Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Florida hospital worker accused of licking patient’s toes says he’s innocent

A 23-year-old man from of Lehigh Acres, Florida was arrested after reportedly licking a patient’s toes while working at a hospital. Jail records show the man was charged with battery on a person 65 years of age or older in Lee County. He says he didn’t do it claiming a mishap with his phone led to a misunderstanding. He said he dropped his phone under the patient’s bed and ended up touching the patient while trying to get it. “It’s a dark room with a dark male at the foot of her bed. Don’t know what she’s like … But I’m not trying to do that with you,” he said. The patient has accused the man of licking three times, the police report said. “It felt wet in between my toes,” according to the patient. The man said the incident has cost him his job and he hopes to clear his reputation before his life is ruined. “I know there’s other opportunities, but there won’t be if I get hit with this felony,” he said. A hospital spokesperson said it’s cooperating with law enforcement. The man was released from jail on a $1,500 bond. (USA Today)

Subscription Service For Coffee

Panera Bread has launched a subscription program in which customers can have as much coffee and tea as they like for $8.99 a month. Loyalty programs are seen as an easy means of luring in customers and changing their breakfast habits with Burger King recently launching a similar one for $5 per month. The move also creates loyalty toward a brand subscribing customers’ monthly visits went up from four to 10 in test markets, according to Panera CEO Niren Chaudhary. (CNBC)

Opting for RVs in face of high rents

Rising home prices in regions across the Western U.S. are increasingly driving people to come up with housing alternatives, such as living in RVs. In Los Angeles, 16,500 people called a vehicle home in 2019. In San Francisco that figure was 1,800, up 45% from 2017. San Francisco is often considered the epicenter of the nation’s homeless problem, where median housing prices have nearly doubled in the past eight years. According to recent estimates, there are roughly half a million homeless people in the U.S. (The Wall Street Journal)

Sign-spinner who makes $25 a day finds envelope stuffed with $20,000

A sign spinner working in Port St. Lucie, Florida, found an envelope stuffed with $20,000, and rather than keeping it, he turned it into a passing police officer. The 21-year-old man found the envelope filled with muddy $100 bills and placed it in a clean plastic bag before turning it in to police. The man who lost the cash and reported it to the police received his money back. And he (who makes about $25 a day as a sign spinner on street corners) was given a new bicycle by a person who works with the local sheriff’s office. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office Facebook)

Corona beer sales taking hit because of coronavirus outbreak

As the fears of the coronavirus continue to spread, a beer with a now-unfortunate name is feeling the effects of the outbreaks. Corona beer sales are down because of fears over the name’s similarity to the deadly virus. A recent survey of American beer drinkers found that 38% of those asked will not buy Corona beer and 16% are confused if Corona beer is related to the coronavirus. The company that conducted the survey, also found that 14% of those who would normally buy Corona, won’t do it in public. Constellation Brands, which own Corona Extra in the U.S. among other brands, has taken a 6% hit in the stock market as the entire financial system falls because of coronavirus fears. But the company’s spokeswoman said the survey is misinformation and that sales are still strong. The company said that its customers “understand there is no link between the virus and our business”. The company is doubling down on that belief and is going to go through with the launch of a new product, a Corona-branded hard seltzer that some say is “ill-timed”. The ad campaign says “Coming ashore soon.” But Corona is not the only beer that is apparently not selling. Anheuser-Busch InBev has said it’s going to be down about 10% for the first-quarter profit because of coronavirus. Because people are not going out in countries hit hard by the virus, beer is not selling. More Budweiser is sold in China than in the United States. (CNN)

Ex-Baltimore mayor sentenced for book sales scheme

A federal judge has sentenced former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh to three years in prison on charges related to a children’s book scandal. She took the mayor’s post in 2016 but resigned last year after federal authorities accused her of fraudulently selling her self-published “Healthy Holly” children’s books. The 69-year-old woman sold the books in large quantities to nonprofit organizations affiliated with the city of Baltimore, and used the money for campaign funds and to purchase a second home, according to her own admission. The U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow ordered the former mayor to pay nearly $412,000 in restitution and to forfeit more than $600,000 on top of the prison sentence for her conviction on federal tax evasion and conspiracy charges. In a video played before the court, Pugh apologized and said, “When I think about me, and my capacity and my capabilities and all the things I’ve been able to do I said, ‘How do you end up here? … I messed up. I really messed up.” (Fox News)

Putting potatoes up your butt won’t cure hemorrhoids, doctors warn

Doctors are starting to get very concerned about people who subscribe to a dangerous home remedy touted on numerous websites, which involves inserting a potato slices into the rectum. Credible medical professionals are emphasizing that this will not, in fact, help with hemorrhoids (also known as piles). “There is no medical evidence that putting frozen potatoes inside the anus can help cure piles, urging caution to anyone thinking of doing it,” experts say, noting that those suffering from the condition can attempt to treat it at home in a number of ways — but sticking frozen spuds up their butt is not one of them. Piles often go away on their own after a few days, but there are some tried and trusted ways to keep them at bay. Medical professionals say you should drink plenty of fluids and maintain a fiber-rich diet and try having regular warm baths to ease itching and pain. If home treatments don’t work, those with hemorrhoids should go to the doctor and not begin prescribing to increasingly outlandish cures instead, out of embarrassment. Experts say the advice stems from the fact that potatoes have an astringent property, which in theory can serve to constrict bodily tissue, but is in this case ineffective. (New York Post)

UPDATE: FCC calls out mobile carriers

Cellphone carriers could be hit with fines totaling more than $200 million for failing to safeguard information about customers’ real-time locations. The Federal Communications Commission has informed AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Communications that it will issue notices of liability for what appears to be the result of its probe into how telecom companies sell location information. Despite agreeing to stop sharing the data, the carriers faced charges last year over claims they continue to violate customers’ privacy rights. (The Wall Street Journal)

Dog tests ‘weak positive’ for coronavirus in Hong Kong, first possible infection in pet

The pet dog of a coronavirus patient was placed in quarantine after testing “weak positive” for the virus in Hong Kong, according to a government press release. If confirmed, it would mark the first case of the virus in a pet animal, as infected numbers topped 82,000 worldwide. “At present, the AFCD [Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department] does not have evidence that pet animals can be infected with COVID-19 virus or can be a source of infection to people,” a department spokesman said. AFCD staff picked up the dog from an apartment in the city and sent it to an animal keeping facility where oral, nasal and rectal samples were collected that tested positive for low levels of COVID-19. The dog doesn’t have any symptoms of the virus, but the virus can reportedly spread without them showing up. Further samples will be collected by the AFCD to confirm if the dog really was infected or if the positive test was a result of “environmental contamination” of the animal’s mouth and nose, the spokesman said. The pet will be closely monitored. The department “strongly advise[d]” that the pets of patients infected with the virus should be placed in quarantine for 14 days — COVID-19’s reported incubation period. Pet owners are advised to maintain a good habit of hygiene and wash their hands “thoroughly” with soap or alcohol sanitizer after touching their animals. (Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department)

Health officials in three U.S. states reported four new cases of the coronavirus, including three cases that could not be explained by recent overseas travel or contact with another patient

The news has raised concerns that the virus is now spreading in the U.S., particularly in the West Coast, after officials announced that a Solano County, California, woman contracted the virus without explanation and is now in serious condition. The four new cases include an employee at a school in Oregon; an elderly Northern California woman; a high school student from Washington; and another Washington resident in her 50s who had recently traveled to Daegu, South Korea. The emergence of the Northern California patient “indicates that there is evidence of community transmission but the extent is still not clear,” said the director of the Santa Clara Public Health Department. So far, the virus has killed more than 2,900 people globally, with most of the victims in mainland China, and infected 85,000 people on every continent besides Antarctica. (CNN)

Sex education could soon be required for Illinois kindergartners

A new bill at the Illinois statehouse could lead to students as young as 5 to be taught sex education. Senate Bill 2762 would mandate Illinois public and charter schools to teach students from kindergarten through 12th grade “comprehensive sex education.” The curriculum would include the following:

• Promote awareness and healthy attitudes about growth and development, body image, gender identity, gender expression,
• sexuality, sexual health, sexual orientation, consent, dating, relationships, and families
• Should be designed to promote positive behaviors and reduce health-related risk behaviors.
• Must be available to students in kindergarten through 12th grade and provide students with the information, skills, and support needed to acquire accurate information to make healthy decisions throughout their lives.

Everything from consent to child sexual abuse to gender identity and more would be required teachings in the sex education course. Sex education for students in kindergarten through 2nd grade would include age-appropriate material on the following topics:

• Human anatomy
• Gender roles
• Varying family structures
• Healthy relationships, including friendships
• Personal bodily autonomy
• How to promote personal safety, including reliance on and communication with parents and trusted adults
• Bullying

A parent or guardian would be able to excuse his or her child from all or part of the “comprehensive sex education” if they wish. In that case, assessments related to that education would be done through a passive consent process. If passed, the sex education curriculum would begin no later than July 1, 2021. (WICS)

It’s an Eagle…. It’s Plan…. It’s “Super Tuesday”

People will head to the polls all across the country for today (a.k.a. “Super Tuesday”). Full states, congressional and state Senate districts, all places where the candidates are racing to get at least the 15% of the vote needed to win delegates. As far as Presidential candidates are concerned, more than 1,500 delegates are up for grabs, nearly 10 times as many as the voters handed out in the four early states. Two Democratic presidential candidates ended their run for the White House over the weekend, shrinking the field ahead today’s Super Tuesday contests. Tom Steyer, the billionaire hedge fund investor and environmental activist, suspended his campaign on Saturday (2/29). On Sunday (3/2), Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana and the first openly gay candidate to win delegates, announced he was dropping out of the running. Yesterday (3/2), Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota senator, suspended her campaign and endorsed candidate, former Vice President, Joe Biden. Here’s a state-by-state breakdown:

• California (415 delegates)
• Texas (228)
• North Carolina (110)
• Virginia (99)
• Massachusetts (91)
• Minnesota (75)
• Colorado (67)
• Tennessee (64)
• Alabama (52)
• Oklahoma (37)
• Arkansas (31)
• Utah (29)
• Maine (24)
• Vermont (16)
• Democrats Abroad (13)
• American Samoa (6)

(Washington Post)

Tuesday Kicks Up The Dust With:

• I Want You To Be Happy Day
• International Ear Care Day
• National Anthem Day
• National Mulled Wine Day
• Peace Corps Day (Historical 3/1/1961 by President Kennedy, but observed on First Tuesday)
• Princess Day
• Simplify Your Life Day
• Soup It Forward Day
• Unique Names Day (Tuesday of First Full Week)
• What If Cats and Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs? Day
• World Birth Defects Day
• World Wildlife Day