Monday, July 13, 2020

Oregon man driving stolen vehicle crashes into woman driving stolen car

A car crash resulted in both drivers being arrested after police in Oregon discovered they were both driving stolen vehicles. Newberg-Dundee, Oregon police chased a 27-year-old man in a stolen Land Cruiser before he careened into a Buick Regal as he was attempting to elude officers. He was arrested and charged with multiple crimes, including assault and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. In the process, police discovered that the driver of the Buick, a 25-year-old  woman, was under the influence of intoxicants and her vehicle had also been reported stolen three weeks prior, according to a police press release. She was also arrested and charged with driving under the influence and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. (Newberg-Dundee, Oregon Police Department)

A Texas officer runs into a burning house and saves an 8-year-old boy

As flames erupted on a mobile home in Texas, a police officer ran into the burning building to save a family trapped inside and it was all caught on camera. As one man was driving to pick up feed for his horses in Socorro, a city in El Paso County, he saw a large plume of smoke. He turned in the direction of the smoke, which was coming from a residential area, to see if he could help. When he arrived, he said an officer wearing a bulletproof vest and face mask was running out of the flames carrying a child. In video the man recorded, it shows the Socorro police officer running toward the mobile home where thick black smoke and orange flames were seen coming out of it. The officer said that the door to the home was hot to the touch and when he entered he found two adults, one which was elderly, and an 8-year-old boy. “The house was already full of smoke, I could barely breathe and I even advised them, ‘cover your mouths’, to try to get out as soon as possible safely,” the officer said. “From that point, I grabbed the child and I held him tight in my arms and I ran out with him and got him to the street where there was a couple of neighbors … to take care of him.” The other two adults inside the home were brought to safety by an off duty firefighter that was on the scene. The boy didn’t suffer any injuries, but the elderly adult was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. (KVIA)

The COVID-19 ‘cure’ sold by a Florida father and his three sons is toxic bleach

A 62-year-old Bradenton man and his three grown sons are facing federal charges in Miami for allegedly peddling a toxic bleach as a cure for COVID-19. They are accused of manufacturing, promoting, and selling their Miracle Mineral Solution as a coronavirus treatment even though the ingredients are typically used for industrial water treatment or bleaching textiles, pulp, and paper, according to court documents. They are charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to violate the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and criminal contempt. The family allegedly attempted to avoid government regulation by setting up a company called the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing. The FBI raided the Genesis II Church in Bradenton recently and seized ingredients including 50 gallons of muriatic acid, 8,300 pounds of sodium chloride, and 22 gallons of the finished Miracle Mineral Solution product. The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to drink sodium chloride products such as Miracle Mineral Solution because it can cause severe vomiting, diarrhea, and life-threatening low blood pressure among other symptoms. The FDA has received reports of people requiring hospitalization, developing life-threatening conditions, and dying after drinking MMS. (South Florida Sun Sentinal)

Video captures chaos after man is allegedly attacked by Family Dollar employees

A man is speaking out after he says he was attacked by employees at a Family Dollar in Southfield, Michigan and it was all captured on video. A former employee at the Family Dollar is upset and angry and says the incident never should have happened in the first place. He said he couldn’t believe what happened to him inside the store as he and his fiancé were buying cleaning products. He says he wasn’t wearing a mask and the store manager asked him why he wasn’t wearing a mask. Then things escalated when he went to buy his merchandise. “She is on the phone having a conversation on speaker phone saying, ‘oh yeah he doesn’t work here anymore. I fired him but you know how they be, they like to come back to the store after I fired them and cause trouble,’” he said. So he left the store to avoid conflict, but realized he didn’t have his merchandise. In the video you can see the man walk into the store and goes to the back near the drink area. When he got to the back and opened the refrigerator door, that’s when fists started flying. “Her son just hits me out of nowhere. Next thing I know we was all over everything. The ground, the shelves. She was hitting me the whole time,” he said. We tried talking to the manager at the Family Dollar, she said she wanted to talk but was afraid of losing her job. She referred us to corporate. We called corporate but haven’t heard back. He has a few bumps and bruises but for the most part is going to be OK. The man did go to the hospital after the event and is pressing charges. (WXYZ)

The State of New Jersey will now pay innocent man locked up for years on rape conviction

After spending over two years fighting to deny compensation to a man wrongly convicted of rape, Governor Phil Murphy’s administration has agreed to settle its case and pay the now-proven innocent man for some of his lost time. He and officials in the state Treasury reached a settlement agreement in June and began finalizing the agreement last week, according to the man’s attorney. The man’s attorney declined to disclose the settlement figure, citing his client’s concern for privacy. But the state’s Mistaken Imprisonment Act allows former prisoners to recoup up to $50,000 for every year spent wrongly in prison, in addition to legal fees. The man was wrongly imprisoned for four years. (NJ.com)

Tesla ‘very close’ to level 5 autonomous driving technology

U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc is “very close” to achieving level 5 autonomous driving technology, Chief Executive Elon Musk said, referring to the capability to navigate roads without any driver input. “I’m extremely confident that level 5 or essentially complete autonomy will happen and I think will happen very quickly,” Musk said in remarks made via a video message at the opening of Shanghai’s annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC). “I remain confident that we will have the basic functionality for level 5 autonomy complete this year.” The California-based automaker currently builds cars with an Autopilot driver-assistance system. Tesla is also developing new heat-projection or cooling systems to enable more advanced computers in cars, Musk said. Tesla has become the highest-valued automaker as its shares surged to record highs and its market capitalization overtook that of former front-runner Toyota Motors Corp. (Reuters)

Some Polynesians Carry DNA of Ancient Native Americans

The results of a new study suggest that people on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, and four other Polynesian islands carry small amounts of DNA inherited from people who lived in Colombia about 800 years ago. This new report bolsters work that archaeologists and anthropologists have been doing for years. Previous genetic studies had also hinted that people on Rapa Nui had some ancient South American ancestry. But the new study offers a more compelling case because the researchers looked at more than 800 people using a number of sophisticated new statistical tools. The new study emerged from a decade-long project to create a map of the genetic diversity in modern Latin Americans. After Asians crossed the Bering Land Bridge 16,000 years ago, they spread across the Americas, reaching the southern tip of South America by 14,000 years ago. Since then, the populations of Latin America have gained unique genetic mutations, which have gotten mixed as they interbred. When European colonists brought enslaved Africans to the region, the genetic landscape of Latin America changed yet again. (The New York Times)

First female soldier graduates from elite Special Forces ‘Q Course’ to become Green Beret

The once all-male Green Beret teams will be joined soon by a female soldier who graduated from the Army’s elite Special Forces course. An unidentified woman donned the Green Beret after graduating recently at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. She is one of three female soldiers who have been going through the Army Special Forces qualification course that lasts anywhere from 56 to 95 weeks. The path to becoming a Green Beret consists of several phases, beginning with a grueling assessment and selection phase where commanders believe they can identify soldiers who cannot make the grade or do not belong. The bulk of those who try out fail. Some who get injured or fail are allowed to return and try again. The Army does not release the identities of its commandos or disclose to which special forces group they will be assigned. The more than 6,700 Army Green Berets are highly trained commandos who usually work in 12-person teams. They are often used for specialized combat and counterterrorism operations and to train other nations’ forces in battle skills. Many work with Afghan forces fighting the Taliban or are training troops in up to 60 countries. (Army Times)

Amazon bars video app TikTok on workers’ phones

Amazon has told employees to delete the popular video app TikTok from phones on which they use Amazon email, citing security risks from the China-owned app, according to reports and posts by Twitter users who said they were Amazon employees. The notice said employees must delete the app to keep access to Amazon email. Workers would still be allowed to use TikTok from an Amazon laptop browser. In an emailed statement, TikTok said that Amazon did not notify it before sending the email. “We still do not understand their concerns,” it continued, adding that the company would welcome a dialogue to address Amazon’s issues. Chinese internet giant ByteDance owns TikTok, which is designed for users outside of China, as well as a Chinese version called Douyin. The app is popular with young people, including millions of American users, but is the subject of national security concerns. (MSN)

Pennsylvania official resigns after charges from naked gardening

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s Finance Director resigned recently, more than a week after prosecutors charged him with three misdemeanors for being seen naked in his backyard. His attorney said his client thought it was the right thing to do and didn’t want a prolonged investigation to be a distraction for the city or finance office. The man had served as director of the Budget and Finance Department since January 2014. Prior to that, he served as a city councilman and fiscal analyst for the state Department of Revenue. Prosecutors on July 1 announced three counts of indecent exposure against the former director after neighbors reported seeing him outside in his garden without clothes in June. The attorney said his client had not yet received a formal complaint of the charges, but the fenced backyard appears to be fairly private and secluded for its Midtown location, but it still can be seen from one neighbor’s home and from an adjacent parking lot. (Penn Live)

Mexico Plans to Ban Beauty Pageants

The Gender Equality Commission has recently recommended to the Mexican Congress to ban beauty pageants. The recommendations include new provisions to the general law on Women’s Access to a Life Free of Violence. Beauty pageants have been popular in Mexico for several years. In fact, many Mexicans have achieved crowns or titles both in national and international competitions. However, as the number of violence against women increases in Mexico, the country’s newly formed “Gender Equality Commission” has recommended measures that will ban beauty pageants in the country. The recommendation of the “Gender Equality Commission” was taken by the Mexican Congress, who passed a bill. Part of the recommendation includes the new provisions to the general law on Women’s Access to a Life Free of Violence. There are many provisions that the newly formed commission recommended, including the ban of beauty pageants in the country, which majority of Mexicans opposed. They also added that beauty contests influence socio-cultural standards. This also becomes an instrument to make the female body as an object of sexual desire. In the proposed recommendations and guidelines, pageants will not be able to use public resources, official promotion, or any kind of economic or any institutional support in carrying out these shows. They also clarified that there is a possibility that privately-funded pageants might be subjected to be banned as well. Mexicans have been raising concerns about violence against women this year. Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans took part in the largest protest that the country has ever seen so far. This happened before the country was hit by the global pandemic. It was also found out that an average of 10 women are killed everyday. Additionally, due to the nationwide lockdown, 911 receives domestic violence calls that have increased to 60 percent compared to the normal days. The global pandemic has become a contributing factor to the increase in violence against women. It can be recounted that domestic violence is most of the time the reason why many applied for an American asylum. (Mitu)

Man says he stole truck to get back to girlfriend and baby

A 22-year-old man in Belleview, Florida admitted to stealing a truck while claiming he did it because he is homeless and needed to get back to his girlfriend and newborn baby. Marion County sheriff’s detective was on routine patrol when a report came in of stolen black Dodge truck and observed the vehicle in the yard of a residence, according to the sheriff’s office report. The deputy spoke with man, who first denied any involvement with the vehicle. After asking him several times who drove the vehicle and where the key was, the man went inside the residence and came out with the key, the report said. He said he took the vehicle at a place where they were giving out free food in Dixie County. He said he was homeless and needed to get back to his girlfriend and baby, according to the report. He was charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle and taken to the Marion County Jail, where he is being held on $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on August 4th. (Ocala News)

Florida Man Haunts Beaches Dressed As ‘Grim Reaper’ Says Governor Should Require Masks Statewide

The Florida man who visits the state’s reopened beaches dressed as death itself wants Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to require the public to wear masks as the state continues to see a spike in positive COVID-19 cases. The man is a lawyer who sued the state’s Republican governor earlier this year and  is saying he prematurely opened beaches. For the last several weeks, he has spent his time warning beach goers of the coronavirus’s rising danger while dressed as the Grim Reaper, complete with a dark cloak and a giant scythe. The costumed attorney says he is targeting beaches because they are drawing people into the state from around the world, which is in part resulting in increased case numbers. (Miami CBS)

Monday Climbs In With:

• Beans ‘N’ Franks Day
• Beef Tallow Day
• Delaware Day
• Embrace Your Geekness Day
• French Fries Day
• Gruntled Workers Day
• International Rock Day
• International Town Criers Day (Second Monday)
• Nitrogen Ice Cream Day
• World Cup Soccer Day