Deputies in Rowan County, North Carolina, said an 11-year-old is facing felony charges after they investigated two separate cases where parents reported finding needles or pins in their children's Halloween candy.
There was another pin found in a different piece of candy, too, Howard Peacock Jr. told officers. Peacock said he took his children trick-or-treating in the Grace Ridge subdivision.
Peacock said he has not heard from the family of the suspect, but he said he understands because they must be going through a difficult time.
WSOC-TV spoke with some local families who said they had more than 100 children come to their doors Halloween night. Many said they threw out their Halloween candy.
"I just hope they catch whoever did it. That's the first thing. Somebody needs to be made an example of. This is bad," father Jeff Miller said.
"It's really terrifying. He's 9 and he was going through the candy before I got a chance to check it, and what if he bit right in and a needle went through his mouth?" mother Tara Casper said.
Deputies said they identified a suspect over the weekend. They said the investigation indicated the 11-year-old inserted the metal objects into the candy through the wrappers with the intent of it being passed out to trick-or-treaters.
Amazon is offering free shipping on all orders this holiday season for U.S. customers beginning Nov. 5.
CNN reported Monday that the company is offering free shipping for a limited time only in an attempt to add Prime members and pump up sales.
"With free shipping, your order will be delivered five to eight business days after all your items are available to ship, including pre-order items," according to Amazon's website.
Anticipating a 15 percent increase in online orders this year, several retailers have updated shipping standards for the season, including Target’s free two-day shipping on any orders regardless of price. Target is among many retailers picking up advance shipping services, a deal made famous when Amazon began offering it for Prime members.
Kettering-based Marxent has developed virtual reality to help Macy’s customers visualize furniture within their homes. Beck Besecker, founder and CEO of Marxent, said a growing number of apps are also allowing shoppers to visualize products without ever having to step out the door.
Virtual reality is also being used to teach store workers how to handle crowds during the holiday. The technology, used at 198 Walmart training academies, including in West Chester Township, has helped Walmart develop new strategies to make holiday shopping more efficient.
Amazon’s voice technology gives consumers the ability to purchase their items by simply asking an Alexa-enabled device to purchase an item, and Amazon will take care of the rest.
Consumers who choose to brave the crowds at stores this holiday season can also expect a quicker trip, with new mobile checkout technology debuting in both Walmart and Target.
The mobile payment options are expected to keep customers from waiting in long checkout lines, with Walmart’s Check Out With Me and Target’s Skip-the-Line giving shoppers a chance to check out with store employees strategically placed in the busiest parts of stores throughout the holiday season.
“One of the things that we’ve seen over the course of the past few years is that customers are really wanting to get in and get out pretty quickly,” said Tim Mahan, the western Ohio e-commerce manager.
Model and television personality Heidi Klum dressed as Princess Fiona from “Shrek” at her 19th annual Halloween party Oct. 31, 2018, in New York.
Walmart’s new mobile checkout technology may keep you from waiting in long lines this holiday season.
Check Out With Me will launch Thursday at stores across the nation, giving shoppers a chance to skip long checkout lines and opt for mobile checkout assisted by associates in the busiest parts of stores.
“Every day we’re committed to providing customers with the broadest assortment of quality products at great prices, but, during the holidays, we take that promise up a notch,” said Steve Bratspies, chief merchandising officer for Walmart U.S.
The retailer is also launching store maps on Walmart’s app to help shoppers find gifts and other holiday purchases more easily.
And for customers who don’t want to leave their home at all, Walmart has added new editorial and curated content to its website to refresh new deals regularly.
“With new convenient ways to buy, we’ve never been in a better position to help our customers deliver for their families than this holiday season,” Bratspies said.
The search engine site, which sometimes uses its homepage to observe special occasions, is giving a special nod to the spooky holiday with an interactive, multiplayer game.
The game is called “The Great Ghoul Duel,” where players compete as two teams of four. Each group must collect the spirit flames that are scattered around the map and return them to their homes before the moon is gone. But of course there are some obstacles along the way as players can steal flames from their opponents.
Those who snatch up the most spirit flames will unlock special powers like speed boosts, night vision, magnetism and more. Each match lasts only about two minutes. You can play with family and friends by sending an invitation link or can compete against randomized players across the globe.
Google announced it’s the company’s first-ever multiplayer interactive game doodle powered by Google Cloud. Give it a try now, and learn more about the fun here.
﻿Update 12:30 p.m. EDT Oct. 24: Megyn Kelly issued a public apology on her show “Megyn Kelly Today” Wednesday morning after being criticized for her comments in which she questioned people taking issue with blackface.
“I want to begin with two words: I'm sorry,” Kelly said, going on to reference her defense of blackface on her show Tuesday.
“The country feels so divided and I have no wish to add to that pain and offense. I believe this is a time for more understanding, more love, more sensitivity and honor.”
“This is a history going back to the 1830s -- minstrel shows -- to demean and denigrate a race wasn’t right,” Al Roker said. ““I’m old enough to have lived through ‘Amos ‘n’ Andy,’ where you had white people in blackface playing two black characters just magnifying the worst stereotypes about black people. And that’s what the big problem is and that’s what the issue is.”
Co-host Craig Melvin responded to claims by some that criticism of blackface is “political correctness run amok.”
“That’s silly, and it’s disingenuous, and it’s just as ignorant and racist as the statement itself,” Melvin said.
Megyn Kelly made headlines Tuesday for comments she made on her NBC show “Megyn Kelly Today” about wearing blackface for Halloween.
During a panel discussion on her show, the journalist discussed costumes for the holiday, specifically highlighting the controversy around blackface.
“What is racist? Because you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface on Halloween, or a black person that puts on whiteface for Halloween,” she said. “And back when I was a kid, that was OK, as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character.”
Blackface’s origins can be traced to minstrel shows from the 19th century, where white actors used black grease paint on their faces to depict and mock plantation slaves and free blacks on stage. In recent years, the issue has resurfaced and made headlines in cases where white people − from college students to celebrities − have emulated black actors, singers and athletes by using makeup to appear darker.
During Kelly’s panel discussion Tuesday, she brought up one such instance of that, referencing a scene from “The Real Housewives of New York,” where one of the white castmates, Luann de Lesseps, dressed up as Diana Ross by applying darker make-up and sporting an afro wig.
“There was a controversy on 'The Real Housewives of New York' with Luann (de Lesseps). She dressed as Diana Ross, and she made her skin look darker than it really is. And people said that that was racist. And I don’t know,” she continued. “I thought like, who doesn’t love Diana Ross? She wants to look like Diana Ross for one day, and I don’t know how that got racist on Halloween.”
Soon after the segment aired, folks on social media sent a barrage of tweets condemning her. Many disagreed with her remarks about blackface being OK when they were children.
And a few attempted to school her on the history of blackface and how to portray African-American figures without darkening their skin.
Amid the backlash, Kelly issued an apology by sending an internal email to her colleagues and friends.
“One of the wonderful things about my job is that I get the chance to express and hear a lot of opinions. Today is one of those days where listening carefully to other points of view, including from friends and colleagues, is leading me to rethink my own views,” she wrote. “I realize now that such behavior is indeed wrong, and I am sorry. The history of blackface in our culture is abhorrent; the wounds too deep.”