Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Bikini-clad woman jailed after claiming hotel manager jealous of her body

An irate 42-year-old Dunnellon, Florida woman who was wearing a white bikini and walking a dog found herself behind bars after battling with an Ocala, Florida hotel manager at the facility’s pool. The manager of the Country Inn & Suites called Ocala Police officers for help after she spotted the woman at the pool and didn’t remember her being a guest at the hotel. The manager said she became upset with her and refused to identify her room number before leaving the hotel pool area on foot. Officers started searching for woman and found her a short time later at the nearby La Quinta Inn & Suites, where she became aggressive with officers when they asked her what was happening, telling them they needed to leave her alone, a police report stated. She said she hadn’t done anything wrong and the manager of the Country Inn & Suites approached her because she was “jealous that her body looked good,” the report says. The woman also claimed that she was at the Country Inn & Suites with her boyfriend, who had rented a room there. She said they had an altercation and she left, then claimed she was only at the hotel because her vehicle wasn’t working. An officer told the woman that she was going to be charged with trespassing and her vehicle was going to be towed if she didn’t move it. She then jumped over a fence, got inside her vehicle and squealed the tires as she pulled straight ahead into a parking spot at the BP gas station, and her vehicle was stopped by a parking bumper because she failed to hit the brakes fast enough. The manager  of the gas station told told the woman that she couldn’t leave her vehicle there and she became upset with him and walked outside the store. She then turned and yelled at the officer, who could smell the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on her breath. She was placed in handcuffs and detained, the report says. The woman told officers that she had a drink at 9 a.m. at the hotel but didn’t explain why her breath still smelled like alcohol and she was “visibly impaired.” She continued to claim she had only consumed one alcoholic beverage, but didn’t say how big it was, the report says. She was transported to the jail and issued trespass warnings from both hotels. She was charged with disorderly intoxication and released the next morning on $2,000 bond and is due back in court. (Ocala News)

Chernobyl alcohol drink seized by authorities

The Chernobyl Spirit Company said 1,500 bottles of Atomik alcoholic drink were confiscated on 19 March and taken to the Kyiv Prosecutor’s office. Officers took the shipment from a truck at a distillery in the Carpathians. The spirit, its producers say, is Chernobyl’s first consumer product since the 1986 nuclear disaster. They are now awaiting the outcome of an investigation by the Ukrainian security services but say they have “no idea” why the shipment, which was destined for the UK, was seized. The social enterprise company that makes Atomik is run by scientists who work in the 4,000 square kilometer Chernobyl exclusion zone, an area abandoned after the catastrophic 1986 nuclear disaster. Their studies have included growing experimental crops to find out if grain, and other food grown in the zone, could be used to make products that are safe to consume. Part of the reason for producing the spirit was to demonstrate how land around the exclusion zone could be put back to productive use. The researchers say this could allow communities there to grow and sell produce something that is currently illegal on “officially contaminated land”. A Professor at Portsmouth University said when his research team tasted the first Atomik vodka martini in 2019 explained that it was “no more radioactive than any other vodka”. The Professor and his colleagues since adjusted their recipe to make an apple-based spirit. Those apples are grown in the Narodichi district, an area immediately outside the exclusion zone, where agriculture and development is still highly restricted. The company plans to use some of its profits to help communities in Ukraine that are still affected by the economic impact of the nuclear disaster. (BBC)

College athletes could soon cash in

The NCAA’s president says he will recommend college sports’ governing bodies set new rules “before, or as close to, July 1” in response to state laws allowing college players to profit from their fame. His comments come as five states prepare to let student-athletes sign endorsement deals. NCAA members have yet to vote on their own proposal that would pay student-athletes for the use of their names, images and likenesses by companies and on social media. The NCAA plan gives colleges and universities veto power if there’s a conflict of interest. (The New York Times)

A teen arrested for punching Florida deputy

An 18-year-old teen in Naples, Florida was arrested for punching a Collier County deputy recently after responding to a fight happening between the teen and another man. The deputy that responded told both to stop fighting once he arrived on scene, but they continued fighting, so the deputy pulled out his taser and gave the command again. The men stopped fighting and got on the ground as instructed, but the teen charged at the deputy and punched him in the head, according to CCSO. The deputy tased the teen in the upper back, Collier County deputies said. The teen was arrested for battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, and disorderly conduct. (NBC 2)

Pillsbury family calls for boycott of Pillsbury products

Several members of the Pillsbury family, whose ancestor Charles A. Pillsbury founded the Pillsbury Company over 150 years ago, are calling for a boycott of the company bearing their family name. In an op ed published in the April 28 edition of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, five members of the Pillsbury family explain that they will not be buying Pillsbury products as long as the company continues to operate a factory in an illegal Israeli settlement in the West Bank. The op ed reads in part: “As long as General Mills continues to profit from the dispossession and suffering of the Palestinian people, we will not buy any Pillsbury products. We call on General Mills to stop doing business on occupied land. And we call on all people of good conscience and all socially responsible organizations across the globe to join in boycotting Pillsbury products until General Mills stops this illegal and immoral practice.” Earlier this year, a U.N. report listed General Mills in its database of companies involved in Israel’s illegal settlement activities, one of only seven U.S. companies on that list. The report was mandated by the U.N. Human Rights Council, which called on states to prevent their companies from contributing to such gross human rights abuses. (American Friends Service Committee)

Prices (for everything) are going up

From food to freezers, prices for goods are stretching the budgets of many Americans. NielsenIQ researchers say consumer prices have shot up by double-digit percentages from a year ago. With commodities prices rising, companies such as Kellogg’s or Procter & Gamble say they need to charge more for food and consumer products “to cover cost increases.” According to the Labor Department, consumer prices jumped 2.6% in the year ended in March, the biggest 12-month increase since August 2018, with economists watching whether the increasing prices will affect inflation rates. (MSN)

Pfizer vaccine approved for over 12

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved by the FDA for kids ages 12 to 15 on an emergency-use basis, a move that will allow middle and high school students to be vaccinated before fall. The two-dose mRNA vaccine is already approved for use in those 16 and over. An earlier study showed that the vaccine was 100% effective in adolescents. The move comes amid an effort to drive down the infection rate in the U.S. which has steadily fallen after a plateau in early April. (CNBC)

Social media companies delete posts related to Jerusalem

Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have reportedly censored, as well as deleted posts and hashtags related to the recent tensions in occupied Jerusalem. “Instagram and its parent, Facebook, have been censoring posts related to Sheikh Jarrah for at least the past day,” independent website Mondoweiss, which is devoted to informing readers about developments in Israel, Palestine and related US foreign policy. It also retweeted a post that said Instagram has limited posts with hashtag #Jerusalem in English and Arabic. Users on Twitter criticized social media companies for censoring content related to Sheikh Jarrah. Palestinians in Jerusalem have protested in solidarity with the residents of Sheikh Jarrah in recent days that has led to clashes with Israeli police. Protests came as the Israeli Central Court in East Jerusalem approved a decision to evict seven Palestinian families from their homes in favor of Israeli settlers at the beginning of 2021. (AA)

SpaceX accepts dogecoin as payment to launch lunar mission next year

SpaceX will launch the “DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon” in the first quarter of next year, with Elon Musk’s commercial rocket company accepting the meme-inspired cryptocurrency dogecoin as payment. “SpaceX launching satellite Doge-1 to the moon next year – Mission paid for in Doge – 1st crypto in space – 1st meme in space”, Musk said in a tweet. Elon Musk said on Twitter in April that SpaceX was going to put a “literal Dogecoin on the literal moon”. So far, his tweets this year turned the once-obscure digital currency, which began as a social media joke, into a speculator’s dream. (Reuters)

Talent shortage to drag on recovery

Employers in various industries, including manufacturing, construction and food service, are having trouble filling millions of jobs, and that could be a drag on what’s poised to be a strong economic rebound from the pandemic. Fears of getting or spreading COVID-19 on the job, a lack of child care and the infusion of unemployment benefits as contributing factors. In the meantime, the labor shortage could help workers looking for higher pay, flexible schedules and other perks. Analysts tell WSJ the employment gap should ease over time as more people get vaccinated. (The Wall Street Journal)

The weapons seizure so big it covered the rear deck of a 567-foot US warship

A joint US Navy and Coast Guard team seized thousands of illicit weapons recently after stopping a small ship in the North Arabian Sea, the Navy said in a statement. The cruiser USS Monterey stopped a ship on May 6th during a routine operation to verify its registry, the Navy said. A US Coast Guard Advanced Interdiction Team deployed on the Navy ship then boarded the ship and found the weapons stash. The massive arms haul covered much of the rear flight deck of the 567-foot US warship after it was transferred over in what the Navy said was a two-day operation. “The cache of weapons included dozens of advanced Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles, thousands of Chinese Type 56 assault rifles, and hundreds of PKM machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Other weapon components included advanced optical sights,” the Navy statement said. The origin and destination of the weapons is under investigation but previous arms shipments confiscated by the US Navy under similar circumstances were bound for Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to a spokesperson for the Navy’s Fifth Fleet. (CNN)

Wendy’s: Burger giant plans return to the UK after 20 years

America’s second largest burger chain is returning to the UK after 20 years with a promise to steal market share from rivals McDonald’s and Burger King. Wendy’s, famous for square burgers, plans up to 400 outlets nationwide creating at least 12,000 jobs, although that could take many years, it said. Wendy’s would still be far smaller than McDonald’s, which has 1,300 UK outlets. Wendy’s Chief Development Officer, said that with the UK burger and takeaway market growing the time was right for a return. And the UK will be used a springboard for growth in the rest of Europe. A statement said: “The UK launch will spearhead a European-wide expansion as Wendy’s looks to build on strong growth on the other side of the Atlantic, where the brand last year dethroned Burger King to become the No 2 player in the US hamburger market.” A typical restaurant employs between 30 to 50 staff, the company said. Wendy’s has also promised no zero-hours contracts in a sector much-criticised for its low pay and working conditions. (BBC)

We’re running out of chips

The supply of semiconductors seems to be getting worse rather than better, causing a shortage that is impacting everything from the automobile industry to cash registers and kitchen appliances. Despite efforts to alleviate the crisis, semiconductors can take more than three months to make, meaning that supply cannot keep up with recent demand. The shortage, which began due to supply chain disruptions, threatens to impact millions of people. (Bloomberg)

Tuesday Comes Attached With:

• Eat What You Want Day
• Foam Rolling Day
• Free Cone Day (Haagen-Dazs)
• Hostess Cupcake Day
• Root Canal Appreciation
• Twilight Zone Day

Historical Events