major Eugene Staniszewski the helicopter had taken off for a training mission from the Batavia airport before the crash happened. It's unclear at this time why the helicopter crashed.
Staniszewski says New York State Police are working with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
"At this point it's very preliminary where we're at with this investigation. We cannot confirm anything as to why the helicopter went down," Staniszewski said.
The crash happened 3.1 miles from the airport where the helicopter was based near Batavia and there was downed power lines near the wreckage but NYSP does not believe that was the cause of the crash but may have been wrapped in the helicopter as it went down.
The helicopter was a town-engine Bell 429 and which is the model type for most of the fleet for Mercy Flight, they updated their fleet within the last decade.
Kaleida Health issued this statement following the accident:
“We are aware of the tragic accident involving a Mercy Flight helicopter that crashed today in the Town of Elba in Genesee County. Our hospital transport teams were not impacted by the crash.
At this time, we understand that Mercy Flight services are grounded. Patient transports to our facilities will continue by ground as usual.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Mercy Flight team and their loved ones. Kaleida Health will remain focused on supporting our partners at Mercy Flight as this investigation unfolds.”
ECMC released this statement:
Our ECMC Family is deeply saddened by the news of the Mercy Flight aircraft crash today that took the lives of two Mercy Flight caregivers. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and loved ones, as well as the entire Mercy Flight organization. ECMC and Mercy Flight are deeply connected in caring for our community and tonight we offer them our deepest, heartfelt condolences.
Catholic Health issued the following statement.
All of us at Catholic Health extend our condolences and prayers to the entire Mercy Flight family and their loved ones. We are grateful to partner with them in their lifesaving work, which has helped so many in our community.
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https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/nysp-investigating-mercy-flight-helicopter-crash-genesee-county/71-9de55f8a-71c2-4f9e-ac2c-0f00265039e6
| 2022-04-27T14:23:38
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https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/nysp-investigating-mercy-flight-helicopter-crash-genesee-county/71-9de55f8a-71c2-4f9e-ac2c-0f00265039e6
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DALLAS — After nearly 1,000 days in captivity in Russia, Granbury native Trevor Reed was released from a Moscow jail in exchange for a convicted Russian drug trafficker serving a long prison sentence in America, a senior U.S. official told the Associated Press.
The surprise deal would have been a notable diplomatic maneuver even in times of peace, but it was all the more extraordinary because it was done as Russia's war with Ukraine has driven relations with the U.S. to their lowest point in decades.
Reed, a Marine veteran, was arrested in the summer of 2019 after Russian authorities said he assaulted an officer while being driven by police to a police station following a night of heavy drinking. He was sentenced to nine years in prison, though his family has maintained his innocence and the U.S. government has described him as unjustly detained.
In a statement, the Reed family, his parents Joey and Paula, thanked President Joe Biden “for making the decision to bring Trevor home” as well as other administration officials and Bill Richardson, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations whom the family said traveled to Moscow in the hours before the Ukraine war began in hopes of securing Reed's release.
Joey Reed, Trevor Reed's father, told ABC News that his son was flown from Russia to Turkey, where he was exchanged on a tarmac for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot serving a 20-year federal prison sentence in Connecticut.
Reed then boarded a flight for the U.S. He was still in the air Wednesday morning, flying directly to the U.S.
"He said it was like a movie," Joey Reed said. "They walked past each other like in a spy swap."
Joey Reed told ABC News that doctors were assessing Trevor Reed on the plane.
WFAA spoke with Reed's family nearly two weeks ago, just after his 970th day of captivity.
Paula Reed, Trevor's mom, expressed concern for her son's health after seeing an image of him appearing in court via video on April 12. While he said in court that he was not coughing up blood and didn't have a fever – both issues he's reportedly been battling in recent months – Paula Reed said her son's condition "looks terrible."
"We're really concerned," she said, "because he looks thin. He just doesn't look like himself."
Though officials on Wednesday did not initially say where the transfer took place, in the hours before it happened commercial flight trackers identified a plane belonging to Russia’s federal security service as flying to Ankara, Turkey. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons also updated its website overnight to reflect that Yaroshenko was no longer in custody.
President Joe Biden released the following statement on Wednesday morning:
"Today, we welcome home Trevor Reed and celebrate his return to the family that missed him dearly. Trevor, a former U.S. Marine, is free from Russian detention. I heard in the voices of Trevor’s parents how much they’ve worried about his health and missed his presence. And I was delighted to be able to share with them the good news about Trevor’s freedom.
I’m grateful for the tireless and dedicated work of Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation John Sullivan, and many others across our government to ensure that Trevor came home safely. The negotiations that allowed us to bring Trevor home required difficult decisions that I do not take lightly. His safe return is a testament to the priority my Administration places on bringing home Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained abroad. We won’t stop until Paul Whelan and others join Trevor in the loving arms of family and friends."
Reed was one of several Americans known to be held by Russia, including WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was detained in February after authorities said a search of her bag revealed a cannabis derivative, and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan, who is being held on espionage-related charges his family says are bogus. It was unclear what if any impact Wednesday's action might have on their cases.
United States Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken released this statement regarding Reed's release and Whelan's continued captivity:
"I am pleased to announce the release of U.S. citizen Trevor Reed, who was wrongfully detained in Russia. We extend our deep appreciation to our many allies and partners who helped us in this effort. I also wish to commend Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Ambassador Carstens, Ambassador John Sullivan, and others in our government who have worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. We welcome this important release, while continuing to call for the release of wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan. We also remain committed to securing the freedom of all U.S. nationals wrongfully detained abroad."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/granbury-trevor-reed-returning-to-us-in-prisoner-swap-with-russia-officials-say/287-1ea2cd6f-30a9-404b-964a-7702156b8f8c
| 2022-04-27T14:26:14
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https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/granbury-trevor-reed-returning-to-us-in-prisoner-swap-with-russia-officials-say/287-1ea2cd6f-30a9-404b-964a-7702156b8f8c
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FARMINGTON, Arkansas — Over 7,000 Ozarks Electric customers were without power in Farmington Wednesday, April 27.
As of 9:12 a.m. Wednesday, power has been restored to all 7,143 customers. Ozarks Electric says the outage came from the Eddie Walker and Farmington substations.
The cause of the outages is not known at this time.
Click here to view the power outage map.
Stay with 5NEWS for updates on this developing story.
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To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com.
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https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/thousands-without-power-in-farmington/527-eac0530b-f4b9-4921-9e1a-ec1741563168
| 2022-04-27T14:26:20
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https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/thousands-without-power-in-farmington/527-eac0530b-f4b9-4921-9e1a-ec1741563168
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CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Officials in Cape Coral said the city has outgrown its current watering schedule ordinance.
On Wednesday, the city council will look over a proposal expanding time slots for watering at its Committee of the Whole meeting.
The current water schedule uses 12 watering time slots that allow two sets of house numbers to water simultaneously. The new watering schedule will add eight additional slots by expanding to 8pm thru 2am and removing Tuesday as a non-watering day.
Officials say by increasing to 20 watering time slots, the city can better manage watering demand. Experts say the current system “compresses the watering schedule and results in lower irrigation system pressure and flow.”
Right now about 13,367 customers can irrigate per day. The proposed schedule reduces the average number to 8,020 customers per day, resulting in a 40% reduction.
Residents we spoke to say the current schedule is pretty easy to follow.
“We have the irrigation system, we set it on the timer so the days we’re allowed to water we let it water, we do it overnight so it gets into the ground and set it and forget it,” said Darlene Dorcz, a Cape resident.
If you have an older timer and controller system, you will need to upgrade them. The city will offer a $500 rebate.
Wednesday’s meeting begins at 9 a.m.
Count on NBC2 for updates as we learn them.
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https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2022/04/27/cape-coral-watering-schedule-revision-discussions-begin-this-week/
| 2022-04-27T14:46:20
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https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2022/04/27/cape-coral-watering-schedule-revision-discussions-begin-this-week/
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CAPE CORAL, Fla. – Police are investigating a shooting in the 1900 block of SE Van Loon Terrace near SE 20th Place in Cape Coral Wednesday morning.
Around 3 a.m. police were spotted blocking roadways with crime scene tape in the area while investigating the early morning shooting.
The Cape Coral Police Department is asking the public to avoid the area and find an alternate route while an investigation continues.
Police have not yet said whether anyone was hurt in the shooting or if any arrests have been made.
No further details were immediately available.
This is a developing story.
Count on NBC2 to bring you the latest information as it is released.
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https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2022/04/27/shooting-investigation-unfolds-in-cape-coral-neighborhood/
| 2022-04-27T14:46:26
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https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2022/04/27/shooting-investigation-unfolds-in-cape-coral-neighborhood/
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The Buskirk-Chumley Theater is turning 100. How does it plan to survive another century?
When Jonah Crismore became the executive director of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, his first job was to send everyone home. It was March 2020, and the fate of the theater was put in the hands of the Bloomington-area community.
Within a few months, tickets had been refunded for at least 50 canceled shows. Live performances went virtual, and the marquee displayed messages such as “together for a healthier tomorrow.”
The theater’s future was uncertain, Crismore said, but through virtual ticket sales and a lot of fundraising, it has lived to celebrate its 100th year.
Crismore, who is from the Fort Wayne area, knew how important the Buskirk-Chumley was to Bloomington before he moved to town. It was always his favorite theater in Indiana, he said.
He and the other staff are going to do everything they can to keep the theater alive for another 100 years — they’ll just have to figure out how to do it in a post-pandemic world.
Theater has relied on ‘commitment from the community’
From the time the Buskirk-Chumley Theater — originally named "The Indiana" — was built in 1922 until about 25 years ago, the theater primarily played movies. On opening day, about 1,300 people — 10% of Bloomington’s population at the time — came together to watch the 1922 movie “The Storm.”
It seems like everyone who lived in Bloomington while it was a movie hub has memories of going to the theater, Crismore said.
“Every day I meet somebody who tells me, ‘Indiana theater was the first place I saw ‘Jaws,’ and I fell in love with movies,’” he said, “Or, ‘It was the first place I saw ‘Star Wars,’ and from that day on, I’ve loved science fiction.’”
Throughout its 100 years, the theater has suffered several blows but beat the odds every time. In 1933, it nearly burnt down in a fire the Bloomington Police Department later ruled arson. In the 1960s, Bloomington’s College Mall cinema opened and became the theater’s main competition.
In 1995, it closed for nearly a year before being donated to the Bloomington Area Arts Council for use as a performing arts center. Ownership later shifted to the city of Bloomington, but the new purpose remained and continued to grow.
Today, the Buskirk-Chumley is home to community events such as the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival, the Limestone Comedy Festival, film festivals and countless Indiana University events, from lectures to student performances.
“I think that’s really kind of at the root of why we have lasted as long as we have,” Crismore said, “because we have that commitment from the community.”
Pandemic changed the theater landscape
When COVID-19 closed the Buskirk-Chumley indefinitely, Crismore and staff had to rethink the theater’s relationship to the community.
Virtual shows replaced live performances. Some, such as Carrie Newcomer’s virtual benefit in July 2020, were successful — others were not. Regardless, virtual ticket sales weren’t enough to keep the theater afloat. It took financial support from the federal government and a lot of local fundraising, Crismore said.
One way the theater was able to continue to bring in money that other businesses couldn’t was with the marquee. In 2020, the theater started renting the marquee for $250 a day to those who wanted to display their own positive messages or quotes from celebrities such as Mr. Rogers and Audrey Hepburn.
“It was one of those things where it was like, we can’t have a show. We can’t have access to the stage. We can’t have people inside. So what do we have?” Crismore said. “Well, we have the marquee.”
Even when the theater opened again in fall 2020, sales still weren’t the same, Crismore said. They still aren’t.
“Across the board in every performing arts and music venue … the audiences are not coming back like they were,” he said.
Plans to survive another century
If the theater wants to thrive in the future, it has a two-fold mission: attract a new audience and re-attract the old audience.
“The next stage of dealing with arts during the pandemic is how do we entice a new audience through new programming, and how do we figure out a way to make our old audience comfortable enough to come back?” he said.
The city of Bloomington announced last year it plans to invest in updating the theater’s HVAC system. Crismore hopes the cleaner air will allow visitors to feel safer coming to the theater, he said.
As part of its centennial celebration, the theater also plans to show several film series to honor its roots as a movie house. One will be a silent film series and one will feature films that were shot in Indiana or have directors or actors from Indiana.
The centennial celebration also includes new programming in hopes of attracting new visitors. One event, slated for spring 2023, will bring podcasters from around the country together to record live on stage.
Other smaller projects, such as allowing local poets to show their skills on the marquee, are also in the works.
“I think people are going to be really excited for what’s to come,” Crismore said.
Contact Christine Stephenson at cstephenson@heraldt.com.
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https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/local/2022/04/27/buskirk-chumley-theater-celebrates-100-years-bloomington-indiana/7369603001/
| 2022-04-27T15:04:51
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https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/local/2022/04/27/buskirk-chumley-theater-celebrates-100-years-bloomington-indiana/7369603001/
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BEAVERTON, Ore. — Two people died and four others were injured, including a Washington County Sheriff's Office (WCSO) deputy, after a two-vehicle crash in Beaverton early Wednesday morning.
The crash happened around 12:24 a.m. at the intersection of Southwest Tualatin Valley Highway and Southwest Murray Boulevard.
According to Beaverton police, the driver of a Nissan Altima ran a red light and hit the sheriff's deputy patrol car.
Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue responded to the crash and provided medical aid. Five people were inside the Nissan Altima and two of them were pronounced dead at the scene. Three others, including the driver, were taken to hospitals and are in critical condition.
Beaverton police said the deputy was also taken to the hospital in critical condition. The deputy was on duty at the time of the crash.
The names of those involved in the crash have not been released.
The highway was closed for several hours, but reopened around 6:35 a.m.
The Washington County Crash Analysis and Reconstruction Team (CART) is investigating the crash. Anyone with information is asked to call (503) 629-0111.
MOST-READ STORIES ON KGW.COM TODAY (APRIL 27, 2022)
WATCH: Headlines on Demand playlist
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/tualatin-valley-highway-fatal-crash/283-d388bbe8-8dd3-44e3-884f-cc79d63c790c
| 2022-04-27T15:19:05
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/tualatin-valley-highway-fatal-crash/283-d388bbe8-8dd3-44e3-884f-cc79d63c790c
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One dead following two-vehicle crash in Grant-Valkaria, Florida Highway Patrol reports
J.D. Gallop
Florida Today
Investigators with the Florida Highway Patrol are at the site of a deadly two-vehicle crash in Grant-Valkaria.
The crash happened about 8 a.m. near the intersection of U.S. 1 and Valkaria Road.
One person was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation is ongoing.
Check back for updates.
J.D. Gallop is a Criminal Justice/Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.
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https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2022/04/27/florida-highway-patrol-investigating-fatal-crash-south-brevard/9552416002/
| 2022-04-27T15:47:27
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https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2022/04/27/florida-highway-patrol-investigating-fatal-crash-south-brevard/9552416002/
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (WIAT) — CBS 42 anchor Art Franklin has been honored on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Rep. Terri Sewell rose during Wednesday’s morning hour in the house to honor the broadcast journalism legacy that Franklin represents as he leaves his role as anchor of the CBS 42 news at the end of April.
“I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Art Franklin in his extraordinary career and contributions to broadcast journalism,” Sewell said. “Congratulations, Art. We in Birmingham are so proud of all that you have done, and we wish you much luck in your endeavors.
You can watch Sewell’s full comments in the video player above.
Every night this week, Art Franklin and Sherri Jackson will take to Facebook live around 6:45 to celebrate the next chapter in the veteran anchor’s career.
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https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/watch-cbs-42s-art-franklin-honored-on-us-house-floor/
| 2022-04-27T15:49:10
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https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/watch-cbs-42s-art-franklin-honored-on-us-house-floor/
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A 23-year-old Bronx man has been arrested on a robbery charge in connection with a collision that prompted people from his Lexus SUV to surround the other driver, with some leaping on the roof of his Kia van as others beat him, police said Wednesday.
The NYPD says the attack dates back to March 30, when the 53-year-old victim, who had been driving a Kia van, collided with a Lexus SUV that had been moving north on Exterior Street. It happened right in front of the Best Buy store, authorities say.
The collision caused both vehicles to hit a parked Honda sedan, which was empty. After the impact, cops say five men who had been passengers in the Lexus and the 23-year-old driver, later identified as Miquiel Guerrero, surrounded the Kia van.
The moment of impact -- and what happens next -- was caught on video (above).
One man climbed on top of the Kia while another started punching the victim in the face repeatedly, police say. The victim ran from the scene. Two of his attackers got in the van he had left behind and drove off. Three others fled in the Honda sedan.
Guerrero, the Lexus driver, remained at the scene and was taken into custody, police said. He was subsequently charged with robbery. Attorney information wasn't known.
The victim was treated at a hospital for a fractured eye socket and lacerations suffered in the attack. Cops are continuing to search for the five other suspects in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/1-arrested-5-wanted-in-nyc-mob-attack-after-suvs-collide/3665868/
| 2022-04-27T16:09:00
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/1-arrested-5-wanted-in-nyc-mob-attack-after-suvs-collide/3665868/
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Police are looking for two suspects who apparently teamed up to steal an iPhone from a 32-year-old woman in a wheelchair as she crossed a Queens street in the middle of the afternoon earlier this month, authorities said Wednesday.
According to cops, the woman was crossing north on Cross Bay Boulevard and 161st Avenue around 2:45 p.m. on Monday, April 11, when the two suspects approached her from behind. One thief intentionally bumped her wheelchair to distract her, while the other reached into the wheelchair and stole the woman's iPhone 12.
Both suspects then ran south on Cross Bay Boulevard. No injuries were reported.
Police released surveillance footage of the suspects in the area (above). Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/2-team-up-to-rob-32-year-old-woman-in-wheelchair-crossing-nyc-street-cops/3665908/
| 2022-04-27T16:09:13
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/2-team-up-to-rob-32-year-old-woman-in-wheelchair-crossing-nyc-street-cops/3665908/
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Residents of a pollution-choked neighborhood in New Jersey’s largest city said Tuesday they are tired of their community being used as a dumping ground for projects that foul their air yet exclude them from the economic benefits of industry.
In an online public hearing, residents of Newark’s Ironbound section denounced a plan by a sewage treatment facility to build a backup gas-fired power plant that is designed to keep the treatment plant operating when the power goes out.
The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission is seeking a state environmental permit to build the largest portion of the $180 million backup facility. The sewage treatment plant is the fifth-largest in the nation, and accepts liquid waste shipped from communities ranging from Maine to Virginia. It is the largest single-site user of electricity in New Jersey.
But it has become a cause célèbre among community activists — and a key test of an environmental justice law that New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed in 2020. The law is designed to prevent communities already overburdened with pollution from having to accept additional contamination sources.
“I have a hard time breathing on a lot of days, and a lot of it comes from your plant,” said Lenny Thomas, who lives in the Ironbound, which got its nickname from the railroad tracks that surround it on three sides. “This has been going on for decades. It’s not just, it’s not right, and it’s not fair.”
The governor intervened in January and told the authority to pause the plan. His office says Murphy, a Democrat, remains committed to making sure communities do not suffer disproportionately from pollution sources. The law still has not taken full effect, and state officials are writing regulations concerning the law.
Similar battles are taking place around the country, particularly in minority communities that are already dealing with pollution and are trying to avoid being burdened with additional sources of it.
The commission says it is complying with the intent of the environmental justice law. During Tuesday’s hearing, commission officials said they plan to reduce other sources of pollution at the plant by upgrading or removing some equipment, with the net effect that the plant as a whole will emit less pollution into the air than it currently does.
The commission “has given assurances that this time will be different,” said Keith Voos, an official with the New Jersey conference of the NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization.
“The NAACP is having none of that. This issue is a pre-eminent environmental justice question,” he said.
Maria Lopez of the Ironbound Community Corporation said the cumulative effects of decades of industrial pollution in her neighborhood have been devastating.
“We have seen that Black and brown people will die and are dying,” she said. “We’re fighting for our lives.”
Representatives of several business and labor groups said Tuesday they support the project for its jobs and economic benefits.
The commission says the backup power plant must be built to avoid a repeat of what happened when Superstorm Sandy knocked the plant offline in 2012, resulting in nearly a billion gallons of untreated sewage spilling into nearby waterways.
Without a reliable source of emergency power, the commission says, the streets of Newark, Jersey City and Bayonne could be flooded with sewage in a future storm. The commission also plans to convert from natural gas to cleaner fuels as soon as that becomes feasible, including the use of battery power.
Yasmine DeOliveira-LoPrete, 28, has lived in the Ironbound all her life, but doesn’t think she can safely raise a family there.
“Any Ironbound resident can feel it when they walk outside and breathe the air,” she said. Still, she acknowledged many people don’t have the resources to relocate.
Newark resident Lana McCrea called it “galling” for the commission to cite the environmental devastation of Superstorm Sandy and say that “to solve that problem, we need to pollute you more.”
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/newark-power-plant-not-just-not-right-not-fair-residents-say/3665845/
| 2022-04-27T16:09:21
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/newark-power-plant-not-just-not-right-not-fair-residents-say/3665845/
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Police are looking for a man they say walked into a 24-hour Bronx laundromat in the middle of the night last week and, while trying to steal cash from the register, stabbed a 37-year-old woman working there multiple times in the head, face and body.
He also attacked a male customer in the store, authorities said Wednesday.
Surveillance video of the 3 a.m. Friday attack shows the chaos unfold, with one man seen arguing with another person, potentially the female employee. Then another man is seen rummaging underneath a desk area before two men appear to be scuffling.
Eventually, a laundry cart enters the fray.
Cops say the 45-year-old male customer was stabbed in the hand. Both he and the woman stabbed multiple times were taken to a hospital and are expected to be OK.
The suspect ran off after the attack. He didn't steal anything. Police released footage (above) in hopes someone can identify him and help cops make an arrest. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/woman-customer-stabbed-in-nyc-laundromat-robbery-chaos-captured-on-camera/3665970/
| 2022-04-27T16:09:28
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/woman-customer-stabbed-in-nyc-laundromat-robbery-chaos-captured-on-camera/3665970/
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — For the first time in two years, the nonprofit Girls Inc. will hold its girls night out event on Thursday.
Girls Inc. of the Pacific Northwest is a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring girls to be strong, smart and bold.
CEO Cyreena Boston Ashby and Girls Inc. alum Shayla Montgomery shared more about the event.
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https://www.koin.com/local/girls-inc-hosts-girls-night-out-to-fundraise/
| 2022-04-27T16:18:36
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https://www.koin.com/local/girls-inc-hosts-girls-night-out-to-fundraise/
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A 61-year-old man was found dead in an illegal basement apartment after a fire ripped through a multi-family Queens home Wednesday morning, officials said.
FDNY responded to a fire around 4:30 a.m. at a residence on Befell Street in the Jamaica section of Queens. Firefighters fought heavy smoke to get into the cellar. Once there, they found and removed the man who was unconscious and badly burned.
After the FDNY extinguished the fire, the Department of Buildings did an inspection and noted an illegal apartment in the cellar, complete with a full kitchen, gas stove, and a bathroom. Due to the inspection and the discovery of the illegal apartment, a full vacate order was issued.
While the upper levels sustained damage, the most impacted area was the basement, unfortunately taking the life of the tenant. The cellar of the building sustained significant fire damage, with charred joists, and destroyed interior walls.
"They discovered one victim at the cellar staircase. That victim was removed, EMS started to immediately provide treatment. Unfortunately, that victim succumbed to their injuries.
The owner of the building has been cited for the illegal cellar apartment, as well as an illegal backyard concrete structure that measured 8-foot by 15-foot attached to the main house, according to the DOB.
The investigation into the cause and origin of the fire is underway.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/man-found-dead-in-illegal-basement-apartment-following-nyc-house-fire-officials/3665952/
| 2022-04-27T16:26:31
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/man-found-dead-in-illegal-basement-apartment-following-nyc-house-fire-officials/3665952/
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Venice Police to assess safety risk from intruders at Wellfield and Chuck Reiter parks
VENICE – Venice Police will review both Wellfield Park and Chuck Reiter Park to look for ways to improve security there for area youth.
The move isn’t prompted by any recent threats at the parks, but rather by the fact that City Council Member Joe Neunder is an active soccer dad.
Neunder raised the issue at Tuesday’s council meeting, primarily in response to input from parents at Wellfield which, he noted, has four entry points.
“We have no control currently so much as monitoring who is going in and who is going out,” said Neunder, who at first queried whether the city should consider installing license plate readers at the entrances.
In case you missed it:Venice police to consider adding cameras that read license plates
And: Venice council approves new parks maintenance agreement
“The safety component has been brought to my attention the past couple weeks by parents,” added Neunder.
Wellfield Park is home to youth leagues in baseball, football, softball and soccer.
Those leagues are scheduled through Sarasota County, which also has a maintenance agreement with the city of Venice.
Under the current agreement, Venice is responsible for all major capital improvements at the 80-acre park, while Sarasota County is obligated for about $5,000 a year in maintenance jobs.
Vice Mayor Nick Pachota, who made the motion to direct police to conduct a risk assessment, as well as offer potential solutions, added the Chuck Reiter Park to the request, which passed unanimously. Chuck Reiter is the home field for Venice Little League.
The park maintenance agreement – specifically the poor condition of the soccer field turf – is key to a player safety issue that both Mayor Ron Feinsod and Council Member Mitzie Fiedler brought up as part of the discussion.
Council members have been getting several emails from concerned parents, as well as Venice Soccer Club President David Jarvis, detailing the poor conditions on all three soccer fields there, but especially Field 2.
Neunder, who has participated in parent-child games, characterized turf conditions as “sand.”
The city laid new sod last fall at a cost of $15,000 but the prolonged use takes a toll.
“The fields are being used continuously and we can’t keep up with the traffic,” Venice City Manager Ed Lavallee said.
With the city and county also working on a new parks agreement that would see ownership of Wellfield Park transfer to Sarasota County, Lavallee said any improvements would likely be torn up, once Sarasota County implements a new park design.
Last March, Venice approved a new maintenance agreement that was never approved by the Sarasota County Commission.
In other action
Also on Tuesday, the Venice City Council:
• Postponed the final reading of an ordinance that would place the house at 640 W. Venice Ave. on the local register of historical resources until the May 10 meeting. The postponement request came from the applicant.
• Approved three grant agreements with the Florida Department of Transportation for improvements at the Venice Municipal Airport. A $44,725 grant would pay for the rejuvenation of Runway 5-23 and replacement of windsocks; a $24,225 grant would help pay for improving Taxiways A, B, C, and E South; and a $16,900 grant would help pay for improvement of runway 13-31.
Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription to the Herald-Tribune.
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https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/venice/2022/04/27/venice-florida-police-study-safety-wellfield-and-chuck-reiter-parks/7449711001/
| 2022-04-27T16:41:05
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https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/venice/2022/04/27/venice-florida-police-study-safety-wellfield-and-chuck-reiter-parks/7449711001/
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What groups are getting part of the $3 million from the Community Foundation of North Louisiana?
On Tuesday the Community Foundation of North Louisiana announced over $3 million was awarded in 2022 competitive grants.
Kristina Gustavson, CEO of CFNLA said, "CFNLA is thrilled to announce it is awarding a total of $3,004,428 in this year’s Competitive Grants."
The CFNLA manages funds that are invested for the community's benefit. These funds are then returned to the community in the form of grants to a wide variety of charitable endeavors.
This year the CFNLA awarded 55 organizations with a total of $3,004,428 grants.
The CNFLA's mission is to promote philanthropy and improve the quality of life in North Louisiana by serving as a permanent and growing resource.
Established in 1961, the Foundation oversees more than $180 million in assets for the benefit of North Louisiana. Since its inception, CFNLA has granted over $100 million to nonprofit organizations.
More:Shriners celebrates a 100 years and kicks off with the ribbon cutting of new playground
How do these nonprofits receive these grants?
CNFLA accepts applications for competitive grant funding from eligible charitable organizations once annually.
Through a two-stage application process, CFNLA selects grantees based on the identified community need, the capacity of the organization to meet that need, the past and present outcomes of the program, and the overall financial health of the applicant.
The subgroups awarded money include
- Human Services- $849,896.00
- Health and Science- $391,350.00
- Education- $792,448.00
- Economic Development- $179,500.00
- Environment- $46,508.00
- Arts and Culture- $313,726.00
- Small Organizations- $56,000.00
- Special Initiative- $375,000.0
Visit www.cfnla.org for a complete list of grant recipients.
Read:Shreveport bus service wins grant to upgrade stops, accessibility
Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.
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https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2022/04/27/heres-what-groups-getting-part-3-million-cfnla-north-louisiana-non-profits/9544366002/
| 2022-04-27T16:56:55
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https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2022/04/27/heres-what-groups-getting-part-3-million-cfnla-north-louisiana-non-profits/9544366002/
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The White House announced a push to treat more COVID patients with antiviral pills on Tuesday.
It's a rollout that's been slow. The medication won authorization in December 2021, so now the White House hopes to speed it up by making more pills available.
But pharmacists in Arkansas said it's still not enough.
Daniel Cate with Marketplace Pharmacy in Little Rock said inventory isn't the problem at all. The issue is prescribing the pills to the patients and this new initiative doesn't solve that problem.
"It'll remove one barrier, absolutely, having more places that can dispense the medication will be helpful, but it doesn't really solve the whole problem," he said.
Cate described it as a "small part of a much bigger battle."
While the government buying 20 million more doses of Pfizer's antiviral pill sounds good on paper, Cate said there's still a larger issue at hand.
"That's great that supply is at a point where we can do that. Part of the reason supplies is at a point where we can do that is because we haven't been able to dispense very much," he said.
Many pharmacies in Arkansas, including Cate's, have plenty of pills on shelves, but since the FDA blocked pharmacists ability to prescribe the medication, the pills aren't leaving the store.
"Due in part to how complicated it is. We've had several prescriptions and actually dispense none of the medication, for various reasons," he said.
Part of the White House's new plan is creating more test-to-treat locations, where someone could get tested for COVID and get the treatment all at one location.
Nicki Hilliard, with the Arkansas Pharmacist Association, said that still doesn't really work for our state.
"Those are usually in some of the chain pharmacies that have a medical clinic associated with them, which we just really don't have that much access in Arkansas," she said.
The biggest hurdle according to Hilliard is prescribing pills in the timeframe where the medication is most successful.
"Access is not a problem. We have those available right now. They're sitting on shelves ready, ready for whoever needs them," she said.
While getting the meds to patients is vital, it all comes down to saving more lives.
"We've lost almost a million Americans and we need to make sure that we don't lose any more because we have good treatments," she said.
For both brands of antiviral pills, patients have to start taking them within five days of their first COVID symptom.
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https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/pharmacists-trouble-prescribing-covid-antiviral-pills/91-38e32b5a-9f0b-4021-b3ec-71c509e89f8d
| 2022-04-27T17:51:05
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https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/pharmacists-trouble-prescribing-covid-antiviral-pills/91-38e32b5a-9f0b-4021-b3ec-71c509e89f8d
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SALINE COUNTY, Ark — The Arkansas State Police is asking for the public's help in searching for a missing and endangered 13-year-old girl.
Emma Grace Ebert was last seen around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, April 26, on Salem Road in Benton.
She has dark, blonde hair and it 5 feet and 2 inches tall. She weighs 100 pounds.
She was last seen wearing:
- Dark colored shorts with green stripes on the sides
- Dark long sleeved shirt with “FILA” on the front
- White long sleeve shirt with tiny flowers on it
- Black sneakers with white soles
- Dark beanie with a white logo
- Light purple glasses
- carrying a green string backpack
- Tan canvas bag.
Emma also has braces that currently have green bands.
If you see Emma, please contact the Saline County Sheriff's Office at 501-303-5648.
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https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/police-teen-girl-missing-saline-county/91-609ff390-f559-41e1-ac1a-703b303c42c2
| 2022-04-27T17:51:11
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https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/police-teen-girl-missing-saline-county/91-609ff390-f559-41e1-ac1a-703b303c42c2
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The MTA Q70 bus to LaGuardia Airport will be free for all starting May 1, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday.
"I thought that made a lot of sense: that the Q70 bus could be this interim means to let people know that this is a good way to get from the airport to the next station 10 minutes away," Hochul said during an MTA meeting.
Transfers from the subway to the bus are already free for two hours when you use your MetroCard (you have to get a receipt from a kiosk, but you won't be charged). However, with this news, now all can ride that bus line for free.
"Starting May 1st, the fares on the Q70 bus will be suspended while we are going through our process of alternative means with the airtrain," Hochul said referencing the rail link.
The $2 billion project to build a rail link connecting New York City to LaGuardia Airport was officially put on hold last fall, after weeks of criticism from public officials and a lawsuit from neighborhood and environmental groups.
In a news release at the time, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said it is pausing the project to consider alternatives.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/q70-bus-to-laguardia-airport-free-for-all-starting-may-1-hochul-announces/3666084/
| 2022-04-27T17:58:38
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/q70-bus-to-laguardia-airport-free-for-all-starting-may-1-hochul-announces/3666084/
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Former President Donald Trump filed to appeal the civil contempt finding and the associated $10,000 daily fine against him in New York State Court.
The filing was telegraphed Wednesday by his attorney, Alina Habba.
A New York judge held former president Donald Trump in contempt on Monday over his lack of response to a subpoena from the state's attorney general, and ordered him to pay $10,000-a-day in fines until he complies.
Attorney General Letitia James sought the contempt order earlier this month, saying Trump was not following a previous order to turn over documents in a civil investigation. The AG's office has said there is "significant" evidence the Trump Organization misstated asset values for years.
James' 26-page contempt motion alleged that Trump did not comply with a court-ordered March 31 deadline to turn over documents, instead submitting objections to the various requests and saying he would not turn over any materials.
James released the following statement Wednesday in response to Trump’s appeal, saying: “The judge’s order was clear: Donald J. Trump is in contempt of court and must pay $10,000 a day until he complies with our subpoenas. We’ve seen this playbook before, and it has never stopped our investigation of Mr. Trump and his organization. This time is no different.”
Trump has been fighting the attorney general's subpoena, and his company, the Trump Organization, has repeatedly said it was complying with various orders to turn over materials.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/trump-appeals-contempt-finding-associated-with-his-10000-a-day-fine/3666179/
| 2022-04-27T17:58:45
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/trump-appeals-contempt-finding-associated-with-his-10000-a-day-fine/3666179/
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BROOME COUNTY, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – Broome County Sheriff David Harder announced that Friday is the deadline to register for the civil service exam for the title of Correctional Officer on June 25th.
If you would like to serve as a correctional officer for the Broome County Sheriff’s Officer you must complete this exam along with other requirements. The deadline to register for this exam is this Friday, April 29th at 3:30 pm.
Applications are available on the Broome County website, the Personnel Office at the County Office Building, at 60 Hawley Street in Binghamton, or at the Administrative entrance of the Broome County Sheriff’s Office, at 155 Lt. Vanwinkle Drive in Binghamton.
Applicants must have completed 60 credit hours from an accredited college or university at the time of appointment or 30 credit hours and two years of active military service. If an applicant expects to complete the educational requirement by December 31, 2022, they can be admitted to this examination. Applicants must reside in Broome, Tioga, Cortland, Delaware, or Chenango County.
The job description, a complete list of the required qualifications, and applications are available on Broome County’s website, www.gobroomecounty.com
The starting salary for Correction Officer is $43,719, with increases every year. The base salary after 5 years is $72,030 and includes a 25-year retirement plan.
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https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/local/broome-county-correction-officer-civil-service-exam-deadline/
| 2022-04-27T18:08:32
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https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/local/broome-county-correction-officer-civil-service-exam-deadline/
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The Colorado River was declared America’s “most endangered” in a recent report from American Rivers.
Climate change and overuse of the body of water are imminent threats to river health and widespread water security, the report suggests. The declaration comes on the heels of federal consideration of emergency action to reduce demands on the Colorado River in a bid to preserve water levels in Lake Powell.
While such cutbacks would impact the greater Arizona region, Flagstaff would be largely unaffected.
The Colorado River provides drinking water to 40 million people across seven states and Mexico currently. There are also 30 tribal nations within the river basin Mexico are depend on water from the Colorado River. The river is also home to 30 different native fish species, two-thirds of which are threatened or endangered, and more than 400 bird species.
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Extended drought in the West has “tapped out” multiple rivers, and the Colorado is notably overextended. As a waterway, it provides drinking water to some of the region’s largest cities, including Denver, Salt Lake City, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Tijuana. It also irrigates 5 million acres of farm and ranch land, and supports a $1.4 trillion economy. These myriad uses are enough to dry out the Colorado 100 miles before its mouth in the Sea of Cortez.
The report states that “the entire system is operating at a deficit, and climate change is expected to further reduce the river’s flow by 10 to 30% by 2050.”
“We need better management of the river that reflects the river that we have,” said Matt Rice, director of the Colorado Basin Program at American Rivers. “But that’s not good enough.”
Rice would like to see a more “holistic” approach that incorporates everything from water conservation to upgrades in agricultural infrastructure and evaporation reduction. According to Rice, the time is right for the river basin states to leverage federal funding collectively via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Large-scale, intergovernmental cooperation with strong inclusion of Tribal Nations is key, he said.
“The federal government, NGO’s, tribes, everybody that has a stake in the river, we must march in the same direction,” he said.
Without a unified approach, Rice said, “we are going to be really hard-pressed to meet this challenge.”
“I think, at its core, we have a math problem,” said Anne Castle, former assistant secretary for Water and Science at the U.S. Department of the Interior and senior fellow at the University of Colorado Law School. “There’s a significant imbalance between supply and demand.”
The math problem points squarely to one partial solution: cutbacks.
Last year saw the first cutbacks on Colorado River water users. Arizona farmers were hit hard, losing up to 50% of their deliverable water. More cutbacks are necessary, said Castle, but the situation is “politically thorny.”
“It is drastically difficult, politically, to tell existing water users that they can no longer use the amount of water that they've become accustomed to,” she said. “We've been able to avoid doing that to any great extent because we've been drawing down the water in the big reservoirs.”
These big reservoirs — Lake Powell and Lake Mead — have been consistently hovering around historic low levels that have raised warning flags for both water managers and power production. If Lake Powell drops below 3,490 feet, Glen Canyon Dam will no longer be able to produce power. Currently, Lake Powell is at 3,522.5 feet.
All this points to a need for a plan, said Castle.
“If the system crashes, and it would be far better to allocate those reductions and have a plan that protects the reservoir structures and allocates the burden in in a more equitable manner,” she said.
Recently, the Interior Department has proposed the emergency action of holding back water in Lake Powell to maintain power production. It has requested feedback from water managers in the basin states and is expected to be revealing the results of that feedback in the near future.
“We would not see physical cutbacks of water deliveries,” said Erin Young, Flagstaff water resources manager.
A majority of Flagstaff’s water comes from groundwater, with local surface water reservoirs, such as Upper Lake Mary (ULM), serving to make up the difference.
Despite dipping to about 22% capacity in February, ULM has seen some spring recharge. A mid-April measurement had the reservoir at 33% capacity. City water managers will aim to keep ULM above 20% capacity by the end of summer.
“This leaves enough water in the lake to meet summer peak water demand in 2023, should we have a dry ‘22-‘23 winter season with no runoff,” Young said.
Also included in the American Rivers report was the San Pedro, which has suffered from excessive groundwater drilling in southern Arizona.
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https://azdailysun.com/news/local/report-colorado-river-is-americas-most-endangered/article_0960c350-c5ab-11ec-8aa6-17ae15cc4cfa.html
| 2022-04-27T18:12:05
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — One Birmingham firefighter remembers where he was on April 27, 2011.
Capt. Don Bailey was one of several people fighting for their lives as they took shelter in Station 18 in Pratt City that day. That day, 74-year-old Bessie Brewster was killed and many homes were destroyed in the area.
Originally, Bailey was not supposed to be at Station 18 that day. During that time, he was at a recruiting school and got dispatched to different fire stations to help out before the tornado hit. Not long after they arrived, the tornado hit a church next to the station.
“We took off running into a closet,” Bailey told CBS 42 Morning News anchor Andrea Lindenberg on the 11th anniversary of the tornado. “We all ran in there and had to hold the door to keep from being sucked up.”
Bailey said he remembers the tornado hitting the station, breaking all the windows and snatching the door open.
“We all three were holding onto the door to keep that door from opening,” he said. “We all thought we were gone. It was devastating.”
Bailey said that right after the tornado left the area, people in the community walked to the station for help. From there, firefighters went into rescue mode. Looking back, Bailey said he was impressed by how many people went out of their way to help one another.
“It was amazing how the community came together to help each other out,” he said. “People were getting other people out of houses, apartments and so forth and they were directing them toward the fire station pause that is where we set up command.”
Bailey, who also worked in McDonald Chapel after a tornado hit that community in 1998, said the tornado in Pratt City was unlike anything he had ever seen.
“That was the worst experience I ever had,” he said.
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https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/birmingham-firefighter-remembers-devastating-tornado-that-hit-pratt-city-in-2011/
| 2022-04-27T18:31:53
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https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/birmingham-firefighter-remembers-devastating-tornado-that-hit-pratt-city-in-2011/
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by: Austin Franklin Posted: Apr 27, 2022 / 12:47 PM CDT Updated: Apr 27, 2022 / 12:47 PM CDT SHARE BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — April is Jazz Appreciation Month and Tremayne Thompson with The Perfect Note joined CBS 42 News to share what they are doing to celebrate! Watch the full interview above and visit perfectnotelive.com for more information.
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https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/jazz-appreciation-month-with-the-perfect-note/
| 2022-04-27T18:31:59
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'We are meant for more': How East Peoria author thrives in life with cerebral palsy
PEORIA — Sam Miller wasn't supposed to be here.
But he is equal parts miracle and sheer will in a life journey devoted to overcoming a disability to be his best self.
And he wants you to do the same, so the Morton native and now East Peoria resident has written a book, "I'MPOSSIBLE: Life lessons on thriving with a disability."
"I was born with cerebral palsy, came out black-and-blue," said Miller, 37. "Doctors told everyone, 'Say goodbye to him.' But my whole life became about finding a way to make a meaningful impact."
Miller was born into a sports-enthusiastic family and grew up in the era of Michael Jordan and fell in love with basketball. He wanted to play the game. When he couldn't play it at a high competitive level because of his disability, he had to make a decision — and it's perhaps the most important part of the book.
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"How can I be around the game I love?" Miller said, of a seminal moment. "It led me down the road of a journalism career, and now a speaking and writing career."
He started working in the Peoria Journal Star sports department as a senior at Morton High School during the summers of 2003-05.
He says he had a lot of adventures after that, one of which brought him to California, where he met his wife, Kayla. She designs her own jewelry line now, which can be found online at KM Jewelry Design.
The elephant in the room
Miller, during the pandemic, bunkered himself in his writer's cave in East Peoria and emerged two years later with his book.
It gave him time to reflect on his own path while living with CP.
"For me, a big moment in my life journey was that for a long time Cerebral Palsy felt like the elephant in the room for me," he said. " 'I'm going to do everything I can to act like it doesn't exist.' I wasn't being true to myself. I made a decision to embrace my life circumstances.
"And that's where I gained immense power over my life."
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The book is set up as 10 lessons on thriving with a disability. At the end of each section, Miller poses questions for the reader to consider, a self-evaluation exercise.
Asked what he sees as the most important of those, Miller said "conquering fear. It's one of the most time-sensitive lessons right now, we're all facing a world full of fear."
"The 10 themes I share in my book, they aren't ideas," he added. "They are life-lessons I've stumbled through and fought for. The book is my story, but it's full of applicable principles for everyone. And I take the reader through reflections at the end of each one."
The making of Coach Sam
Miller does workshops and speaking engagements and tells his story through organizations like Easterseals and the Tazewell County Resource Centers.
As part of his April book launch on Amazon, a portion of the proceeds went to Tazewell County Resource Centers.
"I've been blessed to work with great organizations like Easterseals and TCRC," Miller said. "I have had the privilege of seeing first-hand what TCRC is doing to pour into the local community, and I wanted to do my part to pay it forward ... I'm eager to raise money and awareness as a regular part of 'I'MPOSSIBLE' going forward."
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He is also eager to work with individuals and coach them through their journey. He can be reached through his website dreamingmadesimple.com, where personalized copies of his book can also be purchased. The book is also available directly through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
"The book has transformational power in it," Miller said. "What I love doing is speaking to audiences and coaching individuals. Let's problem-solve your impossibilities and find a pathway to possible. We are meant for more than just surviving. We are meant to find a way to thrive.
"I can't escape the idea that God uses everything for good. That's what I want to share with people."
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. Reach him at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.
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https://www.pjstar.com/story/sports/local/2022/04/27/how-east-peoria-author-thrives-life-cerebral-palsy/9542409002/
| 2022-04-27T19:14:23
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New Jersey kicked off the first day of recreational marijuana sales last Thursday -- and according to the state, the 12 participating dispensaries sold cannabis products to thousands and raked in nearly $2 million in sales in just one day.
The state reported Wednesday that 12,438 customers kicked off the first day of recreational marijuana sales on April 21, grossing nearly $1.9 million.
Since the launch of recreational marijuana sales, the state has seen steady lines at the dispensaries. Additionally, the state notes that medicinal cannabis products have also been strong over the last 30 days with roughly 64,000 ounces of products dispensed to patients and their caregivers.
“We expected sales to be substantial and the data shows that the market is effectively serving both adult-use consumers and patients,” said Jeff Brown, executive director of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission, the agency that establishes and enforces the rules and regulations pertaining to the licensing, cultivation, testing, sale and purchase of cannabis in the state.
The state says that there have not been any "substantiated reports" of supply issues for medicinal marijuana patients, but that officials continue to monitor the supply.
“We continue to monitor inventory and access for patients and are prepared to take enforcement action against any ATC that does not meet the requirements for patient access and supply," Brown said.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nj-1st-day-of-recreational-marijuana-sales-in-state-brings-in-nearly-1-9m/3666320/
| 2022-04-27T19:28:56
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nj-1st-day-of-recreational-marijuana-sales-in-state-brings-in-nearly-1-9m/3666320/
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Oak Hill couple's love for baseball ignites fire to create youth sports league
OAK HILL — Erin Anderson has fond childhood memories of playing baseball in New Smyrna Beach.
Now, Erin and her husband Don, want to bring that same joy to kids in Oak Hill. To that end, the couple has created a youth sports league.
“There hasn’t been a youth league in our town for 20 plus years,” said Erin, 47. “I was a kid the last time I remember Oak Hill having a Little League. I want to bring back that parks and recreation ball that we all grew up playing and the memories we had.”
Erin and Don Anderson started the Oak Hill Sports Club for kids 4 to 12 years old in 2020.
“I remember my husband and I at our opening day last year, seeing what we accomplished in a matter of months. Seeing the kids in their baseball uniforms, we just looked at each other and started crying.”
'Two birds with one stone'
The couple relocated to Oak Hill from New Smyrna Beach after tying the knot in July of 2020.
“Before we moved to Oak Hill, (Don) was a (Little League) coach for over 16 years,” said Erin. “When we moved to Oak Hill I didn’t want him driving all the way to New Smyrna Beach to coach anymore. I started working for the city of Oak Hill, that's when I noticed that there's nothing for these kids to do here. I thought that I could kill two birds with one stone by bringing a sports league here and having my husband coach.”
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In August of 2020 Erin turned to social media to get the word out about the league.
“I put a post on Facebook and I said, ‘Hey! Would anybody be interested in a free baseball clinic,'" said Erin. “At our clinic we had five kids. The next day I went back to Facebook and I said, ‘I need help. Can anybody donate some gloves, bats, shoes? We’re going to have free baseball clinics.' We did this every other weekend. As the weekends went on the club started growing. We ended up with about 22 kids.”
Erin said the next step was to come up with a name for the club.
“I didn't only want to focus on baseball,” said Erin. “I wanted to be able to broaden it. So we named it Oak Hill Sports Club. That way in the future we could introduce more sports like soccer, flag football, and basketball. In February of 2021 we decided to see if we could get enough kids interested in joining a spring Little League.”
'It has grown pretty quickly'
Don said with the number of kids that showed interest in the club, the couple were able to create four Little League teams.
“Last spring we had about 45 to 47 kids,” said Don. “We basically had 45 kids to start the spring Little League season last year and now we're over 85 kids with 10 teams for this season. It has grown pretty quickly. The support that we’re getting not only from the families and the kids but from the community is overwhelming."
'Every kid gets to play'
"It cost $40 (for the season) to play," said Don. "But we don’t turn anyone away. We have community sponsors that pay the fee to make sure every kid gets to play. We’ve raised kids and we've had the trials and tribulations of competitive sports. So we made a decision from day one that we weren't going to be affiliated with any leagues like the Little League World Series. We're just going to keep it recreational and keep it fun.”
Don said the city of Oak Hill stepped up to the plate to help out.
“The city is not only allowing us to use a field, but applied for and was approved for a $140,000 ECHO grant to improve our field for next season. So it's really exciting.”
Oak Hill city administrator Kohn Evans told The News-Journal in an email, "The Oak Hill Sport Club’s success is being recognized. The city is happy the citizens have rediscovered the city parks again. So, after a successful season of the club, the City Commission unanimously agreed to pursue an ECHO grant with Volusia County, for the Mary DeWees Park baseball field for $285,785 with the city responsible for $144,893.
"The Oak Hill Sports Club has since approached the City Commission and they expressed their dreams for more sports and other events for the community and the Commission reacted by approving the pursuit of the property to the north of Mary DeWees Park and the creation of a City Parks Master Plan for the entire city. The ECHO grant for the baseball field is approved. The ECHO grant for the purchase of the property to the north is just going through the application process. Oak Hill Sports Club is growing and the city is here for it!"
'The best thing for them'
Long time Oak Hill resident Paula Cleaves learned about the baseball clinic from a Facebook post. Her son, Phillip, 12, now plays in the league.
“There’s nothing here to do for these kids,” said 51-year-old Cleaves. “I was raised here. This is home to me. I literally live four streets away from where I grew up. I played ball on both of the fields here. I was the only girl that played on the boys' ball team.”
Tim Morton, a resident of Oak Hill for 12 years, says his son Kane, 9, is excited about being able to play baseball.
“It’s a great thing for this town,” said Morton. “ When I was a kid I played in New Smyrna Beach and they haven't had a league since I was probably in middle school. That was back in the mid- to early-90s. Most kids want to play on computers all day. I think this is the best thing for them.”
For information on the program or to donate please visit Oak Hill Sports Club at oakhillsportsclub.com or call 386-314-5734.
Erica Van Buren covers general assignment and Ormond Beach government for The Daytona Beach News-Journal and USA TODAY Network. Connect with her at EVanBuren@News-Jrnl.com or on Twitter: @EricaVanBuren32
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https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/volusia/2022/04/27/oak-hill-couples-love-baseball-ignites-fire-youth-league/9499085002/
| 2022-04-27T20:06:29
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Judicial qualifying period under way for open judge seats
The judicial qualifying period will end Friday with several judicial seats up for election, but only one contested race so far.
Sara Howeller is challenging Volusia County Judge Wesley Heidt in Group 5. Heidt was appointed to the bench in 2020 and began hearing cases in January 2021. He hears civil cases at the Volusia County Courthouse Annex.
Howeller has a law office in Sanford and her law practice includes civil, business and family law, according to the Florida Bar webpage. She lives in Osteen.
Volusia County Judge Robert Sanders' seat in Group 9 is also up for election and is so far unopposed.
Several circuit judge seats are up for election, but none have drawn opposition thus far. Those are Kenneth James Janesk II in Group 2; Matt Foxman in Group 3; Stasia Warren in Group 4; Dennis Craig in Group 5; A. Kathleen McNeilly in Group 13; Howard McGillin Jr. in Group 17; and Dawn Nichols in Group 22.
Qualifying ends at noon on Friday.
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https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/local/2022/04/27/qualifying-period-underway-volusia-judicial-seats/9544628002/
| 2022-04-27T20:06:35
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https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/local/2022/04/27/qualifying-period-underway-volusia-judicial-seats/9544628002/
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DALLAS — Buildings at Fair Park represent so much of Dallas' history and tradition, but they have been slowly crumbling away and are in need of repair. Those buildings could potentially get restored.
Dallas City Council approved Wednesday a resolution, 14-1, that will ask voters to approve a hotel tax hike to pay for renovations to Fair Park and expand the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Councilmember Cara Mendelsohn was the sole "no" vote.
The amended resolution, if approved by voters on the November ballot, would increase the city’s hotel occupancy tax by 2% and would distribute $250 million to renovate six venues in Fair Park. Those venues include: the Cotton Bowl, the Auto Building, the Centennial Building, the Band Shell, the Music Hall and the Coliseum.
If the ballot item is approved by Dallas voters in November, it would mark the largest capital improvement project ever for Fair Park.
The measure would also give the city $50 million to tear down and rebuild the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center.
Officials say Fair Park's renovations would be funded solely by this hotel tax hike, thanks to the State’s newly amended “Brimer Bill.” The law, which was passed in 1997, was used as a mechanism to fund the construction of the American Airlines Center. At the time, the law only applied to stadiums, convention centers and entertainment districts, but excluded parks.
Now, 80% of the increase in hotel occupancy tax dollars would go to the convention center redo – which is priced at $2 billion – and 20% would go to Fair Park.
Earlier this month, officials released renderings for the "Community Park at Fair Park," which has its own price tag of $85 million. It is part of the Fair Park Your Park Capital Campaign, which launched in spring 2021. "Community Park at Fair Park" is scheduled to break ground in early 2023 and open in fall 2024, according to officials.
Supporters of Fair Park renovations said this would help both Fair Park and the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center host and attract events to the city. It is important to note that the 2026 World Cup Soccer sites will be announced in the coming months. City officials hope these renovations to the Cotton Bowl and expedition sites may improve Dallas’ chances in that bid.
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https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/fair-park-revamp-dallas-city-council/287-7b6f41f1-bfe2-4896-9766-e69fb2a0bf2d
| 2022-04-27T20:10:24
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https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/fair-park-revamp-dallas-city-council/287-7b6f41f1-bfe2-4896-9766-e69fb2a0bf2d
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Texas soldier who drowned trying to save migrants wasn’t equipped with flotation device
Spc. Bishop Evans died after jumping into the Rio Grande to rescue migrants. He and most other members of Operation Lone Star were not provided safety equipment.
The river was moving swiftly the morning Spc. Bishop Evans jumped into the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass to save two migrants who appeared to be drowning.
The risk was great. In the past month, at least 23 migrants had drowned in those waters. And rescues by National Guard members patrolling the river were a regular occurrence.
Editor's note: The video above originally aired on Monday, April 27.
The 22-year-old part-time field artilleryman from Arlington was found dead Monday — ending a four-day search for his body, which had been washed away by the river. He was one of 10,000 National Guard members deployed to Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbott’s prized mission to secure the Texas-Mexico border.
Evans jumped into the raging waters without a flotation device, the Texas Military Department said in an email Tuesday in response to inquiries from The Texas Tribune and Military Times.
He took that risk because, like many other troops on the mission, he wasn’t outfitted with the potentially lifesaving equipment, the Military Times and Texas Tribune reported.
The Texas Military Department ordered rescue ropes and hundreds of ring buoys in February to increase safety for water rescues. But the equipment had not yet arrived to most Guard members at the time Evans died.
Chapter 2 Only 25% of safety equipment delivered
“The incident is still under investigation, however we do not believe SPC Evans had a floatation device at the time of death,” the Texas Military Department’s public affairs staff said Tuesday in an unattributed statement. “We only received about 25 percent of the requested equipment due to delays from the vendor and global supply chain issues.”
The public affairs staff also said it made the request for equipment in February as part of its plan to address “gaps in equipment and safety gear.”
It’s not clear why the equipment wasn’t requested until February, 11 months after the mission began in March 2021. For months, soldiers have decried a lack of equipment on Abbott’s hastily deployed border mission, but the absence of water equipment is the first time that lack of supplies may have contributed to a soldier’s death.
Two Guard officials specializing in logistics told the Tribune and Military Times that the Texas Military Department sat on a request for flotation devices for three weeks before it was approved. The delays, those officials said, were avoidable and highlight the dysfunction plaguing the unprecedented $2 billion-per-year state mission.
The logistics officials, and eight other troops posted along the Rio Grande, spoke to the Tribune and Military Times under condition of anonymity after they were explicitly warned by military leaders against talking to the press.
Chapter 3 'Unforgiveable'
The delays are new evidence of TMD’s staggering failure to ensure its troops have the equipment they need. The Tribune and Military Times previously investigated how haste and planning failures overwhelmed the department’s bureaucracy and led to significant hardship for the thousands of troops involuntarily mobilized.
Lawmakers are now calling for investigations into the lack of equipment.
“For any member of our Guard or DPS [Department of Public Safety] who are sent to the border along the river to not be assigned basic, inexpensive safety equipment is unforgivable,” said state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, who said he has requested information on whether service members have access to water equipment. “We believe the death of Bishop Evans was avoidable if he had been provided with the proper equipment.”
Chapter 4 A known danger
Spc. Hunter Schuler, a soldier on the border mission who represents a group of newly unionized soldiers, said Evans’ death was tragic, preventable and unnecessary. He criticized the military department for not providing service members with water equipment.
“It is astonishing that with thousands of soldiers stationed along a river that has claimed countless lives over the years, we have yet [to] be issued flotation devices of any kind,” Schuler said.
The Texas Military Department said in its statement that service members are “strongly advised not to enter the water at any time for their safety” and that they are not given instructions or training on water rescue due to that restrictive posture.
In contrast, Border Patrol agents patrolling those areas are equipped with flotation devices and rescue ropes and are required to carry them while on assignment, said Jenn Budd, a former U.S. Border Patrol agent.
Border Patrol agents have been busy rescuing migrants for the last month from the stretch of river where Evans died. A spokesperson for the agency told The Washington Post that agents rescued a dozen people in the same area two weeks ago after they were swept off their feet by a swift current.
A Border Patrol union representative told the newspaper that 11 bodies had been found this month on the U.S. side of the river along a stretch of the Rio Grande that extends west to Del Rio. At least 12 were found on the Mexican side.
Texas Guard officials have been aware of the danger for months, too. Six troops told the Tribune and Military Times that water rescues have been occurring despite guidance to avoid the water.
Chapter 5 15-20 water rescues a month
A source familiar with incident reporting said that Operation Lone Star troops have been performing about 15 to 20 water rescues each month.
Officials from the two main state agencies participating in the mission said they do not keep track of water rescues.
Department of Public Safety spokesperson Ericka Miller said that water rescues are “not information the department tracks.” The Texas Guard then admitted that it also does “not track water rescues” because they “are not part of our security operations.”
The military department acknowledged that service members were acting heroically to conduct water rescues, despite instructions to stay out of the water.
“When someone puts on a uniform, they do it because they want to help and serve the community and country,” the department said in its written response. “We are proud of the hard work and dedication of our service members, not knowing the dangers they may come across that day.”
The statement also said Evans will be granted a posthumous award.
“SPC [Evans] sacrificed himself, so that somebody else may live,” the statement said. “That kind of selfless service act represents the soldiers and airmen we have serving in our force.”
Chapter 6 Logistics logjam
The junior of the two logistics sources told the Tribune and Military Times that the border task force had requested the safety equipment in February with a one-week delivery time frame.
The senior logistics official also disagreed with the Texas Military Department’s reasoning that supply chain issues held up the delivery.
Trying to “get anything purchased in a timely manner is almost impossible,” the official lamented, due to administrative bottlenecks and “friction points along the way.” In the case of the late February purchase order, the Office of State Administration took three weeks to process it despite the one-week delivery request.
Early on in the mission, the senior logistics official said, units on the border were able to meet critical equipment needs locally by using government credit cards. But that practice ended due to the agency’s desire for greater oversight on purchasing, the source explained.
As a result, the state receives hundreds of purchase requests per day from the border mission, according to the senior official. And all of them must be processed by the Office of State Administration, a small cadre of TMD state employees who have also faced recent criticism for their struggles with the mission’s payroll.
The Texas Military Department is also struggling through a financial crunch. Operation Lone Star’s cost has ballooned to more than $2 billion a year, well beyond the $412 million the state Legislature budgeted for the mission. This month, the department’s newly appointed leader, Maj. Gen. Thomas M. Suelzer, said TMD would need another $531 million to fully fund the mission beyond May 1.
That request came after state officials had already transferred $480 million to the military department from other agencies in January to keep Operation Lone Star going.
The department’s public affairs staff said TMD’s budget woes had not affected how it prioritizes lifesaving water equipment — which was ultimately approved for purchase.
Chapter 7 Little training, virtually no equipment
While the senior official cautioned that “there’s a lot of factors” that lead to tragedies like Evans’ death, such as his local leadership and job description, they said that part of the responsibility lies with senior leadership to determine what equipment troops need to have — and then to obtain it and station it where troops can use it efficiently and effectively.
Six troops who watch the river told the Tribune and Military Times they had not been provided flotation devices. It’s unclear how widespread the equipment shortage is — though the troops represent units spanning from Del Rio to Brownsville, in addition to various posts in between.
Only one service member, a soldier in the Laredo area, reported having any water rescue equipment at all. A unit there received rescue throw ropes in early April after its soldiers witnessed four migrant drownings in February and prevented a fifth, the soldier said.
One airman who spoke to the Tribune and Military Times said early in the mission officials told troops not to rescue people — including children — from the river, because it could be a distraction so smugglers could move drugs across other parts of the river.
An officer who leads around 40 soldiers along a part of the river with deep water explained that “it’s just not safe for us to authorize [water rescues]” without additional training and equipment, especially considering the hefty gear troops wear on duty. “I understand the instinct to save lives … [but] we are not comfortable with that level of risk.”
Some units received renewed orders to stay out of the river after Evans disappeared. Others were told they could only enter with flotation devices.
Schuler, the union representative, also criticized the department for not soliciting soldier feedback in the months since its last survey of the troops, which he said “produced scathing criticisms of the mission.”
“Our hope is that the new TMD command staff learns from this tragedy, listens to soldiers, and works cooperatively with leaders on the ground towards safer working and living environments,” he said in a text message. “With the growing number of service member fatalities on Operation Lone Star, what more will it take for the Governor to end this political charade? It is long past time to let the thousands of involuntarily activated guardsmen and women return home to their families - before it’s too late for yet another soldier.”
This article from the Texas Tribune is co-published and co-reported with Military Times, an independent news organization reporting on issues important to the U.S. military. Sign up for its daily Early Bird Brief newsletter here.
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https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-soldier-drowned-no-flotation-device/285-55f07cfa-a2bb-4919-be80-5cf59ec8a6d4
| 2022-04-27T20:10:30
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BMW Manufacturing makes largest private donation to date to Unity Park in Greenville
Donation will preserve wetlands, support boardwalk construction
BMW Manufacturing has announced it will donate $1.25 million to restore and preserve eight acres of urban wetlands at Unity Park west of downtown Greenville.
That marks the largest private donation the city of Greenville has received to date for the park, its latest grand symbol of progress and ambition.
The donation will also support the construction of a series of boardwalks and overlooks through the wetlands, which occupy the northern portion of the 60-acre park.
With a total budget of about $66 million so far, including $5.4 million in private donations for the first phase of the park's construction, Unity Park is slated to open on May 19. Total private donations are up to roughly $12 million, according to the Hughes Agency, which handles fundraising for the park.
The wetlands project is to be included in the park's second phase.
"Sustainability is an integral part of BMW's corporate strategy, and we actively take responsibility to participate in our local community on sustainability initiatives," Robert Engelhorn, president and CEO of BMW Manufacturing, said in a press release. "That is why we are excited about this donation to preserve and maintain these wetlands for future generations. We want to ensure that everyone can enjoy and learn about this unique ecosystem that is in Greenville's backyard."
More:Greenville honors Southernside missionary Lila Mae Brock with statue in Unity Park
Unity Park includes playgrounds, pedestrian bridges, walking trails and a welcome center, as well as the restoration of historic Mayberry Park and the protection and enhancement of the Reedy River.
"Just as BMW has had a transformative impact on the Upstate since its arrival 30 years ago, Unity Park will be a transformative project for the Greenville community," said Greenville Mayor Knox White. "The city is proud to partner with BMW, a worldwide leader in sustainability, on the restoration of the wetlands at Unity Park."
Wetlands help with flood abatement, and they naturally filter pollutants from water, according to the Hughes Agency press release. They also store carbon and keep it from being released as a greenhouse gas, and they provide visitors an opportunity to enjoy diverse plant and animal life while learning about natural habitats.
"The wetlands serve as a critical interpretive and infrastructural feature of the park," said Kristina Granlund, a landscape architect at MK5K Studios, the Unity Park designers. "Located along the original course of the Reedy River before its channelization, the wetlands offer a glimpse at this forgotten history of the Reedy while showcasing best-in-class green infrastructural systems and habitat restoration."
"We're honored to partner with other great companies and individuals in Upstate South Carolina to revitalize an urban community in an attractive and sustainable way," said Max Metcalf, manager of government and community relations at BMW Manufacturing. "Unity Park will not only bring people together, it will celebrate the diversity of communities in which we live."
Since 1992, the BMW Group has invested nearly $12 billion in its South Carolina operations.
BMW Manufacturing is the largest BMW Group plant in the world, producing more than 1,500 vehicles each day and 433,810 vehicles in 2021. The plant exports nearly 60 percent of its vehicles to about 120 global markets.
BMW joins other sizeable Unity Park donors like Michelin, which gave $1 million in 2019; Prisma Health, which gave $1 million earlier this year; Duke Energy, which gave $500,000 in 2019; and Auro Hotels, which contributed $500,000 in 2019.
Macon Atkinson is the city watchdog reporter for The Greenville News. She's powered by long runs and strong coffee. Follow her on Twitter @maconatkinson.
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https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2022/04/27/bmw-manufacturing-donates-money-unity-park-greenville-sc-urban-wetlands/9541871002/
| 2022-04-27T20:36:37
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https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2022/04/27/bmw-manufacturing-donates-money-unity-park-greenville-sc-urban-wetlands/9541871002/
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Providence teacher sparks backlash, HR investigation for bashing Elon Musk Twitter buy
Update: Sanchez is no longer political director for the Black Lives Matter RI PAC. He was replaced in March.
PROVIDENCE — A State House candidate and teacher sparked backlash – and national headlines – for using class time to voice opposition to Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter.
On Monday, when the purchase was announced, Enrique Sanchez, who works as a substitute teacher at Central High School, tweeted:
"Of course I explained to my students in all five of my classes today why Elon Musk buying off Twitter is the worse thing that could have happened. No individual and especially wealthy elites should be given these types of opportunities to buy off social media platforms."
The post received more than 1,000 comments, many of them from users who criticized Sanchez's use of class time and pointed out that wealthy individuals such as Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg already own media platforms.
Curriculum question:Should civics be required in RI high school? Students say, 'We can use this knowledge.'
Education:Montañez named permanent superintendent in Providence; discontent lingers over process
On Wednesday, Providence Public School School District spokesman Nick Domings said the matter is under investigation by the human resources office, and he could not comment further.
Sanchez, a candidate for state Senate District 9 and former political director for the Black Lives Matter RI Political Action Committee, told The Providence Journal that the discussion came up during Spanish classes. He said students were instructed to create their own newspaper and act as journalists covering local and national stories. Sanchez said it was the students who brought up Musk's purchase of Twitter as a newsworthy topic, and discussion ensued.
Sanchez said it was not "a planned-out lesson" and that "prior to this I was keeping politics out of the classroom."
However, he suggested that "a single individual, a billionaire" could "regulate any type of media exposure or Twitter exposure."
The fallout:Which celebrities are leaving Twitter, and which ones are returning after Elon Musk's takeover?
Twitter's previous owner, Jack Dorsey, is also a billionaire.
"My job is to just focus on materials, separate politics from [the] classroom," Sanchez said. "Knowing how things are in Providence schools, we have to change it up a little bit sometimes. We have to talk about different topics, national headlines, local politics. That’s my intention with being an educator, giving them the opportunity to learn different things."
Sanchez said he has "not gotten any pushback from parents of our kids, Providence community members, school leaders," though he clarified that two administrators spoke with him and expressed "pushback in terms of 'OK, maybe next time it’s not good to post that.'"
Social media:Providence substitute teacher says he was transferred as retaliation for tweets
This is not Sanchez's first bout of Twitter controversy. Last year, he was transferred out of Mount Pleasant High School after tweeting critical remarks, including calling parents "disengaged" and arguing there is "a complete lack of transparency, professionalism, and responsibility for the people who actually care about our kids."
Sanchez said he was transferred as retaliation for the tweets. The School District said it could not discuss personnel matters.
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https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/04/27/providence-ri-teacher-backlash-classroom-time-criticizing-elon-musk-purchasing-twitter/9552996002/
| 2022-04-27T20:39:16
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WHNT) — A former resident of Tuscaloosa was sentenced in federal court Wednesday after instructing an undercover employee with the FBI how to transfer money to Al Qaeda.
Alaa Mohd Abusaad, 26, was sentenced to 90 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for concealment of terrorism financing. She pleaded guilty to the charge in September 2019.
The U.S Attorney’s Office said in a press release that Abusaad instructed an undercover FBI employee about how to send money to mujahedeen, fighters engaged in jihad, between February and April 2018.
According to an affidavit from an FBI special agent, Abusaa sent multiple messages to the undercover employee during that time. One of those messages said, “It’s [money] always needed. You can’t have a war without weapons. You can’t prepare a soldier without equipment.”
Officials said Abusaad also advised the undercover employee how to send money in a way that law enforcement officials wouldn’t be able to detect, including fake names and addresses when conducting electronic money transfers.
Officials also explained Abusaad introduced the undercover employee to a financial facilitator who could route the FBI’s money to “brothers that work with aq,” meaning al-Qaeda.
Court documents said she was extradited to Shelby County after being arrested in Ohio in October 2018 and has been in the Shelby County Jail for 42 months.
Abusaad was born in Chicago, she moved to Tuscaloosa when she was 10-years-old. She was a resident and student at the University of Alabama until she married and moved to Ohio in 2018.
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https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/former-alabama-resident-sentenced-after-trying-to-help-fund-al-qaeda/
| 2022-04-27T21:09:07
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NEW YORK (AP) — As the comedy “black-ish” ended its run after eight seasons with a relatively modest live audience of 2.52 million viewers, ABC is already pivoting to what it hopes is its next defining sitcom.
The “black-ish” series finale last week featured a storyline where series stars Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross move their fictional Johnson family from the predominantly white area where they had been living to a neighborhood with more Black families.
It was the largest audience for the series since its final season debut in September, according to the Nielsen company, and certain to increase when delayed viewing is taken into account.
The series earned four Emmy Award nominations for best comedy in an era where it’s unusual for a broadcast series to be recognized.
Less than a week later, at a New York dinner held by ABC parents Walt Disney Co. on Monday to showcase its creators, a spotlight was on Quinta Brunson, creator and star of the new sitcom “Abbott Elementary.”
The series based in a Philadelphia elementary school and inspired by Brunson’s mother, a kindergarten teacher, debuted in December to strong reviews. It ended its first season on April 12 with an average of 2.9 million viewers per episode, which swelled to 8 million when a full month’s delayed viewing is counted in, Nielsen said.
Brunson said that she’s a fan of workplace and family comedies, which have been a staple of ABC’s lineup for generations.
“I think the world was really longing for that kind of feeling again — the things we got from older shows like ‘Family Ties’ and more modern shows like ‘The Office’ and ‘Parks & Rec,’” she said.
The show will be back for a second season in the fall.
CBS won the week in prime-time last week with an average of 4.5 million viewers, led by “60 Minutes,” which was the week’s top-ranked show for the sixth time this season. NBC averaged 3.01 million viewers, ABC had 2.96 million, Fox had 2 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 970,000 and Ion Television had 960,000.
TNT led cable networks with a prime-time average of 2.62 million viewers. Fox News Channel had 2.25 million, ESPN had 1.33 million, MSNBC had 1.09 million and HGTV had 1.03 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” led the evening news ratings race with an average of 7.8 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” averaged 6.7 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 4.9 million.
For the week of April 18-24, the top 20 prime-time programs, their networks and viewerships:
1. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.6 million.
2. “FBI,” CBS, 7.51 million.
3. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 7.26 million.
4. “Chicago Fire,” NBC, 7.21 million.
5. “The Equalizer,” CBS, 6.94 million.
6. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 6.66 million.
7. “NCIS,” CBS, 6.34 million.
8. “Ghosts,” CBS, 6.25 million.
9. “Chicago PD,” NBC, 6.08 million.
10. “FBI: International,” CBS, 6.02 million.
11. “American Idol (Sunday),” ABC, 5.88 million.
12. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 5.65 million.
13. “American Idol” (Monday), ABC, 5.57 million.
14. “Survivor,” CBS, 5.43 million.
15. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 5.37 million.
16. “FBI: Most Wanted,” CBS, 5.25 million.
17. “United States of Al,” CBS, 5.19 million.
18. “This is Us,” NBC, 5.088 million.
19. “NCIS: Hawaii,” CBS, 5.087 million.
20. “911,” Fox, 5.05 million.
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https://www.cbs42.com/local/abcs-black-ish-ends-its-run-as-abc-looks-to-future/
| 2022-04-27T21:19:45
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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico sheriff investigating the fatal film-set shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin described complacency, disorganization and neglected safety measures in the making of the low-budget movie “Rust.”
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Tuesday that he is waiting on a forensic analysis of the weapon, projectile, fingerprints and more from the FBI and state medical examiners before turning the 6-month-old case over to prosecutors to decide whether criminal charges will be filed.
“There is a degree of neglect. Whether that reaches the criminal level, that will be up to the district attorney to determine,” the sheriff told “Good Morning America.” On Monday, he released virtually the entire case file of the investigation after a live round of ammunition killed Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza during rehearsal on Oct. 21, 2021. Filming for the Western took place at a ranch on the outskirts of the city of Santa Fe.
The vast trove of newly released law enforcement files includes lapel camera video of the mortally wounded Hutchins slipping in and out of consciousness as an evacuation helicopter arrives. Witness interrogations, email threads, text conversations, inventories of ammunition and hundreds of photographs round out the collection of evidence.
In one newly released video, a sheriff’s deputy arrives as medics attempt to attend to Hutchins inside a small wooden church where she was shot during a rehearsal in preparation for filming.
“Halyna, deep breath. There you go, good girl,” says a medic, urging Hutchins to take in air through an oxygen mask.
Outside, a medical evacuation helicopter lands in the desert. A law enforcement officer keeps watch over Baldwin, still in 19th century costume, as the actor smokes cigarettes from other members of the film cast.
The evidence was made public in response to media requests for records and as an effort toward transparency in the investigation. Mendoza, a Democrat, is running for reelection this year, with a competitive June primary.
Newly published documents show authorities have scraped cellphone accounts for text messages, images and audio files created by the cast, crew and munitions suppliers for “Rust.” Text messages recount two firearms misfires on the set prior to the deadly shooting, though none involved live ammunition.
Other videos show investigators as they debrief Baldwin within hours of the fatal shooting, talking with him inside a compact office — and rehearsal clips that show Baldwin in costume as he practices a quick-draw maneuver with a gun.
An attorney for Baldwin says the newly released files corroborate that the actor and “Rust” co-producer was careful with guns on the set.
“Mr. Baldwin welcomes this investigation,” said attorney Luke Nikas in a statement. “The information that has been revealed by the authorities demonstrates, once again, that Mr. Baldwin acted responsibly.”
Under questioning by two investigators, Baldwin says that as the gun went off, he was unaware initially that Hutchins would die and shocked to learn that he had been holding a gun loaded with live ammunition. Baldwin said in a December interview with ABC News that he was on set pointing the gun at Hutchins at her instruction when it went off without his pulling the trigger.
Baldwin told the investigators that the gun should have been empty for a rehearsal with no filming.
“There should have been nothing. It should have been a cold gun with no rounds inside or dummy rounds,” Baldwin says. “I take the gun out slowly. I turn, I cock the pistol. Bang, it goes off. She (Hutchins) hits the ground.”
Baldwin repeatedly says there were no prior problems of any kind with firearms on the set of “Rust.”
Those statements conflict with more recent findings by state occupational safety regulators, who last week issued the maximum possible fine of nearly $137,000 against the “Rust” film production company.
New Mexico’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau delivered a scathing narrative of safety failures in violation of standard industry protocols, including testimony that production managers took limited or no action to address the two other misfires.
The bureau also documented gun safety complaints from crew members that went unheeded and said weapons specialists were not allowed to make decisions about additional safety training. Rust Movie Productions has indicated it will dispute the findings and sanction.
At least five lawsuits have been filed over the shooting, including a wrongful death lawsuit brought by Hutchins’ family against Baldwin and the movie’s other producers. The lawsuit on behalf of widower Matt Hutchins and his 9-year-old son alleges a “callous” disregard in the face of safety complaints on the set.
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https://www.cbs42.com/local/videos-show-aftermath-of-film-set-shooting-baldwin-reaction/
| 2022-04-27T21:19:52
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Black adults in custody are receiving a disproportionate amount of misconduct citations, and adults with mental health conditions are being disproportionately subjected to more frequent use of force at the Multnomah County Jail, according to an audit released Wednesday.
Multnomah County Auditor Jennifer McGuirk issued the audit report titled “Multnomah County Jail Conditions: Circumstances were Worse for Adults in Custody who are Black and/or Have Mental Health Conditions.” For the report, the audit team analyzed data spanning the three-year period of July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2021.
In those three years, the team found that misconduct citations were handed out disproportionately to Black adults in custody. They also found that Black adults in custody were subjected to minor uses of force, such as someone pointing a Taser at them or using handcuffs, infrequently, but at a rate that was disproportionate to other adults in custody.
More pronounced were the rates of uses of force toward adults with mental health conditions. The report found force was used more frequently and disproportionately against adults in custody with mental health conditions.
“Through this audit, my office is providing more transparency to the public about the jail operations we all pay for as taxpayers,” McGuirk said. “We hope the information in this audit report can help ground conversations about our legal system in facts that the public can trust.”
The audit also found that the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office’s decisions on where people were housed were not as standardized and consistent as they could have been.
The auditor’s office said it conducted the audit to provide an update on jail conditions. In 2017, county leaders pledged to make improvements to the jails based on a Disability Rights Oregon report that found improper conditions for people with mental health conditions. A 2015 report prepared internally by the sheriff’s office also found that sheriff’s staff subjected some racial and ethnic groups to a disproportionate use of force.
During the three-year period it reviewed, the auditing team learned there were 656 use-of-force incidents in jail housing areas and that deputies often used more than one use of force technique per incident.
The report found that sheriff’s employees used force on Black people more than people of any other racial background. Particularly with minor use of force, the difference in how frequently it was used on Black people in custody was statistically significant. Black adults in custody were more than twice as likely to be subjected to minor use of force.
General use of force data, which is a higher level of force, did not show any statistically significant differences among racial groups.
Corrections staff also gave misconduct citations at a higher rate to Black adults in custody.
In a survey conducted among inmates for the report, Black adults in custody and those who did not disclose their race said they felt the least safe with corrections deputies.
The audit team also found that deputies used general force on people with mental health conditions about nine times more frequently than adults in custody who did not have a mental health condition. Minor uses of force occurred about six times more frequently to people who had a mental health condition.
Based on its findings, the auditor’s office has more than a dozen recommendations for the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office. Some of the recommendations may require financial resources in order to implement them.
In the near future, no later than September 30, 2022, the auditor recommends the following:
- Delay full classification interviews for adults in custody moving into housing until 72 hours after booking.
- Expand supervisory review of classification decisions, with a focus on possible over-classification.
- Eliminate the use of isolation as a disciplinary sanction for individuals with mental health conditions.
By March 30, 2023, the auditor recommends the sheriff’s office do the following:
- Develop and implement a training program designed to reinforce the goal of informal solutions to discipline issues and to reduce the need for misconduct citations.
- Monitor deputies’ use of misconduct citations.
- Implement a use of force data collection system that will facilitate analysis of use of force incidents to identify patterns and training priorities.
- Contract with professionals in training on cultural competency as well as identifying and managing race-related implicit bias.
- Eliminate the use of disciplinary sanctions that involve isolation.
- Expand training for deputies on how to work with adults in custody with mental health conditions.
- Expand the number of housing areas specifically for individuals with mental health conditions.
- Revise procedures for planned use of force activities involving individuals with mental health conditions to require participation of mental health staff.
- Review the results of our survey of adults in custody to examine the areas of concern that adults in custody identified and implement changes to address those areas of concern.
No later than April 30, 2023, the auditor recommends the sheriff’s office and the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners complete the following:
- Explore an independent review function for jail operations, such as discipline and use of force incidents.
In addition to using data from the sheriff’s office, the audit team also conducted a survey of all adults in custody in June 2021. Of the adults in custody at the time, 74% of them, or 567 people, completed the survey.
The audit, with its complete findings and survey results, is available on Multnomah County’s website.
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https://www.koin.com/local/auditor-lists-recommendations-after-concerning-findings-at-multco-jail/
| 2022-04-27T21:36:12
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Deputies from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office discovered a “sophisticated” illegal marijuana grow operation near Dallas Thursday. While searching a search warrant, they found more than 2,000 marijuana plants.
The sheriff’s office said it served the search warrant at a residence on Oakdale Road west of Dallas at around 7 a.m. Thursday.
Investigators had been informed of an illegal marijuana grow operation on the property.
When deputies conducted the search warrant, they found a man, 56-year-old Wen Tao Zhu, was living at the residence.
Investigators found more than $17,000 in cash along with the thousands of marijuana plants at various stages in the growth process.
The sheriff’s office said trained inspectors found areas of runoff from the grow operation that contained chemicals. Experts determined the amount of runoff was not dangerous to residents in the area who use wells for everyday water use.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office also removed two puppies and a chicken from the property before they left. They said the puppies and the chicken are in good health.
Zhu was arrested on charges of unlawful manufacture of marijuana, unlawful possession of marijuana, and unlawful delivery of marijuana.
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https://www.koin.com/local/more-than-2000-plants-found-in-pot-bust-west-of-dallas/
| 2022-04-27T21:36:18
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New Jersey town officials have closed off the area around a park brook after a mysterious, unknown substance turned the water a milky white color.
A section of Third Ward Park in Passaic was taped off after someone walking saw the white substance in the water around 12:45 p.m., said Mayor Hector Lora. The brook leads into Hughes Lake, which by the late afternoon, had turned completely white, photos showed.
The lake empties into the Passaic River, but it was not clear whether the river's water had been impacted. The Passaic Fire Department will flush the brook, Lora said.
Health officials said they were not sure what the substance was or what the source of it was, but the state's Department of Environmental Protection confirmed after testing that it was not harmful. Lora said that they were looking into whether the inert substance could be connected to illegal dumping.
The Passaic Valley Water Commission said that Hughes Lake is not connected to their water system, and the substance was not impacting drinking water in the area.
Lora said that they have checked manholes in Clifton and know the substance is coming through there, and possibly started there. The park itself remained open, but the area surrounding the brook where the substance was getting into the waterway was closed off.
News
An investigation is ongoing.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/mysterious-milky-white-substance-found-leaking-into-park-brook-turning-lake-white/3666636/
| 2022-04-27T22:31:39
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DALLAS — A Dallas man who called himself “Macknificent” pleaded guilty today to human trafficking, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.
Tremont Blakemore, 42, was first arrested in September 2018 and later charged in September 2019. He pleaded guilty Wednesday to sex trafficking through force, fraud and coercion before U.S. District Judge Ada Brown.
According to Dallas police back in 2018, Blakemore's group had connections to multiple cities in Texas and throughout the country.
Officials executed a search warrant in 2018 at three locations: in the 12400 block of Yellow Wood Drive in Fort Worth; 4500 block of Marcell Avenue in Dallas and 1700 block of Overlook Drive in Lancaster.
Blakemore was the head of the prostitution organization and maintained a group of 20 women and prostituted them for the group’s profit, police said.
Blakemore systematically "brutalized his victims" and convinced them they had no choice but to live by his orders, according to U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham.
“We formed the North Texas Trafficking Task Force – a coalition of federal, state, and local law enforcement dedicated to ending the scourge of human trafficking – to pursue cases just like this one," Meacham said. "We hope that this guilty plea will be a balm to survivors as they work to rebuild their lives.”
In plea papers, Blakemore admitted to running a large-scale human trafficking organization, using the threat of grotesque violence to force women to engage in commercial sex acts for his financial benefit, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
“This defendant’s era of coercing and violently forcing individuals into the perils of sex trafficking is over thanks to the work of our special agents and law enforcement partners who investigated and arrested this deviant criminal,” said acting Deputy Special Agent in Charge of HIS Dallas Bradley Hudson. “He will soon face the harsh realities of his transgressions as he spends a good portion of his life behind bars.”
Blakemore compelled women to travel cross-country to engage in commercial sex and posted ads for them on sites like Backpage.com. He demanded that the women turn all money over to him and required them to seek permission for personal expenditures, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Blakemore also admitted when his victims disobeyed his “rules," such as leaving the house without his permission or keeping money for themselves, he would use violence to force them into submission. According to court documents, victims told law enforcement that he slapped, punched, choked, kicked and burned them with cigarettes.
“I’m going to make an example out of someone soon,” he wrote in a group text message to victims. “I will not continue to tolerate disrespect that’s one of my biggest pet peeves.”
In an effort to appear successful in order to recruit additional victims to his trafficking organization, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Blakemore admitted that he used money from his victim’s sexual encounters to purchase luxury goods, including multiple pieces of diamond, gold jewelry and multiple Rolex watches. He used his lifestyle to impress other traffickers, and even sported multiple trophies touting his success as a “pimp," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Blakemore now faces up to 20 years in federal prison. His sentencing has been set for October 6.
Homeland Security Investigations’ Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Oakridge Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, and the North Texas Trafficking Task Force’s law enforcement partners. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melanie Smith and Nicole Dana prosecuted the case.
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https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/dallas-man-macknificent-pleads-guilty-sex-trafficking-organization/287-d41ce683-8d0e-4d3a-822c-b2c26f4b4491
| 2022-04-27T22:38:10
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COOS BAY, Ore. — Two areas off the Oregon Coast are being targeted to host offshore wind farms as the Biden administration seeks to ramp up renewable energy production.
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Wednesday that the locations being identified to potentially host wind farms are about 12 nautical miles offshore Coos Bay and Brookings.
The areas comprise about 1.16 million acres (468,787 hectares) in total.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland described the upcoming steps taken toward possible leasing off the coast of Oregon as “another opportunity to strengthen the clean energy industry while creating good-paying union jobs.”
Any offers to lease waters off the Oregon Coast would require environmental review and consultations with local, state and tribal governments.
The agency is seeking public comments on how wind development would impact marine life and other ocean uses, such as commercial fishing in the areas, until June 29, 2022.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reports this is the first big regulatory step toward bringing an offshore wind project to the Pacific Northwest state.
Late last year, Interior said that the Oregon Coast was being targeted by the agency for offshore wind energy production as it has some of the best wind resources in the country.
On Wednesday, the agency also announced that it had also identified six areas for possible development off the Atlantic Coast.
The potential wind farm locations are part of President Joe Biden’s plan to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, generating enough electricity to power more than 10 million homes.
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/oregon-coast-offshore-wind-farm-turbines/283-8e246f07-db6c-4ad3-bbd5-51c488cfb93b
| 2022-04-27T22:41:36
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/oregon-coast-offshore-wind-farm-turbines/283-8e246f07-db6c-4ad3-bbd5-51c488cfb93b
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PORTLAND, Ore. — Weeks after a deadly hit-and-run crash in Southeast Portland that left one woman dead, Portland police have identified the victim and released video of the vehicle they believe was involved.
According to an updated statement from the Portland Police Bureau, 47-year-old Angela C. Boyd of Portland was trying to cross Southeast Powell Boulevard on foot near Creston Park on the evening of Monday, April 4. She was hit by a driver heading eastbound.
Boyd did not survive the crash and was pronounced dead when medical staff arrived at the scene.
The driver involved in the crash fled the scene, PPB said, still heading eastbound on Southeast Powell. They still have not been located.
Evidence left at the scene and surveillance video indicated to investigators that the vehicle was a dark gray late-model Subaru Impreza or Crosstrek with a rooftop carrier and black wheels. After the crash, the car had "extensive front end damage."
PPB has released surveillance video of the vehicle in hopes of getting tips about the vehicle or driver. It shows the driver pulling into a parking lot after the crash, the car's hood visibly crumpled, before turning around and pulling back out onto the street.
The crash that took Boyd's life happened almost precisely one month after a hit-and-run in the Mt. Tabor neighborhood that killed 46-year-old Patrick Heath Bishop. Police later arrested Dorie Chant Chhit, 23, in that crash.
Portland has continued to struggle with a record pace of traffic fatalities this year, following a surge of traffic deaths last year that made 2021 the city's deadliest traffic year since 1990.
Portland saw 63 traffic deaths in 2021, up from 54 in 2020, according to the Portland Bureau of Transportation's Vision Zero Traffic Crash Report released earlier this year. Pedestrians accounted for 27 of those deaths, up from 18 the year before.
Anyone with information about the crash, the driver or the vehicle involved is asked to contact crimetips@portlandoregon.gov, attention Traffic Investigations Unit and reference case number 22-90144, or call 503-823-2103.
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/se-powell-crash-suspect-vehicle-victim-identified/283-bf03fc7b-e287-45d5-ae70-a561ac5eb9d1
| 2022-04-27T22:41:42
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/se-powell-crash-suspect-vehicle-victim-identified/283-bf03fc7b-e287-45d5-ae70-a561ac5eb9d1
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WaterFire Providence announces 2022 season with continued search for sponsors
WaterFire announced its 2022 season on Wednesday with an expanded set of lightings, bouncing back after having struggled to obtain sufficient funding the previous year.
The art installation in which bonfires in baskets light up the Providence River is returning with 13 lightings in total, seven of them full and six of them partial. Two have already taken place — one of them on the night of the announcement.
Themed lightings, such as the holiday celebration, the annual salute to veterans, and a celebration of the state's Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities will be part of this year's season.
WaterFire Providence 2021:Season kicks off for the first time in two years with salute to 'COVID heroes'
“WaterFire is an opportunity to come and enjoy a historic city reborn, to see an urban center in new light, and to celebrate the balance of the old and the new mixed with the romance of firelight," WaterFire creator, co-CEO and Executive Artistic Director Barnaby Evans said in a statement. "It has all been made possible by the love, help, and donations of thousands of enthusiastic friends and supporters who have helped us realize their dreams."
Peter Mello, the installation's managing director and other co-CEO, told The Providence Journal that while WaterFire has "a confidence level we will be able to have the sponsors" to pull of its season, it is "hopeful that we’ll find additional funding that we’ll be able to add some events."
WaterFire Arts Center:Created from NASA imagery, this art installation will make you think about the planet's future
Mello did not detail all of the event's funding sources, but said they include a $375,000 state grant WaterFire expects to be approved in Gov. Dan McKee's budget. It also has a contract with the city that offers city services, such as trash collection, instead of monetary support. WaterFire is additionally budgeting $1 million in corporate sponsorships, though it has not yet met that goal, and has "a long way to go," Mello said. It also typically receives about $75,000 from the Providence Tourism Council and has applied for a placemaking grant through Rhode Island Commerce.
WaterFire 2021:Nearly extinguished, the event hangs on with city, state lifeline
WaterFire 2020:Providence mourns a year without the glowing event
WaterFire still in search of funding
Unlike last year, WaterFire is not receiving any American Rescue Plan Act funds from the city, which had helped it stay afloat with a $300,000 contribution matched by the state during its previous season.
Still in search of funding, Mello said he feels "we also often suffer from kind of the free rider effect where sponsors will figure that they don’t have to support us, but still arrange an event or an activity around WaterFire or WaterFire weekend and take advantage of that."
But Mello knows what WaterFire is worth.
"We’re doing what we do well, which is [we’re] going to put on an event that drives tens and hundreds of thousands of people, nearly a million people a year, to Providence to spend money," he said. "That’s our goal and that’s our mission, and we still could use support to help us make this season successful."
Check WaterFire's schedule of events on its website https://waterfire.org/schedule.
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https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/04/27/waterfire-2022-season-search-sponsors/9553070002/
| 2022-04-27T22:48:19
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https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/04/27/waterfire-2022-season-search-sponsors/9553070002/
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https://www.djournal.com/news/local/feminine-hygiene-giveaway-this-saturday/article_8a972501-f721-5903-959c-4da5f4b7a269.html
| 2022-04-27T22:51:34
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https://www.djournal.com/news/local/feminine-hygiene-giveaway-this-saturday/article_8a972501-f721-5903-959c-4da5f4b7a269.html
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Dr. Jonathan Coulon and Dr. Ryan Coulon’s long‐held vision of service to community through wholehealth dentistry was realized this month with the opening of Coulon Dental’s Medical Arts Center at Holiday Hill.
The Medical Arts Center at Holiday Hill is a two-story, 31,000 square-foot Class‐A medical office building at the intersection of Holiday Hill Road and Briarwood Avenue.
The Coulons host their multi‐specialty dental practice on the second floor, with the first floor being committed to housing other medical specialties. While suite 100 is leased, suites 110 and 120 have available medical office space for lease at 4,528 square feet and 4,217 square feet, respectively.
Ryan Coulon expressed his deep commitment to God and community while stressing that he and Jonathan Coulon are honored to be able to serve Midland and the surrounding areas through dentistry.
“When you serve, you see life as whole,” Ryan Coulon said. “Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, but service is the work of the soul.”
A design feature utilized throughout the Coulon Dental office spaces was the use of local
artistry. “We will feature galleries of local artist works on the walls, with the entirety of sale proceeds going directly to the artist,” according to a news release about the opening.
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https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/Coulon-Dental-Medical-Arts-Center-opens-in-NW-17104318.php
| 2022-04-27T22:55:51
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https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/Coulon-Dental-Medical-Arts-Center-opens-in-NW-17104318.php
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Sixth-seeded Basis Flagstaff girls tennis ended its season with a 5-4 loss to No. 11-seeded Gilbert Christian in the first round of the Division III state tournament Tuesday at the Hal Jensen Recreation Center.
The Yeti started strong, winning two of the three doubles matches.
Senior Aeliana Ricci and junior Jenna Crone came away as victors, 9-7, in a close contest at the top spot, while juniors Sarah Buckley and Abby Buckley won 8-5 at No. 2 doubles.
Ricci won 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 1 singles spot, and Sarah Buckley earned a victory in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, at court four. But Gilbert Christian won four singles matches and escaped with a narrow overall victory.
"I am proud of my girls and how they played," coach Jessica Buckley said.
The Yeti capped off their season with an overall record of 10-1 after finishing the regular season without a blemish and earning a 9-0 mark in the Section Six standings.
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Some of the top Yeti players will continue in the individual playoffs that are on this horizon. Ricci and Sarah Buckley are set to play in the D-III singles championship tournament beginning Friday. Crone and Abby Buckley will play in the first round of the doubles championship.
D-III Northland Prep's Amelia Raab and Akiko Palmer, both freshman, will also compete in the doubles tournament.
Titans 5, Eagles 0
No. 14-seeded Flagstaff saw its season come to an end at third-seeded Arcadia on Tuesday in the first round of the D-II state tournament.
Five of the singles contests ended in straight sets, ending the match before the sixth could finish or doubles could play.
Flagstaff ended its season with a record of 11-4 (5-3 Section Two), and will graduate just two seniors from the starting lineup.
Seniors Abby Ball and Brooke Freshour will compete in the D-II singles tourney starting Friday. Juniors Harmony Labanok and Jadyn Romero will play together in the doubles tournament.
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https://azdailysun.com/sports/local/local-roundup-yeti-girls-tennis-ends-season-in-first-round/article_106f9498-c5c7-11ec-a674-87d5e651c424.html
| 2022-04-27T23:20:40
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https://azdailysun.com/sports/local/local-roundup-yeti-girls-tennis-ends-season-in-first-round/article_106f9498-c5c7-11ec-a674-87d5e651c424.html
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After a one-year hiatus, the Louie's Awards returned Sunday night at Prochnow Auditorium as the Northern Arizona's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee hosted the annual year-end award show celebrating the department's best of the best of the 2021-22 academic year.
The award considerations were for the fall 2021 and winter 2022 seasons, while the men's and women's tennis, golf, and men's and women's outdoor track and field seasons were from the spring of 2021.
Taking home the male and female athlete of the year awards for the eighth installment of the celebration were distance runners Abdihamid Nur and Jessa Hanson. Nur has had a sensational 2021-22 year highlighted by becoming the second Lumberjacks male to be named USTFCCCA National Men's Track Athlete of the Year. He became the first men's double national champion in school history during the indoor season, winning the 3K and 5K titles and helping lead Northern Arizona to a podium finish for the first time in school history. Nur also earned All-American honors at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the fall, guiding the Lumberjacks to their fifth all-time national title.
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Meanwhile, Hanson earned her first-ever NCAA championship bid last spring in the 10K during the 2021 outdoor track and field season. Clinching the final national qualifying spot at the West Regional meet, she proceeded to place 11th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to earn All-American Second Team honors.
The male and female recipients were basketball's Jalen Cone and diver Alyssa Jones.
It was just one of two awards for Cone, who also was voted the male newcomer of the year after a high-scoring debut season with the Lumberjacks on the hardwood. The newcomer of the year on the women's side was Ekaterina Malakhova, who was honored for her performance last spring as a freshman.
The five-time national champion men's cross country team was selected as the male team of the year, while the swimming and diving team earned the nod following their ninth consecutive WAC championship. The swimming and diving team also claimed the Sharp Axe Award with the highest team GPA in the department.
Full list of award winners
Male Newcomer of the Year: Jalen Cone, Men's Basketball
Female Newcomer of the Year: Ekaterina Malakhova, Golf
Male Athlete of the Year: Abdihamid Nur, Cross Country/Track and Field
Female Athlete of the Year: Jessa Hanson, Track and Field
Guiding Axe Award: Jessica Lopez, Associate AD/Academics
Coach of the Year: Mike Smith, Director of Cross Country and Track and Field
True Blue Award: Lorel Hayward, Golf
Inspiration Award: Lauren Orndoff, Women's Basketball
Sharp Axe Award: Swimming & Diving
Record Breaking Performance: Men's Cross Country
The Lumberjack: Jalen Cone, Men's Basketball; Alyssa Jones, Swimming and Diving
Male Team of the Year: Men's Cross Country
Female Team of the Year: Swimming and Diving
Canned Food Drive: Soccer
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https://azdailysun.com/sports/local/nau-roundup-louies-awards-for-2021-22-season-announced/article_0a995e9c-c594-11ec-b95f-133b9e66f21b.html
| 2022-04-27T23:20:46
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https://azdailysun.com/sports/local/nau-roundup-louies-awards-for-2021-22-season-announced/article_0a995e9c-c594-11ec-b95f-133b9e66f21b.html
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CHILTON COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) — First, it was a lunchroom manager. Then, it was a bus driver. Now, it’s a nurse who transitioned into a teaching role, one who happens to be married to a sitting school board member.
Shellie Smith, wife of Chilton County School Board member Chris Smith, was sent a letter by the district asking her to repay over $33,000 they said she was overcompensated as a result of repeated payroll errors.
Smith is one of three employees confirmed by CBS 42 to have received such letters, although there may be more.
Christie Payne, a lunchroom manager at Verbena High School, was told she owes $23,465.40, dating back to the 2016-2017 school year.
“I had no idea this was happening,” Payne said. “Now I have seven days to fix a six-year mistake made by the payroll department.”
A bus driver who’s worked for the system for over 20 years was told he owes over $10,000. He said for four days after he received the letter, he woke up at 1:00 in the morning, paced the floors, and cried. He said he doesn’t plan to respond to the system’s demands.
“It’s their mistake,” the bus driver said. “Why do the little people have to pay for it?”
Board member Chris Smith said that he was not informed that the district was sending letters demanding such repayment.
“There were rumors out there that folks were being overpaid,” Chris Smith said, but he wasn’t able to confirm the rumors until two to three weeks ago.
After days of silence, Superindent Jason Griffin and the board of education released a joint statement about the issue Tuesday, saying that the system was legally required to “recoup” overpayments made to employees.
A specially called meeting of the school board had been scheduled for Wednesday, but it has since been canceled.
Board member Chris Smith said he was in favor of holding the meeting to discuss the letters being sent out by the district.
“I really don’t know why the meeting was canceled,” he said. “I was one of the ones that was in favor of continuing to have it. Other board members were not in favor and neither were the CFSO or the superintendent.”
The next regular meeting of the Chilton County School Board is May 17.
CBS 42 reached out to Superintendent Jason Griffin for comment on why Wednesday’s meeting was canceled but has not yet heard back.
If you have received a letter demanding repayment from Chilton County Schools, you can reach out to CBS 42 reporter Lee Hedgepeth at lhedgepeth@cbs42.com.
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https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/chilton-county-school-board-members-wife-received-letter-demanding-repayment-of-nearly-33000/
| 2022-04-27T23:27:53
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https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/chilton-county-school-board-members-wife-received-letter-demanding-repayment-of-nearly-33000/
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Oregon and Washington anglers could be reeling in more cash this year after the Bonneville Power Administration announced it will increase the bounty for northern pikeminnow.
Fishers who catch northern pikeminnow on the Columbia and Snake rivers will now earn $6 each for their first 25 fish, $8 each for catching 26-200 fish and $10 each when an angler catches more than 201 pikeminnows.
These rates are an increase from the previous rewards of $5, $6, and $8 and it is the first reward increase since 2015.
A pikeminnow must be at least 9 inches long to be eligible for a reward. State fish and wildlife biologists release specially tagged northern pikeminnow into the Columbia and Snake rivers that are each worth $200 to $500.
In 2021, the top angler caught 7,185 fish and earned a bounty of $61,409.
In 2022, the northern pikeminnow sport reward season runs May 1 – September 30.
State wildlife officials are encouraging anglers to catch and remove northern pikeminnow from the Columbia and Snake rivers because they consume millions of young salmon and steelhead each year. Anglers have been paid through the program since 1990 and have removed nearly 5 million pikeminnow from the two rivers. The program has reduced predation from pikeminnow on young salmon and steelhead by approximately 40$ since it began.
The program is funded by the Bonneville Power Administration and administered by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission in cooperation with the Washington and Oregon departments of fish and wildlife.
The Bonneville Power Administration says online registration and an app for the pikeminnow sport reward are expected to debut early in the 2022 season. Officials expect these tools will make it more convenient for people to participate.
Currently, people need to drive to a station and fill out paperwork each day before they head out to fish. Registering online or through the app will allow them to go directly to the river and spend more time fishing.
Anglers must register each day they fish. To find out more about the program, visit pikeminnow.org.
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https://www.koin.com/local/anglers-will-get-paid-more-to-catch-a-certain-type-of-fish-in-2022/
| 2022-04-27T23:55:08
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https://www.koin.com/local/anglers-will-get-paid-more-to-catch-a-certain-type-of-fish-in-2022/
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The Thorns and Timbers are joining forces for charity on Wednesday for the
PTFC for Peace mixed teams match where donations from fans “will support UNICEF’s relief efforts in Ukraine and bordering countries,” according to the Timbers.
The club said tickets for the match are free with donations encouraged for UNICEF – a humanitarian organization providing healthcare, sanitation and emergency relief among other services.
The Timbers announced all donations will be matched by the club up to $100,000.
In an early April press release, UNICEF USA President and CEO Michael J. Nyenhuis said “UNICEF is working around the clock to ensure those most impacted by the war in Ukraine are reached with the support they need at this critical time.”
“More than 2 million children have become refugees since the start of this war and an additional 2.5 million children have been displaced. UNICEF is delivering critical, life-saving supplies, as well as psychosocial support to these children and their families and the organization, is so grateful to supporters like the Timbers, Thorns and their fans who are making this work possible,” Nyenhuis added.
Diego Chara, Timbers Midfielder, and Thorns FC defender Kelli Hubly will co-captain one team.
“I always believe we are stronger together, and I’m excited to be able to play in a match that means so much more than soccer,” Timbers midfielder Diego Chara said. “This is an opportunity for us as players, as a club and as a city to help the people of Ukraine in an incredibly difficult time.”
Meanwhile, Thorns FC forward Christine Sinclair and Timbers midfielder Sebastian Blanco will co-captain the other team.
In a statement, Sinclair said “soccer is a universal and unifying sport, and as professionals, it’s important for us to use our platform for those in need and right now that’s Ukraine.”
Sinclair added “this is something we’ve wanted to do as a club for years, and I couldn’t think of a better reason to pull it off now than to raise money for an important cause. A match like this is one of its kind and while this game will be entertaining no doubt, the focus is to provide relief for Ukraine.”
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Providence Park. The match will also be livestreamed on the Timbers and Thorns websites.
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https://www.koin.com/local/timbers-thorns-hold-charity-game-for-ukrainian-refugee-support/
| 2022-04-27T23:55:14
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https://www.koin.com/local/timbers-thorns-hold-charity-game-for-ukrainian-refugee-support/
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Three teenagers, among them a 14-year-old girl, were shot after gunfire erupted on a Queens street late Wednesday afternoon, police said.
The shots rang out just after 4 p.m. on 188th Street between 48th and 50th avenues in Fresh Meadows, according to police. Two 18-year-old males were shot in the legs, while a bullet struck the younger teen girl in the neck.
None of the three suffered injuries considered to be life-threatening. The girl was taken to Long Island Jewish Hospital; it was not clear where the other two were taken.
Police said that it appeared someone fired at the teens deliberately, but motive for the shooting was not immediately clear. Police are still looking for the shooter, and no arrests have been made.
An investigation is ongoing.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/14-year-old-girl-among-three-teens-shot-in-queens-police/3666902/
| 2022-04-28T00:03:09
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/14-year-old-girl-among-three-teens-shot-in-queens-police/3666902/
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CAMILLA — The Mitchell County Sheriff’s office notified residents on its Facebook page of a “kidnapping scam” that has been reported at least twice since Sunday.
According to the sheriff’s post, the scam typically begins with a phone call saying a family member is being held captive. The caller may allege your daughter has been kidnapped, and you’ll hear a female screaming in the background. Another variant of the fraud has a family member being held because he/she caused an auto accident, is injured and won’t be allowed to go to the hospital until damages are paid.
Callers will typically provide the victim with specific instructions to ensure a safe return of the family member. You may be ordered to stay on the line until money is wired. The caller may claim not to have received the money and may demand more payment.
The following is taken directly from a Federal Bureau of Investigation Press Release and explains how to avoid becoming a victim:
♦ Incoming calls come from an outside area code, sometimes from Puerto Rico with area codes (787), (939) and (856).
♦ Calls do not come from the alleged kidnapped victim’s phone.
♦ Callers go to great lengths to keep you on the phone.
♦ Callers prevent you from calling or locating the “kidnapped” victim.
♦ Ransom money is only accepted via wire transfer service.
If you receive a phone call from someone who demands payment of a ransom for a kidnapped victim, the following should be considered:
♦ Try to slow the situation down. Request to speak to the victim directly. Ask, “How do I know my loved one is OK?”
♦ If the callers don’t let you speak to the victim, ask them to describe the victim or describe the vehicle the victim drives, if applicable.
♦ Listen carefully to the voice of the kidnapped victim if he/she speaks.
♦ Attempt to call, text or contact the alleged victim via social media. Request that the victim call back from his or her cellphone.
♦ While staying on the line with the alleged kidnappers, try to call the alleged kidnap victim from another phone.
♦ To buy time, repeat the caller’s request and tell them you are writing down the demand or tell the caller you need additional time to meet their demands.
♦ Don’t directly challenge or argue with the caller. Keep your voice low and steady.
♦ Request the alleged kidnapper allow the victim to call you back from his/her cellphone.
♦ At the earliest opportunity, notify your local polic♦ e department.
To help prevent this scam, check privacy settings on social media accounts and revisit the information you publicize on those accounts. The more information available to the public, the more information scammers can use to convince you into believing a scam is real.
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https://www.albanyherald.com/local/mitchell-county-sheriff-warns-of-kidnapping-scam/article_f26d67fa-c633-11ec-af1f-8f2f0e6f13ef.html
| 2022-04-28T00:29:35
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https://www.albanyherald.com/local/mitchell-county-sheriff-warns-of-kidnapping-scam/article_f26d67fa-c633-11ec-af1f-8f2f0e6f13ef.html
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I don’t talk about it a lot, but I have been a Sunday school teacher for almost 30 years now. I know a few people about now said, “What kind of church is that?” Well it’s a Methodist Church, and I did not plan on becoming a teacher.
I teach the adult men’s class there. The average age is 70-plus, although we do have quite a few below 40, some even in the late 20s. Mr. L.L. Spence and Mr. Bill Newman approached me about teaching when their teacher decided to call it quits after about 25 years. I turned them down, stating I didn’t even go to Sunday school and did not need to teach.
They persisted and came back two more times. On the third rejection, Mr. L.L. asked Mr. Bill, “ Well what do we do now?” And Mr. Bill said, “Go back again.” Alas on the fourth try, I gave in but only for an interim position until they could find somebody permanent. It is now 27 years later, and I am still waiting on the permanent replacement.
I must admit the position has been rewarding. I once gave a lesson about the need to forgive and not to seek revenge when one has been done wrong. One of my members of the class said he always went home after a lesson and his wife would ask, “What did T teach on today?” My class member said he told her after this lesson, “Us.”
Once I taught a lesson about people saying we needed to get back to true Christian principles like it used to be. I compared Christian faith from 1940 and 1850, and all the way back to when the Pilgrims first landed in America. It turned out Pilgrims believed the Bible gave the husband the right to spank their wife if she misbehaved or disobeyed her husband. I said is that the one we should follow or the one from 1840 that believed music was from Satan or so on and so forth? A friend of mine, who rarely came, happened to be there that day, went home and told his wife I said the Bible said a husband should spank his wife. I never bothered to try and explain that one.
I’ve had all types of characters in my class, but none more so than Robin Strickland. He was about 5-foot, 4-inches tall, 130 pounds and in his mid-80s. He had served in World War II during the Battle of the Bulge. He said they radioed to his unit to hold the line at all costs and do not retreat.
He had one small unit, and here were two German divisions coming at them. Everybody but two people were killed in his unit. He survived because he was knocked unconscious by an explosion and woke up in a German POW camp.
He told jokes non-stop and often would stop me before entering the classroom to tell me a racy, sex-filled joke. I should have told him to stop, but I remember once he told me he hated to hear somebody say they were starving to death as they headed to get a Wendys. You know, “God I’m starving, I need a Big Mac.” He said you don’t know hunger until you have not eaten for days.
He said the German’s let them forage for food during the day because they had no food. He went from 130 to 85 pounds in a few weeks. He said one time the POWs found a sack of rancid potatoes and divided them up. His had a big black runny sore on the side. A buddy asked could he cut it off and eat it. He told him he’d kill him if he tried and ate it. “That’s’ hungry,” Strick would say. I figure God would give Strick a pass or two for telling dirty jokes after all that.
The only promotion for my class is the big one. We don’t get a certificate on promotion Sunday. We get the 23rd Psalm and a free Cadillac ride. One of my class members says he’s just glad to be alive and isn’t ready to take a dirt nap just yet. He also says he knows the bus is warming up, but he’s not ready to get on just yet. I’m with him on all that. I want to get to Heaven, but I’m not ready yet. But if tomorrow my ticket gets punched, I’m OK, ‘cause I figure ‘ole Strick has a bunch of jokes stored up for me when I get there.
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https://www.albanyherald.com/local/t-gamble-on-christian-principles-now-and-then/article_84cbe49c-c638-11ec-aa80-5bf0bee372a6.html
| 2022-04-28T00:29:41
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https://www.albanyherald.com/local/t-gamble-on-christian-principles-now-and-then/article_84cbe49c-c638-11ec-aa80-5bf0bee372a6.html
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DALLAS — North Texas, you never cease to amaze us!
Two weeks ago, we brought you the story of Dora, who's been in foster care for seven and a half long years. She was dreaming about a quinceañera for her 15th birthday, and thanks to your generosity, it happened.
When we met Dora for a Wednesday's Child taping on April 13, she told us she really wanted to have a quinceañera for her 15th birthday. This celebration traditionally marks a girl's coming of age in many countries across Latin America.
"You get a big fancy dress, a crown and you have to invite people that you want to come and just celebrate," Dora told us during our interview.
Thanks to the generosity of a lot of people who saw our report, it happened!
Not only did Dora get her quinceañera on Monday, everyone who she wanted to attend was there, including her biological brother. He offered a special toast to his sister.
"Really grateful I got to experience this with my sister, after all we've been through. We've been through a lot," he said.
Dora has two Dallas Court Appointed Special Advocates who have been with her for more than seven years throughout her many placements in foster care.
Stephanie Roberts and Marian Glass are the ones who planned the quinceañera with the help of the community, including Reagan and Leanay with Impromptu Parties and Blessed Hands, Cecy Himenez with Awe-Inspiring Photography and the staff at Rosa's Cafe -- located at 5000 Overton Ridge Boulevard in Fort Worth.
Dora's advocates say she has always shown a loving heart and has never given up on having a forever family, despite being the only one of her siblings who is still not adopted.
Her message for us in this moment was one of gratitude.
"Today, I had a quinceañera and all the people I wanted to come were there and I was happy, and it made me excited," she told WFAA.
Dora officially turns 15 on Friday, April 29. Her biggest wish is to find her forever family!
Happy birthday, princess. We pray your wish comes true.
For more information on how to adopt Dora, please send all approved home studies to LaQueena Warren at LaQueena.Warren@dfps.texas.gov. Please remember to include Dora's names within the subject line.
If you're not licensed, please visit adoptchildren.org to find out more information on how to become licensed to foster and/or adopt or contact LaQueena Warren at 817-304-1272.
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https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/outreach/wednesdays-child/wednesdays-child-dora-gifted-quinceaera-still-waiting-to-be-adopted-by-forever-family/287-83cf90df-6609-4e23-a8ac-729a1f2b78a9
| 2022-04-28T00:55:47
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https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/outreach/wednesdays-child/wednesdays-child-dora-gifted-quinceaera-still-waiting-to-be-adopted-by-forever-family/287-83cf90df-6609-4e23-a8ac-729a1f2b78a9
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DALLAS — As some people celebrate Wednesday’s announcement that Texas Marine veteran Trevor Reed would be released from a Russian prison, there are others urging the U.S. government to continue working behind the scenes.
They want officials to continue pushing for the release of WNBA player Brittney Griner, former Marine Paul Whelan and any other Americans being detained in Russia.
“When I opened my phone this morning, and I saw that Trevor was being released, I was overjoyed. But my first thought went to Brittney, and is this something that could be a path for her?” said Nancy Lieberman, a basketball legend and philanthropist.
Lieberman considers Griner a friend. She is among those who’ve been speaking out, asking for Griner’s release and return home to the U.S.
“Putin is so erratic, at this point, that you just don’t know what he is going to do,” Lieberman said.
Griner, a Houston native, is accused of having cannabis vape cartridges in her luggage. Her arrest and detention in Russia was extended to a hearing in mid-May. That move came as the U.S. and other countries continues speaking out on the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“For something like vaping cartridges? I think that’s kind of miniscule. I don’t think that she should be detained for something like that,” said WNBA fan Curtis Moss.
Some sports fans hope a prisoner swap, like the U.S. government was able to negotiate for Reed’s release, could also be a pathway for Griner’s return home.
Moss is among those who said they hope the female basketball star is being used as a political pawn.
“If she was in the NBA, she’d be out by now,” Moss said.
Across social media, a campaign to free Brittney Griner is escalating.
“I just want her to be healthy. I want her to be happy. Everybody just wants her to be back here with her family in the United States,” Lieberman added.
Supporters say they want Griner’s situation to end safely and soon.
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https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/supporters-wnba-fans-call-for-basketball-star-brittney-griners-release-from-russia/287-4fec529f-ad3e-446f-8862-86ee8cab460a
| 2022-04-28T00:55:53
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https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/supporters-wnba-fans-call-for-basketball-star-brittney-griners-release-from-russia/287-4fec529f-ad3e-446f-8862-86ee8cab460a
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SAN JOSE, Calif. — A woman arrested in the kidnapping of a 3-month-old baby from his San Francisco Bay Area home is a friend of the family and was present when a man abducted the baby while his grandmother unloaded groceries, police said Wednesday.
Yesenia Ramirez, 43, had driven the child and his grandmother on a shopping trip and had been communicating with Jose Portillo before he entered the second floor San Jose apartment and took the baby Monday, San Jose Police Sgt. Christian Camarillo said.
A motive for the kidnapping is still under investigation, Camarillo said.
Portillo, 28, was captured on surveillance video carrying a baby car seat and a small blanket and walking toward the apartment, he said.
“It was a clear indication that this was planned, premeditated,” Camarillo said.
Little Brandon Cuellar was found unharmed Tuesday inside a home where Portillo lived after detectives located a van they believed had been used in the kidnapping. The baby was taken to a hospital to be checked and reunited hours later with his mother, who was working at the time of the abduction.
Another man, Baldomeo Sandoval, 37, was also arrested. Camarillo said Sandoval played a role in the kidnapping but gave no other details.
The relationship among the three suspects was not disclosed “to maintain the integrity of the investigation,” Camarillo said.
All three have been charged with kidnapping and are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday. It was not immediately known if they have an attorney who can speak on their behalf.
The baby's father is incarcerated and police don't believe he played a role in his child's abduction, Camarillo said.
ABC10: Watch, Download, Read
Watch more from ABC10: San Jose Kidnapping Update Baby found safe
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/san-jose-baby-kidnapping/103-f3a7b907-0dd1-4d56-a3c3-bd0ce5bdacf0
| 2022-04-28T01:08:15
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/san-jose-baby-kidnapping/103-f3a7b907-0dd1-4d56-a3c3-bd0ce5bdacf0
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FAIRFIELD, Calif. — The Fairfield Police Department has identified a 56-year-old man who was shot and killed Thursday evening near Hillview Park in Fairfield.
On Thursday, officers responded to reports of a shooting in the area of Laurel Drive and Manzanita Avenue around 11:25 p.m.
First responders found the 56-year-old Fairfield resident with a gunshot wound and took him to the hospital. Friday morning, the man died from his injuries.
On Tuesday, the 56-year-old man was identified as Anthony Fuimaono from Fairfield.
Police are investigating the killing and said preliminary findings suggest an argument happened before the shooting.
The Fairfield Police Department encourages anyone with information to contact the Investigations Division at (707) 428-7600.
Read more from ABC10:
ABC10: Watch, Download, Read
Watch more from ABC10: Sacramento County man poses as 11-year-old girl to solicit child sexual abuse imagery
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/fairfield/fairfield-police-man-shot-killed-hillview-park-identified/103-22bd7d8b-65b4-436d-975a-58f13ba88d1e
| 2022-04-28T01:08:21
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/fairfield/fairfield-police-man-shot-killed-hillview-park-identified/103-22bd7d8b-65b4-436d-975a-58f13ba88d1e
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ROSEVILLE, Calif. — The Roseville Police Department says six people were hospitalized after a major crash in Roseville Wednesday afternoon.
Police say the crash involving five vehicles happened shortly before 3 p.m. at the Sunrise Avenue and Coloma Way intersection. Six people were taken to local hospitals and at least two were in critical condition.
Roseville police are asking people to avoid the area as the intersection will be closed for several hours.
This is a developing story and more information will be provided as it becomes available.
ABC10: Watch, Download, Read
Watch more from ABC10: Sacramento County man poses as 11-year-old girl to solicit child sexual abuse imagery
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/roseville/roseville-crash-six-hospitalized/103-effb581c-38ca-42ae-aa8b-231c4e456975
| 2022-04-28T01:08:27
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/roseville/roseville-crash-six-hospitalized/103-effb581c-38ca-42ae-aa8b-231c4e456975
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Fires are burning more frequently and at a greater intensity than ever before in the American River Parkway area, according to a new report from an environmental group.
A report from April 2022 by the Sacramento Sierra Club says that in six years, the Sacramento Fire Department responded to 536 fires along the parkway. The number of fires in the region increased rapidly in recent years, up to 156 in 2021 – three times as many as in 2019.
These fires pose a risk to high traffic areas near the parkway such as Sacramento State, Garden Highway, Sutter’s Landing, Lake Natomas and office, residential and retail buildings, the report said.
Sierra Club said linked homeless encampments along the parkway to the frequency of fires in the area where cigarettes, campfires and stoves provide ignition. According to the report, the north side of the American River accounts for 90% of the fires in the parkway area.
"I think it's a prime location because people can be away from neighborhoods or major streets and feel that they're not being either assaulted or looked down upon," said Barbara Leary, chair of the Sacramento Sierra Club.
The organization said the city of Sacramento failing to provide housing and failing to effectively deal with the homeless crisis has resulted in "unprecedented environmental destruction." As a result, they say massive amounts of garbage, water pollution and wildfire have destroyed much of the region’s plant and wildlife.
"We are hoping that the city and county can work together in increasing safe spaces for people to live so that they can be relocated away from the river," Leary said. "We're also hoping that they'll come up with some more permanent housing so that people don't transition to a temporary spot and then be put back out on the Streets or along the river."
However, the environmental impact from the homeless population is not the only factor accounting for increasing wildfires across the region. Sierra Club said that climate change has become a considerable threat to the area amid increasing temperatures and a statewide drought.
A 2016 report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency explains that trapped greenhouse gasses have created warmer surface temperatures and lower atmosphere on the planet affecting humidity, water availability and average rainfall.
Subsequently, regions with drier climates such as California, have seen an increase in wildfires across the state.
According to the EPA on average, 4% of the land in California has burned per decade since 1984 resulting in poor air quality, human health impacts and billions of dollars in property damage each year.
Along with the region’s homeless epidemic, the growing increase in wildfires in the Sacramento region has been a direct result of globalized climate change as environmental experts suggest.
ABC10 reached out to the Sacramento Fire Department to confirm the numbers shared in data reported by Sierra Club, but the inquiry was not immediately returned.
"We don't want people just kicked off the Parkway with nowhere to go, that is not our hope," Leary said. "My hope is there could be more safe spaces or shelters for people to go to."
WATCH ALSO:
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/american-river-parkway-homelessness-climate-change/103-6b337641-b7d5-42f3-8690-a5632d8220fa
| 2022-04-28T01:08:33
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/american-river-parkway-homelessness-climate-change/103-6b337641-b7d5-42f3-8690-a5632d8220fa
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by: Lee Hedgepeth Posted: Apr 27, 2022 / 06:47 PM CDT Updated: Apr 27, 2022 / 07:18 PM CDT SHARE BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Former NFL linebacker Cornelius Bennett and jazz musician Darryl Evans Jones will join CBS 42’s Sherri Jackson and Art Franklin to celebrate Franklin’s final week on CBS 42. You can watch the discussion below.
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https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/live-former-nfl-linebacker-and-renowned-jazz-musician-join-art-franklin-and-sherri-jackson/
| 2022-04-28T01:35:48
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https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/live-former-nfl-linebacker-and-renowned-jazz-musician-join-art-franklin-and-sherri-jackson/
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PORTLAND, Ore. — TriMet is short about 300 bus operators and is increasing entry pay levels to help recruit needed personnel.
The transit company is increasing entry driver pay to $25.24 per hour, up about $3.50 from before. To retain recruits, TriMet is also offering a $7,500 hiring bonus that will be spread out over the first three years of employment.
Hiring is the number one priority at the transit agency right now, according to spokesperson Tia York, who described the current shortfall as "the most severe staffing shortage in TriMet history."
The problem is the result of several years of challenges. In the early months of the pandemic, TriMet ridership was down as much as 75%. Many commercial drivers have also been part of the so-called Great Resignation across the country.
"If we don't have enough operators, it's our riders who could potentially suffer," York said.
Demand for public transportation is up again, as many people travel and work in person. TriMet provided more than a million rides in a single week, according to York.
"It was a milestone week," she described.
TriMet has been pushing an ongoing hiring campaign to attract bus operators. Video testimonials from current drivers are being advertised on social media platforms across several markets, including in Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Arizona.
The increased pay isn't just for new drivers; it also applies to existing drivers who were hired before the bump, in order to "show all of our bus operators we appreciate what they do for TriMet," York said.
The pay scale increases over time to $68,000 per year, which does not include increased potential for overtime.
A commercial driver's license and bus-driving experience are not required. TriMet will provide paid training.
RELATED: TriMet makes masks optional
"We need to bring in more workers," said Bill Bradley, executive board officer for ATU Local 757, the transit union representing TriMet operators. "The existing drivers have been through a lot through this pandemic. We've got to find ways to make the jobs safer, more enjoyable [and have a] better work-life balance."
The union is set to negotiate with TriMet later this year, with hopes to cement the higher pay long term.
Bradley said transit companies stand to gain from investments in employee retention, especially now that ridership is increasing.
"If you look at gas prices, used car prices, increased traffic..." he said. "That's our competition."
TriMet's recruitment page has a link to job applications.
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/trimet-increases-entry-pay-to-recruit-300-bus-drivers/283-01411aab-5b95-4f39-a460-03cf5a50afac
| 2022-04-28T01:47:17
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/trimet-increases-entry-pay-to-recruit-300-bus-drivers/283-01411aab-5b95-4f39-a460-03cf5a50afac
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PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has proposed making Portland Street Response a round-the-clock service for non-violent behavioral and mental health calls.
On Wednesday, Wheeler announced a major expansion of Portland Street Response (PSR) will be included in his annual budget proposal early next week.
"In my commitment to public safety reform and refocusing, it's been my top priority to make sure that calls go to the right emergency responders," Wheeler said. "For Portlanders experiencing mental and behavioral health crises, an unarmed trained specialist has proven to be the best practice."
The Oregonian/OregonLive reported that under Wheeler's proposal, the program would operate 24/7 by early fall, and the number of its crisis response teams would grow to 16 from its current number of six.
"Let's get this program fully funded," Wheeler said.
The mayor's statement comes one day after the Portland City Council was presented with a report from Portland State University that found PSR has "demonstrated success" since first launching as a pilot program in the Lents neighborhood in February 2021.
The report said the street response team accounted for a roughly 4% reduction in total calls traditionally responded to by police for areas in which it operated, or a total of 903 calls.
Only 3.2% of all calls handled by PSR ended with a client being brought to a hospital and none of them resulted in an arrest
PSR was created under the umbrella of Portland Fire & Rescue’s Community Health Division and designed to provide an unarmed response to non-violent behavioral and mental health calls — dispatching a small team that includes crisis counselors and paramedics instead of police.
"Portland Street Response has come so far in a very short amount of time — from a small pilot program in one neighborhood to a citywide movement that has fundamentally changed Portland’s first response system," said Dr. Greg Townley, co-founder of the PSU collaborative and lead researcher on the report. "Portland Street Response provides a model for the nation to follow, and we look forward to continuing to monitor its progress and impact as it expands citywide.”
In March 2022, city officials announced that PSR was expanding citywide with service available seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/wheeler-proposes-portland-street-response-expansion/283-d3212bd1-cd81-4fbf-a005-a2b7b10dc1c6
| 2022-04-28T01:47:23
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/wheeler-proposes-portland-street-response-expansion/283-d3212bd1-cd81-4fbf-a005-a2b7b10dc1c6
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Portland Street Response may soon be expanding, allowing for citywide, round-the-clock operation for the first time ever.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler says he will propose an expansion of the program as part of his full list of proposed investments for the city’s annual budget, which he will be announcing next week. However, he said this PSR announcement “just can’t wait.”
Wheeler says he wants to expand PSR’s staffing to three times its original size, which will allow 24/7 coverage across the city.
This decision follows a recently released one-year evaulation report by Portland State University, which gave the program high marks. The study concluded the Portland Street Response should expand “to make its services available throughout the city and at all hours of the day.”
The study also found it lightened the load from the Portland Police Bureau and Portland Fire & Rescue — and is seeing a gradual but growing acceptance by both the public and first responders.
“Portland Street Response is not only effective, but a new best-practice in community safety —and recently reported data backs me up,” Wheeler stated on Wednesday. “I am proud to announce my full support in advancing this program in the upcoming annual budget to help more Portlanders in need.”
The program was an initiative pushed for and created by Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty in 2021. The PSR units are made up of non-police city workers to divert non-emergency calls from Portland’s first responders.
“I want to thank Commissioner Hardesty for her continued hard work on this endeavor,” Wheeler said. “I look forward to proposing this next week, along with many other initiatives that address the most immediate problems facing Portlanders today.”
Portland Street Response launched February 16, 2021 in the Lents neighborhood. On November 4, 2021, it expanded to cover the entire PPB East Precinct. PSR is dispatched to a scene by the Bureau of Emergency Communications.
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https://www.koin.com/local/multnomah-county/wheeler-to-propose-staff-expansion-for-portland-street-response/
| 2022-04-28T02:05:36
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https://www.koin.com/local/multnomah-county/wheeler-to-propose-staff-expansion-for-portland-street-response/
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Washington County announced it is launching a new recycling program for unincorporated areas of the county.
Washington County Board of Commissioners approved the new curbside recycling program, Recycle+, for materials not included in standard recycling such as plastic bags, plastic #1 clamshell containers, clothes and compact fluorescent lightbulbs.
Community members can request the service through their garbage and recycling collection company.
The optional service begins July 1, 2022. Those who sign up will get a 20-gallon purple bin for pickup which will cost a base fee of $2.50 per month and $9.25 for each needed pickup.
Washington County notes community members can drop off items not included in standard recycling at a recycling depot at no-cost.
The board also approved expanding the standard recycling program to include household batteries, which will be collected in existing glass recycling bins.
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https://www.koin.com/local/washington-county/new-recycling-program-to-launch-for-unincorporated-washco/
| 2022-04-28T02:05:42
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https://www.koin.com/local/washington-county/new-recycling-program-to-launch-for-unincorporated-washco/
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A high school teacher in suburban New York was charged Wednesday with submitting a forged COVID-19 vaccination card in an effort to get around the school district's rule mandating either vaccination or weekly testing for the coronavirus.
Tricia Manno, a teacher at Sewanhaka High School on Long Island, was arraigned on charges including criminal possession of a forged instrument and offering a false instrument for filing, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced.
“This defendant allegedly attempted to circumvent the school district’s mandatory testing requirement by submitting a vaccine card with obvious forgeries,” Donnelly said.
According to prosecutors, Manno, 47, submitted a digital copy of a vaccination card to the Sewanhaka Central High School District on Sept. 21, 2021.
District employees suspected forgery and asked Manno to submit the original card, prosecutors said.
Manno told the district staffers she had been vaccinated at the Northport VA Medical Center but had lost her original card, the prosecutors said. Manno then went to the medical center, showed staffers there a digital image of the forged vaccination card and asked for a replacement, prosecutors said.
A staff member issued a replacement card even though the Northport VA Medical Center had no record of administering a COVID-19 vaccine to Manno, Donnelly said.
“Manno doubled down on the fraud by allegedly illegally obtaining a replacement card at the Northport VA Medical Center where she claimed to have been vaccinated, showing staff a digital fake as her proof," the district attorney, a Republican, said in a news release. "Submitting fraudulent documents is a crime, and in this case, one that put the health and safety of students and staff at risk.”
Manno pleaded not guilty at her arraignment. Her attorney, Scott Limmer, said he was awaiting discovery from the district attorney's office. If convicted of the charges against her, Manno faces a maximum of two and one-third to seven years in prison.
James Grossane, the superintendent of schools, said in a statement that the district will fully cooperate with the investigation but that it could not comment on private personnel matters.
The charges against Manno in Nassau County were filed days after several dozen public school teachers in neighboring New York City were placed on unpaid leave for allegedly submitting fraudulent proof of COVID-19 vaccination. The United Federation of Teachers is fighting the disciplinary action against the New York City teachers.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/long-island-high-school-teacher-charged-with-submitting-fake-covid-vaccine-card/3667037/
| 2022-04-28T02:21:57
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/long-island-high-school-teacher-charged-with-submitting-fake-covid-vaccine-card/3667037/
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The owner of a New York-based hedge fund that collapsed when it defaulted on margin calls was arrested Wednesday on charges alleging he defrauded leading global investment banks and brokerages of billions of dollars.
The charges unsealed in an indictment in Manhattan federal court named Bill Hwang, the founder of Archegos Capital Management, and his former chief financial officer, Patrick Halligan. Prosecutors allege Hwang told the banks and brokerages lies so his private investment firm could grow its portfolio from $10 billion to $160 billion.
Both men entered not guilty pleas to racketeering conspiracy and fraud charges through their lawyers at an arraignment. Hwang was freed on $100 million bail while Halligan was freed on $1 million bail.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at a news conference that the scheme "nearly jeopardized our financial system."
"But last year, the music stopped. The bubble burst. The prices dropped. And when they did, billions of dollars of capital evaporated nearly overnight,” he said.
Williams said Archegos head trader Scott Becker, 38, of Goshen, New York, and William Tomita, 38, of Greenwich, Connecticut, the firm's chief risk officer, pleaded guilty last week in connection with their participation in the conspiracy and are cooperating with the government.
The prosecutor said the defendants lied to banks to get billions of dollars that they used to inflate the stock price of publicly traded companies.
“The lies fed the inflation and the inflation led to more lies,” he said. “Round and round it went.”
Williams said that at one point, Hwang and his firm secretly controlled over 50 percent of the shares of ViacomCBS.
Hwang, 58, of Tenafly, New Jersey, carried out the fraud from March 2020 to March 2021 by originally investing his personal fortune, which grew from $1.5 billion to over $35 billion, and later the investments he borrowed from major banks and brokerages, which grew from about $10 billion to over $160 billion, the indictment said.
He hid the extent of his market prowess from investors by using derivative securities that had no public disclosure requirement, it said.
“As a result, despite the size of Archegos's positions, the investing public did not know that Archegos had come to dominate the trading and stock ownership of multiple companies,” the indictment said.
The risky maneuvers made the firm's portfolio highly vulnerable to price fluctuations in a handful of stocks, causing a flurry of margin calls in late March 2021 that had a destructive domino effect. Over $100 billion in market value disappeared in days for nearly a dozen companies and banks and prime brokers duped by Archegos lost billions, the indictment said.
It said the schemes also caused millions of dollars in losses for innocent Archegos employees who had been required to allocate to the firm a substantial amount of their pay as deferred compensation.
Separate civil charges against Hwang and Halligan, 45, of Syosset, were brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In a release, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said: “The collapse of Archegos last spring demonstrated how activities by one firm can have far-reaching implications for investors and market participants.”
“We allege that Hwang and Archegos propped up a $36 billion house of cards by engaging in a constant cycle of manipulative trading, lying to banks to obtain additional capacity, and then using that capacity to engage in still more manipulative trading,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
“But the house of cards could only be sustained if that cycle of deceptive trading, lies and buying power continued uninterrupted, and once Archegos’s buying power was exhausted and stock prices fell, the entire structure collapsed, allegedly leaving Archegos’s counterparties billions in trading losses,” Grewal said.
Hwang’s attorney, Lawrence Lustberg, said lawyers were “extremely disappointed” with a prosecution that they believe has “absolutely no factual or legal basis.”
“A prosecution of this type, for open-market transactions, is unprecedented and threatens all investors,” he said in a written statement. “As you will see when the facts unfold, Bill Hwang is entirely innocent of any wrongdoing; there is no evidence whatsoever that he committed any kind of crime, let alone the overblown allegations that pervade this indictment.”
Lustberg said it was also disappointing that Hwang was arrested without notice even though he “has made himself available and fully cooperated with the Government's investigation.”
“We vehemently dispute the charges as a matter of law and fact and are confident that we will prevail in Court, but in no event was an arrest necessary in this case, in the midst of an investigation that has gone on for more than a year and apparently remains ongoing,” he wrote.
Attorney Mary Mulligan, representing Halligan, said: “Pat Halligan is innocent and will be exonerated.”
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/owner-of-ny-based-hedge-fund-arrested-in-fraud-scheme-that-lost-billions-of-dollars/3667021/
| 2022-04-28T02:22:04
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — People who get hurt because of a doctor's negligence in California could soon get a lot more money in malpractice lawsuits under an agreement reached Wednesday that — if approved by the state Legislature — would avoid a costly fight at the ballot box this November while resolving one of the state's longest-running political battles.
California does not limit how much money patients can win in malpractice cases for economic damages, which include things that can be counted such as medical expenses and lost wages. But since 1975, state law has limited how much money patients can win for things that can't be counted — such as pain and suffering — to $250,000.
Trial attorneys and patients' rights groups have tried and failed for decades to raise that limit, noting it sometimes costs more than that to take one of these complex lawsuits to trial. Doctors have usually opposed raising the limits, saying it would result in soaring malpractice insurance premiums that could put some community health clinics out of business.
With neither side budging, California voters were set to settle the issue in November. A ballot measure would ask voters to tie the limit to inflation, immediately increasing it to about $1.2 million. The two sides had collectively raised about $35 million in what was expected to be one one of the most fiercely contested ballot measure campaigns this year.
But Wednesday, supporters of raising the limit agreed to withdraw the measure from the November ballot. Instead, they supported a new bill in the state Legislature that would gradually increase the limit over the next 10 years. The bill has the support of the California Medical Association, the Consumer Attorneys of California, Californians Allied for Patient Protection, state legislative leaders and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said he would sign it into law.
"This is an important victory for the stability and health of our health care system, and for patients across California," Newsom said.
The agreement would, beginning next year, raise the limit to $350,000 for people who were injured and $500,000 for the families of people who die. Those limits would gradually increase over the next decade until 2033, when they reach $750,000 for injured patients and $1 million for families of deceased patients. After that, the limits would increase 2% each year to keep up with the cost of inflation.
Patients could win more money than that because the limit would be applied to both medical providers and institutions. That means a patient suing a doctor and a hospital could win up to $350,000 from each. Patients could also win damages from a third provider or institution if they are unaffiliated with the first two.
Gradually raising the limit over 10 years makes sure medical malpractice insurance premiums don't rise too quickly for doctors, said Dustin Corcoran, CEO of the California Medical Association.
"What you see is a reflection of listening, understanding and appreciating where both coalitions were coming from," Corcoran said.
Medical negligence cases are some of the most expensive cases to bring and the hardest to prove because jurors, in general, trust doctors, according to Craig Peters, president of Consumer Attorneys of California. Peters said he rejects nearly all of medical malpractice lawsuits "because I have to explain to the poor victims that the law is what it is and it just makes the pursuit of the claim not worth it from a monetary standpoint."
He said he hopes this new compromise brings the two sides to a point where they can work together more on future legislation.
"It has taken hundreds of people fighting this fight over the years to get us to this point," Peters said.
Once approved and signed into law, the limits would only apply to malpractice cases filed after Jan. 1. That means it won't apply to the case of Charles Johnson, whose wife, Kira, died in 2016 after her bladder was cut during a C-section. Johnson's case is scheduled to go to trial next month.
Still, news of the agreement was a relief to Johnson, who has led the campaign to increase the limits.
"What all of these families will tell you is, far beyond the financial impact, we want justice and we want transparency and accountability," he said. "Although this piece of legislation won't affect Kira's case, it makes me feel good that other families will have access to civil justice."
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This story has been updated to correct the name of the president of Consumer Attorneys of California. It is Craig Peters.
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/california-to-increase-awards-medical-malpractice-cases/103-e981fd55-d5ac-46e6-b9c9-fd927904d4c6
| 2022-04-28T02:48:08
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LOOMIS, Calif. — A thriving LGBTQ community might not be the first thing most people associate with Placer County, but one organization is looking to change that - one drag show at a time.
“The only thing closets are good for are clothes, not people,” said Casey Tinnin, the pastor at Loomis Basin Congregational United Church of Christ and the founder of the Landing Spot, a support group in Loomis for LGBTQ teenagers and their adult caregivers.
“We felt the need for a safe place for queer kids in our community. There are not a lot of safe places in Placer County for queer kids,” he added.
He said he started the Landing Spot because there was nothing like it for him when he was a young person.
“Every third Monday, young people get together. There’s also a parent group that meets, and so we have a licensed therapist who meets with the parents to help them sort of navigate their child coming out,” Tinnin said, regarding the Landing Spot meetings.
He said that, without community, queer youth are at risk.
“This is such a conservative area; I find there are a lot of kids who are at higher risk of suicide, depression,” Tinnin said.
In mid-April, the Landing Spot hosted a drag show for the first time since the pandemic began.
“What we’re trying to do at Landing Spot is create queer thriving, queer joy. Because there is a lot of joy. And if you were at the drag show, you would see. It was incredible. I mean we packed out the small McLaughlin Theatre, standing room only,” Tinnin said.
Drag queen Iris Omega was the host for the drag show.
“A lot of young queer people feel very alone and feel like they have no one they can relate to, and so I’m very honored that I have the opportunity to maybe be that person for somebody,” Omega said.
She said many people don’t realize drag provides community and family for many rejected by their own families.
“I am from the house of UV. It’s me (and) my two sisters Unieke and Serpentina. To me, they’re part of the reason why I am where I am today. I definitely would not be here without them, and I love and appreciate them so much for that,” Omega said.
Omega explained how she sees the Landing Spot.
“It really aims to get rid of that feeling that I had to go through as a youth. That most LGBTQ people had to go through as kids, of feeling alone and ostracized. It aims to give that feeling of community,” Omega said.
Tinnin also has a message for those who don’t think drag could possibly have much value.
“Drag actually is the most important thing that we could be doing for these kids right now - to create a house, a community, a family, where if your family does not love you, if your church community does not welcome you, then here at the Landing Spot, you are seen, known and loved. And we will applaud for you every day,” Tinnin said.
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/placer-county-organization-building-community/103-ab1bbdb4-d992-40f7-b357-5d0b394fe178
| 2022-04-28T02:48:15
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/placer-county-organization-building-community/103-ab1bbdb4-d992-40f7-b357-5d0b394fe178
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FALLS CHURCH, Va. — A forensic psychologist testified Tuesday that actor Amber Heard suffers from borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder, as the civil lawsuit between her and ex-husband Johnny Depp continues to wallow in the couple’s personal issues.
Depp is suing Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court after she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post referring to herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” The article doesn’t mention Depp by name, but his lawyers say the article contains ”defamation by implication” because it clearly refers to allegations of domestic abuse made by heard when she filed for divorce in 2016.
The psychologist, Shannon Curry, was hired by Depp’s legal team. She said she reached her diagnosis during 12 hours of interviews with Heard, as well as from reviewing her mental-health records.
Curry also testified that Heard does not suffer post-traumatic stress disorder from her relationship with Depp, as Heard has claimed.
Depp’s team hopes Curry’s testimony bolsters their contention that Heard was the aggressor in the couple’s troubled relationship. Depp just concluded four days on the witness stand and testified about Heard’s “need for conflict” and her tendency to hound and pursue him during arguments when he tried to walk away and disengage.
The two personality disorders are similar, Curry said. Borderline personality is a disease of instability, she said “driven by an underlying fear of abandonment.” She said people with the disorder “will make desperate attempts to prevent that from happening.”
Evidence introduced earlier at the trial includes audio clips of Heard begging Depp not to leave, and to stay with her after he indicated a desire to break up or separate.
She also said that borderline personality disorder “seems to be a predictive factor for women who implement violence against their partner.” Depp has said he is the one who was a victim of domestic violence, and that Heard hit him on multiple occasions and threw items like paint cans and vodka bottles at him.
Histrionic personality disorder, Curry said, is associated with “drama and shallowness,” and a need to be the center of attention.
She said there’s a correlation in the disorder with people who are physically attractive and “utilize their looks to get that attention.”
On cross-examination, Heard’s lawyers questioned Curry for potential bias, noting that she had dinner and drinks with Depp and his lawyers at Depp’s house before she was hired. Curry said it was just part of the interview process.
And Heard’s lawyers called attention to evidence that Heard reported abuse contemporaneously to her therapist and to the couple’s marriage counselor.
While the libel lawsuit is supposed to center on whether Depp was defamed in the article, most of the trial has focused on ugly details of the couple’s brief marriage. Depp has denied ever striking Heard. Heard’s attorneys say Depp physically and sexually abused her and that Depp’s denials lack merit because he was often drunk and high to the point of blacking out.
Earlier Tuesday, jurors heard testimony from Tara Roberts, who managed Depp’s private island in the Bahamas. She testified that she never saw Heard with any kind of bruises. Her testimony also provided another window into some of the extravagances of Depp’s lifestyle.
She said she was paid $120,000 to manage the island, where Depp tooled around on a John Deere utility vehicle. The island had a four-person staff, including Roberts, though Depp was only there a few times a year. One section of shoreline on the island was dubbed Brando Beach, for the actor with whom Depp had collaborated in the past.
Roberts also testified about an incident that occurred when Depp and his family had a final excursion on a yacht before it was to be sold to author J.K. Rowling. On cross-examination, Roberts acknowledged that Depp passed out face-first in the sand, and that she arranged for a helicopter to take some passengers away after the yacht trip turned unpleasant.
Earlier testimony has centered on activities that occurred in the five penthouses Depp owned atop the Eastern Columbia Building in Los Angeles.
The final witness Tuesday, Los Angeles police officer Melissa Saenz, testified about her visit to the building in May 2016, just days before Heard filed for divorce and showed up at a courthouse to seek a restraining order with a large mark on her face that she says came from a fight with Depp that night.
The officer, testifying through a recorded deposition, said she saw that Heard had been crying but saw no evidence of an injury — Depp’s lawyers say Saenz’s testimony is evidence that Heard faked her injury to damage Depp’s reputation.
Saenz could not recall many details of her interactions with Heard that night, but she did “remember being impressed by the penthouse, how big and beautiful it was.”
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/virginia-fairfax-psychologist-hired-by-johnny-depp-testifies-about-amber-heards-health/65-c701ec70-1acd-453b-9cff-dce2be8c47d8
| 2022-04-28T02:48:21
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People of Japanese descent are gearing up for their first-ever parade in New York City, taking their place among the lineup of groups that celebrate their heritage with marches through the United States' most populous city.
Set for May 14, the Japan Day parade comes amid activism following a wave of anti-Asian attacks during the coronavirus pandemic, and solidarity is part of the parade's message. But planning began well before the emergence of COVID-19.
Organizers initially aimed to coincide with the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, but the virus postponed their plans.
“That creates big momentum to make it better, to celebrate the recovery from the pandemic, as well as appreciation from the Japanese community to the city of New York," Ambassador Mikio Mori, the Japanese consul general in New York, said at a press preview Wednesday.
The parade stands to boost visibility for the New York metropolitan area’s Japanese and Japanese American community. At roughly 56,000, the New York area has the nation's fourth-largest Japanese population, behind those of Honolulu, Los Angeles and San Francisco, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data.
There has been a Japan Day festival in Central Park for some years, but organizers felt they could reach more people by bringing it onto the streets.
Counting more than 1,700 participants, the parade of dance troupes, music ensembles, martial arts groups and more is set to proceed along Manhattan's Central Park West, a boulevard also used in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Actor, author and activist George Takei will be the grand marshal.
News
Tak Furumoto, for one, is looking forward to it all.
Born in a California camp where people of Japanese descent were incarcerated during World War II, Furumoto grew up partly in Hiroshima — where his grandparents had survived the United States' atom bomb in 1945 — and partly in Los Angeles. He joined the U.S. Army, fought in Vietnam and dealt for years with post-traumatic stress disorder and the effects of exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange, he said.
“We have overcome so many difficulties … to bridge the gap between Japan and the United States," said Furumoto, who now runs a real estate agency. The parade “brings out that us Asian Americans are a very vital and important part of New York.”
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nycs-first-ever-japanese-heritage-parade-set-for-may-14/3667061/
| 2022-04-28T03:05:33
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nycs-first-ever-japanese-heritage-parade-set-for-may-14/3667061/
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DALLAS — More food trucks, trailers and maybe other forms of transportation could be coming to Dallas soon as the City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to ease restrictions on the services.
The new ordinance cuts fees for entering the mobile food service industry, allows for additional types of food-service vehicles, expands food preparation options and requires less frequent visits from the Code Compliance Department.
“Dallas is a great food city. But for too long, the city government has been far too restrictive to mobile food operators," Mayor Eric Johnson said in a statement. "I am grateful to Chairman [Adam] Bazaldua and to the members of the Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture Committee for crafting more sensible regulations that encourage entrepreneurs without sacrificing food safety. Together, we are working to make Dallas more vibrant and more fun.”
Johnson made the reforms a top priority for the committee, hoping the number of mobile food units across Dallas, the city said.
City staff are also exploring a possible pilot program to create “Food Truck Zones” in city parks and greenspaces.
Bazaldua said he was thrilled about the new ordinance in a written statement.
“These changes will bring equity and opportunity for small businesses and to communities who have been left out of the changes in the traditional hospitality industry business model,” he said.
Efforts to first revise Chapter 17 of the Dallas City Code, the “Food Establishments” chapter, were first named a priority by Johnson in November last year, with city staff working with the Better Block Mobile Food Vending Task Force and other groups to recommend ordinance changes.
The Quality of Life, Arts and Culture Committee will review the ordinance changes in one year.
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https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/dallas-hoping-bring-more-food-trucks/287-2389b570-ffdd-48b9-bcd2-d7f60ae25b50
| 2022-04-28T03:06:11
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FORT WORTH, Texas — A video involving a Fort Worth ISD student using “racially insensitive” language has been circulating online, and the district now says an investigation is underway.
The incident reportedly happened at Paschal High School located in the 3000 block of Forest Park Boulevard in Fort Worth.
According to a letter Fort Worth ISD sent to parents, the video was recorded in a Paschal High School classroom, and a student can be heard using profane, derogatory and racially insensitive language in connection to a classroom assignment.
In the letter, the district said, “This was inexcusable. The language used in the video is neither acceptable nor representative of Paschal High School or any other school in the Fort Worth ISD.”
The district also said staff at Paschal High School along with the administration was taking the incident seriously, and that the appropriate action will be taken after the investigation is over.
The district ended the letter to parents by saying it was “committed to preserving an environment where all students feel respected and safe.”
As the news began to circulate throughout Tuesday, members of an organization called Ministers of Justice Coalition of Texas and the Pastors for Progress announced they would hold a news conference Thursday to denounce the remarks made in the video. They plan to call for a federal investigation into the matter.
WFAA has obtained what is believed to be the video but haven’t authenticated it at this time. This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is released.
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https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/fort-worth-isd-on-paschal-high-school-video-showing-student-using-racists-words/287-cf45cb7d-ed5a-45b1-bd79-b01310bf3dc0
| 2022-04-28T03:06:17
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DALLAS — Trevor Reed is free and returning to the U.S. after a prisoner exchange was made with Russia early Wednesday, and politicians are rejoicing at the news.
President Joe Biden released a statement Wednesday morning saying the U.S. welcomes Reed, a Granbury resident, home and that he was delighted to share the good news of his freedom with his family.
“The negotiations that allowed us to bring Trevor home required difficult decisions that I do not take lightly,” Biden said in a statement. “His safe return is a testament to the priority my Administration places on bringing home Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained abroad. We won’t stop until Paul Whelan and others join Trevor in the loving arms of family and friends."
Sen. Ted Cruz released a statement earlier saying he was relieved Reed has been freed from his wrongful detention by Russia.
“This Marine will now be reunited with his family and get the medical treatment that he needs,” Cruz said. “Ambassador John Sullivan should be commended for the invaluable work he did in freeing Trevor. It is imperative that Russia release the other Americans who they continue to wrongfully detain.”
Sen. John Cornyn celebrated the release of Reed as well, writing in a statement that Reed had survived a real-life nightmare, being held in a Russian prison for almost 1,000 days with little access to healthcare or contact with his family.
“I’m beyond relieved Trevor will return home to his family in Texas, who were relentless in the fight to secure his release and never gave up hope,” Cornyn wrote.
Gov. Greg Abbott sent a Tweet Wednesday morning welcoming Reed back home.
Congressman August Pfluger, who represents the district Reed is from, released a statement as well, writing that he can’t imagine the relief Reed’s family is feeling.
“The Reeds have been living a two-and-a-half-year nightmare fighting for their son’s release,” Pfluger said. “Today, our prayers have been answered. I look forward to welcoming Trevor safely home.”
Rep. Colin Allred wrote in a Tweet Wednesday morning that what Reed endured is harrowing and said his release was welcome news for his family and all who helped bring him home.
Rep. Joaquin Castro wrote in a Tweet he was relieved to see Reed finally coming home to his family after three years of being wrongfully detained.
Reed, a Marine veteran, was arrested in the summer of 2019 after Russian authorities said he assaulted an officer while being driven by police to a police station following a night of heavy drinking. He was sentenced to nine years in prison, though his family has maintained his innocence and the U.S. government has described him as unjustly detained.
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https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/politicians-rejoice-trevor-reeds-freedom-russian-imprisonment/287-bc22da1f-b39d-44dc-bf89-0d5067270106
| 2022-04-28T03:06:23
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FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. (WBBH) – A woman walking along a Fort Myers Beach sidewalk was hurt after a man riding an e-bike hit her from behind.
Lois Jenkins, 74, was walking along San Carlos Boulevard on Fort Myers Beach near the foot of the Matanzas Pass Bridge when she was hit by an electric-powered bike.
It’s a first for the walker that’s been hitting the concrete early in the morning for years.
“It’s great exercise,” Jenkins said.
She makes her way from her home on San Carlos Island, across the bridge, and onto Fort Myers Beach.
“That was my physical therapy recommendation so that worked out perfect,” she said.
This past Sunday was no exception. Lois set out, step after step.
“I was walking a normal pace, for a 74-year-old.”
It was on her way back through when someone brought that pace to a halt.
“I didn’t hear him. I didn’t see him,” she said, speaking of the biker.
A man on an e-bike whizzed passed her.
“The guy just passed me and I could feel my arm go up,” Jenkins said. “And about that then time I stumbled and I fell. It was instant. It was just an instant, it was so sudden that when I first fell and straightened myself up a little bit, I thought ‘What the heck?’”
The biker was long gone, leaving Lois on the ground bleeding from her face.
“My face met it, the concrete and that was the result.”
The biker should’ve never been on the sidewalk in the first place. It’s against the law on Fort Myers Beach. Just last month, town leaders made it illegal to ride any motorized machine on sidewalks, all in an attempt to prevent this.
“It’s exactly the reason,” said Bill Veach, Fort Myers Beach Councilman. “When they take their e-bike and move it onto the sidewalk, they are sacrificing someone else’s safety for theirs.”
There are bike lanes all over the island. The sidewalks, however, are for pedestrians and machines humans can power on their own, like a pedal bike.
But even so, at the Matanzas Pass Bridge, bikers are supposed to hop off and walk. The man that hit Lois didn’t stop to help her or to walk.
“I don’t understand why they feel the need to use the sidewalk where pedestrians are,” Jenkins said.
Despite the accident, a trip to the hospital, and a couple of days recovering, when the sun rises on Thursday, Lois will spend her morning crossing the back bay, back on her walks.
“I’ll go back. I’ll just be a little more cautious about looking over my shoulder to see who’s coming up behind me.”
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https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2022/04/27/man-on-e-bike-hits-woman-walking-on-fort-myers-beach-sidewalk/
| 2022-04-28T03:09:45
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Police on Wednesday identified a bicyclist they say pushed a woman to the ground and sexually attacked her on Pier 40 on the Hudson River Greenway jogging path in Lower Manhattan in March.
The 39-year-old woman was jogging north on the Hudson Square path near Clarkson and West streets around 6:15 a.m. on March 27 when cops say the bicyclist, identified by police as Carl Phanor, rode up to her.
He started choking the woman after shoving her to the ground, then sexually assaulted her before grabbing her cellphone and riding off.
The woman was taken to a hospital for evaluation. She suffered bruises and injuries.
The violent incident had many in the neighborhood, particularly women, worried as many locals frequent Hudson River Park. That includes Sara Lipson, a local who goes to the park for her daily workout.
"It's very unfortunate," she said, calling for a greater police presence "on the street and where people exercise at odd hours."
Meanwhile, Jim Brown, another local, said that one can't ever assume a "place is a safe place just because it's open and well-lit."
Local
Police released surveillance footage of the suspect, and additional images of Phanor on Tuesday. The video shows the suspect riding his bike around West Street and Charles Lane just moments before the attack on the woman.
Police described the 28-year-old Phanor as about 5'5, about 130 pounds with black hair. Anyone with information in regard to the whereabouts of Phanor is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/police-id-bicyclist-accused-of-choking-jogger-during-sex-attack-on-pier-40-path/3667098/
| 2022-04-28T03:57:36
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/police-id-bicyclist-accused-of-choking-jogger-during-sex-attack-on-pier-40-path/3667098/
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PORTLAND, Ore. — A Portland nonprofit is focused on getting people off the streets and into full-time jobs.
Community Volunteer Corps, which is part of Central City Concern, works with people who are in recovery or struggling with homelessness through volunteer work and manual labor.
“They help build us up and make us feel important and special,” said Haley Scott who has been with the program for about four months.
Scott was one of about a dozen people clearing out drainage at Joseph Wood Hill Park Wednesday.
Those running the program said it teaches them to work with others, follow directions and time management.
“We have like a very low barrier experience where people can come volunteer know that they can show up consistently, so when it comes time to getting a job, they can feel good about it,” said Jonathan Wall, who runs Community Volunteer Corps.
Wall graduated from the program in 2015.
“It feels amazing, you know, and it's one of the stories I like to tell people when they’re going through the program — that if I was where you’re at, if I can do it, so can you,” he said.
“It’s an opportunity to learn how to live life in recovery before having to involve work,” added Scott, who dreams of becoming a flight attendant after she graduates the program.
“I want to build a really firm foundation in my recovery that I can then translate into my working life.”
Ronald Brown was also volunteering at the park. He has been living on the streets for four years.
“I was very depressed, so I think what the value of this program is it gets people out,” he said.
“I got here, and I was hopeless, you know, I was hopeless drug addict and this program gave me some hope,” said Fa’koko Ralph Ta’ase.
The program is currently helping nearly 100 people. In the past 13 years, they’ve volunteered more than 170,000 hours and nearly 2,000 people have graduated.
“We’ve had people go through our program that are now portfolio managers, we’ve had doctors go through, nurses, accountants. This is a steppingstone for people. This might be the beginning, but it is definitely not the end,” said Wall.
“I have a better chance at a successful life and I’m so excited for that,” said Scott.
The program relies on community donations. The Community Volunteer Corps said it’s the only way they can continue to help people get off the streets and into full-time jobs. If people would like to donate, they can contribute to Central City Concern here.
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/homeless/community-volunteer-corps-homeless-jobs/283-4a8b39df-c952-4c49-a42f-be81e9d19ce1
| 2022-04-28T04:32:19
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/homeless/community-volunteer-corps-homeless-jobs/283-4a8b39df-c952-4c49-a42f-be81e9d19ce1
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Paper or plastic? Starting May 4 in New Jersey, the answer to that question will be neither.
That's because the state's plastic bag ban starts next that day, and it goes beyond those single-use plastic bags at the grocery checkout.
All grocery stores over 2,500 square feet will be banned from giving out both the plastic and paper bags that have been staples at checkouts for decades. Styrofoam containers, like the ones used for take-out food, will also be banned as the nation's strictest plastics laws go into effect.
The ban applies to stores and restaurants, not consumers, who will still be able to buy plastic baggies, garbage bags and the like.
Clean Ocean Action has been fighting for decades to ban the plastics that, lightweight as they are, amount to millions of pounds of trash every year, winding up in oceans and landfills without breaking down.
Stew Leonards' stores, like the one in Paramus, have been using environmentally friendly paper bags for thirty years, but next week, those too will be no more.
"You can still use it for meats, produce. I think it's a great way to take care of the environment, so New Jersey is trying to lead the charge on this and other states will follow soon," said the store's manager, Dane Morris.
The store has spent months prepping its shoppers for the change, offering half price reusable bags for the weeks leading up to and following the switch.
"We tell everyone because you don't want them to be unprepared next week — pack the stuff in the cart and take it out to their car," said cashier Vinny Serra. "We all tell them when the ban starts, got the sign right here, sign outside the store."
It will certainly take some getting used to, but when shoppers go inside after next week, be prepared to BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag, that is) because the cashier won’t have a bag to put groceries into.
Those who wish to continue using their own paper or plastic bags can do so if they bring them on their own, but the grocery stores themselves will not be able to provide them any longer.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nj-plastic-bag-ban-what-to-know-when-it-begins-and-what-stores-are-impacted/3667140/
| 2022-04-28T05:33:27
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nj-plastic-bag-ban-what-to-know-when-it-begins-and-what-stores-are-impacted/3667140/
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There might be a rude awakening coming for nearly a million New York City renters, with a proposed rent hike meant to make up for lots of lost time — and money.
The city says about 966,000 apartments throughout the five boroughs are rent-stabilized, meaning the amount that leases for those units can go up follows recommendations by the Rent Guidelines Board.
The board has suggested raising prices this year by just under 3 percent up to 4.5 percent on one year leases. For two-year leases, it could increase 4 to 9 percent.
The Rent Stabilization Association, which represents building owners and agents, is asking for 4.5 percent to 6.5 percent increases, according to the groups Vice President of Communication, Vito Signorile.
"They’re still dealing with the fact that rents weren’t paid during the pandemic and all their operating expenses went up. There was no moratorium on property taxes, water bills, heating bills," Signorile said.
The RSA said that while while and other costs have gone up, rent guidelines have not.
"Over an eight year period, the average one-year guideline was less than one percent, and that’s just insufficient to maintain the buildings," Signorile said.
For eight years now, Rockwell Reid has lived in a rent-stabilized two-bedroom apartment in the Financial District of Manhattan with his wife and daughter. His rent has slowly gone up about one or two percent a year — but that could change dramatically when his lease expires in July.
"I think tenants have to expect an increase sort of across the board, but I think four-to-six percent is pretty steep," Reid said. "Are residents who are working getting that same percentage increase in their salary?"
Shaylah Reyes is worried about living with her 3-year-old son, Zaire, in her rent-stabilized apartment in the Bronx.
"I just don’t think it’s right because it’s already hard enough as is, so making it harder — making it ten times harder — for people who already live from check to check, it’s just gonna have more homeless people on the street," Reyes said.
The Rent Guidelines Board will take a preliminary vote on May 5th. With public hearings and a final vote expected at the end of June.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/proposed-rent-hikes-in-nyc-heres-how-much-some-may-soon-be-paying/3667411/
| 2022-04-28T05:33:33
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/proposed-rent-hikes-in-nyc-heres-how-much-some-may-soon-be-paying/3667411/
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CARMICHAEL, Calif. — One person is dead after a home caught fire in Carmichael.
The fire happened along Rampart Drive. Firefighters with the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District responded just before 9 p.m. to douse the heavy smoke and flames coming from the back of the house, said Captain Park Wilbourn. The blaze was ultimately contained to the home.
"There was a large portion of the home that was involved in the fire, there’s a major amount of damage to the home itself," Wilbourn said.
However, Wilbourn said one person was found dead inside the home. No other injuries were reported. Wilbourn said there were some other people inside the home who were able to make it out.
No additional information on the victim is available at this time.
Investigators are still trying to learn how the fire started and where it originated.
WATCH ALSO:
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/fair-oaks-carmichael/1-person-dead-carmichael-fire/103-8183ae52-4fd6-4033-8fbd-5de0365ad7ec
| 2022-04-28T05:59:25
| 1
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/fair-oaks-carmichael/1-person-dead-carmichael-fire/103-8183ae52-4fd6-4033-8fbd-5de0365ad7ec
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SACRAMENTO, Calif — The labor union representing more than 3,500 Sacramento County employees is threatening to strike if it cannot reach an agreement with the county on a new contract.
The United Public Employees (UPE) represents court staff, social workers and many other local government employees carrying out essential functions throughout the pandemic.
Dozens of members gave emotional statements at the Wednesday meeting of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors about their COVID experiences.
Ted Somera, the executive director of the union, said it would mark the first time the UPE has declared a strike in more than a decade, but employees have reached a breaking point over stagnant wages in the face of inflation and pandemic working conditions.
"If you’re not going to value them at work and then come back when contract negotiations are open and not compensate them for a livable wage, it’s insulting," Somera said.
County supervisor Phil Serna said the board couldn't get into a detailed conversation about the subject matter or make any decisions based on off-agenda comments, but thanked the members for coming.
"I do want to thank everyone that spoke and everyone that took time to join us in chambers for holding us accountable tonight," Serna said.
The meeting comes weeks after the Sacramento City Teachers Association strike brought instruction to a halt. Teachers and associated staff raised many of the same COVID and pay-related grievances.
"You want us to take our lives and put them at risk, my family’s life and put it at risk, and yet, you don’t want to pay me to do it," said UPE member Keisha Brann.
WATCH ALSO:
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/sacramento-county-employees-threaten-strike-over-better-pay-working-conditions/103-92eb7912-1904-45a8-939f-4b5f74a77c71
| 2022-04-28T05:59:31
| 1
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/sacramento-county-employees-threaten-strike-over-better-pay-working-conditions/103-92eb7912-1904-45a8-939f-4b5f74a77c71
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STOCKTON, Calif. — The family of a nine-year-old boy hurt in a Stockton shooting says he's back at home.
Amonte Ware was shot multiple times back on March 26. He was one of three victims in triple shooting that happened in broad daylight. He was flown to UC Davis Medical Center where he had surgery on his jaw, family members told ABC10 in March.
The suspects were identified as 21-year-old Jose Trujillo-Pacheco and 23-year-old Rodolfo Vital.
Amonte's mother, Kimberly Ware told ABC10 that her son is back home. She shared photos with ABC10 of Amonte after he was released from the hospital.
RELATED:
WATCH ALSO:
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/stockton/9-year-old-amonte-ware-back-home-south-stockton-shooting/103-0cc03ca3-7049-44aa-89ac-8c320bcada89
| 2022-04-28T05:59:37
| 0
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https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/stockton/9-year-old-amonte-ware-back-home-south-stockton-shooting/103-0cc03ca3-7049-44aa-89ac-8c320bcada89
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New York University is telling Swifties: You need to calm down.
It's shaping up to be the hottest ticket in town — not a concert, Broadway show, or sporting event, but rather NYU's graduation ceremony.
The reason has a little something to do with this year's commencement speaker: Taylor Swift. Her die-hard superfans are haggling students for tickets to the event, and offering big bucks — but the school has said there will be consequences for students tempted to become scalpers.
"A lot of my friends being reached out to, yeah everyone wants those tickets," said Brian Rios, a graduating senior from Harlem.
NYU bans students from selling or auctioning off their commencement tickets, as every student gets just two to the event at Yankee Stadium. The punishment for trying to make some fast cash by selling off those coveted items: their diploma could be put in jeopardy.
The school's website warns: “Students will be subject to disciplinary sanctions – including without limitation the delayed issuance of a degree or diploma.”
While Rios said it "would be nice if she could throw in a song" during the commencement, an NYU spokesperson shot down any chance of that happening.
News
"Folks should know that Ms. Swift — whom we are very honored to have as one of our honorary degree recipients this year — will be speaking, not giving a performance," spokesperson John Beckman said.
NYU says it’s typical for students to exchange tickets amongst themselves if one student doesn’t plan on going and another students wants to invite more guests. But the university spokesperson said what’s abnormal about this year is the demand from non-NYU people trying to get students to sell them a ticket — and the payers are willing to pay, pay, pay, pay, pay.
"I think people really love Taylor Swift and would do anything to have an unique opportunity to hear her speak on a different platform besides a concert," said NYU Stern grad Jamie Herschman, a Swift fan who isn't selling her tickets — but rather is giving them away.
"Two of my best friends, it's too much for my parents to come in twice and so they’re big Taylor Swift fans too, they get to come with me," she said.
For Rios, there’s no money in the world anyone can offer because he’s inviting his biggest fans.
"My mom and dad. I wanted to invite the whole family, we only get two tickets, at least I get to bring them," he said.
The NYU graduation ceremony will be held May 18th, where the 11-time Grammy winner will deliver the commencement speech and receive an honorary degree.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/taylor-swift-fans-offer-nyu-students-big-bucks-for-tickets-to-see-commencement-speech/3667455/
| 2022-04-28T07:39:17
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/taylor-swift-fans-offer-nyu-students-big-bucks-for-tickets-to-see-commencement-speech/3667455/
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NAPLES, Fla. – Deputies swarmed an area of Santa Barbara Blvd near Westport Lane in Collier County overnight Wednesday.
Deputies along with crime scene investigators with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office were seen lining the side of the road around 11 p.m., according to witnesses.
NBC2 is working to confirm details on the scene.
No further information was immediately available.
This is a developing story.
Count on NBC2 to bring you the latest details as they are released.
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https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2022/04/28/deputies-swarm-area-of-santa-barbra-blvd-in-collier-county/
| 2022-04-28T09:14:58
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https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2022/04/28/deputies-swarm-area-of-santa-barbra-blvd-in-collier-county/
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Greenville plans $5.5 million for Unity Park observation tower to fast-track funding
Greenville City Council is poised to spend $5.5 million of tourism money on the Unity Park Honor Tower following several months of uncertainty about how the city would pay its portion of the project.
The funding for the tower is earmarked in the city's next fiscal-year budget, along with funding for an underpass under Verdae Boulevard for the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail extension.
The city's budget is set to be adopted in June.
Unity Park is to open May 19 and has a total budget of roughly $66 million so far, with $60 million in public money and $5.4 million in private donations for the first phase.
Plans for Unity Park's 125-foot observation tower include an elevator, a spiral staircase and a surrounding plaza honoring first-responders. The tower is part of the park's second phase.
The city's proposed allocation marks a departure from City Council's standard practice when it comes to paying for Unity Park. The earmark fast-tracks funds for the tower and makes park spending subject to less scrutiny. Councilmembers typically allocate money for the park on a case-by-case basis, and they are expected to collectively prioritize projects that are competing for the city's tourism-related funding.
Earmarking the tower in the budget prompted calls of concern yet again from councilmember at-large Dorothy Dowe, who has been outspoken about the city's spending on the park.
"I just think we've been very good in terms of transparency on both of those projects, and if we now are rolling them into the annual budget, that's a change in direction, in my opinion," Dowe said this week at a budget workshop.
Greenville to commit $5.5 million to match private donations for tower
When completed, the Honor Tower would boast views of the downtown skyline, the mountains to the north and the entirety of Unity Park.
Officials say the tower will be the focal point of the park, which will have 60 acres of green space, a visitor's center, playgrounds and pedestrian bridges.
The city has planned to split costs with private donors to build the seven-story tower, estimating latest construction costs around $11 million.
The city's share of that — $5.5 million — would come from hospitality and accommodations taxes that the city collects on food and lodging, according to the latest budget talks.
Hospitality taxes pay for many of the city's big tourism projects, in accordance with state law. They can also be used to pay for smaller projects like upgrades to the Greenville Zoo and greenways and trails.
City Council typically deliberates together on how to spend that money.
City Manager John McDonough said the tower and underpass were earmarked in the budget because council made it clear those two projects were priorities.
"We have to have an appropriation for both of those projects. We're in appropriation time right now," McDonough said this week. "It's a priority for council, so the money has been included, at least conceptually at this point, for both of those projects."
McDonough and Mayor Knox White said they are confident the Hughes Agency, which is tasked with private fundraising for the park, will deliver on that fundraising for the tower by the time the agency's contract is up in November.
"I'm close enough to that to say the level of confidence in being able to raise one half is very strong," White said. "The park commitments already in hand and the rest look very, very good. I would feel differently if I didn't believe that."
Majority of Greenville City Council members support the tower
The majority of city councilmembers have supported using the city's tourism money for the tower.
Councilmember Ken Gibson, who represents District 3, said the tower has the potential to be a iconic landmark for Greenville.
"If it's done, and it's done right, it'll be something that people will take pictures of, and it will be synonymous with Greenville throughout the world," he said.
However, "I remain cognizant of the fact that the tower is coming in at $11 million, and that is substantially more than we expected," Gibson added.
Councilmembers John DeWorken, Wil Brasington and Lillian Brock Flemming have said they support building the tower, too. Councilmember at-large Russell Stall was not available for comment Tuesday.
White said the tower conforms to private fundraising goals and original plans adopted by City Council.
Dowe said she just doesn't support rolling it into the budget at this time.
"I'd rather keep Unity Park funding transparent as we have all along and have allocations done on it on a case-by-case basis," she said Monday.
Macon Atkinson is the city watchdog reporter for The Greenville News. She's powered by long runs and strong coffee. Follow her on Twitter @maconatkinson.
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https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/greenville/downtown/2022/04/28/unity-park-observation-honor-tower-plans-millions-funding-greenville-sc-views-first-responders/9538076002/
| 2022-04-28T10:58:06
| 0
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https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/greenville/downtown/2022/04/28/unity-park-observation-honor-tower-plans-millions-funding-greenville-sc-views-first-responders/9538076002/
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