cnn_articles-2022-3409.csv

,timestamp,webUrl,headline,sectionName,site,bodyContent,article_length,author_name
0,2022-01-31,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/31/us/houston-deputy-killed-dash-cam/index.html,"The barrage of bullets that killed a Houston-area deputy was captured by his own dash and body-worn cameras, court records show",US,CNN,"In what would be his last moments, the 12-year veteran deputy constable sat in his squad car minutes after midnight as the driver’s door of the car ahead of him opened. Cpl. Charles Galloway had just made the traffic stop and was trying to contact a dispatcher when a man got out of the white Toyota Avalon. He turned toward Galloway and pointed at him with what looked like a rifle. Then, he fired – again and again – in Galloway’s direction, according to a probable cause document filed in Harris County, Texas, District Court that cites dash and body-worn camera recordings of the barrage. The recordings themselves have not been released. As bullets penetrated the windshield, Galloway sat in his patrol vehicle’s driver’s seat. He was hit several times, his own body-worn camera shows, the court documents say. Galloway, 47, died primarily from a gunshot wound to the head, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences later determined. His death came as the number of law enforcement officers feloniously killed in the line of duty has hit its highest point ​since September 11, 2001, ​according to preliminary 2021 data from the FBI, and as gun violence has risen nationwide. After firing the shots at Galloway sometime between 12:30 a.m. and 12:50 a.m. on January 23, the man in the video returned to the white Avalon and drove away, court documents show. Police soon ran its license plates, which led them to the ​person they call the “common-law wife​” of 50-year-old Oscar Rosales. She, according to court records, identified Rosales as the man who got out of the white Toyota, as captured by Galloway’s dash camera video, and the white Avalon as being the one that she said she owned and that he had been driving. After an international manhunt, Rosales was arrested last week by Mexican authorities in Ciudad Acuña, just across the border from Del Rio, Texas. He had been wanted for crimes committed in 1996 in Harris County and also for murder in El Salvador, the Harris County district attorney said Thursday. Rosales is from El Salvador and is not a US citizen, court documents obtained by CNN show. Rosales was transferred to Harris County and is being held without bail on capital murder of a police officer charges in relation to Galloway’s death, court records show. His attorney, Allen Tanner, had no comment Monday, he told CNN. Rosales is next due in court February 23, court records show. Rosales’ jail visitations have been limited to his attorneys and a private investigator and have excluded reporters, according to Harris County District Court records. Rosales was deemed indigent and was appointed an attorney, court records show. Galloway, a deputy constable of Harris County Constable Precinct 5, is survived by a daughter, his sister and “the numerous officers here in Precinct 5 who are trained by him,” mentored by him “and who are going to miss him tremendously,” his comrade Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap has said. Funeral services for Galloway are set for Tuesday morning.",3027.0,Rosa Flores
1,2022-01-31,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/31/us/sacramento-explosions-man-arrested/index.html,Police investigating Sacramento explosions arrest 23-year-old man,US,CNN,"A 23-year-old man has been arrested in Sacramento, California, in connection with two explosions in a neighborhood, police said Sunday. Investigators served a search warrant on Saturday following an explosion that caused damage to a vehicle the previous day, a Sacramento Police Department news release states. Police canvassed the area and looked at surveillance video before serving the warrant, the release said. During the search “officers located two active pipe bombs along with additional evidence that a suspect detonated a pipe bomb,” the SPD said. “The suspect who detonated the pipe bomb was identified as 23-year-old Cody Wiggs,” the news release states. Police did not specify what evidence led to Wiggs’ arrest. Police had responded to another report of an explosion on January 23, according to the news release. On that occasion, officers found an unoccupied vehicle with significant damage “consistent with an explosion occurring inside the vehicle.” Wiggs is charged with two counts of felony possession of an explosive in a public place and a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed knife, Sacramento County jail records show. It’s unclear whether Wiggs has retained an attorney. CNN has reached out to the Sacramento County Public Defender’s Office for comment. The investigation remains active. The police department is urging anybody who may have information about these or other similar incidents to contact police.",1440.0,Melissa Alonso
2,2022-01-31,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/31/us/oklahoma-earthquake/index.html,"4.5 magnitude earthquake strikes Oklahoma, rattling residents in 2 states",US,CNN,"More than 200 cities and towns were affected by a “notable” 4.5 magnitude earthquake that struck the Midwest, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said Monday. The early afternoon tremor was centered about 4.3 miles northwest of Medford, Oklahoma. The USGS gave the quake a “V” rating on its shake map, indicating “moderate” shaking and “very light” damage. A dispatcher at the Medford Police Department told CNN they “certainly felt the earthquake,” but had not received any reports of damage nor injuries. Larger cities such as Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Wichita, Kansas, felt “weak” shaking, according to USGS. The Tulsa Fire Department told CNN they had received no calls of damage nor injuries so far. A spokesperson for the Wichita Police Department also said they had received no reports of damages or injuries and felt “nothing significant.” CNN has reached out to the USGS and multiple public safety departments for further information on potential impacts.",960.0,Gregory Lemos
3,2022-01-31,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/31/us/bridgeport-connecticut-police-leave-lauren-smith-fields-brenda-lee-rawls/index.html,Connecticut officers placed on leave after mayor says he’s ‘extremely disappointed’ in police leadership following investigation into the deaths of two Black women,US,CNN,"The mayor of a Connecticut city has ordered two police officers be placed on administrative leave after the families of two Black women criticized the police responses and investigations into their deaths. Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim expressed his condolences Sunday to the families of Lauren Smith-Fields and Brenda Lee Rawls, saying in a statement he is “extremely disappointed with the leadership of the Bridgeport Police Department.” Smith-Fields, 23, and Rawls, 53, both died on December 12, 2021 – but unlike Smith-Fields, whose death is now being investigated as a crime, Rawls’ cause and manner of death are still pending, according to the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The family of Smith-Fields says the department mishandled its investigation into her death, which began after a man who she recently met on the dating app Bumble called police from her residence, police said. Smith-Fields was found unresponsive, and a medical examiner ruled her death was accidental and caused by “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, promethazine, hydroxyzine and alcohol.” Police are focusing their attention on “the factors that led to her untimely death,” acting Police Chief Rebeca Garcia said in an earlier statement. The police did not notify Smith-Fields’ family of her death, an attorney for the family said, and instead they found out a day later when visiting Smith-Fields’ home and finding a note from the landlord on her apartment door. Rawls’ family says police failed to notify them of her death in a timely manner and claims initial police responses were dismissive and insensitive. Dorothy Washington, Rawls’ sister, told CNN family members initially learned of her death from an acquaintance who said he found her unresponsive and could not wake her. Washington said the man told the family Rawls’ body was taken by a police officer and coroner. After multiple calls to police, hospitals and funeral homes, the family finally received confirmation of her death when reaching out to the state’s medical examiner, who had already performed an autopsy, Washington said. “It’s almost like they’re not aware of her death, or they just don’t care and that made us angry,” Washington said of city and police officials. “She was raised and born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, paid her taxes, voted and they treated like she was nothing. Like she was roadkill.” Washington has launched a GoFundMe to raise money for an independent investigation. CNN reached out to the Bridgeport Police Department for comment. Ganim found the actions taken by the police department up to this point “unacceptable,” he said Sunday, and he put two officers who are currently the subject of a police internal affairs investigation on administrative leave. “The Bridgeport Police Department has high standards for officer sensitivity especially in matters involving the death of a family member. It is an unacceptable failure if policies were not followed,” Ganim said in the statement. “To the families, friends and all who care about the human decency that should be shown in these situations in this case by members of the Bridgeport Police Department, I am very sorry.” The mayor directed Deputy Chief James Baraja to take disciplinary action against the officers “for lack of sensitivity to the public and failure to follow police policy” in the handling of the Smith-Fields and Rawls cases, according to the statement. Ganim announced the supervisory officer who was in charge of overseeing the Smith-Fields and Rawls cases retired from the department Friday. The deaths of Smith-Fields and Rawls are still under investigation and have been reassigned to other members of the Bridgeport Police Department, Ganim said.",3749.0,Artemis Moshtaghian
4,2022-01-31,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/30/us/las-vegas-crash-multivehicle/index.html,North Las Vegas police are investigating ‘mass casualty’ crash that left nine people dead,US,CNN,"Nine people, including four children, have died following a multi-vehicle traffic collision in North Las Vegas, Nevada, officials said. They are among 15 people involved in the crash Saturday afternoon, according to Alex Cuevas, spokesperson for North Las Vegas Police. A Dodge Challenger was traveling at high speed and ran a red light, hitting several vehicles and causing a “chaotic event,” Cuevas said. A total of six vehicles were involved. The Challenger first hit two vehicles in oncoming eastbound lanes, then hit three vehicles in a westbound lane, North Las Vegas Acting Police Chief Jacqueline Gravatt said during a news conference Sunday. One of the first vehicles hit was a Toyota Sienna van carrying three adults and four children, all of whom died in the crash, Gravatt said. The driver and passenger in the Challenger were also killed, Gravatt said. One person remained hospitalized in serious condition Sunday. Speed is in the only known contributing factor for the crash, Gravatt said, noting investigators will also look at other details, including reports from the coroner’s office. The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team to North Las Vegas to assist with the investigation. Calling the incident “an unprecedented loss of life,” North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee said the grieving process will take a long time for both the families and the community. “Our thoughts and our prayers are with the families who are experiencing a tremendous and unnecessary loss due to a careless and senseless act,” North Las Vegas Councilwoman Pamela Goynes-Brown said during a news conference Saturday.",1622.0,Tina Burnside
5,2022-01-30,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/30/us/ohio-marysville-hampton-inn-carbon-monoxide-exposure/index.html,13 people hospitalized due to dangerous carbon monoxide levels at an Ohio hotel swimming pool,US,CNN,"At least four people have been released from an Ohio hospital after breathing life-threatening levels of carbon monoxide in a Hampton Inn pool area. They are among 13 people, including an unconscious 2-year-old girl, who were hospitalized in the incident Saturday night in Marysville, Ohio. Two critical patients – now stabilized – and five serious-but-stable patients have been transferred to tertiary care facilities, according to Melanie Ziegler, VP of Community Engagement for Memorial Health who spoke to CNN Sunday morning. The hotel had been evacuated Saturday after a 911 call reported the young girl unconscious, Police Chief Tony Brooks said. “Shortly after this call, the local 911 Center received additional calls (referencing) unconscious subjects in and around the pool area,” Brooks told CNN via email. “Others described symptoms such as dizziness and a burning in their throat.” Nine people, including the 2-year-old, were taken to local hospitals, and four others arrived to the hospital on their own, Brooks said. Two other people received medical evaluations at the scene and were not hospitalized. “We did have life threatening levels of carbon monoxide in the pool area of the hotel and we transported several people to local hospitals,” Marysville Fire Chief Jay Riley told CNN in an email. “We continue the investigation into the source and (are) glad that no one died as a result of their exposure.” Marysville is about 30 miles northwest of Columbus. Carbon monoxide is an odorless and colorless gas that can cause sudden illness and death. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain as well as confusion, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.",1764.0,Andy Rose
6,2022-01-30,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/30/us/redwood-forest-california-native-tribes-tcih-leh-dun/index.html,A redwood forest in California has been permanently returned to its Indigenous tribes,US,CNN,"More than 500 acres of California redwood forestland has been officially returned to a group of Native American tribes whose ancestors were expelled from it generations ago. The land, formerly known as Andersonia West, was purchased by San Francisco conservation group Save the Redwoods League and donated to the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, the league announced Tuesday. The Sinkyone Council consists of 10 federally recognized Northern California tribal nations including the Cahto Tribe of Laytonville Rancheria, the Pinoleville Pomo Nation, and the Round Valley Indian Tribes. People Indigenous to the land, located in Northern California’s Mendocino County, were “forcibly removed” by European American colonists, according to the league. But today, the Sinkyone people have been empowered with the ability to reclaim – and rename – the land they believe rightfully belongs to them. “Renaming the property Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ lets people know that it’s a sacred place; it’s a place for our Native people,” Sinkyone Council board member and tribal citizen Crista Ray said in a statement. “It lets them know that there was a language and that there was a people who lived there long before now.” Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ, pronounced tsih-ih-LEY-duhn, means “Fish Run Place” in the Sinkyone language, according to the release. “Today I stand on the shoulders of giants, my ancestors … to bring them honor, and to not let our old ways be forgotten, for our next generation, my children, my grandchildren and all the kids that I’ll never get to see,” Buffie Schmidt, tribal citizen and vice chairperson of the Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians, said in a statement. “Our ancestors are still here, they’re still around us. As I listen to the wind, I feel like my ancestors – who I’ve never even known in my lifetime – are here and happy that we call this place something that they’re familiar with: Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ.” Now that Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ has been reunited with “the original stewards of this land,” league president and CEO Sam Hodder said, the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council will partner with the organization to protect the forestland and all its wildlife. Before the arrival of European settlers, the land was sacred to the spiritual lives of Native tribes who performed ceremonies when harvesting redwoods to build their homes and canoes, the nonprofit conservation organization explained on its website. Eventually, the Indigenous people were expelled, and lumber companies discovered how cheap and easy it would be to log and profit from the trees. “By the end of the 1950s, only about 10 percent of the original two-million-acre redwood range remained untouched,” Save the Redwoods League said. Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ was purchased by Save the Redwoods League in July 2020 for $3.55 million. The 523-acre property is known for its majestic, ancient redwoods, a portion of Anderson Creek, and a diverse ecosystem – including coho salmon, steelhead trout, marbled murrelets and northern spotted owls, all of which are endangered, according to the league. Today, redwoods face numerous threats, including human-induced climate change, land development, and burl poaching, according to Save the Redwoods League. “We believe the best way to permanently protect and heal this land is through tribal stewardship,” Hodder said. “In this process, we have an opportunity to restore balance in the ecosystem and in the communities connected to it, while also accelerating the pace and scale of conserving California’s iconic redwood forests.” This is the second time Save the Redwoods League has donated land to the council, with the first being the 164-acre Four Corners property located north of Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ. “The Council and League plan to apply a blend of Indigenous place-based land guardianship principles, conservation science, climate adaptation and fire resiliency concepts and approaches to help ensure lasting protection and long-term healing for Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ and its diverse flora and fauna,” the release said.",4023.0,Alaa Elassar
7,2022-01-30,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/30/us/tennessee-officer-excessive-force-conviction/index.html,A former Tennessee officer was convicted of civil rights violations for using excessive force against suspects,US,CNN,"A former Tennessee law enforcement officer was convicted Friday of federal civil rights offenses for using excessive force against two suspects, federal prosecutors said. Anthony “Tony” Bean, 61, faced a bench trial on charges related to separate incidents in 2014 and 2017. In 2014, when he was acting as the Tracy City police chief, Bean used excessive force twice during an arrest, a statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee said. In 2017, when Bean was the chief deputy at the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office, he used excessive force against another arrestee, the statement from prosecutors said. CNN has reached out to Bean’s lawyer for comment on the convictions. “Civil Rights violations are always of great concern, particularly when an officer betrays the oath to protect and serve,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico. “When that trust is violated, the law enforcement community is tarnished, and the community’s confidence is broken.” Bean will be sentenced in June and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each of the three counts for which he was convicted, according to federal prosecutors.",1169.0,Josh Campbell
8,2022-01-30,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/29/us/university-of-nebraska-mascot-hand-gesture/index.html,University of Nebraska updates Herbie Husker mascot to change hand gesture associated with white supremacy,US,CNN,"The University of Nebraska has changed its mascot’s hand gesture after more than 47 years, the university said, after the traditional one became associated with racist groups. The Herbie Husker mascot changed from making what appears to be an “OK” hand gesture with his thumb and forefinger forming an O, to one with his index finger raised in a “number one” gesture. The “OK” hand symbol is listed on the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) website as having been co-opted as a “racist” hand sign. “The concern about the hand gesture was brought to our attention by our apparel provider and others, and we decided to move forward with a revised Herbie Husker logo,” Nebraska Athletics said in an email to CNN. “The process of changing the logo began in 2020, and we updated our brand guidelines in July of 2021. The revised logo is now the only Herbie Husker mark available to licensees,” the university said. Herbie Husker made his first appearance in 1974 on the school’s media guide, according to the university. While the ADL does say, “Use of the okay symbol in most contexts is entirely innocuous and harmless,” recent uses of the gesture has had links to white supremacy. “In 2017, the ‘okay’ hand gesture acquired a new and different significance thanks to a hoax by members of the website 4chan to falsely promote the gesture as a hate symbol, claiming that the gesture represented the letters ‘wp,’ for ‘white power,’” the ADL website says. Herbie Husker was named National Mascot of the year in 2005, according to the university.",1536.0,Michelle Watson
9,2022-01-30,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/30/us/fentanyl-bedroom-13-year-old-boy-died-connecticut/index.html,Roughly 100 bags of fentanyl were found in the bedroom of a 13-year-old boy who died from presumed fentanyl exposure at his school,US,CNN,"Police recovered about 100 bags of fentanyl from the bedroom of a 13-year-old who died after a presumed fentanyl exposure at his school in Hartford, Connecticut. Forty bags of fentanyl were also removed from the teen’s school, according to police. Both sets of bags were packaged the same way and marked with a similar stamp, according to a press release by the Hartford Police Department. The young teenager died on January 15, two days after he was found unconscious after a presumed fentanyl exposure at the Sport and Medical Sciences Academy. Two other male students, also seventh graders, who came into contact with the fentanyl at the same time were taken to a hospital and later released, police said. “We can confidently say that the fentanyl that caused the overdose [of the juvenile] was the same fentanyl that was located in the juvenile’s bedroom,” Hartford police said in the release. The bags were initially collected by the Drug Enforcement Administration and given to Hartford police for fingerprint and DNA testing, said Hartford police Lt. Aaron Boisvert. Police found no evidence that anyone other than the child brought the drugs to school, he added. Officials are still investigating how he came to be in possession of the fentanyl. Authorities do not have a suspect at this time, Boisvert told CNN. The teen’s mother is cooperating with authorities, who have found no evidence that suggests she had prior knowledge of her son’s fentanyl possession, the release said. The 13-year-old had no prior history of narcotics, according to the release. Fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin and is extremely cheap to produce, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. The US drug epidemic has exploded while Americans are locked down during the coronavirus pandemic. From May 2020 through April 2021, more than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in the US, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s a record – a near-30% rise from a year earlier and a near doubling over the past five years. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl – 50-100 times more potent than morphine – accounted for the bulk of those deaths, around 64,000. The drug epidemic has grown in tandem with the Covid-19 pandemic, which killed about 509,000 people in the same period. “In a crisis of this magnitude, those already taking drugs may take higher amounts and those in recovery may relapse. It’s a phenomenon we’ve seen and perhaps could have predicted,” Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told CNN in an earlier report The increasing use of the synthetic drug caught the attention of experts before Covid-19 hit, but the pandemic may have exacerbated the problem, Volkow says. With international travel limited, synthetics that are easier to manufacture and more concentrated were also more efficiently smuggled, she adds. The Biden administration put $4 billion from the Covid-19 relief package toward combating overdose deaths, including expanding services for substance use disorder and mental health.",3062.0,Alaa Elassar
10,2022-01-30,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/30/us/csu-caste-protections-universities-cec/index.html,Colleges and universities across the US are moving to ban caste discrimination,US,CNN,"On paper, the change was subtle – the word “caste” appearing in parentheses after the term “race and ethnicity.” But for many advocates and student leaders, the tweak to California State University’s anti-discrimination policy that quietly went into effect on January 1 was a civil rights victory: An acknowledgment from the nation’s largest, four-year public university system that the insidious form of oppression that has long haunted some on campus is, in fact, real. Caste-oppressed students, who mostly hail from South Asian immigrant and diaspora backgrounds, say that casteism tends to manifest in US colleges and universities through slurs, microaggressions and social exclusion. But because these dynamics play out within these minority communities, most other Americans have little understanding of how they operate – leaving these students, many of whom refer to themselves as Dalits, without recourse. The move by Cal State, which came after nearly two years of student organizing, stands to change that. By explicitly mentioning caste in its anti-discrimination policy, Cal State has made it a protected status, thereby prohibiting caste-based discrimination, harassment or retaliation. For a university system with more than 485,000 students and about 56,000 faculty and staff members, that could have significant implications. “This is very important for us because we can feel safer,” said Prem Pariyar, a recent alumnus of Cal State East Bay who helped advocate for caste protections across CSU’s 23 campuses. “At least the university has a policy to recognize our pain and to recognize our issues.” Now that Cal State has declared caste a protected status, Dalit students and employees on its campuses have an avenue for accountability, activists said. And now that the largest university system in the country’s most populous state has committed to caste protections, they hope that the movement for caste equity will continue to grow. Originating in ancient India, the caste system is a social hierarchy that historically assigned people to groups based on their occupations or work (karma) and obligations or religious duty (dharma). The system would evolve to assign a certain degree of “spiritual purity” based on the family they were born into. That degree of so-called purity, in turn, determined the path of a person’s life: their rank in society, their career options, what they ate and who they married. At the bottom of the hierarchy, considered so low that they are relegated to the most undesirable jobs in society, are the Dalits. Though the caste system and caste-based discrimination have been legally outlawed in India and other South Asian countries, its legacy persists in cultural and systemic ways, extending beyond Hinduism and India to other South Asian religions and regions. And as South Asians migrate across continents and oceans, they often bring caste with them. That was the experience for Pariyar, who is a Dalit Hindu and moved to the US from Nepal in 2015 in part, he said, to escape caste oppression. He said his family faced discrimination and violence from dominant caste Nepalis both because of their caste and their outspokenness on such injustices. By coming to the US, Pariyar assumed he would be leaving that all behind. “I thought at that time that now I don’t have to experience caste discrimination because the US is different. In the US, the South Asian diaspora, including the Nepali diaspora, are educated … so they don’t believe in caste discrimination,” he said. “But I was wrong. Totally wrong.” Caste seemed to follow Pariyar even in California. Unlike other Dalits he encountered in the US, Pariyar didn’t hide his last name, which gave away his caste identity. But he said he found that his transparency colored his interactions with caste-privileged Nepalis. He felt their tone of voice and behavior toward him change once they learned his full name. At gatherings in the homes of other community members, he said he would be given a plate of food while others were allowed to serve themselves – implying that his handling of the food might somehow pollute it. When Pariyar enrolled in a graduate program at Cal State East Bay in 2019, he found that he couldn’t escape caste there either. While waiting at a Bay Area rapid transit station on one occasion, he encountered two Nepali students and introduced himself. Their conversation was warm, he said, until they asked for his name. When he told them, Pariyar said they looked him up and down and appeared uncomfortable. Their reaction was humiliating. “Why? Why do they do that?” Pariyar said. “They were surprised seeing a Nepali Dalit from ‘untouchable’ community going to their university.” Another time, Pariyar brought up his experiences with caste discrimination during a classroom discussion about the trauma of racism and sexism. Some South Asian students in the class, he said, reacted as though caste discrimination was completely foreign to them. He felt they were effectively gaslighting him. And when he tried to organize a conference on issues of caste, Pariyar said he got little support from other South Asians. Still, Pariyar pushed ahead with his efforts to secure caste protections. As a result of his advocacy, the department of social work at Cal State East Bay – where Pariyar was pursuing a master’s degree – updated its mission statement to acknowledge caste discrimination. The academic senate of Cal State East Bay passed a resolution calling for caste protections, and other campuses followed. Eventually, Pariyar and a coalition of other activists and allies across various faiths and caste backgrounds banded together to try and get caste discrimination banned across the entire Cal State system. Though their goal – getting the word “caste” added to Cal State’s non-discrimination policy – was modest, they said they faced resistance along the way. When the California State Student Association met in April 2021 to discuss a resolution calling for a ban on caste discrimination, several people pushed back against it. The opponents, who included alumni, professors and community members, argued that discussions about caste unnecessarily divided South Asians and that caste discrimination no longer existed. They claimed that caste was a construct of British colonialism, even though it had existed for millennia, and insisted that the resolution would instead provoke hate against Hindus on campus. Krystal Raynes, a student at Cal State Bakersfield who currently serves as a CSU student trustee, wasn’t familiar with caste and caste-based discrimination before that meeting. But the language and line of reasoning she heard that day rang familiar. “It reminded me so much of the discrimination happening against Black people in America,” she said. “Black students being gaslighted, [being told] your experience isn’t discrimination, your experience isn’t oppression.” Thenmozhi Soundararajan, executive director of the Dalit rights organization Equality Labs, likened the gaslighting, denial and misinformation around frank discussions of caste oppression to the conservative campaign against “critical race theory,” which has since become a catch-all term for any instruction around the history of racism in the US. “It makes people feel uncomfortable,” she said. “But discomfort can be a doorway to learning more about ourselves and having greater connection with each other.” In the end, despite the dissenting voices, the California State Student Association passed the resolution calling on the university system to ban caste discrimination. Cal State’s faculty union showed its support by including caste as a protected category in its collective bargaining agreement. And ultimately, Cal State added caste protections for its students and employees. “The CSU takes a great amount of pride in serving an incredibly diverse group of students and employing a diverse workforce,” Michael Uhlenkamp, a spokesperson for the Cal State system, wrote in an email to CNN. “The inclusion of caste in the policy reflects the university’s commitment to inclusivity and respect, ensuring that all members of the CSU’s 23 campus communities feel welcome.” For Dalit alumni who once faced caste-based microaggressions on Cal State’s campuses, the university’s move to make caste a protected category was a step in the right direction. Neha Singh, who asked that her real name not be published to protect her caste identity, said she wished that campus leaders had an understanding of caste oppression during her time at Cal State Northridge in the late 2000s so that she would have had somewhere to turn to for guidance. She recalls members of South Asian student groups making derogatory comments about oppressed castes in casual conversation, how one friend shunned her after learning Singh’s caste identity and how she felt afraid to speak up when witnessing caste discrimination against a fellow student by a dominant caste staff member for fear that she might out her own caste. The change makes Singh hopeful about the environment for future Cal State Dalit students. “The students who are coming there will be free from discrimination and fear and can openly complain about it,” she said. “They would know that someone can understand … [that] they can come and have a safe place.” M. Bangar, who attended Cal State Sacramento and also requested to use an alias, knows that simply having caste protections won’t solve the problem of caste oppression on campus. But it could prompt others to be more considerate. “At the end of the day, you can’t force someone to not be casteist, but you can force them to be careful about how they’re casteist or what they say,” Bangar said. “These caste protections create an opportunity for people to report the things that they face.” Cal State’s move to make caste a protected category is the latest in a growing movement at US colleges and universities. In the last few months, the University of California, Davis, Harvard University and Colby College all added caste to their non-discrimination policies, while Brandeis University set an early example by doing so in 2019. And since the development at Cal State, Soundararajan said that the phones at Equality Labs “have been going off the hook” with other universities seeking to make the same changes. At Colby College, efforts are now shifting to how its policy might be put into action. Sonja Thomas, who spearheaded the effort to secure caste protections there, said she wants to get caste added to the school’s bias reporting and prevention system. “We need to take the second step, which is then implement policies for people to recognize when it’s happening so that there’s recourse for people who might be affected by caste discrimination,” said Thomas, who is also an associate professor of women’s gender and sexuality studies at Colby. Outside academia, two ongoing legal battles have brought attention to the ways casteism functions in the US. In 2020, California authorities filed a lawsuit against Cisco Systems and two of its employees for allegedly discriminating against a Dalit engineer. (Cisco has denied the allegations and said it would “vigorously defend itself.”) And last year, a federal lawsuit alleged that a prominent Hindu sect lured hundreds of caste-oppressed workers to the US to work on temples for low pay and under dangerous conditions. (The organization’s leaders denied wrongdoing and called the workers “volunteers.”) And in addition to universities, the California Democratic Party and prominent labor unions – such as the Alphabet Workers Union – have come out in support of caste protections. Pariyar, who started the movement at Cal State, hopes that this is only the beginning. At the university level, he wants to see caste competency trainings so that students and leaders are equipped to recognize and respond to bias incidents. But he isn’t stopping there – he said he’s currently talking to members of the California state assembly about potentially instituting caste protections statewide. Pariyar said he believes casteism has taken root in the US and that the issue should concern not just South Asians or those who are caste-oppressed. “It must be the issue for everyone.”",12269.0,Harmeet Kaur
11,2022-01-29,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/29/us/nasa-mars-study-isolation-confinement-scn/index.html,NASA crew embarks on simulated mission to Mars to study isolation and confinement,US,CNN,"Four volunteer crew members have embarked on a simulated journey to Mars inside a ground-based habitat at NASA to study the isolation and confinement of exploration missions. The simulated journey to Mars’ moon Phobos began on Friday at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and will last for 45 days. The volunteer crew, which includes Jared Broddrick, Pietro Di Tillio, Dragos Michael Popescu and Patrick Ridgley, entered a structure called the Human Exploration Research Analog, or HERA, which is “designed to serve as an analog for the rigors of real space exploration missions,” NASA said in a statement. In a video posted to NASA’s Johnson Space Center Twitter account, the four men were seen entering the HERA structure before the hatch was officially closed and will not be opened until March 14. While inside the HERA structure, the men will experience up to five minutes of delayed communication with the rest of the world, the agency said. The goal, according to NASA, is to help train the crew and NASA coordinators to practice communicating under these circumstances while ensuring a smooth operation. “In this HERA campaign, we’re learning more about how teams function in an autonomous environment where they have limited contact with Earth,” said Brandon Vessey, research operations and integration element scientist for NASA’s Human Research Program, or HRP. “What we learn will inform how future exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit are performed. This will help ensure that our astronaut crews can work effectively through challenges unique to long-duration spaceflight, including communication delays,” Vessey said. This is the second of four “Campaign 6” missions conducted by HERA to facilitate research into the “behavioral and team performance of longer duration missions,” NASA’s website says. The final mission as part of the campaign is scheduled for Sept. 12, 2022. To qualify for the missions, individuals must be healthy non-smokers between the ages of 30 and 55. Applicants to be part of the HERA crew submit their resumes to Johnson Space Center’s Test Subject Screening group and must pass a physical and psychological test to be selected. HRP is set to perform 15 studies throughout the missions to collect data that will help NASA land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, a plan known as “Artemis.” The goal is to establish the first long-term presence on the Moon, which will help inform the agency as it prepares to send the first astronauts to Mars, according to NASA.",2533.0,Emma Tucker
12,2022-01-29,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/28/us/nashville-interstate-standoff-police-shooting/index.html,3 investigations will probe fatal shooting of pedestrian by 9 police officers in Nashville,US,CNN,"Three separate investigations will probe the fatal shooting of a pedestrian on a Tennessee interstate by nine police officers. Landon Eastep, 37, was killed after about 30 minutes of negotiations, during which traffic was halted along Interstate 65 near Nashville Thursday, authorities said. Officers opened fire after he appeared “to adjust his stance and reach for what was later identified as a metal cylindrical object at his waist,” the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) said in a statement. It was later determined not to be a firearm. The leader of Nashville’s Community Oversight Board will conduct one of three investigations into the shooting, the board said Friday night in a news release. Officers from the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) and two other agencies were involved. “The circumstances surround the death of Mr. Eastep by MNPD and other members of local law enforcement are gravely disturbing,” the board said in a written statement. “Director [Jill] Fitcheard will initiate an independent investigation into the shooting.” The board is an independent body established by the metro government with the power to investigate allegations of police misconduct but does not have the direct ability to discipline officers or change policy. It was created in 2018 after being approved by voters. An independent investigation of the incident had already been launched by the TBI on behalf of the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office. “Our team will work efficiently to gather relevant information at the scene, but the work may take some time,” the TBI said. And Metro Nashville Police chief John Drake ordered the department’s training academy to review Thursday’s police response. “I am saddened by any loss of life, and I send my condolences to the Eastep family,” Chief Drake said in a written statement Friday. The Nashville officer who fired the final two shots has been stripped of his police powers during the investigation, while five other officers have been reassigned to desk duties. The standoff began around 2 p.m. Thursday. Eastep had been sitting on a guardrail on the shoulder of the interstate and a state trooper was attempting to get him to move off the highway, according to Metro Nashville Police Department spokesperson Don Aaron. “The individual kind of pushed away from the trooper and produced a box cutter,” Aaron said. Officers from the Metro Nashville Police Department, Tennessee Highway Patrol and an off-duty Mount Juliet officer tried to de-escalate the situation, shutting down part of the interstate, when the man pulled out “a shiny, silver, cylindrical object” from his right pocket, Aaron said. Body camera video released by the MNPD showed officers repeatedly asking Eastep to surrender. “Please, Landon. Please!” one officer is heard saying before the man is seen lunging with both hands together toward the officers, who open fire with a volley of shots. The man died on the scene, the TBI said. Aaron said one officer had a Taser “on standby,” but it was not used. No officers were injured, according to the TBI, which is the lead agency investigating the incident. An attorney for the family of Landon Eastep says they believe his fatal shooting by nine officers in Nashville was unjustified. “This is what it looks like when you get trigger-happy,” attorney Joy Kimbrough said at a news conference, pointing at Eastep’s sobbing wife, Chelsea. “This is what it looks like when you don’t know how to deal with mental health issues. This is the result.” Although he was in a restricted area of the interstate, Kimbrough said she saw no reason for officers to stop Eastep in the first place. “He was not obstructing traffic or impeding traffic,” she said. Kimbrough acknowledged Eastep had “bipolar issues,” and Chelsea Eastep said her husband of less than a year seemed to be having problems Thursday. “He was agitated when he woke up, and he [went] out the door and took off walking. He left his phone at the house,” Eastep said Friday.",4013.0,Andy Rose
13,2022-01-29,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/28/us/colorado-dna-cold-case-killer-id/index.html,Colorado police solve four decades-old homicide cold cases with DNA from exhumed killer,US,CNN,"Using genetic genealogy and familial DNA, police in Colorado have solved the decades-old cases of the deaths of four females, saying the killer was a man who died by suicide in jail in 1981. The three women and a teenage girl were stabbed to death between 1978 and 1981 in the Denver area. Police didn’t divulge information about the cases Friday, but Denver Police Commander Matt Clark said there was an “underlying sexual component.” Police recently used DNA evidence to identify the killer as Joe Ervin, who took his own life 41 years ago after being arrested for the fatal shooting of a Aurora police officer. Authorities exhumed Ervin’s remains in late 2021 and found his DNA matched that found at the crime scenes. “While the perpetrator cannot fully be held accountable for his despicable actions, we hope that knowing who is responsible can bring some peace to the families,” Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said Friday at a news conference. The killings had initially been investigated as separate cases. The deaths were tied together between 2013 and 2018 through DNA evidence. In 2019, the Denver Police Crime Laboratory learned of a “positive ancestry link” in Texas. Two years later, authorities, while doing a search in Texas records for biological relatives of the killer’s DNA profile, got a match of someone close to the then unidentified suspect. Eventually, Ervin was identified as the possible killer and his remains were exhumed. Earlier this month, DNA analysis confirmed Ervin was the killer, police said. The victims were Dolores Barajas, 53; Madeleine Furey-Livaudais, 33; Gwendolyn Harris, 27; and Antoinette Parks, 17. Police did not release a photo of Barajas at her family’s request. “We can finally have peace knowing who did this to my little sister,” said George Journey, one of Parks’ brothers. “I’d like you guys to know, we have closure.” He said his mother and three other sisters had died in the years since the killing, and he wished they were there to know the killer had been identified. Parks was six to seven months pregnant, and a high school student, when she was killed. “It’s been a lot of information to absorb so suddenly after all this time,” said Molly Livaudais, who was a young girl when her mother was killed. She lauded the officer who Ervin fatally shot. “With her sacrifice she prevented him from killing anyone else, and it’s clear that he wasn’t going to stop on his own,” Livaudais said, describing her mother as writer and ecologist who had a very bright future. Ervin killed Aurora police officer Debra Sue Corr, who was shot with her gun while handcuffing Ervin after a traffic stop. Ervin then shot a bystander who tried to help the officer, police said. Police didn’t comment on other cases Ervin might have been involved with, but Livaudais said she learned he “assaulted an uncounted number of others.”",2867.0,Steve Almasy
14,2022-01-29,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/28/us/houston-police-officers-shot-suspect-charges/index.html,"Houston police shooting suspect has long criminal history, faces attempted murder charges",US,CNN,"The man who the Houston Police Department says shot three officers Thursday has a lengthy criminal record and now faces two federal weapons charges in addition to three state counts of attempted capital murder of a police officer. Roland Caballero, 31, allegedly led police on a chase Thursday, shot at and wounded three officers, carjacked a vehicle, and then barricaded himself in a home before surrendering hours later. Caballero, who had a gunshot wound to the neck and remains hospitalized, also faces a charge of aggravated robbery, according to a news release from the city. It is unclear whether Caballero has an attorney. CNN had reached out to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office for more information. Federal charges were also filed against Caballero Friday, including possession of a machine gun and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, according to a federal criminal complaint filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Per the probable cause document, “video recovered showed that Caballero fired a weapon that appeared to be operating in a fully automatic capacity.” An eyewitness described one of Caballero’s guns as “a Glock handgun with a red switch on the back and a drum magazine,” the court documents said. Investigators obtained a search warrant for Caballero’s residence and observed “multiple weapons,” the document said, including “five handguns, shotguns, assault weapons and various component parts for weapons.” The court records available do not state he has a lawyer on record. The three officers had non-life-threatening injuries, officials said, and two have been released from a hospital. The other is in stable condition. Caballero already had pending cases in Harris County. Earlier this month, he was charged for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and unlawfully carrying a weapon with a felony conviction, court records show. His criminal record began in 2008 when he was a teenager. Caballero has been convicted of five felonies and two misdemeanors and was sentenced to more than 16 years for those crimes, court records show. The crimes included aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, felon in possession of a weapon, and possession of heroin and marijuana, among others. The city news release on the charges added some details about the alleged events that led to a standoff at a house where the suspect lived. Officers initially were responding to a threat-to-life call and were given a description of Caballero and his car. Police saw the car, tried to get the suspect to pull over and he led them on a chase of about 4 miles. After the suspect crashed his Dodge Charger, he fired at officers who shot back. Police think Caballero might have been wounded in the neck then. “Three officers were struck by the suspect’s gunfire, while the suspect fled on foot,” the city said. Other officers went to the suspect’s home and found the car that Caballero allegedly carjacked. Houston Police Department Chief Troy Finner said Thursday that the suspect fired several times at the SWAT team that came to the house before giving up about 7:45 p.m. CT. The chief added that a woman who was carjacked was traumatized but physically fine. The shooting comes four days after Cpl. Charles Galloway of Harris County Constable Precinct 5 was fatally shot during a traffic stop. A suspect in the case was arrested in Mexico and returned to the Houston area on Wednesday night. CNN affiliate KTRK exclusively acquired video that shows the beginning of Thursday’s shootout. The station reported the video came from a surveillance camera and it shows a Dodge Charger crash as it tries to make a left turn. A police SUV stops behind the car and one officer gets out, aiming a pistol at the car as the officer looks for cover. Two other officers emerge from another SUV and run to the first patrol vehicle as rapid-fire gunshots can be heard. There appears to be a person in the open driver’s door of the suspect vehicle. After the flurry of gunfire, the officers run past the car in pursuit. Finner said officers described the weapon used by the suspect “as an automatic, fully automatic weapon.” The initial incident began as a car chase after police, responding to a home, pursued the fleeing suspect. Stephen Hinson told CNN affiliate KHOU that he thought he heard “some type of crash” then what he estimated to be 50 gunshots. “I looked out my window and I saw the officers running and I realized there was an officer down right in front of my town home.” The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives office in Houston said the area gun strike force was responding to the shooting.",4674.0,Steve Almasy
15,2022-01-29,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/28/us/florida-dating-app-drug-bust-trnd/index.html,"Florida officials say dealers used dating apps to sell marijuana, meth and other drugs. Dozens charged in undercover operation",US,CNN,"After a six-month undercover investigation, authorities in Florida have charged 68 people in connection with the sale of illegal narcotics on the mobile dating apps Grindr, Scruff and Taimi. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) said 60 people have been arrested, and law enforcement has obtained arrest warrants for eight others, according to a news release. The probe, known as “Swipe Left for Meth,” began in July 2021 following a tip to Heartland Crime Stoppers, the release said. At a news conference Thursday, Sheriff Grady Judd said the dealers would use ice cream cone and birthday cake emojis to signal they were selling drugs as well as code words like “party” and “Tina,” which he said stood for methamphetamine. “It was a shock to us that they were openly advertising,” Judd said. “Can you believe that? They were openly advertising that they were selling dope on a dating app.” Undercover narcotics detectives set up profiles on the apps and struck up conversations with people selling methamphetamine, Fentanyl, LSD, Ecstasy, marijuana and cocaine, the release said. “It was clear during the conversations and ensuing undercover drug buys that the suspects’ primary purposes for being on the dating app were to sell drugs – not to find a date,” the release said. “The sale of drugs or any illegal activity on Grindr is strictly prohibited as a violation of our Community Guidelines and Terms of Service.  Our moderation team works hard every day to ban bad actors while maintaining the privacy and security of our users,” Bill Shafton, vice president of business and legal affairs for Grindr said in a statement provided to CNN. “Taimi is a socially responsible company that strongly discourages and does its best to prevent any illegal or aggressive activity against users within the app. Our app algorithms block suspicious activities that may violate the rules of our community, including drug dealing, which is fairly noted by the Sheriff’s investigation report … It is important to note that we cannot access users’ direct messaging activity, as it is against our privacy policy,” Yana Andyol, head of communications for Taimi said in a statement sent to CNN. Andyol said the company hasn’t received any law enforcement inquiries in the last six months regarding drug-related activity, but will conduct an internal investigation based on the information released by Sheriff Judd’s office and will improve moderation to prevent future similar incidents. “We are, however, concerned over the fact that three distinct LGBTQ+ applications were used to conduct the investigation given the rising stigma surrounding LGBTQ+ communities who are already subject to presumptions,” Andyol said. A spokesperson for the dating app Scruff told CNN they have no comment on the Polk County arrests. Scruff’s Terms of Service prohibit using the app for “any illegal purpose” and “commercial or non-private use.” Detectives filed 159 felony and 72 misdemeanor charges over the course of the investigation. The suspects had a total of 908 previous charges – 453 prior felonies and 455 misdemeanors, the PCSO said. Authorities also served search warrants at three addresses, the release said. During the investigation, the PCSO says it seized 14 firearms, including two reported stolen. Detectives were able to purchase approximately 280 grams of methamphetamine with a street value of about $14,000 and approximately 3 grams of cocaine, the release said. The operation also netted about 645 grams of marijuana, 113 grams (130 pills) of Ecstasy, 1.5 grams of Fentanyl/heroin, 28 grams of psychedelic mushrooms and one gram of LSD, the PCSO said. “Suspects are getting more creative, but so are our detectives… When we find drug dealers, we put them in jail,” Judd said in the release. The PCSO said it would continue to monitor dating apps and encouraged the public to continue to send in tips.",3895.0,Jennifer Henderson
16,2022-01-29,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/29/us/hawaii-pearl-harbor-water-navy-red-hill/index.html,Navy to drain millions of gallons of water daily after Hawaii fuel leak,US,CNN,"The US Navy has been granted a permit to discharge up to five million gallons of treated water a day from its Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage facility after that water was contaminated by a petroleum leak that sickened military families and children in Hawaii. Statements from the Hawaii Department of Health and the Navy on Friday said the permit will allow the removal of contamination from the freshwater aquifer under the storage facility. The fuel facility sits 100 feet above the Red Hill aquifer, which supplies drinking water to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and other parts of Hawaii. Nearly 1 million people on Oahu rely on it for water, according to the Hawaii Board of Water Supply. On November 28, the Navy shut down its Red Hill well after reports of people on base suffering nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and skin-related problems. Testing revealed petroleum hydrocarbons and vapors in the water, the Navy said. US Pacific Fleet Deputy Commander Rear Adm. Blake Converse later confirmed a petroleum leak was the cause. “When pumping begins, up to 5 million gallons a day of water will be pumped from the Red Hill Shaft,” the Navy said in an email to CNN. “Water will pass through a granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration system, where it will be closely monitored and tested to ensure it does not pose a threat to human health or the environment, before discharging into Halawa Stream.” The permit was approved by the Interagency Drinking Water Systems Team (IDWST), a coalition of the Hawaii Department of Health, the US Environmental Protection Agency, Hawaii Department of Health, US Navy, and US Army. It requires that water be tested at “each step of the treatment process,” and that the operation stop if levels are not in accordance with DOH’s requirements. IDWST said the plan will reduce contamination, protect plants and wildlife and set the groundwork to understand how the groundwater was contaminated. In early December, the Navy discovered contamination at the Red Hill Shaft. Honolulu’s Board of Water Supply (BWS) later shut down the Halawa Shaft, Oahu’s largest water source, after the Navy said it had found “a likely source of the contamination.” At the time, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday called the situation “completely and totally unacceptable.” CNN reached out to the governor’s office regarding the permit but has not received a response.",2399.0,Michelle Watson
17,2022-01-28,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/28/us/san-jose-ca-firearms-law-lawsuit/index.html,Firearms rights group sues San Jose over proposal to make gun owners carry insurance and pay annual fee,US,CNN,"A firearms rights group has sued the California city of San Jose over a proposal that would require many of the city’s gun owners to carry liability insurance for accidents and negligence –  which would be a first in the nation – as well as pay a new annual fee. The city council preliminarily approved the proposed ordinance on Tuesday. The Colorado-based National Association for Gun Rights filed the suit the same day, asking the US District Court in San Jose to prevent the city from enforcing the proposed ordinance on numerous constitutional grounds, including alleging infringements on the Second Amendment. “San Jose’s imposition of a tax, fee, or other arbitrary cost on gun ownership is intended to suppress gun ownership without furthering any government interest. In fact, the penalties for nonpayment of the insurance and fees include the seizure of the citizen’s gun. The ordinance is, therefore, patently unconstitutional,” the suit reads. The city has identified a law firm to represent it on the issue at no charge, the mayor’s office has said. “No good deed goes unlitigated,” Mayor Sam Liccardo said this week in response to the lawsuit. “Fees and taxes on guns and ammunition have existed since 1919 and have repeatedly been upheld.” The mandate requires residents who own a gun to have “a homeowner’s, renter’s or gun liability insurance policy … specifically covering losses or damages resulting from any negligent or accidental use of the firearm,” including death, injury or property damage. Liccardo has said some gun owners’ existing insurance policies would already meet this requirement. The insurance and fee proposal exempts those in law enforcement, those with concealed carry permits and those for whom the fee would be a financial burden. About 50,000 to 55,000 households in San Jose own guns, the city estimates. The city has about 325,000 households and more than 1 million residents. One of the motivations behind the ordinance is to incentivize safer behavior, the mayor’s office has said, noting insurers could offer lower premiums to gun owners who take safety classes, use gun safes and install trigger locks. Requiring insurance coverage would also ensure medical care for victims of unintentional shootings, Liccardo’s office has said. Liccardo first proposed the insurance mandate in 2019, after three people were killed and 12 others injured in a shooting at a festival in nearby Gilroy. He proposed it again – and also proposed the annual fee – last year, after a gunman killed nine people at a San Jose public transit yard before killing himself in May. But Liccardo’s proposed ordinance would not cover criminal, intentional shootings. No insurer offers coverage to individuals for such shootings, according to the Insurance Information Institute. As for the new fee: The ordinance would require gun owning residents to pay an annual “gun harm reduction” fee that will fund “a nonprofit organization being created by a team of public health and gun violence experts,” the mayor’s office says. That fee would be about $25, plus “a small additional cost for the administration of the program,” according to the office. The nonprofit will distribute the money “to community-based, evidence-based programs to reduce gun violence, such as domestic violence and suicide prevention, mental health counseling, addiction treatment, and gun-safe storage and training,” the mayor’s office says. If the council approves the ordinance in a final reading on February 8, it would take effect in August, absent any court action. In addition to taking issue with alleged constitutional infringements, the gun rights group’s lawsuit also contends the ordinance “only affects owners of lawfully-owned guns,” and its “true impact is solely on guns kept in the home by law-abiding citizens.” “It does nothing to deter the scourge of unlawful ownership and use of guns by criminals to recoup from them compensation for the injuries and damage they cause,” the lawsuit states. “If left intact, the city of San Jose’s ordinance would strike at the very core of the fundamental constitutional right to keep and bear arms and defend one’s home,” the lawsuit reads. The suit also claims the ordinance violates California’s constitution because “it imposes taxes not approved by voters, or … imposes a fee that is unrelated to the costs borne by the city of San Jose.” When asked at a January 24 news conference about unlawfully obtained guns, Liccardo agreed criminals were a concern, but said there are “existing laws in place” to deal with illegal guns. The mayor argued legally owned firearms are also “a source of enormous amount of death and harm in our community and we need to be addressing that as well.” When Liccardo proposed the fee last year, his office said it would “compensate taxpayers for the public cost of responding to gun-related injuries and death, such as for emergency medical and police response.” By Tuesday, when the city council voted on the ordinance, the mayor’s office was no longer saying the fee would compensate taxpayers. Instead, the ordinance directs the fee’s proceeds to the nonprofit for distribution to gun-violence reduction programs. Nevertheless, Liccardo’s office has stressed the costs of firearm injuries. It has cited a 2021 Pacific Institute on Research and Evaluation study saying shootings of all types – intentional and unintentional – cost San Jose residents $442 million per year, when including public costs like emergency response and private costs to individuals and families. “Certainly, the Second Amendment protects every citizen’s right to own a gun. It does not require taxpayers to subsidize that right,” Liccardo said Monday at a news conference. The council’s vote followed hours of debate and public comment on the issue. Critics argued the ordinance punishes law-abiding gun owners and doesn’t do enough to address root causes of gun violence. One speaker told the council, “You cannot tax a constitutional right” and urged lawmakers to instead focus on enforcing existing laws, hiring more police officers and funding mental health services. A supporter told the council the ordinance will “help protect our community from preventable gun deaths,” while another called on members to approve the measure, saying, “In the near future, it will be very evident that this was an obvious thing to do, and we’ll wonder why we didn’t do it sooner.”",6429.0,Jason Hanna
18,2022-01-28,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/28/us/bomb-cyclone-explainer-wxc-trnd/index.html,What is a bomb cyclone? Here’s what you need to know,US,CNN,"Bomb. It’s not a word you can say on an airplane (cue Ben Stiller). You also have to be careful when using it to describe a storm system. But the term “bomb cyclone” does pop up from time to time in weather stories – the latest being the powerful nor’easter set to impact 75 million people from the Southeast to New England this weekend. Here’s what it means: • Bomb cyclone is a term given to a rapidly strengthening storm that fulfills one important criterion. However, that benchmark is also based on the latitude of the storm. So, the millibar requirement can change depending on where the storm forms. The term bomb cyclone can be traced back to a meteorological research paper published in a 1980 edition of Monthly Weather Review. Its authors, MIT meteorologists Fred Sanders and John Gyakum, built upon work by Swedish meteorology researcher Tor Bergeron, who had initially defined “rapidly deepening” storms as those that met the 24 millibars-in-24 hours criterion. But Bergeron was way up in Scandinavia, where storms strengthen much quicker because of the latitude (remember the Coriolis effect?). Sanders and Gyakum adjusted the ground rules to vary based on latitude. And they added the term “bomb” because of the explosive power that these storms derive from rapid pressure drops (though Gyakum reportedly doesn’t use that word anymore because of its reference to weaponry). Since you read down this far, I feel obligated to give you the actual equation (and if you love it, perhaps you should consider pursuing a career in meteorology!). To calculate the pressure drop needed for a bomb cyclone, you take the sine of the latitude where the low pressure is located and divide it by the sine of 60 degrees (and you thought you would never use trigonometry). Why 60 degrees? That’s the latitude where Bergeron was when he developed the initial scale. Once you do the calculation, you multiply that result by 24, and that is the number of millibars the storm’s pressure must drop to officially qualify it as a bomb cyclone at the given latitude.",2056.0,Brandon Miller
19,2022-01-28,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/us/nevada-man-jailed-misidentified-lawsuit/index.html,"A Black man was misidentified, arrested and held for 6 days in place of a White felon twice his age",US,CNN,"A Black man spent six days in jail in Nevada because police misidentified him as a convicted White felon who is more than twice his age, according to a federal lawsuit filed against the police departments of Henderson and Las Vegas. Shane Lee Brown is now asking for at least $500,000 in damages. Brown, 25, had finished work on January 8, 2020, and was driving in Henderson, Nevada – 14 miles outside of Las Vegas – when Henderson City Police officers pulled him over, the lawsuit, filed in US District Court of Nevada, details. It was a routine traffic stop for driving an unregistered vehicle, the Henderson Police Department told CNN in a statement Monday. Brown, who is Black, did not have his driver’s license but instead gave police his name, Social Security number and Social Security card, the lawsuit said. He acknowledged to police he had a traffic violation-related warrant, his attorney later told CNN, and had a court date scheduled for the following day. But after a records check under Brown’s name, a felony warrant for another man named Shane Brown appeared, the lawsuit said. Though the two shared the same first and last name, police did not check for their middle names, the color of their skin and date of birth, according to the lawsuit. Shane Neal Brown, 49, had an outstanding felony bench warrant for ownership or possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, records show. Despite the differences, Lee Brown was arrested and spent six days in jails at two Las Vegas-area jurisdictions – Henderson Detention Center and Clark County Detention Center, the lawsuit said. Neal Brown, meanwhile, was arrested two days after the traffic stop that put Lee Brown in jail. According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, Neal Brown was arrested in Needles, California, on January 10, 2020, and released to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police on January 22, 2020. Shannon Phenix, the public defender assigned to Neal Brown’s case, said Lee Brown was released on January 14, 2020. For four days, both men were in jail at the same time, across state lines. CNN has reached out to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, but it declined to comment on pending litigation. Henderson Police maintain Lee Brown was “correctly arrested by Henderson Police for driving with a suspended license and for a contempt of court, failure to pay warrant issued by Henderson Municipal Court,” according to statement to CNN. “Mr. Brown admitted to the arresting officers that he knew his driver license was suspended and that he had traffic warrants in Henderson,” the statement continued. “That might have been true,” Phenix, the public defender, told CNN. “But he would have only been held at the jail on his traffic warrants and he would have been out of custody in two days, and he would have bail set on those warrants.” Lee Brown did not get to see a judge within 48 hours as the law requires, since the man he was mistaken for had an ongoing case, and police and jail believed they had the correct person. In fact, he didn’t get to see a judge at all, Phenix told CNN. Phenix said she wasn’t even notified that an arrest had been made under her case with Neal Brown, because Lee Brown was booked under a separate ID number – “which is a concern because that means the jail knew it wasn’t the same person, because they took fingerprints, but they still had him held on the warrant,” Phenix said. Instead, she got a call from the panicked mother of Lee Brown, who contacted her and asked for her help getting her son out of jail. In the meantime, while in custody, Lee Brown repeatedly tried to explain to Henderson Police officers that he was not the 49-year-old Shane Neal Brown who was wanted on a felony warrant. “It felt like every word I said was falling on deaf ears. No one gave me the time of day, or even listened to what I was trying to explain to them,” Lee Brown told CNN. His protests went ignored for days. “Most of the time I didn’t even get a response,” he said, adding that at the time, he didn’t know the other Shane Brown was White. “I didn’t know what race the guy was, I knew roughly his age because I had seen the birth year, but other than that, I just tried to tell them there’s no way this is me.” Lee Brown didn’t get to see what Neal Brown looked like because he wasn’t brought to court for the January 14 hearing. “So because they had different ID numbers, the jail was like, well, that’s not the right individual, so they didn’t bring him to court,” Phenix explained. Since she couldn’t show the judge her client, Phenix brought mug shots of both men to the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County, and pointed out Shane Lee Brown’s didn’t match the original photo of the elder Brown, telling the judge police had arrested the wrong person. Judge Joe Hardy Jr. then ordered Lee Brown to be released immediately. Once he was released, Lee Brown looked up Shane Neal Brown, and found a booking photo that looked nothing like him. “I couldn’t believe it. I was in disbelief, shocked, angered, upset, hurt,” he told CNN. “Had any of the LVMPD police or corrections officers performed any due diligence, such as comparing his booking photo against the existing mug shot belonging to the older, white ‘Shane Brown’ named in the warrant, comparing his fingerprints, birth date, ID No., or physical description, they would have easily determined that Shane Lee Brown has been misidentified as the subject of the warrant,” the lawsuit states. When asked why Lee Brown, once arrested, was charged with the crimes of Neal Brown, Henderson police said, “the circumstances will be further addressed in the City Attorney’s response to the court.” The attorney now representing Lee Brown in the suit, E. Brent Bryson, said the police failed his client when they did not further investigate his claim of mistaken identity. “It’s their duty to know, and if they hear it a hundred times, so be it. It doesn’t matter if they hear it all the time. They need to do their investigation, their due diligence and act appropriately,” Bryson told CNN. “The law says (this) rises to a level of deliberate indifference and that’s what happened here. They just didn’t care. They just didn’t do anything.” Christopher Peterson, a former public defender who briefly represented Neal Brown in the past and now works for the Nevada chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the entire system failed Lee Brown on multiple levels. “You have the arresting warrant that’s claiming that this felony warrant applies to Shane Lee Brown, when in fact that’s not accurate. So that’s the first failing,” Peterson said. Then, Peterson said, Lee Brown went to booking at Henderson Detention Center. “You have a records department at every facility that’s double-checking and making sure the records line up,” He said. “Those people would have potentially had access to paperwork to determine whether this the right guy.” While at Henderson, “anytime he would have said something, anyone, his officers, could have thrown a flag up and said, ‘Hey, we have the wrong person,’” Peterson said. Then there were the transporting officers who took Lee Brown to the Clark County Detention Center. “Presumably, they would have had some paperwork that would have told them whether or not they had the right guy for the warrant, to make sure they bring the right person over.” Once at Clark County, Lee Brown was booked again, and again the mistaken identity was not flagged. “Then you have the officers there supervising over the Clark County Detention Center,” Peterson said, and those officers also did not check to see whether Lee Brown’s claims of mistaken identity were true. Then, come the day of the hearing, Lee Brown isn’t brought to court. “That that is a clear red flag. There’s a problem when your description is so far off, you can’t figure out who to bring to the courtroom. That’s a serious issue. And yet somehow it’s on the public defender to talk to the judge and say, Judge, they have the wrong person. It should never have gotten to that point.”",8073.0,Alisha Ebrahimji
20,2022-01-28,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/us/constance-baker-motley-race-deconstructed-newsletter/index.html,This Black woman judge laid the groundwork for those who would follow,US,CNN,"A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Race Deconstructed newsletter. To get it in your inbox every week, sign up for free here. As President Joe Biden reaffirms his commitment to nominate the first Black woman to the US Supreme Court, it makes sense to revisit the life and work of another Black woman who profoundly shaped the law: Constance Baker Motley. Motley was a “desegregation architect” who over the course of decades inspired numerous women lawyers and judges – including some on the short list of potential nominees. Yet she’s often missing from the pantheon of great Americans. Many are familiar with Thurgood Marshall, but few outside judiciary circles talk about Motley’s vital role in dismantling racial segregation and gender discrimination. As a lawyer with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., Motley wrote the original complaint in Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 case in which the Court unanimously held that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” and violate the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protections Clause. Further, Motley handled a number of cases that enforced the Brown decision at elementary and secondary schools across the South. She also litigated cases that broke down racial barriers at institutions of higher education in the region, including at the University of Mississippi, where James Meredith famously gained admission in 1962. Later, during her time in political office and on the federal bench beginning in the mid-’60s, Motley continued to champion the rights of the most marginalized Americans, and became a beloved figure in the early prisoners’ rights movement. In her magnificent new volume, “Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality,” Tomiko Brown-Nagin, the dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and the Daniel P.S. Paul Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School, offers a gripping chronicle of Motley’s life and career, and in the process gives the trailblazer’s leviathan achievements the attention they deserve. “The invisibility of this fascinating woman in our public histories and popular culture distorts our sense of who rebuilt America,” Brown-Nagin writes. “Motley’s invisibility in our nation’s history shortchanges us all. But her absence is especially detrimental to the sense of belonging of the many communities she visibly represented – African Americans, West Indians, women, girls, immigrants and the working class.” I recently spoke with Brown-Nagin about her book, released this week, and about the enduring relevance of Motley’s battles for racial equality. The following conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Your book’s title, “Civil Rights Queen,” is fitting. But why isn’t Constance Baker Motley as well known today as her mentor Thurgood Marshall? In particular, what does the absence of her name from the list of civil rights heroes tell us about our understanding of the movement – and Black women’s role in it? The first reason is that, in Western societies, historical significance is coded male, so the lives of men are deemed worthy of study and remembrance. In this context, Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall have become well-known figures in American history, studied by students from elementary through high school. And I want to say that this is as it should be. Nevertheless, there should be room for a figure such as Constance Baker Motley, who was a remarkable woman and a giant in the law. Called the Civil Rights Queen in her time, she was a counterpart of Marshall, who was called Mr. Civil Rights and was her mentor. He called Motley his equal and said that she just walked into the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and “took over.” A second reason that she is probably lesser known is because she was not promoted to director-counsel of the NAACP LDF. When Marshall stepped down, the position went to a respected lawyer, Jack Greenberg. And the point is that history seldom remembers the No. 2, and she was in the No. 2 position. I do think that it deprived her of some fame that she otherwise would’ve had. Then there’s a third reason. In her third phase (of her career), Motley was appointed to the court (the US District Court for the Southern District of New York). It was a tremendous honor, but at the same time, judges are cloistered. There are few judges, other than the justices of the US Supreme Court, who are well known in society broadly. Could you walk me through Motley’s role in litigating cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, and tell me why these cases matter in the context of today? Perhaps the place to start is with Brown v. Board of Education, one of the most significant cases in constitutional law of the 20th century. This is the case in which the Court unanimously held that state-mandated segregation in schools was unconstitutional. Motley was a part of the legal team that helped change our nation in that context of education, and she was the only woman on the legal team. Motley also litigated school desegregation cases in Atlanta and Mobile and throughout the South, and she helped desegregate higher education at flagship universities in Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia. It was because of Motley’s work that Black students entered those universities in large numbers. She also, as a judge, decided some significant cases. I would point to her role in implementing Title VII, the employment antidiscrimination law that was a part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She played a big role in a settlement in a case brought by female law school graduates arguing that one of the most prestigious law firms denied opportunities to women. Motley was asked by the attorney for the law firm in that case to recuse herself because he said that, as a Black woman, she herself had probably experienced workplace discrimination and therefore, he concluded, couldn’t be fair. Motley rejected that invitation, and turned the argument on its head, enunciating a principle that is of enduring significance. And that is that everyone has a race and a gender. It’s not just African American women or people of color. White men have a race and a gender. They have experiences – everyone has experiences. And if no one with experience of any kind or an identity can rule in a case, then we’re in a very bad place. And that principle, the Blank principle, has been applied in the context of lawyers making recusal motions based on a judge’s race or sex or LGBTQ status. What were some of the challenges Motley faced early on in her career? And what were some of the dangers she faced as a civil rights lawyer, and often as the only Black woman in the courtroom? There were low expectations for an African American girl from a working-class immigrant background in New Haven, Connecticut, when Motley arrived at Columbia Law School, where she was never meant to be. There were very few African Americans and very few women there. She wrote that she survived law school. And so that is to say that it was a challenging experience for her. She wrote about how if anyone had taken a bet, no one would’ve bet on her. And yet she went on to have this glorious career in the law. But as she litigated, she faced some of the same indignities as her clients. For example, she was not allowed to stay in White-owned hotels or eat at White-owned restaurants. So she lost weight when she went down South because there wasn’t adequate food. She didn’t have the convenience of just popping into a restaurant when she needed to. The lawyers had to rely on the kindness of friends or African Americans in the community who may have had boarding houses, and that was not always sure to materialize because those Blacks who helped NAACP LDF lawyers were themselves subject to retaliation. Then there was the issue of sometimes facing disrespect from White lawyers and even judges in those courtrooms where she was typically the only woman. Few people had seen a Black lawyer, much less the combination of a Black and a woman lawyer. So she really stood out in ways that threatened norms, and sometimes the lawyers on the other side were disrespectful. When Motley was in Mississippi, a lawyer who defended the University of Mississippi refused to shake her hand. When she was working on one of the cases defending the Birmingham civil rights movement, she appeared in the courtroom, and the judge said, Well, you’re a woman. In other words, Why are you here? And how can it be that of the lawyers who are sitting at the council’s table, you are the one who’s actually representing the movement? Motley, who had been taught by Thurgood Marshall to not react to such swipes and in some instances to laugh them off, deflected and said, Well, actually, I’m the NAACP Legal Defense Fund lawyer who was assigned to this case. I have experience with these kinds of cases, and that is why I am the one who’s standing before you and going to press the case. What motivated Motley to consistently put her life on the line to litigate cases that sought to dismantle racial segregation? Motley grew up in New Haven in the shadow of Yale University. All of her male relatives worked at Yale, and her parents were West Indian immigrants. In the context of that household and in New Haven – there were progressive elements in the ’30s – when she came of age, she developed an interest in social justice and went to law school, though people thought that she, as a Black girl, was crazy for having that aspiration. She was told that she should be a hairdresser. But she defied that, because she had a sense of mission. She was highly intelligent. She could see the discrimination around her and wanted to be helpful in the struggle. Motley was quite courageous. She litigated a number of cases in the South under threat of death. Certainly, that was true in the Ole Miss case. In that process, two people were killed. But she did that work because she believed in the principle. And of course, she was working with a band of lawyers who, together, were a community dedicated to social justice.",10123.0,by Brandon Tensley
21,2022-01-28,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/28/us/rittenhouse-gun-destroyed/index.html,Gun used by Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha shootings to be destroyed,US,CNN,"The gun that Kyle Rittenhouse used in the Kenosha, Wisconsin, shootings will be destroyed, Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said Friday. “The parties – the defense, the state, and also Dominick Black, who purchased that firearm – have all signed off on a stipulation whereby the Kenosha Police Department and Joint Services will destroy that firearm, as well as the magazine, and the scope,” Binger told Judge Bruce Schroeder at a hearing Friday. “It will not be in anyone’s possession.” Rittenhouse, who was acquitted in November of killing two people and shooting another during 2020 unrest, asked the court earlier this month to order the release of the gun because he wanted to properly destroy it, according to a court document filed by his attorney. “I have discussed this with my client and it meets his goals, and we’re in agreement,” defense attorney Mark Richards told the court Friday. Richards also confirmed the rest of Rittenhouse’s property that was seized when he was arrested was returned earlier this week. Rittenhouse was not present for the hearing. The AR-15 firearm used in the shootings was purchased by Black, who was dating Rittenhouse’s sister at the time. Rittenhouse was too young to purchase and possess a gun, but he agreed to pay for the firearm, Black testified in November at the trial. Rittenhouse is the lawful owner of the firearm “per the verbal contract enacted with Dominick Black,” Richards said in his filing requesting the release of the gun. Binger said he will inform the court once the weapon has been destroyed. “The destruction will be recorded and we’ll provide that to the defense at that time,” Binger said. “The state crime lab has machinery to destroy them. That will happen probably towards the end of April.”",1786.0,Brad Parks
22,2022-01-28,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/us/joe-rogan-jordan-peterson-climate-science-intl/index.html,Scientists slam Joe Rogan’s podcast episode with Jordan Peterson as ‘absurd’ and ‘dangerous’,US,CNN,"As podcaster Joe Rogan faces condemnation from medical scientists for spreading misinformation about vaccines and Covid-19, another interview by the controversial host this week has become the subject of mockery – this time among climate scientists. Canadian clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson appeared on “The Joe Rogan Experience” on Monday, making false and generalized claims that the modeling scientists use to project climate change and its impacts are flawed. In waffling remarks, Peterson said that “there’s no such thing as climate, right?” He then went on to mock “climate types,” who he said typically suggest that “climate is about everything.” “But your models aren’t based on everything. Your models are based on a set number of variables. So that means you’ve reduced the variables – which are everything – to that set. But how did you decide which set of variables to include in the equation if it’s about everything?” Rogan, whose podcast is hosted on Spotify, did little to challenge the unsubstantiated comments. Peterson’s remarks show a general misunderstanding of how scientific modeling works. Scientists use models, or simulations, to project particular aspects of climate change, such as the rise in global temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns and the likelihood of drought. Climate scientists are now ridiculing Peterson’s claims. “Such seemingly-comic nihilism would be funny if it weren’t so dangerous,” Michael E. Mann, a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University, told CNN. “Similar anti-science spread by these two individuals about COVID-19 likely has and will continue to lead to fatalities. Even more will perish from extremely dangerous and deadly weather extremes if we fail to act on the climate crisis. So the promotion of misinformation about climate change is in some ways even more dangerous.” Mann said that Peterson’s claims were “nonsensical and false,” and seems to boil down to the idea that climate science is so complicated that scientists could never model it or understand it. “Such an absurd argument leads to a dismissal of physics, chemistry, biology, and every other field of science where one formulates (and tests—that’s the critical part Peterson seems to fail to understand) conceptual models that attempt to simplify the system and distill the key components and their interactions,” Mann said. “Every great discovery in science has arisen this way. Including the physics of electromagnetism that allowed Peterson and Rogan to record and broadcast this silly and absurd conversation.” Spotify declined to comment on the criticism. CNN has reached out to “The Joe Rogan Experience” for comment. NASA climate scientist Gavin Schmidt shared similar views on Twitter, pointing out that Peterson didn’t appear to understand how climate models work. Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist at Berkeley Earth, tweeted graph showing how accurate scientists’ projections of global warming have been over several decades. “For what it’s worth, we have been projecting future warming since the first climate models in the late 1960s/early 1970s. We can look back to see how well they have performed. It turns out our models generally did a good job,” he wrote. The backlash comes as musician Neil Young told audio streaming giant Spotify he no longer wanted his music to be featured on on the service because of Rogan’s frequent false claims around Covid-19 and vaccines. Spotify announced on Wednesday it would no longer stream the music of Neil Young, according to a Washington Post report. This story has been updated with comments from climate scientist Michael E. Mann.",3638.0,Angela Dewan
23,2022-01-28,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/28/us/oxford-high-school-shooting-lawsuit-parents-staff/index.html,Lawsuit over Oxford High School shooting claims negligence by some school staff and the shooter’s parents,US,CNN,"A lawsuit regarding the November school shooting in Oxford, Michigan, claims certain staff members as well as the parents of the alleged shooter were negligent in their handling of the suspect. The plaintiffs – three students, their families and the estate of Tate Myre, who died from his injuries from the shooting at Oxford High School – allege extreme emotional distress, the lawsuit says. The three students who survived witnessed the deaths of their friends and classmates, including one student whose friend was shot and killed while they were hiding in a bathroom stall, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday. The students now experience “severe mental disturbance” and suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, according to the lawsuit. Four students were killed in the shooting: Myre, age 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17, authorities said. The suspected shooter, Ethan Crumbley, was able to allegedly commit the acts he did because of the lack of action by the dean of students, two school counselors, three teachers and his parents, according to the lawsuit. “EC [Ethan Crumbley] exhibited some concerning, strange and bizarre behavior which should have alerted his parents, as well as other people who had extensive contact with him, that he was suffering from significant psychiatric problems, and that he might have been subject to child abuse and/or neglect by his parents,” according to the filing. “Our goal is to hold ALL people accountable who caused/contributed to this tragedy,” Ven Johnson, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told CNN in an email. CNN has been unable to reach the defendants for comment. In a previous statement to CNN regarding a similar lawsuit filed in December on behalf of two other survivors, an attorney representing the Oxford Community School District said the district and all its personnel have fully cooperated with the investigation into the shooting. “In pursuing the investigation, prosecutors have asked and the school district certainly agrees, and we have made the commitment not to do or say anything that would confuse, interfere with or in effect obstruct their pursuit of justice on behalf of the victims of these criminal acts,” attorney Tim Mullins said. “The school district is honoring that commitment.” Crumbley faces 24 charges, including one count of terrorism causing death and four counts of first-degree murder, in connection with the shooting at Oxford High School, 40 miles north of downtown Detroit. Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, is being charged as an adult. His defense attorneys filed a notice on Thursday saying that they plan to “assert the defense of insanity at the time of the alleged offense.” Crumbley’s parents were arrested days after the shooting and charged with four counts each of involuntary manslaughter, as prosecutors accused them of disregarding signs their son was a threat and giving him easy access to the gun. They have pleaded not guilty. Many of the claims in the lawsuit echo what prosecutors have shared over the course of their criminal investigation. This includes concerning behaviors like Ethan Crumbley allegedly decapitating and torturing animals, having “potential hallucinations and/or delusions,” and generally showing signs of depression and suicidal ideation, according to the lawsuit. Around May 2021, Crumbley was “so distraught and upset with his life … that he stopped doing his homework,” the lawsuit says, and was shocked that his parents didn’t seem to notice or care. As prosecutors have previously alleged, the lawsuit also states that Crumbley had unrestricted access to the gun his parents bought for him. Jennifer and James Crumbley either dismissed or were not properly aware of the things their son did, the lawsuit alleges, and their lack of action led to the events on November 30, the day of the shooting. In addition to Crumbley’s parents, the lawsuit says that some school officials and teachers did not do enough “to protect him from his own suicidal ideation and the clear risk that he would become a murderer,” and did not report the parent’s lack of actions to Child Protective Services soon enough. Specifically, the failure of the dean to search Crumbley’s bag after a teacher found Crumbley’s drawings of a gun and a person bleeding on the day of the shooting ended up being “an essential factor” that led to the deaths and injuries of students, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit also says the teacher’s and counselor’s failure to include the school safety liaison officer in the meeting with Crumbley’s parents prevented him from “taking action to prevent the mayhem that followed.” The plaintiffs are requesting monetary and exemplary damages to be determined by a jury, as well as attorney fees, the lawsuit says. Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not specify a specific amount they are seeking.",4901.0,Taylor Romine
24,2022-01-28,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/28/us/pittsburgh-bridge-collapse-survivors/index.html,A Pittsburgh bus driver came to work on his day off. His familiar route took him to a bridge collapse,US,CNN,"Daryl Luciani was supposed to be off Friday but got behind the wheel of a Pittsburgh Port Authority bus for some extra cash. He was shuttling two passengers across the snow-covered Forbes Avenue bridge in Pittsburgh early Friday when the structure collapsed, Luciani told CNN affiliate WTAE. “I’m a little shaken up here, you know, just thankful to be alive,” Luciani said. Ten people sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the collapse, which occurred hours before a previously scheduled visit to the city by President Joe Biden to discuss infrastructure. For Luciani, 58, it started out as a normal day on a familiar route until he pulled the 60-foot articulated bus onto the bridge in the predawn darkness. “It just happened so fast,” Luciani told the station. “The bus was bouncing and shaking.” The bridge was collapsing, Luciani said, and the force shook and bumped the bus around before the movement suddenly stopped. “It seemed like the bridge was collapsing as I was driving on it,” Luciani, a port authority driver for nine years, told the station. The bus driver recalled seeing a car approaching the bridge and then careening off the edge and into a ravine below. “It was one of those things that you usually see on TV when you’re watching those shows,” he said. Luciani said his two passengers did not appear to be injured. He worried about the bus rolling into the ravine. First responders used a ladder to rescue Luciani and his passengers. A port authority route foreman drove the passengers home. Jeremy Habowski was also driving on the bridge. He said he tried to warn other drivers about the collapse but one car couldn’t stop, “The silver car ended up going over,” Habowski said told CNN. No fatalities have been reported, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey told reporters in the area of Forbes and Braddock avenues. Four vehicles were on the bridge when it fell, Jones said. Habowski said he felt lucky to be alive after surviving the collapse. When the bridge collapsed, Habowski said he and other drivers were unable to stop in time. “The scariest part was definitely going over the edge because there was a gap and my car left the ground,” Habowski said. His car and others are now sitting on top of what remains of the bridge. Once things settled, Habowski checked on another driver, he said. Then he climbed up the hill to try and stop other drivers from driving into the debris. “It was a lot to take in,” he told CNN. Teams were checking to make sure no one was under the bridge when it collapsed, according to Jones. The cause of the collapse is under investigation, Jones said. First responders used ropes to rappel down to get to the victims, Jones said. Crews also used what he called a “daisy chain” where they linked hands to reach the victims and pull them out. Pittsburgh City Councilmember Corey O’Connor said there likely would have been far more traffic on the bridge later Friday morning. President Biden visited the site of the collapse Friday afternoon.",2991.0,Paul P. Murphy
25,2022-01-28,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/us/houston-police-officers-shot/index.html,Standoff ends with Houston police shooting suspect taken into custody,US,CNN,"An hours-long standoff ended Thursday evening when Houston police took into custody a man suspected of shooting three officers, officials tweeted. The suspect, who police have not identified, came out at 7:45 p.m. CT with his hands raised and surrendered, Houston Police Department Chief Troy Finner said. The man had a neck wound that likely would require surgery, the chief added. Two of the three police officers were released from the hospital on Friday, according to a tweet from the department. “Great news to report that Officers Gadson and Hayden have been released from the hospital,” the Houston Police Department tweet says. “Officer Alvarez remains hospitalized in stable condition.” The shooting comes four days after Cpl. Charles Galloway of Harris County Constable Precinct 5 was fatally shot during a traffic stop. A suspect in the case was arrested in Mexico and returned to the Houston area on Wednesday night. In Thursday’s standoff, the suspect barricaded in a home for hours after fleeing the shooting scene in a Mercedes he carjacked. Police officers pursued him to the residence, which was about 5 miles away. “Officers surrounded that house. The suspect fired multiple times. Thank God he did not strike any of the officers,” Finner said at an earlier news conference before the suspect was detained. “Officers returned fire. Again, we don’t know if that suspect is injured.” Finner said at the most recent briefing that authorities believe the man lived at the house and he fired multiple times at a SWAT team. Police said they believe the people who were in the home where the suspect was barricaded ran out when he entered. Douglas Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers’ Union, said authorities believed the suspect had multiple weapons. Griffith said the wounded officers were very fortunate and had one gunshot wound each – one was shot in the arm, another in the leg and another in the foot. The chief said a woman who was carjacked was traumatized but physically fine. CNN affiliate KTRK exclusively acquired video that shows the beginning of Thursday’s shootout. The station reported the video came from a surveillance camera and it shows a Dodge Charger crash as it tries to make a left turn. A police SUV stops behind the car and one officer gets out, aiming a pistol at the car as the officer looks for cover. Two other officers emerge from another SUV and run to the first patrol vehicle as rapid-fire gunshots can be heard. There appears to be a person in the open driver’s door of the suspect vehicle. After the flurry of gunfire, the officers run past the car in pursuit. Finner said officers described the weapon used by the suspect “as an automatic, fully automatic weapon.” The initial incident began as a car chase after police, responding to a home, pursued the fleeing suspect. Stephen Hinson told CNN affiliate KHOU that he thought he heard “some type of crash” then what he estimated to be 50 gunshots. “I looked out my window and I saw the officers running and I realized there was an officer down right in front of my town home.” The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives office in Houston said the area gun strike force was responding to the shooting. “My thoughts and prayers go out to them, and will be at the hospital soon to check on their recovery, thank them for their service and speak to their families,” Turner said of the officers. “I ask everyone to pray for the officers who were shot and for every law enforcement officer working on the streets of Houston.”",3547.0,Steve Almasy
26,2022-01-28,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/28/us/bernard-adams-eric-adams-nyc/index.html,"NYC mayor’s brother can serve as his adviser on mayoral security for a salary of $1, conflict of interest board says",US,CNN,"Bernard Adams, the brother of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, can serve as the mayor’s senior adviser for “Mayoral Security” for a $1 salary, according to a waiver granted by the city’s Conflict of Interest Board (COIB). The New York City Charter precludes a public servant from nominating an “associated” person, such as a family member, to a position unless a waiver is granted by the COIB. Mayor Adams had initially planned to hire his brother as “executive director of mayoral security” at an annual salary of $210,000, The New York Times reported. The mayor said earlier this month that he had appointed his brother to be “in charge of his security,” telling CNN’s Jake Tapper that his brother was qualified for the job and he wanted someone he could trust to be in that position. The appointment was subsequently reviewed by the COIB. City Hall officials said Bernard instead offered to serve for a nominal salary as an adviser based in the mayor’s office to avoid a potential conflict of interest. “Bernard Adams is uniquely qualified for this job, and in order to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest, he offered to serve for the nominal salary of $1.  We made this proposal to the Conflict of Interest Board and they’ve agreed, and we’re grateful to Bernard for being willing to serve the city for no salary,” Adams spokesman Maxwell Young said. While Adams’ security detail will continue to be overseen by the New York Police Department, Bernard will provide guidance and “advise the mayor and his staff on all manners of mayoral security and community engagement,” City Hall officials said. In his adviser position, Bernard will not have any subordinates and will not have any command authority over any member of the NYPD. Additionally, Adams must recuse himself from any decisions regarding the terms of Bernard’s employment with the city, according to a letter written by Jeffrey D. Friedlander, chair of the COIB. Bernard will continue to receive health insurance and a pension from his prior employment with the NYPD, City Hall officials said, but the mayor’s office did not answer questions relating to the amount of the pension.",2161.0,Athena Jones
27,2022-01-27,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/us/nypd-officer-organ-donation/index.html,"Fallen NYPD officer saved 5 lives with organ donation, organization says",US,CNN,"A New York Police officer who died days after a brutal shootout in Harlem saved five lives after his organs were donated, according to LiveOnNY, the organization that helped facilitate the donation. Officer Wilbert Mora, 27, donated his heart, liver, two kidneys, and pancreas to five patients needing lifesaving organ transplants, said LiveOnNY President and CEO Leonard Achan in a statement. Mora was one of two officers who died as a result of the shooting. “LiveOnNY can now confirm that through the generosity of NYPD Officer Mora and his family with their heroic gift of organ donation, 5 people who were waiting for a heart, liver, two kidneys, and pancreas were saved,” said Achan. The donations were given to three individuals in New York and two outside of the state based on the medical urgency of the patients’ status, according to Achan. “We are humbled and honored to be the steward of these gifts on behalf of Officer Mora and his family so others may live on,” Achan said. Mora and Officer Jason Rivera, 22, were fatally shot Friday when a suspected gunman opened fire in a Harlem apartment, authorities said. Rivera died the night of the shooting. The suspect, Lashawn McNeil, tried to run but was confronted and shot by a third officer on the scene and died days later, police said. Rivera’s wake took place Thursday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and his funeral is scheduled for Friday.",1402.0,Kiely Westhoff
28,2022-01-27,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/us/police-delivery-doordash-driver-arrested-trnd/index.html,A police officer completed a DoorDash order after arresting the delivery driver,US,CNN,"An official escort for her lunch was not what Anastasia Elsinger ordered from DoorDash on Tuesday, but that’s what she opened her door to find. “I know I’m not who you were expecting,” a Sioux Falls police officer says in video captured by her doorbell camera. “Your driver got arrested for some things he had to take care of, so I figured I’d complete the DoorDash for you.” Elsinger, a graduate student at South Dakota State University, had ordered a wrap, curly fries, turnovers and a drink from Arby’s as she was studying and didn’t feel like cooking. When her delivery app showed that the driver had stopped a couple of blocks away, she went outside to see if her food was going to the wrong house. That’s when she saw police had pulled the vehicle over. “I was like, ‘Oh, shoot, that stinks. My food will be a little bit late,’” she told CNN on Wednesday. Elsinger assumed that the driver would make the delivery once the traffic stop was over. Instead, she got Officer Sam Buhr. She immediately thought something was wrong – until Elsinger noticed the officer was holding two bags and a drink. Laughing, Elsinger thanked Buhr, who chuckled as he returned to his vehicle. The delivery driver had been pulled over for a traffic stop and had an outstanding warrant, Sioux Falls Police Department Public Information Officer Sam Clemens told CNN. Clemens confirmed it was Buhr who helped complete Elsinger’s delivery. DoorDash says it works closely with law enforcement and runs background checks on all drivers. A spokeswoman said DoorDash is actively looking into this incident and have been in touch with local law enforcement. “We’re grateful to the law enforcement officer for stepping in and ensuring this customer received their order,” the spokeswoman said in a statement. Clemens joked during a media briefing on Wednesday that reports of “an officer that was moonlighting as a DoorDash employee while on duty” were “not exactly accurate.” “It’s not like we have officers that are out delivering food, but the little things like this, going above and beyond helping people out that’s the things that we do, and probably more often than than people realize,” he said. Elsinger said she shared the video on social media and with a local group because she wanted the police department and the community to know about Buhr’s extra effort. She didn’t know his name at the time, so she hoped the clip – and her appreciation – would get back to him. Elsinger told CNN she did eventually get in touch with Buhr’s sister to pass on her thanks. The video has been viewed more than 11.5 million times on TikTok alone. “There’s so much negativity in the world right now and this is just something that’s so funny and so happy that I was like, ‘more people need to see this. This is hilarious,’” she said.",2803.0,David Williams
29,2022-01-27,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/us/california-high-school-racist-comments-basketball-game/index.html,"A California student has been disciplined after making racist comments at a high school basketball game, school district says",US,CNN,"A high school student in Orange County, California, was disciplined after making “inappropriate and inflammatory racist comments” toward a Black basketball player during a game last week, the Saddleback Valley Unified School District (SVUSD) said in a statement. In a video uploaded to social media by Sabrina Brown, who said she is the parent of the basketball player from Portola High School who was being targeted, an attendee of the game can be heard shouting, “Where is his slave owner?” “Chain him up” and other racist slurs. SVUSD Superintendent Crystal Turner issued a statement Tuesday in response to the incident at Laguna Hills High School. “The language and connotations expressed by the words used do not represent the culture, attitudes, or feelings of the students and staff of LHHS, nor those of Saddleback Valley Unified School District (SVUSD),” Turner said. Laguna Hills High School is taking action and the student who made the racist remarks “has been counseled, and immediate, appropriate consequences and discipline have taken place,” according to Turner. “Although apologies are necessary, they do not suffice,” added Turner. “The words used by this student will never be acceptable.” Concerned parents, including Brown, spoke about the video during a city council meeting Tuesday night. “I’m sure many of you are appalled and surprised by what you saw in the video,” Brown said while addressing the Irvine City Council. “You may believe that this is an isolated incident and would like to put this behind you, but we don’t have that option. The color of our skin does not allow us that option.” CNN has made efforts to reach out to Brown for comment but has not heard back. The superintendents for both school districts involved, in addition to the principals and athletic directors from the schools, have been in contact, according to the Irvine Unified School District (IUSD). “The racist comments made in reference to an IUSD student athlete, by a Laguna Hills High School (LLHS) student, during a recent basketball game at LHHS are unacceptable and appalling,” IUSD said in a statement. The incident will be further investigated by Laguna Hills High School and SVUSD to make sure “corrective measures with appropriate consequences” will be engaged, according to IUSD.",2296.0,Sarah Moon
30,2022-01-27,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/us/new-york-bronx-man-more-than-300-gun-charges/index.html,A Bronx man faces more than 300 gun-related charges for allegedly selling weapons to an undercover officer,US,CNN,"A Bronx man is facing more than 300 counts of gun-related charges after allegedly selling more than 70 weapons and high-capacity magazines to an undercover New York Police Department officer, the Bronx District Attorney announced Wednesday. Shakor Rodriguez, 23, is charged with 304 counts, including the criminal sale and possession of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon, according to two indictments filed in the Bronx Supreme Court. He was arraigned on both indictments and pleaded not guilty to 225 counts. His attorney had no comment. The charges come the same week New York Mayor Eric Adams announced his “Blueprint to End Gun Violence” as part of a citywide effort to combat increased violent crime. Adams cited gun trafficking as a significant part of the problem, calling for state and federal governments to raise the penalty it. Authorities in nine Northeastern states also are poised to cooperate to pinpoint the origin of illegal guns and stop them from entering New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday, calling gun violence “a national crisis.” Rodriguez was attending Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, while allegedly smuggling illegal weapons to the Bronx and Manhattan, according to the DA. Rodriguez allegedly sold an undercover NYPD officer 73 firearms, 59 of which were loaded, and more than 40 high-capacity magazines, according to the district attorney, who noted the officer typically paid between $1,000 and $1,500 per gun. “The defendant allegedly brought these semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines up from the south, sometimes transporting them in a duffle bag by bus. Dozens of the firearms were loaded and four are considered assault weapons. The NYPD worked diligently to intercept these deadly weapons before they hit our streets,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said in a statement. “Bronxites are dying from gunfire and we cannot tolerate one more illegal gun in our community,” Clark said. There has been an 80% increase in firearm homicides in New York state since 2019, and 75% of the guns used in those homicides came from out of state, Hochul said Wednesday. New York’s new Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns will bring together authorities from nine states in its region to identify where illegal guns are originating, figure out where they are headed and stop them from entering New York, the governor said. The NYPD Firearms Investigations Unit and the Bronx District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau conducted a joint investigation between July 2020 and December 2021, which ultimately led to Rodriguez’s arrest, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Rodriguez is expected back in court Monday.",2714.0,Kiely Westhoff
31,2022-01-27,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/us/holocaust-letter-returned-to-family-trnd/index.html,NY woman helps reunite families with lost memorabilia. Her latest mission involved a handwritten letter from the Holocaust,US,CNN,"On July 18, 1945, Ilse Loewenberg wrote a letter to her sister, Carla, after surviving as a Jewish woman during the Holocaust. “I am able to give you a sign of life from me after so many years,” part of the letter – originally in German – reads. “Dad, Mom, Grete, Lottchen and Hermann: no one is alive anymore.” Seven decades later, that letter has been returned to a family descendant after resurfacing at a flea market in New York. Chelsey Brown, 28, an author and heirloom investigator, purchased the letter in October 2021 from a vendor with the intent of finding Loewenberg’s family, she told CNN on Monday. As a part-time interior decorator, Brown often finds herself at thrift shops and flea markets full of old family relics. “It would break my heart every time I passed a box of family heirlooms because with the background I have, I know those items should be with their rightful families.” The letter was written in German, so Brown got some help from her Instagram followers to translate it. Though it wasn’t Brown’s first time reconnecting families with long-lost memorabilia, getting the letter to Loewenberg’s family was a little trickier than past items, she said. Holocaust memorabilia can be resold for hundreds or thousands of dollars. “These items should go back to their rightful families,” Brown said. “We should not be profiting off these families.” Brown was able to obtain the letter, birth certificate and another descriptive document from a vendor she frequents. She wishes not to disclose the amount she paid. After days of researching, Brown was able to get in contact with Loewenberg’s great niece, Jill Butler. She gave Butler the documents a few days before Thanksgiving. Loewenberg fought for her life during the Holocaust years, Brown learned. She jumped from a moving train bound for Auschwitz, hid in Berlin for nine months and lost her entire family during that time, according to records later written by her sister. Those documents note that their two other sisters and mother died in Auschwitz. Their father died of starvation in camp, and Loewenberg’s husband was shot by the Gestapo. Loewenberg’s family is among the 6 million Jews who were killed during the Holocaust – one-third of the world’s Jewish population at the time. Carla and Ilse Loewenberg were the only two survivors of their family. Loewenberg eventually moved to New York and died on 9/11, unrelated to the terrorist attacks. Butler told CNN in a written statement that her family was in awe of receiving the letter and at first, they thought it was a scam. “We all loved our great aunt Ilse and are thrilled beyond words to read her thoughts in her own handwriting after she emerged from the depths of the European inferno,” Butler said. Brown says she learned so much about the pair’s relationship. Butler told her they were very close and even traveled to Germany together. Brown was able to make that connection even stronger through her find. “From the documents that I had, I was able to tell Jill more than she knew of Ilse’s experience,” Brown said. Brown has been purchasing old family relics since July 2021. She’s stopped keeping track of how many items she has returned to families, but said that three months after she began, the total was well over 200. With a genealogist father, Brown knew how important reuniting families with these items could be. She uses the site MyHeritage.com to help with her research in tracking down family members. Brown said she doesn’t make an income with this hobby, but practices it full time. Her favorite pieces to find are old love letters because sometimes she returns them to people who weren’t even expecting them. Ilse’s letter to Carla is now one of her favorites. “My goal is that I want to get as many of these Holocaust documents off the market and get them back to their rightful families.” Brown said. January 27 is Holocaust Remembrance Day, as it marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The United Nations enacted this day and it has been commemorated since 2005, according to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum website.",4102.0,Sara Smart
32,2022-01-27,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/26/us/chicago-child-killed-suspects-charged/index.html,A teenager and an adult were charged in connection with 8-year-old’s fatal shooting in Chicago,US,CNN,"A teenager and an adult have been charged in connection with the killing of 8-year-old Melissa Ortega, who was struck by a stray bullet over the weekend in Chicago, police said. Melissa was walking with her mother on Saturday afternoon when they heard gunshots, and the mother discovered the child had been struck in the head by a bullet, authorities said. The child died at a nearby hospital. Neither the mother nor the child were the intended targets, police said. The child “was gunned down in the middle of the afternoon holding her mother’s hand,” Police Superintendent David Brown said at a Wednesday news conference. A 16-year-old, who was not identified, was charged with one felony count of first-degree murder, one felony count of attempted first-degree murder and two felony counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm in an occupied vehicle, Brown said. The teenager is believed to be the shooter, he said. The 27-year-old alleged driver, Xavier Guzman, also was arrested and charged, according to police. CNN has not been able to identify an attorney for Guzman at this time. “He is facing one felony count of first-degree murder and one felony count of attempted first-degree murder,” Brown said. Police said the victim’s mother was notified of the charges Wednesday morning. Brown said he spoke to her “not only to check in on her during this especially tough time but to also let her know that we found the offenders responsible for taking Melissa’s life.” Brown said a 29-year-old man, who was the intended target of the shooting, was shot and injured “as he attempted to run from the gunfire.” CNN has reached out to the Chicago Police Department and the district attorney’s office for additional details. The man was coming out of a store when “known” offenders fired shots at him, striking him in the lower back, police previously said. Shootings in Chicago increased by 11% in 2021 compared to 2020 and 63% compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels, according to a report by police.",1998.0,Raja Razek
33,2022-01-27,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/us/oklahoma-donald-grant-execution/index.html,Oklahoma death row inmate who requested firing squad is executed by lethal injection,US,CNN,"An Oklahoma death row inmate who had requested execution by firing squad was executed by lethal injection on Thursday, according to the state Department of Corrections. The execution of Donald Grant “was carried out with zero complications” at 10:16 a.m., state Attorney General John O’Connor said in a statement. In October 2021 the state resumed executions by lethal injection, after a lengthy hiatus following a botched execution in 2014. Grant and another death row inmate, Gilbert Postelle, had asked a federal judge to intervene and allow their executions by firing squad rather than lethal injection. The judge denied the preliminary injunction. Grant’s lawyers appealed to the US Supreme Court for a stay, but Justice Brett Kavanaugh denied the application. Grant was sentenced to death for the 2001 murders of Brenda McElyea and Felecia Suzette Smith, according to court documents filed to the Supreme Court by the Oklahoma attorney general. “Justice is now served for Brenda McElyea, Felecia Suzette Smith, and the people of Oklahoma,” the attorney general said in a statement. Postelle is scheduled to be executed on February 17. In their initial petition to the court, lawyers for the two inmates had sought an injunction to stop Oklahoma from using lethal injection to administer the death penalty. Attorneys for the inmates had asked for the executions to be delayed pending a late February trial on the constitutionality of the lethal injection protocol. Testimony submitted by the plaintiffs in court filings from a “board-certified anesthesiologist and a board-certified pain medicine specialist” alleged that execution by firing squad – not Oklahoma’s process of lethal injection – is appropriate because “firing squad will reliably cause a death that will be quick and virtually painless.” On November 30, 2021, Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 against recommending clemency for Grant. CNN affiliate KOCO reported that during the hearing, Grant’s lawyers argued that although their client admitted to a 2001 double murder, he shouldn’t be executed because he “is severely mentally ill.”",2117.0,Amanda Watts
34,2022-01-27,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/us/miss-america-contestant-husband-shooting/index.html,"Arrest made in fatal shooting of husband of former Miss America contestant, police say",US,CNN,"A suspect is in custody following last weekend’s fatal shooting that claimed the life of the husband of a former Miss America contestant, according to police in Montgomery, Alabama. In a news release, the Montgomery Police Department said Thomas Hand Jr., 37, was shot and killed on January 22 on a street in Montgomery. Police provided no details about the circumstances surrounding the shooting. According to an arrest warrant obtained by CNN, the victim was fatally shot in the presence of his two-year-old son. The victim was married to Christine Kozlowski Hand, the winner of the 2008 Miss Mississippi pageant, according to her Facebook page. Police arrested 17-year-old Jerimiah Walker of Montgomery, the release stated. CNN has not been able to determine if Walker has legal representation. Walker faces a charge of capital murder in the presence of a child under 14 and is currently in custody at the Montgomery County Detention Facility, the MPD statement said. A GoFundMe page has been set up for Hand’s children.",1023.0,Tina Burnside
35,2022-01-27,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/us/the-doodler-san-francisco-sixth-victim-reward/index.html,San Francisco police have identified a 6th possible victim in a 48-year-old serial killer case and doubled the reward for information,US,CNN,"San Francisco police have doubled the reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspected serial killer known as “The Doodler” who targeted members of the city’s gay community in the 1970s – including a possible sixth victim publicly identified Thursday. The reward for information leading to the “identification, apprehension and conviction” of the Doodler now stands at $200,000, the SFPD said – 48 years to the day the killer’s first victim was found. Police said their investigation has identified a potential sixth victim, Warren Andrews, who was assaulted and discovered unconscious at Lands End park in April 1975. Andrews never regained consciousness, police said, and died about seven weeks later. The idea that Andrews could be a victim of the Doodler was explored in a San Francisco Chronicle series and podcast last year. Police believe the Doodler – named because one of his surviving victims told police the suspect said he was a cartoonist – is responsible for at least five other killings around the Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park areas of San Francisco between January 1974 and June 1975. All six victims are believed to be gay White men, police said. Other suspected victims survived the assaults. One, police said in the crime bulletin, met the suspect in July 1975 at a diner after the bars had closed. The suspect was attending art school and studying to be a cartoonist, he told the victim, who also had a background in art and thought the suspect was talented. It was this victim who gave investigators information that led to a forensic sketch in 1975 (An updated sketch was released in 2019 that showed the suspect’s anticipated age progression). Police received a tip soon after with the name of a suspect, according to the SFPD’s bulletin, which was followed by others who contacted police and named the same suspect. “The person named was interviewed by SFPD Homicide in January 1976 and was considered a strong suspect,” SFPD said Thursday. “This same person interviewed by police in 1976 is still the focus of our investigation in 2022.” Over the years, police have been examining at least five suspected victims: The first was 50-year-old Gerald Cavanagh, a mattress factory worker who was found dead with multiple stab wounds on Ocean Beach the morning of January 27, 1974. In addition to Cavanagh and Andrews, victims included Joseph Stevens, Claus Christmann, Frederick Capin and Harald Gullberg. But, Inspector Dan Cunningham told CNN in 2018, “I’d be a fool to say he didn’t do more.” A 2014 article in “The Awl” helped renew interest in the case, but more attention followed after advances in DNA technology that led investigators to a suspect in the case of the Golden State Killer. In that case, Joseph DeAngelo pleaded guilty to raping more than 50 women and murdering 13 people and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in August 2020.",2914.0,Augie Martin
36,2022-01-27,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/us/fake-vaccine-cards-buffalo-bills-game/index.html,New York couple charged after allegedly posting on social media about using fake vaccine cards to enter a Buffalo Bills game,US,CNN,"A New York couple faces charges after allegedly posting on social media that they had attended a Buffalo Bills football game at Highmark Stadium on January 15 using fake Covid-19 vaccine cards, according to the Erie County District Attorney’s Office. All guests age 12 and older are required to provide proof of vaccination for Covid-19 to enter the stadium, according to the Buffalo Bills website. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation on December 22 that criminalized the use of fake vaccine cards. Amber Naab, 37, and Michael Naab, 34, each face a second-degree felony charge of criminal possession of a forged instrument, Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said in a news conference. The couple was arraigned Tuesday evening and both pleaded not guilty, according to Kait Munro, a spokesperson for the DA’s office. Attorneys for the Naabs did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. Flynn said that the Buffalo Bills found out about the alleged fraudulent vaccine cards through an anonymous tip and that the couple was already on the team’s radar before the January 15 game for allegedly posting on social media about using fake vaccine cards to get into previous games. “Allegedly there had been some social media activity in previous games and someone saw it on social media and called the Buffalo Bills or called the health department and made an anonymous tip that these two individuals were allegedly posting that they had been gotten into Bills games prior,” Flynn said. During the third quarter of the game, the couple was questioned about their vaccine cards by authorities with the Erie County Sheriff’s Office and an investigation subsequently ensued, Flynn said. The couple was arrested on January 25, according to Elaine Yingling, Orchard Park Town Court clerk. Amber and Michael Naab are expected in court on February 22 for a felony hearing. If convicted of the charge, the maximum possible sentence is seven years in prison, the DA’s office said. “DA Flynn does not anticipate that either will serve a term of imprisonment if convicted,” Munro said. The New York State Health Department thanked Erie County and the football team in a tweet on Wednesday for helping to stop the use of fake vaccine cards.",2253.0,Laura Studley
37,2022-01-26,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/26/us/black-ex-sheriffs-deputy-lawsuit-wyoming/index.html,A Black ex-sheriff’s deputy is suing a White ex-supervisor and is alleging years of racist treatment,US,CNN,"A Black police officer says he was subject to “racism,” “bigotry” and “discrimination” at the hands of a White supervisor for more than five years, a lawsuit says. In a lawsuit filed last week in the US District court of Wyoming, Jamin Johnson said he left the Albany County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) in 2017 after years of “intolerable” racism from former Cpl. Christian Handley. CNN has reached out to Handley for comment multiple times. Byron Oedekoven, executive director with the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, said in an email to CNN that the organization does not comment on pending litigation. Johnson joined the ACSO in 2007 and Handley joined the department in 2011, according to the suit. From 2011 to 2014 the officers worked together and Handley, “began to engage in overt and abhorrent racism against Mr. Johnson, the only Black officer at the ACSO,” the lawsuit said. Handley, the lawsuit said, repeatedly used racial slurs, calling Johnson a “n***er” and a “jigaboo.” Handley would frequently have the “same comments about Black people in the community (including arrestees),” the suit said. By 2014, Handley was promoted to Corporal and was Johnson’s direct supervisor, according to the lawsuit. That’s when, the suit says, Handley’s comments “became even more blatant.” On one occasion, Handley drove past Johnson’s home while Johnson was walking outside of his house “with his wife and children” when Handley shouted, “‘mother f**king n***er!’” the suit said. According to the suit, Handley also subjected Johnson to a series of “sham disciplinary” actions that ultimately led to Johnson’s resignation. Johnson resigned on August 2, 2017, according to the suit. Handley was fired last year following an internal investigation led by Wyoming’s first Black sheriff, Aaron Applehans, according to the lawsuit. Sheriff Appelhans also confirmed the investigation to CNN in a phone call. The investigation found “vile and unforgivable racism carried out by Mr. Handley that ultimately forced Mr. Johnson out of his dream job,” the suit said. Handley was “terminated” shortly after, the court document says. Sheriff Appelhans confirmed in a phone call to CNN that the department terminated Handley in March 2021. “We don’t condone that behavior here, we’re always going to continue to have a workplace that’s welcoming to everyone,” Sheriff Appelhans said in a phone call to CNN. “As long as I’m here, we’ll make that one of our top priorities. There’s no place for that behavior in law enforcement,” Sheriff Appelhans added. Johnson is asking for a trial and compensation that includes punitive damages as well as legal fees, according to the suit. An attorney for Johnson said in a statement to CNN, “Jamin Johnson looks forward to confronting Mr. Handley in court and exposing the racism he endured.” The attorney also said in a phone call to CNN that Johnson was uncomfortable at the time of his resignation to come forward and speak out about the racist attacks. “I did not have the confidence that the leadership of the agency at that time would hear what I had to say,” Johnson told CNN in a phone call. “The reality is, I was utterly defeated, I felt completely destroyed and like I had no voice,” Johnson added. “I felt like my credibility had been stolen from me, I really had nothing left in my tank.”",3345.0,Michelle Watson
38,2022-01-26,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/26/us/san-jose-gun-law-wednesday/index.html,This Silicon Valley city just voted to institute first-in-the-nation gun ownership requirements,US,CNN,"The San Jose, California, city council voted Tuesday night to adopt a first-in-the-nation ordinance requiring most gun owners to pay a fee and carry liability insurance, measures aimed at reducing the risk of gun harm by incentivizing safer behavior and easing taxpayers of the financial burden of gun violence. The Silicon Valley city’s council is due to vote Tuesday on the ordinance, whose dual-pronged approach aims to reduce the risk of gun harm by incentivizing safer behavior and to ease taxpayers of the financial burden of gun violence. The ordinance must be approved next month at its final reading in order to take effect in August. Gun rights supporters have threatened to sue to block the measures if they become law. Ahead of the vote, Democratic Mayor Sam Liccardo estimated that San Jose residents incur about $442 million in gun-related costs each year. “Certainly, the Second Amendment protects every citizen’s right to own a gun. It does not require taxpayers to subsidize that right,” Liccardo said Monday at a news conference. Mass shootings have impelled Liccardo to push the fee and insurance measures – first after the 2019 slayings at a festival in nearby Gilroy, California, then following last year’s deadly siege at public transit facility in his city. The mayor has compared the plan to car insurance mandates, which he credits with dramatically reducing traffic fatalities. San Jose city council after the June mass shooting unanimously approved drafting the ordinance, mayoral spokesperson Rachel Davis said Monday in a news release. If it’s approved Tuesday and on second reading February 8, it would take effect August 8. Just 52% of Americans polled in late 2021 said “laws covering the sales of firearms” should be stricter, the lowest number Gallup has measured on the question since 2014. Meanwhile, there is a direct correlation in states with weaker gun laws and higher rates of gun deaths, including homicides, suicides and accidental killings, a study released Thursday by Everytown for Gun Safety found. Tuesday’s vote followed hours of debate and public comment on the issue. Critics argued the ordinance punishes law-abiding gun owners and doesn’t do enough to address root causes of gun violence. One speaker told the council during the public comment session, “You cannot tax a Constitutional right” and urged lawmakers to instead focus on enforcing existing laws, hiring more police officers and funding mental health services. A supporter told the council the ordinance will “help protect our community from preventable gun deaths,” while another urged members to approve the measure, saying, “In the near future, it will be very evident that this was an obvious thing to do, and we’ll wonder why we didn’t do it sooner.” Under San Jose’s proposed law, gun owners would be charged an annual $25 fee directed to a nonprofit set up to distribute funds to gun crime prevention and to victims of gun violence. The measure also would require gun owners to obtain liability insurance that would cover damage caused by their weapon. Lower premiums for those with gun safes, trigger locks and completed gun safety classes are expected to incentivize safer behavior. As to enforcement, police officers crossing paths with gun owners would ask for proof of insurance, much like they do with car insurance during traffic stops, Liccardo explained. While some would be exempt, including those in law enforcement and with concealed carry permits, pushback is expected, the mayor acknowledged. “We’ve opposed this ordinance every step of the way and we will see this through to the end,” Dudley Brown, president of the National Association for Gun Rights and executive director of the National Foundation for Gun Rights, told CNN in a statement. “If the San Jose City Council actually votes to impose this ridiculous tax on the Constitutional right to gun ownership, our message is clear and simple: see you in court,” Brown said. The National Foundation for Gun Rights in July sent a cease-and-desist letter to Liccardo and the council’s 10 members stating it intends to file suit as soon as the ordinance is passed. The group was reacting to a June 29 council action in which “you voted unanimously to have the City Attorney research and draft an ordinance that would impose a mandatory fee on gun owners and require them to buy gun liability insurance,” the letter states. The group was reacting to a June 29 council action in which “you voted unanimously to have the City Attorney research and draft an ordinance that would impose a mandatory fee on gun owners and require them to buy gun liability insurance,” the letter states. San Jose has identified a law firm that would represent the city on the issue at no charge, mayor’s spokesperson said.",4786.0,Cheri Mossburg
39,2022-01-26,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/24/us/new-york-state-mask-mandate-ruling/index.html,NY state mask mandate temporarily back in place after judge grants motion to stay,US,CNN,"New York’s state mask mandate is still in effect – for now. After two days of court hearings, a judge ruled the mandate will stay in place at least until the end of the week, so all sides can respond. On Monday, a judge struck down the mandate, but an appellate court judge on Tuesday put it back temporarily after the state attorney general’s office tried to block the new ruling from going into effect, citing “irreparable harms.” The judge on Monday ruled that the state’s Department of Health did not have the authority to enact such a mandate without approval from the legislature. But Attorney General Letitia James’ office filed a motion to stay the ruling. “A judge has granted our motion to keep New York’s mask mandate in place while our appeal process continues,” Attorney General Letitia James tweeted after the appellate judge’s stay. “Protecting the health of New Yorkers during the #COVID19 pandemic is our top priority.” An attorney for the plaintiffs pointed out that the stay is “temporary and standard in these situations.” “We get to file a reply, which is due Friday,” attorney Chad J. LaVeglia said in an email to CNN. “Then Judge (Robert) Miller can carefully consider all the factors before rendering a determination as to whether the Decision and Order will be stayed pending the appeal.” The attorney general’s court filing argued the order, “if not stayed, will allow individuals to refuse to wear face coverings in indoor public settings where the risk of COVID-19 spread is high, including in schools where many children remain unvaccinated against COVID-19.” “The irreparable harms to public health that would result demonstrate that the balance of equities and public interest alone warrant a stay,” the filing stated. The strife marks yet another intrastate conflict between state officials and schools over mask mandates – part of the nationwide debate about civic obligations and freedoms in the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the judge’s the ruling striking down New York state’s mask mandate, the state Education Department says schools “must continue to follow the mask rule.” “It is SED’s understanding that the Department of Health will appeal the Nassau County Supreme Court decision, which will result in an automatic stay that will unambiguously restore the mask rule until such time as an appellate court issues a further ruling,” the Education Department said in a statement distributed to schools Monday night and obtained by CNN. Gov. Kathy Hochul said she “strongly” disagreed with the ruling, and the state’s attorney general filed a notice saying the governor and the state health department will appeal the judge’s decision. “My responsibility as Governor is to protect New Yorkers throughout this public health crisis,” Hochul said in a statement, “and these measures help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and save lives.” While the legal saga plays out, school districts are split on whether to keep or remove mask mandates. At least 15 New York school districts have already announced mask wearing is now optional, according to CNN review. At least nine school districts and the Archdiocese of New York have indicated they’ll keep the mask mandate in place. Other states have had legal battles over mask mandates. On Monday, seven Virginia school boards sued the state’s new governor over his executive order banning mask mandates. New York’s state legislature passed a bill in March limiting the governor’s ability to issue emergency orders. But as the number of new Covid-19 cases rose in December, Hochul announced a temporary mask mandate that required New Yorkers to wear a mask in all indoor public spaces unless businesses implement a vaccine requirement. In a December 10 statement, State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett supported the mask rule. Despite criticisms from some local officials, the measure was extended two weeks past its initial end date of January 15. Violators face fines of up to $1,000 and other civil and criminal penalties. The average number of new Covid-19 cases in New York state has steadily dropped since January 9, when a weekly average of 595,095 daily new infections were reported, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. By January 24, that number had dropped to 166,538 average daily new cases. In his opinion Monday, Nassau County Supreme Court Judge Thomas Rademaker said because New York was no longer under a state of emergency when the mask mandate was announced, the governor and health commissioner did not have the additional authority to order such a mandate, adding the mandate is now unenforceable. “While the intentions of Commissioner Bassett and Governor Hochul appear to be well aimed squarely at doing what they believe is right to protect the citizens of New York State, they must take their case to the State Legislature,” Rademaker wrote. “Should the State Legislature, representative of and voted into office by the citizens of New York, after publicly informed debate, decide to enact laws requiring face coverings in schools and other public places then the Commissioner would likely be well grounded in properly promulgated and enacted rules to supplement such laws.” In New York state, lower level courts are called supreme courts. Typically, decisions from those trial courts can be appealed to Appellate Divisions of the Supreme Court, which is the intermediate level of judicial review, and then to the Court of Appeals, which is the highest state court in New York. Attorney Chad LaVeglia, the father of a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old, is one of the parents who challenged the state’s mask mandate. “This is not a commentary on (how) the pandemic is being handled whatsoever – it’s how the government is handling the power it’s been given and entrusted with by the people,” LaVeglia said. “Further, folks could wear masks and still take whatever protective measures they feel is appropriate.” After the judge’s ruling, LaVeglia told CNN: “We’re ecstatic. Children are excited to go back to school and to see smiles for the first time in a long time.” He said more than a dozen parents joined as petitioners in the case. “I worked on this case pro bono,” LaVeglia said. “A bunch of us parents got together. … We got together and didn’t agree with having our children be forced to wear masks at school.” Rademaker’s decision was about only whether the mandate was properly enacted, he wrote. “To be clear, this Court does not intend this decision in any way to question or otherwise opine on the efficacy, need, or requirement of masks as a means or tool in dealing with the COVID-19 virus,” the judge wrote. “This Court decides only the issues of whether the subject rule was properly enacted and if so whether same can be enforced.” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who took office this month, signed an executive order allowing school boards in the densely populated Long Island county to determine whether schoolchildren should be required to wear masks. After the judge’s ruling, Blakeman tweeted: “This is a major win for students & parents.” But some school districts, such as those in Lynbrook and Jericho, have opted to keep requiring masks while the appeals process plays out. A spokesperson for the New York mayor’s office said earlier Tuesday the mask mandate would remain in place for the city’s public schools.",7356.0,Artemis Moshtaghian
40,2022-01-26,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/26/us/prince-andrew-lawsuit-virginia-giuffre/index.html,Prince Andrew denies sexual abuse allegations and demands jury trial in Virginia Giuffre lawsuit,US,CNN,"Prince Andrew has formally denied allegations that he sexually abused Virginia Giuffre and has demanded a jury trial in her civil lawsuit, according to a legal filing Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The 11-page filing responds paragraph-by-paragraph to the allegations in Giuffre’s lawsuit, in which she alleged that the late financier Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with his friends, including Andrew, and that Andrew was aware she was underage in the US at the time. She alleged Andrew sexually abused her at Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, at his mansion in Manhattan and at his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell’s home in London. In his response Wednesday, the prince repeatedly and flatly denied the abuse. “Prince Andrew denies that he was a co-conspirator of Epstein or that Epstein trafficked girls to him,” his attorneys Andrew B. Brettler and Melissa Y. Lerner wrote. He also denied he was a “close friend” of Maxwell and denied that he became a “frequent guest” in Epstein’s homes around the world. On other points, the attorneys write that the prince “lacks sufficient information to admit or deny the allegations.” Still, Andrew did admit in the court filing that he met Epstein in 1999; that Epstein and Maxwell attended the prince’s 40th birthday party in 2000; and that Andrew was photographed with Epstein in Central Park and stayed at Epstein’s New York City mansion in 2010. Finally, the filing puts forth 11 affirmative defenses, including one that states, “Giuffre’s alleged causes of action are barred in whole or in part by her own wrongful conduct and the doctrine of unclean hands.” Giuffre’s attorney David Boies said in a statement they looked forward to a trial. “Prince Andrew’s answer continues his approach of denying any knowledge or information concerning the claims against him, and purporting to blame the victim of the abuse for somehow bringing it on herself,” he said. “We look forward to confronting Prince Andrew with his denials and attempts to blame Ms. Giuffre for her own abuse at his deposition and at trial.” The filing comes two weeks after a federal judge in New York denied the prince’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The ruling set up a dramatic series of legal proceedings for Queen Elizabeth II’s third child that could have major ramifications for Buckingham Palace. The long-running allegations against Andrew, 61, have already dramatically tarnished his public standing, and he stepped back from royal duties in late 2019. In the wake of the judge’s decision earlier this month, Andrew was stripped of his military titles and charities, Buckingham Palace announced. Andrew has until July 14 to potentially answer questions about the case under oath, following a ruling made by Judge Lewis Kaplan last year. If the case is not settled, Andrew could face a trial date between September and December 2022. Giuffre brought her case under the Child Victims Act, a New York state law enacted in 2019 that temporarily expanded the statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases. The civil suit stems from the sprawling and disturbing allegations against Epstein, the wealthy sex offender who befriended a series of powerful men despite a sketchy history. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to state prostitution charges and in July 2019 was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. Prosecutors accused him of carrying out a decades-long scheme of sexual abuse of underage girls, flying them on private planes to his properties in Florida, New York, New Mexico and the US Virgin Islands. He died by suicide in prison before he could face trial. Maxwell, his former girlfriend and close associate, was arrested in 2020 and accused of facilitating the abuse scheme. A federal jury convicted her in December on five federal counts, including sex trafficking a minor and conspiracy. Giuffre was not one of the four women who testified in Maxwell’s trial that they had been abused. Still, she was mentioned in the trial when Carolyn, one of the victims, testified that Giuffre had recruited her to come to Epstein’s home in Palm Beach, Florida.",4177.0,Sonia Moghe
41,2022-01-26,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/26/us/california-teenager-murder-charge-overdose/index.html,A California teenager has been charged with murder in 12-year-old’s drug overdose death,US,CNN,"A 16-year-old was arrested Tuesday and charged with murder for selling a fentanyl-laced pill to a child who died of a drug overdose, California prosecutors said. The 12-year-old girl who ingested most of the pill was the youngest person to overdose and die in 2020 in Santa Clara County, the district attorney’s office said in a news release. The child, who was not identified, bought and consumed a pill with a label consistent with the painkiller oxycodone. She was declared dead after she was rushed to a hospital. “After thousands of deaths, everyone should know that fentanyl is a deadly poison,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in the statement. The 12-year-old, along with two teens, contacted the suspect on November 14, 2020, and bought an “M-30” pill, according to statement from the district attorney’s office. “The group videoed her lining up the crushed pill for ingestion,” the statement said. Afterward, the girl passed out and began snoring, which is a sign of fentanyl overdose, the statement said. Fentanyl is a synthetic drug that can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, and it’s commonly used to resemble prescription drugs, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is often added to other drugs by dealers “because of its extreme potency, which makes drugs cheaper, more powerful, more addictive, and more dangerous,” the CDC said. Overall, opioids continue to be the driving cause of fatal drug overdoses in the United States.  Last year saw a record high of drug overdose deaths, with more than 100,000 people dying from April 2020 to April 2021, according to provisional data published in November by the CDC. It was a 28.5% spike compared to the same period a year earlier and nearly doubling over the past five years. Synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, also caused nearly two-thirds of all drug overdose deaths in the same 12-month timeframe period, according to the data. Prosecutors around the nation have signaled a greater willingness to bring the serious charge of murder against dealers who supply buyers with potent drugs that can easily kill. “These dealers are essentially handing a loaded gun to unsuspecting victims knowing that they will probably die and they don’t care,” said Orange County California District Attorney Todd Spitzer late last year in announcing a more aggressive prosecution effort by his office.",2425.0,Josh Campbell
42,2022-01-26,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/26/us/milwaukee-deputy-traffic-stop-shooting/index.html,"A man suspected of shooting a Milwaukee County deputy has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities say",US,CNN,"The man suspected of shooting a Wisconsin sheriff’s deputy has died, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office said. Around 2 a.m. Wednesday, a deputy made a traffic stop for a registration violation near South 68th Street and West Adler Street, the sheriff’s office said. As more deputies arrived, both the driver and the passenger of the car fled on foot, the MCSO said. After a short chase, the driver was taken into custody. As the search for the passenger continued, a man seen climbing out of a garbage bin “produced a firearm and fired at the deputy striking him several times – in both arms and his torso,” a statement from the sheriff’s department said. “As of about 3:30 a.m., the deputy was conscious, breathing & receiving treatment,” the sheriff’s office tweeted. On Wednesday morning, residents in the area were advised to hunker down while the suspect remained at large. “At this time, the shelter-in-place notice remains in effect for the area of S. 64th St. and W. Dixon St.” the sheriff’s office tweeted at 8:08 a.m. (9:08 a.m. ET) Wednesday. By early Wednesday afternoon, authorities “encountered a male subject crouching behind a vehicle … and verbally engaged with him,” the MCSO said. “Subsequently, the deputies and officers heard a single gunshot and found the subject lying on the ground from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Neither the suspect nor the wounded deputy has been identified. The motive for the shooting remains unclear. The shooting follows a rash of recent shootings of police officers – some of which have been fatal. Two New York City police officers were killed after responding to a domestic disturbance Friday night. On Sunday morning a Houston-area deputy constable was killed for no apparent reason during a traffic stop, authorities said.",1783.0,Holly Yan
43,2022-01-26,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/25/us/utah-teacher-lawsuit-sexual-harassment/index.html,Utah teacher sues school district after she says officials retaliated against her for reporting sexual harassment among 5th-grade students,US,CNN,"A teacher in Utah is suing her former employer after she said it retaliated against her for reporting sexual harassment among her students, according to court documents filed last week. Kathryn Moore is suing Utah’s Park City School District “for violations of Title IX” and “state breach of contract,” according to the suit filed in the 3rd District Court for Summit County, Utah. The school district superintendent said in an email to CNN that the district is “unable to comment on either pending litigation or personnel matters.” Moore was hired as a temporary employee for the 2020-2021 school year for Parley’s Park Elementary School, according to the lawsuit. The school serves about 600 students and is roughly 33 miles east of Salt Lake City. In December 2020, a few of the girls in Moore’s fifth-grade class told her that “one of the boys in the class was touching them inappropriately and staring at them in ways that made them uncomfortable,” according to the lawsuit. Moore “immediately” told the principal, and the principal suggested that she tell the girls’ parents, the suit said. Two weeks later, the principal suggested that Moore “segregate her classroom by gender, seating all the boys on one side of the classroom and all the girls on the other.” the complaint says. The principal also told her to notify the parents of the boy who was allegedly harassing the girls, according to the suit. Moore “strongly disagreed” with the class segregation but followed the principal’s instructions, according to the suit. The principal made no other efforts to “investigate the female students’ complaints, correct the behavior of the accused male student, or protect female students from further sexual harassment,” the suit alleges. “The segregation of Ms. Moore’s classroom upset both her students and their parents,” the suit said. “Both the school and Ms. Moore received multiple complaints from parents about the segregated classroom and the negative effect it was having on their children,” the suit added. In January 2021, Moore’s students were interviewed one by one outside her classroom, but Moore didn’t know why, the suit says. Moore was told “the ‘investigation’ revealed a ‘harmonious classroom,’ and that it was time to ‘reintegrate’ the students.” Two weeks later, a replacement teacher showed up to Moore’s classroom, saying Moore had requested to be transferred, despite Moore never requesting a transfer from Parley’s Park Elementary, the suit said. Moments later, the principal showed up and said it was all a “misunderstanding.” The next day, Moore was required to report to the principal’s office first thing, the suit said. When she arrived, the suit says, “she was ‘being given the opportunity’ to transfer to a different school.” While the district’s director of human resources said the transfer was an “opportunity,” Moore felt as though the transfer was not optional, according to the suit. “Ms. Moore was not given any choice in the matter,” the suit said. “No teacher should be retaliated against for protecting their students,” Moore said in a news release from her attorney. “I am concerned for the safety of our Park City School District students.” Moore is asking for lost wages and benefits along with punitive damages and legal fees, among other things, according to the suit. She’s also requested a trial before a jury. Utah’s attorney general’s office is representing the school district in the case, according to Richard Piatt, the director of communications for the attorney general’s office.",3542.0,Michelle Watson
44,2022-01-26,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/26/us/nypd-officer-shooting-wednesday/index.html,NYPD colleagues shot during a domestic incident are remembered after second officer dies from his injuries,US,CNN,"The two New York Police Department officers who were killed responding last week to a domestic disturbance call are being remembered as dedicated heroes as city officials step up their push to curb escalating crime. Officers Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera, both in their 20s, were shot after encountering someone with a gun after responding to a 911 call about a domestic incident in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood. Mora underwent surgery after the shooter critically wounded him, and his death was announced Tuesday. His partner, Rivera, died Friday during the confrontation. “Officer Mora and his partner, Officer Jason Rivera, showed courage in the face of imminent danger to protect New Yorkers,” state Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “Their bravery exemplified their commitment to protecting the city they loved. Both will forever be remembered as heroes who dedicated their lives to making New York safer and stronger.” Rivera’s character was evident at an early age, said his English teacher, Anthony Voulgarides. “He was self-aware, mature beyond his years,” Voulgarides told CNN. “(Rivera) cared so much about others, appreciated what he had and just exuded this positivity that was such a force in our community.” Mora was also praised for his heroism, not only for his duty to protect but for being an organ donor. “Wilbert is 3 times a hero. For choosing a life of service. For sacrificing his life to protect others. For giving life even in death through organ donation. Our heads are bowed & our hearts are heavy,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said on Twitter. Mora “will live on in the heart of every New York City police officer from this day forward,” said Patrick Lynch, the president of the Police Benevolent Association union, adding that the officer “showed us what it means to carry out our mission with courage, skill and humanity.” The shootings have spurred extensive changes spearheaded by Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain who took office on January 1. It includes the reintroduction of plainclothes police units, which had been disbanded two years ago. The officers will patrol in unmarked vehicles while wearing clothing identifying officers as law enforcement, Adams announced Monday, adding that the new unit will be in addition to those already on the streets since August who patrol in unmarked vehicles while wearing police uniforms. Some critics derided plainclothes units for years as counterproductive and argued they were a relic from the stop-and-frisk era of policing, used instead as a bludgeoning tool that more negatively affected Black and brown communities. Rivera himself said he joined the NYPD to improve the department’s relationship with his community. In an undated letter Rivera wrote to his commanding officer, he recalled seeing his brother being stopped and frisked by police. “I asked myself, why are we being pulled over if we’re in a taxi? I was too young to know that during that time, the NYPD was pulling over and frisking people at a high rate,” Rivera wrote, noting his perception of that policing bothered him. Later, he said he learned the department began trying to change its interactions with the community. “This was when I realized I wanted to be part of the men in blue; better the relationship between the community and the police,” Rivera wrote. “Coming from an immigrant family, I will be the first to say that I am a member of the NYPD, the greatest police force in the world.” The shootings unfolded as the officers responded to a domestic call around 6:15 p.m. Friday, officials said. A woman called 911 and reported she was having a dispute with one of her sons inside her apartment, police said. Three NYPD officers arrived and encountered the mother and another son, who directed two of the officers to a room in the back of the apartment. The other son – the suspect – was waiting, and when the door swung open, shots were fired, hitting both officers. The suspect, identified as 47-year-old Lashawn McNeil, was shot and mortally wounded by a third officer when he tried to escape. Rivera and Mora became the fourth and fifth NYPD officers to have been shot this month, but the only two to lose their lives. Adams’ plan will expand the anti-violence Crisis Management System to address the symptoms of gun violence as well as add more officers on the streets and reduce desk staffing. More specifically, the plan will focus on the 30 precincts where 80% of the violence occurs, Adams said. The mayor wants to tackle the flow of guns into the city after officials pointed out that the weapon used in Friday’s shootings was a Glock 45 stolen from Baltimore. While the mayor’s plan was praised by some advocacy groups, his desire to reinstate plainclothes units has received some criticism. On Monday, the Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, The Bronx Defenders and The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and Queens Defenders joined forces to speak out against the unit’s return. “Today’s announcement gives the community members who live with the legacy of hyper-aggressive policing no comfort that Mayor Adams’s Anti-Crime Unit will be different from its predecessors,” the groups said in a joint statement. “The Mayor must focus on addressing long standing problems with NYPD’s culture of impunity before he doubles down on strategies that will only perpetuate the harms of that culture.” Still, the mayor defended the police approach, saying his team has done the proper analysis “and now we’re going to deploy that.” Adams noted that he asked New York City’s five district attorneys to prioritize gun violence and gun-related crimes. He proposed a weekly meeting between all district attorneys, the NYPD commissioner and the deputy mayor of public safety.",5791.0,Aya Elamroussi
45,2022-01-25,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/24/us/texas-deputy-struck-and-killed/index.html,"Texas sheriff’s deputy struck, killed while conducting off-duty motorcycle escort",US,CNN,"The Harris County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office on Monday said one of its officers was struck and killed overnight while conducting an off-duty motorcycle escort. According to a Facebook post from the sheriff’s office, Sgt. Ramon Gutierrez, 45, was escorting a heavy load along a service road with others. He “was off his motorcycle, blocking the exit ramp, when a female driver (40) drove around the motorcycle and struck Sgt. Gutierrez,” the post said. The office said the driver, who was exhibiting signs of intoxication, fled but was later stopped by another deputy. Multiple charges are being filed, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told reporters Monday during a news conference. Gutierrez was taken to a hospital and later died, HCSO said. The driver was identified as Lavillia Spry, 40, according to an HCSO news release. Spry was arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter, failure to stop and render aid and evading arrest. Spry was booked into the Harris County Jail. CNN has been unable to determine whether Spry has obtained legal representation. Gonzalez said Gutierrez served the HCSO for about 20 years. Gutierrez is survived by his wife and three children, Gonzalez said. “There’s just no words for what they are going through,” Gonzalez said.",1251.0,Gregory Lemos
46,2022-01-25,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/25/us/el-chapo-conviction-upheld/index.html,Appeals court upholds conviction of notorious drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’,US,CNN,"A panel of appellate judges on Tuesday upheld the 2019 conviction of notorious Mexican drug cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, rejecting his assertions that he was treated unfairly. In their decision, the three judges ruled that US District Judge Brian Cogan, who oversaw Guzmán’s federal case in Brooklyn, conducted the three-month trial “with diligence and fairness, after issuing a series of meticulously crafted pretrial rulings.” Guzmán was convicted in 2019 of 10 counts, including engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, drug trafficking and firearms charges. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years and ordered to pay $12.6 billion in forfeiture. His appeal had argued that his conviction should be overturned, saying he was denied his right to a fair trial and the effective assistance of counsel because of his strict pretrial detention conditions. He also asked that a new trial be granted based on alleged juror misconduct, among other arguments. The panel of appellate judges said in their decision that “we conclude that none of these claims has merit.” Prosecutors declined to comment. Guzmán’s attorney Marc Fernich indicated they are likely to appeal to the Supreme Court for further review. “While respecting the Court’s ruling, we’re disappointed that substantial allegations of grave jury misconduct continue to be swept under the rug and left wholly unexamined in a case of historic proportion — all, it appears, because of the defendant’s matchless notoriety,” Fernich said in a statement. “I’m sure a petition for Supreme Court review will follow in due course.” Guzmán, once listed on Forbes’ Billionaires List, has long been a slippery and near-mythical figure. He escaped from a Mexican prison in 2001 in a laundry cart and again in 2015 through a tunnel. After he was recaptured in 2016, he was extradited to the US to face American federal charges. The high-profile trial centered on the struggles and actions of El Chapo – meaning “Shorty” – who came from humble origins in the heart of Mexico’s rugged three-state Golden Triangle to become its most infamous native son. In court, jurors sat through nearly three months of testimony about unspeakable torture and ghastly murders, epic corruption at nearly every level of Mexico’s government, narco-mistresses and naked subterranean escapes, gold-plated AK-47s and monogrammed, diamond-encrusted pistols. The jury convicted Guzmán of all 10 charges against him. He is expected to serve out his sentence at the nation’s most secure prison in Florence, Colorado. Guzmán’s wife, the former beauty queen Emma Coronel Aispuro, pleaded guilty last year to charges of drug trafficking and money laundering related to her husband’s drug empire and was sentenced to three years in prison.",2778.0,Sonia Moghe
47,2022-01-25,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/25/us/florida-closing-monoclonal-antibody-treatment-sites/index.html,Florida shuts down all monoclonal antibody treatment sites after FDA decision to limit use of certain treatments not proven effective against Omicron,US,CNN,"Florida is closing its monoclonal antibody treatment sites, health officials announced late Monday, citing the US Food and Drug Administration’s decision to limit the use of certain versions of the treatments that were found less effective against the now-dominant Omicron variant of coronavirus. “Unfortunately, as a result of this abrupt decision made by the federal government, all monoclonal antibody state sites will be closed until further notice,” the Florida Department of Health said in a statement. More than 2,000 appointments for the treatment were canceled in the state on Tuesday alone, according to a statement from Gov. Ron DeSantis. Earlier Monday, the FDA said it was revising the authorizations for monoclonal antibody treatments made by Eli Lilly (bamlanivimab and etesevimab, administered together) and Regeneron (REGEN-COV, or casirivimab and imdevimab), because data showed they are “highly unlikely to be active against the omicron variant.” Omicron accounted for more than 99% of Covid-19 cases in the US as of January 15, the FDA said, noting restricting the authorization for treatments that aren’t effective against the variant “avoids exposing patients to side effects … which can be potentially serious.” Some people who’ve received monoclonal antibody treatment reported rashes, diarrhea, nausea and dizziness after treatment, according to the National Institutes of Health. A small percentage of patients had severe allergic reactions. The FDA’s announcement came after senior health officials in the Biden administration called the offices of governors and state health officials earlier this month, urging them against using these treatments with Omicron, a source familiar with the calls said. DeSantis has made monoclonal antibodies a cornerstone of his response to surges of coronavirus cases, often pushing the treatment more vigorously than vaccines. Last summer, he introduced new clinics where individuals could receive the treatment at the onset of symptoms or exposure to someone with Covid-19. Earlier this month, amid a record-breaking surge of Covid-19 cases, DeSantis assailed the Biden administration for pausing shipments of the monoclonal antibodies, and has pushed for the treatment to remain widely available. On January 7, DeSantis said he’d secured 15,000 doses of Regeneron’s antibody treatment for the state, despite the pharmaceutical company saying in December its REGEN-COV antibodies “have diminished potency against Omicron.” DeSantis slammed the FDA’s announcement in a statement Monday, saying the Biden administration “has forced trained medical professionals to choose between treating their patients or breaking the law.” GlaxoSmithKline’s monoclonal antibody, sotrovimab, is the only version of the treatment that appears to work against Omicron, the FDA said last month. At the time, the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and the FDA paused allocations of the Eli Lilly and Regeneron monoclonal antibodies, but said 300,000 additional doses of sotrovimab would be made available in January.",3074.0,Chris Boyette
48,2022-01-25,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/24/us/tennessee-deputy-death-shot-burning-home/index.html,Suspect arrested in connection to death of Tennessee deputy who was found shot in her burning home,US,CNN,"A man was taken into custody Monday in Tennessee in connection with the death of a Robertson County Sheriff’s deputy who was found shot inside her burning home a day earlier. The man was identified as James Jackson Conn, who was arrested after an hourslong standoff with police who were attempting to serve a warrant at a home in Smyrna, just outside of Nashville. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which is leading the investigation, did not provide any additional details regarding the arrest. Conn, described by the TBI as an acquaintance of the deputy, was charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated arson, according to a TBI news release. CNN has been unable to determine whether Conn has retained legal counsel. The arrest comes a day after Deputy Savanna Puckett, 22, didn’t show up for work. Another deputy went to her residence in the city of Springfield and found her home ablaze, the agency said in a statement. The deputy “attempted to make entry into the home” but was “unable due to the extent of the fire,” the statement said. After the fire department arrived and entered the home, Puckett was found shot and pronounced dead at the scene, the statement said. She had been with the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office for four years, a statement from the agency said. “Words cannot express the sadness and grief that Savanna’s family and her Sheriff’s Office family are facing right now,” Sheriff Michael Van Dyke said. “This is a tragedy that we are processing minute by minute. Please keep Savanna, her family, and the Sheriff’s Office in your thoughts and prayers.” Robertson County is north of Nashville, along the Tennessee-Kentucky border.",1694.0,Joe Sutton
49,2022-01-25,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/25/us/sat-test-digital/index.html,SAT will soon be all-digital and shortened from 3 hours to 2,US,CNN,"The SAT taken by prospective college students across the country will go all-digital starting in 2024 and will be an hour shorter, the College Board announced in a statement Tuesday. “The digital SAT will be easier to take, easier to give, and more relevant,” said Priscilla Rodriguez, vice president of College Readiness Assessments at College Board. “We’re not simply putting the current SAT on a digital platform – we’re taking full advantage of what delivering an assessment digitally makes possible. With input from educators and students, we are adapting to ensure we continue to meet their evolving needs.” The transition comes months after the College Board pilot-tested a digital SAT in November 2021 in the US and internationally. 80% of students said they found it less stressful, and 100% of educators reported a positive experience, according to the College Board. The decision comes as the College Board has felt increasing pressure to change its stress-inducing test in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and questions around the test’s fairness and relevance. The test has long been criticized for bias against those from poor households as well as Black and Hispanic students. The high-stakes nature of the test means that those with more resources can afford to take expensive test prep courses – or even, as the 2019 college admissions scam revealed, to cheat on the test. Schools have increasingly made such tests optional over the past few years. More than 1800 colleges and universities have dropped requirements that applicants take the SAT or ACT, according to the National Center for Fair & Open Testing. As part of the changes, sharpened No. 2 pencils will no longer be needed, and calculators will be allowed in the entire Math section. In addition, the new digital SAT will be shortened from 3 hours to 2 hours, with more time per question. It will feature shorter reading passages with one question each and will “reflect a wider range of topics that represent the works students read in college,” the College Board said. Students will also get back scores within days rather than weeks. The move to a digital test will apply to all of the SAT Suite. The PSATs and international SAT will go digital in 2023 followed by the US SAT a year later. Last year, the company dropped the SAT’s subject tests and the essay section. The College Board said the shorter, all-digital test will give more flexibility to states, districts and schools in deciding where, when and how to administer the test. Despite these changes, the SAT will still be scored out of 1600 and be administered in a school or test center. On its website, the College Board highlighted a number of student testimonials praising the digital test, particularly for lowering the pressure and anxiety around its importance. “I like how easy the setup was overall, the quick instructions on test day, and the VERY MUCH less stressful test format,” Danielle, a US student who took the pilot digital SAT. “It was way less stressful and had less cumbersome instructions.”",3054.0,Eric Levenson
50,2022-01-24,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/23/us/nypd-eric-adams-gun-violence/index.html,"New York’s response to violent incidents will include reinstating plainclothes officer unit, mayor says",US,CNN,"New York Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday outlined how the city will respond following a series of high-profile violent incidents, including a shooting Friday that left one police officer dead and another fighting for his life. The city will “immediately” reinstate a “newer version of modified plainclothes anti-gun unit,” Adams told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union,” a step he’d called for while campaigning. Plainclothes policing units have been criticized by some as an outdated policing practice, and the New York Police Department had reassigned many such officers in 2020. However, Adams, who took office in the new year, said his team “has done the proper analysis and now we’re going to deploy that.” Adams has spent the weekend underscoring the need to address rising crime and gun violence after NYPD Officer Jason Rivera, 22, was fatally shot while responding to a domestic incident in Harlem Friday evening. Officer Wilbert Mora, 27, underwent surgery and he remained in “critical condition” as of Sunday, the NYPD said on Twitter. He was expected to be transferred Sunday evening from Harlem Hospital to NYU Langone Medical Center, the department said. They’re the fourth and fifth NYPD officers to be shot since the start of the year, though NYPD officers have not been the only victims of gun violence: An 11-month-old girl was shot in the face, caught in crossfire in the Bronx. The shooting Wednesday left her in critical condition. Adams did not offer details about the plainclothes units or how they will operate but said his administration would introduce a plan to New Yorkers this week. Speaking with CNN last month, incoming NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said such a unit would focus mostly on gun crimes. Sewell has asked precinct commanders to select candidates for the modified plainclothes anti-gun unit, according to a city official. The unit’s focus would be getting illegal guns off the street, and those selected would have to go through specific training, the official said Sunday. The exact number of how many officers will be involved is still not clear, the official added, and it will depend on how many are identified as potential candidates by each precinct. Additionally, some neighborhoods will have more officers assigned to the unit than others, depending on the level of crime typically seen in that neighborhood, the official said. The larger plan rolling out in the coming week will work to address “the underlying reasons you’re seeing crime in our city,” Adams told CNN; among them the flow of guns into the city officials have spotlighted since Friday’s shooting. According to authorities, the gun used by the suspect – who was shot by a third NYPD officer as he tried to flee and remains in critical condition – was a Glock 45 stolen in Baltimore in 2017. “We have to stop the flow of guns,” the mayor said. “We are removing thousands of guns off our streets, and it appears as though for every gun we remove from the street, five are coming in. That is unacceptable.” In addition to Adams’ announcement, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Sunday the first meeting of an “Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns,” aimed at bringing together federal authorities and state law enforcement officials across the region to address the “urgent issue of illegal guns.” More than 50 representatives from the New York State Police, the NYPD, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and nine Northeastern states will meet Wednesday to discuss the initiative, including “ways to share intelligence, tracing tools, strategies and tactics across jurisdictions,” a statement from the governor said. New York City’s crime rate has been on the rise in recent months, though it is not near the rate of the early 1990s. In November, the most recent month for which the city has released data, the crime rate has increased by 21.3% from the same period last year, per the NYPD. Aside from the reintroduction of plainclothes police units, Adams said the city would partner mental health professionals with police personnel to respond to incidents in the subway system. Adams’ announcement comes just over a week after 40-year-old Michelle Alyssa Go died after being pushed onto the tracks of an incoming train at the Times Square-42nd Street subway station in what Commissioner Sewell said was an “unprovoked” incident. Police and the mental health professionals will work as a team, Adams said to “move out the disorder that’s clearly in the subway system in our city.” Together, these teams will be “more proactive and not just reactive,” the mayor added. “We should not wait for someone to carry out a dangerous action when we know they are on the station in the first place,” he said. “Immediately when you see a dangerous person there, mental health professionals will be deployed and that person will receive the proper care and removed from our subway system.”",4925.0,Dakin Andone
51,2022-01-24,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/23/us/manhattan-man-pushed-subway-mta/index.html,"Stay away from the platform edge, New York City subway chief urges after latest attack in transit system",US,CNN,"After yet another person was pushed onto New York City subway tracks over the weekend, the head of the city’s transit agency is urging people to stay away from the edge of platforms across a sprawling system where the mayor has acknowledged people do not feel safe as crime rises citywide. The Metropolitan Transit Authority also is looking at making changes to subway platforms, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber told CNN affiliate WABC on Sunday. “These incidents are unacceptable and have to stop,” Lieber said in a statement. A 62-year-old man suffered minor injuries Sunday morning after he was pushed onto the subway tracks at the Fulton Street subway station in Lower Manhattan, the New York Police Department said. The man, who hasn’t been identified publicly, made contact with the lead train car while he was on the tracks, police said. He treated at a hospital for a leg laceration. It wasn’t immediately clear if the attack was targeted. The NYPD has not made any arrests, and an investigation is underway, a spokesperson said. “I don’t want to tell people that they should stand on subway platforms and feel like they’re, you know, in threat of their lives,” Lieber told WABC. “But everybody should stand away from the edge of the platform.” Asked about platform screen doors – as used by subway systems in other countries – Lieber said there are physical constraints the MTA must consider, like the “ability to maintain ADA accessibility,” a reference to the Americans with Disabilities Act. “Literally, the structure of our very old, 100-year-old stations don’t accommodate it,” Lieber said. “And there’s some real ventilation issues: How will we ventilate – for fire code safety and for human comfort – in that event?” Sunday’s incident follows the death of Michelle Alyssa Go, an Asian American woman who was pushed in front of a Times Square subway train on January 15. Go’s death has bolstered efforts to raise awareness of crimes against Asian Americans and prompted authorities to reexamine safety at subway stations. A man has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with Go’s death, which shocked residents of a city that has seen crime rise in the pandemic and renewed calls for politicians to address a burgeoning homeless crisis. On New Year’s Day, a good Samaritan died while trying to help a man who fell onto subway tracks during a gang assault. Around 2:40 a.m., people approached a 38-year-old man on the southbound B/D train platform in the Fordham Road subway station in the Bronx, the NYPD said. The gang “displayed a knife and began assaulting him,” and at some point, the man landed on the subway tracks, police said. It is unclear if he fell or was pushed. A 36-year-old witness went down to the tracks to help the assault victim and was “subsequently struck by the oncoming train, causing his death,” police said. The train didn’t strike the assault victim, according to police, and he was treated for a fractured arm. Mayor Eric Adams last week said he shares New Yorkers’ anxieties “when I’m moving throughout our transportation system,” adding his administration will work to drive down crime in the subways at a time when other major US cities are experiencing a spike in crime during the pandemic. “We know we have a job to do. We’re going to do both: We’re going to drive down crime, and we going to make sure New Yorkers feel safe in our subway system, and they don’t feel that way now,” said Adams, who took office this month. Though not near the rate of the early 1990s, crime in New York has been on the rise in recent months. In November – the most recent month for which the city has released data – the crime rate increased by 21.3% from the same period last year, according to the NYPD. In the transit system, there were 28 robberies, 24 felony assaults and 42 grand larcenies from January 1 to 16, compared to 13 robberies, 20 assaults and 25 grand larcenies during the first 16 days of last year, according to the NYPD. Adams’ general plan to combat gun violence is set to be unveiled Monday, with more details revealed in coming weeks, a city official said. Announcement of the plan was expedited after an NYPD officer was killed while responding last week to a domestic incident, the official said.",4264.0,Amir Vera
52,2022-01-24,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/23/us/milwaukee-five-dead-homicide/index.html,"Another victim discovered in Wisconsin suspected homicide, bringing total to 6",US,CNN,"The number of people found dead inside a Wisconsin home Sunday afternoon in a suspected homicide has risen to six. The Milwaukee Medical Examiner’s Office (MMEO) previously reported the number of victims as five but listed an additional victim – an adult male – on Monday. That brings the total to five males and one female, the MMEO said. The Milwaukee Police Department said the victims “had injuries that are suspected to have been caused by gunfire.” Public information officer Sgt. Efrain Cornejo confirmed the victims’ possible cause of death to CNN in a Monday email. Cornejo said authorities continue their search for “unknown suspects.” Police were assisting with a wellness check at a residence in Milwaukee around 3:45 p.m. when they found the bodies of five people. The circumstances around the discovery of an additional victim was not immediately known. “All five deaths are being treated as homicides,” Milwaukee Police Assistant Chief Paul Formolo said Sunday evening. “At this time, the motive and information regarding any involved suspects is not known to us right now.” The identities of the victims are pending and autopsies were being conducted Monday, according to Formolo. Authorities do not believe there is a threat to the community, the assistant chief said. When asked about the reason for the wellness check on the residence, Formolo said, “Citizens of our community had concerns with the occupants that resided there and it’s a normal call for us to respond to. We do it all the time.” Mayor Cavalier Johnson extended condolences to the victims’ loved ones in a statement obtained by CNN. “The murders discovered today on a residential block in the heart of our city are horrific,” Johnson said. “It is important not to feel numbed by the ongoing violence in our community.  A horrible crime has again occurred, and it is not a movie or a fictional account. These victims died in our city, in one of our neighborhoods. Milwaukee, one of the country’s 40 most populous cities, has recorded more homicides in 2021 than any other year on record, according to a CNN analysis of police department data. This was the second year in a row that the city set a homicide record, Sgt. Cornejo confirmed to CNN. There were at least 192 homicides in 2021, Cornejo said. In 2020, the city recorded 190. “We remain steadfast in our efforts to reduce violence,” Johnson said. “We will achieve that through strengthened and improved law enforcement, through community intervention, and through a renewed commitment to prevention.” Police are asking anyone with information about the case to contact Crime Stoppers or the Milwaukee Police Department.",2662.0,Joe Sutton
53,2022-01-24,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/24/us/kueng-lane-thao-trial-george-floyd/index.html,"One of Derek Chauvin’s police colleagues plans to testify in federal trial for George Floyd’s death, attorney says",US,CNN,"One of the three former Minneapolis Police officers who helped Derek Chauvin restrain George Floyd in May 2020 plans to testify in his own defense at his federal trial, his attorney said in opening statements Monday. Thomas Lane, the rookie officer who held down Floyd’s legs during the fatal restraint, plans to take the stand during the trial, attorney Earl Gray said in a St. Paul, Minnesota, federal courtroom. The ex-officers – Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao – are each charged with deprivation of rights under color of law for allegedly failing to give Floyd medical aid as Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck and back for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. Thao and Kueng are also charged with failing to intervene in Chauvin’s use of unreasonable force. Related: Follow live updates The three have pleaded not guilty to the federal charges and are being tried together. Chauvin admitted guilt in December as part of a plea deal. In opening statements Monday, a federal prosecutor spoke for about 30 minutes, saying the three committed federal crimes when they ignored Floyd’s repeated pleas of “I can’t breathe.” “Each made a conscious choice over and over again,” said Samantha Trepel, special litigation counsel from the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. “They chose not to intervene and stop Chauvin as he killed a man. They chose not to protect George Floyd, the man they handcuffed.” The defendants’ attorneys each spoke for about 35 minutes, making many of the same arguments that Chauvin did in his state murder trial. They argued that Floyd was on drugs and resisting arrest, that the officers had insufficient training and that there was more to the story than the viral bystander video showed. “The fact that something ends tragically does not mean a crime has been committed,” Thao’s attorney Robert Paule said. The trial comes about 20 months after Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was handcuffed and pressed to the pavement on his stomach until he fell unconscious and stopped breathing. The four officers on scene called for medical services but did not render aid to Floyd, and he remained in the same position until paramedics arrived and lifted his limp body into an ambulance. He was declared dead later that night. The incident was captured on harrowing video taken by a bystander that showed Floyd desperately gasping for air and pleading that he couldn’t breathe. The video of his final moments sparked widespread protests and fiery unrest in a societal movement against police brutality and racial injustice. Less than two years later, the killing remains particularly difficult for Floyd’s family to continue reliving. “This trial will be another painful experience for the Floyd family, who must once more relive his grueling death in excruciating detail,” Floyd family attorneys Ben Crump, Antonio Romanucci and Jeff Storms said in a statement. “On behalf of the legal team and the family, we trust and expect that an impartial jury representative of the community will be seated to do this important work.” A jury of five men and seven women was selected for the case on Thursday. The federal case is separate from the state charges for Floyd’s death. Chauvin was convicted last year on state charges of murder and manslaughter. Kueng, Lane and Thao have pleaded not guilty to state charges of aiding and abetting in a trial tentatively set for June. The evidence at the federal trial will likely be broadly similar to Chauvin’s murder trial in Minnesota state court last year. Federal prosecutors have said in court filings they plan to seek testimony from witnesses who watched the officers restrain Floyd, police use-of-force experts and medical experts. Unlike in that case, though, the proceedings are not being televised because federal court does not allow cameras. The three ex-officers’ actions during Floyd’s arrest in May 2020 were shown in detail during Chauvin’s state trial in videos from bystanders, police body cameras and surveillance footage. Chauvin, the most senior of the four officers, placed Floyd on his stomach on the street and knelt on his neck and back. Kueng held down Floyd’s torso and Lane held his legs, while Thao stood nearby and blocked concerned bystanders from getting close or intervening. The officers kept Floyd in that position, handcuffed and prone on the ground, for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, prosecutors said during Chauvin’s trial. The officers at no point moved Floyd into a side recovery position to help with his breathing. During the restraint, Lane is heard asking, “Should we roll him on his side?” and Chauvin responded, “No, staying put where we got him,” according to body camera videos. Minutes later, Lane again said, “Want to roll him on his side?” the videos show. Kueng checked for Floyd’s pulse but could not find one. All four officers were fired in the wake of the bystander video’s release, and they were arrested and charged days later. Thao had been an officer for more than eight years, while Lane and Kueng were rookie officers with only a few days of experience, according to a criminal complaint. Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to federal civil rights charges for violating Floyd’s rights during the arrest. He also pleaded guilty in a separate federal case in which he was accused of depriving the rights of a 14-year-old in 2017 for kneeling on the back and neck of a handcuffed, non-resisting teenager. As part of that plea agreement, Chauvin faces a sentence of between 20 and 25 years in prison to be served concurrently with his current 22.5-year sentence on the state murder charges.",5601.0,Eric Levenson
54,2022-01-24,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/24/us/nypd-officer-shooting-monday/index.html,Suspect in fatal shooting of NYPD Officer Jason Rivera has died,US,CNN,"The suspect who allegedly shot and killed one New York Police Department officer and critically injured another died Monday, the NYPD told CNN. Officer Jason Rivera, 22, was shot and killed while responding Friday to a domestic incident in Harlem, a city official said. A second officer, Wilbert Mora, 27, remained in critical condition, the New York Police Department said. The suspect, Lashawn McNeil, 47, had been in critical condition at Harlem Hospital since the shooting. Police said McNeil – who had a pistol with a high-capacity magazine – was confronted by a third officer at the shooting scene after he tried to run and was struck by two bullets. Mayor Eric Adams said Monday the suspect had another gun under his mattress. “He could have emptied out his 40 (bullets) and still had another automatic assault weapon for every responding officer who responded,” Adams said at a news conference. The mayor said he believed the actions of the third officer saved other lives. Also Monday, Adams said the city would put more officers on the streets as part of a plan to fight the brutal rise in crime and gun violence in New York. The gun used in Friday’s shooting, a Glock 45, was stolen from Baltimore in 2017 and had a magazine that can hold up to 40 additional rounds, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig. Five NYPD officers have been shot this month, police said, with Rivera the first to lose his life. Flags on all city-administered buildings were lowered to half-staff over the weekend. Services for Rivera will take place Thursday and Friday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York tweeted. Rivera’s widow posted Sunday on Instagram: “Fly high my beautiful angel.” She wrote that Saturday was supposed to be the final day of his work week and then he had three days off. “We both waited for your RDO’s (regular days off) to spend them together. But now your soul will spend the rest of my days with me, through me, right  beside me. I love you till the end of time,” she wrote. Rivera, who entered the police academy on November 2, 2020, according to a source with knowledge of the officer’s records, had said his first-hand experience with the controversial policy of stop and frisk and the department’s effort to bolster community relations ultimately propelled him to join the department. “I remember one day when I witnessed my brother being stopped and frisked,” Rivera wrote in an undated letter to his commanding officer that was penned while he was in the police academy. “I asked myself, why are we being pulled over if we are in a taxi,” Rivera wrote. Rivera had said his community of Inwood was at odds with the NYPD but soon saw the department make efforts to change its ways, according to the letter obtained by CNN. “As time went on, I saw the NYPD pushing hard on changing the relationship between the police and the community,” Rivera wrote. “This is when I realized I wanted to be part of the men in blue; better the relationship between the community and the police.” The policy of stop and frisk was ruled unconstitutional in 2013, and former Mayor Bill de Blasio dropped the city’s appeal of the ruling in 2014. Critics argued the practice disproportionately targeted people of color. Rivera wrote that he was so moved by the NYPD’s effort to change that he wanted to be the first person in his family to become a police officer in what he called “the greatest police force in the world.” “When I applied to become a police officer, I knew this was the career for me,” Rivera said. Following Rivera’s shooting death in New York, officials there quickly announced efforts to better handle the recent spate of violent crimes. The city’s crime rate has risen in recent months, and though not near the rate of the early 1990s, the crime rate in November – the most recent month for which the city has released data – jumped by 21.3% from the same period last year, per the NYPD. An interstate task force of federal, state and local law enforcement representatives from nine Northeastern states is due to meet Wednesday to work on how to curb the flow of illegal firearms, according to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office. Adams on Monday also called for federal lawmakers to pass “common-sense legislation.” He said Congress must pass universal background checks and make gun trafficking a federal crime. He also wants lawmakers to increase penalties for people convicted of moving guns across state lines or in cases where someone buys a gun for someone who cannot pass a background check as a “straw purchase.” “We must see immediate action from Congress on guns,” he said. The city also is dealing with recent attacks in the subway system. On Sunday, a 62-year-old man suffered minor injuries after being pushed onto subway tracks in Lower Manhattan, according to the NYPD. The victim, who made contact with the lead train car while on the tracks, was taken to a hospital where he was treated for a leg laceration, police said. No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing, the NYPD said. The victim was not named publicly. Sunday’s incident followed a similar one on January 15 in which a 40-year-old woman was killed after being pushed in front of an oncoming subway train. It was a random attack, and the suspect was charged with second-degree murder after he turned himself in less than an hour later, police said. On New Year’s Day, a good Samaritan died while trying to help a man who fell onto subway tracks during a gang assault. “These incidents are unacceptable and have to stop,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said in a statement. “I don’t want to tell people that they should stand on subway platforms and feel like they’re, you know, in threat of their lives,” Lieber said Sunday in an interview with CNN affiliate WABC. “But everybody should stand away from the edge of the platform.” The city will work to partner mental health professionals with police personnel in responding to the subway system incidents, Adams said.",6091.0,Travis Caldwell
55,2022-01-24,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/24/us/five-things-january-24-trnd/index.html,"5 things to know for January 24: Pandemic, Ukraine, Congress, Capitol riot, Boris Johnson",US,CNN,"This morning’s October jobs report is expected to contain good news. An estimated 450,000 jobs were added last month, more than in both September and August. Here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. (You can also get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.) Major cities in Ukraine were attacked by Russian forces today as evacuations continue in several parts of the country. More than 100,000 people have been evacuated in the past two days as the threat of Russian bomb strikes remains an ongoing concern for Ukrainians. Russia has been using its neighbor Belarus as a springboard for many of its air operations in Ukraine, but the Russian army appears to be facing difficulties on the ground, “particularly in the logistical field and in the field of intelligence,” a French military spokesman said. In the US, patience is running thin on Capitol Hill, with Republicans – and even some Democrats – challenging the Biden administration to go further to help Ukraine. Sources say President Joe Biden plans to announce today that the US, along with the G7 and European Union, will call for revoking “most favored nation” status for Russia – a retraction of permanent normal trade relations. The US is amplifying calls for Russia to cease its aggressive actions along the Ukrainian border, where more than 100,000 troops have been amassed. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned yesterday that there would be a severe response by the US and its allies if “a single additional Russian force” enters Ukraine in an aggressive way. In preparation for a possible invasion, the US sent Ukraine a second weapons supply shipment of close to 200,000 pounds of lethal aid. Some political leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, are urging the US and its allies to penalize Moscow with sanctions now before any lives are lost. The US, however, has shown unwillingness to punish Russia preemptively. The Biden administration and its NATO allies are instead focused on bolstering troop levels in the region to support Eastern European and Baltic allies. Today marks two years since the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic. Since then, official reports through the end of 2021 show that 6 million people worldwide have died directly because of Covid-19. But researchers estimate in a new study that the global pandemic death toll is actually three times higher than that figure. Some of this excess mortality may have been missed in official counts due to the lack of diagnostic or reporting resources, the study says. As for masking, most counties across the US have rolled back requirements or lifted mandates in some form. Only 2% of Americans – about 7 million people – live in a county where the CDC still recommends universal indoor masking. The Arizona Democratic Party announced over the weekend that it has formally censured Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema after she voted to maintain the Senate’s filibuster rules, effectively blocking Democrats’ voting legislation, a key priority for the party. The symbolic gesture from Arizona Democrats adds to the mounting pressure Sinema is facing from those in her state who helped her flip a Senate seat in 2018. Sinema – who started her political career as a progressive – has been a target on the left during Biden’s administration for her stances. Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, both centrists, were the only two Democrats to join all Republicans last week in voting to maintain the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster on legislation. The House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol has been having conversations with former Attorney General William Barr. Barr, a staunch defender of former President Donald Trump, pushed the administration’s “law and order” message, but resigned in December 2020 after rebuking Trump’s false claims about widespread election fraud. Separately, Boris Epshteyn, an adviser to Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, acknowledged late last week that he was part of the effort to prop up so-called “alternate electors” to support Trump in key states. Former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani supervised that effort, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the scheme. It involved helping pro-Trump electors access state Capitol buildings, drafting language for fake electoral certificates to send to the federal government, and finding replacements for electors who refused to go along with the plot. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing increasing pressure this week over alleged garden parties and Christmas gatherings held at Downing Street while the rest of the country was under strict Covid-19 lockdowns. His approval ratings are plunging and the parliamentary rebellion is growing. This is worrying some parts of his ruling Conservative Party that he is becoming a liability. Adding fuel to the fire, Johnson’s former senior adviser Dominic Cummings said he would swear under oath that the Prime Minister was warned about the true nature of one of the parties, but Johnson denied that vehemently. Johnson launched an inquiry into the gatherings and that report is due to come out this week. In a temporary change to hate speech policies on Facebook and Instagram, both platforms are allowing users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion, according to internal emails seen by Reuters. Meta, the parent company of both platforms, said “temporary allowances” are being made “for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’” Meta is also allowing some posts that call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in countries including Russia, Ukraine and Poland, according to the internal emails. But the platforms won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians, a Meta spokesperson told CNN. NFL Playoff upsets Was that not the greatest playoff round OF ALL TIME? Netflix’s ‘Ozark’ begins fourth and final season The first half is out now, but we’ll have to wait a couple more nail-biting months for part 2. The suspense! Glass ceiling shattered! Meet the first female captain of the historic USS Constitution in its 224-year history. Mysterious ice formations showed up in Chicago Have you ever seen ice pancakes? They kind of crepe me out. Indian couple plan country’s ‘first metaverse marriage’ You are cordially invited to my big fat digital wedding! The three former police officers who helped Derek Chauvin restrain George Floyd on a Minneapolis street in May 2020 are set to stand trial in a federal courtroom later today for violating Floyd’s civil rights. The three officers previously pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, while Chauvin admitted guilt in December as part of a plea deal. Iconic French fashion designer, Thierry Mugler, has died. He was 73. Mugler, who was born in Strasbourg, France, launched his eponymous label in 1974. He was known for his broad-shouldered, avant-garde designs. The designer’s brand said they will remember their founder as a “visionary” who “empowered people around the world to be bolder and dream bigger every day.” 100 That’s how many hours a stowaway spent in the nose wheel of a cargo plane that flew from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport yesterday. Due to the extremely cold flying conditions, Dutch officials were surprised the stowaway was found alive. Once the stowaway was revived and stabilized, they said they would work to determine his status, if he indeed is looking for asylum. “We were especially thrilled to see the plane land with one extra, especially beautiful, customer onboard.” – Former NBC sportscaster Bob Costas, who has covered 12 Olympic Games as a host and commentator, says journalists will face unique challenges during the Beijing Winter Olympics next month. It is currently unclear how the host country may censor journalists and how they will allow reporters to cover events in and around the games. Check your local forecast here>>> February is Black History Month Take a look at this oddly satisfying video of coins getting crushed by a hydraulic press. (Click here to view)",8398.0,Alexandra Meeks
56,2022-01-24,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/23/us/atlanta-shooting-deputy-investigation/index.html,Georgia state investigators probe fatal shooting by off-duty deputy,US,CNN,"The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said it is investigating after a sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a man near the deputy’s Atlanta house. Just before midnight on Saturday, a Fulton County Sheriff’s deputy was returning home from work when he received a notification from his doorbell video showing a man breaking into his home in southeast Atlanta, the GBI said in a news release. Upon arriving at his house, driving his personal car and still wearing his uniform, the deputy saw the same man from the video leaving with tools and other items, the GBI said. The deputy followed the man into the woods close to his house when an altercation ensued and the deputy shot the man, according to the GBI. “Atlanta Police Department officers responding to a 911 call found the deputy performing CPR on the man,” the release said. The man was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital where he later died. The deputy suffered a minor ankle injury, authorities said. Authorities have not released the identities of the deputy or the man he shot. Once the investigation is completed, the GBI will turn it over to the Fulton County District Attorney’s office for review, according to the release. The Atlanta Police Department is also looking into the events that led up to the shooting, according to a report from CNN affiliate WXIA. When asked about the incident by CNN, the Atlanta Police Department referred all questions to the GBI.",1431.0,Claudia Dominguez
57,2022-01-24,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/24/us/florida-international-university-president-resignation-workplace-conduct/index.html,Former president of Florida International University says he caused ‘discomfort’ to a colleague in letter explaining abrupt resignation,US,CNN,"Former Florida International University President Mark Rosenberg, who abruptly resigned Friday citing health concerns, acknowledged Sunday that his workplace conduct towards a colleague was part of his reasoning for stepping down. “I unintentionally created emotional (not physical) entanglement,” Rosenberg said in a statement shared by the university. “I have apologized. I apologize to you. I take full responsibility and regret my actions.” In his initial statement Friday, Rosenberg said he was leaving the post he’d held for thirteen years due to concerns for his and his wife’s health. On Sunday, Rosenberg cited the deteriorating condition of his wife, who he said has advanced dementia and multiple sclerosis, as impacting his mental health. “Regrettably, these issues spilled over to my work and I caused discomfort for a valued colleague,” the former university president said. “I regret that I may have burdened you with these details. We all want the same thing: a better, more robust and thriving FIU,” he said. No specifics about his actions were disclosed in the Sunday statement, but two people close to the administration told The New York Times an investigation began last month when a young female employee informed another colleague of Rosenberg’s behavior. The woman sat down for an interview last week with outside legal counsel investigating the behavior, according to the Times, and text messages were obtained showing communications between her and Rosenberg. The investigation led Rosenberg to resign on Friday, the Times reported. CNN has reached out to Florida International University for additional comment. Kenneth A. Jessell, FIU’s chief financial officer and senior vice president for finance and administration, will serve as interim president, the university announced Friday. FIU Board of Trustees chair Dean C. Colson, who released Rosenberg’s statement Sunday, said the additional comment on the resignation “provides insight into why the Board did not believe Friday was the appropriate time to celebrate the many accomplishments of FIU” during Rosenberg’s time as president. “We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the events requiring his resignation,” said Colson. “Due to employee privacy considerations, FIU is not going to comment further at this time,” he said. “FIU has strong personnel and workplace conduct policies, takes all workplace conduct seriously, and remains committed to enforcing its policies thoroughly and swiftly.”",2482.0,Melissa Alonso
58,2022-01-23,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/23/us/carjackings-rise-major-cities-pandemic/index.html,‘It’s a disturbing trend.’ Cities see large increases in carjackings during pandemic,US,CNN,"Carjackings have risen dramatically over the past two years in some of America’s biggest cities. Just outside Chicago, a state senator’s car and other valuables were taken at gunpoint in December, and a group of children, one just 10 years old, carjacked more than a dozen people. A rideshare driver being carjacked shot his attackers earlier this month in Philadelphia. Last March, a 12-year-old in Washington, DC was arrested and charged with four counts of armed carjacking. “The majority of it is young joyriders. They’re not keeping the cars. They’re jacking cars to commit another crime, typically more serious robberies or shootings, or joyriding around for the sake of social media purpose and street cred,” said Christopher Herrmann, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “It’s a disturbing trend.” Comprehensive national data isn’t available because the FBI’s crime reporting system doesn’t track carjackings. But large cities that track the crime reported increases in 2020 and 2021, especially as the pandemic took hold of the country. “It is lawless,” said Raymond Lopez, an alderman for Chicago’s 15th Ward. “It doesn’t feel lawless. It is.” Chicago’s clearance rate for carjackings is low, and has further declined during the pandemic. According to the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab, only 11% of carjacking offenses resulted in an arrest in 2020, down from 20% in 2019. Just 4.5% of offenses resulted in charges approved by the State Attorney’s Office. Chicago, a city of 2.7 million people, recorded more than three times as many carjackings as New York, where the population is almost three times higher. Chicago police officials declined to comment. Philadelphia police posted a message on Facebook telling residents they were prioritizing the solving of carjacking cases and that more officers had been dedicated to that task. “We recognize the fear and uncertainty these incidents bring, as the victims in these cases have touched nearly every demographic,” the statement read. “The PPD has deployed additional resources to investigate these incidents and apprehend offenders.” In December, Pennsylvania Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D) was carjacked at gunpoint in Philadelphia – a 19-year-old from Delaware was later arrested for the crime. News outlets in Philadelphia have reported more than 100 carjackings have already taken place so far this year. Many cities do not have data on carjackings readily available, as police departments will often categorize these crimes as robberies or assaults. It’s difficult to understand the scope of the problem at a national level because the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting program, which law enforcement agencies voluntarily submit their crime data to, does not track carjackings. However, more agencies are beginning to track carjackings separately. Dallas began classifying these crimes separately from robberies in their data last year and reported 453 carjackings in 2021. The Metropolitan Police Department in DC last year created a task force dedicated to addressing carjacking and auto thefts. Reports of auto thefts are also up across the country and are more reliably tracked than carjackings. Kim Smith, director of programs at University of Chicago’s Crime Lab, says that tracking crimes in greater detail is a key part of finding solutions. “I do think it’s important to be as granular as possible when you’re collecting data on crime,” she told CNN. “Who are the victims? Where do things take place? A lot of carjackings are done with a gun. If we’re trying to address gun violence, then we need to be as granular as possible.” More detailed reporting also makes it easier to spot trends and patterns – in its 2021 report, “How the pandemic is accelerating carjackings in Chicago,” the Crime Lab found that the majority of carjackings were concentrated in the south and west sides of the city, where gun violence is disproportionately high. The majority of the victims of carjackings were Black or Hispanic. Smith says she hopes the detail provided in the Crime Lab report can encourage officials in other cities to take a closer look at the circumstances under which these crimes occur. “There’s a lot that surprised us in the analysis, and I do think some of this is a call to action,” she said. Shifting attitudes toward the juvenile justice system, and Covid-related restrictions aimed at reducing the number of people in county jails or juvenile facilities, has created a situation where accused criminals who’d normally be held in custody are free while awaiting trial, experts told CNN. That’s created a “revolving door” situation where “some were emboldened to be repeat offenders,” said Jeffrey Norman, chief of the Milwaukee Police Department. “We saw this on a higher level in 2020 and 2021.” In Chicago, Lopez said people arrested and sent home with electronic monitoring sometimes reoffend while awaiting trial for something they’ve been arrested for. “It’s like the perfect storm, where all these soft on crime policies have come to a head during this pandemic,” he told CNN. The Crime Lab’s study of Chicago’s carjackings found that almost half of all carjacking arrestees in Chicago in 2020 were under 18. Between 2019 and 2020, there was a 104% increase in the number of arrestees who were minors. For many of them, it was their first contact with the criminal justice system, according to Smith. The increase in carjackings committed by minors underscores the extent to which the pandemic has impacted young people in America – especially in areas that were already struggling. The report states that carjackings occurred with more frequency in areas with poorer internet access and lower school attendance. Smith noted that kids living in areas with lower internet access had fewer opportunities to engage in school, remote learning and program providers over the past two years. “The impact of the pandemic, I think, can’t be overstated,” she said. Lopez said the choice to not take crime seriously among young teens will have consequences years later when they age out of the juvenile justice system. “When you have carjackers who are 15 on their third car, that’s a problem,” he said. Norman, the Milwaukee chief, said it would take a multi-faceted approach to begin addressing the rise in carjackings. “You’re not going to police your way out of this,” Norman said. “Everyone has to share responsibility when it comes to kids.” Norman said that the behavior of children in a community were like “canaries in a mine. When a community has issues, kids are falling to particular types of behaviors. “This is my thing. When a child doesn’t love himself or herself, I worry about the community that has that child. That’s no holds barred behavior that child will be engaged in,” Norman said. “A hungry kid will do whatever it takes to put food in his stomach.” The closure of schools and advent of remote learning, the stress within households related to that and economic insecurity, and the pandemic stress on other institutions have all contributed to teens having more free time and less stability in their lives. “You don’t take care of basic things, you can’t get to self-realization,” Norman said. “Not every kid is out doing things to put food in their stomach. But there are things not being take care of – whether it’s having positive mentorship, or areas of socialization not (being) available. “It’s sad seeing despair and the lack of resources any normal kid should have,” Norman said. “As the old saying goes, ‘Idle hands are the devil’s work.’”",7566.0,Peter Nickeas
59,2022-01-23,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/23/us/edmonia-lewis-stamp/index.html,USPS will issue a forever stamp honoring the Black Native sculptor Edmonia Lewis,US,CNN,"The US Postal Service will issue a forever stamp Wednesday honoring Edmonia Lewis, the Black Native artist whose 19th century marble sculptures gained her international acclaim and are now held by the Smithsonian. “As the first African American and Native American sculptor to earn international recognition, Edmonia Lewis challenged social barriers and assumptions about artists in mid-19th century America,” the USPS said in a statement. Lewis, born in 1844 in Greenbush, New York, to a Black father and Chippewa (Ojibwa) Native American, attended Oberlin College in Ohio and established herself as a professional artist in Boston, according to the Smithsonian. She moved to Rome in 1865 and there began to work with marble, sculpting busts of prominent figures as well as biblical and ancient historical works, the Smithsonian said. Her studio became a must-see attraction for American tourists, the USPS added. Many of her sculptures dealt with themes involving her Native American and Black heritage in the years after the Civil War and the end of slavery. One of her best known works is The Death of Cleopatra, her 3,000-pound 1876 marble sculpture depicting the Egyptian queen after her suicide by the bite of a venomous asp. The work was presumed lost for over a century but was ultimately rediscovered at a salvage yard in the 1980s, and it is now on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC, the institute said. The Smithsonian holds eight of her marble sculptures from between 1866 and 1876, including those depicting Moses, Hagar, Cupid and Young Octavian. The USPS stamp art of Lewis is a casein-paint portrait based on a photo of her by Augustus Marshall made in Boston between 1864 and 1871, the USPS said. “The work she produced during her prolific career evokes the complexity of her social identity and reflects the passion and independence of her artistic vision,” the USPS said. “As the public continues to discover the beautiful subtleties of Lewis’s work, scholars will further interpret her role in American art and the ways she explored, affirmed or de-emphasized her complex cultural identity to meet or expand the artistic expectations of her day.” The stamp is the 45th in the USPS’ Black Heritage series honoring individual Black Americans. Honorees in recent years include playwright August Wilson, PBS newscaster Gwen Ifill and dancer and actor Gregory Hines.",2412.0,Eric Levenson
60,2022-01-23,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/23/us/michigan-lottery-win-trnd/index.html,She found a $3 million lottery prize in her spam folder,US,CNN,"Your email spam folder isn’t all junk mail. Laura Spears of Oakland County, Michigan, can attest to that, as she recently discovered a $3 million lottery prize sitting in hers. The lucky winner had purchased a Mega Millions ticket on the Michigan Lottery website for the December 31, 2021, drawing. She matched five numbers to win $1 million, plus had the Megaplier to multiply her prize by three. “I saw an ad on Facebook that the Mega Millions jackpot was getting pretty high, so I got on my account and bought a ticket,” Spears, 55, told Michigan Lottery officials. “A few days later, I was looking for a missing email from someone, so I checked the spam folder in my email account.” “That’s when I saw an email from the Lottery saying I had won a prize. I couldn’t believe what I was reading, so I logged in to my Lottery account to confirm the message in the email. It’s all still so shocking to me that I really won $3 million!” Spears, who claimed her prize at Lottery headquarters last week, said she plans to share her winnings with family and retire early. Of course, she’ll also be checking her spam folder more frequently. “I definitely added the Michigan Lottery to my safe senders list just in case I ever get lucky enough to receive another email about a huge prize,” Spears said. Feeling lucky? Monday’s Powerball drawing is up to $82 million.",1359.0,Nadeem Muaddi
61,2022-01-23,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/23/us/yale-happiness-course-pandemic-wellness/index.html,"Two years into the pandemic, Yale’s ‘happiness’ course is more popular than ever",US,CNN,"When Yale psychology professor Laurie Santos witnessed the severity of the depression, anxiety and stress her students were facing, she decided to do something about it. Her “happiness” course – which she began teaching live in 2018 – became Yale’s most popular class in over 300 years, according to the university. But when the coronavirus pandemic struck, claiming millions of lives around the world and shutting down life as we know it, her class became more important than ever. “People were getting great evidence-based advice about how to protect their physical health – mask up, socially distance, get a vaccine – but people were struggling with what to do to protect their mental health,” Santos told CNN. In April 2019, Santos had 22,522 new enrollments. But in April 2020, as the pandemic started to take off, the class saw 860,494 new enrollments – and it only continued to skyrocket. So far, more than 3.7 million people have enrolled in the class, which is available for free online through Coursera and is also being taught in person for the second time this semester. The course went online for free about two years ago under the name “The Science of Well Being,” according to the Yale Daily News. Anyone can audit the course for free, and $49 lets you complete assignments, submit them for a grade and earn a certificate of completion. Santos’ class focuses on understanding and letting go of all the superficial notions of happiness, such as the idea that a better job, fancier house, or a new relationship is the next step closer to happiness. “All of us want to be happier,” Santos said. “The problem is that we have a lot of misconceptions about what really will make us happy. We think we need to change our circumstances in major ways, but often simply behavioral and mindset changes can make a big difference in our sense of well-being.” Some of the professor’s “happiness” assignments include deleting social media accounts, daily meditation, keeping a gratitude journal, and investing time in loved ones. Students also receive a series of homework “rewirements,” or practices aimed at helping students develop better habits, according to Santos. These include making more time for exercise and sleep, engaging in more social connection and random acts of kindness, taking time to savor and experience more gratitude, and mindfulness. “I’ve personally become a lot happier as a result of teaching the class,” Santos said. “It’s given me a lot more meaning and purpose, but it also means I need to practice what I preach and make sure I’m putting in the time to focus on my own well-being.” An intervention study written by Santos and four other researchers analyzing the impact of her class concluded taking the class allows people to show a significant improvement on a standard happiness scale, exhibiting about a one-point increase on the 10-point scale. “The present study demonstrated that well-being can be enhanced by taking a large-scale, free, online course,” the study read. “These results suggest that individuals who are exposed to academic content on the science of well-being and who engage in evidence-based practices can indeed increase their subjective well-being.” The study also showed how free, online classes can “impact mental health at large scales, and thus could become an important tool for public health initiatives aimed at improving population-wide mental health outcomes.”",3426.0,Alaa Elassar
62,2022-01-23,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/23/us/chicago-girl-8-shot-killed-stray-bullet/index.html,An 8-year-old girl was shot and killed by stray bullet in Chicago,US,CNN,"Police are investigating the death of an 8-year-old girl who was shot and killed by a stray bullet over the weekend in Chicago. Melissa Ortega was walking with a guardian on Saturday afternoon when they heard gunshots, according to police. Investigators say the guardian discovered that the child had been struck in the head by a bullet. The young victim was transported to Stroger Hospital where she died. Neither the girl nor her guardian was the intended target, police said. A 26-year-old man, who police say was the intended target, was coming out of a store when “known” offenders fired shots at him, striking him in the lower back, according to police. He is listed in critical condition at a local hospital, police said. Ortega was a student at the Emiliano Zapata Academy in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, a short distance from where she was shot, according to a statement from the Chicago Teachers Union. “Tonight, our union mourns the loss of another student from one of our school communities. This suffering is becoming all too familiar for many of Chicago’s children and families, who our educators nurture and support every day,” the union said. “The Chicago Teachers Union sends its love to Melissa’s family and the Zapata Academy community, and wish them peace and healing from this heartbreaking tragedy.” Chicago Police continue to search for the suspects in this shooting. “We wake today to the murder of 8-year-old Melissa in Little Village. Amy and I send our sincerest condolences to this heartbroken family and shattered community,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted. Anyone with information on the shooting can call or leave a tip online. A reward of $10,000 is offered for information leading to an arrest and up to $15,000 for a conviction. “We cannot let fear cause us to lose our humanity. Please come forward so that Melissa’s family will know that there is justice for her,” Lightfoot said. Shootings in Chicago increased by 11% in 2021 compared to 2020 and 63% compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels, according to a report by police.",2074.0,Tina Burnside
63,2022-01-22,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/22/us/arnold-schwarzenegger-car-crash/index.html,Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger involved in multi-vehicle accident,US,CNN,"Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was involved in a multi-vehicle crash Friday evening in Los Angeles with a representative telling People magazine that he wasn’t hurt. “He is fine, his only concern right now is for the woman who was injured,” the representative said. The crash happened around 4:35 p.m. PT on West Sunset Boulevard and Allenford Avenue, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a news release. “As West L.A. Area officers arrived at scene, it was determined that four vehicles were involved,” police said. One woman was taken to a hospital for an abrasion on her head, LAPD said. “Neither alcohol or drugs are suspected as a factor in this collision.  All parties remained at scene,” the LAPD said. CNN has reached out to Schwarzenegger’s representatives for comment. Schwarzenegger, 74, ran for governor as a Republican and won in 2003, ousting Democrat Gov. Gray Davis. The actor-turned-politician, the most recent GOP member to lead the state, was reelected as governor in 2006 and left office in 2011. He was the only person in California history to win a gubernatorial race in a recall election. The Austrian-born movie star moved in 1968 to the US where he thrived as a bodybuilder and an actor, winning Mr. Universe, Mr. Olympia and Mr. World competitions.He also landed the lead roles in films “Conan the Barbarian,” “The Terminator,” and “Total Recall.” After he left the government, the actor still spoke about the political climate, expressing grave concern over the insurrection at the US Capitol and partisanship. “I’m worried about both parties. Both parties need to come together and work together because you cannot have just run the country on 50% of the brainpower. You need 100% of the brainpower,” he said.",1766.0,Melissa Alonso
64,2022-01-22,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/22/us/coronavirus-lightning-studies-pandemic-scn/index.html,How coronavirus lockdowns may have led to less lightning in 2020,US,CNN,"Researchers have discovered a possible link between the coronavirus pandemic and fewer instances of lightning reported during worldwide shutdowns in the spring of 2020. Global lightning activity decreased nearly 8% in 2020 amid lockdowns triggered by the pandemic, according to research presented in December at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to promoting “discovery in Earth and space science.” Scientists who worked on the study discovered a potential cause for this drop in lightning activity: a decrease in atmospheric aerosols, tiny particles of pollution suspended in the air around us. These aerosols – produced through the burning of fossil fuels, among other things – can paint a picture of what’s going on across the earth’s atmosphere, from weather patterns to natural and man-made events, experts say. Aerosols have a “profound impact on the climate” because of their ability to alter the Earth’s energy and balance, according to NASA – and they can also contribute to lightning. As countries around the world imposed quarantines, lockdowns and curfews aimed at limiting the spread of Covid-19, air pollution levels fell drastically, thereby reducing the amount of aerosols released into the air, according to the study. Global air quality information and tech company IQAir’s 2020 World Air Quality Report said human-related emissions from industry and transport fell during lockdowns, and 65% of global cities analyzed experienced better air quality in 2020 compared to 2019. Some 84% of nations polled reported air quality improvements overall. “The aerosols help give water droplets in the atmosphere something to cling onto, so certainly having more aerosols will help potentially create conditions you need to have lightning,” said Chris Vagasky, meteorologist and lightning applications manager at Vaisala, a private environmental monitoring company that tracks lightning around the world. “Having more droplets in the atmosphere makes it possible to get those collisions of water and ice and things like that to create an electric charge imbalance, which leads to lightning.” Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tripura University in India and Vaisala Inc., spent a three-month-long lockdown period from March to May 2020 measuring lightning activity by analyzing data from the Global Lightning Detection Network and the World Wide Lightning Location Network. They determined the amount of aerosols in the atmosphere using satellite measurements, AGU said in a press release. The study concluded that lightning activity and aerosols dropped significantly throughout Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas during the lockdown period. Those results were supported by Vaisala’s 2020 Annual Lightning Report, which recorded about 170 million lightning events in 2020 across the continental United States, down about 52 million from 2019. This decrease in lightning marked the greatest change year-over-year ever recorded by Vaisala, according to Vagasky. “When you look specifically at the March-May 2020 time period across the whole planet, there was higher than normal atmospheric pressure and lower than normal atmospheric instability,” Vagasky told CNN. “This created an environment across the planet that was unfavorable for thunderstorms to develop, and you need to have the right conditions for thunderstorms to develop before you can worry about the aerosols inside the clouds.” While aerosols play a major role in how much lightning we get each year, they are not the only important factor that comes into play, according to Vagasky. From large scale weather patterns to very small scale particle collisions inside of the thunderstorm, he added, it is likely that more than one specific factor resulted in a decrease in the amount of lightning produced.",3877.0,Alaa Elassar
65,2022-01-22,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/21/us/texas-synagogue-hostage-taker-death/index.html,"FBI is working to determine where Texas synagogue hostage-taker acquired his gun, official says",US,CNN,"The FBI is working to fill a “primary gap” in its investigation into the Colleyville, Texas, hostage standoff: finding out how the hostage-taker acquired his gun, FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno said during a Friday news conference. “We are actively focused on that piece of the investigation,” DeSarno said. He added US officials are also working with their international counterparts in various countries to learn more about the suspect’s background. The man who authorities say took the four hostages Saturday, died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to medical examiner records released Friday. Malik Faisal Akram’s manner of death was ruled a homicide, a forensic classification which indicates a death was caused by another person. The time of death was 9:22 p.m. Saturday, Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office records show. Akram, a 44-year-old British national, held four people hostage at Congregation Beth Israel in an 11-hour standoff, the FBI said. An FBI team killed Akram after one hostage was released and three escaped from the synagogue just outside Dallas-Fort Worth, officials said. The three hostages escaped at the same time hostage rescue agents approached the building in what DeSarno described as “two near-simultaneous plans of action.” He said he made the decision to send tactical agents in “confidently” on Saturday night, and felt he had “good situational awareness” because of the help authorities were receiving from inside the synagogue and the “visibility into what was happening” he got from the negotiation team. DeSarno said he authorized agents to attempt the rescue after negotiations with Akram took an unproductive turn, with him becoming less communicative, more combative and issuing ultimatums and deadlines to the FBI. As officials made their assessment, the hostages came to a similar conclusion, DeSarno said. After encountering the hostages running from one exit of the synagogue, the agents continued into the building, DeSarno said, adding “Akram’s death was a result of the deadly force employed by the FBI.” The preliminary information released by the medical examiner indicated an autopsy report for Akram had not yet been finalized. The office has up to 90 days to complete its findings, a spokesperson for the office said. The FBI is treating the standoff as “both a hate crime and an act of terrorism,” DeSarno said Friday, adding Akram committed a federal hate crime “when he forcibly kidnapped four hostages while they exercised their right to worship.” “This was not some random occurrence. It was intentional. It was symbolic, and we’re not going to tolerate anti-Semitism in this country,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said Thursday at a virtual event hosted by the Anti-Defamation League. “We recognize that the Jewish community in particular has suffered violence and faces very real threats from, really, across the hate spectrum.” Investigators believe Akram was motivated in part by a desire to see the release of convicted extremist Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year federal prison sentence in Fort Worth, they’ve said. She was not involved in the Colleyville standoff, her attorney said. DeSarno said Friday he believes Congregation Beth Israel was targeted because it is the closest synagogue to where the suspect believed the convicted extremist was being housed. When the suspect demanded the release of a convicted extremist, his actions “clearly met the definition of terrorism,” DeSarno said. UK counterterrorism investigators are helping US authorities look into the incident. Two men were arrested in the British cities of Birmingham and Manchester on Thursday morning as part of the investigation, and were held for questioning, Greater Manchester Police said without elaborating. Akram arrived in the United States in late December via New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, a US law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told CNN. Akram had been known to UK security services and had been the subject of a brief investigation in 2020, a UK official told CNN on Tuesday. The investigation was closed when authorities determined Akram to no longer be a threat. The incident has put Jewish communities across the United States on edge. Attacks on Jewish people have been on the rise, the Anti-Defamation League warns. And while the majority of anti-Semitic incidents involve harassment and vandalism, assaults have also happened, with at least six turning deadly since 2016, including at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018. Akram took the hostages at Congregation Beth Israel on Saturday morning, when people had gathered to participate in a Sabbath service. Akram did not exhibit suspicious behavior when he first knocked on the door, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker said Thursday at the ADL virtual event where Wray also spoke. Cytron-Walker, who was one of four congregation members taken hostage, said Akram told him he had been out walking in the cold weather and inquired whether the synagogue had a night shelter. “He looked like he was telling the truth,” Cytron-Walker said. “There were no initial red flags. So, we opened the door.” Cytron-Walker has said he and three others were taken hostage at gunpoint after the rabbi started leading prayers. The first demand made by the suspect was to speak with a prominent rabbi in New York, Cytron-Walker said Thursday. The hostage-taker spoke with the New York rabbi, demanding that person’s assistance in securing Siddiqui’s release, two officials briefed on the investigation previously told CNN. Cytron-Walker said the hostage-taker targeted his congregation because he believed the anti-Semitic “notion that Jews are more important in his mind than everyone else, and that America would do more to save Jews than it would for anyone else. “And that’s why he specifically targeted a synagogue,” Cytron-Walker said Thursday. Akram “said point-blank he chose the synagogue because ‘Jews control the world. Jews control the media. Jews control the banks,’” Jeffrey Cohen, one of the hostages and vice president of the synagogue’s board of trustees, told CNN previously. In addition to crediting security training he received before the incident, Cytron-Walker told audience members at Thursday’s ADL event establishing relationships with local law enforcement is key to handling a crisis. “I was literally texting and emailing in small moments when I could with the Colleyville police chief, because I had his cell phone, because those relationships were there,” he said. Cytron-Walker, one of the final three hostages remaining after one was released, has said he eventually threw a chair at Akram after telling the two others to run. The three hostages escaped; an FBI team moved in, and Akram was killed, authorities said.",6820.0,Josh Campbell
66,2022-01-22,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/22/us/domestic-incidents-police-officers-danger/index.html,"Domestic incidents are highly dangerous for police officers, experts say",US,CNN,"The two New York police officers who were shot, one of them fatally, inside a Harlem apartment on Friday were responding to a domestic disturbance call, one of the most dangerous circumstances for police, experts say. Officer Jason Rivera died from his injuries, while 27-year-old Wilbert Mora remains in critical condition. According to data from the FBI’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) database, 503 officers nationwide were feloniously killed between 2011 and 2020. During that period, 43 officers were feloniously killed while responding to domestic disturbance or domestic violence calls. According to the FBI, 14 officers were feloniously killed when they encountered a domestic incident after arriving at the scene. The 43 officers who were killed while responding to domestic disturbance or domestic violence calls account for roughly 8.5% of the total number of officers killed between 2011 and 2020. Last year saw the highest number of law enforcement officers who were intentionally killed in the line of duty since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. There were 73 officers who died in felonious killings in the line of duty in 2021, according to preliminary year-end data provided to CNN by the FBI. It was the highest total recorded by the agency since 1995, excluding the 9/11 attacks. The Friday incident unfolded as officers were responding to a domestic call at 6:15 p.m. in Harlem, officials said. A woman called 911 and reported she was having a dispute with one of her sons inside her apartment, said NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig. Shortly after, three NYPD officers arrived at the apartment and met the mother and another son. At some point the officers were directed to a room in the back of the apartment, where her other son – the suspect – was waiting, Essig said. “The door swings open and numerous shots are fired, striking both officers – one fatally and one is here at Harlem Hospital in critical condition,” Essig said. A third officer shot the suspect, identified as Lashawn McNeil, in the arm and head when he tried to escape, police said. McNeil, 47, was in critical condition at the hospital, officials said. Several factors can make a domestic violence incident highly dangerous for responding officers, according to Jon Shane, a professor in the Criminal Justice department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “The first is that you are entering into someone’s private domain and you’re bringing a very public face to a very private matter,” Shane told CNN. “People’s emotions are already elevated due to whatever dispute they’re involved in and now you bring the coercive power of the state, people are angry and angry to see you, knowing that there’s potential to be arrested and incarcerated.” Shane said officers are also on “unfamiliar ground,” unlike the other individuals who likely know the layout of the residence. “You don’t know whether there are any weapons in that house, so you are at a complete disadvantage. You are 100% on defense, while the other players are on offense,” Shane added. Shane said the NYPD officers did not establish control over the situation as quickly as possible because the individuals at the scene were in different rooms rather than in one place. A 2017 research brief from the Dolan Consulting Group, authored by criminal justice researcher Richard Johnson, determined the likelihood of an officer assault while responding to domestic violence calls “is greatest when the batterer is unemployed, intoxicated, resides with the DV victim, has just damaged property, and displays a hostile demeanor when officers arrive” and is least likely when these factors are not present. The research cites a study using FBI statistics to show an average of 4,194 officer assaults occur annually from domestic violence calls. Between 1980 and 2006, a total of 113,236 officer assaults occurred at these calls and 160 officers died as a result of these assaults, the research says. “While DV calls may not be the most dangerous duty that officers face, it is inaccurate to say these calls are by any means safe — and it is therefore vitally important to work to understand the factors that increase risks to officers,” Johnson wrote in the brief. According to Christopher Herrmann, an assistant professor at John Jay, domestic calls can escalate rapidly as they approach a confrontation already in progress. Herrmann said alcohol is frequently involved in domestic violence incidents and when there is a weapon at the scene it’s a “perfect storm for disaster to happen.” Officers become on high alert when they get a radio call for domestics and emotionally disturbed people (EDP), Herrmann said. Mental health issues, domestic disturbance or relationship issues are more complex situations in which emotions run high, he said. “The fact that the cops are there to begin with shows you the extremeness of the case,” Herrmann said. “Someone either inside the house or one of the neighbors got so worried that they call the police and then something can light the fuse that sparks a fire that gets out of control pretty quickly.”",5131.0,Emma Tucker
67,2022-01-22,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/21/us/delta-man-arrested-exposing-himself/index.html,A man was arrested after allegedly exposing himself to a Delta flight attendant and passengers,US,CNN,"A man was arrested for allegedly creating multiple disturbances and exposing himself to a flight attendant and passengers during a Delta Air Lines flight. On an eight-hour flight traveling from Dublin, Ireland to New York City on January 7, Shane McInerney, 29, allegedly refused to wear a face mask despite being asked several times to do so by the flight crew, according to an affidavit and complaint unsealed Friday. The Galway, Ireland, native allegedly threw an empty beverage can, hitting another passenger in the head, according to the complaint. Court documents also said McInerney had an exchange with the flight captain, who was on a break, and twice placed his own cap on the captain’s head. The affidavit says McInerney held his fist near the captain’s face and said, “Don’t touch me.” At one point during the flight, McInerney allegedly pulled down his pants and underwear, exposing his buttocks to a flight attendant, according to the complaint. McInerney also did not remain seated when the airplane was on its final approach to the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, the complaint read. McInerney is facing a felony charge of intentionally assaulting and intimidating a member of a flight crew,  according to John Marzulli, spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison, Marzulli said. McInerney’s attorney, Benjamin Zev Yaster, had no comment. McInerney was released on a $20,000 bond and remains in the US as a condition of his bond, according to Marzulli. No date has been set for McInerney’s arraignment, but he had his initial appearance in Brooklyn Federal Court on January 14, Marzulli said.",1720.0,Mirna Alsharif
68,2022-01-22,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/21/us/virginia-school-board-threat-gun-loaded/index.html,Woman charged after threatening to bring ‘every single gun loaded and ready’ if her children had to wear masks at school,US,CNN,"Police in Virginia said a woman has been charged after she claimed at a school board meeting she would show up with loaded guns if her children were required to wear masks at school. In the post on the department’s Facebook page, authorities said Amelia King, 42 of Luray, was charged with making an oral threat while on school property Friday afternoon. A magistrate judge released her on a $5,000 unsecured bond. The board had been debating Covid-19 mitigation measures as the Omicron wave continues to cause significant community transmission, and in light of one of new Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin’s executive orders. On January 15, his first day in office, Youngkin issued an executive order saying parents could decide whether their children had to wear face masks in school. During the public comment section of the meeting, a response from one of the four Page County residents who spoke turned confrontational. “My children will not come to school on Monday with a mask on,” King told the Board. “Alright? That’s not happening. And I will bring every single gun loaded and ready to… I will call every…” King was then cut off for going over the three-minute time limit, and she replied, “I’ll see y’all on Monday.” In response to the comments, the Page County school superintendent and school board chair put out a statement saying they would not take the comments lightly. “Not only do comments such as these go against everything we wish to model for our students, they go against the very nature of how we as a community should interact with each other,” the statement read. “This kind of behavior is not tolerated from our students, faculty, staff, nor will it be tolerated by parents or guests of our school division.” As a result of the comments, the school board said they would increase police presence at schools on Friday and Monday. “Luray Police Chief Bo Cook is investigating the incident and is in communication with the Commonwealth’s Attorney, as well as state and federal officials,” the statement said. In an email to the board, read aloud at the end of the meeting, King apologized and said she was “mortified.” “I in no way meant to imply all guns loaded as in actual firearms, but rather all resources I can muster to make sure that my children get to attend school without masks,” she purportedly said in the email. “I would never do such a thing; I was speaking figuratively.” King, in the email, said she contacted the Sheriff’s office to explain herself. CNN reached out to King for comment but did not immediately receive a response. During her speech, King noted she has previously spoken at school board meetings and the remarks were not prepared. “I like to sound educated and when I go off the cuff, I get really passionate,” she said. “I’m not always able to say exactly what I want to say in the appropriate way.” CNN also reached out to the Luray Police, the Page County Commonwealth Attorney and Gov. Youngkin’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response. The Board ultimately decided in a 4-2 vote to “make masking the choice of the parent.” Masks would be required for all staff, and anyone on school buses. However, parents will be required to sign an “opt-out form” if they did not want their children wearing masks in school. The Board will still require students returning from quarantine to be masked, regardless of parent choice.",3405.0,Paul P. Murphy
69,2022-01-21,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/21/us/new-york-antisemitic-incident-arrest/index.html,NYPD arrests woman after she allegedly spit on an 8-year-old Jewish boy,US,CNN,"The New York City Police Department has arrested a woman accused of harassing and spitting on an 8-year-old Jewish boy outside a Brooklyn synagogue last week, authorities said. The woman, identified as 21-year-old Christina Darling, was charged with multiple counts including aggravated harassment as a hate crime, acting in a manner injurious to a child and menacing as a hate crime, the NYPD said on Friday. CNN has not been able to determine if Darling has legal representation. The alleged incident took place last Friday police when said the woman approached three children outside the Kehal Tiferes Avrohom Ziditshov Orthodox synagogue. Police said she shouted “anti-Jewish statements” before spitting on the boy and walking away. The children were not injured, police said. The children’s father, Aryah Fried, told CNN affiliate WCBS the woman said, “something along the lines of Hitler should have killed you all.” Fried said his son responded to the woman saying he would save his little sister, prompting the suspect to spit on his face and say, “we will kill you all, I know where you live, and we’ll make sure to get you all next time.” Several Jewish people have been targeted across the United States over the past year, some linked to the violent confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinians outside Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque in May. A day after the incident in New York, a man interrupted a Saturday’s Shabbat service at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, and held four people hostage for several hours. Since then, Jewish communities across the country have remained especially vigilant by increasing security at synagogues and Jewish Community Centers.",1681.0,Nicole Chavez
70,2022-01-21,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/21/us/florida-man-human-smuggling-arrest/index.html,A backpack with baby gear led police to a devastating discovery,US,CNN,"A backpack containing baby gear uncovered during a human smuggling investigation in Minnesota helped lead police to a devastating discovery near the US-Canada border. Authorities found the remains of four people, including an infant, in a field near Emerson, Manitoba, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told reporters Thursday. Investigators believe they froze to death while attempting to reach the United States, police said. Their remains were found yards away from the border, police said, and an autopsy is pending. “It is an absolute and heartbreaking tragedy,” RCMP Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy said. A search began Wednesday morning, MacLatchy said, after police received what she described as “concerning information” from US Customs and Border Protection about a group of people who’d been apprehended after crossing into the United States from Canada. “One of the adults was carrying items meant for an infant, but … no infant was found with the group,” MacLatchy said. A man in the group, an Indian national identified in a US federal court filing as “V.D.,” told investigators the backpack he was carrying belonged to a family who’d gotten separated from the group. The backpack, according to the Thursday filing, contained children’s clothes, children’s medication, a diaper and toys. “V.D. said that he was carrying the backpack for a family of four Indian nationals that had earlier been walking with his group,” says the complaint, which was filed in US District Court for Minnesota. “V.D. said that his group had been separated from the family during the night, and he did not know where the family was.” That information sparked a search that swiftly began on both sides of the border, MacLatchy said. The remains – a man, a woman, an infant and another male believed to be a teenager – were found hours later, she said, noting that Canadian investigators were still working to identify them. “Please understand that it’s going to take time to identify the names, ages and nationalities of these deceased victims,” she said. “You’ll also note that I’m using the term ‘victims.’ And that’s on purpose.” Investigators, she said, are concerned the attempted crossing “may have been facilitated in some way.” “We’re very concerned…that these individuals, including an infant, were left on their own in the middle of a blizzard, when the weather hovered around -35 degrees Celsius (-31 Fahrenheit), factoring the wind,” she said. “These victims faced not only the cold weather, but also endless fields, large snowdrifts and complete darkness.” The terrain was so remote and rough, MacLatchy said, that search teams had to use all-terrain vehicles to access the area. “It’s hugely difficult. Blowing snow covers things up in minutes. The snow is deep. it’s almost impossible to walk through,” she said. “Evidence can certainly be lost in those sorts of conditions… It’s enormously challenging.” MacLatchy told reporters she had a message for anyone else who’s thinking of crossing the US-Canada border in the area, either heading south or north. “Just don’t do it,” she said. “Do not listen to anyone who tells you they can get you to your destination safely. They cannot. Even with proper clothing, it’s not a journey that is possible.” She noted Thursday morning’s temperature inthe Emerson area:  minus 41 Celsius with the windchill. “At this temperature, your skin will freeze within minutes,” she said. “I do understand that for some there may be a great need to get to another country, but this is not the way. You will be risking your life and the lives of the people you care about if you try it.” No one has been charged in connection with the deaths. MacLatchy vowed investigators would pursue every angle of the case. “We don’t know how these individuals got to Emerson, but our investigators are certainly going to look into every aspect of their deaths,” she said. “As we suspect this group is tied to the individuals found on the US side of the border, we’re working in close collaboration with US Customs and Border Protection and the US Department of Homeland Security. All of our agencies are committed to a thorough and a comprehensive investigation.” On Thursday US federal prosecutors announced that a Florida man found traveling in the area on the US side of the border in a van with two undocumented foreign nationals had been charged with human smuggling. Steve Shand, 47, was arrested by USBP agents Wednesday in the rural area between the official ports of border entry in Lancaster, Minnesota, and Pembina, North Dakota, according to the news release from the US Justice Department. The two passengers in the van were Indian nationals and were in the US illegally, according to the complaint filed in US District Court for Minnesota. Shand is charged with one count of “knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien had come to, entered, or remained in the United States in violation of law, transported, and moved or attempted to transport and move such alien,” according to the complaint. He made his first court appearance on Thursday and was ordered to remain in custody pending a hearing on January 24. Shand’s attorney has not yet responded to CNN’s request for comment. Shand has not been charged in relation to the deaths and an investigation is ongoing. The complaint filed against him in federal court reveals details about the search that led to the discovery. The complaint describes a group of five Indian nationals, including V.D., allegedly found and arrested in the area as Shand and the van’s passengers were being transported to the Pembina Border Patrol Station. V.D. told investigators the group had been walking for about 11.5 hours and had walked across the border expecting to be picked up by someone, the complaint says. He also described the family of four that he said had been separated from the group. The complaint says the Border Patrol received word from Canadian authorities about the remains found north of the border. “The dead bodies were tentatively identified as the family of four that was separated from V.D.’s group in the night,” the complaint says. Authorities said the frigid temperatures had taken a toll on members of the group that had been taken into custody. Two people had to be taken to the hospital for suspected frostbite, and one of them, a woman, may lose part of her hand, the complaint said. Meanwhile, the complaint says there’s an ongoing investigation into a larger human smuggling operation that Shand is suspected to have participated in. One of the Indian nationals told Border Patrol agents that he had paid a significant amount of money to enter Canada from India under a fraudulently obtained student visa, according to the complaint. He added that he didn’t intend to study in Canada, the complaint says, but had planned to enter the US illegally and had crossed the border on foot expecting to be picked up by someone who was supposed to drive him to his uncle’s home in Chicago.",7007.0,Catherine E. Shoichet
71,2022-01-21,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/21/us/oldest-american-thelma-sutcliff-dies/index.html,Oldest person in the US has died at age 115,US,CNN,"Thelma Sutcliffe, who was the oldest person in the US, died on Monday at age 115, according to a family member. “She passed away peacefully in Omaha at an assisted living facility,” said her nephew Robert Sorenson, 94. Sutcliffe became the oldest American on April 17, 2021, according to the Gerontology Research Group. She was also the 7th oldest person in the world. Luella Mason, a longtime friend, had told CNN then that Sutcliffe had lost most of her eyesight and some of her hearing, but was otherwise “still very sharp.” Sutcliffe had credited her long life to the fact that she never had children, never smoked and believed strongly in never worrying about anything, Mason said. The last time Sorenson saw his aunt was two years ago. “We had plans to meet, but the pandemic took place; we talked on the phone frequently,” said Sorenson, who lives in the Phoenix area. “I am the last closest relative that she has. She was very important to me. She was good to me and my siblings all throughout the years,” Sorenson added.",1029.0,Mallika Kallingal
72,2022-01-21,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/us/virginia-maryland-cold-case-murder-suspect/index.html,Man confesses to 2 unsolved murders in Virginia and Maryland,US,CNN,"Two cold case murders in Maryland and Virginia that took place about 15 years apart have been solved after an already incarcerated man confessed to both, according to police in Maryland. Charles Helem, 52, confessed last year to the 1987 murder of Eige Sober-Adler in Fairfax County, Virginia, and the 2002 murder of Jennifer Landry in Mount Rainier, Maryland, a news release from the Prince George’s County Police Department said. Helem is currently serving a life sentence in Red Onion State Prison in Virginia for the unrelated 2002 death of Patricia Bentley, 37. He was arrested in Fairfax County in 2002 and convicted in 2003 for that case, police said. CNN has not been able to identify an attorney for Helem at this time. “Patricia was a single mother who was killed inside her town home in Chantilly,” said Fairfax County Police Department Chief Kevin Davis during a news conference Wednesday. The investigation of the two cold case murders was reignited in 2010, when Helem sent a letter to the Mount Rainier Police Department claiming to have knowledge about Landry’s murder. Landry, 19, was from Randolph, Massachusetts. “Detectives attempted to speak to him in prison at the time, but he refused an interview. In 2017, Helem sent another letter, but he again refused an interview,” the news release read. “PGPD Cold Case Unit detectives attempted to interview him again in September of 2021 and this time he agreed.” At the time of the September interview, Helem was being held in a Massachusetts prison, police said. Helem verbally confessed to Landry’s murder during an interview with detectives and provided information “only the suspect would know,” according to the release. “He advised investigators he picked up Landry in Washington, DC, while he was soliciting sex for money. They drove to Oak Lane in Mount Rainier where he murdered her. He then left her body in a nearby wooded area,” the release read. Landry’s body was found in August 2002, though she wouldn’t be identified for another three years. Her body had trauma to her neck area, the release said. An autopsy determined she died of asphyxia and cutting wounds to the neck. Helem is now charged in connection with the murder of Landry, according to PGPD. “While communicating with Helem about Landry’s murder, he provided information regarding another unsolved murder in Fairfax County. PGPD then contacted Fairfax County Police. On Tuesday, Helem was indicted in Fairfax County for a 1987 murder,” the release read. Eige Sober-Adler, 37, of Kensington, Maryland, was found dead in a parking lot near the Dulles Toll Road on September 9, 1987,  according to Fairfax Police Chief Kevin Davis. “Detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department spoke with Helem in October of 2021. He confessed to the brutal and cold-hearted murder of Eige Adler,” Davis said during a news conference. “Sadly, both of Eige’s parents died never knowing what happened to their daughter. We hope this indictment brings some sense of closure to her surviving family members and friends.”",3049.0,Amir Vera
73,2022-01-21,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/21/us/alec-baldwin-sued-defamation/index.html,Alec Baldwin sued by family of fallen Marine for $25 million for defamation and other allegations,US,CNN,"Actor Alec Baldwin is being sued for defamation and negligence by the family of a fallen Marine after comments he made about one family member’s presence outside the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, according to a suit filed Monday in the US District Court for the District of Wyoming. The sisters and widow of Lance Corporal Rylee J. McCollum, who died on August 26, 2021, during the suicide bomber attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, are asking for $25 million plus legal fees after suffering severe distress following Baldwin’s comments, according to the court filing. After McCollum’s death, a GoFundMe account was started for his widow Jiennah McCollum “and her soon-to-be-born daughter,” the suit says. Baldwin heard about the GoFundMe account and sent a check of $5,000 to the Marine’s sister, Roice McCollum, for Jiennah and her child as what he called “a tribute to a fallen soldier,” according to the suit. On January 3, Roice “posted a photo of a crowd of demonstrators at the Washington Monument on her Instagram page in anticipation of the January 6, 2022, one-year anniversary of her attendance at the Washington, DC demonstration,” the suit said. On January 6, 2021, hundreds of supporters of then-President Donald Trump gathered outside the US Capitol to protest Congress certifying the results of the 2020 election. Many rioters pushed aside barricades and law enforcement officers to breach the building, storming some of the most hallowed chambers of American democracy and setting off shock waves of violence and division across the country. The consequences of that day continue to reverberate. When Baldwin saw Roice’s post ahead of the one-year anniversary, he began to message her on Instagram, according to the lawsuit. “When I sent the $ for your late brother, out of real respect for his service to this country, I didn’t know you were a January 6th rioter,” Baldwin said, according to the suit. Roice “was never detained, arrested, charged with or convicted of any crime associated with her attendance at the January 6, 2021, event in Washington, DC,” the lawsuit said. She responded to Baldwin, according to the suit, that, “Protesting is perfectly legal in the country and I’ve already had my sit down with the FBI. Thanks, have a nice day!” Baldwin responded, the lawsuit says, with, “I don’t think so. Your activities resulted in the unlawful destruction of government property, the death of a law enforcement officer, an assault on the certification of the presidential election. I reposted your photo. Good luck.” CNN has reached out to Baldwin’s attorney for comment. Approximately 20 minutes after Baldwin posted Roice’s “Instagram feed,” she “began to get hostile, aggressive, hateful messages from Baldwin’s followers,” the suit alleges. Baldwin’s Instagram post that he later deleted said, “Lots of Trumpsters chiming in here with the current cry that the attack on the Capitol was a protest, (a more peaceful form of which got a lot of other protestors imprisoned) and an exercise in democracy. That’s bullsh*t.” His post continued and said, “I did some research. I found, on IG, that this woman [Roice McCollum] is the brother (sic) of one of the men who was killed,” in Kabul Afghanistan. “I offered to send her sister-in-law [Jiennah McCollum] some $ as a tribute to her late brother, his widow and their child. Which I did. As a tribute to a fallen soldier. Then I find this. Truth is stranger than fiction,” his post added. The suit says Baldwin, “unequivocally understood that by forwarding Roice’s Instagram feed to 2.4 million like-minded followers and posting his commentary would result in the onslaught of threats and hatred that it did.” Hours after Baldwin’s post, Lance’s other sister, Cheyenne, and his widow, Jiennah, began receiving “hateful messages and even death threats,” according to the suit. “Neither Cheyenne nor Jiennah” were in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021, the suit added. Jiennah received a message Thursday calling her a “racist” according to one of the family’s attorneys, Dennis Postiglione. Jiennah is Black, Postiglione said in a phone call. “I gratefully supported the gofundme campaign while simultaneously not knowing the woman I approached is an insurrectionist. I think that’s…remarkable,” Baldwin said, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit says that Baldwin is “keenly aware” of the weight of his fame and notoriety. The family is asking for a trial by jury, according to the suit. In addition to negligence and defamation, they are also suing Baldwin for invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. “[R]egardless of a person’s politics, what Baldwin did here should never be allowed to stand. He is one of the most recognizable people in the country and has a social media following five times the population of the State of Wyoming. He abused that platform willingly and put the McCollum’s through hell at a time when they had just begun to cope with Rylee’s death,” Postiglione said in a news release. This is not the only legal battle Baldwin is embroiled in. Last month, the actor turned over his cell phone to law enforcement officials as part of their investigation into the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust,” CNN has previously reported. He is also being sued by crew member Serge Svetnoy for negligence. Baldwin had previously said he would “never point a gun at anyone and then pull the trigger,” during an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in December. According to court documents, Baldwin said he believed the gun did not have live rounds in it. His attorney has said Baldwin is cooperating with authorities in the investigation of the fatal shooting.",5707.0,Michelle Watson
74,2022-01-21,https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/16/us/gabby-petito-timeline-missing-case/index.html,A timeline of 22-year-old Gabby Petito’s case,US,CNN,"The FBI says its investigation into the case of Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old woman whose case captured America’s attention since she first disappeared, is coming to a close. Petito was reported missing by her family in September after she embarked on a cross-country trip with Brian Laundrie, her fiancé. Laundrie, who returned to the couple’s North Port, Florida, home in early September without Petito, left the home roughly two weeks later and disappeared, sparking a weekslong search for him in a vast Florida nature reserve. Just days into the search for Laundrie, authorities on the other side of the country discovered Petito’s remains in Wyoming and a coroner ruled her cause of death to be strangulation. After local and federal authorities combed through the 25,000-acre reserve in Florida for weeks, investigators announced they found Laundrie’s remains and a medical examiner ruled he died by suicide. Nearby, authorities found a notebook in which Laundrie claimed responsibility for Petito’s death, the FBI says. Here’s how the case unfolded. Petito and Laundrie embark on a cross-country trip, according to North Port Police Chief Todd Garrison, who refers to Laundrie as Petito’s fiancé. They planned to travel in Petito’s white Ford van to the West Coast and visit state and national parks across the western United States, Garrison says at a news briefing. She had been excited to share her journey with her family and others on social media, he says. “She maintained regular contact with her family members during her travels; however, that communication abruptly stopped around the end of August,” the police chief adds. Moab, Utah, police have an encounter with the couple on August 12, where officers describe them as having “engaged in some sort of altercation.” Although the two are described as getting into a physical fight following an argument, “both the male and female reported they are in love and engaged to be married and desperately didn’t wish to see anyone charged with a crime,” a report from officer Eric Pratt says. At officers’ suggestion, the couple separated for the night, according to the report, which describes Petito as “confused and emotional.” “After evaluating the totality of the circumstances, I do not believe the situation escalated to the level of a domestic assault as much as that of a mental health crisis,” Officer Daniel Robbins writes in the report. No charges are filed. The couple each had their own cell phones in case of emergency, the report adds. In a 911 audio recording from that day provided by the Grand County Sheriff’s Office, a caller tells dispatch he wanted to report a domestic dispute and described a white van with a Florida license plate. The caller said as they were driving by, “the gentleman was slapping the girl.” “Then we stopped,” the caller added. “They ran up and down the sidewalk. He proceeded to hit her, hopped in the car and they drove off.” Laundrie flew to Tampa, Florida, from Salt Lake City on August 17, according to Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino. Laundrie “flew home to obtain some items and empty and close the storage unit to save money as they contemplated extending the road trip,” Bertolino told CNN. On August 23, Laundrie returned to Salt Lake City to rejoin Petito, the attorney said, adding, “To my knowledge Brian and Gabby paid for the flights as they were sharing expenses. On August 27, a Louisiana couple vacationing in Jackson, Wyoming, said they saw Petito and Laundrie involved in a “commotion” as they were leaving the Merry Piglets Tex-Mex restaurant. Nina Angelo, who was at the restaurant with her boyfriend, said Petito was in tears and Laundrie was visibly angry, going in and out of the restaurant several times and showing anger toward the staff around the hostess stand. A restaurant manager told CNN she saw “an incident” at the restaurant August 27 but declined to give her name or describe what happened, and said the restaurant did not have surveillance video of the incident. Petito’s family told police they were last in contact with her during the last week of August, North Port police say. Before that last communication, Petito is believed to have been in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, police say. In a news conference in September, Petito family attorney Richard Stafford says the family’s last communication with Petito was August 30, but they do not believe the message they received was from her. Stafford shares a timeline of events on September 17, as the family knows it: Also in September, a woman publicly claimed she and her boyfriend gave Laundrie a ride on August 29 in Wyoming – and Laundrie claimed he’d been camping by himself for multiple days while Petito was at their van working on social media posts. In a series of videos posted on TikTok, Miranda Baker said she and her boyfriend picked up Laundrie that evening while he was hitchhiking in Colter Bay, Wyoming. Laundrie told them he had been camping at a site outside the Grand Teton National Park, near the Snake River, she said. Once Laundrie found out Baker and her boyfriend were going to Jackson Hole instead of Jackson, he got agitated, asked that the vehicle stop, and got out near the Jackson Dam, according to Baker. Baker said she spoke to law enforcement about the interaction. North Port police confirmed to CNN Baker spoke with the department before posting the videos on TikTok. “Her account is plausible, it appears,” North Port police spokesperson Josh Taylor said. CNN has not been able to independently verify Baker’s claims. Additionally, Norma Jean Jalovec, a seasonal Wyoming resident, told CNN she picked up Laundrie not far from Jackson Lake Dam on August 29 and gave him a ride to the Spread Creek dispersed camping area, where Petito’s remains were later found. According to Jalovec, Laundrie told her he and his fiancée had a travel blog, she was in their van at the camping area working on the blog, and he had been hiking along the Snake River embankment for a few days. Jalovec said she later provided the FBI with that information. Jalovec said when they arrived at Spread Creek, she dropped Laundrie off before the gate at the entrance of the camping area. She said she offered once or twice to take him farther, but he was insistent that he be dropped off at the entrance. Laundrie then offered her gas money, but she declined, she said. Jalovec said she picked him up around 6:15 p.m., which was just a few minutes after Baker had said Laundrie had departed her vehicle. Laundrie returns to the couple’s North Port home, where his parents also live, on September 1, according to police. According to an affidavit attached to a search warrant request, a license plate reader shows the vehicle exited Interstate 75 into North Port at 10:26 a.m. ET. The white vehicle Petito and Laundrie had been traveling in was later recovered by police at the home. It was processed and “there was some material in there” authorities will be going through, Taylor, the police spokesperson, says at a news briefing. The Laundrie family goes to a campground about 75 miles away from their home in early September, according to county officials. Roberta Laundrie, Brian Laundrie’s mother, was checked in at a waterfront site at the Fort De Soto Campground from September 6 through September 8, according to a Pinellas County Parks campground check-in report provided to CNN. The Laundries were at the campground from September 6 to September 7 and left altogether, Bertolino later told CNN. After not being able to get in touch with her, Petito’s family – who lives in New York – reports her missing to police in Suffolk County, New York. North Port authorities go to Laundrie’s home that night and ask to speak to him and his family, but “we were essentially handed the information for their attorney,” Taylor, the police spokesperson, says. “That is the extent of our conversation with them,” Taylor says. In a letter read by the Petito family attorney at a news briefing held by police, the missing woman’s family begs for Laundrie’s family to help in the investigation. “Please, if you or your family have any decency left, please, tell us where Gabby is located,” Stafford says. “Tell us if we are even looking in the right place. All we want is for Gabby to come home. Please help us make that happen.” He says Petito’s family reached out to Laundrie’s family earlier in the month for information on Petito’s whereabouts, but his family refused to answer. “We haven’t been able to sleep or eat, and our lives are falling apart,” the Petito family’s letter adds. After several days of both Petito’s family and police pleading with Laundrie’s family to cooperate in the investigation, Laundrie’s family requests the police come to their home, where they share they haven’t seen Brian since September 14, according to Taylor, the police spokesperson. “We’ve been trying all week to talk to his family, to talk to Brian, and now they’ve called us here on Friday, we’ve gone to the home, and they’re saying now they have not seen their son,” Taylor tells CNN’s Chris Cuomo. “It is another twist in this story.” Bertolino, the Laundrie family attorney, tells CNN “the whereabouts of Brian Laundrie are currently unknown. The FBI is currently at the Laundrie residence removing property to assist in locating Brian. As of now the FBI is now looking for both Gabby and Brian.” Local and federal authorities kick off a search for the 23-year-old man. In October, the Laundrie family attorney told CNN that upon further communication with the FBI, the parents now believe that Brian left to hike on September 13, not September 14. “The Laundries were basing the date Brian left on their recollection of certain events,” Bertolino, the attorney, said on October 6. North Port police say authorities are conducting a search for Laundrie at the Carlton Reserve, a nature area with more than 80 miles of hiking trails in Venice, Florida. Roughly 50 law enforcement officers from five local agencies and the FBI are searching for Laundrie, Taylor, the police spokesperson, says at a news conference, adding Laundrie has an “enormous amount of pressure” on him to provide answers to what’s going on. Meanwhile, the FBI announces the agency and its partners are also conducting ground surveys in Grand Teton National Park relevant to Petito’s disappearance. The national park is where Petito is believed to have been before her last communication with her family, police have previously said. Human remains discovered in Teton County are “consistent with the description of” Petito, FBI officials say in a news conference. “Full forensic identification has not been completed to confirm 100% that we found Gabby, but her family has been notified of this discovery,” says Charles Jones, FBI Denver’s supervisory senior resident agent in Wyoming. The parents of Brian Laundrie are questioned at their home by the FBI. Christopher and Roberta Laundrie are escorted from their home and return after federal agents executed a search warrant, according to Taylor, the North Port police spokesperson. Authorities search the home for hours. Police say they have exhausted search avenues at the nature reserve and the search area has shifted. The Teton County coroner confirms the human remains found in the Bridger-Teton National Forest are those of Petito, according to the FBI. “The cause of death remains pending final autopsy results,” the FBI says. While authorities continue their search for Laundrie at the Carlton Reserve, the FBI announces the US District Court of Wyoming issued a federal arrest warrant for him. The warrant was issued pursuant to a federal grand jury indictment for the “use of unauthorized devices” related to Laundrie’s activities after Petito’s death, the FBI says. “While this warrant allows law enforcement to arrest Mr. Laundrie, the FBI and our partners across the country continue to investigate the facts and circumstances of Ms. Petito’s homicide,” Special Agent in Charge Michael Schneider says in a statement. “We urge individuals with knowledge of Mr. Laundrie’s role in this matter or his current whereabouts to contact the FBI.” Laundrie is suspected of using a debit card and PIN for accounts that do not belong to him for charges of more than $1,000 sometime between August 30 and September 1, according to the indictment. After a detailed investigation by forensic pathologists, anthropologists and local law enforcement, with assistance from the FBI, Petito’s cause of death was determined to be strangulation, Teton County Coroner Brent Blue announces. By Wyoming law, no other information apart from manner and cause of death will be released about the autopsy, Blue says at a virtual news conference. The coroner says that Petito’s body was outside in the wilderness for about three to four weeks before being found. Laundrie remains missing. Authorities have not explicitly connected him to Petito’s death. Weeks into the search for Laundrie at Florida’s Carlton Reserve, investigators found what appear to be human remains along with personal items including a backpack and notebook belonging to Laundrie, FBI Tampa Division Special Agent in Charge Michael McPherson announced in an evening news conference on October 20. The items were found in an area that had been underwater until recently, McPherson said. “I know you have a lot of questions, but we don’t have all the answers yet,” McPherson added. Earlier in the day, the Laundrie family attorney said “some articles” belonging to Laundrie were found off a trail he frequented at Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, a site connected to the Carlton Reserve. Laundrie’s parents informed the FBI and North Port police the night prior that they intended to come to the park to search for Laundrie, Bertolino says. Law enforcement meets them there and after a “brief search” the family and law enforcement found articles belonging to him, the attorney adds. The Sarasota County medical examiner and a cadaver dog were called to the Carlton Reserve area, CNN confirmed. In a tweet on the same day, the FBI says “items of interest” were found in connection with the search. “An #FBI Evidence Response team is processing the scene,” the FBI said. “The reserve is closed to the public and no further details are available at this time.” The FBI announces that a comparison of dental records confirmed the human remains found a day earlier are those of Brian Laundrie. Earlier Thursday, Taylor, the police spokesperson, tells CNN what authorities found were “skeletal remains” as well as clothing believed to belong to Laundrie. “It’s consistent with what he was believed to be wearing,” Taylor says. Taylor indicates the items had been out there for some time. A source with knowledge of the investigation also tells CNN’s Randi Kaye that the notebook discovered among other belongings is “possibly salvageable.” The District Twelve medical examiner’s office in Florida says its investigation into Laundrie’s death determined he died by suicide from a gunshot wound to the head. Announcing the case is coming to a close, the FBI releases a timeline outlining the Petito case. In a January 21, 2022, news release, the agency says after reviewing the contents of the notebook found near Laundrie’s remains, they found “written statements by Mr. Laundrie claiming responsibility for Ms. Petito’s death.” The FBI also confirms it was Petito’s debit card Laundrie used without authorization between August 30 and September 1 on his drive back to Florida from Wyoming and several messages exchanged between Laundrie’s phone and Petito’s phone after her death were likely Laundrie’s attempt “to deceive law enforcement by giving the impression that Ms. Petito was still alive.” The agency says they met with Petito’s family and the investigation “will be closed in the near future. “All logical investigative steps have been concluded in this case,” Schneider, the special agent in charge, said in a statement. “The investigation did not identify any other individuals other than Brian Laundrie directly involved in the tragic death of Gabby Petito.”",16170.0,Christina Maxouris
75,2022-01-21,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/21/us/kobe-bryant-crash-photos/index.html,"Close-up images of Gianna and Kobe Bryant’s remains were ‘shown off in bars and at an awards gala,’ widow’s lawyers say in court filing",US,CNN,"Weeks before her lawsuit is set to go to trial, lawyers for Vanessa Bryant allege photos of the crash that killed her husband, NBA legend Kobe Bryant, their daughter, and others were shared widely, according to court documents. “Discovery has shown that the close-up photos of Gianna and Kobe’s remains were passed around on at least twenty-eight Sheriff’s Department devices and by at least a dozen firefighters, and shown off in bars and at an awards gala,” says a filing from Bryant’s lawyers filed Thursday. “It has also shown that Defendants engaged in a cover up, destroying the direct forensic evidence of their misconduct and requiring extensive circumstantial evidence to establish the full extent of that misconduct.” Skip Miller, partner of the Barondess Law Firm and outside counsel for the county, had no comment. Kobe and Gianna Bryant were among nine people killed in the crash in Calabasas, California, in January 2020. In September 2020, Vanessa Bryant filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County in federal court seeking undisclosed damages, claiming civil rights violations, negligence, emotional distress and violation of privacy. The trial is set for February 22 and lawyers estimate it will take about 15 days. Lawyers plan to call at least 12 witnesses each and nearly 28 others may be called to testify by either side, according to the filing. In addition to Bryant and the defendants, the witness list includes Sheriff Alex Villanueva, current and former law enforcement personnel, journalists – and a bartender who saw crash photos and the patron who complained to the sheriff’s department as alleged in the suit. Catherine Gasol, Rob and Kristin Pelinka, and Kobe’s sister Sharia Washington are expected to testify regarding Bryant’s emotional distress, though these witnesses are not aware of Bryant seeing any photos published by the media or made available online, according to the document.",1920.0,Stella Chan
76,2022-01-21,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/19/us/jacksonville-champ-lejeune-accident-marines-killed/index.html,Marines killed in a vehicle crash at Camp Lejeune identified,US,CNN,"The US Defense Department on Friday released the names of two Marines killed this week when the military tactical vehicle they were riding in overturned near North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune. Lance Cpl. Jonathan E. Gierke, 19, of Lawrenceville, Georgia; and Pfc. Zachary W. Riffle, 18, of Kingwood, West Virginia, were killed in Wednesday’s crash, the department said. Seventeen other service members were injured in the crash, the department said, and the Marine who was driving the vehicle faces charges. The crash happened around 1 p.m. Wednesday at the intersection of US 17 and Highway 210 in Jacksonville, the North Carolina Highway Patrol said. The driver was trying to make a right turn at the intersection when the vehicle overturned into a median, throwing 17 passengers out of the vehicle, the highway patrol said. “A second military vehicle being operated behind the initial vehicle was unable to come to a stop and struck one of the ejected passengers,” a statement from the highway patrol reads. The driver of the overturned vehicle was Louis Barrera, 19, the highway patrol said. He was charged with one count of exceeding a safe speed and two counts of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle, troopers said. CNN has been unable to determine whether Barrera has retained an attorney. All those involved in the crash were active-duty service members with 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, a statement from the logistics group said. The vehicle involved in the crash is “a medium tactical vehicle replacement (MTVR) – more commonly referred to as a ‘7-ton’ – which is used primarily for troop and equipment transportation purposes,” according to the statement. Two of the injured passengers were taken to a hospital in Wilmington, North Carolina, and listed in critical condition. The 15 others who were injured were taken to the Navy hospital at Camp Lejeune and listed as stable. “I send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the U.S. Marines who lost their lives in a tragic accident today in Onslow County,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said on Twitter Wednesday. “We are so proud of our military heroes at Camp Lejeune and across North Carolina. Our prayers go out to them.”",2268.0,Caroll Alvarado
77,2022-01-20,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/us/alaska-doctor-sentenced-illegal-opioids-prescriptions/index.html,An Alaska doctor was sentenced to nearly 3 years of prison for illegally prescribing opioids that caused the overdose deaths of five people,US,CNN,"An Alaska doctor was sentenced to nearly three years in prison after five of his patients overdosed and died from opioids he illegally prescribed them, authorities said. David Chisholm, 64, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful dispensing and distribution of a controlled substance, court documents state. Chisholm illegally wrote more than 20,000 prescription’s including oxycodone, methadone, hydrocodone, morphine, tramadol, fentanyl, hydromorphone and buprenorphine to about 350 patients between January 2014 and October 2019, prosecutors said Tuesday in a news release. A charging document indicates he continued prescribing such drugs until October 2020. “An extensive undercover investigation revealed that Chisholm routinely distributed the controlled substances without administering a medical exam and without a legitimate medical purpose. He also did not develop pain management plans for his patients and his record keeping was virtually non-existent,” the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska said in the news release. Chisholm intentionally gave his patients highly addictive and potentially lethal dosages and quantities of opioids, according to Frank A. Tarentino III, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Seattle Field Division. In some cases, Chisholm would change the names of his patients while writing prescriptions so the patients could, “continue to refill their drugs without raising red flags from Medicare or their private insurance,” the news release said. “Sadly, Dr. Chisholm sacrificed his reputation as a patient advocate and his years of service to the Alaskan community by overprescribing opioids,” Nick Oberheiden, Chisholm’s attorney, told CNN in an emailed statement. “He expressed his sincere remorse in open court and he accepts the consequences of his misconduct. He hopes that his case serves as a warning to other physicians facing the same dilemma when treating chronic pain.” Provisional data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that a record number of people died of drug overdoses during the one-year period ending June 2021. An estimated 101,263 people in the United States died of a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending June 2021 – up nearly 21% from a year earlier, CNN reported. Chisholm must be supervised for three years after his release and pay a $25,000 fine, prosecutors said.",2404.0,Aya Elamroussi
78,2022-01-20,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/19/us/whou-maine-broadcasters-terminated/index.html,Two broadcasters terminated after calling female high school athletes overweight and laughing about it,US,CNN,"Two broadcasters in Maine have been terminated, according to a statement posted on the WHOU Facebook page, after calling female high school basketball players overweight and laughing about it. Radio station owner Fred Grant told CNN the two broadcasters involved are Jim Carter and Steve Shaw. WHOU is a local radio station located in Houlton, which borders New Brunswick, Canada, in eastern Maine. The broadcast “happened on our video streaming service WHOU.live, not on our radio station WHOU 100.1 FM,” Grant told CNN. In a clip shared on social media, one of the men can be heard saying there are “two girls out here extremely overweight, awful.” Additional comments were made by the other broadcaster who said “how come you don’t get uniforms that fit the girls,” followed by laughing. In the statement, Grant apologizes and calls the comments “inappropriate” and “blatantly wrong.” He said the station believes students should have pride no matter what the outcome of their games, and that the station embraces athletes’ resilience. “I apologize that the broadcasters failed to see this fundamental belief and I apologize for their behavior,” Grant said. “I know they are remorseful and I believe they, too, will continue to learn from their mistakes.” In a phone conversation with The Portland Press Herald about Thursday’s game, Carter expressed remorse saying he had apologized to the superintendent, “I don’t even know what to say,” Carter said. “Hopefully everybody can get through this and be OK.” Their attempts to reach Shaw were unsuccessful. CNN has reached out to both Carter and Shaw for a statement, but did not immediately hear back. Grant said that the clip has been shared all over social media and is asking the public to discontinue doing so. “While it’s wrong that it happened, I’m going to ask each of you to help us shift the focus back on the excellence we see every day in our students,” he said. “If you’ve shared the video post, I’m hoping you will take it down, not to downplay the incident, but to better help all of our students move on to the important work and events in their lives.” WHOU has broadcast student games for the past 11 years, the statement says.",2196.0,Jenn Selva
79,2022-01-20,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/19/us/orange-county-florida-health-director-email-leave/index.html,Florida health official sent an email calling out his unvaccinated colleagues. He’s now on administrative leave,US,CNN,"The top official for Florida’s Department of Health in the Orlando area has been placed on administrative leave after he sent an email expressing his frustration at the low vaccination rate among his colleagues. The email on January 4 by Dr. Raul Pino, the director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, has also led to an investigation to determine if any laws were broken, according to Weesam Khoury, communications director at the Florida Department of Health. In the email that cited the low numbers of vaccinated employees, Pino wrote he had “a hard time understanding how can we be in public health and not practice it!” “The reasons can be many, but so many of us?” read the message, which was released by the Florida Department of Health. “I am sorry, but at this point in the absence of reasonable and real reasons, it is irresponsible no (sic) to be vaccinated,” he wrote. Pino’s case comes amid ongoing culture wars that have politicized vaccinations. Last week, the Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden’s vaccine and testing requirement aimed at large businesses. A vaccine mandate for certain health care workers at hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs did go into effect nationwide. Pino was appointed director in May of 2019 after previously serving as Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, according to the department’s website. In his email, Pino shared employee vaccination statistics but never demanded his colleagues be vaccinated. Of the 568 employees in the department, only 77 (or 13.55%) have received their booster shot while 219 (38.55%) have “a complete vaccine series,” according to Pino. Only 34 (5.98%) FDOH employees have one dose of the vaccine, Pino wrote. “We have been at this for two years, we were the first to give vaccines to the masses, we have done more than 300 000 (OC DOH) and we are not even at 50%, pathetic,” his email read. CNN’s attempts to reach Pino were unsuccessful. “As the decision to get vaccinated is a personal medical choice that should be made free from coercion and mandates from employers, the employee in question has been placed on administrative leave, and the Florida Department of Health is conducting an inquiry to determine if any laws were broken in this case,” Khoury said in a statement. According to a source familiar with the situation, Pino’s case has been referred to the Inspector General at the Department of Health to look into potential violations of privacy laws. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law in November banning vaccine mandates and imposing fines on businesses and hospitals that require employees to be vaccinated without exemptions. Khoury said the state’s health department “is committed to upholding all laws, including the ban on vaccine mandates for government employees and will take appropriate action once additional information is known.” Local and state politicians expressed their support of Pino. “Dr. Raul Pino has been our trusted partner and friend throughout the pandemic. His sound medical advice has helped guide me and countless other Orange County leaders to make the best decisions possible in dealing with COVID-19,” said Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings in a statement Wednesday. “It is my fervent hope that Dr. Pino returns to work on behalf of the residents of Orange County soon,” the mayor said. State Rep. Carlos G. Smith, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Orange County, tweeted Tuesday that Pino was a public servant and hero in the community. “The Tallahassee decision to place him on administrative leave appears purely political,” Smith’s tweet read. “When you work for the #DeSantis administration, telling the truth has consequences. Pino did the right thing.”",3808.0,Amir Vera
80,2022-01-20,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/us/harmony-montgomery-missing-girl-new-hampshire/index.html,Governors express concern over handling of case of missing 7-year-old girl and call for further review,US,CNN,"The governors of New Hampshire and Massachusetts are pressing for reviews of how officials handled the custody case of a 7-year-old girl who was reported missing in November. Harmony Montgomery was reported missing in November 2021 by her mother, Crystal Sorey, who said she last saw the girl during a FaceTime call in spring 2019. Police say Harmony was last seen in October of 2019. Last month, officials with the New Hampshire Division of Children Youth and Families (DCYF) said it was unable to locate the child, which triggered a police investigation. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu wrote a scathing letter to the chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday, questioning why a Massachusetts court placed Harmony in the custody of her father before New Hampshire children’s services officials could ensure the safety of his home. “Only as an unfortunate result of Harmony’s disappearance has New Hampshire come to learn the full extent of the family’s background and the type of upbringing Harmony faced prior to arriving in New Hampshire,” the governor wrote in the letter. Supreme Court Chief Justice Kimberly Budd received Sununu’s letter, according to spokesperson Jennifer Donahue. “The Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate has opened an investigation into this tragic situation,” Donahue added. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker echoed Sununu’s concerns about the court’s handling of the case. “I totally get where Gov. Sununu is coming from,” Baker said during a news conference. “And we are cooperating to the fullest extent possible that we can with the Office of the Child Advocate here in Massachusetts, which is reviewing this case and has the ability to access the data that’s necessary to figure out exactly what happened.” Court records allege Harmony was physically abused by her father, Adam Montgomery, who was arrested in early January and charged in connection with her disappearance. Montgomery was charged with second-degree felony assault, two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child, and one misdemeanor count of interference with custody, according to court documents. Prosecutors allege Montgomery knowingly caused bodily injury to Harmony by “striking her in the face” sometime in July 2019, knowingly concealed her from DCYF, and refused to provide police with information about her whereabouts, according to the complaint. Court records indicate Montgomery has not yet entered a plea to the charges. He is due to appear in court again in early March. CNN has reached out to Montgomery and an attorney for him seeking comment. Harmony’s mother reached out to the mayor’s office in Manchester, New Hampshire, via an email on December 29 seeking officials’ help in finding her, according to the emails obtained by CNN through New Hampshire’s Right-to-Know Law. “Please im begging for help in finding my daughter,” Sorey wrote in an email to Mayor Joyce Craig’s office. Sorey describes herself as a single mother of three who only has custody of two of her three children. She explained that Harmony’s father has custody of her daughter and that he’s “currently homeless & under the influence.” Sorey wrote that DCYF officials had failed to remove her daughter from Montgomery’s custody when “they witnessed her bruises” and that the house she was living in at the time had no running water. About two hours after Sorey sent the email, an official identified as a community engagement manager from the office responded saying, “The city doesn’t have jurisdiction over DCYF or the court system” and encouraged her to contact New Hampshire Legal Assistance for help. The official advised Sorey to call 911 if she felt her daughter was “in immediate danger of physical harm” and provided a police non-emergency phone number, the emails show. Sorey has not responded to CNN’s multiple requests for comment. Sorey told police that she lost custody of Harmony to Montgomery in July 2018 partially because of substance abuse issues and that she’d been unable to locate her since then despite multiple attempts,  according to a redacted affidavit filed on January 5.. On November 18, Sorey reported Harmony missing and told police she hadn’t seen her in more than six months. After police began their search, DCYF notified them on December 27 that the agency could not locate Harmony, which led the Manchester Police Department to open an investigation. On December 30, the Manchester Police Department contacted Montgomery’s younger brother, who “had concerns that Adam was physically abusive.” Officers also interviewed Montgomery’s uncle, who said he had not seen his nephew or Harmony since late 2019. The uncle also told police that he saw Harmony with a black eye in July 2019 and notified DCYF. He said Montgomery told him he had caused the black eye by striking Harmony, who would have been 5 at the time, police said in the affidavit. Montgomery’s uncle recalled to police other forms of “abusive discipline” against Harmony, including her being “spanked hard on the butt,” being forced to stand in a corner for hours and being ordered by her father to scrub a toilet with her toothbrush, the affidavit explains. Kayla Montgomery, Adam’s wife, told police on December 31 that she last saw Harmony around November or December 2019 when Adam told her he was driving Harmony to her mother in Massachusetts, according to the affidavit. Kayla added that she hasn’t contacted Adam since November 2021 and that he was now living with another woman, the affidavit said. Later on December 31, officers found Adam and his girlfriend sleeping in a car in Manchester, the affidavit states. Upon questioning, Adam gave police conflicting accounts. At one point, he told police Harmony was fine and that he had seen her “somewhat recently.” Later, he said he had not seen Harmony since Sorey picked her up around Thanksgiving 2019. Sorey has “outright denied” ever taking custody of Harmony or ever seeing her after the FaceTime call around Easter 2019, police said. DCYF did not respond to CNN’s inquiries about when it was notified of Harmony’s disappearance, but a  spokesperson for New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) – which operates DCYF – said in a statement that they “are limited on what (they) can say by federal and state laws requiring confidentiality of child protection cases.” “We can confirm that as soon as the State learned that Harmony was no longer with her caregiver, immediate steps were taken and an investigation was initiated. Finding Harmony remains our top priority,” DHHS Communications Director Jake Leon said. Sununu also asked for his state’s DCYF to conduct an expedited review of the case. In December 2018, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families requested that the New Hampshire Division of Children Youth and Families conduct a “home study,” which is an assessment of a family’s suitability to be caregivers for a child, of Montgomery and his then-wife, Kayla Montgomery, according to his letter. The New Hampshire DCYF asked for more information on the couple’s interactions with Massachusetts DCF, Sununu said, but while New Hampshire was waiting for a response from Massachusetts, a court granted Adam Montgomery sole custody of Harmony in February 2019. “It is unclear why the Massachusetts courts moved so quickly with this permanent placement prior to the completion of the home study,” Sununu wrote in the letter addressed to Budd. Sununu also wrote that Harmony’s father has previous convictions, including crimes of violence. The governor spoke again about the case at a separate press conference on Wednesday, stating he spoke to his Massachusetts counterpart on the issue. He emphasized that the state is doing its own internal review, and that part of the process is “making some demands on the judicial system of Massachusetts that made absolutely unbelievable decisions.” “I talked to Gov. Baker about this, he shares my anger,” said Sununu. “We’re going to do our internal review, he wants the same accountability on his side because we’re in New England. We have all these states, families are transient. We all have to get on the same page.”",8199.0,Aya Elamroussi
81,2022-01-20,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/us/criminal-justice-chris-joyner-race-deconstructed-newsletter/index.html,What postwar racial paranoia tells us about criminal justice in the US today,US,CNN,"A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Race Deconstructed newsletter. To get it in your inbox every week, sign up for free here. The list of Black Americans who have recently been cleared of crimes they didn’t commit is long. Last week, a Tennessee judge exonerated 74-year-old Joyce Watkins, who had been wrongfully convicted of murdering her 4-year-old great-niece and spent nearly 30 years in prison. In 1988, Watkins and her then-boyfriend, Charlie Dunn, were convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated rape, based on medical evidence that was later shown to be false. They spent 27 years behind bars before they were granted parole in 2015. Dunn, who died suddenly in jail while he was waiting for his parole hearing, was posthumously exonerated. Kevin Strickland, 62, was exonerated of murder last November after serving 43 years in prison. That same month, Anthony Broadwater, 61, who spent more than 16 years behind bars for a rape he didn’t commit, was exonerated. Together, these cases shine a light on a familiar yet no less sobering reality: The criminal justice system subjects Black Americans to decidedly unequal treatment. Chris Joyner, an investigative reporter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, explores this issue (among many others) in his enthralling new book, “The Three Death Sentences of Clarence Henderson: A Battle for Racial Justice at the Dawn of the Civil Rights Era,” a combo of biography, cultural analysis and political history. Drawing on his two-plus decades of experience in journalism, Joyner plumbs newspaper archives, court records and personal interviews to tell the story not just of Henderson – a Black sharecropper in rural Georgia who in the late 1940s and early ’50s was convicted and sentenced to death three times for a murder he didn’t commit – but of race in the US after World War II. “Most Americans think of the period as one of boundless optimism as a country, weary of war and the Great Depression, cast its eyes to a brighter horizon,” Joyner writes. “But I also knew it was a period of tremendous fear and a time of great social upheaval. America’s unanswered questions about race, sublimated during the war, came raging back.” I recently spoke with Joyner about his book. The following conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Could you tell me a little bit about what you went in expecting to find, and what came as the biggest surprise? This project is something I started developing like 25 years ago. I’d gone to West Georgia College in Carrollton as an undergraduate, as had my father and my mother, so we knew the area pretty well. When I got a job at the newspaper in Carrollton, my father said that not long after he went to school there, in the ’40s, a local boy was murdered and that he didn’t think that they ever figured out who did it. He said, You should pull down the old volumes of the Georgian and take a look. And one evening after deadline, I did that. I pulled down the 1948 bound copy of the Georgian and started flipping through it. I was just stunned, because, for one thing, the coverage was so deep. It was taking up so much of that newspaper’s space. It was clear that it was a really traumatic event for the community. But as I started getting deeper into the story, I realized that there was a lot more going on than just a local murder. I was initially interested in it as a simple whodunit. But as I started peeling back the layers, I realized that all the major themes of post-World War II America were playing out on a small stage there. You had the postwar expansion and all the hope and optimism that came with it, combined with the fear and paranoia and political division. You could see the pressure that the community felt when faced with this random murder. I’ve always viewed it as more than just a story of Buddy Stevens’ murder and the trials of Clarence Henderson. It’s really much more a story of who we were as Americans after World War II, and many of the themes are still with us today. Which themes strike you as particularly salient today? I think that the paranoia and oppression that are evident in this story are things that we still deal with, particularly when it comes to ideas of what constitutes justice and when race becomes involved or when socioeconomic class becomes involved. The response when Buddy Stevens was killed was to grab the African American community and shake it until they (White Carrolltonians) got a suspect. They were literally taking Black men off the street, putting them in secret jails and sweating them until they could come up with someone they thought that they could legitimately call a suspect. That person, eventually, was Clarence Henderson, even though eventually an all-White, Deep South state supreme court would turn those convictions back on lack of evidence. But still, the community’s paranoia – racial paranoia and panic – was so driving the investigation that, even with the weakest of cases, they were convicting this man over and over again. And this is something that we’ve seen before, and that we continue to see. To write this book, you had to use a variety of sources, including the Black press’s coverage of the murder and subsequent trials. Did your research reveal anything to you about the juncture of race and media? There was this multiplicity of voices – there was the local press, the Black press, the Atlanta press, the national press – that all had an interest in the trials, and that provided me with an opportunity to triangulate different perspectives and get a narrative out of them. I found that the Black press – the Daily World and the Black news service that provided accounts to, for instance, the Chicago Defender and the Pittsburgh Courier – gave me the voices of Black people whom the White press had ignored, by and large. And those sources were the hardest to come by because Black voices didn’t find room in most White mainstream press stories. There were two very courageous Black attorneys who carried Clarence Henderson through his first appeal and his second trial who don’t show up, by and large, in court transcripts. They don’t show up in the White press. I had to rely on the Black press to enliven the book with their voices. What do you want people to take away from your book? Because I was trained as a historian before I became a journalist, I want people to really understand the complexity of our past, and how that complexity echoes through to the present. That’s the whole purpose of studying history, to ask, What lessons can we wring from the past that can help us understand our present? I think that we have a pretty uncomplicated view, by and large, of the immediate postwar period. Because we look backward on it, we can see the America that the ’50s built. But in the ‘50s, nothing was given. There was no indication that we were going to emerge from that in any way that we thought would be healthy in terms of our daily lives or in terms of our political culture. There was real fear and pressure driving a lot of decisions and a lot of behavior during that period. Someone asked me, Who are the heroes in the book? And I don’t know that there are heroes in the book. I think that there are people who do heroic things, but I think that these are people who were making decisions without the benefit of knowing how it was all going to come out. And so sometimes they make those decisions in ways that are confoundingly wrong, and sometimes they make them in ways that are amazingly heroic.",7531.0,by Brandon Tensley
82,2022-01-20,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/us/five-things-january-20-trnd/index.html,"5 things to know for Jan. 20: Biden, Voting rights, Capitol riot, Covid, Immigration",US,CNN,"This morning’s October jobs report is expected to contain good news. An estimated 450,000 jobs were added last month, more than in both September and August. Here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. (You can also get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.) Major cities in Ukraine were attacked by Russian forces today as evacuations continue in several parts of the country. More than 100,000 people have been evacuated in the past two days as the threat of Russian bomb strikes remains an ongoing concern for Ukrainians. Russia has been using its neighbor Belarus as a springboard for many of its air operations in Ukraine, but the Russian army appears to be facing difficulties on the ground, “particularly in the logistical field and in the field of intelligence,” a French military spokesman said. In the US, patience is running thin on Capitol Hill, with Republicans – and even some Democrats – challenging the Biden administration to go further to help Ukraine. Sources say President Joe Biden plans to announce today that the US, along with the G7 and European Union, will call for revoking “most favored nation” status for Russia – a retraction of permanent normal trade relations. Today marks two years since the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic. Since then, official reports through the end of 2021 show that 6 million people worldwide have died directly because of Covid-19. But researchers estimate in a new study that the global pandemic death toll is actually three times higher than that figure. Some of this excess mortality may have been missed in official counts due to the lack of diagnostic or reporting resources, the study says. As for masking, most counties across the US have rolled back requirements or lifted mandates in some form. Only 2% of Americans – about 7 million people – live in a county where the CDC still recommends universal indoor masking. In a temporary change to hate speech policies on Facebook and Instagram, both platforms are allowing users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion, according to internal emails seen by Reuters. Meta, the parent company of both platforms, said “temporary allowances” are being made “for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’” Meta is also allowing some posts that call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in countries including Russia, Ukraine and Poland, according to the internal emails. But the platforms won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians, a Meta spokesperson told CNN. Space junk is set to crash into the moon today Can you believe it’s almost February? If you feel like you’re failing, scientists say you should do less in order to achieve more. Enormous coral reef discovered off the coast of Tahiti Did you know that only about 20% of the ocean floor has been mapped? There’s still so much left to sea. A new species of tarantula discovered by Thai YouTube star Apparently, they live in the holes of bamboo plants. (It’s a no for me.) M&M’s beloved characters are getting a new look Don’t worry, your favorite M&M characters aren’t going anywhere. The company is hoping a few subtle changes will boost their brand alignment. Japan’s best castles to visit at least once A quiet stroll under blooming cherry blossoms, gazing at Japanese castles. I’ve officially found my next vacation idea. 100 That’s the amount of money raised so far by a fundraising campaign set up by Tonga’s popular Olympic flagbearer Pita Taufatofua after a tsunami devastated the island nation following a massive volcanic eruption last week. The disaster also created a plume of ash that covered all of the country’s roughly 170 islands and impacted Tonga’s entire population of more than 100,000 people. “We were especially thrilled to see the plane land with one extra, especially beautiful, customer onboard.” Emirates president Tim Clark, on the rollout of 5G technology near some airports in the US. Many in the aviation industry are concerned that 5G signals will interfere with the radar altimeter onboard planes. As a result, Emirates airlines canceled flights to nine US destinations yesterday. Check your local forecast here>>> February is Black History Month Are you enjoying coffee this morning? I sure am! If you’ve ever wondered how caffeine works in your body, here’s a brief explainer. (Click here to view)",4710.0,Alexandra Meeks
83,2022-01-20,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/us/art-acevedo-lawsuit-miami-whistleblower/index.html,"Former Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo sues city, claiming he was fired for being whistleblower",US,CNN,"Former Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the city’s government and four city officials accusing them of firing him for being a whistleblower and exposing wrongdoing by city officials. The lawsuit names Miami City Manager Arthur Noriega and city commissioners Joe Carollo, Alex Díaz de la Portilla and Manolo Reyes. “The Defendant Commissioners have repeatedly attempted to interfere with the operations of the (Miami Police Department) and use the MPD for their own personal benefit,” the lawsuit alleges. In the suit, Acevedo, who was sworn in as Miami’s police chief in April of 2021, accused commissioners Carollo, Díaz de la Portilla and Reyes of attempting to get the police department to investigate their perceived political enemies and interfering in his Internal Affairs investigation of an officer serving on the city’s security detail for city officials. Before arriving in Miami, Acevedo served as a police chief in Austin, Texas, and Houston. He propelled himself to the national stage as a police leader who was highly vocal in discussions about police reform and public safety, calling for national standards on the use of force by police and marching with protesters after George Floyd was killed by officers in Minneapolis. Acevedo’s lawsuit says he aired his concerns about Carollo, Díaz de la Portilla and Reyes in a memo to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, the State Attorney’s office, the FBI and Noriega in September. In the lawsuit, Acevedo’s attorneys said they consider that memo to be a whistleblower letter that is protected under Florida law. After Acevedo released his bombshell memo, multiple City Commission meetings were held to discuss decisions and behavior of the police chief that commissioners found questionable. Acevedo was suspended by Noriega on October 11. The City Commission voted unanimously three days later to terminate Acevedo following a nearly five-hour hearing. They cited, among other things, a vote of no confidence in his leadership by the Fraternal Order of Police. The relationship between Acevedo and the police department “has become untenable and needed to be resolved promptly,” Noriega said in a statement at the time. Acevedo became a CNN law enforcement analyst in December. In a statement released by the city government, Noriega said of the lawsuit, “This was expected and I look forward to the opportunity to discredit these false claims made by the former Police Chief. It’s clearly an attempt to retaliate against the individuals that held him accountable for his own shortcomings as Miami Police Chief and to attempt to salvage his professional reputation by casting blame on others.” In a separate statement, Commissioner Manolo Reyes denied the key allegations and added, “It is extremely unfortunate that Mr. Acevedo has chosen to sue the city of Miami and its elected officials for his own shortcomings as a police chief. We look forward to handling this matter in court.” Carollo and Díaz de la Portilla did not immediately reply to CNN’s request for comment Wednesday night. Acevedo is seeking reinstatement to his former position in Miami as well as compensation for lost wages and benefits and any other damages available under the Whistle-Blower Act, according to the lawsuit.  In addition, he’s asking for compensatory damages and the coverage of reasonable legal fees and costs. When Acevedo arrived in Miami, he received effusive praise from the mayor, who called him the “Tom Brady or the Michael Jordan of police chiefs,” but his relationship with city officials quickly soured. Noriega said in October that Acevedo had lost the confidence of officers as well as the executive staff after three incidents in which Acevedo appeared to support a Covid-19 vaccination mandate for officers, received a vote of no confidence by the Fraternal Order of Police and witnessed his deputy chief “verbally assault his executive staff after a commission meeting and did not intervene.” Acevedo also announced “city policy without authorization to speak on behalf of the City of Miami” when he insinuated that the city was considering “vaccine mandates and a potential dispute with the Governor to defend that policy,” a memo from Noriega said. Acevedo told officers during roll call in August that the “Cuban Mafia runs the Miami Police Department,” according to the memo. His statement resulted in the alienation of a “large section of the department, his staff, and the public,” the memo said. Acevedo later apologized, saying his comment was intended to “highlight the importance of diversity within our own ranks and to lighten our discussion,” but added that he has since learned it was “highly offensive to the exile Cuban community, of which I am a proud member.” Acevedo was given a chance to defend himself at the October meeting where city commissioners voted unanimously to remove him from the police department, but he chose not to do so. The proceedings were “already preordained,” and the hearing was “not a fair setting,” Acevedo’s attorney John Byrne said at the time. During the hearing, Byrne said Acevedo was suspended as a result of his memo accusing city officials of wrongdoing, adding, “He had the courage to do what many of us don’t have the courage to do, which is to speak truth to power.” At the hearing, Noriega’s attorney, Stephanie Marchman, denied the memo was behind Acevedo’s suspension. “The chief failed to recognize or acknowledge what the issues were,” Marchman said. “How is the city manager able to help move forward with respect to this department when effectively the chief does not recognize or acknowledge that there are problems?”",5678.0,Andy Rose
84,2022-01-19,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/18/us/bear-attack-florida-trnd/index.html,A Florida woman survived after a bear attacked her while she was walking her dog,US,CNN,"A woman walking her dog was attacked and injured by a bear, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The woman, who wasn’t named by wildlife officials, was attacked by a black bear on January 13 in DeBary, a city north of Orlando. The FWC and the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office responded to the incident, which happened around 9 pm. Police released bodycam video of that night and it shows the injured woman with scratches on her face. “He (was) kind of like jumping me when I was running, he jumped me and threw me on the floor,” the victim said when describing the incident to officers. The woman was able to escape the encounter with non-life-threatening injuries, according the the news release. She suffered scratches on her face and lower back, along with a concussion, according to CNN affiliate WESH. The woman identified herself as Aydee. “I heard her screaming from down the road. It was awful,” an eyewitness is also heard saying in the video. Once at the scene the sheriff’s office spotted an adult female bear and her yearlings in a nearby tree. Officials darted the adult bear and had it humanely killed because of the possible public safety threat it posed, according to the FWC. “The three-100-pound yearlings are enough to survive on their own and so no attempt was made to capture them,” the commission added. Bear attacks in Florida are extremely rare. This is the 14th documented attack against a person causing moderate to serious injuries by Florida black bears since 1976, when the commission started keeping records, according to FWC. The last bear attack in Florida occurred in March 2020 when a teen was bitten by a bear as he was leaning against a tree in a park in Ocala, according to FWC.",1751.0,Amanda Jackson
85,2022-01-19,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/19/us/tessa-majors-rashaun-weaver-sentencing/index.html,Teen convicted of killing Tessa Majors in a New York City park is sentenced to 14 years to life,US,CNN,"A teen who pleaded guilty to killing Barnard College freshman Tessa Majors was sentenced to 14 years to life on Wednesday. Majors was 18 when she was stabbed to death in December 2019 at Morningside Park in New York City. Her parents, Inman and Christy Majors, were in court as Rashaun Weaver, who was 14 when Majors was killed, was sentenced. A prosecutor read a victim impact statement from her family detailing the pain it has endured since she was killed. “The family of Tess Majors misses her every second of every day and will continue to do so as long as they are living and sentient,” said Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos said, reading from the statement. Weaver pleaded guilty in December to murder in the second degree, telling the court he “intentionally caused the death of Tessa Majors by stabbing her with a knife.” At his sentencing Wednesday, Weaver, the third and final teen to be sentenced in relation to the attack on Majors, spoke in court and apologized to the Majors family. “I never set out to harm her and I would give anything to go back in time so that it never happened,” Weaver said. “Nothing I say or do for the rest of my life will make up for the harm and pain I caused.” Weaver also thanked his family for supporting him, telling them, “You have continued to love me even as society hates me.” Prosecutors said the teens targeted Majors – who was a musician and aspiring journalist – because of her iPhone and that she fought back. Her family said in its statement that it believes Majors fought to keep her phone because it contained songs she’d written that were not stored anywhere else. “The family of Tess Majors doesn’t know what Tess would say at this moment about being murdered by Rashaun Weaver.” “They have no idea what it is like to fight for an iPhone for the simple matter that it contained three years’ worth of songs she’d written; songs she was planning to record over the winter break, which was only a week away,” the family’s statement said. “They have no idea what it is like to stumble up a long flight of stairs after being stabbed multiple times in the chest, her phone still in her hand.” Another teen in the case, Luchiano Lewis was 14 at the time of the murder but was charged as an adult. He pleaded guilty to murder and robbery charges and was sentenced in October to nine years to life in prison. In 2020, an unnamed teen who was not charged as an adult pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and was sentenced to 18 months in the custody of the Administration for Children’s Services. “We went to the park planning to rob someone,” the boy said in a statement read in court. “After that, we saw Tessa Majors walking on the stairs inside the park. Rashaun went up to her and said something to her and Tessa yelled for help. Rashaun used the knife that I had handed to him to stab Tessa and I saw feathers coming out of her coat.” Bogdanos previously said the Majors family consented to the sentencing range of 14 years to life for Weaver. “We are well aware of his age and his background,” the prosecutor said last month. “We the people have agonized over what sentence to recommend.” Weaver’s defense attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, has said his client had a difficult childhood. “Sometimes it gets lost on the audience that we’re talking about a kid who was 14 years old when this started – whose brain wasn’t fully developed,” Lichtman said. “Every role model, every male relative on his father’s side was in jail or just got out of jail. This is the normal for Rashaun Weaver.” Weaver said in court that he wants to be more than a statistic. “I’m going to use my time in jail to become a better person,” Weaver said. “I promise to everybody here  and to society that I will continue to grow and learn.” Weaver also pleaded guilty to robbery in the first degree and robbery in the second degree. Bogdanos said the two robbery charges stemmed from separate incidents – one four days before Majors was killed in 2019, and one that took place on February 14, 2020, the day Weaver was ultimately arrested. Weaver’s guilty plea in Majors’ slaying “was an opportunity for Rashaun to put this behind him to avoid a much more serious sentence,” Lichtman said. “I think it was the right thing to do. I don’t feel good about this plea, I think it’s too high for a kid who was 14 years old when this occurred. That being said, this is a horrific crime.” Bogdanos said Weaver’s guilty plea will save the Majors family the trauma of enduring a trial. During the two years since her death, her father has sat through multiple hearings where gruesome details of her death were discussed. At Lewis’ sentencing in October, Bogdanos said the trio of teens had followed at least one other person before attacking Tessa Majors and said it was a “long, intentional, pre-meditated attack.” “Without each of their actions, she gets away,” the prosecutor said in October. At the same sentencing hearing, Inman Majors left the room before prosecutors showed security camera footage of his daughter’s final moments – fighting to climb a steep set of stairs in the park after being stabbed. “She is struggling now up the stairs. She has minutes left to live. She does not realize at this point why she is light-headed or why she’s dizzy or why she can’t walk or why she can’t stand or why she’s about to fall,” Bogdanos said. “And she will get to this lamp pole and collapse. And she will die – face down – on a dirty New York City street at the hands of the defendant and two others.” After Lewis’ sentencing, Majors’ parents released a statement to CNN saying they haven’t been able to properly grieve their daughter in peace. “With every legal proceeding, we are forced to relive the events of December 11, 2019,” the family’s statement said. “Nearly two years after her murder, we still have very little closure.”",5864.0,Sonia Moghe
86,2022-01-19,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/19/us/robert-anderson-university-of-michigan-settlement/index.html,University of Michigan reaches $490 million settlement after sex abuse allegations against former UM doctor,US,CNN,"The University of Michigan has reached a settlement agreement with attorneys for about 1,050 people who say they were abused by the late Dr. Robert Anderson, a former university physician, UM announced Wednesday. The settlement agreement includes $460 million for the roughly 1,050 claimants and $30 million for future claimants. But it must be agreed upon by 98% of the claimants and must be approved by the University of Michigan Board of Regents and the court. Anderson, who worked at the university from 1966 to 2003, has been accused of sexual assault against hundreds of students – including a two-time Super Bowl champion and former world-class wrestler. Anderson died in 2008. “A lot of my clients are happy they can put this behind them and they can move on and that the University has accepted responsibility and are going to compensate the victims for their injuries,” said Michael Wright, whose law firm Wright and Schulte represents 200 of the accusers. The University of Michigan said it will have no role in how the money would be distributed among the claimants. “This agreement is a critical step among many the university has taken to improve support for survivors and more effectively prevent and address misconduct,” University of Michigan interim President Mary Sue Coleman said in a statement provided to CNN. Anderson first served as a university health services doctor and was moved to the athletic department in 1981 after “credible reports of misconduct” were relayed to the then Assistant Vice President of Student Services Thomas Easthope in the late 1970s, according to a 240-page report released in March 2021. In an interview with the report’s authors and in sworn testimony, Easthope told investigators that he was aware of allegations against Anderson at the time. According to the report, Easthope “claimed to have confronted Dr. Anderson and fired him.” “But Mr. Easthope did not do so,” the report said. Easthope died in February 2021. The allegations at the University of Michigan resemble those against Larry Nassar at Michigan State University and Richard Strauss at Ohio State University – doctors who abused their trusted positions to sexually abuse college students and athletes. “We hope this settlement will begin the healing process for survivors,” said Jordan Acker, chair of the University of Michigan Board of Regents. “At the same time, the work that began two years ago, when the first brave survivors came forward, will continue.”",2481.0,Brian Vitagliano
87,2022-01-19,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/19/us/oklahoma-city-raymond-washburn/index.html,Man who rescued 5 people during Oklahoma City bombing dies,US,CNN,"Raymond Washburn, who is credited with helping rescue five people from the rubble of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, passed away on Sunday at his home in Bristow, Oklahoma, at the age of 75. When the bomb exploded at the federal building in Oklahoma City, Washburn was working at the fourth-floor snack stand he owned and operated, according to a news release sent to CNN. Buried under the rubble, Washburn was able to free himself. In 2001, he told CNN that he suffered some cuts and bruises but was largely OK. Although he was blind, Washburn then rescued four of his customers and an employee from the rubble that day and led them to safety. He will be buried at Tiger Cemetery on Friday. According to the news release, Washburn was a member of the Yuchi Tribe of Native Americans and was the past president of the Randolph Sheppard Vendors of America, the Oklahoma Council of the Blind, the Oklahoma League of the Blind Credit Union.",937.0,Paul P. Murphy
88,2022-01-19,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/18/us/colleyville-texas-synagogue-healing-service/index.html,Gunman in Texas synagogue standoff was thrown out of a local mosque for erratic behavior days before taking hostages,US,CNN,"About 10 days before taking four hostages at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in north Texas, Malik Faisal Akram had a heated exchange with officials at the Islamic Center of Irving and was eventually escorted from the property, according to the organization’s chief legal counsel. Khalid Hamideh of the Islamic Center told CNN on Tuesday that Akram, 44, arrived at the mosque to pray, but became belligerent after asking mosque employees if he could sleep inside the building and they refused, citing city ordinances prohibiting overnight guests. “He was hostile because he was told that he would have to leave the mosque, that he couldn’t spend the night,” Hamideh said. “He became agitated and almost confrontational, telling the folks there that ‘you’ll be judged by the Lord Almighty for, you know, not helping out a fellow Muslim brother.’” Hamideh said the mosque official who interacted with Akram did not wish to speak publicly, but told the Islamic Center’s leadership that Akram presented erratic behavior, although at that time there was no indication of any kind of potential violence. Hamideh said Akram returned the next day, apologized for his previous behavior and asked for permission to pray. Hamideh said the center does not turn anyone away who wants to pray, and Akram left on the second day without any issues. The mosque official told Hamideh that the eventual hostage-taker seemed to be a different person when he returned the following day, “acting like he’s your best friend.” Hamideh described Akram’s demeanor as a “flip flop in the behavior in the extremes.” The latest revelation helps authorities construct a clearer timeline of Akram’s movements in the days leading to the hostage-taking at the synagogue in Colleyville, which is about 15 miles from Irving. Akram, a British national, arrived in the US via a flight to New York in late December and was not on any US government watch list, a US law enforcement source told CNN. He arrived in the US legally, and cleared vetting before his arrival, a separate US federal law enforcement source said. Investigators are looking into how Akram traveled from New York to Texas. Between January 6 and 13, Akram spent three nights at Union Gospel Mission Dallas, a homeless shelter, according to shelter CEO Bruce Butler. “We were a way station for him,” he said. “He had a plan. He was very quiet. He was in and out.” Akram left the mission for the last time Thursday, according to their records. Then on Saturday, Akram entered the synagogue in Colleyville and produced a weapon during its Sabbath service, kicking off an 11-hour standoff with local, state and federal authorities. One hostage was released unharmed; the other three escaped; and an FBI team killed Akram. The incident once again has put Jewish communities across the United States on edge. Attacks on Jewish people have been on the rise, the Anti-Defamation League warns. And while the majority of anti-Semitic incidents involve harassment and vandalism, assaults have also happened, with at least six turning deadly since 2016, including at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018. The FBI is investigating Saturday’s incident as “a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted,” the agency has said. Investigators believe Akram was motivated by a desire to see the release of a convicted terrorist who is serving an 86-year federal prison sentence in Fort Worth, Texas, they’ve said. That prisoner, Aafia Siddiqui, was found guilty of attempted murder and other charges in a 2008 assault on US officers in Afghanistan. She was not involved in the Colleyville attack, her attorney said. US authorities base their belief about Akram’s motivation on discussions with him during hostage negotiations and from audio of a livestream of the Sabbath service that captured the hostage-taking, they have said. Akram was known to UK security services and had been the subject of a brief investigation in 2020, a UK official told CNN. The investigation against Akram was closed when investigators considered him to no longer be a threat, the official said. Two teenagers were arrested in south Manchester, England, in connection with the Texas incident and were awaiting questioning, UK Counter Terrorism Police for Greater Manchester said Sunday. Akram hailed from Blackburn, an industrial city of 121,000 just northwest of Manchester, British authorities said. Akram’s brother said the family is “absolutely devastated” by his actions and they “apologize wholeheartedly to all the victims,” he wrote in a statement on Facebook, adding the family was in contact with police during the incident. Akram suffered from mental health issues, the statement said without elaborating. At a healing service Monday night at a United Methodist church, the rabbi who was among the four taken hostage described his emotions about his escape with a quavering voice. The enormity of the ordeal in Colleyville – being held at gunpoint for hours and making a bold but terrifying escape – is difficult to process, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker said, but a wave of support from his community and the others around the world left him optimistic that his congregation will recover. “I’m so grateful, so unbelievably grateful, tonight – unlike every other service like this that I have done – we will not be saying our traditional prayer for mourning,” Cytron-Walker told a crowd gathered at a healing service at White’s Chapel United Methodist Church and thousands of supporters watching a livestream of the event. Saturday’s attack “could have been so much worse, and I am overflowing, truly overflowing with gratitude,” Cytron-Walker said Monday. “I want people to understand, it doesn’t matter if you are in a synagogue, if you’re Jewish, if you’re Muslim, if you’re Christian, if you’re religious at all, it can happen in a shopping mall. Unfortunately, this is the world that we’re living in,” Cytron-Walker told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday. Members of the congregation who were held hostage credited security courses, including active shooter training, with helping them get through the ordeal. “This training saved our lives,” Jeffrey Cohen, the vice president for the board of trustees at Congregation Beth Israel, wrote in a Facebook post. “I am not speaking in hyperbole here – it saved our lives.” The rabbi acknowledged the trauma of the incident expands beyond those who were trapped in the synagogue to all members of the congregation, including some who watched it unfold on a livestream of the Sabbath service. “At any moment, I thought there was going to be a gunshot,” Stacey Silverman, a member of Congregation Beth Israel, told CNN of watching the livestream, which had been set up so people could watch services from home during the Covid-19 pandemic. Watching the incident unfold left Silverman “terrified and heartbroken,” she said. The hostage-taker was “screaming hysterically” at times and occasionally speaking different languages, Silverman said. As the hours ticked by, he “became increasingly belligerent and threatening,” Cytron-Walker has said. When the gunman began yelling and congregants realized they were hostages, Cohen said he quickly dialed 911, put the phone face down, and followed the hostage taker’s directions. “But not exactly as commanded,” he said on Facebook. “Instead of going to the back of the room, I stayed in line with one of the exits.” As the hours went by, Cohen said he began to slowly move a few chairs in front of himself. “Anything to slow or divert a bullet or shrapnel,” he said. Throughout the hostage situation, Cohen said they all worked to keep the gunman engaged in conversation. “As long as he was talking and somewhat calm, we bought the FBI time to position.” One of the hostages was released unharmed around 5 p.m., Colleyville police said. Hours later, Cytron-Walker saw his opening when he got the gunman a drink in a glass. “As he was drinking, the gun wasn’t in the best position and I thought this was our best chance, I needed to make sure the people who were still with me, that they were ready to go,” the rabbi said. “And so there was a chair that was right in front of me. I told the guys to go, I picked it up and I threw it at him with all the adrenaline,” Cytron-Walker told CNN. “It was absolutely terrifying and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be shot, and I did not hear a shot fired as I made it out the door. I was the last one out.” An FBI team killed the suspect after the hostages made their escape around 9 p.m. Akram spoke about Siddiqui, the federal prisoner in Fort Worth, Cohen told CNN. “He wanted this woman released and he wanted to talk to her … he said point-blank he chose this synagogue because ‘Jews control the world. Jews control the media. Jews control the banks. I want to talk to the chief rabbi of the United States,’” Cohen told CNN on Monday. “I wish I had a magic wand. I wish I could take away all of our pain and struggle,” Cytron-Walker said at the healing service. “I know that this violation of our spiritual home was traumatic for each and every one of us. And not just us. In the road ahead, this is going to be a process.” Top officials from the bureau and the Department of Homeland Security warned in a letter Monday that, “Faith based communities have and will likely continue to be targets of violence by both domestic violent extremists and those inspired by foreign terrorists.” Online forums linked to domestic violent extremists have referenced Jewish targets tied to conspiracy theories about Covid-19, the outcome of the 2020 election and “even the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and resettlement of Afghans to the United States,” according to the letter obtained by CNN.",9755.0,Josh Campbell
89,2022-01-19,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/18/us/los-angeles-store-killing/index.html,Suspect in killing of woman at Los Angeles store taken into custody,US,CNN,"The suspect wanted in connection with the killing of Brianna Kupfer while she was working at a Los Angeles furniture store was taken into custody Wednesday, police said. Pasadena police officers picked up Shawn Laval Smith, 31, shortly after noon Wednesday, Los Angeles Police Detective Meghan Aguilar told CNN. Details about what prompted the arrest weren’t immediately clear, Aguilar said. “There have been dozens if not hundreds of possible sightings reported to police,” said Aguilar. Officials had been offering a $250,000 reward in the case. Kupfer, 24, was stabbed with a knife before her attacker fled down the back alley of the store last Thursday afternoon, the LAPD said Tuesday. Just after 1:30 p.m., Kupfer texted a friend that someone there “was giving her a bad vibe,” Lt. John Radtke of the LAPD said at a news conference. The person receiving the text didn’t see it immediately, he said. A customer entered the store about 15 minutes later and found Kupfer “on the ground, lifeless, covered in blood,” Radtke said. The attacker was not known to the victim and was a random walk-in to the store, LAPD said. Police have not released the name of the store but said it’s located in the 300 block of North La Brea Avenue. Kupfer, from Pacific Palisades, was enrolled in extension courses at UCLA, the university said. “Brianna was a smart, funny driven and kind soul who only wanted to better herself and her community on a daily basis,” her family said in a statement read by a city council member at the news conference. “While she could be shy at times, she lit up any room she was in and strove to elevate everyone she met so they could be better versions of themselves.” Her father, Todd Kupfer, told Fox News he didn’t know why she was in the store alone. He said his daughter was curious about the world and competitive with her three siblings. “She was a great role model, she was very, very caring,” her father said. “I’m so proud of what she’s accomplished and where she was going.” The seemingly random and senseless killing of Kupfer “has shaken and shocked our community to the core,” said Paul Koretz, a city council member. An “intensive investigation” is ongoing, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said.",2221.0,Stella Chan
90,2022-01-19,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/19/us/five-things-january-19-trnd/index.html,"5 things to know for Jan. 19: Voting, Covid, Capitol riot, Trump business, Antitrust",US,CNN,"This morning’s October jobs report is expected to contain good news. An estimated 450,000 jobs were added last month, more than in both September and August. Here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. (You can also get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.) Major cities in Ukraine were attacked by Russian forces today as evacuations continue in several parts of the country. More than 100,000 people have been evacuated in the past two days as the threat of Russian bomb strikes remains an ongoing concern for Ukrainians. Russia has been using its neighbor Belarus as a springboard for many of its air operations in Ukraine, but the Russian army appears to be facing difficulties on the ground, “particularly in the logistical field and in the field of intelligence,” a French military spokesman said. In the US, patience is running thin on Capitol Hill, with Republicans – and even some Democrats – challenging the Biden administration to go further to help Ukraine. Sources say President Joe Biden plans to announce today that the US, along with the G7 and European Union, will call for revoking “most favored nation” status for Russia – a retraction of permanent normal trade relations. The federal government has launched its website to sign up for free Covid-19 tests. COVIDtests.gov allows people to order a maximum of four tests that will be shipped directly to their households within 7 to 12 days. The Biden administration will also make 400 million N95 masks available to Americans for free starting next week, a White House official told CNN. The masks – which are coming from the Strategic National Stockpile – will be made available at a number of local pharmacies and community health centers, the official said, adding that the program will be “fully up and running by early February.” Separately, The White House announced yesterday that the US Department of Education has completed distribution of $122 billion in school Covid-19 relief funding to states. Today marks two years since the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic. Since then, official reports through the end of 2021 show that 6 million people worldwide have died directly because of Covid-19. But researchers estimate in a new study that the global pandemic death toll is actually three times higher than that figure. Some of this excess mortality may have been missed in official counts due to the lack of diagnostic or reporting resources, the study says. As for masking, most counties across the US have rolled back requirements or lifted mandates in some form. Only 2% of Americans – about 7 million people – live in a county where the CDC still recommends universal indoor masking. The House committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol has subpoenaed and obtained records of phone numbers associated with one of former President Donald Trump’s children, Eric Trump, as well as Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is engaged to Donald Trump Jr., sources tell CNN. It appears to be the first time the select committee has issued a subpoena targeting a member of the Trump family, marking a significant escalation of the investigation into the former president’s role in the insurrection. The records obtained by the committee show incoming and outgoing calls, and the calls’ date, time and length. The records also show a log of text messages, but not the substance or content of the messages. Such information can be a critical investigative tool for the committee in piecing together a road map of who was communicating before, during and after January 6. In a temporary change to hate speech policies on Facebook and Instagram, both platforms are allowing users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion, according to internal emails seen by Reuters. Meta, the parent company of both platforms, said “temporary allowances” are being made “for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’” Meta is also allowing some posts that call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in countries including Russia, Ukraine and Poland, according to the internal emails. But the platforms won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians, a Meta spokesperson told CNN. Space junk is set to crash into the moon today You’ve done it again, Disney. Thanks for making me smile, laugh and cry all in under two hours. A 555.55-carat black diamond from space is going on sale The rare gem called “The Enigma” will be auctioned next month and I’m beyond obsessed. Stunning images of the Wolf Moon, the first full moon of the year Did you see it? It seriously looked like it should’ve been in a movie with howling wolves. Cate Blanchett dressed up as her daughter’s teacher to homeschool during the pandemic The actor refused to break character, even at home. Now that’s commitment. White Castle cancels ‘fine dining’ on Valentine’s Day What could possibly be more romantic than $1 burgers? The fast food chain is canceling this tradition and opting for socially distanced festivities instead. Let’s face it, you did not learn everything you needed to know in school. Tell us what skills you’re struggling to master as an adult: taxes, household chores, social situations, basic life knowledge – anything you had to learn the hard way, we want to hear about it. Go here to tell us your story! André Leon Talley, the former longtime creative director for Vogue and a fashion icon in his own right, has died at age 73, according to a statement on his official Instagram account. Talley was a pioneer in the fashion industry, a Black man in an often insular world dominated by White men and women. 100 That’s the number of US immigration cases currently backlogged due to a spike in arrivals, pandemic-related delays and court closures. Immigration courts, which fall under the Justice Department, have been faced with an overwhelming number of cases piling onto the docket, and without the resources to address them, immigrants are waiting longer to learn if they face deportation. “We were especially thrilled to see the plane land with one extra, especially beautiful, customer onboard.” Suharso Monoarfa, Indonesia’s Minister of National Development Planning, on Indonesia naming its new capital Nusantara. Lawmakers approved the shift from the urban region of Jakarta to a jungle-covered area known as Kalimantan due to concerns over Jakarta’s congestion and rapidly sinking political center. Check your local forecast here>>> February is Black History Month Do you celebrate weird and obscure holidays like this? Or are they too corny? Either way, here’s how popcorn is made! (Click here to view)",6886.0,Alexandra Meeks
91,2022-01-19,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/19/us/los-angeles-nurse-attack-suspect-charged/index.html,"Man accused of fatally attacking Los Angeles nurse charged with murder, DA’s office says",US,CNN,"The man accused of killing a longtime nurse while at a bus stop was officially charged with one count of murder Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Kerry Bell, 48, allegedly attacked Sandra Shells, 70, last Thursday while Shells was on her way to work in the LA County+USC Medical Center emergency department, police said. The DA’s office said Bell struck Shells, who fell backward and hit her head on the ground. She was taken to the emergency room where she worked and died of her injuries days later. “Sandra Shells unselfishly dedicated her life to caring for others in their time of need,” said District Attorney George Gascón in a news release. “To lose such a valuable member of our community is tragic and my office will hold accountable the person responsible for her death.” CNN was not immediately able to find out if Bell has legal representation. He is scheduled for an arraignment February 9. Shells worked at the medical center for 38 years, the hospital said Monday. An early morning vigil was held for Shells Wednesday at the bus stop. “Sandy was dedicated to nursing, this was her purpose in life, she loved what she did,” said Doreen Rivera, LAC+USC nursing manager. She added that Shells would arrive at 5:40 for her 7 a.m. shift. “This is what she loved to do. Her life had purpose. It had meaning,” Rivera said. “And although we are grieving her loss, what’s important to focus on is that she lived her life and she lived her life doing what she loved doing and that was being a nurse and that was serving the people in this community who are underserved and need our help the most.” Lillian Cabral, a nurse, said Shells “meant more than just being a nurse.” “She was a spirit, when you walked in that ER in old General Hospital 1050, 1060, she was ready to greet you, she was ready to be the teacher you needed and that was the most important thing,” Cabral said. Bruce Banares is another nurse who said Shells taught others about unbiased care. “This is someone who came to work with extra clothes in her backpack just in case there was someone who needed clothes,” Banares said. “She cared about the community and about who she worked with. We lost someone who loved everyone and was selfless.” Cabral, who also serves as the executive officer of Service Employees International Union Local 721, said the union is building a scholarship in honor of Shells.",2418.0,Amir Vera
92,2022-01-18,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/18/us/new-jersey-schools-asian-american-history/index.html,New Jersey becomes second state to require Asian American history to be taught in schools,US,CNN,"New Jersey will soon require Asian American history to be taught in public schools. Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation on Tuesday that will make it mandatory for K-12 schools to include Asian American and Pacific Islander history in their curriculums starting on the 2022-2023 school year. The move makes New Jersey the second state in the nation to require the curriculum change, after Illinois. “By teaching students about the history and heritage of our AAPI community, we can ensure that the diversity of our state is reflected in our curriculum and create a more tolerant and knowledgeable future for New Jersey. I am proud to sign these bills into law,” Murphy said in a statement. In addition, another law will establish a Commission for Asian American Heritage within the state’s Department of Education. One of the commission’s goals will be to provide guidance to public and nonpublic schools in the “implementation of historical, cultural and educational programs concerning people of Asian and Asian American descent,” and help develop curriculum guidelines. Make Us Visible NJ, a coalition of students, parents, educators and community members who led the efforts in support of the bills, said the new laws are “a concrete way to prevent anti-Asian hate and support the mental health of Asian American children.” The coalition spent months meeting with schools boards and teacher’s unions to implement AAPI lessons in classrooms, organized rallies and met regularly with state lawmakers. “All children deserve to know they belong. All children deserve to feel safe. This law will help ensure Asian Americans are represented in our great American story,” said Dr. Kani Ilangovan, a member of the coalition. The coalition’s work has been part of a fresh drive from teachers, organizations and legislators – motivated by a surge in anti-Asian violence and last year’s shootings in the Atlanta area that left six Asian women dead – to bring more nuanced, representative Asian American history to classrooms. Teachers and education researchers previously told CNN that mentions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in school curriculums are limited. And mentions in social studies and history lessons are mostly limited to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and Chinese immigration and their participation in building railroads. Russell Fan, a high school senior and co-founder of the Livingston AAPI Youth Alliance, said the new laws will help more students feel valued and even encourage them to participate. “We will be able to feel more visible and safer, and that we are valued in our shared history, in the country we have built and continue to build together,” Fan said in a statement.",2727.0,Nicole Chavez
93,2022-01-18,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/18/us/nyc-mayor-subway-crime/index.html,Mayor Eric Adams acknowledges New Yorkers don’t feel safe in the subways,US,CNN,"The former New York Police Department captain now running the city, who won the job on a law-and-order message, acknowledged on Tuesday that many New Yorkers do not feel safe in the subways. Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who two weeks ago took over the city’s top job, made the remarks two days after assuring residents that the subway system is safe and that “fighting the perception of fear” is one of its biggest hurdles. Crime in the sprawling transit system has emerged as a major test for the new administration after 40-year-old Michelle Alyssa Go died Saturday when she was pushed onto the tracks of an oncoming train at the busy Times Square-42nd Street subway station. “What our battle is in the subway system is fighting the perception of fear that cases like this can happen,” Adams told CNN affiliate NY1 on Sunday. On Tuesday, however, Adams changed his tune, saying he personally shares New Yorkers’ anxieties “when I’m moving throughout our transportation system” and telling reporters his administration will work to drive down crime in the subways at a time when other major US cities are experiencing a spike in crime during the pandemic. “We know we have a job to do, we’re going to do both – we’re going to drive down crime and we going to make sure New Yorkers feel safe in our subway system, and they don’t feel that way now,” said Adams, who is the second Black mayor in the city’s history after the late David Dinkins. Adams emerged from a crowded Democratic mayoral primary field last year with a promise to address rising crime as part of a broader plan to revive the pandemic-ravaged city. Throughout his campaign, which culminated with a sweeping victory in the November general election, Adams described public safety as a “prerequisite to prosperity.” “We’re not going to recover as a city if we turn back time and see an increase in violence,” Adams said last spring in remarks after a shooting in Times Square. On the trail, Adams described himself as uniquely qualified to confront violent crime, while also using his past work as a reformer within the NYPD to help shape a more just department. That pledge faces an immediate test now following a high profile killing in a heavily-trafficked area that is also one of the city’s biggest tourist attractions. On New Year’s Day, in his first speech since taking office, Adams zeroed in on crime in New York, vowing to “put more resources into stopping violent crime” while working with Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell to reform the nation’s largest department. Though not near the rate of the early 1990s, crime in New York has been on the rise in recent months. In November – the most recent month for which the city has released data – the crime rate increased by 21.3% from the same period last year, according to the NYPD. There have been 28 robberies, 24 felony assaults and 42 grand larcenies in the transit system through January 16 compared to 13 robberies, 20 assaults and 25 grand larcenies during the first 16 days of last year, according to the NYPD. Simon Martial, 61, was arrested by police after allegedly pushing Go in front of an oncoming train in what investigators described as a random attack. Martial was charged with second-degree murder, the NYPD said. He turned himself in to police less than an hour after the incident and was taken into custody. CNN has not been yet been able to identify an attorney for Martial. The deadly attack, at 9:40 a.m., was “unprovoked and the victim does not appear to have any interaction with the subject,” Sewell said Saturday. An investigation is ongoing, she added. Minutes before the woman was pushed onto the oncoming train, NYPD Assistant Chief Jason Wilcox said, the suspect approached a different woman on the train platform. That woman felt like she was going to be pushed by the suspect and told police that as she was walking away, she witnessed him push the victim onto the tracks, according to Wilcox. Go was employed by Deloitte Services LP, a multimillion-dollar financial services firm. “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague in this senseless act of violence,” said Managing Director Jonathan Gandal. “We are doing all we can to support her family and friends during this terribly painful time.” Go was a volunteer with the New York Junior League (NYJL). Its president, Dayna Barlow Cassidy, said Go was working with several NYJL community partners that serve at-risk communities. Among Adams’ first official duties as mayor was briefing the press on the shooting of an off-duty NYPD officer. The officer suffered a gunshot to the head while sleeping in his car on New Year’s Day, according to police, noting it is unclear whether the officer was the intended target. Adams emphasized he would not let New York become “a city of disorder.” Also on New Year’s Day, a good Samaritan was killed while trying to help a man who fell onto subway tracks during a gang assault in the Bronx. The assault victim was a 38-year-old male, who was approached about 2:40 a.m. by several people on the southbound B/D train platform in the Fordham Road station, the NYPD said in a statement. The gang “displayed a knife and began assaulting him” and at some point the assault victim landed on the subway tracks, according to police. It is unclear if he fell or was pushed. A 36-year-old witness went down to the tracks to help the victim, but was “subsequently struck by the oncoming train, causing his death,” police said. The train didn’t strike the assault victim, according to police, but he was treated and released by a local hospital for a fractured arm. Police said the suspected gang left the station. NYPD released surveillance photos from the scene in an effort to identify anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or any of the alleged assailants. The subway station, located on 188th Street, falls under the 46th Precinct, which had seen 34 felonious assaults in the previous 28 days, according to city data. Adams and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this month announced an initiative to address both public safety in the subway system by sending more officers to inspect subways and stations as well as addressing the homeless crisis by deploying trained mental health personnel across the city to support individuals who are homeless. The mayor on Tuesday said “safety matters in our transportation system,” and described Go’s death as “extremely impactful for New Yorkers.” Rises in violent crime like New York has seen over the past year are difficult to explain. Academics and public safety experts have differing theories on why crime plunged in the 1990s and, for now at least, are similarly at odds over the causes of its resurgence.",6728.0,Ray Sanchez
94,2022-01-18,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/15/us/nypd-make-arrest-connected-to-asian-woman-death-subway/index.html,NYPD make arrest in connection to the death of a woman who was pushed in front of a train,US,CNN,"Police in New York City arrested a man who allegedly pushed a woman in front of an oncoming subway train Saturday morning, NYPD said in a news release. The man, identified as 61-year-old Simon Martial, was charged with second-degree murder, NYPD said. He turned himself in to police less than an hour after the incident and was taken into custody. CNN has not been yet been able to identify an attorney for Martial. NYPD Sgt. Anwar Ishmael called the incident a “random” attack. Police said 40-year-old Michelle Alyssa Go died after she was pushed onto the tracks of the oncoming train at the Times Square-42nd Street subway station. The suspect then fled the scene, authorities said. The incident, which took place around 9:40 a.m., was “unprovoked and the victim does not appear to have any interaction with the subject,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said during a Saturday news conference. An investigation is ongoing, Sewell said. Minutes before the woman was pushed onto the oncoming train, NYPD Assistant Chief Jason Wilcox said, the suspect approached a different woman on the train platform, who he noted was not Asian. Wilcox said that woman felt like she was going to be pushed by the suspect and told police as she was walking away, she witnessed him push the victim onto the tracks. On Sunday, Mayor Eric Adams told media the subway system is safe. “What our battle is in the subway system is fighting the perception of fear that cases like this can happen,” Adams told CNN Affiliate NY1. “When you see homeless individuals with mental health issues not being attended to and given the proper services, that adds to the perception of fear,” Adams said, speaking to a scrum of media after an unrelated press event. He reiterated the proper transit security plan was implemented at the station where the incident occurred. “I keep continuing to say: this is a horrific incident, we lost a New Yorker, but we don’t see how many lives we saved because of a proper plan like that,” Adams continued. Go was employed by Deloitte Services LP, a multimillion-dollar financial services firm. “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague in this senseless act of violence,” said Managing Director Jonathan Gandal. “We are doing all we can to support her family and friends during this terribly painful time.” Go was a volunteer with the New York Junior League (NYJL). Its president, Dayna Barlow Cassidy, said Go was working with several NYJL community partners that serve at-risk communities. “The NYJL is greatly saddened to learn of the death of Michelle Go under such senseless and tragic circumstances,” Cassidy said. “Ms. Go was a valued member of the NYJL for over 10 years. With a focus on strengthening family units, she served many women and children within our New York community, helping them enrich their lives through education on nutrition. Michelle will be missed by many friends. We call upon the city’s leadership to urgently address the lack of mental health and other supports for underserved communities.” During a Saturday briefing, Chief of Transit Kathleen M. O’Reilly said there was a “robust” plan in place with six officers assigned within that station and on the trains as part of their transit overlay. “Unfortunately, these instances do occur but they are rare but this one is very harrowing and disturbing and it was unpreventable by our officers,” O’Reilly said. “We often look at a case like this and we don’t really acknowledge how many lives we save because we executed that plan,” Adams said Saturday, referring to his transit safety initiatives. He said the city will continue to modify and enhance the system “until we can ensure every passenger on this system is safe.” Martial has a criminal background and three “emotionally disturbed encounters,” NYPD Assistant Chief Jason Wilcox said. Minutes before the suspect allegedly pushed Go onto the tracks, he had approached another woman who later told police she felt like she was going to be pushed and walked away, Wilcox said. “Today, a woman entered the subway station, like any New Yorker, just trying to get where she needed to go,” Adams said on Twitter. “New Yorkers deserve to feel safe while riding mass transit. It’s why I stood with (New York Gov. Kathy Hochul) to announce the Safe Options Support teams.” On Sunday, Adams said the suspect was only in the subway system for nine minutes. Adams said officials sometimes need up to two hours to remove an individual from the subway station. “We don’t want that,” the mayor said. “We want a faster turnaround.” At a news conference earlier this month, Adams and Hochul announced an initiative to address both public safety in the subway system by sending more officers to inspect subways and stations as well as the homelessness crisis, by deploying trained mental health personnel across the city to support individuals who are homeless. Adams reiterated in Saturday’s news conference he was working closely with Sewell, the police commissioner, on a plan which covers both minimizing crime and focusing on mental health. “To lose a New Yorker in this fashion would only continue to elevate the fears of individuals not using our subway system,” the mayor said. “Our recovery is dependent on the public safety in this city and in this subway system. We can do that with the right balance, a balance of safety and a balance of proactively giving people the assistance they need when they’re in mental health crisis.” Janno Lieber, the acting chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said in a statement subway crime in general is “way down.” “This is a sad day, a New Yorker was going about her business right in the heart of our city, in the heart of our subway system in Times Square and she lost her life,” Lieber said. “This is unconscionable, this is unacceptable, it has to stop.” While police are calling her killing a random attack – and have not labeled it a hate crime – Go’s killing has reignited concerns in the Asian American community. US Rep. Grace Meng, a Democrat from New York, noted the incident comes as attacks on Asian New Yorkers “continue to be on the rise.” Meng, whose congressional district includes Queens, has called for better policies around safety on mass transit and mental health and social services. Attacks on Asian Americans across the country have seen a violent rise in attacks in recent years that has only worsened since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Also in New York, a 62-year-old Asian man who police said was bashed in the head in an unprovoked attack in East Harlem in April died from his injuries last month. In a statement on Saturday, Jo-Ann Yoo, executive director of the Asian American Federation, said Go’s death is a “reminder that the fear of anti-Asian violence in our community is well-founded. “It is imperative that New York City implements proactive, community-based solutions that prevent these crimes from ever happening in the first place,” she added.",7004.0,Laura Studley
95,2022-01-18,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/18/us/arkansas-inmates-ivermectin-lawsuit/index.html,ACLU sues on behalf of inmates who say they were given Ivermectin to treat Covid-19 without consent,US,CNN,"The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of four inmates who claim they were given the drug Ivermectin to treat Covid-19 without their consent. The suit accuses the Washington County Detention Center, Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder, jail physician Dr. Robert Karas and Karas Correctional Health of administering Ivermectin to the inmates without prior informed consent as to the nature, contents or potential side effects of the drug. Plaintiffs Edrick Floreal-Wooten, Jeremiah Little, Julio Gonzales, and Dayman Blackburn allege they were deceived over a period of days – and possibly weeks – after receiving “high amounts” of Ivermectin. The lawsuit, filed on January 13 in the US District Court of Western Arkansas, states that the plaintiffs say they were given Ivermectin as early as November 2020, but didn’t become aware of the treatment until July 2021 – instead being told their treatment consisted of “vitamins,” “antibiotics,” and/or “steroids.” In August 2021 at a county budget hearing Sheriff Tim Helder confirmed that Karas Correctional Health had been prescribing Ivermectin as a treatment at the detention center, the ACLU said in a news release. Last year the sheriff’s office defended the practice to the local paper, saying that all treatment is voluntary. Karas also publicly defended his practice on August 25, 2021, stating that there had been no Covid-19 deaths reported out of the 531 cases in the jail at the time, the lawsuit states. The State Arkansas Medical Board has opened an investigation into the matter, CNN has previously reported. Arkansas Department of Health spokesperson Danyelle McNeill told CNN that Karas is scheduled to appear in person before the board on February 3. The suit also alleges that the defendants knowingly and intentionally disregarded US Food and Drug Administration warnings against using the drug to treat Covid-19. Last March, the FDA cautioned against using Ivermectin to attempt to treat or prevent Covid-19. The FDA noted that it has not approved ivermectin to treat or prevent Covid-19 in humans and that the drug is not an anti-viral medication. “Taking large doses of this drug is dangerous and can cause serious harm,” the announcement said. In a news release, Gary Sullivan, legal director of the ACLU of Arkansas accused the detention center of failing to use safe and appropriate treatments for Covid-19, even in the midst of a pandemic. “No one – including incarcerated individuals – should be deceived and subject to medical experimentation. Sheriff Helder has a responsibility to provide food, shelter, and safe, appropriate care to incarcerated individuals,” Sullivan said. In a statement to CNN, Washington County Sheriff’s Office said they are unable to comment on pending litigation. CNN has also reached out to Karas Correctional Health.",2868.0,Tina Burnside
96,2022-01-18,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/18/us/stevie-wonder-voting-rights-video/index.html,Stevie Wonder tells senators the ‘filibuster doesn’t work … why won’t you?’,US,CNN,"Stevie Wonder has joined the push for voting rights bills with an open message for senators. “Any senator who cannot support the protection of voting rights in the United States of America cannot say they support the Constitution. Stop the hypocrisy, cut the bull-tish,” the award-winning performer said in a video message posted on his YouTube channel. “If you care and support our rights, do the hard work. You can’t please everybody but you can protect all of us and to keep it all the way real: The filibuster is not working for democracy, why won’t you?” he added. The singer’s message comes as the Senate is expected to take up voting rights legislation on Tuesday. Democrats have been facing pressure from civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr.’s family, and President Joe Biden, who has thrown his full support behind changing Senate filibuster rules to pass the legislation. But Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who have long expressed opposition to changing filibuster rules – necessary to get the bills over the finish line – remain unmoved. This isn’t the first time the singer has released a video calling out lawmakers. Last year, Wonder was among several celebrities who released videos backing efforts for the formation of the first federal racial justice commission tasked with examining the country’s history of systemic racism against Black people, addressing inequities and backing efforts to provide reparations for slavery.",1505.0,Nicole Chavez
97,2022-01-18,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/17/us/cracker-barrel-lawsuit-chemical-water/index.html,A Tennessee jury orders Cracker Barrel to pay man $9.4 million after he was served glass filled with a chemical,US,CNN,"A jury in Marion County, Tennessee, ordered Cracker Barrel to pay a man $9.4 million after it found the company at fault for serving him a glass filled with a chemical instead of water. The size of the award may be capped due to a Tennessee law on civil damages. “The jury returned a verdict for compensatory damages of $4.3 million in just 30 minutes – one of the fastest verdicts we have ever seen – and awarded punitive damages of $5 million after only 10 minutes of additional deliberation,” plaintiff William Cronnon’s attorney Thomas Greer said in an interview with CNN. “The speed of the verdict, combined with an amount in excess of what we asked, speaks to just how dangerous the Cracker Barrel policy was,” Greer said. Cracker Barrel said it was “disappointed” with the award. “While we have great respect for the legal process, we are obviously disappointed by and strongly disagree with the jury’s award in this case, which involved an unfortunate and isolated incident that occurred at one of our stores eight years ago,” Cracker Barrel media relations said in a statement emailed to CNN. “Although we are considering our options with respect to this verdict, we are glad this matter is behind us so we can better focus on caring for our guests and employees around the country,” the statement said. Cronnon was having lunch at a Cracker Barrel in Marion County in April 2014 when he took a sip of what he believed to be water, “only to immediately realize that it was not ice water but was some chemical that caused a burning sensation in his mouth and esophagus,” according to court documents obtained by CNN. It was later discovered Cronnon had been served the chemical Eco-San, which was being used as a cleaner in the kitchen area, according to court documents. Eco-San, described as a corrosive chemical in the lawsuit, caused permanent and serious internal physical injury to Cronnon, the complaint said. Cronnon is still suffering from symptoms, including injuries to his mouth and esophagus, Greer said, which have incurred and will continue to incur medical expenses. “Cracker Barrel’s negligence didn’t just cause (my client) physical harm; it took away part of his identity,” he said. Cronnon did not wish to comment, Greer said.",2254.0,Amy Simonson
98,2022-01-17,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/17/us/jewish-communities-security-colleyville/index.html,Jewish communities across the US are on heightened alert after the Texas standoff: ‘Is our community under attack again?’,US,CNN,"Jewish communities across the United States once again find themselves on edge in the wake of another attack on worshippers at a synagogue, this time at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, where a man interrupted Saturday’s Shabbat service and held four people hostage for hours. No hostages were killed and the suspect is dead, according to authorities. But after other high-profile attacks on other synagogues, the incident Saturday serves as the latest reminder for Jewish congregations and organizations to be vigilant, step up security measures and have hard conversations about how to stay safe. “All of a sudden, we have to become experts in security,” said Rabbi Joshua Stanton, a senior fellow at the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. “I did not become a rabbi to be an expert in security,” he said. “I became a rabbi to teach, to support, to care, to be in the wider community as a source of love for the world. And now, all of a sudden, there is a great deal of fear. … And to have the Jewish community targeted like this casts a (pall) over all of us.” In an interview Sunday, Rabbi Rick Jacobs described a “roller coaster of emotions” he believed Jews across North America had shared over the previous 24 hours. Saturday was a day filled with “deep worry and concern that unfortunately our community knows too well,” said Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, which leads a network of hundreds of Reform synagogues, including Congregation Beth Israel. Saturday night saw “the most intense relief” as the hostages were freed, he said. But people woke up Sunday worried again: “The question was, are we safe enough to go back to our normal activities,” Jacobs said – activities such as gathering in religious schools or holding planned community services to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. “It’s sad that that is the reality, that so much of our Jewish community does not feel safe in many settings,” said Jacobs. “And yet, what are we? We’re a Jewish community that responds to whatever issues or realities that we face.” “To walk into a synagogue today and to be met with a security guard, or some security procedures, to have to show ID and go through sometimes a metal detector, or a few questions – honestly we feel more secure to go through that kind of experience,” he said. “This is just what we must do to keep our communities safe.” No one was seriously harmed in Colleyville, but the victims of other recent attacks targeting Jewish congregations have not been as fortunate. Eleven people were killed in 2018 at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh when a gunman made anti-Semitic comments and opened fire on the congregation. One person was killed and three others wounded by a gunman in 2019 at the Chabad of Poway synagogue near San Diego. And while not at a synagogue, three people were killed by two shooters later that same year at a kosher market in Jersey City, New Jersey, in an attack authorities said was fueled in part by anti-Semitism. In Colleyville, while the suspect – identified by the FBI as 44-year-old British citizen Malik Faisal Akram – took Jewish worshippers hostage, FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno said in a news conference Saturday authorities believe he was “singularly focused on one issue” that was “not specifically related to the Jewish community.” Two law enforcement officials told CNN investigators believe the hostage-taker might have been motivated by a desire for the release of a Pakistani serving an 86-year sentence at a Texas facility after being convicted in 2010 of attempted murder and armed assault on US officers in Afghanistan. In a later statement, the FBI described the hostage situation as a “terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted. “We never lose sight of the threat extremists pose to the Jewish community and to other religious, racial, and ethnic groups,” the statement said. The threat to Jewish communities is real, Jewish leaders say, pointing to the recent uptick in anti-Jewish acts. Jacobs expressed gratitude for law enforcement and their work getting the hostages out safely. But he disagreed with any suggestion the attack was not anti-Semitic. “They didn’t attack a McDonald’s or a mall,” Jacobs said of the suspect. “They found a congregation, a Reform house of prayer, on a day when we gather for prayer and celebration.” “I’m sorry, if it happened once in a thousand years, you could say it wasn’t an anti-Semitic,” he said. “But the choice of the synagogue for this hostage-taker, and the litany of things we have been facing as a community – it’s pretty clear.” Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, urged officials in a statement to “investigate the role antisemitism may have played in motivating the suspect.” In the meantime, synagogues and other Jewish institutions should remain vigilant, Greenblatt said, saying in his statement, “The risks remain high in light of the historic level of antisemitism across the country and the proliferation of anti-Jewish hate online.” The ADL will reach out to local law enforcement agencies in the coming days, Greenblatt said, “to ensure that steps are being taken to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish community.” Security is an everyday concern for Jewish synagogues today, and many have received training and implemented their own protocols to keep their congregations safe. In a statement Sunday, Congregation of Beth Israel Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker credited his survival with training he and his congregation had received over the years from local police, the FBI, the ADL and the Secure Community Network (SCN), a group that helps Jewish communities across North America develop and put in place security protocols. “We are alive today because of that education,” Cytron-Walker said. Brad Orsini, SCN’s senior national security adviser, told CNN the organization has expanded dramatically in recent years after attacks like those in Pittsburgh, Poway, Jersey City and Monsey, New York, where a man attacked Hasidic Jews at a rabbi’s home during a Hanukkah celebration in 2019. In the wake of an event like the one in Colleyville, Jewish leaders are looking for both advice and reassurance, he said. They want to know whether the event was isolated, whether there could be copycats, and whether they should bring out emergency operations plans and be vigilant. The answer to that last question, he said, “is absolutely yes.” “An incident in Colleyville really affects the entire Jewish community nationwide,” he told CNN in an interview Sunday following a webinar to brief hundreds of Jewish community leaders, security representatives and others about what happened in Colleyville. “They think back to Pittsburgh, Poway, Monsey, Jersey City – is our community under attack again?” In response, synagogues would be reviewing their plans with ushers and greeters, Orsini said, while shuls with less sophisticated plans were playing catch-up. Measures might include ensuring temple administrators have remote access to floor plans that can be easily shared with law enforcement, he said, or surveillance cameras accessible from outside to give first responders a tactical advantage against any threat. “Most communities right now are really talking about these issues, talking about do they need to increase security,” he said. Cities across the country also increased security at synagogues and Jewish Community Centers to ensure their safety. While there were no credible threats, the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, increased visibility around places of worship, a spokesperson for the department told CNN. The New York Police Department similarly deployed resources to “key Jewish locations” around the city Saturday night, Mayor Eric Adams said on Twitter, and Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson similarly announced that the city’s police department was sending additional patrols to synagogues and other locations as a “precaution.” Rabbi Steve Leder of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles told CNN’s Poppy Harlow on Saturday he has been in touch with other rabbis and Jewish leaders throughout the country, underscoring “we all need to continue to remain vigilant.” “Of course we’re concerned,” he said. “I mean, to be frank, my wife didn’t even want me on CNN with you … but we cannot allow that to prevent us from speaking out against this senseless hatred.” But security is not just about cameras, metal detectors and training, said Jacobs, who emphasized the importance of interfaith relationships and noted Jews are not the only community of faith that has been targeted. Over the course of the day Saturday, he was receiving messages of love and support from people of all faiths, including Christians and Muslims, who condemned the hostage-taker. “The truth is, Jewish history has very, very painful episodes of anti-Jewish hate, anti-Semitism,” he said. “And one of the things that feels very unique in 21st-century America is that we hear, feel the deep connection” with members of other faiths. Ultimately, Jewish communities cannot be “paralyzed by fear,” Jacobs added. “That is to completely give over our faith community to the haters, and that would not even be something we contemplate.”",9335.0,Dakin Andone
99,2022-01-17,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/16/us/university-of-michigan-president-mark-schlissel-fired/index.html,University of Michigan president fired for inappropriate relationship with university employee,US,CNN,"The University of Michigan removed president Mark Schlissel from his position “effective immediately” following an anonymous complaint suggesting that he “may have been involved in an inappropriate relationship with a University employee,” the university said Saturday. “After an investigation, we learned that Dr. Schlissel, over a period of years, used his University email account to communicate with that subordinate in a manner inconsistent with the dignity and reputation of the University,” a statement from the board of regents read. The board said it received the complaint in December. The university released nearly 120 pages of redacted email correspondence allegedly between the former president and the university employee. The communication highlights emails sent from both Schlissel’s personal and official university email addresses to an employee referred to only as “Individual 1.” Schlissel’s emails with “Individual 1” range from formal correspondence dealing with university business transactions, meetings with donors and events to more informal, personal and suggestive correspondence. The email communication between the two appears to be consensual and appears to have taken place from 2019 to 2021, according to the redacted email correspondence. CNN has reached out to Schlissel for comment. The university’s policy on supervisor-employee relationships was introduced last summer in an attempt to overhaul the school’s approach to addressing sexual misconduct and “to create a culture at the university where every person is respected,” according to the university. “Failure of the Supervisor to disclose an Intimate Relationship is a serious offense and cause for discipline, up to and including dismissal from employment,” the policy states. “The Regents received an anonymous complaint regarding an alleged sexual affair between you and a subordinate,” a termination letter addressed to Schlissel posted online by the university reads. The letter stated that the former president’s conduct was “particularly egregious considering your knowledge of and involvement in addressing incidents of harassment by University of Michigan personnel, and your declared commitment to work to ‘free’ the University community of sexual harassment or other improper conduct.” The board appointed former University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman as Interim President and will confirm changes to university leadership during a session on February 17.",2471.0,Artemis Moshtaghian
100,2022-01-17,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/16/us/florida-tornadoes-damages/index.html,"Florida tornadoes destroy dozens of homes, leave 7,000 customers without power",US,CNN,"Two tornadoes struck southwest Florida on Sunday morning, destroying at least 28 homes and damaging others in Lee County, while leaving about 7,000 houses there without power, officials said. The tornadoes were generated by the same storm system that brought freezing rain and snow to other parts of the East Coast. At a Sunday news conference, Cecil Pendergrass, co-chairman of the Lee County board of commissioners, said at least 62 homes were currently “unlivable.” The twister was an EF2 tornado with maximum winds of 118 mph. It may have destroyed 30 of the 108 mobile homes affected near Fort Myers, according to a damage survey by the National Weather Service. Four injuries were reported, but no one was taken to a hospital, officials said. In Charlotte County, north of Fort Myers, an EF1 tornado with winds of 110 mph left behind a path of destruction, according to the weather service. “A waterspout moved across Gasparilla sound near Boca Grande Causeway before then moved ashore as a short-lived tornado near Placida damaging at least 35 homes and a marina storage facility,” the NWS said in a bulletin. No one was injured, but some residents have been displaced, the Charlotte County government said in a tweet.",1225.0,Claudia Dominguez
101,2022-01-17,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/15/us/us-coronavirus-saturday/index.html,"As Omicron sweeps the country, New York state offers a glimmer of hope",US,CNN,"As the Omicron variant sweeps the country – pressing many hospitals into crisis mode – data from New York is offering a glimmer of hope. The state is “turning the corner on the winter surge,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday. After a peak positivity rate of 23% on January 3, it’s now 16.3% and Covid-19 hospitalizations have also started to decline, she said at a news conference. “It is still very high, but this will eventually catch up with the trend that is just beginning,” Hochul said. She reported 49,027 new Covid-19 cases, adding that this “is a very positive trend” as the state reported over 90,000 cases just a week ago. Nearly two weeks ago, as New Yorkers returned to work after the New Year’s holiday, Hochul’s message was far grimmer, warning the state was “not in a good place” due to the rapid spread of the virus. We fully anticipate on top of the surge that has already been ongoing that there’s going to be another wave that’s occurring as a result of these holidays,” she said on January 3. On Friday, she added that residents needed to remain vigilant. “Recap: cases are trending down, turning the corner, and we have to continue being vigilant. We’re not going to spike the football, understand that?” Hochul said. And while cases are trending lower in New York, hospitalizations for Covid-19 are at record levels nationally – 157,272 as of Friday – according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Also, two years into the pandemic, more than 1 in 5 eligible Americans have not received any dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On Friday, the CDC updated its mask guidance, including clarifying that certain types of masks and respirators offer more protection from the coronavirus than others. “Masking is a critical public health tool to prevent the spread of Covid-19, and it is important to remember that any mask is better than no mask,” the CDC said in a statement. The updated information recommends that Americans wear the most protective mask or respirator they can find that fits well. At least one expert wishes the guidance had come sooner. “We have known for a year that Covid is airborne, and mask quality matters,” said CNN medical analyst and former City of Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen. “At least wear a surgical mask with a cloth mask on top of that. Just a single layer of cloth mask is just not enough. If the guidelines had been changed months ago, we may not be where we are with Omicron,” she said. Although the current Covid-19 wave is impacting children across the US with record high infections and school closures, a new study says that the Omicron variant is “inherently milder” among children under 5, with infection leading to “significantly less severe outcomes” than the Delta variant. The preprint study found about a 70% reduction in hospitalizations, ICU admissions and mechanical ventilation among children infected with Omicron compared with those infected with Delta. It also found a 29% reduction in visits to the emergency room. About 1% of children infected with Omicron were hospitalized, compared with about 3% of children with Delta. “Despite this encouraging result, further studies are needed to monitor the longer-term acute consequences from Omicron infection, the propensity for development of ‘long COVID,’ the rapidity of spread, potential for mutation, and how prior infections alter clinical responses,” researchers of the study wrote. The study included about 7,000 children infected during a time when the Omicron variant was predominant and about 63,000 children infected when the Delta variant was predominant. Data on deaths was not included, as there were few reported. Overall, Covid-19 deaths nationally have lagged from the worst of last winter’s surge, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The US averaged 1,659 Covid-19 deaths a day over the past week, compared with a peak daily average of 3,402 on January 13, 2021. In Alabama, which has one of the lowest child vaccination rates in the country, pediatric hospitalizations are at a record high. “In the crisis of higher virus transmission with the Omicron variant, immediate measures are critical,” Alabama Department of Health District Medical Officer Dr. Wes Stubblefield said in a statement. The department, along with the Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, is urging parents to minimize children’s exposure to the virus in schools and public places, wear well-fitting masks and get vaccinated if eligible. The state’s largest school system will go virtual next week to address the uptick in Covid-19 cases. The number of positive cases have made it “difficult to staff many of our schools,” said Mobile County Public Schools Superintendent Chresal Threadgill. Although students are expected to return to class on January 24, that decision will be made taking into account current Covid-19 numbers. There were 16,035 cases of Covid-19 in Alabama schools this week with all but four of the 143 districts reporting. Child vaccination rates are also low in Alabama. About 10.5% of children in the 5-11 age group and 35.5% in the 12-17 age group are reported to have initiated vaccinations. The rate for at least one dose nationally is 27% in the 5-11 age group and 64% in the 12-17 range, according to the American Association of Pediatrics. Nationally, many school districts that had started remote learning due to high Covid-19 cases among students and staff are planning to return to in-person classes in the next few weeks. In Philadelphia and New Jersey most schools will reopen on Tuesday. Clark County School District, the largest in Nevada and the fourth largest in the US, is taking a pause to deal with staffing shortages but hopes to resume in-person classes mid next week. And Cincinnati Public Schools will be back in class on January 24 if staffing levels are sufficient to safely reopen schools, officials said.",5986.0,Mallika Kallingal
102,2022-01-17,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/17/us/los-angeles-nurse-attacked-dies/index.html,Los Angeles nurse dies after being attacked at bus stop,US,CNN,"A woman is dead after she was attacked while waiting for a bus in downtown last week, according to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The victim was a longtime nurse who “worked tirelessly and selflessly” according to her employer. Police ​say they responded Thursday ​around 5:15 a.m. to a call of an assault at a bus stop near Union Station. “Upon arrival, officers discovered that the suspect, later identified as Kerry Bell, had struck the victim in the face, causing her to fall to the ground and sustain a fractured skull,” according to LAPD. Police and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority released photos of the suspect to officers in the area. About 90 minutes later, they found Bell, who is homeless, asleep near the scene, according to police. They say the attack was “without provocation and for no reason.” Bell was taken into custody. It is not clear if he has legal representation. Los Angeles County offices were closed Monday due to MLK Day. The victim, Sandra Shells, 70, was taken to a hospital and died of her injuries Sunday, according to police. “Our hearts are heavy,” LA County+USC Medical Center said, grieving the death of its longtime nurse. “Sandra Shells will forever be remembered for her compassionate care and unmatched dedication to her patients and her community throughout her 38-year career at LAC+USC. “Sandra worked tirelessly and selflessly to keep her patients safe and healthy and will always be remembered as a ‘kind, compassionate and giving nurse,’ with a ‘helpful and thoughtful nature’ who was a favorite amongst colleagues and patients,” the statement continued. “There will never be enough words to express our gratitude for her tremendous work and dedication.” Praise for Shells came from the wider community as news of the attack spread. “As a frontline essential worker, she helped save countless lives throughout the pandemic and it is a heartbreaking loss to lose a hero,” LA County Supervisor and Chair of the Metro Los Angeles Board of Directors Hilda Solis eulogized Sunday on Twitter. “I will push for an enhanced safety plan for riders and staff so we can prevent tragic incidents like this from happening again. I send my condolences to her family and the entire LAC+USC Medical Center community,” she added.",2279.0,Stella Chan
103,2022-01-16,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/15/us/colleyville-texas-hostage-situation/index.html,"All hostages out and safe at Texas synagogue, governor says",US,CNN,"The hostage situation at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, is over, according to the governor of Texas. “Prayers answered. All hostages are out alive and safe,” Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted about 20 minutes after a large bang and gunfire were heard in the direction of the synagogue. The status of the suspect is not yet known. The resolution came nearly 11 hours after Akram entered the synagogue as it livestreamed its Sabbath morning service on Facebook and Zoom at around 11 a.m. Saturday, Colleyville Police Chief Michael Miller said. The livestream appeared to capture part of the incident before it was removed. Cytron-Walker said the gunman became “increasingly belligerent and threatening” in the last hour of their hostage crisis. Two law enforcement officials told CNN that investigators believe the hostage taker may have been motivated by a desire to release Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year sentence at a facility in Texas. She was convicted in 2010 on seven charges, including attempted murder and armed assault on US officers in Afghanistan. A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told CNN there were believed to be four hostages, including a rabbi, at the synagogue in Colleyville, just outside Fort Worth. Several hours into the standoff, Colleyville Police Sgt. Dara Nelson said one hostage had been released. No injuries were reported at that time, Nelson said. FBI negotiators were in contact with the suspect, Nelson said. Officials said it’s believed Akram wanted Siddiqui released, based on both discussions with the suspect and audio heard on the synagogue’s livestream. The attorney who represents Siddiqui said Saturday “she has absolutely no involvement with” the taking of hostages at the synagogue and said the perpetrator is not Siddiqui’s brother. “She does not want any violence perpetrated against any human being, especially in her name,” Marwa Elbially told CNN by phone. “It obviously has nothing to do with Dr. Siddiqui or her family.” “Whoever the assailant is, we want him to know that his actions are condemned by Dr. Aafia and her family,” Elbially said. “We implore you to immediately release the hostages and turn yourself in.” At the request of the hostage taker, the rabbi of the congregation who was being held hostage called a well known rabbi in New York City, according to two officials briefed on investigation. The FBI interviewed the New York City-based rabbi who spoke to the hostage taker earlier Saturday. The hostage taker, who has no connection with the rabbi, told her that Siddiqi was framed and he wants her released, the officials said. Congregation member Stacey Silverman described watching the livestream for more than an hour, listening to the suspect ranting, sometimes switching between saying “I’m not a criminal” to being apologetic about the situation. The suspect was vacillating between different languages and “screaming hysterically,” she said. “At any moment, I thought there was going to be a gunshot,” Silverman said, adding that the suspect claimed to have a bomb. Congregation Beth Israel is affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism, whose website indicates the congregation serves 157 membership families. The synagogue, established in 1999 with 25 membership families, was the first Jewish congregation in Northeast Tarrant County, according to CBI’s website. The CBI community officially opened the doors to its own new building in 2005. CBI holds Sabbath morning services every Saturday, and members and non-members alike are welcome to watch from home on the livestream, a practice many synagogues have adopted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2010, Siddiqui was sentenced to 86 years in prison by a New York federal judge following a 14-day trial. A jury found her guilty of the attempted murder of US nationals and government employees, as well as assault against US officers and employees. Siddiqui – a Pakistani scientist who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and obtained a doctorate from Brandeis University – was taken into custody for questioning by the Afghan National Police in 2008, who said they found handwritten notes referring to potential targets of a “mass casualty attack,” according to a federal indictment. When a group of Americans attempted to speak to her, prosecutors said she was able to grab a US soldier’s rifle and open fire on the interrogation team, although no one was hit by the gunfire. At sentencing, the judge found that a terrorism enhancement applied to her crimes, citing statements she had made that the judge concluded demonstrated her actions and intent to retaliate against the US government, including “I hate Americans” and “Death to America.” Siddiqui’s defense argued she was incompetent to stand trial. But Siddiqui clashed repeatedly with her lawyers, telling the judge at sentencing, “If anybody thinks that it is my paranoia or whatever, I’m not paranoid. I’m not mentally sick. I do not agree with that.” She also stated her belief that Israel “masterminded 9/11.” Her conviction has been the subject of regular protests in the US and overseas. Frequent demonstrations have been organized by the Aafia Foundation, a group named for her. That group has claimed that she was assaulted in prison last year. Her family has said in interviews with CNN that she is not a terrorist. During a deadly hostage crisis in Algeria in 2013, a spokesperson for a militant group offered to release hostages if Siddiqui was released from US prison, along with Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center attack, who has since died in prison. Siddiqui is being held in a medical facility that’s part of a federal prison in Fort Worth, with a release date set for 60 years from now.",5780.0,Alaa Elassar
104,2022-01-16,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/16/us/new-york-city-fires-immigrants/index.html,The worst fires in New York City history have something in common: Immigrant victims,US,CNN,"When the 19-story Twin Parks North West building in the Bronx turned into a deathtrap one week ago, nearly all of the 17 people who perished – including eight children – were immigrants from Gambia and other West African countries. “They were our aunts and uncles and others who were coming to our food pantry since the pandemic,” said Ajifanta Marenah, secretary of the Gambian Youth Organization, just blocks from the site of last Sunday’s fire. “This is a community of people who have to work two or three jobs to make ends meet.” For over a century, the worst fires in New York City history have claimed the lives of immigrants. Sunday’s fire was the city’s deadliest since 1990, when arson at an unlicensed Bronx nightclub killed 87 people, mostly Honduran and Central American immigrants. The Happy Land Social Club inferno – about a mile from the Twin Parks North West building – was the deadliest in the city since the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in Manhattan, where 146 young mostly Jewish and Italian seamstresses perished. These historic fires parallel immigrant life in the city. “Those who are most vulnerable, and least valued, live and work in precarious situations often under conditions where legal and regulatory enforcement is lax,” said Elissa Sampson, a lecturer in Jewish studies at Cornell University. “The law, that is building and fire code, is insufficient as well as often poorly enforced, and this is the case today in the Bronx and it was as well in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory.” Outside a middle school next to the fire-damaged building, a makeshift memorial emerged with flowers, candles and photos of those who died and others still in hospitals. The dead included Haji Dukary, 49, his wife, Haja Dukureh, 37, and their three young children. Fatoumata Tunkara, 43, and her 6-year-old son, Omar Jambang. Fatoumata Drammeh, 50, and three of her children. There was Seydou Toure, 12, and 5-year-old sister Haouwa Mahamadou. The youngest victim was 2-year-old Ousmane Konteh. Across from the school, classmates put up a poster-sized photo of Seydou with handwritten messages. A cardboard box on the side of El Triangulo deli grocery shielded candles from the cold wind. All 17 victims died of smoke inhalation, according to the city medical examiner. A communal funeral was to be held at the Islamic Cultural Center of the Bronx on Sunday morning, according to a board member. “A lot of essential workers come from our community,” said Marenah, 24, referring to the people who continued to show up to work during the Covid-19 lock downs. “We have taxi drivers and construction workers. There are teachers, social workers and people at nursing homes.” The storefront Gambian Youth Organization filled up last week with donated clothes, boxes of baby formula, toys and other items for the displaced. “There were parades for essential workers,” said Maimuna Gassama, 24, a volunteer at the organization. “People talk about how immigrants are the backbone of the country and then when it really comes down to their needs… they fall through the cracks.” The fire started when one of several space heaters that had been running for days malfunctioned in a third-floor duplex, a fire official told CNN. The self-closing front door of the unit failed to close, according to fire officials. The fire-fueled smoke spread upward to the 15th floor, where another door failed to close automatically. Victims were found in stairwells on every floor, many in cardiac and respiratory arrest. The building’s doors and reports of malfunctioning smoke alarms are a focus of the investigation, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. Residents of the 120-unit building said fire alarms often malfunctioned. There were at least four heat-related complaints and one complaint about a defective self-closing door reported last year to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, according to the agency. Some violations had been corrected, HPD records showed. Mamadou Wague said the sound of his children screaming jolted him awake Sunday morning. “Fire! Fire!” Wague lives on the third floor with his eight kids, who range in age from 6 months to 18 years old. The resident told CNN affiliate WABC the fire started in his duplex apartment. Wague yelled for everyone to get out. He then returned to get his 8-year-old daughter, who was still in the apartment. The heavy smoke prevented his family from fleeing the building. He said they waited in a neighbor’s apartment, putting wet towels under the doors, until firefighters arrived 15 to 30 minutes later to escort them down the stairs. Wague, an Uber driver who emigrated to the United States from Mali in 2000, said the fire burned all his family’s belongings. They are staying with friends in the Bronx. Vercie Pope, 47, a subway conductor, said she lives with her family a few doors down on the same floor. She was on a break at work Sunday morning when she noticed she had missed several calls and text messages from her children and her sister. Firefighters broke down the door to her three-bedroom apartment to rescue her five children and 1-year-old grandson, Pope said. She was later reunited with her family at the middle school next door. Pope, who is temporarily staying at a Bronx hotel, said the building has had problems with maintenance. She said her stove caught fire about a month ago. It was repaired a week and a half later. At times, she said, the heating is inadequate. “You shouldn’t have to go to sleep wearing sweat clothes or hoodies, or socks and a jacket,” said Pope, who has lived in the building 26 years. Nigro said the heat in the building was on at the time of the fire. Pope said her apartment was declared unlivable and that she will start looking for a new home because her hotel voucher runs out a week from Monday. “I feel the Bronx is the forgotten borough,” she said. “We’re the last borough… It’s mostly, you know, African immigrants, black people, Latino people.” In fact, an analysis of fire dispatch data by the non-profit news site Documented found that fires like the one last Sunday occur more often in Black and Hispanic communities. And half of the community districts with the 10 highest number of fires from May 2020 through May of this year have immigrant populations above the city’s average, the analysis showed. “There’s a lot of lessons to be learned about why this is happening in … low income communities and communities of color,” New York Attorney General Leticia James said Tuesday night at a vigil outside the Bronx building. “There’s a lesson to be learned about the neglect of government … and there’s a lesson to be learned about why this continues to happen in this corner of the Bronx.” Tenants and relatives of the victims in Sunday’s fire have filed a class-action lawsuit against the current and previous owners of the building, which was built in 1972, according to court documents. They are seeking $2 billion in damages, according to the documents. The city and various agencies were also given notice of a separate class-action lawsuit seeking $1 billion in damages for alleged negligence in enforcing building codes. “This was a horrific tragedy and too many lives were lost,” New York City Law Department press spokesman Nicholas Paolucci said in a statement. “There is an active investigation into this tragic incident. We’ll review the claim.” Bronx Park Phase III Preservation LLC, which purchased the complex in 2019, said in statement: “We are devastated by this terrible tragedy and are cooperating fully with the Fire Department and other agencies as they continue to investigate.” The building owners did not specifically address the lawsuit. Attorney Robert Vilensky said he represents 22 plaintiffs in the lawsuits but expects others to join in the litigation. The lawsuit alleges the building owners were negligent, including failing to ensure smoke detectors were working, failing to provide adequate heat, failing to have an intercom system and failing to have a sprinkler system. Just over a mile from the Twin Parks North West building, the names of the victims of the March 25, 1990, Happy Land Social Club fire appear on a memorial. The 87 victims were mostly immigrants from Honduras and other Central American countries. Only six people survived the fire ignited by the coat checker’s jealous lover, who had been kicked out of the club earlier that night. The illegal social club was a deathtrap, officials said at the time. Some exits were shuttered. There were no sprinklers. The city responded by cracking down on the inspection and licensing of illegal clubs. One survivor, Ruben Valladares, 58, said he has lived in Florida since 2000 and now works for an offshore oil and gas company. He was the DJ the night of fire. He spent nearly a year in hospitals recovering from burns to half his body. His head and neck are still scarred. He said he was now battling Covid-19 and awaiting his second shot of the vaccine. Sunday’s fire brought flashbacks, Valladares said. “You never forget,” he said. “It marks your life but you must move on. I remember people falling to the floor and screaming – like it was yesterday.” Valladares believes survivors of the latest fire and relatives of the victims will suffer in the same way. “It never goes away,” said Valladares, who is Garifuna – a Central American people who descend from runaway African slaves and Caribbean Indians and were forcibly relocated to the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Belize. “You try not to think about it. It’s never easy.” Dilcia Pineda, 56, was pregnant when her partner Marvin Doubleday, then 22, perished in the Happy Land fire, along with four of his friends. She now lives in South Carolina, where she works as a certified nurse assistant. She too was moved by the recent tragedy. “What have we learned?” the Honduran immigrant asked. “We’re living through this all over again. Nothing changes. It’s different people but the same situation.” Pineda said that after the fire she spent nearly her entire pregnancy weeping on the couch in her old apartment. “My only advice to survivors and relatives of the victims would be to get psychological help,” she said. “I didn’t do it and I’m still paying for that. I went to therapy twice. The therapist cried more than I did. I stopped going. I was ignorant. Now I regret it.” Pineda still remembers arriving at the Happy Land after the fire. Bodies were lined up on the street. The smell of smoke brings it all back. Her son, named after his father, still breaks down at times. “He was never happy,” she said of her son, now a postal worker in Florida. “He was always asking, ‘Why did I not get to know my father?’ His childhood was sad.” The Happy Land inferno occurred 79 years to the day after the fire at Triangle Shirtwaist factory in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan. The doors to stairwells and exits at the sweatshop were locked. Many victims, mostly young and low-paid immigrant women, jumped to their deaths from the upper floors. Sampson, the Cornell lecturer who has studied the history of the fire, said the tragedy became known as “The fire that changed America.” New York state passed more than 30 fire and labor laws in its aftermath. Sampson believes last Sunday’s fire can galvanize tragedy and mourning into action that improves the lives of the city’s most vulnerable residents. “If it’s scary to think about a relatively recent 1972 building being a fire trap, we can extrapolate to understanding the risk inherent in the even older housing stock that characterizes most of the Bronx,” she said. Ray Bromley, a professor emeritus of geography and planning at the State University of New York at Albany, said neither the Happy Land nor last Sunday’s fire will have the same impact as the 1911 inferno. The city did increase investigations of illegal clubs after the 1990 fire, he noted. “You can’t get that in a social club,” he said. “People sitting around at 2:40 in the morning, drinking beer and listening to music, don’t inspire the sort of social crusading that workers dying on the job because their workplace was locked and they had to jump out of the window of the tenth floor.” Bromley, who studied the effects of the Happy Land fire, added: “Poor people’s fire tragedies they’re big news for a very short time and then they fade away. By the time we get to the Super Bowl, this will be gone.” The Triangle fire victims are remembered with anniversary ceremonies on the corner where the building still stands as part of New York University. The intent is “honoring the dead and changing conditions for the living,” Sampson said. There is also a project called Chalk, with volunteers visiting the places where each of the 146 victims lived, mostly in the East Village and on the Lower East Side. On the pavement, the names and ages of those who died are chalked. Passersby have written messages such as “Immigrant Lives Matter” and “Never Forget Happy Land,” referring to the 1990 fire, according to Sampson. “Usually the understanding of what’s at risk today comes out of the understanding of what happened in the past – the sense that justice was not served,” she said. “This is a moment of crisis for the Bronx and yet most of New York’s essential workers come from there, most of its immigrants live there. It has the most affordable housing stock – and the least well maintained.” The hilly streets that surround the Twin Parks North West building are dotted with African and Caribbean markets, hair-braiding and halal shops, delis and bodegas. Down a winding street from the building and past the middle school, an African discount store sits next to the Masjid Al-Fawzaan mosque, one block from rattling suburban-bound commuter trains. Relatives of the dead and survivors have been seeking comfort there. Gambian Ambassador Dawda Docka Fadera traveled to New York last week to hear the “horrific stories” of survivors that have shaken their small country of two million people. “A lot of Gambians who came here, they stayed there before they moved anywhere else,” Fadera told CNN. “This was kind of a first port of call, this building. It’s a building Gambians have a lot of attachment to.” The US is home to a diaspora community of about 8,000 Gambian immigrants. The hulking Twin Parks North West tower had once been a beacon of hope for so many of them. At the storefront Gambian Youth Organization up the street from the building there was little room left to accommodate the donations of clothing and other items. “The community is mourning,” said Gassama, the volunteer, “and everyone is really trying to figure out what’s next, but there does have to be a level of accountability.”",14750.0,Ray Sanchez
105,2022-01-16,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/16/us/california-city-using-lasers-to-move-crows-trnd/index.html,A California city has been overtaken by birds. Lasers may be the solution to end it,US,CNN,"After dealing with thousands of crows roosting in downtown, Sunnyvale, California, for years, the city is taking a note from nearby Silicon Valley and going high-tech with lasers. Mayor Larry Klein told CNN crows have roosted in the downtown area for generations, but during the pandemic the numbers have grown. The birds have become a problem for restaurants and other businesses, as well as a noise nuisance for the residential areas. When it comes to eating outdoors, “I’ll go inside unless I’m under an umbrella,” resident Frank Hampton told CNN affiliate KGO-TV. “Thing is, they’re not here during the day, it’s just at night. It’s just when they start coming around when the sun goes down.” The city has tried everything to get the birds to find a new spot, but all success has been short lived. “We have had a falcon previously, a hawk, but it has had limited success and the crows return,” Klein said. Reflectors were also a failure, given the crows tend to congregate at night. Now, the town is moving to laser pointers. “The cost of bringing in a falconry person is actually fairly high long term, and here we are mainly talking about a $20 solution and some staff time, to have a pilot program to try to resolve the problem,” Klein explained. “It’s a health problem we’ve had to deal with, and at the cost of the city, so if we have a cheap solution, there’s no reason to try it, right?” Klein said. The mayor got the idea from a friend who has been using a green laser to disperse birds squawking in his yard. He learned other towns with bird problems were using the same technique, since it is deemed safe by the Humane Society of the United States. The program will start at the end of the month. City staff and residents will be armed with the lasers in hopes of success. “If the green lasers don’t work by themselves, then we start looking at the sound of crows in distress or other opportunities that present themselves, but this is the first step in trying to deal with the birds,” Klein said. However, not everyone is a fan of trying the technique. The Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society told Klein they are worried the lasers will blind the birds and cause harm to humans and aircraft. They want the city to continue exploring other options.",2261.0,Lauren M. Johnson
106,2022-01-16,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/16/us/baltimore-prosecutor-marilyn-mosby-indicted/index.html,Baltimore top prosecutor Marilyn Mosby has been mired in controversy since she took office,US,CNN,"Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby once said city prosecutors had “the toughest job in America,” a job made increasingly difficult when delivering justice means overhauling a system many feel is broken. Since taking the helm at the city prosecutor’s office in 2015, just months before Freddie Gray died from spinal injuries he suffered in the back of a police van, Mosby has preached reform while hopping from one firestorm to the next, it seems. Now, amid her second reelection campaign and months before the June primary, she faces criminal charges her attorney says are politically and racially driven. A federal grand jury indicted Baltimore’s top prosecutor this week on two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements on loan applications for two Florida vacation homes, according to court documents. Mosby, the indictment alleges, applied for loans against her retirement account, allegedly tapping a CARES Act provision for those hurt financially by the Covid-19 pandemic. Mosby indicated she had suffered “adverse financial consequences,” despite her quarter-million-dollar 2020 salary, and failed to disclose she owed $45,000 in federal back taxes, according to the indictment. She also allegedly said she would be the primary resident at one of the homes in order to secure a lower rate when she had already entered into an agreement with a rental management firm, the indictment says. She sold one of the homes for a $150,000 profit, The Baltimore Sun reported. A spokeswoman for the state’s attorney’s office and Mosby’s attorney did not immediately respond to an interview request. The spokeswoman sent a statement to CNN affiliate WBAL saying prosecutors “will not be distracted or sidetracked from our mission to make Baltimore a safer community.” Attorney A. Scott Bolden issued a statement calling the charges “bogus” and his client innocent. Mosby never lied in relation to the allegations, the statement said, and the US Attorney’s Office for Maryland refused requests to meet with Bolden’s team and to inform Bolden if “evidence of Ms. Mosby’s innocence that we provided … was ever presented to the grand jury.” The statement further accused the federal prosecutor of conspiring with the Justice Department’s tax division to “wrongfully indict” his client, and alleged federal law enforcement offices were interested only in “bringing false charges against my client – at all or any costs.” The charges “are rooted in personal, political and racial animus five months from her election,” Bolden wrote. US Attorney Erek Barron, who like Mosby is African American, declined to comment, saying through a spokeswoman the indictment speaks for itself. In a Friday afternoon news conference, Mosby declined to take questions, saying Bolden would address the media later, but she insisted she’s being targeted politically and vowed to fight as she’s done throughout her tenure. Before becoming state’s attorney, Mosby graduated from Tuskegee University and Boston College Law School. During her studies at the latter, the Boston native worked in her hometown Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and in two US attorneys’ offices. After graduation, she prosecuted felonies in the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office from 2006 to 2011 before entering the corporate realm as a civil litigator. In the summer of 2013, she decided to run for the Baltimore state’s attorney post. She won and took office in January 2015. On April 12, 2015, Gray was arrested, and video showing the 25-year-old screaming as officers dragged him to a police van sparked questions. Outrage ensued when Gray died a week later. The city was consumed with protests, some of which were hijacked by looters and rioters. Enter Mosby, who was hailed as a hero and inspiration when, less than two weeks after Gray was killed, she charged six Baltimore police officers with misconduct along with assault, manslaughter or murder counts in the young man’s death. The glow quickly faded. As the police union accused her of rushing to judgment and the charged officers asked a court to remove her from the case because of alleged conflicts of interest, which she denied, she appeared on stage at a Prince concert. She did not offer remarks, but critics questioned the propriety of appearing at the Rally4Peace, a concert held in response to Baltimore’s unrest, in which attendees were urged to wear gray, as the now-deceased rock icon himself wore. Even attorney Laura Coates, now a CNN legal analyst, who had initially applauded Mosby, tweeted “Tsk tsk” following the Prince appearance and noted Mosby was facing allegations of conflicts of interest and charging officers as a publicity stunt. “Think b4 u act,” Coates tweeted. While Gray’s death served as a rallying point for those decrying police brutality, none of the officers was convicted, despite the city paying Gray’s family $6.4 million. Three were tried and acquitted, prompting Mosby to drop charges against the remaining three because of the “dismal likelihood” they’d be convicted. Within weeks, five of the officers sued Mosby, alleging false arrest, defamation and other misdeeds. A federal appeals court ruled Mosby had immunity, and the US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal, WBAL reported. Despite her “agonizing” decision to drop charges in the Gray killing, Mosby continued working to stamp out “entrenched police corruption” in the city of 586,000, she said. In an interview last year, she boasted that, despite the officers’ acquittals and vacated charges, “every single police officer is now being held accountable for the actions of a few.” Following a federal probe that found the Baltimore Police Department had engaged in a pattern of excessive force, racially biased arrests and other constitutional violations, the department underwent a “total makeover,” Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said last year. That included a “robust” use-of-force policy, emphasis on de-escalation and sanctity of life and revised policies on traffic stops, searches and arrests, along with other approaches aimed at improving community policing, he said. Officers were using less force and facing fewer complaints, and many agencies regarded BPD as a model, Harrison said, adding the city was “turning the corner” but had a long way to go. Authorities would find themselves more frequently in prosecutors’ crosshairs over the ensuing years: • July 2017: After body camera footage showed an officer planting evidence, Mosby’s office announced a review of about 100 cases investigated by three officers. Her office later dismissed 34 of the cases. • December 2017: A public defender said the arrests of eight Baltimore officers on racketeering charges cast into doubt the integrity of more than 2,000 criminal cases. Mosby said a comprehensive review of the cases was integral to restoring public trust. • October 2019: Several months after Mosby said she would no longer prosecute marijuana possession, she announced almost 800 cases – involving 25 officers suspected of corruption – would be thrown out. • November 2019: Mosby was part of a successful effort to release three men wrongfully convicted in a 1983 murder and denounced the “intentional concealment and misrepresentation of the exculpatory evidence” in the case. • December 2019: Mosby announced indictments against 25 city corrections officers on allegations of excessive force and intimidating inmates, saying, “If you break the law and you break the trust the public has placed within you, you will face the consequences.” • In March, she took her stance on marijuana possession a step further, announcing her office would no longer prosecute any drug possession. Her office would also decline to prosecute prostitution and other low-level offenses, she said. • In July, her office secured indictments against two Baltimore officers accused of assaulting and threatening to kill a teenager during a car theft investigation. • In November, a judge granted her office’s request to vacate a conviction against David Morris, who spent 17 years in prison for murder. Alleging police and prosecutorial misconduct in the case, Mosby heralded the decision, saying, “This case exemplifies the deeply damaging nature of the historical failures of the criminal justice system and our duty as prosecutors to address the wrongs of the past.” In her Friday news conference, Mosby drew links between the federal charges and her work to “bridge the divide between the criminal justice system and the communities that we are trusted to serve.” At times speaking over the din of city traffic, she told reporters that she has sought only to make communities safer while improving the justice system. She expected the job would be hard, she said, but she did not expect the personal attacks, nor did she expect to be mocked and ridiculed, she said. “I also need citizens, who I am blessed to serve, to know that I am innocent of the charges that have been (leveled) against me, and I intend to fight with every ounce of energy within my being to prove my innocence,” she said. She cited sacrifices she made, including missing her two daughters’ games and recitals, fending off investigations and having to “incessantly fight” to keep her law license. She’s spent a half-million dollars defending herself against “frivolous attacks,” she said. Mosby’s also received hate mail and death threats, she said, and the media has compromised her daughters’ safety. She now requires 24-hour security, she said. Meanwhile, she has been forced to battle powerful institutions, the prosecutor said, pointing to a laundry list of enemies that includes the US attorney’s office, the Fraternal Order of Police, right-wing media, Gov. Larry Hogan and former President Donald Trump. Since the Gray case, “I have had a target on my back, and I get it,” she said. Touting her record, she says she’s fought for a uniform standard of justice for all Baltimore residents, prosecuted police for violating rights, sought to “end the war on drug users and people of color,” decriminalized drug possession and sex work, demanded second chances for incarcerated lifers and helped exonerate Black men who the “justice system wanted to rot in prison.” “I get it,” she said. “This is not what prosecutors usually do and many people will forever hate me for it.” While debating ideology is democracy at work, she said, the charges against her are the product of “unreasonable and unyielding, abusive attacks, investigation and prosecution.” She did not defraud anyone and did not lie on a mortgage application, she said, reiterating her attorney’s assertion that she offered to provide exculpatory information to federal prosecutors. “Please don’t be fooled. We are now five months from our next election and this indictment is merely a political ploy by my political adversaries to unseat me,” Mosby told reporters. “Please also understand that I will never let that happen without a fight.”",10980.0,Eliott C. McLaughlin
107,2022-01-15,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/15/us/mayfield-candle-factory-shutting-down/index.html,Mayfield candle factory will close and more than 250 workers are being laid off after Kentucky tornado,US,CNN,"The Mayfield, Kentucky, candle factory leveled by a tornado last month is shutting down and 251 employees are being laid off, a company official said. More than 100 people were working at the Mayfield Consumer Products (MCP) factory on December 10 when the tornado hit, killing eight people and making it one of the most devastated sites in an outbreak of at least 30 tornadoes across six states in the Midwest and South. The facility had been “going 24/7” in part to meet Christmastime candle demand, US Rep. James Comer, who represents the area, told CNN at the time. In a letter this week to Kentucky’s Office of Employer and Apprenticeship Services, the candle factory plant manager said that the  company, “has determined that because of the recent devastating tornado … it can no longer continue to operate.” “Although it can no longer operate in Mayfield, please know that MCP plans to continue much of its operation in Kentucky,” the letter continues. The company plans to transfer some of the affected employees to another location about 10 miles away, but it can’t relocate everyone, the letter said. “Those employees not offered a transfer to the new facility will be laid off,” the letter reads. A total of 501 people worked at the candle factory, and 250 of those jobs are being transferred, according to the letter. The rest of the workers are being laid off, the letter said. First responders rushed to the factory to help with rescue efforts after the tornado. They set up lights, and people trapped inside the debris began calling for help and telling rescuers their location, Graves County commissioner Todd Hayden previously told CNN. Many rescuers climbed inside to find survivors, while Hayden and others stayed on the outside to help people climb out of the rubble. Gov. Andy Beshear said the storm, which killed at least 70 people in the state, was the “most severe tornado event in Kentucky’s history.” A class-action lawsuit was filed against the company last month on behalf of candle factory workers alleging they were told they would be fired if they left work ahead of the deadly tornadoes. The lawsuit is based on the Kentucky equivalent of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, statute, said Amos Jones, the Washington, DC-based attorney who is representing some of the workers. The complainants are seeking an “unspecified amount” in financial compensation, he told CNN. Mayfield Consumer Products did not respond to CNN’s request for comment about the lawsuit. A spokesperson for the company that owns the factory previously said the company had spoken with supervisors working that night, who all denied any employees were told they’d be fired if they left.",2721.0,Emma Tucker
108,2022-01-15,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/15/us/portland-investigation-dirty-hippy-meme/index.html,Portland police investigate ‘dirty hippy’ meme in training document making light of violence against protesters,US,CNN,"The Portland Police Bureau is conducting an internal investigation into a training presentation for dealing with mass protests that included a meme describing violence against protesters that begins, “And the Lord said… Woe be unto you, dirty hippy.” “I am disgusted that this offensive content was added to a training presentation for our police officers,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a statement released Friday. The image, which appeared at the end of a 110-page PowerPoint presentation, shows a photo of a person in tactical gear attacking what appears to be an unarmed protester. The accompanying message, written as mock Bible verses, states that, “They may christen your heads with hickory, and anoint your faces with pepper spray.” It goes on to refer to people being “cuffed and stuffed,” as well as “stitched and bandaged.” “The message on the training presentation slide was contrary to PPB’s values and what we are trying to achieve as an organization,” Police Chief Chuck Lovell said in a statement. “Upon learning of its existence, I ordered an Internal Affairs investigation. That investigation is still open and therefore, details cannot be discussed.” Although the full training document emphasizes that protesters can come from any part of the political spectrum, the image refers exclusively to stereotypes associated with left-wing activists, with mentions of patchouli, Marx, and dreadlocks. Wheeler, who also serves as police commissioner, said the investigation has been underway since September when the image was noticed by a city worker during a legal review and is being made public now because the city expects it to be included in court filings. The mayor’s office said it does not know when the PowerPoint presentation was created, or if it was ever actually used in training.",1804.0,Andy Rose
109,2022-01-15,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/14/us/ghislaine-maxwell-sentencing/index.html,Judge sets tentative sentencing date for convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell,US,CNN,"Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell will be sentenced in June after being found guilty last month on five federal charges. Judge Alison Nathan set a tentative date of June 28. Maxwell, 60, was found guilty of sex trafficking of a minor, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and three related counts of conspiracy, and faces up to 65 years in prison. She was acquitted on the charge of enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts. Defense attorneys want to delay setting the sentencing schedule because they say there is “compelling basis” for the court to overturn Maxwell’s conviction and grant her a new trial. Maxwell’s attorneys say she should be granted a new trial after a member of the jury who convicted her gave post-trial interviews saying he had been sexually abused and shared his story with fellow jurors during deliberations. Jurors were explicitly asked on jury questionnaire forms if they had been sexually abused and if it would impact their abilities to be impartial while deliberating. It is unclear how the juror in question answered. CNN’s request for a copy of his questionnaire has been denied by prosecutors, who say it is “not public information.” Defense attorneys say in a court filing the Supreme Court has ruled a defendant is entitled to a new trial if a party can show a juror failed to answer a material question honestly during jury questioning. The parties are still litigating the issue and Judge Nathan will eventually rule on the motion for a new trial. During the trial, prosecutors argued Maxwell and the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein conspired to set up a scheme to lure young girls into sexual relationships with Epstein from 1994 to 2004 in New York, Florida, New Mexico and the US Virgin Islands. The US attorney for the Southern District of New York praised the prosecutors in his office for their work and thanked the four women who testified during the trial that Epstein abused them when they were girls and that Maxwell facilitated the abuse and sometimes participated in it. “The road to justice has been far too long. But, today, justice has been done,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement last month. “I want to commend the bravery of the girls – now grown women – who stepped out of the shadows and into the courtroom. Their courage and willingness to face their abuser made this case, and today’s result, possible.” The jury of six women and six men had deliberated for about 40 hours across parts of six days before the verdict. Maxwell’s defense team in closing arguments had said she was a “scapegoat” for Epstein’s actions and attacked the memories and motivations of the accusers. Maxwell’s family said they believe in her innocence and she will “ultimately be vindicated.” The attorneys of one of Epstein’s alleged accusers Virginia Giuffre, called it, “a great day for justice” and a “towering victory.” Giuffre did not testify at Maxwell’s trial but was mentioned several times throughout government witness testimony. She has brought a separate civil lawsuit against Prince Andrew for sexual abuse. Giuffre alleges she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to perform sex acts with the British royal – claims Andrew denies.",3265.0,Mallika Kallingal
110,2022-01-15,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/14/us/jason-walker-shooting-body-camera-release/index.html,Fayetteville releases some of the police body camera video in the Jason Walker shooting case,US,CNN,"City officials in Fayetteville, North Carolina, released three videos from body cameras of police officers who arrived at the scene where an off-duty sheriff’s deputy shot a man Saturday. Jason Walker, a 37-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by Cumberland County Sheriff’s Deputy Lt. Jeffrey Hash, who told authorities Walker had jumped on his vehicle. Two of the body camera videos show a man in a sweatshirt who identifies himself as Jason Walker’s father. In one clip, the father says, “I saw it, I saw it, I saw it, he jumped up, that fella jumped up on the hood and he jumped out of his car and shot him.” In the background, Hash tells another officer that Walker ran into the road and jumped on his truck. Moments later, that officer turns around and tries to find out who’s related to the victim, Anthony Walker says, “That’s my son, that’s my son.” In a second video, the father tells an officer that his son left the yard and went out into the street where he jumped on the deputy’s pickup. “He came out the yard and I was trying to get him to come back over here, and I called him. I said come back Jason. He come out into the street. He was out here in the daggone street, and a fella drove up. He jumped up on the guy’s hood and the guy jumps out and shoots him,” Walker’s father says. The father tells the officer he is not aware of anyone recording the shooting, then points to the hood of the truck. “You can see where he was on the hood right there,” says Walker’s father. “See right there, he pulled off, pulled off one of the daggone windshield wipers and he hit the windshield.” When asked whether Jason Walker had any mental health issues, the father says, “I don’t know.” In the third video, a woman who provided aid to Walker immediately after he was shot is approached by an officer. “So we were driving up, but he was already on the ground, but he was in the truck and he came up and I don’t know what exactly happened he got on, I don’t know if he got onto the car or if he was actually hit, I don’t know, but they were in the truck, in the vehicle,” said the woman who says her name is Elizabeth Ricks and that she is a trauma nurse. “I don’t understand, they were in a big a** car, he didn’t have anything on him or anything like that. Speculation, I don’t know if he was mentally unwell or anything but and the guy just started shooting him,” she continues. “I didn’t see him pose a threat,” Ricks says to the officer who then asked whether Walker was already on the ground when Hash shot him.  “Yeah, it’s like he hit him and then just got out and then just shot him.” A man, who Ricks identified as her fiancé in an interview with CNN affiliate WTVD, is seen standing near her and tells the officer he saw the man on the ground when they pulled up. CNN attempted to reach Ricks multiple times but has not heard back. Hash’s attorney, Parrish Daughtry, told CNN the shooting was self-defense, citing a North Carolina law that includes a stand-your-ground provision. She said Hash is devastated by Walker’s death. The three videos are about 5 minutes long and “represents the first videos we submitted to the judge,” city officials said in the news release. The videos were edited before they were released publicly to “protect witnesses’ privacy,” according to the release. The city said it was working to get more of the body camera footage released, “the City has filed a petition to have all of the body cam footage released which encompasses about 20 hours of video.  Staff will be working as expeditiously as possible to review that video and submit it for the judge’s consideration,” said the release. Judge James Ammons Jr. ordered the release of the bodycam videos after Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins requested permission from the court. “FPD is seeking public release of the witness statement recordings to advance compelling public interest, release would not create a serious threat to the fair administration of justice,” she wrote in the filing. In North Carolina, law enforcement officials must petition the court for permission before law enforcement agency recordings can be released or shared publicly. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is leading the probe and so far no charges have been filed. The Cumberland County Sheriff​’s Office has confirmed that Hash, ​who has been with the department since 2005, is now on administrative leave pending an internal investigation. Walker’s family has still not received any details of the autopsy or preliminary findings of the investigation, according to their attorney, Ben Crump. “We got to stop this vicious cycle in America of shoot first and ask questions later when it’s Black people. It’s unacceptable,” Crump said Thursday night at a gathering at the Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Fayetteville. “I tell you brothers and sisters in Fayetteville, North Carolina tonight, that it is the right thing to do, that we speak up for the truth of what happened to Jason Walker, that we fight for the truth of what happened to Jason Walker,” Crump said. Crump added that Hash was a law enforcement officer who was supposed to be trained to protect people, not to take life. According to the police, a preliminary investigation showed Walker “ran into traffic and jumped on (the) moving vehicle” that the sheriff’s deputy was driving. “The driver of the vehicle shot (Walker) and notified 911,” according to a statement Saturday by Fayetteville police. “I had a male jump on my vehicle and break my windshield. I just shot him. He jumped on my vehicle. I just had to shoot him,” Hash told the dispatcher in a nearly four-minute 911 call. “I stopped so I wouldn’t hit him and he jumped on my car and started screaming; pulled my windshield wipers off, and started beating my windshield and broke my windshield. I had my wife and my daughter in my vehicle,” Hash added. On Saturday evening a bystander posted a video that began moments after Walker had been shot. It shows a man standing near the driver’s side of a red pickup truck while making a call on a cell phone. A person appears to be lifeless and bleeding on the ground beside him, and at least two people appear to be trying to offer aid to the person on the ground. Uniformed police officers arrive approximately 45 seconds after the video starts. On Sunday, Chief Hawkins said an analysis of the vehicle’s so-called “black box” showed that the “vehicle did not impact anything or anyone,” and a windshield wiper had been torn off and used to break the windshield in several places. “It’s important to share some of the confirmed facts of this case with the public to ensure transparency as this investigation proceeds,” she said. And added that the weapon used by Hash was not his service weapon.",6780.0,Mallika Kallingal
111,2022-01-15,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/14/us/woman-wrongfully-convicted-exonerated-trnd/index.html,A 74-year-old woman spent 27 years in prison for a murder she didn’t commit. This week she was exonerated,US,CNN,"A Tennessee woman who was wrongfully convicted of murdering her great-niece and spent 27 years in prison, was exonerated this week. On June 26, 1987, Joyce Watkins, now 74, and her boyfriend at the time, Charlie Dunn, went to pick up Watkins four-year-old great-niece, Brandi, in Kentucky, according to a report filed with the Davidson County Criminal Court. The next morning Brandi was unresponsive, so Watkins took her to Nashville Memorial Hospital. Brandi suffered from severe vaginal injury and head trauma. She was pronounced dead the following day, the report stated. The two were with Brandi for only nine hours, but the medical examiner, Dr. Gretel Harlan, concluded the injuries were sustained during that time. A year later, in August 1988, Watkins and Dunn were convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated rape. The two spent 27 years behind bars before they were both granted parole in 2015. Before his release, Dunn, unfortunately, passed away in jail. Prior to Brandi being picked up by the couple, she was living at the home of Rose Williams, Brandi’s great-aunt. Brandi’s mother was in Georgia at the time. Throughout that period, a Kentucky Department of Social Services worker visited the home after receiving a report Brandi had been abused. Williams explained Brandi’s injuries Brandi were due to a playground mishap, and the investigation was closed. Now 35 years later, Watkins has been exonerated after she made it a point to clear her name. Dunn was also cleared of the crime and posthumously exonerated. His daughter, Jackie Dunn, was at the hearing on Wednesday. “I wish my daddy was here to witness this day,” she said. “He knew he was innocent, he knew he did not commit those crimes,” Dunn said to CNN affiliate WTVF. Watkins got help from the Tennessee Innocence Project and the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office. “We got this case because she (Joyce) came to us,” Jason Gichner, senior legal counsel with the Tennessee Innocence Project told CNN. “She just showed up at the office and said, ‘Let me tell you my story. I need your help.’ “ The report was filed on November 10, 2021, asking that the pair’s convictions be vacated. The filing clarified Watkins noticed blood in Brandi’s underwear when they arrived home, only an hour and a half after the couple picked her up, with at least an hour of that time spent driving back to Nashville. A report from Dr. Shipla Reddy was also included in the filing, who said Dr. Harlan’s “methodology for dating the head injury based upon a lack of histiocytic response in the brain tissue is not a legitimate method for dating pediatric head trauma.” The ruling noted Harlan conceded the error in her methodology years after the trial. “Joyce Watkins and Charlie Dunn are innocent,” District Attorney Glenn Funk told CNN, “We cannot give Ms. Watkins or Mr. Dunn their lost years but we can restore their dignity; we can restore their names. Their innocence demands it.” According to Sunny Eaton with the District Attorney’s Office, Watkins is the first black woman to ever be exonerated in the state and only the third woman in Tennessee history. “Miss Watkins, this charge against you is dismissed,” Davidson County Criminal Court Judge, Angelita Blackshear Dalton, said Wednesday morning, according to WTVF. As far as Watkins or Dunn’s family getting compensated for their wasted time spent in jail, Gichner said he is unsure of what will happen down the road. In a comment to the media and CNN affiliate WZTV Watkins said, “I thank all the people for their prayers and helping me get out of this mess which has cost me half of my life for nothing, But I’ll get over it.”",3659.0,Sara Smart
112,2022-01-15,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/15/us/prince-andrew-child-victims-act/index.html,The ruling against Prince Andrew is another win for the Child Victims Act’s lookback window,US,CNN,"In his ruling that a child sexual abuse lawsuit against Prince Andrew can move ahead, Judge Lewis Kaplan took several pages to flatly reject the royal’s argument that the law undergirding the entire case is unconstitutional. “Defendant is not the first litigant to advance this argument, which has been rejected by every New York state and federal court to have encountered it,” the federal judge wrote in the 46-page decision. “And it has been rejected repeatedly for good reason.” The concise rejection represents a clear message from the courts: The Child Victims Act, the basis for Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit against Prince Andrew, is here to stay. “I see this ruling as very important, as another step in terms of really acknowledging the right of survivors to really bring their case to court,” said Liz Roberts, the CEO of Safe Horizon, which advocated for the law for years. Enacted in 2019, the Child Victims Act created a one-year lookback window – later expanded to two years due to the pandemic – in which victims of child sexual abuse could file a civil lawsuit against a person or institution, no matter how much time had passed since the abuse. The law also expanded the statute of limitations for potential child sexual abuse cases going forward. Previously, child sex abuse cases in New York could not be prosecuted more than five years after the crime occurred, and civil lawsuits had to be brought within three years after the victim’s 18th birthday. The idea of the Child Victims Act was that many victims of child sexual abuse take years to publicly speak about their traumas, and this law would give them an opportunity to finally have their day in court. “For many survivors, it feels like a chance to have some kind of public social acknowledgment of terrible abuse they suffered, to confront the person who harmed them, or the institution, and to really speak the truth of what happened to them, and in some cases to receive compensation for what they suffered,” Roberts said. The lookback window opened in August 2019 and closed in August 2021. Over 10,600 child sexual abuse lawsuits were filed in New York in that period, according to New York Courts spokesman Lucian Chalfen. One of those plaintiffs was Giuffre, who filed suit in the final week of the lookback window. In her lawsuit, Giuffre alleged that Prince Andrew sexually abused her when she was a minor at Jeffrey Epstein’s home in Manhattan, Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands and at the London home of Epstein’s close associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Prince Andrew has denied the allegations. He can still choose to appeal the ruling. Epstein, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to state prostitution charges, was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019 and died by suicide in prison a month later. Maxwell, his former girlfriend, was arrested a year afterward and accused of facilitating Epstein’s abuse scheme. A jury convicted her in late December on five federal counts, including sex trafficking a minor and conspiracy. The prince’s attorneys had pushed to get Giuffre’s lawsuit dismissed and put forth several arguments to do so. One of those was that the Child Victims Act was unconstitutional because it violated due process rights for those accused of wrongdoing. The law has previously been upheld by other judges, including back in May 2020 in a lawsuit against the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island. In his ruling Wednesday, Kaplan cited a handful of cases in which judges had rejected that constitutional argument. He described the Child Victims Act’s lookback window as a “reasonable measure to address an injustice and well within the bounds of the new legal standard articulated shortly before its passage.” Barry Salzman, an attorney who has represented pro bono sexual abuse survivors in cases against the clergy and Epstein, said such lookback windows, also known as statute of limitation revival laws, have long been seen as constitutional. The prince’s argument against the law is going to fail, he told CNN. “I honestly don’t think it’s a very strong argument and don’t think it’s ever gonna be struck down,” he said. Salzman praised the judge’s ruling and said he was glad to see the case move forward. “As a lawyer who has advocated for victims for so many years, I’m really happy to see legislation like the CVA which has really allowed all these survivors to get their day in court,” he said. “I think it really speaks to more openness or acceptance in our society to believe these people.” Roberts, too, said Safe Horizon had advocated for the law for a decade, and lawyers had closely crafted the language of the law. She said the argument that defendants lose their due process was “specious.” “All the law does is give them an opportunity to go to court. They still have to prove their case,” she said. “The defendant has access to all the usual protections in court as a defendant in lawsuit.”",4943.0,Eric Levenson
113,2022-01-15,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/15/us/eugene-oregon-shooting/index.html,6 injured after shooting at concert venue in Oregon,US,CNN,"Six people were taken to a hospital after shots were fired Friday night at a rap concert in Eugene, Oregon, police said. Police Chief Chris Skinner told reporters early Saturday morning that one victim is in critical condition after “certainly one of the highest-profile shootings we’ve had in the city of Eugene.” That person was undergoing surgery, he said. He did not know the status of the others who were shot. The shooting occurred during a Lil Bean and Zay Bang show, police said. “Reports came in at 9:29 p.m. of multiple shots fired at WOW Hall, 219 W. 8th Avenue. EPD & multiple law enforcement agencies responded, along with Eugene Springfield Fire,” police tweeted. Skinner asked any witnesses with video or audio of the incident to help police. “We just need people to feel comfortable and bring that forward so we can better understand what happened and better identify our suspect,” he said. “All we know at this point is we have a male in a hoodie that was seen running westbound … right after the shooting.” WOW Hall Interim Executive Director Deb Maher and Board Chair Jaci Guerena posted a statement on the venue’s website and called the shooting “unprecedented.” “There is not much information currently available however we heard gunshots in the back parking lot. The motives are not yet known. We do know that some people were injured, but we do not know the extent of the injuries, and we do not want to speculate,” the statement said.",1458.0,Melissa Alonso
114,2022-01-14,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/14/us/north-carolina-storm-labor-shortages/index.html,"Labor shortages could cause delays in clearing North Carolina roads after weekend’s winter storm, the state says",US,CNN,"Labor shortages could mean North Carolina road crews won’t be able to clear roads of snow and ice as fast as usual if a winter storm hits the state this weekend, the governor’s office said. The storm is expected to drop a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain across parts of the state Saturday night into Sunday. Road crews across the state are shorthanded, Gov. Roy Cooper’s office said. “(North Carolina Department of Transportation) crews and contractor resources will work to clear roads as fast as possible, but response times are expected to be slower than previous storms due to labor shortages impacting crews spread around the state,” a statement from Cooper’s office said. Transportation department workers started spreading brine on roads Thursday, a job expected to finish Friday, Cooper’s office said. Cooper signed an emergency declaration Thursday evening to release state resources to prepare for the potential storm. The governor’s office is urging people to stay off roads if conditions deteriorate, and to reduce speed if they must travel. The country as a whole has been dealing with labor shortages for months. The labor force participation rate shrank during the pandemic, for reasons including child care challenges and concerns about the virus. Also, many who were initially forced out of the workforce in furloughs and layoffs have taken early retirements.",1381.0,Jason Hanna
115,2022-01-14,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/14/us/gorilla-dies-atlanta-zoo/index.html,"Atlanta zoo euthanizes Choomba, 59-year-old gorilla, after health decline",US,CNN,"Choomba, “one of the founding members of the gorilla population at Zoo Atlanta,” was euthanized Thursday at 59, the zoo announced on its website. Veterinary staff “had been monitoring Choomba closely in recent days following a marked decline in her physical condition due to advanced arthritis and other age-related complications,” said a zoo statement. “Given her poor prognosis and with concern for her comfort and quality of life, the teams made the extremely difficult decision to euthanize her,” the statement said. Choomba arrived at Zoo Atlanta in the 1980s and was the matriarch of four generations of gorillas, said the zoo statement. Choomba was the mother of Machi, Kudzoo, and Sukari; all still live at the zoo. But “her descendants include grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and a great-great grandchild living at accredited zoos around the U.S.,” said the statement. “Choomba had been living in a senior social group with Ozzie, who at age 61 is the world’s oldest living male gorilla,” said the zoo. “This is an extremely difficult day for Zoo Atlanta and most particularly for Choomba’s care team, who knew her intimately and saw and cared for her daily with the greatest dedication,” said Jennifer Mickelberg, PhD, Vice President of Collections and Conservation for the zoo. “Choomba leaves a tremendous legacy at Zoo Atlanta, in the zoological gorilla population in North America, and in the hearts of those who knew her best,” said Mickelberg.",1463.0,Melissa Alonso
116,2022-01-14,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/14/us/fresno-murder-missing-woman-missy-hernandez/index.html,A Fresno man has been charged with the murder of his missing girlfriend. Her body has still not been found,US,CNN,"Authorities in Fresno County, California, have arrested a man on suspicion of murdering his missing girlfriend, whose body has still not been found more than a month after she was last seen. Ramon Jimenez, 41, is being held in the Fresno County Jail on charges of murder and domestic violence after the disappearance of 30-year-old Missy Hernandez, also known as Missy Perez, according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. Hernandez’s body has not been located, authorities said in a news conference Thursday. But Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp indicated her office is confident it can successfully prosecute the case, even without a body. It will be the first time in Fresno County a murder case is prosecuted without a body since 1974, said Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims. It’s unclear if Jimenez had legal representation who would comment on his behalf. Smittcamp said Thursday Jimenez had appeared in court with a public defender, but his arraignment was continued and his next hearing was set for March 22, at which point an attorney would officially be appointed to his case. The Fresno County Public Defender’s Office declined to comment Friday. Hernandez was last seen at an art show in downtown Fresno on December 7, 2021, with Jimenez, Mims said in a news conference Thursday. Her friends contacted the sheriff’s office for a welfare check the next day, after they could not get in contact with her. A deputy responded to her home that afternoon, Mims said, and while he didn’t find Hernandez, he did “make contact” with Jimenez. The deputy had researched the address on the way, Mims told reporters, and recognized Jimenez as a suspect wanted for a domestic violence incident against Hernandez at the same address in October. The next day, Hernandez’s friends went to her home, where they found “evidence that she may be injured and need help,” Mims said. She did not provide more details about what Hernandez’s friends found. Jimenez has been in custody since he was arrested on December 8 and is ineligible for bail, Mims said. Meantime, investigators have gathered “an overwhelming amount of forensic and digital evidence,” Mims added, including “DNA indicating a violent act took place at Missy’s home.” “Based on the evidence and the length of time Missy’s been gone, detectives have reason to believe that she is dead,” Mims said, “and Jimenez is responsible for her death.” While Mims declined to outline all of the evidence in the case, she did say it included “a lot of blood at the scene,” as well as “digital evidence from many sources.” The Fresno County Sheriff’s office declined to provide CNN with arrest reports for Jimenez, citing the ongoing investigation. Jimenez faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison if found guilty, Smittcamp told reporters. She acknowledged it is “very difficult to prosecute a homicide case … without an actual dead body to show evidence of at a trial.” But given the work of investigators, “we are confident that we will be able to successfully prosecute this case and prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that this person very violently murdered Missy Hernandez.”",3154.0,Dakin Andone
117,2022-01-14,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/14/us/wisconsin-christmas-parade-trial/index.html,"Wisconsin Christmas parade suspect will go to trial, judge decides",US,CNN,"A judge has determined that Darrell Brooks, the man accused of careening his SUV into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on November 21, 2021, killing six people and injuring more than 60 others, should face trial at a preliminary hearing Friday. There is “ample evidence on all fronts” that the state showed sufficient evidence that Brooks probably committed a felony, said Waukesha Circuit Court Commissioner Kevin Costello after hearing testimony from Waukesha Police Detective Thomas Casey. Casey, the lead investigator in the case, said he was doing traffic control at the parade and that he also reviewed video footage of the incident. The vehicle zigzagged through the crowd and “it appears that the vehicle’s intentionally aiming for people,” Casey told Waukesha County District Attorney Susan Opper during direct questioning. “At one point in the video, you can see the vehicle running over people. At one point there’s someone on the hood of the car where the vehicle jams on its brakes, appears to have the person come off the hood of the car and then continues driving and drives over that person. As it gets to the 400 block it hits another group of people and then continues driving westbound,” Casey said. During cross-examination, Casey told defense attorney Anna Kees that there were times when Brooks avoided hitting people. Kees said during the preliminary hearing that an officer reported Brooks had “red, bloodshot, and glassy eyes” and smelled of marijuana. Casey said that was correct. Brooks also turned away from the photos and videos of the parade incident when officers tried to show them to him, Kees said. “And at one point, he even begged the law enforcement officer to stop showing them to him, correct?” Kees asked. “I believe so,” Casey answered. Kees also said that Brooks told a detective that “quote, ‘I didn’t mean to kill nobody,’ end quote.” “I believe that’s the quote,” Casey said. Brooks faces 77 charges. He remained silent during the hearing and wore a red jail jumpsuit with his hair in a bun. He is scheduled to be arraigned on February 11 at 10:15 a.m. CT.",2111.0,Carma Hassan
118,2022-01-14,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/14/us/west-virginia-governor-improving-covid-diagnosis/index.html,West Virginia governor says he’s feeling better after his Covid-19 diagnosis and credits vaccine with saving his life,US,CNN,"West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said he was feeling better on Thursday, two days after a Covid-19 diagnosis, according to a statement from the governor’s office. “Thankfully, I am feeling much better today,” Justice said. “I desperately want to get out of this house and back to serving our state. I am not one to lay around.” The governor continues to experience mild symptoms and his monoclonal antibody treatment was received well, the statement said. “Without question, the fact that I chose to get vaccinated and boosted saved my life, that’s all there is to it. So, now more than ever, I strongly encourage all West Virginians to protect themselves and their families by getting vaccinated,” Justice added. The 70-year-old woke Tuesday morning with congestion and a cough, eventually developing a headache and fever, according to a statement Tuesday. By late afternoon, his blood pressure and heart rate were elevated and he had a high fever. Results from a rapid test in the morning came back negative but a PCR test came back positive, said Justice, who was forced to postpone a State of the State address to the West Virginia legislature. Justice described feeling “extremely unwell” on Tuesday, and chief of staff Brian Abraham told the West Virginia Gazette Mail in an interview Wednesday that his symptoms were apparent. Justice, a Republican re-elected in 2020, has been a fervent advocate for vaccinations and booster doses throughout the pandemic, often using direct language when speaking to constituents about the benefits of inoculation. “If you’re out there in West Virginia, and you’re not vaccinated today, what’s the downside?” Justice said in July. “If all of us were vaccinated, do you not believe that less people would die? If you’re not vaccinated, you’re part of the problem rather than part of the solution.”",1836.0,Raja Razek
119,2022-01-14,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/13/us/texas-mother-son-trunk-covid-19/index.html,Judge finds no reason to charge Texas mother who allegedly put her son in the trunk to avoid Covid-19 exposure,US,CNN,"A Texas judge ruled Thursday there was no probable cause against a mother who allegedly put her son in the trunk of the car to avoid being exposed to Covid-19 – but the case might not be over yet. Sarah Beam, 41, was charged with endangering a child after she allegedly placed her 13-year-old son, who had Covid-19, in the trunk to avoid being exposed while she went to a testing site, according to a warrant from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. According to the warrant, the mother told authorities she wanted to prevent exposure to the virus while driving her son to the site for “additional testing.” Judge Chris Morton ruled Thursday there was no probable cause for the charge. Harris County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Dane Schiller told CNN they will continue to review the evidence and might take the case to a grand jury to see whether there is an appropriate charge. “We absolutely respect the judge’s ruling, and we will continue with our work,” Schiller said. Beam’s attorney, Nathaniel Pitoniak, told CNN he had no comment. But outside court Thursday morning, he told CNN affiliate KHOU: “We dispute the facts in the affidavit that was filed in this case. But even if they had been true, the judge has acknowledged with his finding that my client did not place her child in imminent danger of bodily harm.” Beam was charged after authorities arrived at a Houston-area Covid testing site on January 3 following a report that a health services official had found the child in trunk of her car. She was released from jail Sunday after she made bail. Beam is a teacher in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District, which said earlier this week that she was on administrative leave.",1723.0,Joe Sutton
120,2022-01-14,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/13/us/new-orleans-pipeline-spill/index.html,"Pipeline spills more than 300,000 gallons of diesel fuel near New Orleans",US,CNN,"A massive cleanup effort is underway after a pipeline ruptured, causing more than 300,000 gallons of low sulfur diesel fuel to spill just outside of New Orleans last month. The incident occurred on December 27 on a 16-inch diesel pipeline located at the Chalmette Refinery, just east of New Orleans, in St. Bernard Parish, according to federal documents from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. PHMSA is charged with oversight for pipeline safety in the United States Officials say the owner of the line, Collins Pipeline Company, shut down the Meraux Pipeline on the morning of the 27th after reportedly observing pressure gauges and flow meter measurements that indicated there was a leak, documents stated. Later that same day, the pipeline company visually confirmed that the line had ruptured, resulting in a release of low sulfur diesel that surfaced near a levee wall in St. Bernard Parish. The company initially reported between 200-300 BBLs (8400 -12,600 gallons), had spilled; however on December 28, the company estimated the loss of diesel to be more than 300,000 gallons. In a statement to CNN, Michael Karlovich, vice president of communications for PBF Energy, said that to date they have recovered more than 320,000 gallons of diesel fuel from the site and the pipeline combined that was subsequently recycled at their refinery. Collins Pipeline Company is a subsidiary of PBF Energy. No injuries or fatalities were reported as a result of the rupture; however, thousands of fish, birds and other wildlife were killed. The rupture of the pipeline comes more than a year after an inspection in October 2020 revealed external corrosion 22-feet long by 25-inches wide near the failure location, according to federal documents. The root cause of the accident remains unconfirmed at this time. Preliminary reports indicate that the probable cause is likely localized corrosion and metal loss, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said in its report. Karlovich tells CNN that repairs have been made to the ruptured line and operations have been restored.",2110.0,Tina Burnside
121,2022-01-14,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/14/us/baltimore-marilyn-mosby-indicted-perjury/index.html,Baltimore state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby indicted on charges of perjury and making false statements on mortgage applications,US,CNN,"The chief prosecutor for the city of Baltimore has been indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements on loan applications for the purchase of two vacation homes in Florida, according to court documents filed Thursday. State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who gained national attention in 2015 for charging officers in the in-custody death of Freddie Gray, now herself faces perjury charges over documents she submitted to apply for loans against her retirement plan in 2020, according to the indictment. In doing so, Mosby, whose term in office ends this year, allegedly used a withdrawal option created under the CARES Act, passed to help people who were financially impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Mosby insisted that she was “unequivocally innocent,” in a news conference Friday, painting the indictment as a politically motivated attack just months before an election. She did not address the charges in detail, acknowledging that there were some things she couldn’t say. “But I wanted the people of Baltimore to hear it from me: I’ve done nothing wrong,” she told reporters. “I did not defraud anyone to take my money from my retirement savings and I did not lie on any mortgage application.” When Mosby applied for two loans against her 457(b) retirement plan, she signed documents that indicated she “experienced adverse financial consequences” due to Covid-19, according to the indictment. However, the indictment said her gross income in 2020 was $247,955.58, an increase of nearly $10,000 from the previous year. Mosby received $36,000 in May and $45,000 in December of 2020 from her retirement account, according to the indictment. The money Mosby received allegedly went toward the purchase of two vacation homes in Florida, and she is also charged with making false statements on the mortgage applications, according to the indictment. She secured a $490,500 mortgage in 2020 and a $428,400 mortgage in 2021, but she did not disclose in the applications that she owed more than $45,000 in federal back taxes, the indictment says. Additionally, Mosby allegedly stated that she would be the primary resident of one of the homes for at least a year in order to receive a lower mortgage rate. But she had already entered an agreement with a vacation home management company to rent out the house the week before, the indictment alleges. She sold one of the properties in November for a $150,000 profit, the Baltimore Sun reported. “Please don’t be fooled,” Mosby said at the news conference. “We are now five months from a next election and this indictment is merely a political ploy by my political adversaries to unseat me. Please also understand that I will never let that happen without a fight.” She did not take any questions from reporters. Mosby’s comments echoed an earlier statement by her lawyer, who had also said she is innocent of the charges. “I remain confident that once all the evidence is presented, that she will prevail against these bogus charges – charges that are rooted in personal, political and racial animus five months from her election,” attorney A. Scott Bolden said in a statement. If convicted, Mosby faces a maximum sentence of five years in a federal prison for each perjury count and a maximum of 30 years for each count of making false statements on a mortgage application, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland. She could also be forced to forfeit any property found to have been obtained by fraud, the indictment says. “We’re not commenting beyond what’s on the indictment. It speaks for itself,” Marcia Murphy, spokesperson for Maryland US Attorney Erek Barron, told CNN. Mosby will have an initial appearance in the US District Court in Baltimore, but the hearing has not yet been scheduled, according to the US Attorney’s office. Mosby was elected as the state’s attorney for Baltimore City in 2014 and reelected in 2018. In 2015, she charged six Baltimore police officers in the death of Gray, who died in police custody after suffering a neck injury while being driven unrestrained in the back of a police van. His death became a symbol of the Black community’s mistrust of police and triggered days of protests and riots in Baltimore. None of the six officers arrested was convicted.",4319.0,Laura Studley
122,2022-01-13,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/13/us/harris-county-texas-deputy-fatal-car-crash/index.html,"A Texas deputy chasing a suspect in his vehicle collides with another car, killing its driver and injuring child passengers",US,CNN,"A Harris County, Texas, deputy pursuing a robbery suspect in his vehicle was involved in a collision with another vehicle Wednesday night that killed its driver and injured two child passengers, Houston police said. The deputy was in pursuit in northeast Houston of a car suspected of being involved with an earlier armed robbery that had refused to pull over for a traffic stop, Houston Police Department Assistant Chief Chandra Hatcher said at a news conference. The deputy had his vehicle’s lights and siren on as he approached an intersection, according to Hatcher, where he collided with a black vehicle. Authorities do not know which vehicle made initial impact with the other. The woman driving the black vehicle was declared dead at the scene, Hatcher said. An approximately five-year-old child was transported to a hospital in critical condition and an approximately two-year-old child is in stable condition. At one point, the deputy’s car caught fire and people inside a nearby store ran out to pull the deputy to safety, Hatcher said. The deputy was transported to a hospital and is in stable condition, according to Hatcher. A total of seven vehicles were involved in the crash, Hatcher said, and three other people were also transported to area hospitals with minor injuries. Authorities have not named the deputy nor those in the other vehicles. “First and foremost, on behalf of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office I want to extend our condolences to the family of the deceased female and we are also praying for the full recovery of the two children that have been injured in this crash,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said at the news conference. The suspect being pursued by the deputy fled the scene, Gonzalez said in a tweet. Houston Police are leading the investigation into the crash, and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and Harris County Sheriff’s Office are also investigating the collision, according to Hatcher. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office and Houston Police will work together on the robbery investigation, Gonzalez said at the news conference.",2095.0,Chris Boyette
123,2022-01-13,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/11/us/abandoned-baby-dumpster-stable-condition-mother-charged/index.html,A baby is in stable condition after three people found him in a dumpster and called police,US,CNN,"A newborn baby is in stable condition after people looking through a dumpster found the infant and called authorities, said the acting police chief in Hobbs, New Mexico. Two men and a woman called 911 late Friday and reported they had found a baby. The group told officers they had been going through a dumpster looking for anything of value when they heard what they thought was a baby crying and removed a black trash bag and found the baby inside, authorities said. The woman in the group held the boy, trying to keep it warm, while one of the men called police, Chief August Fons said at a Monday news conference. “We just a found a baby in the trash,” a man can be heard saying in a 911 call audio, according to local news station KRQE. “He’s freezing cold and he’s… very, very, very weak,” a woman is heard saying in the call, according to KRQE. The group’s “collective quick response to this emergency, including notification of 911, was absolutely pivotal in saving this baby’s life,” the chief said. The baby was taken by an officer and given to EMS personnel and transferred to a local hospital before being airlifted to a medical facility in Lubbock, Texas. The baby is in stable condition, Fons said. Investigators looked through surveillance footage from a nearby store and saw a white vehicle pulling up to the dumpster around 2 p.m. that day and a young woman exited the vehicle, removed a black trash bag from the car and threw it in the dumpster before driving away, Fons said. The baby was in the dumpster for about six hours before being found, he added. The 18-year-old mother was charged with attempted first-degree murder and alternatively, felony abuse of a child, Fons said. She was arrested and processed into jail on Saturday evening and released shortly after. An attorney representing the young woman said that “whatever happened is already a tragedy for her family and the community.” On Wednesday, a judge ordered that the young woman be put under house arrest with a GPS monitor and that she not be allowed to leave her parents’ home except for legal appointments, religious worship, medical needs and education. Her attorney said the accused is a high school student. The young woman voluntarily met with detectives during their investigation and told them that she was unaware she was pregnant until Thursday, when she went to the doctor for “abdominal pain and constipation,” the chief said at the news conference. She told investigators that on Friday she experienced stomach pain and “unexpectedly gave birth,” he said. “She further explained that she panicked, did not know what to do or who to call,” Fons added. The mother then placed the baby in trash bags and drove around before deciding to put the baby in the dumpster. The young woman’s parents told investigators they did not know their daughter was pregnant and were only aware that she was having some stomach problems, authorities said. Authorities are now working to set up an interview with the alleged father of the baby. “These types of calls often stay with officers long after they are resolved, often for many, many years, sometimes forever, ” Fons said. Anyone who wants to make a donation towards the child can do so at the New Mexico Children Youth & Families Department office, the release added. The police and fire departments are designated as Safe Haven sites, the chief added. “A person may leave an infant with a staff of a safe haven site without being subjected to criminal prosecution for abandonment or abuse if the infant was born within 90 days of being left at the safe haven site, as determined within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, and not left in a condition that would constitute abandonment or abuse of a child,” Fons said. The chief advised anyone who may be in a similar situation to contact authorities for help.",3853.0,Michelle Watson
124,2022-01-13,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/us/aim-leader-clyde-bellecourt-dies-85/index.html,"Clyde Bellecourt, Native American civil rights leader, dies at 85",US,CNN,"Clyde Bellecourt, a Native American civil rights leader who founded the influential group American Indian Movement (AIM), died Tuesday of cancer at the age of 85, his wife, Peggy Bellecourt, and Minnesota’s Hennepin County medical examiner confirmed to CNN on Wednesday. Bellecourt co-founded AIM in 1968 to help advocate for tribal sovereignty and better housing and opportunities for Native Americans in Minnesota and across the US. He was the group’s last living original founder. “It (AIM) created an awakening on a national level of our people,” his niece and current AIM’s Executive Leader Lisa Bellinger told CNN affiliate WCCO. “It was never just a job for him. It was a way of life.” Some of the group’s early work involved protecting Indigenous people against police brutality. By patrolling neighborhoods and taking down badge numbers, the group tried to hold police accountable and prevent Indigenous people from having their rights violated. Bellecourt eventually became the co-chair of the Minneapolis Police Community Relations Council. “Clyde Bellecourt sparked a movement in Minneapolis that spread worldwide. His fight for justice and fairness leaves behind a powerful legacy that will continue to inspire people across our state and nation for generations to come,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz posted on Twitter. Throughout his life, Bellecourt worked to make jobs, health care, education and legal services accessible to Native American communities. “Today, we lost a civil rights leader who fought for more than a half-century on behalf of Indigenous people in Minnesota and around the world. Indian Country benefited from Clyde Bellecourt’s activism – he cleared a path for so many of us. Journey well, Neegawnwaywidung,” Minnesota Lt. Gov Peggy Flannigan tweeted. Bellecourt inspired other Native American activists like Winona LaDuke, who is the executive director of Honor the Earth. “Clyde Bellecourt worked most of his life upholding the rights and dignity of Indigenous people in North America. But his charisma and influence were felt worldwide,” she told CNN in a statement. “Like his beloved fellow founders of the American Indian Movement (AIM) he was a powerful inspiration to a generation of activists and supporters, and his legacy will continue for the next seven generations and beyond.” AIM began in 1968 when Native American community activists in Minneapolis called a meeting out of frustration over decades of federal Indian policy and systemic discrimination. About 200 people showed up, according to the Gale Family Library in Minnesota. Bellecourt, along with George Mitchell and Dennis Banks, would go on to lead a movement born out of “ferment and determination.” Although the Minnesota group started out as a local movement that tackled poverty, poor housing and treaty rights, they later grew to a national movement. In 1972, AIM joined the Trail of Broken Treaties. The walk began on the West Coast and ended in Washington, DC. AIM and other groups were demanding that the government fulfill its treaty commitments, according to the Minnesota Historical Society’s MNopedia. AIM members eventually took over the Bureau of Indian Affairs building. “After nearly a week, the Nixon administration agreed to consider their demands and pay for them to return home. The action made AIM a target of COINTELPRO, the FBI’s covert operation meant to disrupt domestic political organizations,” according to MNopedia. AIM’s leaders drew the attention of the FBI and the CIA for tactics that were considered militant by some. In 1973, the group took over Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to protest the US and tribal governments. The 71-day occupation had periods of violence and two people died in a shootout. Bellecourt was one of the first to advocate against the use of racist names in the sports world and helped create the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media in 1991. He called for the former Washington Redskins to change their name and in 1992 he was a part of the group that protested the Super Bowl headlining the Washington team and the Buffalo Bills. The team finally changed its name to the Washington Football Team in 2020 after years of advocacy on the part of many. Bellecourt also helped organize marches in Minneapolis during the 1991 World Series, when the Minnesota Twins faced the Atlanta Braves, and the 1992 Super Bowl when the Redskins played the Buffalo Bills, the Star Tribune reported.",4486.0,Caroll Alvarado
125,2022-01-13,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/us/letter-mailed-76-years-ago-delivered-trnd/index.html,A letter from an American soldier has been delivered to his family – 76 years after he mailed it,US,CNN,"Angelina Gonsalves received an unexpected, yet cherished, delivery from the US Postal Service last month – a letter her late husband wrote to his mother while deployed overseas in 1945. The letter was written by Sgt. John Gonsalves, a 22-year-old Army soldier stationed in Germany. He was writing to check in on his family and let his mom know that he believed he’d be coming home to Massachusetts soon. The letter, dated December 6, 1945 – written several months after World War II ended – would never make it to his mother’s house. But 76 years and three days later, it was delivered by the USPS to his widow. “I got to read it and it was wonderful,” Angelina Gonsalves, of Woburn, Massachusetts, told CNN on Wednesday. “It is in really good condition. I was amazed by that myself.” Angelina and John didn’t know each other when he wrote that letter. The two were married in 1953 and had five sons. In 2015, John died at the age of 92. In the two-page letter to his mother, also named Angelina, John discusses the “lousy” food options and weather in Bad Orb, where he was stationed, stating the sun hasn’t been out but for half a day in a month. He closes the letter by sending his love to the family. The front of the envelope has a six cents stamp attached. “It was a joy to see her face light up reading his words,” Brian Gonsalves, Angelina and John’s son, told CNN. “To be able to see her read something he wrote and look back at that history, it’s something she’ll always have now.” So where was the letter hiding all this time? That part is unclear, but late last year it was found at the USPS Pittsburgh processing center, according to a letter from the USPS that was sent to Angelina along with John’s letter. Employees at the center recognized the importance of the soldier’s letter and that it was part of a family’s history, so they started trying to track down John’s next of kin. “We are aware of the passing of your husband in 2015 (our condolences),” reads the letter from the USPS. “By virtue of some dedicated sleuth work by postal employees at this facility, we were able to determine your address, hence this letter delivery to you, albeit 76 years delayed. Due to the age and significance to your family history, delivering this letter was of utmost importance to us.” Angelina received the letter on December 9, just before the holidays, which her son said was a nice Christmas gift. “It felt like he came back for the holiday season,” he said.",2468.0,Amanda Jackson
126,2022-01-13,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/11/us/new-york-bronx-apartment-fire-tuesday/index.html,"All 17 victims of Bronx apartment fire, including 2-year-old, died of smoke inhalation, NYC medical examiner rules",US,CNN,"All 17 victims from a fire in a Bronx apartment building on Sunday died of smoke inhalation, according to the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). The manner of death was determined to be an accident for them all, said OCME director of public affairs Julie Bolcer. The determination comes after an electric space heater sparked a fire in a duplex unit, flooding the 19-story apartment building with smoke. Several space heaters had been running for days inside the apartment where the deadly fire started, a fire official told CNN. The heaters, including the one that sparked the blaze, were discovered after firefighters sifted through the rubble, the official said. Fire officials said that the smoke was able to spread because the door of that apartment and the door from the stairwell to the 15th floor were left open, even though the doors were supposed to close automatically. Eight of the victims were children, including a 2-year-old boy, two 5-year-old girls and a 6-year-old boy. Police released a full list of their names and ages: Fatoumata Drammeh, 50, female; Foutmala Drammeh, 21, female; Muhammed Drammeh, 12, male; Nyumaaisha Drammeh, 19, female; Haji Dukary, 49, male; Fatoumata Dukureh, 5, female; Haja Dukureh, 37, female; Mariam Dukureh, 11, female; Mustapha Dukureh, 12, male; Omar Jambang, 6, male; Sera Janneh, 27, female; Haouwa Mahamadou, 5, female; Seydou Toure, 12, male; Fatoumata Tunkara, 43, female; Isatou Jabbie, 31, female; Hagi Jawara, 47, male; Ousmane Konteh, 2, male. Some residents who survived the fire can return to the top floor apartments, the New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) told CNN on Tuesday. “Some residents are now able to relocate apartments on the top floors,” said spokeswoman Ines Bebea. “The process is ongoing and evolving.” The agency was unable to provide a timeline for when or how many people will reenter the building, as the building’s management is notifying residents individually and “not rushing people back into their apartments,” Bebea said. New York City Department of Buildings records show that the building was listed with a Partial Vacate Order on Tuesday after a structural stability inspection was conducted on Monday. The return of some residents comes as officials are looking for long-term solutions to ensure a similar tragedy never happens again. “The two values that matter most to all of us are our family and our homes, and to lose both in the span of a single tragedy is terrifying and traumatic to an extent that few of us can imagine,” US Rep. Ritchie Torres, who represents the area where the fire took place, told CNN on Monday. Tenants and relatives of the victims of the fire filed a class-action lawsuit against the current and previous owners of the building seeking $2 billion in damages, according to court documents. The city and various entities were also given notice of a separate class-action lawsuit seeking $1 billion in damages for alleged negligence in enforcing building codes. In a statement to CNN, New York City Law Department press secretary Nicholas Paolucci said, “This was a horrific tragedy and too many lives were lost. There is an active investigation into this tragic incident. We’ll review the claim.” City data shows there were at least four heat-related complaints and one complaint about a defective self-closing door reported last year to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the agency that oversees housing development violations in the city. Some violations had been repaired, according to the agency. “HPD is working to make sure that critical violations have been addressed and apartments are safe for return,” spokesperson Jeremy House told CNN in a statement Wednesday. Bronx Park Phase III Preservation LLC, which purchased the complex in 2019 and is named in one of the lawsuits, issued a short statement. “We are devastated by this terrible tragedy and are cooperating fully with the Fire Department and other agencies as they continue to investigate.” Attorney Robert Vilensky said he represents 22 plaintiffs in the lawsuits but expects that number to grow. The lawsuit against the building owners alleges the defendants were negligent on several fronts, including failing to ensure smoke detectors were working, failing to provide adequate heat, failing to have an intercom system and failing to have a sprinkler system. The building’s doors and reports of malfunctioning smoke alarms are a focus of the investigation, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. Building conditions will also be a topic for a new task force of federal, state and local leaders who say they’re focused on policies and potential legislation that can prevent further tragedies. Torres announced the task force Monday alongside Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson and local City Council members Oswald Feliz and Pierina Sanchez. “There are underlying issues that we are facing every day with fire alarms and sprinkler systems and exits, and heat and hot water, and basic necessities that every resident and tenant of New York City should be afforded,” Gibson said. The focus on legislation is one part of a four-prong plan by leaders, which also includes ensuring permanent housing for those whose units were destroyed, that those displaced can return to their units as soon as possible and providing any services needed for those affected. In addition to looking into the enforcement of New York’s laws requiring self-closing doors, Torres said the group would also explore whether current minimum heating requirements are sufficient. The Bronx building’s heating appeared to be working, Torres said, but residents still felt the need to use space heaters to keep warm. Built in 1972, the building was federally funded, so it may have been built outside the New York City fire code, Nigro said Sunday, adding it was unlikely to have been a factor in the fire. At a news conference Monday, New York firefighter union representatives confirmed the building was not required to adhere to city fire codes. “We have to clarify in federal law that federal developments, federally regulated and subsidized developments, should be subject to local fire codes and housing codes and building codes. That every American have access to safe and affordable housing, including housing that’s safe from fires,” Torres told CNN’s Jim Sciutto. Residents of the 120-unit building have said the fire alarms in the building often malfunctioned, so when they sounded Sunday morning, Daisy Mitchell told CNN she “didn’t pay it no mind.” But then Mitchell’s husband began to smell smoke in their 10th-floor unit and they encountered thick smoke when they went to investigate. “I went to the stairs, I opened the door, it just blew me back (to) the house,” she added. “If I’d stayed out there for another three seconds, I would have been gone, too.” Karen Dejesus lives on the same floor as the apartment that caught fire and said the flames encroached on her residence. “I can see the flames, I can see the smoke and everything, you know, coming into my apartment,” Dejesus said. Dejesus said firefighters broke down her door to rescue her, her granddaughter and her son. They had to climb out of a window to escape the flames. She, too, noted fire alarms in the building often went off. “So many of us were used to hearing that fire alarm go off so it was like second nature to us,” she said. “Not until I actually seen the smoke coming in the door, I realized it was a real fire and I heard people yelling help, help, help.” Mamadou Wague said he was jolted awake Sunday morning by the sound of his children yelling, “Fire! Fire!” Wague lives on the third floor of the building with his eight kids, who range in age from 6 months to 18 years old. His family wasn’t able to flee the building because there was too much smoke, he said. Terrified, they waited in a neighbor’s apartment, putting wet towels under the doors, until firefighters arrived 15 to 30 minutes later to escort them down the stairs. Wague, an Uber driver who immigrated to the US from Mali in 2000, said the fire burned all his family’s belongings. “Everything is gone in my apartment,” he said. “Everything is gone.” The Red Cross has provided emergency housing to 22 families, representing 56 adults and 25 children, the group said in a statement. Nfamar Kebe said at least one of his relatives died in the fire and his nephew’s 2-year-old son is hospitalized, fighting for his life. But Kebe, who came to the US from Guinea 35 years ago, said the building and the community is home to many West African immigrants who have become part of his extended family. “We are one community,” he says. “When we meet here, we are the same family.” Many of those in the building were Muslim immigrants from the West African nation of The Gambia. The country’s ambassador told CNN the building had been a beloved home for many such immigrants over the years. “I think a lot of Gambians who came here, they stayed there before they moved anywhere else,” said Ambassador Dawda Docka Fadera. This was kind of a first port of call, this building. It’s a building Gambians have a lot of attachment to.”",9196.0,Kelly McCleary
127,2022-01-13,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/13/us/remote-learning-school-districts-omicron/index.html,Some major school districts shift to remote learning because of staffing shortages and Omicron spread,US,CNN,"The spread of the highly transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant is forcing some US schools to halt in-person learning because of high case rates and teacher absences. The vast majority of schools are operating as normal. But at least 2,141 schools were not offering in-person learning as of Thursday, according to data company Burbio, which aggregates data based on school calendars and other sources. That’s an improvement from the more than 2,800 schools that were not open Tuesday for in-person learning. And districts in Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta moved forward with returns to classrooms this week. Still, several large public school districts announced in just the past few days they were temporarily moving to remote learning. Here is a snapshot of some of the large districts that have done so: Cincinnati: Cincinnati Public Schools have temporarily gone to remote learning because of staff shortages from “increased community spread of Covid-19,” the district said Monday. In-person learning could resume on Monday, January 24, if staffing levels are sufficient, the district said. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Public Schools will have remote learning for middle and high schools Thursday and Friday, “based on the number of staff absences, including Covid-19 isolation and quarantines at the middle and high school levels,” the district announced Wednesday. The district said it plans to reopen those schools for in-person learning on Wednesday, January 19, following two days when students already had been scheduled to have no school. Las Vegas area: Nevada’s Clark County School District – the fourth-largest in the US – said it is taking a “five-day pause” starting Friday to deal with its “extreme staffing shortages based on the high number of positive Covid-19 cases.” Students will not have school Friday or on January 18; Monday was already scheduled as a day off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Minneapolis: Minneapolis Public Schools will temporarily move to online learning from Friday through Thursday, January 27, “in response to a significant reduction in staff available to work in person due to Covid-19,” the district said Wednesday. No school will be held January 28 because of teacher conferences, so in-person learning will resume January 31, after a weekend. Oklahoma City: The entire district will hold online learning the rest of this week and plans to return in-person on Tuesday, after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. “Unfortunately, we continue to see a significant number of our teachers, instructional and support staff and students out across the district due to illness or other circumstances,” a message Wednesday from Superintendent Sean McDaniel reads. “Even after working to reassign staff at all levels across the district, we have determined that we can no longer adequately sustain a safe and meaningful learning environment for our students.” Philadelphia: Nearly a third of the city’s 323 schools have shifted to remote learning because of a combination of the threshold level of positive cases of Covid-19 and a review of staffing data. “We will continue to make school-by-school decisions based on the most current staffing data, and ask that you prepare for the possibility of virtual learning at any time,” Superintendent Dr. William Hite said Tuesday. Rochester, New York: Many of the schools there are open, but 21 are doing remote learning until Tuesday because of staff absences. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Schools there will go virtual beginning January 18, with a return to in-person instruction planned for January 24 “if conditions improve,” according to the district. The shift is due to a spike in Covid-19 cases, Superintendent Larry Chavez said Tuesday. “SFPS ended last week with 361 cases involving students and staff, the largest ever in one week for our district, with many still being investigated,” Chavez said. “Cases could rise to near 600 this week, and we have seen increased spread in classrooms.”",3980.0,Jason Hanna
128,2022-01-13,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/us/gabby-petito-brian-laundrie-moab-police-report/index.html,Independent investigator recommends Utah officers who stopped Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie be placed on probation,US,CNN,"Two police officers who responded to a domestic violence call involving Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie last year in Moab, Utah, should be put on probation for what the city called “several unintentional mistakes” made during the encounter, according to an independent investigator. Petito and Laundrie were traveling through Moab on August 12 as part of a lengthy road trip when police responded to a call in which a witness said he saw the couple involved in a domestic dispute before driving away. Officers pulled the couple over after the van exceeded the speed limit, abruptly left its lane and struck a curb, according to a police report. Body camera video from Officers Eric Pratt and Daniel Robbins shows Petito and Laundrie – who were engaged – admitting to having a fight in which Petito said she struck her fiancé first. During lengthy conversations recorded on the bodycams, Pratt said Petito must be booked into jail since, under the domestic violence statutes of Utah, she is considered the primary aggressor and Laundrie the victim. Both Petito and Laundrie objected, and the officers eventually agreed not to charge Petito as long as she and Laundrie agreed to spend the night apart. In the independent investigative report, Capt. Brandon Ratcliffe with the Price City Police Department said the officers neglected their duty by failing to press any charges. “I believe the officers responded to a domestic violence call and had probable cause an act of domestic violence had been committed,” said Ratcliffe. “This should have meant an arrest was made, either by citation or custody.” However, Ratcliffe noted that there appeared to be only sufficient evidence to charge Petito in the matter, not Laundrie. As part of their vanlife road trip, which was chronicled on social media, Petito and Laundrie later traveled to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming before Laundrie returned alone to his parents’ home in Florida on September 1. After Petito was reported missing by her family, her remains were found in Wyoming in mid-September. A coroner said she died by strangulation. Laundrie disappeared just days after Petito was reported missing. He was found dead in a Florida nature reserve October 20 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The FBI described Laundrie as a “person of interest” in Petito’s disappearance but an arrest warrant only accused him of illegally using another person’s debit card and PIN number and was not tied to her death. Ratcliffe, who was assigned by the city to review the incident, said he could not speculate on whether different actions by the officers in August could have prevented Petito’s death. “Would Gabby be alive today if this case was handled differently? That is an impossible question to answer despite it being the answer many people want to know,” the report says. “Nobody knows and nobody will ever know the answer to that question.” In a statement, the city did not address any potential discipline for the two officers but said it “intends to implement the report’s recommendations” on new policies for the police department, including additional domestic violence training and legal training for officers. “Based on the report’s findings, the City of Moab believes our officers showed kindness, respect and empathy in their handling of this incident,” the city’s statement said. In an interview for the investigation, Pratt said that while he accepts that he may have made mistakes in conducting the stop, he is still haunted by Petito’s death. “I do care. I am devastated about it,” he said. “I cared that day and I still care. I don’t think the public gets that we…I don’t know if they know we care. I don’t know if they know.” Ratcliffe writes in his report that, at the time, neither officer knew his actions were wrong, “They both believed at the time they were making the right decision based on the totality of the circumstances that were presented,” he says. CNN has reached out to both Pratt and Robbins for a response.",4005.0,Andy Rose
129,2022-01-13,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/10/us/california-pilot-rescued-train-crash/index.html,Officers pulled an injured pilot from a crashed plane moments before a train slammed into wreckage,US,CNN,"A commuter train speeding toward them, the police officers rush to the wrecked airplane on the tracks – its bloodied pilot still inside. “Go, go, go!” an officer yells as they drag the apparently disoriented pilot to safety. Four seconds later, the Metrolink train’s horn blasts as it rips through the empty plane, body camera video of the rescue Friday afternoon in a Los Angeles neighborhood shows. Three officers involved in the rescue told CNN’s Kate Bolduan on Monday what happened at the scene. “It wasn’t until I heard one of my coworkers behind me say, ‘The train is coming and we need to get him out now,’” said Officer Christopher Aboyte. “At that point I never actually turned to see the train, just focused on getting the pilot out and getting away from that aircraft since there  was a lot of aircraft fuel on the ground,” Aboyte said. “It happened so fast, we didn’t really have that much time to think,” said Officer Damian Castro. “All I could think was try to get this man to safety, didn’t really want to look back to see how far the train was coming, you could hear it coming,” he said. “It’s pretty surreal,” said Sgt. Joseph Cavestany, after looking at all of the video of the rescue. Aboyte did not have an update on the pilot’s condition, but said the man had complained of a headache at the scene. “I’m hopeful that’s all he had, he did have some lacerations on his face but I do not know the extent of those injuries but he was conscious and talking to me and he knew very well where he was and what had happened,” he said. “It was a close call, I’m just grateful we all made it all out OK,” said Castro. “It was just unbelievable,” he added. “This incident just happened to be caught on multiple cameras but we, the officers, do our best to do this type of thing every day where we remain professional and handle our business,” said Cavestany. The pilot had been the only person on the private, single-engine Cessna 172 when it crashed, said Rick Breitenfeldt, spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration. “We have no reports of injuries to anyone on the ground,” he told CNN. The pilot was taken to a regional trauma center, according to a news release from the Los Angeles Fire Department, whose Foothill Division responded in the Pacoima neighborhood. The extent of the pilot’s injuries were not disclosed. CNN has reached out to Metrolink for updates on the condition of the train crew and passengers. The pilot had taken off from nearby Whiteman Airport before crashing, Breitenfeldt said. The plane “lost power (and) crashed onto tracks” near Whiteman Airport, LAPD’s Operations-Valley Bureau tweeted. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board ​will investigate, Breitenfeldt said. “The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide all updates,” he said.",2822.0,Josh Campbell
130,2022-01-12,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/11/us/young-dolph-murder-suspects-in-custody/index.html,3 men arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of rapper Young Dolph,US,CNN,"Three men are in custody after federal and local authorities arrested them in connection with the fatal shooting of rapper Young Dolph. The rapper, whose real name was Adolph Robert Thornton Jr., was fatally shot November 17, 2021, at Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies in Memphis, Tennessee. The 36-year-old is survived by two children. The three men arrested in connection with the rapper’s killing are Justin Johnson, 23; Shondale Barnett, 27, and Cornelius Smith, 32, authorities have said. Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis said additional arrests could possibly be made as the investigation into Young Dolph’s death continues. She said citizens’ tips were key in capturing the suspects. “We also would like to thank the hundreds of citizens, not just from this area but from around the country, who provided tips throughout this investigation to ensure these individuals were brought to justice,” Davis said. Johnson was captured in Indiana by the US Marshals Service on Tuesday, according to a news release from the federal agency. Johnson – who is also a rapper by the name of Straight Drop – had been wanted for first-degree murder. After announcing a reward of $15,000 asking for information leading to Johnson’s capture, law enforcement received more than 500 tips, US Marshal Tyreece Miller said at a news conference Wednesday.  Law enforcement officers searched for Johnson in Indianapolis, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, and Hampton, Virginia, Miller said. Investigators received a tip Tuesday that Johnson was traveling on Highway 42 in Indiana. Investigators contacted the Great Lakes US Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force for assistance, and they were able to stop Johnson’s vehicle at a truck stop in Brazil, Indiana, where he was taken into custody without incident, Miller said. Shondale Barnett, 27, was also arrested Tuesday. Barnett was the passenger of the vehicle Johnson was driving Tuesday, according to Miller. Barnett faces charges of accessory after the fact first-degree murder for “providing assistance” to Johnson, the US Marshals Service and Shelby County District Attorney’s office said Wednesday. Johnson and Barnett were taken to separate county jails in Indiana. Barnett is being held at the Clay County jail waiting to be extradited back to Shelby County, according to Miller. Johnson was taken to the Knox County jail, and he was booked on a violation of federal supervised release, Miller said. Johnson went before a federal magistrate for the Southern District of Indiana Wednesday morning for the charge. “He waived his identity hearing, and he waived his bond hearing, so in essence, he has agreed to come back to face the federal supervised release charges in the Western District of Tennessee,” Miller said. Cornelius Smith is the other man arrested in connection to Young Dolph’s death. Smith was arrested December 9 in Southaven, about 210 miles northeast of Memphis, on an auto theft warrant involving the white Mercedes Benz used in Young Dolph’s shooting, according to a news release from the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office. Authorities discovered the vehicle was taken in a November 10 carjacking. The vehicle was then found November 20 after a tip that it had been abandoned shortly after Young Dolph’s killing three days prior, the release said. Smith was indicted on first-degree murder charges Tuesday as well as on additional counts of attempted first-degree murder, convicted felon in possession of a firearm, employment of a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony and theft of property over $10,000, the release said. The attempted murder charge stems from Young Dolph’s brother, who was with the rapper at the time of his death. Smith had been in custody in the DeSoto County Jail, but was extradited and transferred to the Shelby County Jail on Tuesday. CNN could not immediately determine whether Cornelius Smith or Justin Johnson have obtained legal counsel.",3942.0,Amir Vera
131,2022-01-12,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/us/philadelphia-fire-christmas-tree/index.html,"Fatal Philadelphia fire likely started with a lighter igniting a Christmas tree, fire commissioner says",US,CNN,"It’s a “near certainty” that a Philadelphia duplex fire that claimed 12 lives was started by a lighter igniting a Christmas tree on the second floor of the building, city Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said Tuesday. Thiel said that one of their sources of information, in combination with an exhaustive investigation, was a 5-year-old child who survived the fire. “We believe with certainty, so 99 to 100% confidence, that the first item ignited in this blaze was a Christmas tree,” Thiel said. “We believe with near certainty, based on the evidence, that the ignition source for that tree was a lighter that was located nearby.” While he said the child was a witness and gave a version of events, they cannot say definitively who started the fire. Investigators found that the child was the only person on the second floor where the tree and lighter were found when the blaze started, Thiel added. “So we are left with the words of that 5-year-old child, that traumatized 5-year-old child, to help us understand how the lighter and the tree came together with tragic consequences,” Thiel told reporters. “Because we have disproved any other theories or hypotheses, based on the incredible level of expertise that we brought including ATF national response team and all the other partners that contributed to this investigation.” Firefighters responded to the blaze at around 6:40 a.m. last Wednesday at the three-story row house, which had been legally divided into two apartments, officials said. Responders found “heavy fire” in a kitchen area at the front of the second floor of the building, officials said. There was “nothing slowing that fire from moving,” said Philadelphia Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy, who told reporters during a news conference Thursday that city police and the ATF Philadelphia branch were assisting with the investigation. The home is owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, a municipal agency that leases homes to people with low income.",1980.0,Taylor Romine
132,2022-01-12,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/11/us/los-angeles-off-duty-police-officer-killed/index.html,Off-duty Los Angeles police officer fatally shot while house-hunting with his girlfriend,US,CNN,"An off-duty officer was fatally shot during an attempted robbery while house-hunting with his girlfriend, according to Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore. Officer Fernando Arroyos, 27, “was starting a very promising career,” Moore said Tuesday. He was with the department for three years and assigned to the Wilshire Division. “He found himself, after working a series of days in patrol, to have a day off, enjoying it with his girlfriend on a hunt for a house, a place to live, a place to buy and invest in in this city and the future of this region,” recounted Moore about Monday night’s incident. Five people were detained in connection with the shooting, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced Tuesday. No charges have been filed against the three men and two women, officials said. Arroyos and his girlfriend parked their car on a street just outside the city limits, and they were crossing the street to look at a home, according to Moore. The chief said three men got out of black pickup and tried to rob Arroyos. One had a handgun, the chief said, citing preliminary information. “The officer yelled to his girlfriend to leave, to run, go back to the car,” Moore said. There were gunshots and the officer, who returned fire, was hit, the chief said. The suspects fled in their truck while the officer’s girlfriend tended to Arroyos. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene and took the officer to a hospital where he died. The sheriff’s department is investigating the shooting. It also is investigating an incident a few miles away in which a man was found with a gunshot wound. Detectives are working to determine whether that person or the second shooting is related to Arroyos’ death. Arroyos is survived by his mother and stepfather. “He was the only child, he had a promising future, a bright future that was taken away, viciously, over a street robbery,” Moore lamented. Mayor Eric Garcetti sent his condolences. “Our hearts break over this tragic loss for our police department and our city,” the mayor tweeted. “I join all of Los Angeles in grief today, and I am keeping his loved ones in my prayers.”",2157.0,Stella Chan
133,2022-01-12,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/us/prince-andrew-virginia-giuffre/index.html,Judge rules sexual assault lawsuit against Prince Andrew can move ahead,US,CNN,"A federal judge in New York on Wednesday denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against Prince Andrew filed by Virginia Giuffre, a woman who alleges she was sexually trafficked to the royal when she was underage. “Ms. Giuffre’s complaint is neither ‘unintelligible’ nor ‘vague’ nor ‘ambiguous,’” Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in the ruling. “It alleges discrete incidents of sexual abuse in particular circumstances at three identifiable locations. It identifies to whom it attributes that sexual abuse.” Giuffre alleged in the lawsuit that the late financier Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with his friends, including the Prince, and that Andrew was aware she was underage (17) in the US at the time. She alleges the Prince sexually abused her at Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, at his mansion in Manhattan and at his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell’s home in London. Prince Andrew has denied the allegations and had moved to dismiss the suit. CNN has reached out to his attorneys for further comment. The ruling sets up a dramatic series of legal proceedings for Queen Elizabeth II’s third child that could have major ramifications for Buckingham Palace. The long-running allegations against Andrew, 61, have already dramatically tarnished his public standing, and he stepped back from royal duties in late 2019. Andrew has until July 14 to potentially answer questions about the case under oath, following a ruling made by Kaplan last year. If the case is not settled, Prince Andrew could face a trial date between September and December 2022. Buckingham Palace declined to comment, saying, “We would not comment on what is an ongoing legal matter.” Giuffre’s attorney Sigrid McCawley said the judge’s ruling is “another important step in Virginia’s heroic and determined pursuit of justice as a survivor of sex trafficking.” The civil suit stems from the sprawling and disturbing allegations against Epstein, the wealthy sex offender who befriended a series of powerful men despite a sketchy history. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to state prostitution charges and in July 2019 was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. Prosecutors accused him of carrying out a decades long scheme of sexual abuse of underage girls, flying them on private planes to his properties in Florida, New York, New Mexico and the US Virgin Islands. He died by suicide in prison before he could face trial. Maxwell, his former girlfriend and close associate, was arrested in 2020 and accused of facilitating the abuse scheme. A federal jury convicted her in December on five federal counts, including sex trafficking a minor and conspiracy. Giuffre was not one of the four women who testified in Maxwell’s trial that they had been abused. Still, she was mentioned in the trial when Carolyn, one of the victims, testified that Giuffre had recruited her to come to Epstein’s home in Palm Beach, Florida. Kaplan’s ruling Wednesday allowed the lawsuit to continue, but he did not determine the facts or validity of the case. The prince’s attorneys had argued that Giuffre’s lawsuit violated the terms of her 2009 settlement agreement with Epstein in Florida, in which she agreed to a “general release” of claims against Epstein and others. That settlement, which was released to the public last week, shows that Epstein paid Giuffre $500,000 to drop the case without any admission of liability or fault. The prince’s name does not explicitly appear as a party. However, Giuffre’s attorney David Boies argued the settlement is irrelevant to her claim against the prince, noting Andrew did not know about it at the time and that it didn’t apply to him. In the ruling, Kaplan wrote that both sides put forth “reasonable interpretations” of the settlement’s meaning. “The agreement therefore is ambiguous. Accordingly, the determination of the meaning of the release language in the 2009 Agreement must await further proceedings,” he wrote. Giuffre brought her case under the Child Victims Act, a New York state law enacted in 2019 that temporarily expanded the statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases to give survivors more opportunities to seek justice. Prince Andrew’s attorneys argued that the law is unconstitutional, but the judge rejected the argument, citing another judge’s analysis that this line of argument was “creative” but “without merit.” Further, the judge denied the defense’s request for a clearer statement of facts from Giuffre, writing in his opinion that Prince Andrew will naturally obtain more details about the claims during the pretrial discovery process. Kaplan also rejected the defense assertion that Giuffre’s claims in the complaint are vague or ambiguous. In claims made prior to filing her lawsuit, Giuffre alleged that in 2001 Epstein brought her to London, where she was introduced to Prince Andrew and went dancing at a nightclub with Epstein, Maxwell and the Prince. In a BBC interview broadcast in 2019, Giuffre said she had been taken to the Tramp nightclub where, Giuffre alleged, Andrew asked her to dance and was “sweating all over me.” Andrew has denied the claims, telling the BBC in 2019: “It didn’t happen. I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened. I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.” He claimed in the same interview that he could not sweat, due to a rare medical condition, and that on the night he is alleged to have had sex with Giuffre, he was in fact taking his daughter to a party at a Pizza Express restaurant in Woking, southwest of London. Giuffre’s lawyers asked Andrew in court filings to provide documents proving both of those claims. Andrew’s team responded that he was unable to do so, because he has no documents proving a medical condition that prevents sweating, and could not identity anyone he encountered at the pizza restaurant.",5877.0,Eric Levenson
134,2022-01-12,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/11/us/mlb-star-subs-pe-in-st-louis-trnd/index.html,MLB star pinch hits for local elementary school hurt by staff shortages,US,CNN,"Schools around the country have been experiencing teacher shortages, but one elementary school had a Major League Baseball star help pick up some of the slack. Harrison Bader, a center fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, surprised students at Meramec Elementary School in Clayton, Missouri, on Monday when he showed up as their PE teacher. Principal Patrick Fisher told CNN that like all schools his staff has been spread very thin, but Missouri Senator Brian Williams told him Bader was interested in helping out. Fortunately, Meramec was in need of a PE teacher, so the kids were told they had a special visitor. “Being a substitute science or math teacher, even at that level, would be above my pay grade,” Bader told CNN affiliate KSDK. Fisher said Bader hung out with the kids for an hour, and even let them teach him a game of theirs. “In the game that they played they had a lot more success than I did,” Bader said. “I’ve had a lot more success on the field playing in front of St. Louis fans.” Before he left, Bader signed some of the kids’ hats and other Cardinals gear they were wearing, Fisher said. “It was really just a way to boost morale for the kids to have a lot of fun and make some memories,” the principal said. “It’s been a bit of all-hands-on-deck, so when somebody like your local representative – or here in St. Louis, the Cardinals have a special place in the community – reach out to the schools, it really does makes a big difference.” Clayton is based on the outskirts of St. Louis, about 10 miles from Busch Stadium, home of the Cardinals. Fisher said Bader’s volunteerism was one adults can help. “I just want to encourage anyone else to reach out to their local schools and see what they can do to help out, because it’s a widespread issue,” Fisher said. Thousands of schools did not reopen last week after the winter break because of Covid-19. In Boston last week, 1,000 Boston public school staffers – including 650 teachers – were out. In Greensboro, North Carolina, the school district suspended school bus transportation for eight of its high schools beginning Monday because of the “severe bus driver shortage made worse by rising Covid-19 cases,” a statement from Guilford County Schools said. The district offered free rides on city buses instead. Clark County Schools in Las Vegas announced Tuesday in a statement that they would be taking a five-day pause due to staffing issues.",2422.0,Lauren M. Johnson
135,2022-01-11,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/11/us/ida-b-wells-barbie-cec/index.html,New Barbie honors journalist Ida B. Wells,US,CNN,"Ida B. Wells, the famed Black journalist who worked to expose the horrors of lynching, has now been immortalized by Barbie. The latest addition to Barbie’s “Inspiring Women” series, the Wells doll features the journalist in an 1800s-style high neck black dress, with her hair piled atop her head. “When kids learn about heroes like Ida B. Wells, they don’t just imagine a better future – they know they have the power to make it come true,” Barbie said in an Instagram post. The doll is set to be available at major retailers by January 17. Wells was born into slavery in 1862 and was actively involved in exposing racism in the US, writing about race and politics in the South. She owned the newspaper The Memphis Free Speech and Headlight and was a vocal critic of segregated schools. Later, she became active in the anti-lynching campaign in 1892 after multiple friends were lynched, according to the National Park Service, even visiting the White House to advocate for reforms.",981.0,Leah Asmelash
136,2022-01-11,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/10/us/ghislaine-maxwell-perjury-charges-dismissal-filed/index.html,Prosecutors agree to dismiss perjury counts Ghislaine Maxwell faces if her conviction sticks,US,CNN,"Prosecutors have agreed to dismiss separate perjury counts Ghislaine Maxwell faces at sentencing if she is unsuccessful in getting a new trial “in light of the victims’ significant interests in bringing closure to this matter and avoiding the trauma of testifying again,” according to a court filing on Monday. The filing – by prosecutors and defense attorneys – was meant to be a jointly proposed schedule for Maxwell’s sentencing after she was convicted of five of six counts in December, including sex trafficking a minor. But her defense attorneys argue that she should not have to “expend resources” on other post-trial motions until after US District Judge Alison Nathan decides whether or not Maxwell should be granted a new trial. The two severed perjury counts Maxwell faces stem from a 2016 civil deposition where prosecutors allege she lied and were supposed to be handled in a separate trial. “In the event the defendant’s post-trial motions are denied, the Government is prepared to dismiss the severed perjury counts at the time of sentencing, in light of the victims’ significant interests in bringing closure to this matter and avoiding the trauma of testifying again,” the joint filing stated. Prosecutors asked Nathan to order a pre-sentencing report to be prepared and to schedule a sentencing in three to four months. Defense attorneys want to delay setting a sentencing schedule because there is a “compelling basis” for the court to overturn Maxwell’s conviction and grant her a new trial. Maxwell’s attorneys have argued that she should be granted a new trial after a member of the jury gave post-trial interviews saying he had been sexually abused and shared his story with fellow jurors during deliberations. Jurors were explicitly asked on jury questionnaire forms if they had been sexually abused and, if so, if it would impact their abilities to be impartial while deliberating. It is unclear how the juror in question answered the question on the form. CNN’s request for a copy of his questionnaire was denied by prosecutors, who said they were “not public information.” Defense attorneys argued in a court filing that the Supreme Court has ruled that a defendant is entitled to a new trial if a party can show a juror failed to answer a material question honestly during jury questioning.",2318.0,Sonia Moghe
137,2022-01-11,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/11/us/hawaii-pearl-harbor-water-navy-halting-operations-red-hill/index.html,Navy agrees to halt operations at a Hawaii fuel facility tied to tainted water after military families got sick,US,CNN,"After a petroleum leak contaminated drinking water and sickened military families and children in Hawaii, the US Navy says it will follow an order from state health officials to halt operations at its Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage facility. The announcement came the day before a Tuesday hearing about the water crisis by the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and weeks after the Navy said it would contest the Hawaii Department of Health’s order. The fuel facility sits 100 feet above the Red Hill aquifer, which supplies drinking water to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and other parts of Hawaii. Nearly 1 million people on Oahu rely on it for water, according to the Hawaii Board of Water Supply. Since November, members of the military and other residents have reported getting violently sick after drinking the water. “It happened very quickly,” said Army Maj. Amanda Feindt, whose husband and two children also fell ill. “First, it was my 1-year-old son and my husband. And two days later, it ended up being my daughter – she’s 4 – and myself. It was pretty severe abdominal pain. I’ve told people the only thing I can compare it to is labor pains, like contractions in my belly.” Feindt and her children ended up in a hospital emergency room, she told CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Tuesday. “We were all treated for throwing up, diarrhea, severe dehydration. My husband was having ocular migraines all the time, chronic coughing. It was really rough.” On November 28, the Navy shut down its Red Hill well after reports of people living on base suffering nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and skin-related problems. Testing revealed petroleum hydrocarbons and vapors in the water, the Navy said. US Pacific Fleet Deputy Commander Rear Adm. Blake Converse later confirmed a petroleum leak was the cause. The Hawaii Department of Health recommended all Navy water system users stop using their water for drinking, cooking or oral hygiene, including for pets. The military offered alternative housing for all service members and civilian employees living near the base. Officials said they covered the cost of hotel rooms for more than 700 people. “My house began to smell like a gas station and I couldn’t breathe. I was choking,” resident Bonnie Russell told CNN affiliate KGMB/KHNL in December. “I opened all the windows for the ventilation, but it still took quite a while for the fumes to clear.” Another woman demanded answers from the military during a town hall meeting last month. “My children took a bath and for 45 minutes afterward they complained of burning skin,” the woman said during the town hall, according to KGMB/KHNL. And another resident at a town hall meeting said her toddler got violently sick after drinking the water. “I’m here to ask why you weren’t a wingman to protect my 13-month-old son when I was bathing him, when I was giving him a sippy cup full of water from my faucet, when he has been throwing up for days on end,” she asked Navy officials. “I’m here to ask why you weren’t my wingman as my husband and I have had mysterious serious symptoms such as sore throats, burning in my stomach, profuse, unusual sweating, headaches unable to be mitigated, requiring multiple ER visits for additional medications, vomiting, diarrhea, skin irritation.” Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro has called the situation “not acceptable.” “The safety, health and well-being of our service members, civilians, contractors, their families and our communities here in Oahu is of the utmost importance to me,” Del Toro said in a December statement. “This is not acceptable, and the Department of the Navy will take every action to identify and remedy this issue. We will continue to coordinate with federal, state and local entities to restore safe drinking water to the community.” Hawaii’s state health department ordered the Navy in December to halt operations at the fuel storage facility. The health department also demanded the Navy install a drinking water treatment system at the Red Hill well; submit a plan to assess system integrity; and defuel the Red Hill underground storage tanks within 30 days of corrective action, Gov. David Ige said. The Navy previously said it would contest the health department’s order but agreed to pause operations at the fuel storage facility pending the outcome of an investigation. The Navy also said it would bring in a third party to assess operations and integrity of the facility and to suggest any necessary changes. Monday’s shutdown of the Red Hill fuel storage facility was confirmed by Capt. Bill Clinton, director of public affairs and outreach for US Pacific Fleet. The Red Hill fuel facility, located at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, supports US military operations from all branches of service in the Pacific, according to the Navy. “Unlike any other fuel facility in the United States, Red Hill can store up to 250 million gallons of fuel. It consists of 20 steel-lined underground storage tanks encased in concrete, and built into cavities that were mined inside of Red Hill.”",5068.0,Chris Boyette
138,2022-01-11,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/10/us/bronx-apartment-fire-community-victims/index.html,Desperate families are searching for answers after the deadly Bronx apartment blaze,US,CNN,"Nfamara Kebe tears up as he describes the deadly fire in the Bronx apartment building where several of his family members lived. At least one of his relatives was killed in Sunday’s blaze, Kebe says. And his nephew’s 2-year-old son is hospitalized and fighting for his life. The family is hoping for the best for the boy, he says, but bracing for the worst. “It’s too much,” says Kebe. And Kebe, who came to the United States from Guinea 35 years ago, says it’s not just his own relatives he’s worrying about. The building and neighborhood are home to many West African immigrants. And to him, they’re family, too. “We are one community,” he says. “When we meet here, we are the same family.” A day after the blaze, which officials say killed 17 people and injured dozens more, volunteers are rallying to help, survivors are reeling and family members in the close-knit immigrant community are still searching for loved ones and desperate for answers. “I’m totally worried and devastated — not me alone, but the whole community and the family at large. Everybody’s worried. We don’t know what happened. … That’s the toughest thing – not knowing,” says Yusupha Jawara, who spoke with CNN at a  mosque where many were praying for the victims. Jawara, who is Gambian, says he’s been trying to reach his brother and sister-in-law since he learned of the fire, but they’re not answering their phones. Authorities hadn’t released the victims’ names as of Monday evening. So many Gambians were among those affected that the country’s ambassador traveled to New York to meet with their families. Ambassador Dawda Docka Fadera says he’s working to find out more about the victims and has been meeting with survivors who’d managed to escape the building. “They have horrific stories,” he says. “It was very sad. … I have never seen this in my life. This is so tragic. It’s really so huge.” Kujegi Camara, 27, spent Monday afternoon sorting through donated clothes, toys and other items at the Gambian Youth Organization, which is just a few blocks away from the building. Everyone in the community, she says, knows people who were affected by the fire. Several of her extended family members are in the hospital, including children, Camara said. And her friend’s sister is missing. Camara grew up in the neighborhood, and her parents still live nearby. Though she’s moved elsewhere in the Bronx, she came back to volunteer after hearing the news. “I’m just hoping the number (of victims) doesn’t increase,” she said. Camara said she’s wondering whether underlying issues in the building could have played a role in the blaze. Officials have said the fire began with a malfunctioning space heater in a bedroom, and that they’re looking into the building’s fire alarms and doors. The doors in the building were supposed to close automatically, but the door of the apartment where the blaze began, as well as the stairwell door on the 15th floor, were not functioning properly, New York Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said Monday. “Our people deserve much more,” Camara says. The 19-story apartment building had been a beloved home for many immigrants from Gambia for years, the West African country’s ambassador told CNN. “A lot of Gambians who came here, they stayed there before they moved anywhere else. This was kind of a first port of call, this building. It’s a building Gambians have a lot of attachment to,” Fadera said. “It’s so sad that this horrific and tragic incident took so many lives, and left many people fighting for their lives.” Fadera traveled from Washington to New York after learning of the fire, which he says has devastated a close-knit community not only in New York, but in West Africa as well. “Gambia is a very small country, 2 million people. Everybody knows everybody. We are all related. It’s a shock in our country right now,” he said. Emergency vehicles remained outside the building Monday. The fire’s devastation was clearly visible even from the street – a large number of windows were broken, and a curtain fluttered in the wind through one of them. Mamadou Wague says he’s still reeling from the shock. On Sunday, he says, the sound of his children screaming jolted him awake. “Fire! Fire!” Wague lives on the third floor of the building with his eight kids, who range in age from 6 months to 18 years old. Wague yelled for everyone to get out, but then realized he had to return to get his 8-year-old daughter, who was still in the apartment. His family wasn’t able to flee the building because there was too much smoke, he said. Terrified, they waited in a neighbor’s apartment, putting wet towels under the doors, until firefighters arrived 15 to 30 minutes later to escort them down the stairs. The children were crying, he said. Wague, an Uber driver who immigrated to the United States from Mali in 2000, said the fire burned all his family’s belongings. “Everything is gone in my apartment,” he said. “Everything is gone.” Now the family is staying with friends in the Bronx, he says. He doesn’t know what to do next. While some displaced families hunker down with friends, others are taking shelter at nearby hotels. World Central Kitchen set up in one hotel’s community room Monday, providing water, snacks and meals donated from local restaurants. Other volunteers went door-to-door, asking if the families needed anything. Boxes of pizza arrived midday, delighting some of the children who had fled. Several residents of the building said they were not eager to go back, voicing concerns about their safety. Jessika Valdez, 38, says she got a call Monday telling her she could return to the building. She escaped the fire with her mother, Aydez, and their 1-year-old dog, Luna. But they’re not sure they want to return, even though Valdez says they forgot to bring her eyeglasses and any clothing with them when they fled. Luna still smells like smoke. And Valdez knows everything else in their 18th-floor apartment will, too. She’s concerned about the safety of the apartment building, noting she didn’t see any sprinklers go off during the fire. But Valdez says a more important question is weighing on her mind about the building they left behind. “It’s literally a grave,” she says.",6225.0,Tami Luhby
139,2022-01-11,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/11/us/pennsylvania-drexel-hill-helicopter-crash/index.html,"Four people, including infant, survive crash of medical transport helicopter",US,CNN,"Four people survived when a helicopter transporting a pediatric medical patient crashed in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, authorities said Tuesday. “At this time, there are no reported (injuries) to the public, responders, and only minor injuries to one of the helicopter crew members,” police in Upper Darby Township tweeted. The helicopter was transporting an infant from Maryland to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Tim Boyce, Delaware County director of emergency services, said the infant was safely taken to the hospital via ground transportation after the crash. According to officials, the helicopter crashed in front of a church in Drexel Hill just before 1 p.m. ET. Flight tracking website FlightAware shows the helicopter lifting off from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania – 108 miles to the west – about 45 minutes earlier. A family who was in a vehicle on the busy nearby street told CNN affiliate KYW they were grateful to be alive. “I was actually frozen for a second when that happened because I was just looking at a helicopter,” Joshua James told the Philadelphia station. “It’s no way to explain it. It almost feels like something from ‘Game of Thrones’ – you see a dragon coming at your car because it was literally in the sky, a huge object coming toward you. It was insane.” Lisa Smith, who lives nearby, told CNN affiliate WPVI the pilot tried to come down and then went back up, possibly to avoid power lines. The aircraft then went down by the church. “I was amazed because he crashed it so gently,” Smith said. A crew member helped get everyone to the top of the aircraft, Boyce said. The Federal Aviation Administration said the craft was a Eurocopter EC135 and the National Transportation Safety Board would lead the investigation. NTSB spokesperson Jennifer Gabris said: “The NTSB is investigating. I will share additional information when I have it.” The helicopter is registered to Air Methods and was from the LifeNet program. Air Methods provides medevac helicopter services using “the world’s largest civilian fleet” of 400 helicopters in 48 states, according to a company website. “Our team will cooperate fully with (FAA and NTSB) efforts to assess the cause of this unfortunate accident,” Air Methods spokesperson Doug Flanders said. Around the time of the  crash, the weather in the area was partly cloudy.  Winds were gusting around 20 mph, up to 25 mph just before noon. Medevac helicopters have repeatedly come under fire from NTSB investigators who say more needs to be done to improve the safety of emergency medical flight operations. A 2018 crash of an Air Methods medevac helicopter in Wisconsin killed three on board, with the NTSB citing the pilot’s loss of control.",2715.0,Hannah Sarisohn
140,2022-01-11,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/10/us/omicron-impact-on-economy-workers-shortage/index.html,"Omicron devastates services, schools, travel as workers are sick or in quarantine",US,CNN,"As the Omicron variant sweeps the nation, it’s disrupting everything from garbage collection and emergency services, schools and travel as employees are out sick or in quarantine. In New York, trash is going uncollected and three subway lines are closed because so many workers are out sick. Schools and hospitals are reporting staff shortages, too, and airlines continue to cancel flights. More than 700,000 new Covid-19 cases a day are reported on average across the nation as the Omicron variant spreads like wildfire, and it’s not going to get better soon, health experts and economists said. “Upwards of five million Americans will be stuck at home over the coming days,” said Andrew Hunter, an economist at Capital Economics. Departments across New York City are reporting worker shortages, with about 20% of the fire department’s emergency service workers out sick Monday, and about 22% of sanitation workers out over the past week. And it’s not just New York. “A substantial number of communities have experienced delays in the collection of their trash and recyclables due to the surge in Covid cases over the past few weeks,” David Biderman, executive director and CEO of the Solid Waste Association of North America, told CNN on Monday. In some cities, almost a quarter of the trash collection workforce has called in sick in recent weeks, according to the association. The health care sector is especially hard hit. Almost a quarter of American hospitals are reporting a “critical staff shortage,” according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. Of the 5,000 or so hospitals that reported such data to the HHS on Saturday, nearly 1,200 said they are currently experiencing a critical staffing shortage. More than 100 hospitals said they anticipate a shortage within the next week. “So much of our hospital workforce is getting knocked out, at home with symptomatic Covid,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. In Colorado, so many emergency medical technicians are out, they are now turning away some non-urgent callers under emergency protocols put in place for the first time since April 2020. “With many EMS staff out ill and with high demands for patient transports, guidance to the EMS providers on how to best use their services is needed at this time,” the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said in a statement Friday evening in announcing “crisis standards of care” for its EMS staff. Dr. Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, told CNN on Saturday the next several weeks will “look bad in many American cities.” “The DC Hospital Association, where I work, has asked the DC government for permission for hospitals to enact crisis standards of care,” he said. “And that’s coming to every city in the United States.” Thousands of schools did not reopen last week after the winter break because of Covid-19. In Boston last week, 1,000 Boston public school staffers – including 650 teachers – were out. In Los Angeles, more than 60,000 school staff members and students tested positive for the virus in the run-up to schools reopening Tuesday. In Greensboro, North Carolina, the school district suspended school bus transportation for eight of its high schools beginning Monday because of the “severe bus driver shortage made worse by rising Covid-19 cases,” a statement from Guilford County Schools said. The district offered free rides on city buses instead. The critical workforce shortage was one of the reasons the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its guidance and shortened the isolation period for people with Covid-19 who aren’t symptomatic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN recently. “If you are asymptomatic, and you’re infected, we want to get people back to the jobs, particularly those with essential jobs, to keep our society running smoothly,” Fauci told CNN’s Jim Acosta. Air travel has been affected since at least December, and not just because of severe winter weather. More than 25,000 flights have been canceled since Christmas. Southwest Airlines canceled 6% of its total schedule for Sunday and delayed 833 other flights. “Unfortunately, a series of winter weather systems throughout the U.S. coupled with the rapidly spreading omicron variant put extraordinary pressure on our operation, our employees and customers like you,” Delta Air Lines Executive Vice President Allison Ausband wrote to customers last week. “It has been one of the most difficult operational environments we’ve ever faced, and it forced us to cancel hundreds of flights as a result,” Ausband said. The new CDC guidelines “are expected to help alleviate staffing pressure in the weeks ahead and smooth out operational difficulties,” she wrote. Alaska Airlines, in the meantime, has cut 10% of its flights through the end of January.",4977.0,Theresa Waldrop
141,2022-01-11,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/10/us/chicago-schools-teacher-union-mayor-monday/index.html,"Chicago public school students will return to classroom Wednesday after teachers union suspends work action, mayor says",US,CNN,"Chicago teachers will be back in school Tuesday and students are scheduled to return to in-person learning on Wednesday after the Chicago Teachers Union house of delegates voted to end the teachers’ work action over Covid-19 mitigation measures, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a Monday night news conference. Earlier, the union representing public school teachers had tweeted: “The Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates has voted tonight to suspend the Union’s remote work action while rank-and-file membership votes on the proposed agreement.” The Chicago Teachers Union said Monday night that it expects to open polls Tuesday for rank-and-file members to vote on the agreement. “This agreement moves toward what they have been asking for for a long time even if it doesn’t get all the way that we think we should have,” CTU Chief of Staff Jen Johnson said. This deal included agreement on the metrics involved for determining school closures, according to Lightfoot. “What I can tell you in broad strokes, we reached an agreement on the metrics at a school base level for when we needed to convert a classroom or school to go remote. Not surprisingly, the component parts of that depend upon staff and/or student absences,” she said. Union officials said at least two schools are at those threshold right now. Johnson said coronavirus testing in schools in the country’s third-largest system will increase and it will ramp up to 10% of students in each school being tested each week. According to the mayor, they have added “some layers” to enhance the testing in schools and they will be working with the union in engaging families to increase testing consents. “That’s a critical part of it. We want to get to as high a number in testing consents as we possibly can. And we’re going to work jointly with the CTU to get that done,” she said. Johnson also said the school district committed to providing more KN-95 masks. She believes contact tracing will improve because schools will have a team where staff is paid to do the tracing. More than 340,000 students had missed four days of classes since teachers voted to teach remotely and the school district responded by canceling classes. The stalemate over Covid-19 measures exemplifies debates playing out across the country: When and how should students return to classrooms during the Omicron variant surge? As of Friday, Chicago was averaging more than 5,200 new cases a day – a 16% increase over the prior week, according to the city health department’s Covid-19 tracker. The city’s Covid-19 test positivity rate had a daily average of 21.1%. Across the country, many school districts are still grappling with reopening after the holiday break. In Atlanta and Cleveland, schools returned to in-person learning Monday after a week of remote learning. But schools in Jefferson County, Kentucky, and Nashua, New Hampshire, were closed to students Monday because of staffing shortages. Milwaukee students were supposed to return to classrooms Monday, but the school district decided to extend remote learning for another week. In Baltimore, more than 50 public schools transitioned to virtual learning Monday because of staffing concerns and a rise in Covid-19 cases. “Decisions are made based on having enough staff available to operate a school OR the ability to conduct COVID-19 testing,” Baltimore City Public Schools said in a written statement. No decision had been made as to when students can return to those classrooms. In Philadelphia, 91 schools are teaching remotely this week after “Covid-related staffing challenges,” the school district said. Los Angeles students are slated to return to classrooms Tuesday, and the school district is in the process of universal Covid-19 testing. So far, 50,000 new Covid-19 cases have been identified, and those students and staff members will have to stay home. Last Tuesday, the last day students were in classrooms, Chicago Public Schools reported 422 new Covid-19 cases among students and 271 new cases among adults – both record highs for the academic year. That night, the Chicago Teachers Union voted to start teaching virtually. The union said inadequate Covid-19 testing and staffing contributed to unsafe school environments. “All we are asking is that we would like our students to test negative before entering in the building,” teacher Briana Hambright-Hall said. “A two-week pause (of in-person learning) is not too much.” In response to union’s vote to teach remotely, the school district canceled classes – reiterating its stance that children need to learn in classrooms. CTU proposed resuming in-person teaching Tuesday, January 18, “unless (the Chicago Department of Public Health) or the State of Illinois determine that public health conditions are not safe for in-person school at the time.” Over the weekend, Lightfoot and Martinez issued a joint statement saying union leaders were “not listening.” “The best, safest place for kids to be is in school. Students need to be back in person as soon as possible,” the statement said. “That’s what parents want. That’s what the science supports. We will not relent.” This isn’t the first time school has been canceled over an impasse between the teachers’ union and Lightfoot. In 2019, the same year Lightfoot took office, more than 25,000 Chicago educators went on strike to demand more support staff, higher raises and limits on class sizes. The 11-day strike ended when the city agreed to increase school staffing, including more school nurses and 209 more social worker positions – enough for one social worker at each school. The deal also included more funding to reduce oversized K-12 classrooms and more funding for recruitment and training.",5724.0,Amir Vera
142,2022-01-10,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/10/us/texas-mother-son-trunk-covid-19/index.html,Texas mother allegedly put son in trunk of car to avoid being exposed to Covid-19,US,CNN,"A Texas judge ruled Thursday there was no probable cause against a mother who allegedly put her son in the trunk of the car to avoid being exposed to Covid-19 – but the case might not be over yet. Beam was charged after authorities arrived at a Houston-area Covid testing site on January 3 following a report that a health services official had found the child in trunk of her car. She was released from jail Sunday after she made bail. The health director told police “the defendant confirmed that her son, K.H., who is a 13-year-old child, was in the trunk of the car due (to) the child having been tested positive for Covid.” Beam is a teacher in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District, which said earlier this week that she was on administrative leave. When the health official asked Beam to see the child, the mother opened the trunk where the “child was lying down inside the trunk.”  The mother was then told that the child would not get a test until he was removed from the trunk and placed in the back seat of the car. The health official called police and returned to the car where the child was found in the back seat. During the investigation, police were able to review surveillance cameras at an adjacent middle school and corroborate that the child “exited the trunk of the car and entered into the back seat of the vehicle on the passenger side,” the warrant said. The mother was released from jail Sunday on a $1,500 bond, according to a document from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office website Beam is a teacher in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District (CFISD), the school district said in a statement to CNN. “CFPD was alerted that a child was in the trunk of a car at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site last week. Law enforcement conducted a full investigation, resulting in a warrant for arrest. Thankfully, the child was not harmed. Sarah Beam most recently worked as a teacher in CFISD and is currently on administrative leave,” the statement said. CNN has reached out to Beam but has yet to receive a response.  CNN has not been able to confirm if she has a lawyer.",2161.0,Joe Sutton
143,2022-01-10,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/10/us/new-york-philadelphia-fires/index.html,Two US Northeast cities are reeling from fires that killed dozens,US,CNN,"New York City and Philadelphia are mourning the loss of dozens of lives, including many children, in horrific apartment housing fires over the past few days. Together, the fires killed 29 people, 17 of them reportedly children. Adding to the tragedy are the winter temperatures in the region and the raging Covid-19 pandemic, which is straining healthcare systems almost everywhere. Early Wednesday, a fire ripped through a crowded apartment building in Philadelphia, killing at least 12 people, most of them children. The victims included three sisters and all but one of their 10 children, a family member told CNN. Rosalee McDonald, 33; Virginia Thomas, 30, and Quinsha White, 18, were killed, according to their cousins Frank and Pamela McDonald. Six of Rosalee McDonald’s children and three of Thomas’ children also died in the fire. The ages of their children were not given. “They were both good people, good mothers and were very family-oriented,” Frank McDonald told CNN. “Rosalee was one of the best people you could ever meet. She was very supportive – they both were. They came down to help me with my business when I opened it.” The building was a three-story home converted into apartments that housed 26 people, according to fire officials. Bill Richards, who said he’s lived on the block for 24 years, told CNN affiliate WPVI that before he knew of the fire, he heard a woman yell, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” He then heard fire trucks and went outside. Neighbors and others – some sobbing – gathered outside as firefighters and police worked the scene Wednesday morning, WPVI reported. A veteran firefighter called it one of the worst he’d ever confronted. “It was terrible,” Philadelphia Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy said. “I’ve been around for 30, 35 years now, and this is probably one of the worst fires I’ve ever been to.” “This is without a doubt one of the most tragic days in our city’s history – loss of so many people in such a tragic way,” Mayor Jim Kenney said Wednesday morning. “Losing so many kids is just devastating. … Keep these babies in your prayers.” The cause of the fire is under investigation. One possibility being pursued is whether a child under the age of 5 playing with a lighter under a Christmas tree could have sparked the blaze, according to Jane Roh, spokesperson for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office. In the Bronx in New York, 17 people, including eight children, died in a five-alarm fire that roared through an apartment building on Sunday. New York Mayor Eric Adams revised the death toll Monday down from 19, saying it was an evolving situation. A day earlier, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said 32 people had been taken to hospitals in life-threatening conditions. Of the 63 people injured, 32 were hospitalized with life-threatening conditions, Nigro said. The fire started in a malfunctioning space heater in an apartment that spanned two floors, according to Nigro. It consumed that apartment, Nigro said, and then smoke overwhelmed the staircase and people trying to get out. “The door to that apartment – unfortunately when the residents left – was left open; it did not close by itself. The smoke spread throughout the building, thus the tremendous loss of life and people fighting for their lives right now in hospitals all over the Bronx,” Nigro said. There were no fire escapes on the building. About 200 firefighters responded to the blaze, and some them ran out of oxygen as they tried to get residents out, Nigro said. Daisy Mitchell, who lived on the 10th floor, told CNN affiliate WABC she was really scared leaving her apartment. “I just hear people banging on doors saying ‘it’s a fire, it’s a fire,’ so I ain’t pay it no mind, but then when we opened that door the smoke just hit us, and we ran to the hallway to the exit and I just panicked, I got scared, even with the mask on,” Mitchell told CNN affiliate WABC. Mamadou Wague, who lived in the apartment where the fire started, told WABC he leapt through flames to save his daughter. “We was sleeping and then my kids were screaming saying fire, fire,” Wague said, according to WABC. “I don’t want to hear anybody dead in this fire, that’s what I worry about,” Wague told WABC. The blaze is “going to be one of the worst fires that we have witnessed during modern times here in the city of New York,” Mayor Adams said. “This is a horrific, horrific, painful moment for the city of New York, and the impact of this fire is going to really bring a level of just pain and despair in our city,” Adams said.",4548.0,Theresa Waldrop
144,2022-01-10,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/09/us/gary-indiana-illinois-boy-dead-mother-siblings-charged/index.html,"Mother, 2 siblings charged in death of 6-year-old boy found in Indiana",US,CNN,"The mother and two siblings of a 6-year-old North Chicago boy who was found dead in Indiana have been charged in connection with his death, the Lake County, Illinois, State’s Attorney Office said. The body of Damari Perry was found at an abandoned home in Gary, Indiana, overnight on January 8, days after being reported missing on January 5 by his mother and a sibling, according to North Chicago police. In a news release from the prosecutor’s office, North Chicago police said the family initially provided information that indicated Damari might be missing in Skokie, Illinois. “But investigators quickly turned their focus to the boy’s home in North Chicago, after the family’s story was contradicted by evidence in Skokie,” the release says. “By late Friday night, FBI agents and North Chicago detectives had focused their investigation on the mother and his adult siblings,” officials said in the news release. “Information from from witnesses led to the discovery of Damari’s body in Lake County, Indiana.” The mother and the two siblings were taken into custody late Friday night and charged early Saturday after Damari’s body was found, according to the state’s attorney news release. Jannie M. Perry, 38, has been charged with first-degree murder, concealment of a homicidal death, and obstructing justice. Damari’s 20-year brother, Jeremiah R. Perry, was charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm to a child under 12, concealing a homicidal death and obstructing justice. A juvenile sibling of Damari faces charges in Lake County’s Juvenile Court, the release said. It is unclear whether the suspects have retained counsel. In a bond hearing for Jeremiah Perry on Sunday, prosecutors provided a timeline of events leading up to the Damari’s death. According to Jim Newton, the Lake County State Attorney’s Office spokesman, the victim’s family allegedly punished Damari for something he had done the day before by putting him into a cold shower for an unknown amount of time. While in the shower, Damari allegedly began to vomit. He was unresponsive by the time he was pulled out, Newton said. Newton said the family did not seek emergency help, and that when they determined the child was dead, he was driven to an abandoned home in Indiana where he was left. A judge set bond at $3 million for the 20-year-old sibling, Newton said. The mother did not appear in court, according to Newton. Jannie Perry was taken to the hospital on Saturday after complaining of being ill, North Chicago Police Chief Lazaro Perez said Monday in a statement. Perry is in police custody at the hospital and will be taken to bond court once doctors medically discharge her, Perez added. The juvenile sibling did appear in court; however, Newton told CNN there was no information to release on him. The state’s attorney news release said more charges could be filed as the investigation continues. An autopsy is scheduled to completed next week in Indiana.",2964.0,Tina Burnside
145,2022-01-10,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/10/us/hockey-player-death-accidental/index.html,High school hockey player’s death ruled accidental,US,CNN,"The Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death of Teddy Balkind, the high school hockey player who died last week, an accident. According to an e-mail to CNN the ME’s office said Balkind died of an “incised wound of [the] neck.” The short statement went on to say it was an “accident” which stemmed from a “cut by skate of other ice skater after falling on ice during game.” Last Thursday during a game, Balkind fell to the ice, according to local police. A player from the opposing team was near him and was unable to stop. The two players collided, which resulted in Balkind suffering the fatal injury, CNN previously reported. The young man was transported to Greenwich Hospital, where he later died as a result of the injury, authorities said. Balkind was a sophomore at St. Luke’s School in New Canaan, CT. The school closed on Friday following the death and on Monday began with a delayed start and “a special schedule,” according to a post on its Facebook page. “We are saddened beyond words,” Thomas W. Philip, head of Brunswick School, told CNN. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the boy, the players and coaches on both teams, the entirety of the St Luke’s School community, and our own students and families.”",1257.0,Amanda Watts
146,2022-01-10,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/08/us/chicago-schools-union-mayor/index.html,Chicago Public Schools cancels classes for fourth consecutive day,US,CNN,"Classes in Chicago will be canceled again Monday, making it the fourth consecutive day students have been out of school as the standoff between the Chicago Teachers Union and City officials drags on amid a Covid-19 surge. “Out of fairness and consideration for families who need to prepare, we are writing to inform you that, at this time, classes will remain canceled for all CPS students on Monday, January 10,” a CTU letter to parents read Sunday. “Although we have been negotiating hard throughout the day, there has not been sufficient progress for us to predict a return to class tomorrow. We will continue to negotiate through the night and will provide an update if we have made substantial progress.” The decision comes as CPS, the third largest school district in the country, canceled classes for more than 340,000 students Wednesday through Friday last week after the CTU voted Tuesday night to refuse to show up for in-person work, citing concerns over Covid-19 safety. The CTU presented a new proposal to Mayor Lori Lightfoot Saturday that the union said would provide clarity on a return to the classroom, create increased safety and testing protocols and restart the education process for students who have been out of class since Wednesday. Along with a series of Covid-19 mitigation measures, the CTU’s Saturday proposal called for a resumption of in-person work for union members beginning Monday, with virtual learning beginning for CPS students on Wednesday, according to the proposal. CTU proposed resuming in-person instruction on Tuesday, January 18, “unless (the Chicago Department of Public Health) or the State of Illinois determine that public health conditions are not safe for in-person school at the time.” Shortly after the union’s proposal was announced, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez issued their own joint statement, saying CTU leaders were “not listening.” “The best, safest place for kids to be is in school. Students need to be back in person as soon as possible,” the statement said. “That’s what parents want. That’s what the science supports. We will not relent.” Lightfoot told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Friday that she wanted a deal over the weekend. She reiterated that while officials are willing to shut down individual schools if needed, district-wide remote learning was not an option. City officials have called the standoff a work stoppage. The union says it’s a lockout, because teachers want to teach from home until the current surge peaks, but the district canceled classes entirely. CTU organizer Tennille Evans told reporters on Friday that teachers are ready to work “under safe conditions” and they are asking for “testing, testing, testing” among other mitigation measures. “All we are asking is that we would like our students to test negative before entering in the building,” teacher Briana Hambright-Hall said. “A two-week pause (of in-person learning) is not too much.” “I want to make sure that they are safe. I want to make sure that I am safe,” second grade teacher Falin Johnson said. “I want to make sure my daughters and my elderly grandparents are safe as well.” City officials have continued to reiterate that schools are safe with the mitigation measures the district has put in place. “What we’ve seen over and over again is that with the appropriate protocols in place, schools are not major sources of transmission of Covid,” Chicago Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady told CNN this week. “They don’t drive outbreaks, and we’ve seen Chicago Public Schools – just like our non-public schools in Chicago – do a good job of implementing those.”",3646.0,Omar Jimenez
147,2022-01-10,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/10/us/iyw-how-to-help-bronx-fire/index.html,Here are ways you can help the victims of the Bronx Fire,US,CNN,"On January 9, 2022, an electric space heater sparked a fire in a Bronx apartment building that killed 17 people, eight of them children. More than 60 people were injured. New York City’s fire commissioner said it is one of the worst fires in the city’s modern history. As the fire’s full toll unfolds, relief groups are helping those affected. Below are ways you can contribute to assist victims of the fire and the families involved: The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City has set up an online fundraiser where money will go toward emergency relief supplies and support for the victims and their families. The Global Empowerment Mission has also set up an online fundraiser to collect money for victims of the fire. GEM will be providing help to residents displaced by the fire as well distributing food, water and other essential items. The American Red Cross New York Region is providing assistance as well as emergency housing for families affected by the fire. It will also be providing food, water and emotional support assistance from trained mental health volunteers.",1078.0,Ryan Bergeron
148,2022-01-09,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/09/us/parents-schools-dealing-with-covid/index.html,"How 10 parents of school-age kids are coping with Omicron, in their own words",US,CNN,"One mom said she feels like she’s endangering her kids’ health. Another said she feels lonely and exhausted by the pressure of what to do. And a father said he and his wife live in fear that their daughter’s school will close. These were among just 10 of the responses from parents of school-age children who spoke to CNN about how the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has added renewed stress and fear to their lives. The issue is particularly difficult for parents of children under 5 years old, who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated. “The world at large is forgetting about anyone with kids under 5,” one mother, Rachel Lekherzak, said. Their experiences represent a snapshot of the broader chaos facing the country as Omicron infects hundreds of thousands of people daily, creating major staffing shortages for schools, hospitals, airlines and emergency services. Their perspectives help illustrate the tricky position that millions of parents are in. All acknowledged the value of in-person education; all also knew the risks that in-person class could present with this wave of cases. Here is a sample of their stories. When Jane Peng’s 13-year-old daughter spiked a fever and started vomiting Monday, Peng quickly used a home test kit. The result was negative, but there appeared to be a shadow where the line should be, she said. The eighth grader at Eisenhower Middle/High School in New Berlin, Wisconsin, has been isolating and wearing a KN95 mask at home since then, the same day that class reopened. On Tuesday and Saturday, home tests came back positive, her mother said. Peng asked that her daughter not be named in this story. Peng scrambled to find her daughter a PCR test Monday, but all the local pharmacies and testing centers she tried didn’t have availability until Friday. “I’m angry and frustrated,” she said. “I’m almost unable to get my daughter a test at any official sites … at the time when she got sick.” The family’s doctor couldn’t see her daughter until Thursday. On Saturday afternoon, her daughter’s PCR test results came back positive. Her husband, a healthcare worker, has tested negative with tests at work. “Mommy, I’m sorry I failed you, that I didn’t protect myself, that I got this Covid and I put you and daddy into danger,” Peng said her daughter told her, crying. Peng told her daughter, who has been wearing a KN95 mask to school, it wasn’t her fault. “It’s our adults’ fault. It’s the CDC and school district and me, the mother, that we failed you,” Peng said. The timing of her daughter’s illness stung. She tested positive one day before the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its recommendations for the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine booster to include children as young as 12. Her daughter’s school did a good job with Covid-19 safety measures last year with mask mandates, social distancing and glass dividers set up for lunch, she said. Her daughter was struggling with virtual learning, so Peng let her go back to in-person classes in March 2021. But for this school year, the School District of New Berlin is recommending masks for students and teachers, as opposed to requiring them, according to a May letter from the superintendent. CDC guidelines for isolation changed from 10 days to five days if you do not have symptoms, plus five days of wearing a mask around others. It makes Peng angry, she said. The school district sent an email to parents on December 30 saying it would adopt the same reduced isolation period, though not the mask requirement. “This is like drinking the sea water when you are really thirsty, and your children got sick because of this policy change. I blame the CDC and I blame our school district,” Peng said. “I want to send this message to a school district – open your eyes, look at the data, protect our children.” Rachel Lekherzak, 40, and her husband decided to hold their 4- and 6-year-old kids back a grade last year, hoping the pandemic would be over by now. The rise of Omicron and decisions made by the Cobb County School District in Georgia have foiled that hope, she said. “It just feels like a trap,” she said. “I feel trapped by it. On one hand, I want my children to have an education. On the other hand, I feel like I’m endangering them by sending them there.” Lekherzak’s 6-year-old is in kindergarten and fully vaccinated, but her 4-year-old is in pre-K and is not yet eligible for the shot. School reopened in person on Wednesday. Remote learning is an option in Cobb County, but they would have had to sign up months ago, she said. “It really is just a series of bad options right now. (People say,) ‘You’re in a pandemic, what do you expect?’ But at some degree it’s infuriating,” she said. Lekherzak suspects that the school will be closed by next week due to staff shortages, so she planned to keep her kids home for now to at least keep them from getting sick. Her husband disagrees and wants to send them to class. The situation has caused constant stress, and she was hardly comforted by the knowledge that Covid-19 is generally milder for children. “There are so many decisions that have been from this pandemic that just puts kids at the short end of the stick. It’s like, ‘oh they won’t get it that bad.’ For people who are parents, it doesn’t matter how you minimize it, if your child is sick and gasping for air, I’m sorry it’s scary,” she said. “That’s what happens with this virus. That’s a normal symptom of a coughing fit.” In a statement Monday, Cobb County School District said schools would reopen after the holiday break on Wednesday and advised parents to “not send a sick child to school.” The district strongly encourages students and staff to wear face masks but does not require them, and there are no vaccine or testing requirements, according to its policies. The district on Thursday also said that they would not continue contact tracing and loosened its quarantine rules, citing new state guidance. “Cobb’s Public Health Protocols are intended to balance the importance of in-person learning and the frequent changes associated with Covid-19,” a district spokesperson said in a statement. Brian Nagele, of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, said he lives under the constant fear that his 6-year-old daughter’s school will close due to Covid. He and his wife aren’t able to work from home, so closing in-person class means they have to scramble for day care or take the day off work. Sometimes his daughter’s grandparents are able to babysit for the day, but not always. “It’s tough. There’s nobody else that can help us out. If they can’t do it, one of us has to take off work. Then we run the risk of losing our jobs or bringing less money in,” he said. “We have options, but none of them are good.” Remote learning also has not worked for his daughter, he said. “It’s a constant (stress),” he added. “My wife is constantly worried about whether they’re going to shut down. If they do, what do we do?” Nagele and his wife are vaccinated, and their 6-year-old has gotten her first shot. He said safety has never been a concern and he trusted that his daughter’s immune system was strong enough to keep her healthy. He understands the idea of erring on the side of caution, but the district was being overbearingly cautious, he argued. People in a car should wear a seat belt, he said – “but are you gonna wrap yourself in bubble wrap in the off chance you get in a crash? No.” Timothy Lin lives in Cobb County, Georgia, and works as a pulmonologist in nearby Cartersville, so he treats patients sick and dying of Covid during his working hours. Talking to his kids after work about their time at school doesn’t give him much of a reprieve from Covid issues. “It’s just hard. It’s just in my face 24/7,” he said. Even so, he said it was not a hard choice to send his two vaccinated children, ages 8 and 10, back to Mountain View Elementary School on Wednesday with masks in hand. “At the end of the day, with Covid here to stay for the foreseeable future, we really do need to do in-person learning,” he said. “When they’re just watching a video screen, I think there’s a lot lost in that. It’s valuable having peers who are with you, around you, (and) a teacher talking in front of you.” He expressed his ongoing frustration, though, that the school was not requiring students to wear masks. “I think it’s just a matter of heightened awareness and nervousness of them being at school. For us, it wasn’t a tough decision to send them back in person because we felt the risks are outweighed by the benefits,” he said. “That being said, you’re just waiting to get the email saying, ‘Hey, your kid needs to isolate for five days’ or whatever.” For single mom Anmari Linardi, it’s all about her and her 14-year-old daughter, Diana Lesny, who has autism. She can’t afford to get sick, and neither can her daughter, she said. “I’m not one of these people that are cool with getting Covid, even though it’s not going to kill us. I don’t want it at all,” the 51-year-old said. “I’m triple vaccinated, my daughter’s double vaccinated. She’s going to be getting her booster when it’s available.” With the surge in Covid-19 cases, Linardi decided to pull Diana out of school just a couple days after she returned from the holiday. Diana attends Springbrook, a private school for children with developmental disabilities. The mother and daughter live in Oneonta, New York, which is at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains. “I have 100 percent confidence in the staff that they’re doing everything they’re supposed to be doing, but I know that kids who are autistic are not necessarily going to want to wear a mask,” Linardi said. “I don’t know if those kids’ parents are vaccinated or are they as diligent about following the CDC guidelines as we are.” Diana has only five classmates, but Linardi also worries about what her daughter can’t tell her. “My daughter is non-verbal, so it’s not like she can tell me if her classmates are wearing masks or not, or if anyone’s getting close to her face,” she said. Linardi said her daughter is at a kindergarten level of education, so she can supplement her education at home. She subscribes to an online learning tool called IXL for her daughter. Linardi has a flexible work from home situation, so she can spend time teaching her daughter, as well as doing yoga and other physical activities together. She isn’t sure when she will send Diana back to school, which has a year-long program. Linardi thinks it will be safer after the flu season, she said. “It’s the outside world that determines how much we will experience.” Micheal Garza, 46, said he and his wife are nervous about Omicron, but they decided they were comfortable sending their daughter Emma to her private preschool in Marietta, Georgia, on Wednesday. Emma turned 5 last month and has received her first vaccine dose, so she has some protection. Still, Garza’s elderly mother-in-law lives with them, so they plan to send Emma to school with an upgraded mask such as an KN95 or KF94. “We’re trying to keep her from getting this and also making sure she’s in a good learning environment socially with other children, and trying to find that balance,” he said. “We’re making sure she’s safe enough and making sure she gets educated. She loves pre-K, she loves her friends, and the idea that she wouldn’t get to go back and see them is really too much for us to even consider pulling her out.” He praised her school, Holy Family Catholic Preschool, for hearing their concerns and making them comfortable with the decision. “They may not put every measure we prefer in there, but we know they respect our wishes, and for us that means everything,” Garza said. Aubree Norton, 43, is both a parent of two boys and a teacher at the Mercer County School District in Aledo, Illinois, a rural enclave near the Quad Cities. Her dual perspective has given her firsthand knowledge that remote learning didn’t work for many kids last year, including her own. “It’s a very, very uneven playing field,” she said, noting some students didn’t have parents around or proper technology. “I saw my own kids struggle with remote learning. I saw their mental health decline. They missed their friends.” Her school is back in-person now, and while she had concerns about the spread of Omicron, she praised her district for keeping classes open and keeping people safe. Every family has different circumstances, she noted, and no one in her family is high-risk. “I, of course, have a concern, but I don’t think I have a concern as much as some people might,” she said. Megan Dominy, of Marietta, Georgia, made a pros and cons list with her husband to decide whether to send their 5-year-old daughter to kindergarten on Wednesday. On the pro side, they noted their daughter is vaccinated and enjoys school. “Our daughter absolutely loves social interaction with her peers, she craves interaction with other kids all the time. And she needs school,” Dominy said. The cons outweighed the pros, though. Covid cases are surging in Cobb County, and their 2-year-old daughter is too young to be vaccinated. Dominy also heard that another student’s parents had contracted Covid but still planned to send their child to school. Adding to her concern was a brief email from the Cobb County School District saying that classes would remain open, with little in the way of explanation or attempt to assuage concerns. The lack of specific guidance or support meant she and her husband were on their own. “It feels lonely, as well as exhausting,” she said. “Each family has to make their decision that’s best for their family.” They ultimately decided to keep their daughter out of school on Wednesday. How long would she stay out? They weren’t yet sure. “Everybody has pandemic fatigue, but I feel like being a parent during the pandemic is a special sort of weariness,” she said. Patty Murphy, 47, of East Cobb, Georgia, has rheumatoid arthritis and takes medicine that suppresses her immune system. She said she’s worried her two sons, ages 11 and 14, could catch Covid-19 at school and then infect the family, leading to a potentially serious case or even death. “I understand it’s statistically unlikely, but it’s still a possibility,” she said. Still, she and her husband agreed to send them back to in-person class on Wednesday so that they don’t fall behind in their studies. “It was kind of an impossible decision. If I could have kept them home I would have,” she said. She supports in-person school but said she’s frustrated by Cobb County’s decision not to require masks or testing. The issue has so animated her that she has become an active critic of the school district and board and has emailed them ad nauseum about her concerns, she said. “(I feel) anger, fury, rage. I feel despondent, helpless, hopeless, frustrated,” Murphy said. “But also it motivates me. It encourages me to help be a voice for people who can’t be a voice and want to say these things, or can’t say these things, like teachers.” There’s a new part of the equation for Kumar Santosh to consider when sending his child back to preschool: He and his wife are expecting a child in May, and they worry about the effects of Omicron on her pregnancy. Santosh decided to keep his 4-year-old daughter, Akshara, out of school for one to two weeks to see what happens with Covid-19 cases in Austin, Texas. He said his wife’s obstetrician suggested this measure as a precaution. “That’s one major concern that we don’t know how this Omicron is having an effect on the pregnancy or the newborn,” he said. Before the holidays, the couple had been sending their daughter to in-person preschool at Casey Elementary School. “She had been doing fine, but all of a sudden with this Omicron spread, that’s the only thing we’re worried about because it’s something very contagious and it’s spreading fast,” Santosh said. Santosh said he does have faith in his daughter’s school. He said the spread of the variant and his wife’s pregnancy weigh more on their decision to send their daughter back to school. “I don’t know how much we can stop the children from getting infected,” Santosh said. “It’s like kids to roll around and touch things.” The school has been using HEPA filters since school resumed in August, according to a district newsletter. With the Omicron wave, the school clarified measures in place to protect the students, including extra ventilation and sanitization, as well as a mask mandate, social distancing and contact tracing, according to a January 5 school newsletter sent to parents. The principal urged students aged 5 and older to get boosted.",16673.0,Eric Levenson
149,2022-01-09,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/09/us/asian-man-new-york-attack-death/index.html,"An Asian man injured in an unprovoked attack in New York last April has died, officials say",US,CNN,"Yao Pan Ma, a 62-year-old Asian man who police said was bashed in the head in an unprovoked attack in East Harlem, New York, last April, died from his injuries eight months later on New Year’s Eve, a family spokesperson told CNN Saturday. “The hospital called me on January 1 to let me know that he passed away at 10:30 p.m. on December 31,” family spokesperson Karlin Chan said. “His wife didn’t even get a chance to see him before he died because the hospital was short staffed due to the holidays and Covid-19.” Ma was collecting cans on a street corner on April 23 last year when Jarrod Powell, 50, allegedly approached him from behind, struck him in the back and then kicked him in the head multiple times as Ma laid on the ground, police said. Powell was arrested the following week and initially charged with attempted murder and two hate crime assault charges. The New York City Police Department announced Ma’s death Saturday morning and deemed the April 2021 incident a homicide, according to a press release from the department. An attorney for Ma, Jennifer Wu, declined to comment on the case. CNN reached out to Powell’s defense attorney, Liam Malanaphy, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office for comment but has not heard back. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for February 10 in New York Supreme Court. Ma, who was Chinese-American, was unresponsive and in a deep state of unconsciousness since being admitted to a hospital in April to be treated for his head injuries and his health condition slowly deteriorated over time until he died, Chan, the family spokesperson, said. “His wife has been devastated ever since the attack and keeps saying ‘He’s always been a gentle, loving family man. Why did this happen to him?’” Chan said. “I’m hoping that attacks like these are prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Chan said. “If you don’t, you send the message to other people that it’s okay to do this.” The attack on Ma came amid a surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans in New York City and across the nation. It happened a little over a month after eight people, including six Asian women, were killed in shootings at Atlanta-area spas. Chan said a private funeral arrangement has been made for Ma’s close family and friends and is expected to take place next week.",2308.0,Artemis Moshtaghian
150,2022-01-09,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/08/us/man-dies-nyc-subway-tracks/index.html,A good Samaritan died after trying to save a man who fell on the subway tracks in New York City,US,CNN,"A good Samaritan died on New Year’s Day while trying to help a man who fell onto subway tracks during a gang assault in New York City. At around 2:40 a.m., the assault victim – a 38-year-old male – was approached by several individuals on the southbound B/D train platform in the Fordham Road subway station in the Bronx, the New York City Police Department said in a statement. The gang “displayed a knife and began assaulting him” and at some point the assault victim landed on the subway tracks, according to police. It is unclear if he fell or was pushed. A 36-year-old witness went down to the tracks to help the victim, but was “subsequently struck by the oncoming train, causing his death,” police said. The train didn’t strike the assault victim, according to police, but he was treated and released by a local hospital for a fractured arm. Police said the suspected gang left the station in unknown directions, and have released surveillance photos from the scene in an effort to identify anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or any of the alleged assailants. The attack was one of several in the New York subway system that police were investigating early this year. CNN has reached out to the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which is responsible for public transportation across the city, for comment.",1319.0,Laura Studley
151,2022-01-09,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/09/us/california-missing-skier-body-found/index.html,Body of a skier who went missing Christmas Day found near California resort,US,CNN,"The body of a skier who has been missing since Christmas was found this weekend after a six-day search near the Northstar Ski Resort in Truckee, California, according to a statement from the Placer County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page. Rory Angelotta, 43, told friends he was going skiing before meeting up with them for Christmas dinner on December 25. When he did not arrive, his friends called to report him missing, Placer County officials said. Angelotta’s disappearance kicked off a six-day search that saw the deployment of 220 personnel from 17 different agencies and rescue organizations, including volunteers with the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team and the Nevada County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue, authorities said. Rescue teams suspended the search for Angelotta on December 30 after determining there was “no realistic possibility Rory has survived the severe winter conditions,” the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said. The search was met with “high winds, whiteout conditions, overnight temperatures in the teens, and over seven feet of new snow since the beginning of the search,” it said. Angelotta’s body was found Saturday just north of the resort, officials said. “Angelotta had traveled a considerable distance from the ski resort boundaries and the backside of the resort, where searchers believed Angelotta had gotten lost during the whiteout conditions on the 25th,” the Placer County Sheriff’s Office statement read. “It is possible Angelotta was attempting to find the neighborhood near Truckee when he succumbed to the elements.  There was no indication of any suspicious or unusual activity.” Angelotta’s family released a statement saying they were “deeply touched by the overwhelming outpouring of prayers and support.” “The Angelotta family … personally wants to thank everyone that accompanied in the search and assisted them during these last two weeks,” the statement read.",1912.0,Amir Vera
152,2022-01-09,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/09/us/five-things-january-9-trnd/index.html,"Start your week smart: Pakistan, Space telescope, Sidney Poitier, Arbery, Omicron",US,CNN,"Travelers are scrambling to get flights in and out of Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. More than 30 countries have so far closed their airspace to Russia – with Moscow reacting in kind – and multiple companies are suspending major operations. Russia’s largest airline, Aeroflot, was also yanked from global reservation systems and travel websites, crippling the carrier’s ability to sell seats. Here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart. Here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart. • More than 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine have crossed into neighboring countries in 10 days, UN refugee agency commissioner Filippo Grandi said earlier today, calling the situation “the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.” • A tornado that touched down near Des Moines, Iowa, yesterday killed seven people – including two children – officials said. The National Weather Service office in Des Moines said an initial estimate shows it was an EF3 tornado, with wind speeds of at least 136 miles per hour. • The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the US hit $4 today, the highest level since 2008. And with prices surging amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the record high of $4.11 per gallon set that year is likely to fall any day. • Sydney is bracing for more rain as the death toll from flooding in Australia rose to 17. Thousands of people have been displaced as heavy downpours swept away property, livestock and roads. • North Korea fired a single ballistic missile into waters off the east of the Korean Peninsula yesterday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was the country’s ninth such test of the year. Wednesday April 11 is National Pet Day! The day was created to highlight the unconditional love pets bring to people’s lives and to encourage adoption from animal shelters. And Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, continues until May 2. Officials from NASA and NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) will release their annual climate change report, looking at US temperature conditions and changes. Enforcement of the federal vaccine mandate begins for businesses with over 100 employees. Multiple businesses have sued to block the rule, and it has been the subject of much debate among the Supreme Court. Tuesday President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Georgia to deliver remarks on the need to pass legislation protecting voting rights. Georgia became a voting rights battleground after a controversial law restricting voting rights passed the state’s Republican-led legislature last March. Wednesday Voters in South Korea will choose a successor to Moon Jae-in, who is only eligible for a single term. Moon replaced Park Geun-hye in May 2017 after her impeachment in an abuse of power scandal. The ruling Democratic Party’s candidate is Lee Jae-Myung. Last week, Moon expressed his condolences for the lives lost and “respect” for the “courage and sacrifice” of the Ukrainian people during a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He also said South Korea would provide $10 million in humanitarian aid. Russia remains on the international stage as the country is scheduled to hold talks with NATO. On Thursday, a broader NATO meeting, featuring Russia, the US and other European countries, is expected to take place. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the latest CPI inflation report. CPI stands for consumer price index, and it measures how much people pay for things over time. The rate could be the highest in 39 years, and it will be interesting to note which specific items have seen the biggest increase. The late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda. The Democratic leader died December 28 at the age of 82. Friday marks two years since the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 pandemic. Covid-19 has killed more than 950,000 people and infected about 79.2 million in the United States since January 2020, according to data by Johns Hopkins University. Want more 5 Things? This week on the Sunday edition of the 5 Things podcast, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen explains what’s different about this “new phase” of the Covid-19 pandemic, and examines a possible shortcoming of the Biden administration’s new plan for it. Listen here! Here’s a look at other moving, fascinating and thought-provoking images from the week that was, curated by CNN Photos. ‘The Batman’ flies into theaters this weekend However, Covid is already throwing a wrench in this year’s awards show plans. The 2022 Grammy Awards have been postponed, and the Golden Globe Awards will have no audience and no red carpet. In honor of the late Sidney Poitier, here is a look back at his esteemed career in photos. 2022 Masters Golf Tournament The tennis world is awash in controversy ahead of this month’s Australian Open after Australian border authorities revoked the visa of top star Novak Djokovic over vaccination requirements. He is now being detained in a hotel in the country, a decision that has attracted anger from his family and some fellow players. Take CNN’s weekly news quiz to see how much you remember from the week that was! So far, 81% of fellow quiz fans have gotten an 8 out of 10 or better this week. How well can you do? “Somewhere over the rainbow” Happy birthday to Backstreet Boy AJ McLean, who has a very cool name if I do say so myself. He also makes some can’t-help-but-smile, dance-in-your-socks music.  (Click here to rock out.)",5578.0,AJ Willingham
153,2022-01-09,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/09/us/georgia-youngest-farmer-trnd/index.html,"Georgia’s youngest farmer is only 6 years old, and she loves ‘playing in the dirt’",US,CNN,"At just 6 years old, Kendall Rae Johnson is making history as the youngest certified farmer in Georgia. Kendall Rae says her love of farming comes from her great grandmother Kate Johnson. “She taught me all kinds of stuff about gardening. Like, how collard greens grow — you start with a stem and put it in the dirt and it grows,” the young girl said. Ursula Johnson, her mother, has only encouraged Kendall Rae’s love of gardening. “When we found out that she really enjoyed this whole process of putting a seed in and seeing something come out of it, we were like, ‘Okay we have her interest,’ ” she said. So, for her fourth birthday, Kendall Rae’s parents built her a small patio garden at their home in Atlanta and threw her a garden party. Two years later, Kendall Rae’s patio garden has grown into a small backyard farm that produces carrots, sweet potatoes, strawberries, okra, tomatoes, blueberries and even Carolina Reapers. “It’s a scary name for a pepper,” Kendall Rae said, “because it makes your mouth real hot.” For Kendall Rae, who is home schooled, the backyard farm also doubles as her classroom. “She’s learning hands-on and then she’s able to bring it into the house and do school work, because she still needs to know her a-b-c’s,” her mother said. “There is always a lesson in digging in the dirt.” “I like playing in the dirt because it makes me happy. It makes me want to garden and share it with my friends,” Kendall Rae said. To that end, her parents are cultivating a small business called aGROWKulture in Southwest Atlanta. The urban farm, which is marketed as being “owned” by the youngest certified farmer in Georgia, sells food basket subscriptions and hosts classes, among other things. The path to becoming a certified farmer isn’t as difficult as it might sound. According to Ursula Johnson, “You just have to follow the steps.” The business currently offers around 20 monthly subscription baskets of fruits and vegetables to local community members. “If she can grow fruits and vegetables that literally fed our small community from a patio, just imagine what a full backyard of fruits and vegetables could do for your community,” her mom said. And Kendall Rae agrees: “Sometimes you just need to share your fruits and vegetables with the whole community.” It is a business model that local elected officials are taking note. In September, Fulton County Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman and her colleagues met with Kendall Rae to present her with one of the county’s biggest honors, a proclamation declaring September 28, 2021, Kendall Rae Johnson Appreciation Day in Fulton County. “She has a natural organic love of farming and it’s infectious,” Abdur-Rahman told CNN. Kendall’s infectious energy and passion for growing fruits and vegetables is one reason Abdur-Rahman decided to make Kendall the youngest intern at the Fulton County Board of Commissioners’ office in Southwest Atlanta. “Times have changed, and with that evolution, education has to change. Our ability to let the children know there are different things that they can do, they can become the youngest farmer in Georgia,” said Abdur-Rahman. “I want her to inspire people from 2 to 102 because she did it with me.” Kendall Rae is also making an impression on national politicians like Sen. Raphael Warnock, who mentioned Kendall’s story during a sermon he gave in October. “It feels great that they know me now, and they know my garden,” Kendall Rae said. Kendall Rae’s parents are hoping they can use the attention and publicity to expand their farm. In five years, Ursula Johnson says their goal is 75 to 100 acres. “We want to be able to have a fruit and nut orchard. We want to be able to have the vegetables that we love to eat and cook and possibly some new stuff that we’ve never tried before,” she said. Asked if she wants to be a farmer when she grows up, Kendall Rae replied, “Oh yeah, and I think I am already a farmer.” But her mom’s not pressuring her to stick with farming: “If 10 years from now she said, ‘Mom, I’m tired of farming, I want to do something else.’ I’d say, ‘Okay baby, where we going next?’ “",4127.0,Lee Alexander
154,2022-01-09,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/09/us/rescue-stranded-ice-green-bay/index.html,At least 34 people rescued after they became stranded on a floating chunk of ice in Green Bay,US,CNN,"At least 34 people were rescued on Saturday after being stranded on a large chunk of floating ice off the shore of Point Comfort on Green Bay, according to the Brown County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin. At about 10:15 a.m., Brown County received a report that a large chunk of ice had broken from the shoreline off Point Comfort and that there were multiple people stranded on it, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. In less than two hours, all the people who were stranded on the floating ice were rescued with no injuries, according to the release. “It is believed a barge that had gone through the Bay shortly before the ice breakage may have contributed to the destabilization of the ice,” the sheriff’s office said. The floating ice chunk was about a mile from shore by the end of the rescue and had floated about three quarters of a mile during the rescue, the sheriff’s office said. “Although the chunk of ice remained fairly stable, its condition was deteriorating rapidly (and) cracking up as it moved with the open water pounding at the edge of it,” the office added. Shane Nelson told CNN affiliate WLUK he and Robert Verhagen had been out ice fishing for the first time when they heard a loud noise. “It sounded like almost somebody fired a gun out there,” Nelson said. “We thought it was interesting. We got out of our shanty, looked and … a couple people were yelling that the ice was separating.”",1431.0,Raja Razek
155,2022-01-09,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/08/us/new-orleans-city-council-votes-to-rename-robert-e-lee-blvd-allen-toussaint/index.html,New Orleans City Council votes unanimously to rename Robert E. Lee Blvd for legendary musician Allen Toussaint,US,CNN,"The New Orleans City Council voted unanimously Thursday to change the name of Robert E. Lee Boulevard to Allen Toussaint Boulevard, councilmember Jared C. Brossett confirmed to CNN Saturday. Toussaint, a New Orleans music legend, died in 2015 of a heart attack while he was touring in Madrid. Brossett introduced the ordinance last month to rename the boulevard after Toussaint instead of the Confederate general, saying in a news release “it’s well beyond time to make this change.” “The City of New Orleans should prioritize celebrating our culture bearers, our diversity, and everything that makes our City special, not those who worked to tear us apart and represent a horrible history of racism that we are still dealing with today,” Brossett said then in a statement. “Allen Toussaint is a New Orleans native and world-renowned musician. He represents the very best of our city, and I am proud to take this step toward honoring his legacy,” Brossett added. The move follows similar efforts across the country in recent years, that have seen symbols of the Confederacy – including names, busts and statues – removed and replaced amid a nationwide reckoning with racism prompted by the killing of George Floyd. Among the changes last year were a Florida school board voting to rename six schools named after Confederate leaders and Virginia removing a statue of Lee, which was the last Confederate statue that remained along Richmond’s historic Monument Avenue. Following news of the New Orleans city council vote, Louisiana state health officer Joseph Kanter wrote of Toussaint, “he was the best.” “Every important piece of New Orleans music the past half century ran through Allen Toussaint,” Kanter wrote on Twitter. “No one is more deserving than him.  And he was just the kindest man you’d ever meet. I had the pleasure of meeting him once and will never forget it.” The name change will take effect for the boulevard, which stretches through the northern part of New Orleans, on February 1, CNN affiliate WDSU reported.",2029.0,Chris Boyette
156,2022-01-09,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/09/us/antiracist-little-library-alabama-books-racism-diversity/index.html,An Alabama family started an antiracist library to promote racial justice and the importance of diversity in reading,US,CNN,"Kristen Berthiaume remembers when George Floyd was murdered, with body cam footage revealing his struggles to breathe and cries for his mother as a police officer knelt on his neck. Berthiaume couldn’t stop thinking about Floyd, his loved ones, and the Black community as nationwide protests and demands for justice were often met with what she says was blatant racism and ignorance. After talking with her family about what role they could play in promoting racial justice in their community in Homewood, Alabama, an idea was born. “Our library was closed due to Covid, but I noticed that books about racial justice were high on bestseller lists,” Berthiaume, 43, told CNN. “We thought opening an antiracist little library at our house could be a way to make these crucially important books accessible to people in our area. We also wanted all kids who came to see themselves represented in the books we offered.” The mother of three children – Emma, Owen and Lily – and her husband built a little library out of discarded red chest drawers. They added a roof and painted it, finalizing it with the words “Antiracist Little Library” on the side. Then the family got to work, researching and finding books about racial justice, stories with main characters of color, and titles written by authors of color. After purchasing hundreds of books for children, teens and adults, the library was ready and open to anyone searching for knowledge – or just a good story where all the characters aren’t White, Berthiaume said. “The response has been incredible. I would estimate around 320 to 350 books have been picked up,” she said. “Our neighbors have all been very supportive. Many people have stopped to say that they enjoy visiting and are glad to have the library in the neighborhood.” When Ashley Jones discovered her book, “Reparations Now!,” was included in the Antiracist Little Library, she felt a tinge of hope. Jones, Alabama’s Poet Laureate, is the first person of color and the youngest person to hold the position, according to Dean Bonner, a historian at Alabama Writers Cooperative. “As a Black woman in America, racism is absolutely inescapable. It shows up in all the little places and all the big places and all the places you don’t expect. Sometimes it’s in a textbook. Sometimes it’s in a purse grabbed as I walk by, sometimes it’s in a question about my hair, my skin,” Jones told CNN. “If anyone believes we have even come close to solving issues of racism and discrimination, they’re mistaken. If I’m afraid to go for a run, go buy a snack, go to sleep in my own bed behind my own locked door, we aren’t finished working yet,” she said, referring to recent high profile killings of unarmed Black people. But the library, and the inclusion of her book, felt like a sign – a small indication that at least some of the world is ready for change. “Reparations Now!” is a collection of poems about the Black experience and the demand for reparations to Black descendants of enslaved people in the United States. “We need acknowledgment of wrongs done and still doing, we need empathy and liberation, we need to have the hard conversations,” Jones said. “I let the poetry lead me as I thought through and lived through my experiences with racism and discrimination as a Black woman in America.” While the shelves of the Antiracist Little Library are full of stories like hers, they also include books aimed at helping people uncover their biases and privileges, such as Ibram X. Kendi’s “How to Be an Antiracist.” “This library is important because it can maybe show people that some of the tangible steps to doing the interior work needed to address bias and racism can include reading. And it can start in the community,” Jones said. “I hope this library in Homewood can show other suburban areas that it is part of their responsibility to engage in antiracism,” she said. “And that the books are a beginning – the knowledge gained can then be used in the world beyond the book.” One morning in August 2020, the Berthiaume family drove by their Antiracist Little Library and found that all of the books had been stolen overnight. “I had completely filled the box the evening before,” Berthiaume said. “It was really shocking and disappointing. We didn’t know their intentions, but we’re the only little library in our area to be stolen from.” After posting about the theft on their Instagram page, the family received more than 400 donated books and around $1,500 to purchase more. “We started the library with just enough books to fill it, and now we have an entire storage area so we can always refill the library when it’s running low,” Berthiaume said. “The books were all taken again a few weeks ago, but this time we were able to fill it again immediately.” “It was a great lesson for our kids to see that, while one person did something destructive, there were way more people out there who wanted to help and build the library up,” she said. In December, the family’s library became an official partner of the nonprofit group Little Free Library, which provides public bookcases around the US that allow for book sharing within communities. Following Floyd’s death, the organization launched their own initiative, “Read in Color,” to ensure its mini libraries include diverse authors, stories and characters. The initiative was launched in October 2020 in Minnesota’s Twin Cities with the addition of 7,000 books that celebrate diverse identities – including Black, Muslim, Native American and LGBTQ voices. So far, more than 30,000 diverse books have been distributed to over 100 Little Free Libraries across the country. “We are thrilled to see people across the country moved to share diverse books in their communities – both those who are part of the Little Free Library network and those who aren’t,” Margret Aldrich, spokeswoman for Little Free Library, told CNN. “Diverse books are vital,” she said. “Everyone deserves to see themselves in the pages of a book, and everyone can learn from perspectives different from their own.”",6058.0,Alaa Elassar
157,2022-01-09,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/09/us/ny-lithium-battery-bronx-fire/index.html,Lithium-ion battery sparks apartment building fire in the Bronx,US,CNN,"A lithium-ion battery in an electric bike or scooter self-combusted in a Bronx apartment building, sparking a four-alarm fire early Saturday morning, according to the Fire Department of New York (FDNY). The FDNY were alerted to flames at 2230 Grand Concourse just after 2 a.m. and the fire was extinguished about three hours later, with one firefighter sustaining minor injuries, an FDNY spokesperson told CNN Saturday. New York City Fire Marshals determined the initial flames were caused by a lithium-ion battery that burst into flames in a restaurant on the ground floor of the building, according to the FDNY. The fire then spread vertically through voids in the building and went up through the structure’s internal framework spreading to apartments on the top floor where the blaze caused fire, smoke and water damage, the spokesperson explained. “[It’s] unclear on the make and model of the device, but they had several devices in there,” the spokesperson said of the two-wheeler that caused the conflagration. “The important part is that it was the lithium-ion battery that caused it while charging an electronic device.” More than 100 fires were caused by e-bikes in 2021, resulting in 79 injuries and four deaths, according to the FDNY. In response to the rising number of fires caused by e-bikes – which the FDNY asserts is a cause it had never seen until 2021– the FDNY has created safety videos and podcasts instructing the public on proper lithium-ion battery handling and has shared safe-practice guidelines for charging rechargeable batteries used in e-bikes. The FDNY said the fire in the Bronx is still under investigation.",1641.0,Liam Reilly
158,2022-01-08,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/07/us/chicago-schools-parents-teacher-union-friday/index.html,Negotiations between city and Chicago teachers union to continue into weekend,US,CNN,"Bargaining sessions between city officials and the teachers union on a return to the classroom remain productive but must wrap up this weekend, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot told CNN Friday night. The Chicago Public Schools system, which has canceled classes since Wednesday, said it hoped to have in-person learning again Monday. “CPS is committed to working toward an agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union throughout the weekend, and we are dedicated to working day and night so we can get our students back to school next week, hopefully on Monday,” the statement said. “We know families need to plan ahead and we will be sending additional communication over the weekend with a status update regarding classes on Monday.” Lightfoot told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that she wants a deal this weekend. “Our kids need to be back in school. Schools are safe,” she said. “Instead of being surgical and quarantining certain classes at certain schools where spread in the community is high, they are closing down 550 schools serving 340,000 students,” he said. “That is not the right approach; that’s putting a sledgehammer and chaos into a big district.” The union has called conditions for in-person learning unsafe, citing inadequate staffing and testing as new Covid-19 cases and new hospitalizations among children in the city reached record highs. Lightfoot told CNN if there is a need to shut down individual schools the city will do that. “We have been doing that. And we have been doing that all year long,” she said. “So, this is an unnecessary and illegal work stoppage and I have drawn the line. We are not going to remote for the whole system. It’s completely unnecessary.” While district officials call the standoff a work stoppage, the teachers union says it is a lockout, because they want to teach from home until the current surge peaks, but the district canceled classes entirely. Union delegates and city officials have been negotiating conditions to get teachers back in their physical classrooms. Union President Jesse Sharkey indicated Wednesday teachers might not return to classrooms until January 18 if the stalemate continues. Teachers may return earlier if the surge subsides or the union reaches an agreement with city officials, he said. The rift between the nation’s third-largest school district and its teachers echoes a debate playing out across the country amid a Covid-19 surge fueled by the Omicron variant: When and how should students return to the classroom? On Tuesday, the last day classes were held, the school system reported 422 new Covid-19 cases among students and 271 new cases among adults – both record highs for the academic year. Teacher union organizer Tennille Evans told reporters Friday teachers are ready to work “under safe conditions” and they are asking for “testing, testing, testing” among other mitigation measures. “All we are asking is that we would like our students to test negative before entering in the building,” teacher Briana Hambright-Hall said, adding “A two-week pause (in in-person learning) is not too much.” Special education teacher Dawn Kelly said: “We need to get our testing in order, a real testing program, a real contact-tracing program.” She said teachers continue to check in on their students and send them school work “anyway we can.” Teachers are asking for basic safety measures, she said. Second grade teacher Falin Johnson said she was concerned about conditions at the schools for students and staff. “I want to make sure that they are safe. I want to make sure that I am safe,” she said. “I want to make sure my daughters and my elderly grandparents are safe as well.” She also called for an emphasis on testing. “So I want to know, when can we get these babies get tested? ‘Cause we’re ready to go back in person when we are able to see that they do not have Covid and they are not risking the lives of their classmates or ourselves.” Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Allison Arwady told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Thursday while she understands teachers are worried, schools are not the source of Covid-19 spread. Meanwhile, seven parents with children in Chicago public schools have filed a lawsuit against the teachers union, calling its actions this week an illegal strike and demanding the teachers return to work for in-person learning. The complaint is asking for “damages in the form of lost income and the cost of securing childcare while CTU and its members were on strike.” “The point of our lawsuit is that the union has engaged in an illegal strike, and therefore they have been, they get to be the sole decider of whether kids go to school or not, rather than an engaged community and parents getting their say,” senior attorney Jeffrey Schwab said. “Obviously if there is a situation where a classroom or a school, it isn’t safe for them to go, I don’t think parents want them to go, but what the union has done in this case is they’ve unilaterally shut down the entire district,” he added. The Liberty Justice Center is a nonprofit law firm focused on educational rights for students. CNN has reached out to the Chicago Teachers Union for a response on the lawsuit. White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters the Biden administration is in touch with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Lightfoot to “assess their needs.” “What we conveyed to you publicly and we conveyed to them privately, is that the President wants kids in school, and we have the resources to ensure that schools are safe for education … and students.” Jean-Pierre pointed to funding under the administration’s American Rescue Plan earmarked for schools, including $10 billion for testing. Lightfoot said the city would do its best to help with testing, given the current supply issues. “We’re in a good place, I think, with both our Governor and the White House,” she said. “But fundamentally … as you know, there’s a shortage of testing nationwide. We are going to provide as much testing as we possibly can.”",6020.0,Raja Razek
159,2022-01-08,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/08/us/boulder-county-colorado-covid-shooting-fire/index.html,This community was reeling from a mass shooting and several Covid-19 surges. Then a fire wiped out hundreds of homes,US,CNN,"When Gurjeet Gill Dhanoa’s family moved from Canada nearly 23 years ago, they planned to operate the Tandoori Grill in Boulder County, Colorado, for just a few months. But the restaurant proved successful and they stayed, putting down roots in the community they now call home. By the end of 2021, all they had left was that store. For most of last year, the family had been adjusting to the changes the Covid-19 pandemic forced on the restaurant: navigating takeout orders instead of in-house diners, shutting down their lunch buffet and relying on federal financial aid to make ends meet. The day Gill Dhanoa went to get her first Covid-19 vaccine – a Monday, when the restaurant is usually closed – the familiar plaza where their business is located flashed on the news. Their store sits across the street from a King Soopers, where a mass shooting was unfolding. The gunman killed 10 people – some shoppers, others employees – ranging from 20 to 65 years old. In the days after the massacre, Gill Dhanoa’s family handed out food to the grieving crowds that cycled through the memorials. Months later, when a vicious blaze charred thousands of acres in a matter of hours, the restaurant offered shelter to the employees who were forced to evacuate. Gill Dhanoa’s family homes – where she lived with her husband and teenage son, where her parents lived with her brother and a third, a rental home – were swallowed by the flames. “These four walls are home right now,” she said, standing inside her restaurant. In the ashes of her home, only a few items remained intact: a stack of buttons, a salt and pepper shaker, some coins, a horseshoe, a towel rack. The Marshall Fire, fueled by powerful winds last Thursday, leaped into suburban neighborhoods across southern Boulder County and ravaged parts of Superior and Louisville, wiping out more than 1,000 homes. The blaze came at the heels of a traumatic year for a place often referred to as the “Boulder Bubble,” a nod to the healthy, utopian-like lifestyle many residents take pride in and that some say is removed from surrounding realities. But if anything, locals here say the tragedies they’ve experienced in the last year reflect growing national crises – including the global pandemic, a rise in gun violence and climate change – that no community is immune to, and which some residents say can be curbed or prevented. “I wish these things weren’t happening. I’m devastated that they do happen. And I think we have had enough experience in our country to know that there are things that we can do to prevent them from happening,” said Kellie Brownlee, 29, a graduate instructor at the University of Colorado Boulder. Those things include measures to prevent further gun violence, boosting vaccination numbers to help curb further surges and tuning into climate action to better address recurring natural disasters like wildfires, Brownlee said. “It’s heartbreaking when it comes into your community, but it also brings to light the fact that this will affect all of us at some point,” she said. Just a few blocks from the University of Colorado Boulder, Jeff Gamet said it was often sirens rushing by his home that tipped him off to the tragic events that took place in the community. The freelance writer heard authorities rush by in early March when a party on nearby University Hill escalated to what Boulder police called a “riot,” involving hundreds of people violating Covid-19 restrictions. When officers arrived and attempted to break up the crowds, they were hit with bricks and rocks, police said. At least 10 people were arrested. Days later, Gamet heard helicopters and police vehicles speed by again, this time heading to the scene of the shooting at the King Soopers store. A mental health resource center was set up following the shooting for people impacted by the rampage, including victims’ families, store employees, first responders and others across the Boulder community. The center continues to offer mental health counseling, comfort dogs, art therapy, walking groups and acupuncture. Gamet visited a memorial for the victims in the days after the shooting – a brief exception to a year he largely spent in his home, dodging the coronavirus so he wouldn’t pass it on to his immunocompromised parents. Looking around at the memorial after the shooting, he said he found vivid reminders of the other crisis. “We’re all wearing masks,” Gamet said. “So we had that emotionally devastating incident and underlying it, we were still trying to deal with a pandemic.” Amid another nationwide case surge and the rapid spread of the virus, Gamet found out last month he had come in contact with a known Covid-19 case in the community. His father tested positive but has since recovered. Boulder County recently recorded a spike in new Covid-19 infections, according to county data. Roughly 83 people were hospitalized with the virus on January 7, up by more than 50% from two weeks earlier, the data shows. Days after a Christmas spent in quarantine, Gamet said he found himself preparing to evacuate, in case the Marshall Fire came close. “There’s been so much going on,” he said. “There were days where I’d be in the middle of my routine and I would just cry.” Hoping for a brief respite, he attempted to order his favorite local snack: Boulder Popcorn. But the Heuston family, which ran the popular popcorn business out of their garage, lost their Louisville home in the Marshall Fire. “That’s the first home we ever bought. We raised our kids in that home,” said Chris Heuston, who said her husband started the popcorn business with their daughter. All that’s left now of their home of 27 years, she said, “is just ashes in a concrete hole.” Without any warning from local officials, the family watched the flames approach last week and had just minutes to grab some belongings, Heuston said. By the time she ran out of her home, which was filled with smoke and soot, she could see the fire in the field behind her home. “I just wish I had 15 more minutes to grab a few more things that meant something,” she said. Safely sheltering at a friend’s house several miles away, she watched the flames swallow her home on live television, after a news crew set up cameras nearby. The recent blaze and the rapid spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant have also stretched thin the local school system, which is combating teacher absences, navigating what a safe return to school should look like and helping staff and families who lost everything in the flames, said Randy Barber, chief communications officer for the Boulder Valley School District. “It’s been overwhelming,” Barber said. “We’re constantly in crisis mode.” The district reopened its doors after the winter break on Wednesday, Barber said, after getting the buildings in working condition again – including by purifying the smoke-filled air inside and restoring electricity. District officials, Barber added, have prioritized having students in class throughout the pandemic as a means of family support. “It’s incredibly important for families that are going through such unthinkable things to have a place for students to be able to go that’s safe, that’s stable,” Barber added. “For there to be some level of normalcy in these families’ lives.” At least 42 employees lost their homes in the Marshall Fire, Barber said. More than 480 families in the district have reported some kind of impact from the blaze. The district is coordinating to provide necessary resources to students who need them, including laptops, school supplies and counseling support. Much of the fire damage was in and around Louisville and the town of Superior, where some former Boulder residents found refuge after a massive flood in 2013 that wiped out hundreds of homes, said Grace Peng, a scientist who used to live in Boulder County. Those areas were also where many used to look to for more affordable options than what was offered in the city of Boulder, which is now one of the most expensive areas in the nation. But prices in recent years shot up in those areas as well, residents say, and the loss of structures means an even larger affordable housing crisis is on the way because of the housing shortage. “There are a lot of people that have no place to live now and they can’t afford to get a place here. What are they going to do?” said Gamet, the freelance writer. “Are these people just going to move away and be gone from the community?” After the series of traumatic events, what many in the community may be feeling is a “sense of groundlessness,” said Sona Dimidjian, a psychology professor and director of the Renée Crown Wellness Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder. “Like the ground has been pulled out from under them,” Dimidjian said. “I think it’s important for people to know that’s part of experiencing a traumatic event like this.” For the Gill family, the past year in Boulder County seems to point to a dangerous reality the nation is heading to, said Mandip Gill, Gurjeet’s brother. “I think this last year, year and a half, has just been trending towards our new normal,” he said. “I don’t think any of us are equipped to handle what’s happening. And I think we’ve all learned that by the surge of (the) mental health crisis.” Grappling with what happened will be a long term process for the community, Dimidjian said, and it’s important residents and those impacted know there are mental health services and counselors in the community that can offer guidance and support. For many here, that process has only just begun. Gamet said an unwavering routine and a large support system of friends have helped him cope. Humor and positivity are helping Gill Dhanoa combat the shock since losing her home. And a GoFundMe page has been set up for her family. Heuston’s family spent the days after the blaze making family dinners, watching movies and assembling puzzles, hoping to revive a small sense of normalcy. Despite all the things lost, Heuston is thankful they’re all still here. “One of the things the pandemic taught us too is how much our health and our families and our lives mean, and it’s finding some of that beauty in our world every day,” she said. “Because if not, how do you keep going?”",10263.0,Christina Maxouris
160,2022-01-08,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/07/us/amy-schneider-wins-million-jeopardy/index.html,Amy Schneider becomes the first woman to win more than $1 million on ‘Jeopardy!’,US,CNN,"Amy Schneider, an engineering manager from Oakland, California, became the first woman and the fourth person on “Jeopardy!” to earn more than $1 million in winnings on Friday’s episode. Schneider’s $42,200 score in her 28th victory brought her total winnings to $1,019,001, according to the game show. “It feels amazing, it feels strange,” Schneider said in a statement. “It’s not a sum of money I ever anticipated would be associated with my name.” The only other contestants to win more than $1 million in regular season games are Ken Jennings, whose 74-game streak yielded $2,520,700; James Holzhauer, who earned $2,462,216 over the course of 32 victories; and Matt Amodio, who won $1,518,601 during his 38-game streak last year. Her next game will be broadcast on Monday.",775.0,Sarah Moon
161,2022-01-08,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/08/us/gary-indiana-6-year-old-dead-missing/index.html,A 6-year-old was found dead in Indiana after going missing for 4 days,US,CNN,"A 6-year-old boy who was last seen on January 4 was found dead near an abandoned house in Gary, Indiana, early Saturday morning. Three relatives “believed to be responsible” for Damari Perry’s death are in custody, North Chicago Police said in a news release. Damari was last seen on January 4 in Skokie, Illinois, where he traveled with his 16-year-old sister, police said in an earlier release. Police issued an alert for an “endangered missing child,” encouraging anyone who had seen him to call with tips, after he was reported missing on January 5. The department is working with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office on any pending charges, North Chicago Police Chief Lazaro Perez told CNN in a phone call. “An autopsy will be conducted in the near future,” the release added. The investigation to find Damari Perry was led by the FBI and detectives from the North Chicago police department.",901.0,Michelle Watson
162,2022-01-08,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/08/us/virginia-alleged-shopping-cart-serial-killer/index.html,Body of fifth victim may be linked to alleged ‘shopping cart’ serial killer,US,CNN,"A man police have dubbed the “shopping cart killer” may be linked to the body of a fifth victim found in Washington, DC, authorities said on Friday. Anthony Robinson, 35, has already been charged with the killing of two women. Investigators believe Robinson met his victims on dating websites and allegedly lured them into motels where he killed them and transported their bodies in shopping carts. Police received a “critical tip” this week that might connect Robinson to another case in which a woman’s body was found in a shopping cart in Washington, DC, Fairfax County Police Bureau Chief of Major Crimes Cyber and Forensics Ed O’Carroll said in a news conference on Friday. “That deceased woman in a shopping cart was covered only with a blanket. We believe this may be Anthony Eugene Robinson’s fifth victim,” O’Carroll said. He added that digital evidence places Robinson in the same vicinity around the time of the victim’s disappearance. Robinson was charged in November with the deaths of Elizabeth Redmon, 54, of Harrisonburg, and Tonita Lorice Smith, 39, of Charlottesville. Investigators found their bodies a short distance from each other on November 23 in an open lot in Harrisonburg, Virginia, according to Harrisonburg police. Police said video surveillance and cell phone records connecting Robinson to Redmon and Smith led to his arrest. He is currently being held at the Rockingham County Adult Detention Center in North Carolina on two counts of first-degree murder in addition to two felony counts of concealing, transporting or altering a dead body, authorities said. CNN has reached out to the Rockingham County Adult Detention Center and to Anthony Guglielmi, Public Affairs Bureau director for the Fairfax County Police for comment. Speaking at Friday’s news conference, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said that DNA evidence has confirmed the identity of two other women believed to be Robinson’s victims. Cheyenne Brown, 29, of Washington, DC, and Stephanie Harrison, 48 of Redding, California, were found in a container near a shopping cart close to the Moon Inn motel in Alexandria, Virginia, on December 15. Authorities believe Brown had taken the metro from Washington, DC, to the Huntington Metro stop in Virginia on September 30 and never returned and Robinson may have been the last person to have contact with her, O’Carroll said in December. Police had determined Robinson was communicating with Brown through a dating website right before her disappearance and cell phone records indicated Robinson and Brown were in contact “in and around the area” of the Moon Inn motel on Richmond Highway in Alexandria, Virginia, Harrisonburg Police Chief Kelley Warner said in December. “We have found that Robinson has stayed at the Moon Inn motel on at least five other occasions, and we need to know more,” Davis said. The police chief said officials have requested the support of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Behavioral Analysis Unit to learn more about Robinson. They are also partnering with authorities in Robinson’s home state of New York as well as the Harrisonburg Police Department in Virginia. “Additionally, we are working on a victimology profile and hoping to get in contact with other women who may have interacted with Robinson,” Davis said. Police are urging anyone with information about Robinson to contact authorities immediately. “We believe there are others who have had contact with Robinson, who can provide crucial information to us about him,” Davis added.",3526.0,Mallika Kallingal
163,2022-01-08,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/07/us/ahmaud-arbery-sentencing-killers-mcmichael-bryan/index.html,Ahmaud Arbery’s killers sentenced to life in prison for 25-year-old Black man’s murder,US,CNN,"Three White men who chased and murdered 25-year-old Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery in south Georgia were sentenced to life in prison Friday, with two having no chance of parole. Travis McMichael, 35, his father, Gregory McMichael, 66, and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan were convicted in November on a raft of charges, including felony murder, for Arbery’s death. Judge Timothy Walmsley sentenced the McMIchaels to life in prison without the possibility of parole, while Bryan was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. The 52-year-old will be eligible for parole under Georgia law only after he has served 30 years in prison because he was convicted of serious violent felonies. Before handing down the sentence, Walmsley held a minute of silence, saying it “represents a fraction of the time Ahmaud Arbery was running” through the neighborhood outside Brunswick before he was killed on February 23, 2020. FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES He described the killing as a “chilling, truly disturbing scene,” telling the court, “When I thought about this, I thought from a lot of different angles. And I kept coming back to the terror that must have been in the mind of the young man running through Satilla Shores.” Arbery’s mother and father cried as the sentences were handed down, according to a pool reporter present. Gregory McMichael leaned back in his chair and appeared visibly shaken, the reporter added, after his son was sentenced. Earlier in the day, Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones delivered a victim impact statement aimed at achieving a stiffer sentence, asking the judge to impose the maximum sentence. “I made a promise to you the day I laid you to rest,” she said, speaking directly to her late son. “I told you I love you, and someday, somehow, I would get you justice.” “Son, I love you as much today as I did the day you were born. Raising you was the honor of my life, and I’m very proud of you.” The judge imposed additional prison time for each of the defendants for other felony charges. For the McMichaels, that additional time will be served concurrent to each other but consecutive to the life sentence, Walmsley ruled. As a result, both face total sentences of life without parole plus 20 years. For Bryan, Walmsley imposed additional imprisonment sentences of 10 years for his false imprisonment conviction and 5 years for his criminal attempt to commit a felony conviction. Unlike the sentence for the McMichaels, the additional sentence for Bryan totaling 15 years will be suspended, resulting in a total sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole. Sentencing, Walmsley said, “does not generally provide closure,” though that may be what Arbery’s family and the community are seeking. “Instead of closure, maybe it would be best to see today’s proceeding as an exercise in accountability,” the judge said. “We are all accountable for our own actions. Today demonstrates that everybody is accountable to the rule of law. Taking the law into your own hands is a dangerous endeavor.” At a news conference after the sentencing, Arbery’s mother was asked how important was it for her to respond to comments from Gregory McMichael’s defense attorney Laura Hogue, who called Arbery’s toenails long and dirty in her closing arguments. Cooper-Jones responded saying, “The long toenails that she brought up in her closing argument, she failed to mention that Ahmaud was laying there in the middle of the road with a big hole in his chest. She left that part out,” she said. “I didn’t want to mention that today, but I wanted to reiterate that Ahmaud was bigger, he was bigger than that.” The sprawling legal saga isn’t over: The men’s attorneys say they’ll appeal the verdicts; a federal hate crime trial is slated for next month; Arbery’s mother has filed a civil lawsuit; and the original prosecutor faces charges over her alleged handling of the case. Defense attorneys argued for leniency on behalf of their clients, who told police after the shooting that they chased Arbery because they believed he had committed a crime in their neighborhood. The defendants, their attorneys argued Friday, were upstanding members of their communities who had made mistakes, but whose actions did not deserve among the harshest possible sentences. Travis McMichael is a “devoted father,” said his attorney Robert Rubin, and a “hard worker,” who thought he was doing the right thing for his community at the time of Arbery’s killing. “Nothing in Travis McMichael’s life suggests that he’s a danger to society now, or will be a danger to society 30 years from now after he has time to think, to work, to grow,” Rubin said. “When he’s in his 60s, older than me right now, do we still need, want a person like Travis McMichael behind bars?” Hogue similarly asked for life with parole for her client, arguing he was a good man and Arbery’s death was an unintended consequence of his actions. “If life without parole is a sentence that is held for only the worst of the worst, it simply can’t be a sentence for a person who never intended that tragic result that took place on February 23, (2020),” she said. Attorney Kevin Gough distinguished Bryan, his client, from the McMichaels. Bryan did not know what was happening when he joined the pursuit of Arbery, Gough argued, nor did he have a weapon with him. And after Arbery was dead, he cooperated with law enforcement, Gough said. “I think it is readily clear that while Mr. Bryan has disputed and continues to dispute whether things that he did that day constituted crimes, he has never questioned the tragedy of this death,” Gough said. The McMichaels were armed as they gave chase that afternoon in February 2020, and Bryan later joined the pursuit, recording it from his pickup. Bryan’s video shows Travis McMichael exit his truck and confront Arbery, who tussles with Travis over a shotgun before the younger McMichael fatally shoots him. The McMichaels claimed they were conducting a citizen’s arrest and acting in self-defense. Bryan said he took no part in the killing. Authorities made no immediate arrests. The men were so confident in their defense, they had Bryan’s video released to the public in May 2020, according to criminal defense attorney Alan Tucker. It helped spell their undoing. The 36-second video sparked outrage that soon dovetailed with outcries over the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky. At trial, prosecutor Linda Dunikoski ripped holes in the self-defense and citizen’s arrest claims, emphasizing Travis McMichael acknowledged never seeing Arbery armed and never hearing Arbery threaten anyone. She pointed out inconsistencies between his testimony and what he initially told investigators, spurring him to testify he was “mixed up” and traumatized when police arrived. Dunikoski pointedly questioned how Arbery could be an aggressor when he was unarmed on foot and repeatedly tried to elude three men, two of them armed, in trucks. Judge Walmsley said Friday that Arbery was “hunted down and shot” by a group of individuals who had taken the law into their own hands. “Remorse I think can be determined by looking at somebody’s reaction to difficult circumstances and the reality of the situation that they’re in … Remorse is something that’s felt and demonstrated,” the judge said. “In this case, getting back to the video, again, after Ahmaud Arbery fell, the McMichaels turned their backs … and they walked away.” “This was a killing – it was callous,” he said, “and it occurred, as far as the court is concerned, based upon the evidence, because confrontation was being sought.” A jury of nine White women, two White men and one Black man heard from 23 witnesses over eight days. During 11 hours of deliberation, jurors asked to see two clips of the video. Travis McMichael was convicted on all counts: malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, one count of false imprisonment and one count of criminal attempt to commit a felony. His father was convicted on all counts except malice murder, and Bryan was found guilty of all charges aside from malice murder, one felony murder count and one aggravated assault count. Following the verdicts, Travis McMichael’s attorneys said their client is “sorry for what happened to Ahmaud Arbery,” and they plan to appeal. One of the father’s attorneys, Laura Hogue, was “floored” by the verdict and intends to appeal, she said. Bryan’s attorney, Kevin Gough, said he feels “appellate courts will reverse this conviction.” Race was a steady factor, and not solely because of the defendants’ and Arbery’s skin tones. Walmsley expressed concern about the jury’s makeup, and Gough and Hogue were accused of making insensitive remarks, with the latter accused of dehumanizing Arbery by raising his “long, dirty toenails” during closing arguments. During her victim impact statement on Friday, Arbery’s mother brought up her son’s toenails in an overt nod to Hogue’s comment. “He was messy. He sometimes refused to wear socks or take good care of his good clothing. I wish he would have cut and cleaned his toenails before he went out for that jog that day,” Cooper-Jones said during her statement. “I guess he would have if he knew he would be murdered.” During jury selection, Gough complained of a dearth of older White men without college degrees. Glynn County is 69% White and 27% Black. Race could be a component of the appeals process, as Gough repeatedly called for mistrials because prominent Black pastors accompanied the family in the courtroom and attended a “Prayer Wall” outside the courthouse during trial. Dunikoski alleged Gough’s complaints about Black pastors in the courtroom led to the Prayer Wall. “That is good lawyering right there because now he’s motioned for a mistrial based on something that he caused,” she said. Later, Dunikoski added Gough “intentionally and strategically, I believe, did what he did in an effort to attempt to insert potentially some error into the case in case he lost the case and it went up on appeal.” The defendants have maintained their innocence on federal hate crime charges, including interference with rights and attempted kidnapping. The McMichaels were also charged with using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence; and Travis McMichael was charged with discharging a firearm. Federal prosecutors say the defendants “used force and threats of force to intimidate and interfere with Arbery’s right to use a public street because of his race.” “We are deeply disappointed that the Justice Department bought the false narrative that the media and state prosecutors have promulgated,” Travis McMichael’s defense team said. The federal trial is scheduled for February 7, one month after the men’s sentencing. Because they’ve remained at Glynn County Detention Center since their arrest, there’s been no federal bond hearing. If convicted on the weapons charges or interference with rights counts, they face additional penalties of up to life in prison with possible six-figure fines. Federal prosecutors asked Arbery’s mother if she would consider a plea deal for the men who killed her son, her attorney told CNN Friday. She declined. Arbery’s mom has also filed a civil lawsuit targeting the men and police and prosecutorial officials. Among the officials is former District Attorney Jackie Johnson, who lost her November 2020 reelection bid after a decade overseeing the five-county circuit. Following Arbery’s shooting, Gregory McMichael called Johnson, for whom he worked as an investigator until 2019, saying he needed advice. Glynn County police officers who responded to the scene also reached out to Johnson for advice. No one was arrested for two and a half months. Johnson was indicted in September on counts of violating her oath of office and hindering law enforcement. She’s accused of directing officers not to arrest Travis McMichael, “contrary to the laws of said State” and “showing favor and affection to Greg McMichael during the investigation,” according to the indictment. She recused herself from the case the day after the killing, citing her connection to Gregory McMichael. CNN’s attempts to reach Johnson have been unsuccessful. She denied any wrongdoing in an October 2020 debate during her reelection campaign, saying, “It is a tragedy for the family. I’m sorry how things happened. I’m sorry that a lie got started and I could not turn it back.”",12541.0,Dakin Andone
164,2022-01-08,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/07/us/connecticut-high-school-hockey-player-death/index.html,High school hockey player dies from injury suffered during a game,US,CNN,"A high school hockey player in Connecticut has died after a collision during a game. The player fell to the ice during a game against Brunswick School in Greenwich on Thursday, according to Greenwich Police Captain Mark Zuccerella. The Brunswick player was near him and unable to stop. The two players collided, and the player already on the ice suffered the injury. The young man was transported to Greenwich Hospital, where he later died as a result of the injury, Zuccerella said. The player has been identified as sophomore Teddy Balkind, according to the New Canaan Police Department (NCPD). The NCPD posted on Facebook about St. Luke School’s ‘tragic loss’ during a game with Brunswick High School in Greenwich. “Teddy skated for the New Canaan Winter Club throughout his youth hockey career and was known to all as an all around incredible young man, son and brother,” the post said. “The men and women of the New Canaan Police Department offer our deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers to the Balkind family and all of those impacted by this tragic incident.” In a statement to CNN, Mark Davis, head of St. Luke’s School in New Canaan, confirmed the player who died was from his school. “Our community is mourning,” Davis said. “Yesterday, we lost a precious young man in a tragic accident. Both St. Luke’s School and Brunswick School are in shock as we work to support our students and families. St. Luke’s singular focus at this moment is to care for our devastated community. Thank you for your concern and for respecting our need to grieve.” “We are saddened beyond words,” Thomas W. Philip, head of Brunswick School, told CNN. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the boy, the players and coaches on both teams, the entirety of the St Luke’s School community, and our own students and families.”",1824.0,Jenn Selva
165,2022-01-08,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/08/us/new-york-police-tase-man-investigation/index.html,The death of a man who caught on fire after being tased by police in New York is under investigation,US,CNN,"The New York attorney general’s office is investigating an incident in which a man died weeks after catching fire when police tased him while he was covered in hand sanitizer, new videos released on Friday by the attorney general’s office show. In the first of two videos dated October 30, 2021 – which were released without audio – a man identified as 29-year-old Jason Jones is seen interacting with two police officers in the lobby of the Catskill Police Department in Greene County, New York. Jones appears to be agitated in his interactions with the officers, and at one point is seen taking off his sweater and ripping his shirt off while pacing around the lobby and trying to open a door, the video shows. More than halfway through the first video, a third officer walks into the lobby and all four men are seen speaking together while a shirtless Jones continues to pace around the lobby. In the second video, Jones is seen squirting what appears to be hand sanitizer on his head and shirtless body. Jones then goes off screen, at which point one of the officers is seen pointing a Taser at him and then deploys his weapon. Jones is engulfed in flames and then falls to the floor as all of the officers exit the lobby, leaving Jones alone in the room and on fire. Nearly 14 seconds later, one of the officers returns to help Jones, just after Jones’ hair catches fire and burst in flames and his head is seen engulfed. A stretcher is brought in approximately 15 minutes later, according to the video, and Jones is then seen wheeled out of the lobby. Jones spent 45 days at a Syracuse hospital ICU before dying from his injuries on December 15, 2021, his attorney Kevin Luibrand told CNN Friday night. CNN has reached out to the Catskill Police Department and Greene County District Attorney Joseph Stanzione for comment. Jones was drinking at a bar half a block from the police station before the incident, according to Luibrand. Things had gotten a bit rowdy while Jones was at the bar and police asked him to leave. “Jason didn’t like the way the officers handled the situation at the bar so he went down to the police station to talk about it,” Luibrand explained. “Jason was clearly having an emotional issue when he was at the police station lobby,” Luibrand said. “He was not harming anyone or threatening anyone.” The police officers knew Jones because it was a small town, Luibrand said. Jones was a star athlete at his high school in the Catskills and a sectional champion for shot put and discus, he said. “He was a highly regarded guy and comes from a working-class family,” Luibrand said, adding he was working at a local store where he helped sell and deliver tents for outdoor events at the time of the incident. Most effective hand sanitizers used to prevent the spread of germs and viruses contain ethyl alcohol, a highly flammable liquid that “readily evaporates at room temperature into an ignitable vapor,” according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the CDC says the likelihood of hand sanitizer catching on fire is low, the Taser employed by the Catskill police officer likely ignited the hand sanitizer solution that Jones was seen putting on his head and body and set his body on fire. The Office of Special Investigation (OSI) is conducting the investigation, according to a statement from Attorney General Letitia James’ office. The OSI looks into every case where a police officer may have caused a person’s death. The attorney general’s office says it released the video to be transparent with the public.",3569.0,Artemis Moshtaghian
166,2022-01-08,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/08/us/seattle-rescue-man-trapped-house-landslide/index.html,Man rescued after house slides off its foundation in Seattle following heavy rain,US,CNN,"Seattle firefighters rescued a man trapped in the basement of his house after it “slid 15-20 feet off its foundation” during a landslide, authorities said Friday. “The steep slope area behind the house had slid likely as a result of high levels of precipitation which resulted in the top floor of the structure partially collapsing on top of the daylight basement,” the Seattle Fire Department said in a statement. When firefighters arrived to the Magnolia neighborhood, they received reports a man was “trapped inside, along with a fire involving propane tanks on the back side of the house.” A woman who was in the home “was able to escape on her own,” said the statement. SFD crews “utilized hydraulic struts to shore the structure” and rescue the man who “was pinned underneath debris” in the basement, the release said. Firefighters had “to simultaneously work to extinguish a fire while” the resident was “trapped inside,” SFD said. The man and woman were transported to Harborview Medical Center, said the release. Details on the extent of their injuries were not provided. “Crews also searched the structure for two missing dogs; unfortunately one was found deceased and the other was not located,” said SFD. The region has received record amounts of precipitation. On Thursday, several cities in Washington broke rainfall records, the National Weather Service said. Residents living in the Skokomish Valley area of Mason County – about 40 miles southwest of downtown Seattle – are under an evacuation order due to rising water and “imminent flooding,” the county said in a news release. The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections reminded residents Friday on Twitter that “the heavy rains we’re getting increase the chances of a landslide.” “Crews responded to slides across King County today,” the county’s road services department stated. The rain and snow is expected to stick around for much of the Pacific Northwest through Saturday before conditions alleviate Sunday.",1994.0,Melissa Alonso
167,2022-01-07,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/06/us/chicago-schools-parents-teacher-union-thursday/index.html,Chicago principals say they were blindsided by announcement some schools might offer in-person learning Friday,US,CNN,"As school district officials and the teachers union continue to negotiate a return to classrooms, Chicago Public Schools announced Thursday that while most schools will be closed again Friday, a few will have in-person learning and activities. The announcement appeared to catch principals off-guard. The district tweeted Thursday evening that in-person learning and activities may be available “at a small number of schools” on Friday. “Please do not plan on sending your child to school unless you hear from your child’s principal,” the district said. The Chicago Principals & Administrators Association said it was “blindsided” by the announcement. “Principals don’t determine the resources and conditions that leave some schools ready to open and others unable to,” it said. “Principals do not want the demoralizing task of telling one school community why it cannot open while others can,” the group wrote, citing input from more than a hundred principals and assistant principals. According to the letter, principals met with the school district Wednesday morning, during which they were told schools would not only be closed Thursday and Friday but that if Chicago Public Schools were to go remote or hybrid, it would start on Monday and end on Friday, January 14. The school district has not publicly released any such plans. But according to the letter, district officials reiterated to principals “multiple times” that schools would be closed Thursday and Friday. “To tell principals schools would be closed this week, and then blindside us just a few hours later with a public statement that principals will decide to either open or close our schools on Friday is offensive and unsafe,” the letter says. According to a news release that includes the letter, 75% of administrators agreed in a survey sent Monday that the school system should go remote for one or two weeks and in that time “ensure the districtwide return to in-person learning is safe.” But many were concerned about the part of the question that implied schools could open on an individual basis. The Chicago Public Schools said that one out of 10 teachers had shown up to schools “ready to work” on Wednesday and that one of of eight showed up Thursday. CNN has reached out to Chicago Public Schools for comment on the principals’ letter but has not gotten a response. The rift between the nation’s third-largest school district and its teachers echoes a debate playing out across the country amid a Covid-19 surge fueled by the Omicron variant: When and how should students return to the classroom? Some frustrated parents feel they and their children are stuck between both sides. “We don’t know how to plan out the next 24 hours, let alone the next 24 days,” parent Nolberto Casas told CNN on Thursday. “They point the fingers at the district, then they point the fingers at the teachers,” said Casas, who wants students to be learning in-person. “I’m pointing the finger at my child, because he’s the one who ends up losing out in this whole argument.” In-person learning had resumed Monday, but the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) voted Tuesday night to teach virtually instead. The union has said conditions for in-person learning were unsafe, citing inadequate staffing and testing as new Covid-19 cases and new hospitalizations among children reached record highs. Chicago Public Schools, which has about 340,000 students, responded by canceling school, insisting children needed to return to classrooms. The district said its schools were safe. Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Allison Arwady told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that while she understands that teachers are worried, schools are not the source of Covid-19 spread, adding that remote learning “is not likely to be something that we can keep returning to over and over again.” On Tuesday, the last day classes were held, the school system reported 422 new Covid-19 cases among students and 271 new cases among adults – both record highs for the academic year. Union President Jesse Sharkey indicated Wednesday teachers might not return to classrooms until January 18 if the stalemate continues. Teachers may return earlier if the surge subsides or the union reaches an agreement with city officials, he said. In a joint statement, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez said Thursday’s negotiations were “productive.” Meantime, some parents say they are dissatisfied with both the union and the city. “I am very disappointed in the Chicago Teachers Union for the fearmongering tactics and negative rhetoric regarding this vote,” said Carolina Barrera Tobón, a parent of a first-grader and third-grader in the district. “I am equally disappointed in the CPS CEO and our mayor.” ‘“CPS has dropped the ball on so many important decisions and the implementation of safety procedures,” she said. “And I honestly do not trust the teachers union to stay remote for only two weeks after their continued spread of misinformation regarding the safety of our schools.” Ryan Griffin, another parent and founder of the Chicago Parents Collective, which pushes for in-person learning, pointed to public health officials who have emphasized the importance of having students in class “above all else.” “Instead of being surgical and quarantining certain classes at certain schools where spread in the community is high, they are closing down 550 schools serving 340,000 students,” he said. “That is not the right approach; that’s putting a sledgehammer and chaos into a big district.”",5550.0,Dakin Andone
168,2022-01-07,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/06/us/unpublished-manuscripts-man-charged/index.html,Man arrested at JFK Airport is accused of impersonating people in the publishing industry to obtain unpublished manuscripts,US,CNN,"An Italian citizen who allegedly impersonated people in the publishing industry to get manuscripts of upcoming books, including one from a Pulitzer Prize winner, was arrested Wednesday at John F. Kennedy International Airport, a federal prosecutor’s office announced. Filippo Bernardini, 29, who is from London and works in the publishing industry, was indicted by a grand jury on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. It was not immediately clear if Bernardini has an attorney. In 2016, Bernardini allegedly began creating fake email accounts and registered more than 160 internet domains that were purposefully crafted to be confusingly similar to real entities, according to the indictment. Minor typographical errors were allegedly utilized by Bernardini in creating his fake accounts, which made it challenging for recipients to identify them. “Filippo Bernardini allegedly impersonated publishing industry individuals in order to have authors, including a Pulitzer prize winner, send him prepublication manuscripts for his own benefit,” said Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York in a news release. “We allege Mr. Bernardini used his insider knowledge of the industry to get authors to send him their unpublished books and texts,” said Michael J. Driscoll, the assistant director-in-charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Such pirating can also undermine the secondary markets for published work, such as film and television, and can harm an author’s reputation where an early draft of written material is distributed in a working form that is not in a finished state,” the release said. Bernardini was set to appear Thursday in federal court in Manhattan.",1819.0,Sahar Akbarzai
169,2022-01-07,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/07/us/philadelphia-deadly-fire-friday/index.html,Investigators are determining if a child under 5 years old with a lighter may have caused a deadly fire in Philadelphia,US,CNN,"Investigators are working to determine the cause behind a deadly fire in Philadelphia that took the lives of 12 people on Wednesday. One avenue being pursued is whether a child under the age of 5 playing with a lighter under a tree could have sparked the blaze, according to Jane Roh, spokesperson for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office. Other potential causes are also being examined, Roh said, and there are currently no plans to bring charges against anyone in relation to the fire. Firefighters responded to flames around 6:40 a.m. Wednesday at a three-story row house that had been legally divided into two apartments, officials said. Responders found “heavy fire” in a kitchen area at the front of the second floor of the building, officials said. There was “nothing slowing that fire from moving,” said Philadelphia Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy, who told reporters during a news conference Thursday that city police and the ATF Philadelphia branch were assisting with the investigation. “It’s a very traumatic scene, it’s a very complex investigation,” said Fire Deputy Chief Dennis Merrigan with the Philadelphia Fire Marshal’s Office. “It’s something that would challenge us if we had to do it on our own.” The home is owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, a municipal agency that leases homes to people with low income. Three sisters and all but one of their 10 children died due to the fire, their family said. Rosalee McDonald, 33; Virginia Thomas, 30, and Quinsha White, 18, were killed, according to their cousins Frank and Pamela McDonald. Six of Rosalee McDonald’s children and three of Thomas’ children also died in the fire. The ages of their children were not given. Thomas’ 5-year-old son survived, her cousin told CNN. A GoFundMe page has been established to help pay for funeral expenses. The women who died were very close and had lived together in the apartment since they were teenagers, their family said. “They were both good people, good mothers and were very family-oriented,” Frank McDonald told CNN. “Rosalee was one of the best people you could ever meet. She was very supportive – they both were. They came down to help me with my business when I opened it.” Qaadira Purifoy told CNN affiliate KYW-TV that many of those who died were family members. “Losing sisters, I never thought this would happen,” Purifoy said. “Sisters, nieces and nephews.” One of the apartments was on the second and third floors, and the other was on the first floor. Debra Jackson’s sister was able to escape the home’s first floor with three of her children, she told KYW. “Two of her sons got burned, she probably is just smoke inhalation. But thank God that they’re alive,” Jackson said. “My heart goes out to the family that lost all their family.” Philadelphia’s school district said Wednesday it was working with City Council President Darrell Clarke to set up a fund to help the affected families. Some of the children who died were students in city schools, the district said, without saying how many. The district said it also has made counseling and support services available for grieving students. The home had been legally divided into two apartments since the 1950s and has had no violations, according to a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections. Murphy, the fire official, initially told reporters that four smoke detectors were in the building, “and none of them operated.” Murphy later indicated that Philadelphia Housing Authority records show that at least six battery-operated smoke detectors had been installed there from 2019 to 2020. However, Dinesh Indala, PHA’s senior executive vice president of operations, said the agency had different information about the detectors. Unit A of the apartment had seven smoke detectors and three carbon monoxide detectors at its last inspection, Indala said Thursday. Unit B had six functional smoke detectors and three functional carbon monoxide detectors as of its last inspection in May 2021, Indala said. Two batteries and two smoke detectors were replaced in 2021, Indala said. Smoke detectors also were replaced in the B unit in an inspection in September 2019, according to Indala. “When we last conducted our inspection, the smoke detectors were, in fact, working,” Jeremiah, the PHA CEO, said. “If the fire marshal determined, as a result of this fire, that they were not, in fact, working or they were not, in fact, operational, it would be that they were tampered with or the batteries were somehow removed. We don’t go into units and remove batteries.” Faulty smoke detectors are treated as emergencies and are replaced in 24 hours if requested, Indala said, and the authority does inspections annually. “Every time we come in for an inspection, as is evident from the last one, we had to replace two batteries, replace the smoke detectors. And these are 10-year smoke detectors, so that’s something we run into quite often on our properties,” Indala said.",4999.0,Mark Morales
170,2022-01-07,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/07/us/ethan-crumbley-michigan-school-shooter-hearing/index.html,Judge denies request to lower bond for parents of Michigan school shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley,US,CNN,"A judge Friday denied a request by the parents of Michigan high school shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley to reduce their bond from $500,000 each, citing among other things their initial failure to turn themselves in. Attorneys for James and Jennifer Crumbley – charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deadly November shooting at Oxford High School – had asked the judge to reduce the bond to $100,000 each. Oakland County Judge Julie Nicholson denied the request after a hearing attended by the couple through video conference, each from separate rooms in jail. Prosecutors argued the couple were a flight risk, partly citing their December 4 arrest in a Detroit warehouse following a manhunt that began when they failed to show up to court for their initial arraignment. Nicholson said she found, among other things, the parents had family ties out of state and “did not voluntarily turn themselves in – instead, they were found in an abandoned building in the city of Detroit.” Ethan Crumbley, 15, is accused of opening fire at Oxford High School with a 9mm handgun on November 30, killing four students and injuring six others and one teacher. The attack, some 40 miles north of downtown Detroit, was the deadliest shooting at a US K-12 campus since 2018. Ethan Crumbley is jailed and charged with one count of terrorism causing death, four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, and 12 counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Crumbley’s parents were charged with manslaughter and have pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors have accused them of giving their son easy access to the gun and disregarding signs that he was a threat. CNN reached out to their attorney for comment after Friday’s hearing. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for February 8. Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17, died in the shooting, authorities said. Earlier Friday, Ethan Crumbley waived his right to a preliminary examination Friday, nudging the case toward trial without prosecutors needing to first persuade a judge they have probable cause to try him. The teen, wearing an orange jail shirt and a mask, appeared before an Oakland County Judge Nancy Carniak in a video conference and said he understood his decision and his rights. Prosecutors agreed to the waiver, and Carniak said she would bind the case to court for trial, and a hearing would be held within the next two weeks to assign a judge. At his arraignment last month, the judge entered a plea of not guilty per a request from Crumbley’s attorney. In a preliminary examination a judge would have had to decide – before moving the case to trial – whether prosecutors had probable cause to show a crime had been committed and that the defendant committed the crime. Neither prosecutors nor Crumbley’s representatives explained during Friday’s proceeding why they wanted to waive the preliminary hearing. On Friday, Carniak said Crumbley’s bail would be addressed in the next two weeks, pursuant to a newly enacted federal statute. The preliminary hearing initially was postponed last month after prosecutors said they needed more time to examine a large amount of evidence before sharing it with defense attorneys. Prosecutor Marc Keast told the court Friday the parents were negligent in taking care of concerning issues that came up with their son well before November 30. Their son allegedly texted his mother while his parents were not home, saying he saw demons or ghosts, or that he believed someone was inside the house, Keast said. He said sometimes Jennifer would not respond for hours to her son’s texts. Evidence was recovered that showed in May 2021, Ethan Crumbley allegedly killed and tortured animals near and in his home, and even kept the severed head of a bird in a jar for over six months, Keast said. Prosecutors added it appeared the teenager was creating Molotov cocktails at their home. His notebooks had a lot of concerning content as well, talking about how he wanted to shoot guns, shoot up a school and other dark thoughts, Keast said. Some of his drawings also included drawings of a gun very similar in appearance to the one used in the shooting, which prosecutors have alleged was an early Christmas present, Keast added. Crumbley’s obsession with guns and what he wanted to do with them was apparent in his notebooks and internet search history, Keast said. He said Crumbley searched online about guns and school shootings so much that he started to get spam advertisements regarding guns and mental health. He frequently bragged on social media about wanting or having a firearm, and shot a video in August 2021 where the teen was holding James Crumbley’s .22-caliber Caltech pistol in one hand and bullets in a magazine in another, where he made a joke about doing a school shooting, Keast said. “He demonstrated one real passion in life, and that was firearms,” Keast told the court. “His parents obviously know what had been directly told to them, but they did not intervene. They did not schedule therapy; they did not investigate what might be in his room or his phone or his browser history.” Both parents could be seen repeatedly shaking their heads while prosecutors outlined their evidence. Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald has said James Crumbley purchased the gun used in the shooting four days prior to the deadly tragedy. Ethan Crumbley “had total access to this weapon,” and the parents “didn’t secure (the gun) and they allowed him free access to it,” McDonald said during the parents’ December 4 arraignment. One of the parents’ attorneys, Shannon Smith, countered during the hearing, saying, “The gun was actually locked.” “When the prosecution is stating that this child had free access to a gun, that is just absolutely not true,” Smith said. McDonald has alleged that the day before the shooting, a teacher at Oxford High School saw Ethan Crumbley searching online for ammunition on his phone. The teacher notified school officials, who contacted the parents via phone and email, but they did not respond. Later, Jennifer Crumbley sent her son a text message saying, “LOL I’m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught,” McDonald said. On the day of the shooting, another teacher found a drawing on Crumbley’s desk that essentially depicted a shooting, McDonald said. It “alarmed her to the point that she took a picture of it on her cell phone,” the prosecutor said. The picture led school officials to hold a meeting with the accused shooter and his parents, When the parents were called that day, Jennifer asked if James could just call in, and she was told by the school they had called him but only heard “dead air,” Keast told the court Friday. Both parents ultimately showed up at the school. After the school discussed their concern over the teen’s drawings, the parents said neither of them could take him home, he continued. Jennifer then allegedly said, “Are we done here?” which is when the school said they had 48 hours to call a therapist, according to Keast’s account of events. The parents resisted the idea of taking their son out of school, McDonald said in December, and he was allowed to return to the classroom. The shooting happened several hours later, but prosecutors say neither parent went home to check where the gun was. When they found out about the shooting, James Crumbley called 911 to report the gun missing and Jennifer Crumbley told her son not to do it. Jennifer also texted a coworker around the same time saying she was concerned the teen was responsible, Keast said. Several hours after the shooting the parents checked into a hotel and started arranging the sale of their horses,  McDonald said Friday. They also took out a significant amount of cash and cleared out their son’s bank account of over $3,000, as well as buying four cellphones, she said. McDonald also said there is ample evidence showing the parents either lacked concern or avoided turning themselves altogether on the day they were charged. When they were ultimately found in the Detroit warehouse, there was clear proof they were hiding from the police and had provisions to stay, McDonald said, and were found with $6,600 in cash, 10 credit cards and some gift cards. Surveillance cameras at the school captured much of the violence, prosecutors have said. Just before 12:51 p.m. on the day of the shooting, Ethan Crumbley could be seen with a backpack, then a minute or two later, he exited a bathroom without the backpack but with a gun in hand, Keast said during Crumbley’s December 1 arraignment. Crumbley then allegedly began to “methodically and deliberately” walk the hallways and aim a gun at students and fire the weapon, Keast said. When students began to run away, Crumbley allegedly continued to go down the hallway at a “methodical pace” and shot inside classrooms and at students who hadn’t escaped, Keast said. This continued for another four or five minutes, and Crumbley eventually went to another bathroom, Keast said. Dozens of terrified students called 911 during the shooting. When deputies arrived, the suspect set down the gun and surrendered, officials have said.",9252.0,Jason Hanna
171,2022-01-07,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/06/us/tennessee-fire-planned-parenthood-new-years-eve/index.html,"New Year’s Eve fire at Planned Parenthood facility in Tennessee was arson, officials say",US,CNN,"The fire that destroyed a Planned Parenthood facility in Tennessee on New Year’s Eve was intentionally set, the Knoxville Fire Department said Thursday. The fire took place just after 6:30 a.m. on New Year’s Eve when firefighters responded to the facility with nine firefighting units and 30 fire department members. The blaze completely destroyed the building, the department said, calling it a “total loss.” The building was being renovated at the time of the fire, so it was closed for business and no injuries were reported, according to the fire department. “Knoxville Fire Department investigators, along with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), have conducted a thorough scene investigation of the December 31st 710 N. Cherry Street - Planned Parenthood fire and determined the fire to have been purposely set by an individual or individuals who, at this time, remain unidentified,” the fire department said in a statement. Authorities have offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the prosecution of anyone involved in the fire. Planned Parenthood has more than 600 health centers across the US, providing a range of reproductive health services, including abortion. The arson wasn’t the first time the Knoxville facility was targeted. On January 22, 2021 – the anniversary of the landmark Roe v Wade abortion ruling by the Supreme Court – someone shot out the front glass door of the facility and bullet holes were also found throughout the back of the front reception area, according to Knoxville police. The fire comes amid a nationwide debate on abortion that is playing out in US courts. Just recently, abortion providers asked the Supreme Court to require a conservative federal appeals court to return their challenge to Texas’ six-week abortion ban to a district court judge who previously ruled in their favor. Planned Parenthood described the arson as appalling and said it would rebuild. “While the investigation continues, Planned Parenthood now turns towards recovery and renewal,” said Ashley Coffield, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi. “Our priority is to establish a safe operating site and reconvene services for our patients as soon as we possibly can. Although it will take time to rebuild, we are committed to our patients in East Tennessee and will not let this attack take away the essential health care services on which they rely,” Coffield said. Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the attack was about more than the building itself. “It must be made clear that these hateful acts go much further than property damage — they harm the patients who depend on safe Planned Parenthood health centers, staff, and providers to receive trusted, essential health care services,” she said.",2874.0,Chris Boyette
172,2022-01-07,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/06/us/winter-weather-gridlocks-kentucky-interstate-trnd/index.html,Winter weather in Kentucky halts roadways as authorities work to clear a pile-up with over 20 vehicles,US,CNN,"Kentucky State Police is working to clear what they say is a more than 20-car pile-up on the Western Kentucky Parkway due to winter weather conditions. Drivers told CNN that they have been stuck anywhere from four to five hours, moving very little or not at all. State Police Public Information Officer Scotty Sharp told CNN that the parkway is closed in both directions near mile marker 131 in Elizabethtown. “The only injuries being reported at this time are minor non life threatening,” Sharp said, adding that the highways are covered in snow with a temperature of 20 degrees. “I have no doubt that there is ice under that snow, and the snow is still coming down,” he said. Elizabethtown Police Department said in a Facebook post: “We cannot emphasize strongly enough that road conditions are BAD and rapidly getting worst.” Brad Herrman, a traveler waiting for the traffic to pass, told CNN that he has been stuck for five hours and only moved about a mile. “I opened the door and stepped out to take the picture and my eyes started burning from all the car exhaust fumes,” Herrman said. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has declared a state of emergency following heavy snowfall across the commonwealth. “We are urging Kentuckians to stay off the roads if possible. The weather we are continuing to see across Kentucky is dangerous,” Beshear said in the statement. Nearly 100 million people have been impacted Thursday as multiple storm systems moved across the United States, hitting both sides of the country and plunging temperatures.",1541.0,Lauren M. Johnson
173,2022-01-07,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/06/us/what-we-know-philadelphia-house-fire/index.html,A fire at a Philadelphia home converted into 2 apartments left 12 dead. Here’s what we know,US,CNN,"The flames erupted before sunrise Wednesday and the sound of emergency sirens alerted neighbors in the Fairmount area of Philadelphia that something was wrong. Shortly after, the devastating scale was clear: 12 people, including children, had died in a fire at a row home. “It was terrible,” Philadelphia Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy said of the scene. “This is probably one of the worst fires I ever been to.” Firefighters faced heavy smoke, heat and limited visibility on all floors when they entered the building, a news release from the city said. Rescuers pulled a child from the building, who did not survive, and two other people were taken to hospitals, officials said. Eight people were able to escape by themselves, Murphy said. “This is without a doubt one of the most tragic days in our city’s history – loss of so many people in such a tragic way,” Mayor Jim Kenney said Wednesday morning. “Losing so many kids is just devastating. … Keep these babies in your prayers.” Here’s what we know about the tragedy and the investigation: Family members told CNN three women and nine children were victims in the deadly fire. Sisters Rosalee McDonald, 33, Virginia Thomas, 30, and Quinsha White, 18, were killed. Six of McDonald’s children and three of Thomas’ children also died in the fire, according to their families. The ages of their children were not given. Thomas’ 5-year-old son survived, her cousin told CNN. A city news release initially said eight children and four adults were killed in the fire. “They were both good people, good mothers and were very family-oriented,” Frank McDonald told CNN. “Rosalee was one of the best people you could ever meet. She was very supportive – they both were. They came down to help me with my business when I opened it.” Qaadira Purifoy said her family suffered an unimaginable loss. Two of her sisters and four of her nieces and nephews died in the fire, she told CNN affiliate KYW-TV. “Losing sisters, I never thought this would happen,” Purifoy said. “Sisters, nieces and nephews.” Debra Jackson’s sister was able to escape the home’s first floor with three of her children, she told KYW-TV. “Two of her sons got burned, she probably is just smoke inhalation. But thank God that they’re alive,” Jackson said. “My heart goes out to the family that lost all their family.” Philadelphia’s school district said Wednesday it was working with City Council President Darrell Clarke to set up a fund to help the affected families. Some of the children who died were students in city schools, the district said, without saying how many. The district said it also has made counseling and support services available for grieving students. Neighbors and others – some sobbing – gathered outside the burned row house as firefighters and police worked the scene Wednesday morning, CNN affiliate WPVI reported. Bill Richards, who said he’s lived on the block for 24 years, told WPVI that before he knew of the fire, he heard a woman yell, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” He then heard fire trucks and went outside. “It’s very upsetting,” Richards told WPVI. “I just can’t wrap myself around it.” Richards described the area as “a very family-oriented neighborhood.” “We’ll help each other get through the grief,” he said. The fire took place at a home that records show is owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, a municipal agency that leases homes to people with low income. It was a row home that had been legally subdivided into two apartments since the 1950s and has had no violations, according to a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections. The building, according to records, was estimated to have been built in 1920. Officials with the Philadelphia Housing Authority said Thursday there were 20 people living between the two subdivided units in the row home, despite fire officials saying Wednesday there were 26. “I don’t know how they were able to ascertain that,” said Kelvin A. Jeremiah, PHA president and CEO. “The authorized number of residents would be the folks who are indicated on our leases, and in both of those units the combined total should be 20 – six and 14.” In 2011, three people moved into Unit A and six into Unit B. In the four-bedroom unit B, the family grew between 2011 and 2021, with at least eight children added to the household, Jeremiah said. Jeremiah described the family in Unit B as a multi-generational family consisting of a grandmother, her three daughters and their children. The family wanted to stay together and the PHA does not have occupancy limits. “Our policies and procedures do not evict people because they have children,” Jeremiah said. “We don’t remove them because their families are growing.” Firefighters responded to flames around 6:40 a.m. Wednesday and found “heavy fire” in a kitchen area at the front of the second floor, officials said. There was “nothing slowing that fire from moving,” Murphy, the fire commissioner, noted. Investigators are trying to determine if a child under the age of 5 playing with a lighter under a tree was the cause of the deadly fire, according to Jane Roh, spokesperson for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office. This is just one avenue investigators are pursuing, among other leads, Roh said, and there are currently no plans to bring charges against anyone in relation to the fire. Neither PHA nor fire officials would comment on the suspected cause of the fire Thursday. Murphy told reporters during a news conference Thursday that the Philadelphia Police Department and the ATF Philadelphia branch were assisting with the investigation. “It’s a very traumatic scene, it’s a very complex investigation,” said Fire Deputy Chief Dennis Merrigan with the Philadelphia Fire Marshal’s Office. “It’s something that would challenge us if we had to do it on our own.” Matthew Varisco, ATF special agent in charge, said there will be no expense spared in the investigation. The resources that will be deployed, Merrigan said, include laser scanners. “It’s like 3D cameras. As opposed to taking hundreds and hundreds of still pictures, we’re going to scan the entire room, that way it’s almost like a virtual reality. We can take that scene later, go back and look at the computer and look at it in extreme detail,” he said. The city “owes it to the victims, the survivors, and to all Philadelphians to conduct a thorough investigation into this travesty, so that we can make sure it never happens again,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said. Murphy initially told reporters that four smoke detectors were in the building, “and none of them operated.” Murphy later indicated that Philadelphia Housing Authority records show that at least six battery-operated smoke detectors had been installed there from 2019 to 2020. However, Dinesh Indala, PHA’s senior executive vice president of operations, said the agency had different information about the detectors. Unit A of the apartment had seven smoke detectors and three carbon monoxide detectors at its last inspection, Indala said Thursday. Unit B had six functional smoke detectors and three functional carbon monoxide detectors as of its last inspection in May 2021, Indala said. Two batteries and two smoke detectors were replaced in 2021, Indala said. Smoke detectors also were replaced in the B unit in an inspection in September 2019, according to Indala. “When we last conducted our inspection, the smoke detectors were, in fact, working,” Jeremiah, the PHA CEO, said. “If the fire marshal determined, as a result of this fire, that they were not, in fact, working or they were not, in fact, operational, it would be that they were tampered with or the batteries were somehow removed. We don’t go into units and remove batteries.” Faulty smoke detectors are treated as emergencies and are replaced in 24 hours if requested, Indala said, and the authority does inspections annually. “Every time we come in for an inspection, as is evident from the last one, we had to replace two batteries, replace the smoke detectors. And these are 10-year smoke detectors, so that’s something we run into quite often on our properties,” Indala said.",8170.0,Taylor Romine
174,2022-01-07,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/06/us/florida-covid-19-tests-expired/index.html,"Up to 1 million rapid Covid-19 tests expired in Florida last month, state official says",US,CNN,"Amid a winter surge of coronavirus cases that sparked a nationwide scramble for tests last month, as many as 1 million unused Covid-19 rapid test kits expired in a Florida warehouse, a top state official said on Thursday. The stockpile sat idle during the fall when cases fell in Florida and demand was low, Florida Department of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said during a news conference. The kits, manufactured by Abbott Laboratories, expired “before December 26 to December 30,” Guthrie said, just as the state experienced a wave of new coronavirus cases driven in part by the highly contagious Omicron variant. For weeks, Floridians have waited for hours to get tested, with reports of long lines first emerging in mid-December, as the fast-spreading Omicron first appeared in the state. It is not clear if Florida could have distributed its surplus supply to other states where the tests were in greater demand. The Florida Department of Emergency Management did not immediately respond to CNN when asked if the state had considered sharing the tests before they expired. The US Department of Health and Human Services didn’t say if there was a national protocol for redistributing unused tests. State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democratic candidate for governor in Florida, first unveiled on December 30 that she had inside knowledge the state had a stock of expiring testing kits that it hadn’t distributed to clinics and providers. In a statement, she implored Gov. Ron DeSantis to give local testing sites the supply to alleviate the long lines. A Florida Department of Health official mocked Fried’s assertions on Twitter at the time. “It’s come to my attention that (Nikki Fried) needs to turn on that blinker and get back in her lane,” Jeremy Redfern wrote on December 30. When asked about Fried’s allegation on Thursday at a news conference in West Palm Beach, DeSantis said, “Kevin can talk about what they have at DEM,” and turned the microphone over to Guthrie, who confirmed 800,000 to 1 million tests had expired. Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for President Joe Biden, tweeted a clip of the exchange and wrote: “There are leaders like @POTUS working every day to further expand access to testing, and then there’s this.” Fried responded to the department’s comment on the surplus supply, saying in a statement: “It’s bad enough that Governor DeSantis has deprioritized testing with Omicron exploding across Florida, but it’s an absolute disgrace for the Governor and his communications team to have lied and covered up the massive failure of a million unused tests while Floridians wait in hours-long lines for local tests that are running out.” Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations have risen sharply in recent weeks in Florida. The state is averaging 37,563 new cases a day over the past week, according to Johns Hopkins University. This week, a new report from public health experts at the University of Florida predicted the latest outbreak will cause many more infections than past waves, “potentially infecting most of the state’s population.” While infections may be less severe, the volume of cases could still make this the second deadliest wave of the pandemic, the models suggested. Guthrie said the state has asked the federal government for a three-month extension of the expiration date of the expired tests, but has not received a response. The federal government had already extended the life of the tests for 90 days, Guthrie said. The US Food and Drug Administration did not respond to questions from CNN about the status of Florida’s request. DeSantis said even if the FDA approves an extension of the expiration date of these tests, they may not be as reliable. Abbott Laboratories did not respond to a request for comment. To ease some of the testing pressure in Florida, DeSantis announced on Thursday that his administration will distribute 1 million at-home Covid-19 tests to assisted living facilities and other elder care providers as part of his “Seniors First” strategy to the pandemic. The at-home tests will be sent to providers over the weekend, Guthrie said. Biden has vowed to make available 500 million tests to Americans for free, though White House press secretary Jen Psaki said this week that the administration is still finalizing the contracts. DeSantis criticized Biden for not acting more quickly and suggested the administration may be struggling to fulfill its promise. “I don’t know if there’s any prospect of the federal government following through,” he said. During Thursday’s White House press briefing, Psaki brushed off DeSantis’ comments as coming from “somebody who has…not exactly (been) advocating for people in his state to be vaccinated.” “If (DeSantis) wants to be a constructive part of this process then perhaps he should encourage what scientists say is the best way to save lives, prevent and reduce hospitalization, and that is getting vaccinated and getting boosted,’ Psaki said. The governor did not say how his administration acquired the tests, who manufactured them or how much they cost the state. His administration said the tests were acquired from a vendor, CDR Health, that was already working with the state. CDR Health had 300,000 CareStart Covid-19 Antigen tests on hand and was able to order another 700,000 through a supplier. DeSantis has downplayed the need to make Covid-19 tests more widely available to the general public, calling it “not a good use of resources.” “What we don’t want to do is impose those costs on society,” DeSantis said. On Thursday, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo released new guidance for testing that discouraged people without symptoms from getting tested, even if they reported a recent exposure. The goal, DeSantis said, is to make sure that people at highest risk for hospitalization or death from Covid-19 have access to tests.",5892.0,Steve Contorno
175,2022-01-06,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/05/us/philadelphia-fairmount-fire/index.html,"12 dead, including 8 children, in Philadelphia fire at house converted into apartments, officials say",US,CNN,"Philadelphia officials updated the death toll in Wednesday morning’s fire at a three-story row home that was converted into two apartments. “Fire officials now confirm that 12 people — eight children and four adults — died in the fire on N. 23rd Street. That total is one less than the number reported in an earlier news conference, when recovery operations were still ongoing,” an updated news release from the city said. Philadelphia Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy initially said 13 people were killed; two others were taken to hospitals; and eight people were able to escape by themselves. Firefighters faced heavy smoke, heat and limited visibility on all floors when they entered the building, according to the release. At least one child firefighters initially rescued did not survive, the department said. The fire took place at a home that records show is owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, a municipal agency that leases homes to people with low income. “This is without a doubt one of the most tragic days in our city’s history – loss of so many people in such a tragic way,” Mayor Jim Kenney said at a news conference late Wednesday morning. “Losing so many kids is just devastating. … Keep these babies in your prayers,” Kenney said. Firefighters responded to flames around 6:40 a.m. Wednesday at the row house at 869 N. 23rd Street in the city’s Fairmount neighborhood. Live updates: At least 12 dead in fire at Philadelphia row home Firefighters found “heavy fire” in a kitchen area in front of the second floor, and there was “nothing slowing that fire from moving,” Murphy said. “It was terrible,” Murphy said. “This is probably one of the worst fires I ever been to.” Twenty-six people lived in the three-story building – eight on the first floor, and 18 on the second and third floors, fire officials said. The housing authority was not aware 26 people were living in the building, said Dinesh Indala, the agency’s senior executive vice president of operations. The agency is checking how many were allowed to live there, he said. “You don’t know the circumstances of each and every family, and maybe there were relatives and family that needed to be sheltered,” Kenney told CNN affiliate WPVI. “Obviously, the tragedy happened, and we all mourn for it. But we can’t make judgment on the number of people living in the house because sometimes people just need to be indoors.” The cause of the fire will be investigated, Murphy said. Philadelphia’s district attorney said the city “owes it to the victims, the survivors, and to all Philadelphians to conduct a thorough investigation into this travesty, so that we can make sure it never happens again.” “I join Philadelphians in expressing my heartbreak over the tragic loss of life in Fairmount today,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf tweeted he was devastated. “My heart goes out to the loved ones left to cope with this heartbreaking loss of life. Thank you to the brave first responders who got the fire under control,” Wolf’s tweet read. First Lady Jill Biden also tweeted Wednesday, saying her heart was with the families and loved ones of the victims. Neighbors and others – some sobbing – gathered outside the burned row house as firefighters and police worked the scene Wednesday morning, WPVI reported. Lindsay Hull told WPVI that she saw stretchers when she came up to the site at 7 a.m. A friend lives next door to the row house, she said. “That’s a house that has a lot of kids,” Hull told WPVI. “It’s sad.” Bill Richards, who said he’s lived on the block for 24 years, told WPVI that before he knew of the fire, he heard a woman yell, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” He then heard fire trucks and went outside. “It’s very upsetting,” Richards told WPVI. “I just can’t wrap myself around it.” Richards told CNN he was a teacher his entire career, and he can’t wrap his mind “around the tragedy of these relatives that are going to have to pick up their lives after this.” “And I taught at the school down the street, a block away and some of those kids went there,” he said. Richards described the area as “a very family-oriented neighborhood.” “We’ll help each other get through the grief,” he said. Murphy initially told reporters that four smoke detectors were in the building, “and none of them operated.” Murphy later indicated that Philadelphia Housing Authority records showed that at least six battery-operated smoke detectors had been installed there from 2019 to 2020. However, Indala, the housing authority official, said the agency had different information about the detectors. One of the apartments, the “A unit,” had seven smoke detectors and three carbon monoxide detectors at its last inspection, Indala said. He did not specify the year of the inspection, and CNN has requested clarification. The other apartment, the “B unit,” had six functional smoke detectors and three functional carbon monoxide detectors as of its last inspection in May 2021, Indala said. Two batteries and two smoke detectors were replaced then, Indala said. Smoke detectors also were replaced in the B unit in an inspection in September 2019, according to Indala. When a reporter asked why smoke detectors would not have worked if they were inspected in May 2021, Indala replied, “I don’t know if they were replaced or tampered with. … We are working with the fire department at this time to do further inspections.” It wasn’t immediately clear which floors the A and B units covered. Faulty smoke detectors are treated as emergencies and are replaced in 24 hours if requested, and the authority does inspections annually, Indala said. “Every time we come in for an inspection, as is evident from the last one, we had to replace two batteries, replace the smoke detectors. And these are 10-year smoke detectors, so that’s something we run into quite often on our properties,” Indala said. The row home has been legally subdivided into two apartments since the 1950s and has had no violations, according to a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections. The home has had three minor complaints since 2019, all related to trash maintenance, department spokesperson Karen Guss said. One complaint was about trash on the exterior of the property in September of 2021 and October 2021. A complaint about trash and poorly maintained interior surfaces was made in 2019, Guss said. The building, according to records, was estimated to have been built in 1920. The home is about 2.5 miles northwest of Philadelphia’s Center City district.",6575.0,Taylor Romine
176,2022-01-06,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/05/us/harmony-montgomery-missing-girl-new-hampshire/index.html,Father of missing 7-year-old girl arrested in her disappearance,US,CNN,"The father of missing 7-year-old Harmony Montgomery has been arrested and charged in connection with her disappearance, according to court documents filed Wednesday. Adam Montgomery, 31, has been charged with a second-degree felony assault charge, two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child, and one misdemeanor count of interference with custody, the complaint states. New Hampshire prosecutors allege that Montgomery knowingly caused bodily injury to Harmony by “striking her in the face” sometime in July 2019; knowingly concealed her from the state’s Division of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF); and “refused to provide the Manchester Police Department information leading to the whereabouts” of Harmony, according to the complaint. Montgomery gave Harmony Montgomery a black eye in July 2019 and gave conflicting accounts about when he last saw her, according to a redacted police affidavit filed Wednesday. Montgomery waived his scheduled court appearance in New Hampshire on Wednesday and remains in custody, according to bail documents filed Wednesday. He has been ordered to have no contact with Crystal Sorey, Harmony’s biological mother, and with his wife. Montgomery is being represented by a state court-appointed attorney. A message left for the state’s public defender office in Manchester was not immediately returned. CNN has also made multiple attempts to reach both of Harmony’s parents but has not heard back. Manchester police officers began searching for Montgomery after Sorey reported to police on November 18 that Harmony was missing and she had not seen her in over six months. Police say they contacted the DCYF and checked addresses associated with Montgomery, but were unable to locate him or Harmony, the affidavit filed in Hillsborough Superior Court said. Sorey told police she lost custody of Harmony in July 2018 due in part to substance abuse issues and made attempts to locate Harmony over the years by contacting various schools and driving by addresses associated with Adam Montgomery, but was unable to locate her, according to the affidavit. Police said that over five weeks after Sorey reported Harmony missing to police, they were notified by DCYF on December 27 that the agency was unable to locate Harmony. The Manchester Police Department subsequently opened an investigation. Sorey told police she last saw Harmony during a FaceTime call with Montgomery around Easter 2019 and that Harmony “seemed frightened,” the affidavit states. DCYF has not responded to CNN’s inquiries about when it was notified of Harmony’s disappearance, but a spokesperson for New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) said in a statement that they “are limited on what [they] can say by federal and state laws requiring confidentiality of child protection cases.” “We can confirm that as soon as the State learned that Harmony was no longer with her caregiver, immediate steps were taken and an investigation was initiated. Finding Harmony remains our top priority,” DHHS Communications Director Jake Leon said. Members of the Manchester Police Department got in touch December 30 with Montgomery’s younger brother, who “had concerns that Adam was physically abusive.” Officers also interviewed Montgomery’s uncle, who said he had not seen his nephew or Harmony since late 2019. The uncle also told police that he saw Harmony with a black eye in July 2019 and notified DCYF. He said Montgomery told him he had caused the black eye by striking Harmony, who would have been 5 at the time, police said in the affidavit. The affidavit also states that Montgomery’s uncle recalled to police other forms of “abusive discipline” against Harmony, including her being “spanked hard on the butt,” being forced to stand in a corner for hours, and being ordered by her father to scrub a toilet with her toothbrush. The uncle has since started a GoFundMe to raise reward money for “anyone who can locate” Harmony. Montgomery shares three younger children with his wife, Kayla Montgomery, all of whom are accounted for. Kayla Montgomery told police December 31 that she last saw Harmony around November or December 2019, that Adam told her he was driving her back to her mother in Massachusetts, and that she had not seen or heard about Harmony since. She also added that she had not been in contact with Adam Montgomery since November 2021 and that he was now living with another woman, the affidavit said. Later that day, the police affidavit states that officers found Adam and his girlfriend sleeping in a car in Manchester. According to police, Adam initially said Harmony was fine and that he had seen her “somewhat recently.” However, he later said that he had not seen his daughter since Crystal Sorey came to pick her up around Thanksgiving 2019. He subsequently stopped answering questions by police and “did not exhibit much emotion or reaction” when police said they were concerned over whether Harmony was still alive, the affidavit states. Sorey has “outright denied” ever taking custody of Harmony or ever seeing her after the FaceTime call around Easter 2019, police said.",5140.0,Laura Ly
177,2022-01-06,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/06/us/vanessa-bryant-lawsuit-kobe-crash-bid-to-dismiss-denied/index.html,Judge denies Los Angeles County’s bid to dismiss Vanessa Bryant’s lawsuit over Kobe Bryant crash pictures,US,CNN,"A federal judge in California has denied a request from Los Angeles County to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Vanessa Bryant over photos taken at the scene of her husband Kobe Bryant’s fatal helicopter crash in January 2020. The NBA legend, his daughter Gianna and seven others were killed when a helicopter they were in crashed into a Calabasas hillside. The lawsuit, filed by Vanessa Bryant in September 2020, claims photos taken at the scene were shared by county fire and sheriff’s department employees in settings irrelevant to the investigation, including a bar. The lawsuit seeks undisclosed damages, claiming civil rights violations, negligence, emotional distress and violation of privacy. Lawyers for Los Angeles County requested the lawsuit be dismissed in a November court filing. The county’s lawyers argued Bryant’s fear of the crash site photos surfacing is a hypothetical harm. “Plaintiff’s fear is also not reasonable,” said the county, pointing to results from a neutral forensic examination by an independent examiner that “confirmed that there are no photos containing victims’ remains and no evidence of public dissemination. There is therefore nothing for Plaintiff to fear.” They say the photos are “gone” and “cannot be recovered.” But US District Court Judge John F. Walter ruled Wednesday that “there are genuine issues of material facts for trial.” “We respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling,” Skip Miller, an outside attorney for Los Angeles County, said in a statement. “The fact remains that the County did not cause Ms. Bryant’s loss and, as was promised on the day of the crash, none of the County’s accident site photos were ever publicly disseminated.” Bryant’s attorney says the case is about accountability. “We look forward to presenting the facts to a jury,” Luis Li said in a statement to CNN. The trial is set to begin as soon as next month. According to Bryant’s lawsuit, deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department “pulled out their personal cell phones and snapped photos of the dead children, parents, and coaches. The deputies took these photos for their own personal gratification.” In an amended complaint filed in March 2021, Bryant’s lawyers said a deputy “boasted that he had worked at the scene of the accident where Kobe Bryant had died” and showed photos of the crash site to a bartender and a bar patron on January 28, 2020, two days after the crash. The bartender who saw the photos then shared with other customers that he had seen the photos and “described specific characteristics of Mr. Bryant’s remains,” the complaint states. One of the customers found this situation “very, very disturbing” and emailed a complaint to the sheriff’s department, describing the deputy. Another deputy allegedly shared photos with a friend with whom he “plays video games nightly,” the complaint said. County lawyers previously said this is the first time the fire and sheriff’s departments “confronted allegations of improper photo sharing and they took appropriate action to address them.” In March 2020, LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said all photos in the possession of first responders have been deleted. In their request to dismiss the case, lawyers for the county said, “County personnel worked tirelessly to protect the crash site, identify the victims, and notify the families,” according to the court document.",3382.0,Sarah Moon
178,2022-01-06,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/05/us/young-dolph-shooting-suspect-warrant/index.html,Memphis police issue arrest warrant for suspect in Young Dolph fatal shooting,US,CNN,"The Memphis Police Department issued a warrant for the suspect in the fatal shooting of rapper Young Dolph, according to the US Marshals Service. The rapper, whose real name is Adolph Robert Thornton, Jr., was fatally shot November 17, 2021, at Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies in Memphis. The 36-year-old rapper is survived by two children. The suspect in his death has been identified as Justin Johnson, 23, who is wanted on first-degree murder. The US Marshals Service, Memphis Police Department, Crime Stoppers and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are offering a reward of up to $15,000 for information leading to Johnson’s capture. Johnson is about 5-feet-8-inches tall and weighs 190 pounds, the Marshals Service said. “He has the name ‘Jaiya’ tattooed on his right arm,” the Marshals Service said. “Johnson has ties to organized criminal gangs and should be considered armed and dangerous.” Johnson has been added to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s “Most Wanted” list, according to the Marshals Service. Memphis police previously released surveillance photos from the day of the shooting that showed two suspects getting out of a white two-door Mercedes-Benz armed with firearms and approaching Young Dolph as he was inside the cookie store. The suspects, whose faces were partially covered, shot the rapper several times before fleeing the scene, police said. The police department tweeted the photos, noting that no arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing.",1495.0,Amir Vera
179,2022-01-06,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/06/us/alvin-bragg-manhattan-district-attorney-crimes-prosecution/index.html,Manhattan district attorney announces he won’t prosecute certain crimes,US,CNN,"Just days after taking office, Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg released a memo detailing new charging, bail, plea and sentencing policies that he said he believes will make the city safer and the criminal justice system more fair, yet the plan faces criticism from police union leaders. Among the crimes Bragg said his office would not prosecute: marijuana misdemeanors, including selling more than three ounces; not paying public transportation fare; trespassing except a fourth degree stalking charge, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration in certain cases, and prostitution. Misdemeanor offenses that are legally required to be given a “desk appearance ticket” will be offered diversion or community-based programs intended to help an offender, the memo said. The office may also decline to prosecute the offense. Bragg wants to “reserve pretrial detention for very serious cases,” according to the memo, and he intends to limit underage defendants in adult courts. Bragg also outlined a policy to request partially or unsecured bond in the same amount as cash bail requests. “Safety is paramount. New Yorkers deserve to be safe from crime and safe from the dangers posed by mass incarceration. We will be tough when we need to be, but we will not be seeking to destroy lives through unnecessary incarceration,” Bragg said on Twitter. The policy reform plan has drawn ire from police union Police Benevolent Association, whose president said the organization is concerned about the messages these types of policies send to police officers and “criminals on the street.” “Police officers don’t want to be sent out to enforce laws that the district attorneys won’t prosecute,” PBA president Patrick Lynch said in a statement to CNN. “And there are already too many people who believe that they can commit crimes, resist arrest, interfere with police officers and face zero consequences.” Lynch said in the statement that the looks forward to discussing these issues with Bragg. In the memo, Bragg detailed his experiences with the criminal justice system growing up as a black man in Harlem, with guns pointed at him multiple times by both police and civilians and having posted bail for family members. He also described walking with his children through “yellow crime scene tape” from a shooting near his home just a few months ago. “These policy changes not only will, in and of themselves, make us safer; they also will free up prosecutorial resources to focus on violent crime,” Bragg said in the memo, adding that his commitment to making incarceration a matter of last resort is “immutable.” The new district attorney said he wants to invest more in alternatives to incarceration that he says will reduce re-offending and conserve resources. His office will focus on accountability, he said, not sentence length. “Research is clear that, after a certain length, longer sentences do not deter crime or result in greater community safety,” he said, adding that his department will expand its use of “restorative justice programming.” New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who took office January 1, told “CBS This Morning” Wednesday that while he believes it’s important to stop crime, he respects Bragg’s experience as a prosecutor. “At the precinct level, someone comes in for a petty theft, we’re at the policing level, you identify that they have a mental health issue, instead of locking them up – let’s defer prosecution, let’s have a local community-based organization that deals with mental health illnesses handle it right at the precinct – that’s the coordination that we need,” Adams said. “There’s no reason to put someone (with) mental health illness in Rikers Island, that’s a revolving door.” Criminal justice reform groups have welcomed the memo. Tina Luongo, attorney-in-charge for The Legal Aid Society, called it a “substantive first step to reform an office that long resorted to making excessive bail requests and overcharging our clients.”",3989.0,Sonia Moghe
180,2022-01-06,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/06/us/las-vegas-severed-head-stolen-truck/index.html,Man charged with murder after Las Vegas police find a severed head and other body parts in the back of a stolen truck,US,CNN,"A man driving in the Las Vegas area with a severed head in the back of a reportedly stolen truck has been charged with murder, according to a criminal complaint. Eric Holland was arrested on December 24, the complaint stated. On December 23, a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer tried to pull over a Toyota Tundra truck that had a suspended registration, the complaint said. The driver “initially stopped” but then drove away as officers tried to speak to him, according to the court document. The truck was then driven into a parking garage. Moments later another truck, “a gold Chevrolet Avalanche,” was seen leaving the parking garage, according to court documents. It is unclear if Holland was the same driver for both vehicles. Police followed the gold Avalanche to an apartment complex, where Holland got out and repeatedly ignored commands given by police, according to court documents. Once Holland was in custody, police were able to confirm that both trucks were reportedly stolen, the complaint said. While searching the gold truck, police found a black plastic trash bag emitting “a foul odor” with a severed head inside, according to the complaint. Holland, on the scene, said he wouldn’t answer questions without a lawyer, according to the complaint. Additional coolers found in the gold truck allegedly contained “two human legs” and “an apparent human torso,” the complaint said. The Clark County coroner’s office identified the victim as Richard P. Miller, a 65-year-old White male from Las Vegas. The coroner’s office ruled the death a homicide due to multiple gunshot wounds. An attorney for Holland, P. David Westbrook, said, “The body recovered in this case was in the second truck (the Chevy) not the first (the Toyota). Additionally, the truck bed was covered and the body was stored in sealed coolers. “ “In order to presume that Mr. Holland had prior knowledge of the contents of this truck, you would also have to believe that he lead police to the body intentionally,” Westbrook said. “The question is: why would he do this?” The next court appearance for Holland in this case is scheduled for January 27, according to Westbrook and court documents.",2179.0,Michelle Watson
181,2022-01-05,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/05/us/dixie-fire-power-lines-cause-pge/index.html,"California’s second-largest wildfire was sparked when power lines came in contact with a tree, Cal Fire says",US,CNN,"The Dixie Fire, the second-largest wildfire in California’s history, was sparked when power lines owned by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) came into contact with a tree, fire officials said. The Dixie Fire started July 13 and went on to burn 963,309 acres across five counties in Northern California before being contained on October 25, according to Cal Fire. The wildfire destroyed 1,329 structures, including much of the small community of Greenville, about 170 miles north of Sacramento. Several firefighters were injured while working to contain the massive swath of flames. Investigators conducted a “meticulous and thorough” investigation and determined the fire was caused by a tree contacting power lines owned and operated by PG&E located west of Cresta Dam in Plumas County, Cal Fire said in a news release Tuesday. PG&E, in a statement, said the tree was one of more than 8 million within strike distance of its power lines. “Taking a bold step forward, PG&E has committed to burying 10,000 miles of lines in addition to the mitigations included in PG&E’s 2021 Wildfire Mitigation Plan,” the utility said. “Regardless of today’s finding, we will continue to be tenacious in our efforts to stop fire ignitions from our equipment and to ensure that everyone and everything is always safe,” PG&E said. The Dixie Fire investigative report was sent to the Butte County District Attorney’s Office, Cal Fire said. CNN reached out to the district attorney’s office for comment. PG&E has faced scrutiny in recent years over its equipment’s role in a spate of deadly and destructive California fires. In 2020, PG&E pleaded guilty to 85 counts, including involuntary manslaughter and unlawfully starting the Camp Fire, the deadliest fire in the state’s history. Last month, the utility was fined $125 million for its role in the 2019 Kincade Fire in Sonoma County as part of a settlement with the California Public Utilities Commission. Cal Fire determined the fire was caused by PG&E’s transmission lines. Dry vegetation, strong winds, and warm temperatures accelerated the flames, which destroyed 374 structures and injured four people, according to Cal Fire. “We will continue our work to make it safe and make it right, both by resolving claims stemming from past fires and through our work to make our system safer tomorrow than it is today,” PG&E said in a statement about the Kincade settlement. The statement went on to say the company accepted Cal Fire’s finding that a PG&E transmission line caused the Kincade fire, but “disagree with SED’s (CPUC’s Safety and Enforcement Division) alleged violations.” “We believe the settlement will assist in allowing all parties to move forward from the fire, and permit us to focus on compensating victims and making our energy system safer,” the statement added. In April last year, criminal charges were filed against PG&E over the Kincade Fire. The charges consisted of five felonies and 28 misdemeanors including unlawfully starting a fire which caused bodily injury, unlawfully burning inhabited structures, unlawfully causing a fire which burned forests, and various air pollution crimes, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office. And in September, criminal charges, including four counts of involuntary manslaughter, were filed against the utility in Shasta County over 2020’s deadly Zogg Fire, prosecutors said. The fire, which was sparked by a pine tree contacting PG&E electrical lines, burned more than 56,000 acres in September 2020. In addition to claiming four lives, the Zogg Fire injured one, destroyed 204 residential and commercial structures and damaged 27 others. In both criminal cases, PG&E said it accepted findings that its transmission lines started the fires but denied criminal wrongdoing.",3783.0,Sarah Moon
182,2022-01-05,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/04/us/lina-sardar-khil-missing-girl-san-antonio-fbi/index.html,FBI joins search for 3-year-old who went missing in San Antonio last month,US,CNN,"The FBI’s underwater search and evidence response team has joined the search for 3-year-old Lina Sadar Khil, who went missing last month from a San Antonio playground in her family’s apartment complex, city police said. Lina was last seen December 20 after her mother left her unattended for a period of time at the playground. When the mother returned, her daughter was gone, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said. The FBI’s dive team is using special equipment and technology, according to police. “They flew in from Washington DC last night and have been here all day,” McManus said during a news conference Tuesday. “I wish I could be more uplifting. I know this looks like we are onto something, but all we’re doing here is following up on leads. We don’t want to leave anything to chance. Everything that we get that has any kind of potential at all, we’re following it up.” McManus declined to describe his confidence in the lead the police are pursuing. “I mean, so far, none of the leads have led us to Lina, so I don’t know if you can compare them that way. It’s a lead, and we’re following up it,” McManus said. The child’s family is among the Afghanistan refugees in San Antonio, and it is unclear when the family arrived in the United States, according to CNN affiliate KSAT. The Islamic Center of San Antonio has offered a $100,000 reward for anybody who could provide information that would help find Lina. She was last seen wearing a red dress, black jacket and black shoes, police said. She weighs 55 pounds, has brown eyes and straight brown hair with a light skin complexion. McManus encouraged anyone who has information to contact his department’s Missing Person’s Unit at 210-207-7660.",1715.0,Amir Vera
183,2022-01-05,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/05/us/plessy-pardon-signed-by-governor/index.html,"Homer Plessy, of Plessy v. Ferguson’s ‘separate but equal’ ruling, pardoned by Louisiana governor",US,CNN,"Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on Wednesday granted a posthumous pardon to Homer Plessy, the man at the center of the landmark civil rights Supreme Court ruling, Plessy v. Ferguson. The governor was joined by Plessy descendants at a ceremony in New Orleans, where he officially signed the pardon. The ceremony, which was attended by city leaders and relatives, was near the original location where Plessy was arrested nearly 130 years ago. Plessy, a shoemaker, purchased a first-class ticket on June 7, 1892, to board a Louisiana train. He sat in the Whites-only section and refused to leave when a conductor ordered him to move to a rail car reserved for Blacks. He was arrested and convicted at a trial of violating the Separate Car Act of 1890. Edwards’ signature comes after the Louisiana Board of Pardons voted unanimously last November in favor of a pardon for Plessy, who died in his 60s in 1925. “This pardon has been a long time coming but it’s a day that should have never happened,” Edwards said. Plessy appealed his case to the Supreme Court. Four years later, the justices rejected his claim. Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark case in which the court, on May 18, 1896, by a seven-to-one vote, found a Louisiana statue requiring separate but equal railroad cars for Black and White passengers did not conflict with the 13th and 14th Amendments. According to Brittanica.com, after the Supreme Court ruling, Plessy went back to Judge Howard Ferguson’s court and pleaded guilty. He paid a $25 fine. “We still have a long way to go when it comes to equality and justice, but this pardon is certainly a step in the right direction,” Edwards said. Plessy, who was one-eighth Black, was not caught off guard: He’d been among a group working with the Eastern Louisiana Railroad Company to protest the state law requiring rail companies to provide “separate but equal” places for white and nonwhite customers, and for patrons to follow suit. After the ruling, Plessy lived in New Orleans and worked as a clerk, collection agent for an insurance company, laborer or a warehouse worker. He stayed active in several social organizations. The so-called “separate but equal” doctrine was ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court in 1954’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. “We are proud to be a part of the processing of this application under the authority of the Avery C. Alexander Act,” Francis M. Abbott, executive director of the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole, previously said. The Avery C. Alexander Act is a Louisiana law which allows the governor to pardon people convicted of violating a state law or local ordinance created to enforce racial separation or discrimination.",2708.0,Tina Burnside
184,2022-01-05,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/05/us/coronavirus-parents-die-within-48-hours-trnd/index.html,Arizona siblings lose both parents to Covid-19 in less than 48 hours,US,CNN,"Bob and Sue Walker were inseparable during more than 44 years of marriage and called each other “mate” and “matey” because they were soulmates, their adult children told CNN. They died of Covid-19 over the holidays on separate floors in an Arizona hospital. “They were truly, truly a couple, you know. I mean, nothing could come in between them,” daughter Stephanie Walker, 40, told CNN. “And, unfortunately, Covid took them both within 46 hours of each other.” The couple found out they had Covid-19 just before Thanksgiving – Sue was tested in the hospital while getting treatment for what they thought was a COPD flare-up and Bob took a home test when his wife tested positive. They died a few days later in a Phoenix-area hospital – Sue on November 30 and Bob on December 2nd. “It just happened very quickly,” Charissa Walker, Stephanie’s twin sister, told CNN. Neither of their parents were vaccinated and they both had health issues, son Jonathan Walker, 42, said. He said his dad had kidney problems and other health issues in the past and had recently had part of his foot amputated because of complications from diabetes. Covid-19 has killed at least 830,788 people and infected about 57.2 million in the United States, according to January 5 data from Johns Hopkins University. Hospitalizations have soared in the United States as the Omicron variant spread and US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said that most hospitalized patients are not vaccinated and boosted. Jonathan said their dad had to go on a ventilator because of his condition, but his mom seemed to be improving – she was able to move around, walk to the bathroom and even asked for some food from Taco Bell because she was hungry. She was able to talk and wave and make the I love you sign with her hand in a video the sisters took just 24 hours before she passed. The siblings set up a FaceTime call between their parents, so Sue could talk to Bob and see how he was doing. He said his mom just stared at the phone like she was in a trance when she first saw their dad. “Then she kind of woke up out of it and was like, ‘Mate, you got to get better. We got to go home for Christmas, mate,’” he said. “I truly think that at that moment my mom’s heart broke.” Her condition deteriorated and she died the next day.Charissa said she got there in time to hold her hand as she passed. “My heart just broke into a billion pieces, but I was happy that I was able to be there with her,” she said. Jonathan said his parents were as “thick as thieves” and that they would fight, but he admired them for sticking together no matter how tough things got. “My parents loved each other. There was no doubt about that,” he said. “They held true to their vows until death do us part.” “Death didn’t even do them apart,” Charissa said. “And I just hope I have a love like theirs.” The holidays were tough for the family. They had their parents cremated and received the ashes just days before Christmas.Jonathan said his mom’s present was still under the tree last week, Stephanie said she still gets the urge to call and talk to her parents, and Charissa said she’s still in shock. Stephanie said that she hopes that people will take the virus seriously. “Covid is real, and it doesn’t judge.” she said. “Losing one parent to this virus – it’s horrible – but losing two parents within a short amount of time is unbelievable.” The siblings are planning to hold a celebration of life for their parents on March 1 – their mom’s birthday and their parents 45th wedding anniversary – at the church where they got married.",3577.0,David Williams
185,2022-01-05,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/04/us/north-carolina-state-trooper-john-horton-dies-after-hit-by-brother-trnd/index.html,State trooper dies after he was accidentally hit by his brother’s car during a traffic stop,US,CNN,"A North Carolina State trooper and a driver were killed during a traffic stop when the trooper’s brother, the officer coming to aid, accidentally crashed into them, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol (NCSHP). Trooper John S. Horton, a 15-year veteran, was conducting a traffic stop in Rutherford County Monday night, when his brother, Trooper James N. Horton, lost control of his patrol vehicle upon arrival. “Trooper James Horton collided with the stationary patrol vehicle and subsequently struck Trooper John Horton and the detained driver who were standing along the roadside,” the NCSHP news release said. John Horton was transported to the Spartanburg hospital and later died from his injuries. The detained driver was pronounced dead at the scene and has yet to be identified. James Horton was treated for minor injuries. “Our hearts are broken with the loss of our friend and our brother, Trooper John Horton. For all involved in this tragic event the coming days will undoubtedly be difficult, but we are committed to stand alongside with them with our thoughts, prayers, and unwavering support,” Colonel Freddy L. Johnson Jr., commander of the State Highway Patrol, said. John Horton leaves behind a wife and six children, Back the Blue NC told CNN. The organization has started a GoFundMe to help his family cover funeral costs.",1357.0,Lauren M. Johnson
186,2022-01-05,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/05/us/university-florida-president-resigns-kent-fuchs/index.html,University of Florida president says he will step down,US,CNN,"University of Florida President Kent Fuchs will step down, a decision he said was in the works for months, he announced in a video on the school’s Twitter account Wednesday. Fuchs will remain until a replacement is appointed, he said, adding he expects the transition in early 2023. He did not mention any controversies of his tenure, focusing on his future, resume and achievements. He closed quoting the Bible, in which the apostle Paul told Timothy, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.” “I have planned that the final phase of my career would be as a member of the teaching and research faculty in my home academic department, electrical and computer engineering, here at the university,” he said. Fuchs informed the chair of UF’s Board of Trustees in August that he wanted this to be his last year as president, he said. The board agreed an announcement would be made in January, Fuchs said. The university is facing scrutiny over allegations of undue political influence after professors were barred from testifying as paid experts in a voting rights lawsuit targeting the state of Florida and other parties. The university – which originally barred professors from testifying, only to later say they could if they were not paid – quickly reversed its stance, allowing faculty to be paid for testimony. A faculty senate report last month detailed a culture of fear among faculty members alleging political influence, as well as instances of pressure to destroy and delay publication of Covid-19 research. Following the faculty senate’s report, the university launched an investigation. Wednesday marked the first day of UF’s spring semester.",1690.0,Leyla Santiago
187,2022-01-05,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/04/us/burlington-store-shooting-orellana-peralta/index.html,"An officer firing at a suspect also killed a 14-year-old in a Burlington store. What he knew at that moment will be key in determining wrongdoing, experts say",US,CNN,"The fatal shooting of a 14-year-old girl when an officer’s bullet ripped through a California department store dressing room wall has raised serious questions about whether he was justified in firing his weapon at a man suspected of attacking a woman with a bicycle lock in the store. The Los Angeles Police Department unit that was responding to numerous reports of an assault with a deadly weapon and a possible shooting in progress on December 23 was operating under active shooter mode and following police protocols for responding to mass shootings, according to Tom Saggau, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Protective League, a police union that represents LAPD officers. The incident at the Burlington store in North Hollywood has sparked outrage as the public and family members of the victim demand answers about why the officer opened fire on the suspect who was not armed with a firearm, ultimately resulting in his death and the death of 14-year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta in her mother’s arms. The LAPD investigation into the incident is in its early stages, according to Capt. Stacy Spell. The California Attorney General’s Office will independently review the shooting. The incident will also be reviewed by representatives from the California Department of Justice and the Office of the Inspector General, Spell said in late December. The investigation will likely look at several critical aspects of the incident to determine whether the officer used excessive force, according to experts: What did the officer know as he entered the department store? Did he believe there was an active shooter posing an imminent threat to the public? What did the officer know at the moment he made a split-second decision to open fire? The LAPD did not respond to these questions after multiple requests from CNN. The department will not release any additional information other than what has been provided in news releases, an LAPD media relations officer said, citing the ongoing investigation. “Unbeknownst to the officers, a 14-year-old girl was in a changing room behind a wall, that was directly behind the suspect and out of the officers’ view,” the LAPD stated in a news release. “She was in the changing area with her mother when the officers encountered the suspect and the officer-involved shooting occurred.” The officer who fired the fatal shots is on “paid administrative leave, per department protocols for officer-involved shootings, for at least two weeks,” an LAPD official familiar with the investigation told CNN. The Los Angeles Police Department identified William Dorsey Jones Jr. in late December as the officer who fired the shots that killed Daniel Elena-Lopez, 24, and Valentina. Since the shooting, Jones has a visible “heaviness on him,” his lawyer, Leslie Wilcox, told The New York Times. Jones has never before been disciplined for a police shooting, and has been surprised by the level of public anger directed at him, “as if Valentina’s death was intentional, or reckless on his part, which it was neither.” CNN has reached out to Wilcox but has not heard back. “Deadly force is literally a last effort when they have no other choice – then they are justified in using force,” said Brian Higgins, an adjunct faculty member at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the former chief of the Bergen County Police in New Jersey. Higgins also served as director of public safety for Bergen County. “But all the information I have right now appears to indicate that the officers believed this individual was armed with a firearm and that he had fired multiple shots,” Higgins added. “Was the use of the patrol rifle justified?” Anthony Barksdale, a CNN law enforcement analyst and former Baltimore deputy police commissioner, asked last week on CNN. “And … if you’re going to fire a (.223) round inside of a department store, those rounds can easily rip through a body and keep right on moving through drywall. So, the use of force must be looked at.” The LAPD issued the ammunition and the AR-15 rifle that Jones was using, according to Saggau. Jones, Saggau said, was responding to the “worst threat that came in” from the 911 calls with a report of an active shooter in the store. Jones had just completed the LAPD’s mass casualty active shooter training a couple of weeks before the Burlington incident, Saggau said. The training runs through “the exact scenarios that they confronted that day,” he added. “It is not inaccurate to say that the suspect was unarmed. He did not have a gun, but the officers that responded, including Officer Jones, received conflicting reports,” Saggau said. As the group of officers entered the store, they clearly moved into a “diamond formation,” which is a typical active shooter-driven response, Saggau said. “Several people called and said there was somebody assaulting people with a bike lock, but other people phoned and said he had a gun and was shooting,” Saggau added. “If you have one call about an active shooter, it automatically triggers that response.” The LAPD released edited surveillance camera footage and police body camera videos last week showing the events that led to the shooting death of Valentina. The video shows a man, later identified as Lopez, entering the Burlington store with his bike and wearing a tank top and shorts. Lopez takes the escalator upstairs with his bike. Moments later, he returns to the escalators wearing a multicolored jacket and long pants before swinging his bike lock at customers, according to police. He is seen attacking several female customers. Several body camera videos released by police show a woman on the floor covered in blood as officers arrive and attempt to find the suspect, who, according to a police statement last month, was a short distance away. “Officers are trained for the worst-case scenario. A gun shooting in a store is an active shooter scenario – it moves it into that category – so they prepared for that,” Saggau said. “As they entered the store, the officers formed what is called a diamond formation.” A police officer can be heard on the body camera footage firing three bullets toward the suspect, who later falls to the ground. Video shows the officer firing a rifle at the suspect. The suspect died at the scene. A steel or metal cable lock was found near his body, officials said. No firearm was recovered from the scene. The assault victim was transported to a hospital with head and arm injuries. Police said they do not believe the woman knew the suspect. Valentina was in a dressing room with her mother when a bullet aimed at the suspect passed through the wall, fatally striking the teenager. She was killed by a gunshot wound to the chest, coroner records show. The police department released three 911 calls and radio transmissions relating to the police response. One call is from a store employee who tells the operator that there’s a “hostile customer in my store attacking customers” and “breaking things.” While on the phone with the operator, she is repeatedly heard yelling at people to evacuate the store. She tells the operator the suspect is using a bike lock to attack people. “Did the officers think that the individual was armed with a firearm as they got multiple 911 calls? Was there any other information they received that should have changed their minds?” Higgins said. The LAPD said in a statement that “while en route to the location, officers received multiple radio calls from the same location that there was a possible shooting in progress and that there were individuals sheltering in place.” Higgins said that if the officer knew the suspect had only a bicycle lock in his possession and there were no other victims around him, that would solidify his use of force as unjustified. “They were likely thinking ‘active shooter’ in our current environment and as they move closer, they come across smeared blood on the floor. This was a horrific scene,” Higgins said. According to Saggau, “What Officer Jones has been trained upon, along with every other law enforcement agency across the country, is that you confront the suspect. You don’t wait anymore.” In a public statement after the December 23 shooting, LAPD Chief Michel R. Moore said: “My commitment is to conduct a thorough, complete and transparent investigation into the circumstances that led up to this tragedy and provide the family and public with as much information as possible.” According to the LAPD’s use-of-force policy, officers “may use deadly force only when they reasonably believe, based on the totality of circumstances, that such force is necessary in defense of human life.” The policy also states officers must “use techniques and tools consistent with Department de-escalation training to reduce the intensity of any encounter with a suspect and enable an officer to have additional options to mitigate the need to use a higher level of force while maintaining control of the situation.” Timothy Williams Jr., a national use-of-force expert and 29-year retired senior detective supervisor for the LAPD, told CNN his analysis of the body camera and surveillance videos showed there was “no imminent threat that was present at that time for lethal force to be used, which resulted in the demise of a 14-year-old who was sequestered in a dressing room between the walls where the shots were being fired.” In the released body camera video, Jones is heard saying: “Slow down, slow down, let me take point with the rifle,” as he moves to the front of the other officers and leads the group, according to Saggau. “That tactical communication to slow down allows them to evaluate circumstances and reinforce the focus on the threat,” Saggau said. Saggau said the LAPD’s training for active shooter situations dictates that the officer with the patrol rifle be “on point” – in front of the other officers – because it’s a more “stable weapon.” When Jones moves to the front, he replaced another officer who had a shotgun, he added. “The long gun or patrol rifle being on point is there because if an active shooter was taking fire, the officers have to seek cover and the patrol rifle being as long as it is, could inhibit officers seeking cover because of its length,” Saggau said. “Officer Jones followed his training and moved to where he needs to move on point as the training dictates, entering what he believes to be an active shooter circumstance.” The ongoing threat to the public and a visibly injured woman made it urgent for officers to stop the threat as quickly as possible, Williams said. He added: “Sometimes you can evacuate the area, and sometimes you can’t.” “Each shot and each incident have to be looked at independent of each other,” Williams said. “You have a store that is full of customers, you have individuals who have been injured via a bike lock and you know where the suspect may be located. When the person is found, there is no imminent threat to the victim on the floor or the officer who has the gun, but he shoots his firearm anyway.” However, some experts such as Thor Eells, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association, contend the suspect was armed with a bicycle lock that could be considered a deadly weapon. Eells said it was tactically correct to get the officer with a patrol rifle to the front and the use of force was statutorily justified because the suspect posed a danger, and potentially deadly threat, to the public. “The mindset of the responding officers, based upon all the information that’s being shared with them, is that they have a potential active shooter situation taking place there at Burlington,” Eells said. “In a split second, you’re making that decision as to whether you’re going to pull the trigger. Had bystanders been obviously present, then you would consider and perhaps weigh the benefits versus risk analysis of taking the shot,” he added. According to Eells, officers in general are trained on “safety priorities,” which, firstly, prioritize innocent people who are in imminent danger of being hurt or killed; secondly, ensure the officer’s safety; and thirdly, ensure the suspect’s safety. “When officers are taught firearms training, we are taught that in checking our surroundings, one of the things we learn is ‘backstop and beyond,’” Eells said. “Anytime we discharge a firearm in law enforcement, we are responsible for every round that leaves the weapon and where it goes.” Officers look for a “backstop” such as a wall or another barrier and ensure there is nobody in that vicinity, so if the officer does miss a target, the bullet will strike the backstop, Eells said. “In a split-second decision, you have no way of knowing if that wall is backed by concrete, if it’s a solid wall, a brick wall, or a half-inch drywall. All you’re looking for is that it’s clear and there is a wall there. That is the best you can do,” he said. Orellana-Peralta’s father, Juan Pablo Orellana Larenas, who flew to Los Angeles from their native Chile, told reporters his daughter had once assured him the United States was “the safest country in the world.” In tears, Orellana-Peralta’s mother, Soledad Peralta, described taking cover after hearing screams while shopping for a Christmas dress for the girl. “We sat down and held each other and prayed,” Peralta said, adding that Valentina fell to the floor after being shot and “died in my arms.” “I couldn’t do anything. To see a son or daughter die in your arms is one of the greatest and most profoundly painful things you can imagine,” Peralta continued. “Valentina meant to world to me and her family and friends. Now our sweet angel is gone forever. Valentina, give us strength to find justice. My daughter, I love you.”",13741.0,Emma Tucker
188,2022-01-05,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/05/us/five-things-january-5-trnd/index.html,"5 things to know for Jan. 5: Capitol riot, pandemic, Congress, Haiti, Virginia snow",US,CNN,"This morning’s October jobs report is expected to contain good news. An estimated 450,000 jobs were added last month, more than in both September and August. Here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. (You can also get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.) Law enforcement and federal authorities, including Capitol Police and the Department of Homeland Security, are ramping up security efforts near Washington, D.C. before tomorrow’s one-year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the country is at a “heightened level of threat,” but added that the DHS isn’t aware of any specific or credible threats at this time. Meanwhile, the House committee investigating the attack wants to speak directly to former Vice President Mike Pence about what he witnessed firsthand on January 6. And former President Donald Trump has been hit with two new lawsuits from law enforcement officers who were assaulted by rioters. They allege Trump directed the attack. The CDC has updated its guidance on recommended Covid-19 isolation periods after criticism that the previous guidance – announced just last week – was confusing and incomplete. Now, the recommendations include a testing component, with the CDC urging people to take a rapid test near the end of their five-day isolation. If the test is positive, the CDC recommends isolating for a total of 10 days. If it’s not, the CDC still recommends avoiding travel and being in places where mask use isn’t possible for a total of 10 days. The testing recommendation may be challenging since at-home rapid tests are in short supply, and BinaxNOW tests, a popular brand sold by Walmart and Kroger, are going up in price. Some people are also worried about the rise of “flurona,” a simultaneous infection of Covid-19 and the flu. While a few cases have been reported, experts say it is extremely rare. The US has arrested a Colombian man and charged him with conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise last July. Mario Palacios was extradited to the US from Panama this week, and is alleged to be among the group of attackers who stormed Moise’s private Port-au-Prince residence, killing the President and injuring his wife. It’s not clear how Palacios escaped Haiti after the attack. Authorities have said dozens of people were involved in Moise’s death, including 26 Colombians and two Haitian-Americans. Senior agents from both the US and Colombia are involved in investigations, but key details – such as what exactly happened inside Moise’s home and who masterminded the attack – remain unclear. Hundreds of motorists were trapped for hours — in some cases an entire day — along a 50-mile stretch of I-95 in Virginia after parts of the highway were closed due to heavy snow on Monday morning. A series of disabled trucks along the route made the situation even worse. People stuck in the massive backup described rationing heat in their cars and trading much-needed food as the hours ticked by and night set in. Among those in the snowy nightmare was Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who spent 27 hours in the backup. The Virginia Department of Transportation, with the help of federal highway officials, had to remove dozens of stranded vehicles, aid disabled trucks and plow snow-covered stretches to relieve the congestion. Thankfully, no fatalities or injuries were reported as a result of the ordeal. A high school principal is apologizing for lack of sportsmanship after the football team won a game 106-0 And they do mean directly into your fridge. As in, they come inside and put it in your fridge. Truly a new level of full-service shopping. ‘This Is Us’ cast is in their feelings about the show’s final season, too There needs to be scientific research done about the emotional impact of this show. Washington Football Team to reveal new name on February 2, won’t be ‘Wolves’ or ‘RedWolves’ Petition to call them the Washington Man-uments instead. KFC will introduce new plant-based offering, Beyond Fried Chicken The creative possibilities of fake fried chicken are truly limitless. Meet the new dog breeds officially recognized by the American Kennel Club They gorgeous, but whatever breed of dog YOU have is clearly the best. $650 million That’s how many bees were brought to a protest in Santiago, Chile, by frustrated beekeepers. Honey production has been hurt by a long-term drought there, and beekeepers want the government to provide assistance. The thousands of bees, housed in 60 hives, were placed in front of the presidential palace. Four beekeepers were detained after several police officers were stung during the demonstrations. “I want to applaud the courage of the numerous players, executives, and staffers for fighting toxic environments of racial insensitivity, sexual harassment, and micro-aggressions with their truth.” Pacific Gas and Electric, after an investigation determined the Dixie Fire, the second-largest wildfire in California’s history, was sparked when power lines owned by the company came in contact with a tree. PG&E has faced legal consequences and criticism for its equipment’s role in several destructive California fires. Check your local forecast here>>> Well, no one’s perfect Let’s set some good intentions for today. And by set good intentions, I mean watch guinea pigs run in slow-mo. (Click here to view)",5481.0,AJ Willingham
189,2022-01-04,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/03/us/colorado-wildfires-monday/index.html,Sheriff says work to find 2 missing people after destructive Colorado wildfire is hard given the heat and debris,US,CNN,"Two people remain missing in Boulder County, Colorado, as authorities work to survey the damage left by a vicious wildfire, the cause of which is under investigation. Sheriff Joe Pelle said at a briefing that searchers are actively working two scenes looking for the people who are unaccounted for as of Monday afternoon. “It is very, very difficult work, given the debris, the heat,” he said, adding crews were limited to using small tools. On Sunday, the sheriff said his teams were looking for a woman from the town of Superior and a man from Marshall. The Marshall Fire tore through Boulder County on Thursday, leveling subdivisions and charring more than 6,000 acres. The fire has destroyed nearly 1,000 homes, authorities estimate. Pelle said that Boulder County investigators are being assisted by the US Forest Service in looking for evidence into how the blaze began and authorities are talking to “dozens of people.” “We haven’t eliminated or honed in on any one specific thing,” he said. The FBI is also assisting with the search and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is prepared to support with the investigation into the Marshall Fire, spokespersons with the FBI and ATF told CNN. Pelle said FBI agents are helping interview people when there are a lot of individuals to interview while the ATF is providing certified fire investigators as well as expertise in fire investigations. Gov. Jared Polis told reporters the investigation will take time. “What’s most important is getting it right, so whether it takes a week, a month or two months, getting right is most important,” he said. Investigators will be meticulous, the sheriff said, adding that there might be evidence that will be revealed when the recent snowfall melts away. A man was arrested Thursday afternoon for threatening firefighters who were working during the time of the wildfire in Boulder County, Louisville Police Chief David Hayes said in a news conference. The chief noted they recovered “a couple of weapons.” Hayes was unable to provide information about why the man was threatening the firefighters. He could also not confirm whether the man resided in a home in the area. Asked whether the man was trying to protect his property, the chief said, “I think (he) was just probably angry and upset like a lot of people are, but that’s not, obviously, not the way to do it.” The man’s father told CNN on Monday the only reason his son had guns in the car was because everything he owned was in the vehicle. He said his son was in “shock” at the time and called the arrest “over-policing” during a very stressful time. His son was on his property and was likely “deranged” because his family had just lost everything, including irreplaceable family photographs, the father said. The Marshall Fire was one of two blazes that started Thursday morning. Fueled by strong winds, its flames sped across drought-parched land, traveling “down a football field in a matter of seconds,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a Thursday news conference. The other fire, known as the Middle Fork Fire, was attacked quickly and “laid down,” Pelle said. The areas impacted by the Marshall Fire have since seen about 8 inches of snow, dousing the flames but leaving many homeless and cold. The fire has destroyed nearly 1,000 homes in Boulder County. About 100 personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are assigned to assist victims of the Marshall Fire, said FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell. Criswell, who surveyed fire damage with Polis on Sunday morning before speaking to reporters, said FEMA representatives will be at the disaster assistance center “starting today” to register individuals seeking extra assistance for expenses not covered by homeowner’s insurance. Criswell told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield after the news conference Sunday that federal teams are working with state and local officials to clear debris and develop a housing strategy for immediate as well as long-term needs. “Some people are still in shelters run by the state and some are staying with family and friends,” Criswell said. “We’re going to work closely with the state and see what we can do through our non-congregate sheltering program that’s part of the disaster declaration, as well as other tools that we have in our toolbox to look at what the long term options that we have available to meet the specific needs of these communities.” President Joe Biden approved an emergency disaster declaration last week and a major disaster declaration on Saturday. According to the major disaster declaration announcement, federal funding is now available to affected individuals in Boulder County, which can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs as well as low cost loans to covered uninsured losses. Power remains out for a number of residents in the burn zone area.",4866.0,Amir Vera
190,2022-01-04,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/04/us/five-things-january-4-trnd/index.html,"5 things to know for Jan. 4: Elizabeth Holmes, Covid, Congress, SCOTUS, Prince Andrew",US,CNN,"This morning’s October jobs report is expected to contain good news. An estimated 450,000 jobs were added last month, more than in both September and August. Here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. (You can also get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.) Hospitals across the US are bracing for a wave of young coronavirus patients following the holidays. The FDA yesterday expanded booster eligibility to children ages 12 to 15, a move aimed at combating the rapid spread of the Omicron and Delta variants spurred by holiday travel. The agency also said children 12 and older now only need to wait five months before receiving a booster shot after completing their first series of vaccines. Experts are stressing vaccinations for children are critical now more than ever because Omicron causes more upper airway problems that make it more dangerous for children than adults. One pediatric hospital in Houston, for example, reported a four-fold increase in child hospitalizations over the past two weeks, with more than 700 children hospitalized due to the Omicron variant. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has announced the chamber will take a vote on whether to change the Senate’s legislative filibuster rules. The filibuster is a common delaying tactic meant to drag out debate and make it harder to get things done. In recent months, Democrats have discussed various changes to the filibuster rule to avoid stalling legislative decisions on key issues like voting rights and the debt ceiling. Schumer has said the tactic has become weaponized in the Senate, and the body must evolve to be more efficient. However, any major changes are unlikely to pass due to widespread  resistance from Republicans and Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. Schumer says he is hoping for a vote by January 17. Abortion providers are returning to the Supreme Court for a long-shot bid to challenge the controversial Texas abortion law that went into effect about four months ago. Last month, the high court allowed the law to stand and returned the case to a conservative federal appeals court. It was a blow to abortion rights activists, and now providers have asked the Supreme Court to require the appeals court to send the case back to a district court judge who had previously ruled in their favor. In its decision last month, the Supreme Court did say providers could sue to keep local officials from enforcing the law. However, the Texas law, which heavily restricts abortion and allows private citizens to seek legal action against anyone who violates it, is seen as a major threat to abortion rights that could affect national legal precedent. A 2009 settlement agreement between sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and one of his accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, as been unsealed as part of Giuffre’s separate lawsuit against Prince Andrew. The document shows Epstein paid Giuffre $500,000 to drop the case without any admission of liability or fault. Attorneys for Prince Andrew have argued that Guiffre’s case against him should be dismissed because it violates the terms of the settlement agreement with Epstein, in which she agreed to a “general release” of claims against Epstein and other parties, who are not specified. Guiffre is suing Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth’s second-oldest son, alleging she was forced to perform sex acts with him while she was underage. According to Guiffre, Andrew knew she was a minor at the time. Oral arguments in the civil suit are set to begin today. A high school principal is apologizing for lack of sportsmanship after the football team won a game 106-0 There may not be any flying cars (yet), but there’s a space plane and that’s pretty close. People are jokingly calling the Omicron variant ‘Omarion,” and the singer is taking it in stride “If you just so happen to run into me on the street, you don’t have to isolate for five days,” he said. “Nor do you have to have a negative test result to dance to my music.” Mercedes unveils new electric car concept with parts made of sustainable materials like mushroom fibers, ground up cacti and food scraps. Finally, a car with a flavor profile! Snow forecast: See how much snow is expected in your area with these maps Warning: May cause sudden weather-related anxiety. Sweetgreen, a fancy salad chain, is selling a salad subscription Fancy salads are an important part of the “new year, new me” fantasy, so the timing here is impeccable. $650 million That’s the value of the roughly 440 pounds of cocaine police seized from a local mayor’s truck in northern Niger. West Africa is a common transit route for illegal drugs heading between South America and Europe, and there have been a number of record busts in recent years. “I want to applaud the courage of the numerous players, executives, and staffers for fighting toxic environments of racial insensitivity, sexual harassment, and micro-aggressions with their truth.” – from a joint statement issued simultaneously by the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France. Yesterday, the five world powers pledged to avoid nuclear war and work toward “a world without nuclear weapons.” Check your local forecast here>>> Well, no one’s perfect Brrr! Things are getting downright frigid. It’s the perfect weather to stay inside and watch this timeline of a huge snowstorm accumulation in Lake Tahoe from last month. Bonus points for an excellent soundtrack. (Click here to view)",5515.0,AJ Willingham
191,2022-01-04,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/04/us/powerball-jackpot-losers/index.html,No winners in Powerball drawing as jackpot grows to $610 million,US,CNN,"There were no winners in Monday night’s Powerball drawing for an estimated $522 million. The winning numbers on Monday were 02, 13, 32, 33, 48 and Powerball 22. The new estimated jackpot was revised upward Tuesday from $575 million to $610 million for Wednesday’s drawing, making it the ninth-largest jackpot in the game’s history, according to the game operator. It’s been almost three months since someone hit the Powerball jackpot. A single ticket in California raked in a $699.8 million grand prize on October 4, the seventh largest in US lottery history. Since then, there have been 39 drawings in a row without a jackpot winner, the game operator said. While the overall odds of winning a prize are 1 to 24.9, the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball. Tickets cost $2, and drawings are each Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET. In 2015, Powerball changed the odds of its game to make it more difficult to win the jackpot. That has made huge payouts more common while also convincing people to take their chances on increasingly small pipe dreams.",1102.0,Joe Sutton
192,2022-01-04,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/03/us/homicide-rate-us-statistics/index.html,10 of the country’s most populous cities set homicide records last year,US,CNN,"More than two-thirds of the country’s 40 most populous cities saw more homicides last year than in 2020, according to a CNN analysis of police department data. Ten of those cities recorded more homicides in 2021 than any other year on record. Those are Philadelphia; Austin, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis; Portland, Oregon; Memphis, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; Milwaukee; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Tucson, Arizona. Minneapolis tied its previous record number of homicides, with 97 in the years 1997 and 2021. Many cities have seen homicides reach near-record highs in the past year. Chicago police investigated 797 last year, the most since 1996. But more than 800 homicides happened within the city when including expressway shootings, which are investigated by a different agency. Homicides were also up by 12% in Los Angeles from 2020 and 4% in New York. Several cities didn’t respond to CNN requests for data; the number of cities reporting year-over-year increases may grow. Homicides spiked in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and subsequent unrest in cities across the country. For many cities, the elevated rates of homicide continued into 2021. The rise in homicides – mostly by gun – happened all across the country. Thomas Abt, a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, attributed the spike to three major factors: the impact of Covid-19 on communities and first responders; fallout of social unrest after Floyd’s murder; and the surge in gun sales since the pandemic started. These increases are not isolated to any region. One-year increases don’t always portend a significant spike in crime. But almost every major US city saw more homicides in both 2020 and 2021 than in 2019. Homicides rose sharply in the summer of 2020 and have remained at high levels since. According to the 2020 Uniform Crime Report from the FBI, homicides rose 30% from 2019 to 2020, the largest single-year increase the agency has recorded since it began tracking these crimes in the 1960s. “The pandemic, like community gun violence, concentrates among the poorest and most disenfranchised people,” Abt told CNN in December. “So those communities are doubly impacted, not only by Covid-19, but by gun violence.” At the same time, the institutions that are responsible for responding to violence, including police and community organizations, were also under stress, Abt added, calling it a “perfect storm.” While experts say the reasons for the rise in homicides are varied, murders are increasingly carried out with guns. The increase in gun violence was underscored in the 2020 UCR Report, which stated that about 77% of reported murders in 2020 were committed with a gun, up from 74% in 2019. There is no federal database of gun sales, but other independent surveys have found that gun sales have soared during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the FBI report summarizing 2020 crime, the number of homicides that year began to escalate during the summer months, peaking in June and July and remaining at high levels. Capturing a full picture of homicide in the United States is nearly impossible. The UCR report is the most comprehensive data set available, but participation by law enforcement agencies is voluntary. About 85% of the country’s more than 18,000 agencies submitted their 2020 crime data to the FBI. The 2021 UCR report will likely not publish until late this year.",3440.0,Priya Krishnakumar
193,2022-01-04,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/03/us/virginia-giuffre-jeffrey-epstein-settlement/index.html,Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s 2009 settlement with Jeffrey Epstein released,US,CNN,"A 2009 settlement agreement between sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Virginia Roberts Giuffre – the woman who accused him of sexual abuse and of trafficking her to Prince Andrew and other men – was unsealed Monday. It shows that Epstein paid Giuffre $500,000 to drop the case without any admission of liability or fault. The document was unsealed as part of Giuffre’s separate lawsuit against Prince Andrew. She alleges that Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with his friends – including the prince – and that Andrew was aware she was underage (17) in the US. Prince Andrew has denied the allegations. Attorneys for Andrew argued in his motion to dismiss Giuffre’s case against him in October that her lawsuit violates the terms of the settlement agreement with Epstein, in which she agreed to a “general release” of claims against Epstein and others. In the copy unsealed Monday, Andrew’s name does not explicitly appear as a party. The agreement says it serves to “remise, release, acquit, satisfy and forever discharge” parties and “any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant” but does not explicitly name any others in the document viewed by CNN. Two other documents were filed along with the settlement agreement, including a “Stipulation of Dismissal” and a complaint from Epstein – both of which are still under seal. The agreement states that it is a “final resolution” of a disputed claim filed in Florida and is intended to avoid litigation but “shall not be construed to be an admission of liability or fault by any party.” The agreement states that it is not to be used in civil or criminal proceedings against Epstein. It was signed by Giuffre and Epstein on different dates in November 2009. Giuffre’s attorney David Boies issued a statement saying the settlement is “irrelevant” to her claim against the prince. “The release does not mention Prince Andrew. He did not even know about it,” Boies said. “He could not have been a ‘potential defendant’ in the settled case against Jeffrey Epstein both because he was not subject to jurisdiction in Florida and because the Florida case involved federal claims to which he was not a part. The actual parties to the release have made clear that Prince Andrew was not covered by it. “Lastly, the reason we sought to have the release made public was to refute the claims being made about it by Prince Andrew’s PR campaign.” Andrew Brettler, an attorney for Prince Andrew, had no comment. Oral arguments in the civil suit against Andrew are set for Tuesday. If his lawyers are unsuccessful, or the case is not settled, the royal could face a trial date between September and December 2022. The long-running allegations facing Andrew have already dramatically tarnished his public standing, and he stepped back from royal duties in late 2019. In claims made prior to filing her lawsuit, Giuffre alleged that in 2001 Epstein brought her to London, where she was introduced to Prince Andrew and went dancing at a nightclub with Epstein; his then-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell; and the prince. In a BBC interview broadcast in 2019, Giuffre said she had been taken to the Tramp nightclub where, she alleged, Andrew asked her to dance and was “sweating all over me.” Andrew said in a BBC interview, also in 2019, that he had taken his elder daughter to a party at a pizza restaurant on the night in 2001 when it is alleged he had sex with Giuffre. He also said in the interview that for many years he could not sweat, countering the allegations made by Giuffre that he was sweating profusely before they had sex in London when she was 17. In the court document filed last week, Giuffre’s attorneys asked for any documents relating to anyone Andrew met at a Pizza Express restaurant in Woking, England, or at Club Tramp nightclub in London, and to his travel to and from those places. Prince Andrew was also asked to provide documents proving his “alleged medical inability to sweat” in the court filing. His legal team responded that the “defendant is unable to comply” with the request “because no such documents exist in his possession, custody or control.” “A diligent search and a reasonable inquiry have been made in an effort to comply with this demand,” it said. Giuffre’s attorneys have also demanded any documents concerning Andrew’s travel to or from, or presence in, Epstein’s planes, Florida, New York, New Mexico and the United States Virgin Islands, according to their filing, as well as documents relating to “all gifts or other things of value” received by Andrew from Epstein or Maxwell “including but not limited to puppets.” Epstein, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to state prostitution charges, was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019 and died by suicide in prison a month later. Maxwell was arrested a year afterward and accused of facilitating Epstein’s abuse scheme. A jury convicted her last week on five federal counts, including sex trafficking a minor and conspiracy. Giuffre was not one of the four women who testified in the trial that they had been abused.",5106.0,Sonia Moghe
194,2022-01-04,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/04/us/grandfather-granddaughter-graduate-college-trnd/index.html,Terminally ill grandfather graduates college side-by-side with granddaughter,US,CNN,"One Texas grandfather-granddaughter duo share more than just a family tree now. They were able to graduate from college together, side-by-side. Melanie Salazar, 23, and her grandfather Rene Neira, now 88, both graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) December 11, 2021. Neira started school in the 1950s, Salazar told CNN, but then fell in love and started a life for his family. He never got around to finishing school in the traditional 4-year span. He took classes occasionally throughout the years, but decided to work towards his goal of getting his college degree. He enrolled again in 2016, the same year his granddaughter started her freshman year. “It just so happened that he wanted to go back to school again at the same time that I was starting.” Salazar told CNN. “It wasn’t intentionally planned, but it just worked out that way that we were in school at the same time.” The pair began classes in the spring of 2016 at Palo Alto College, and later transferred to UTSA together. Salazar said they never shared a class together because of their differing majors, but from time to time would share lunch together, meet up at the library to work on homework, and even carpool to campus. Neira suffered from a stroke just before the Covid-19 pandemic and had to take a medical leave from classes. Then the pandemic forced campuses to close and he was unable to navigate the world of online classes. He was only a few classes shy of completing his degree, and his family was determined to get him the college degree he’s always wanted. “We, as his family, were able to advocate for him and request to see if there was any way that he could be recognized or honored for all the work that he had done.” Salazar told CNN. It wasn’t until the week of graduation they found out he would be honored. “It was definitely an early Christmas miracle that they were willing to recognize him.” Salazar said. The duo was met with many cheers from family, friends and fellow classmates as Salazar pushed Neira across the stage to get their degrees. “When we walked past the curtains onto the stage, I was overcome with emotion and started to tear up because I didn’t know that we would actually get to share that moment together.” Salazar said, “I told him afterwards, ‘You did it, grandpa! College is over!’” Salazar received her Bachelor of Arts in communications, while Neira got a degree of recognition in economics. Unfortunately, Neira is now terminally ill and in hospice. “It’s never too late to go back to school.” Salazar shares. “Whatever your circumstance, there’s people that are ready and willing to help you follow your dreams.”",2657.0,Sara Smart
195,2022-01-03,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/02/us/colorado-wildfires-sunday/index.html,"One of the three missing people in the Colorado Marshall Fire has been accounted for, sheriff says",US,CNN,"One of the three missing people from the Marshall Fire in Colorado has been accounted for, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said in a news conference Sunday. The Marshall Fire tore through Boulder County on Thursday, leveling subdivisions and charring more than 6,000 acres. The missing person who was found was from Superior, about 24 miles northwest of Denver. “We are still missing a woman from the town of Superior and a man from out by Marshall. The search for those folks is still underway,” Pelle said Sunday. There have still been no reported deaths as a result of this fire, officials have said. The origin of the blaze is still under investigation, but a search warrant was executed at a private property, Pelle said. Pelle said they are aware of a viral video of a shed that was on fire in the area where the wildfire originated. “We don’t know that that shed or anything around it was the actual start of the fire or whether it was secondary,” Pelle said. Pelle acknowledged authorities have spoken to people about the fire. “We’ve talked to folks and I am not going to go into the investigation,”Pelle said. A man was arrested Thursday afternoon for threatening firefighters who were working during the time of the wildfire in Boulder County, Louisville Police Chief David Hayes said in a news conference. “A gentleman armed with an assault rifle had threatened the firefighters that were working in the area,” Hayes said. “A number of officers responded – both Louisville officers, Boulder sheriff’s deputies and I’m sure others – and we were able to safely take that person into custody.” The chief noted they recovered “a couple of weapons.” Hayes was unable to provide information about why the man was threatening the firefighters. He could also not confirm whether the man resided in a home in the area. Asked whether the man was trying to protect his property, the chief said, “I think (he) was just probably angry and upset like a lot of people are, but that’s not, obviously, not the way to do it.” The Marshall Fire was one of two blazes that started Thursday morning. Fueled by strong winds, its flames sped across drought-parched land, traveling “down a football field in a matter of seconds,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a Thursday news conference. The other fire, known as the Middle Fork Fire, was attacked quickly and “laid down,” Pelle said. The areas impacted by the Marshall Fire have since seen about 8 inches of snow, dousing the flames but leaving many homeless and cold. The fire has destroyed nearly 1,000 homes in Boulder County. About 100 personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are assigned to assist victims of the Marshall Fire, said FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell. Criswell, who surveyed fire damage with Polis on Sunday morning before speaking to reporters, said FEMA representatives will be at the disaster assistance center “starting today” to register individuals seeking extra assistance for expenses not covered by homeowner’s insurance. Criswell told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield after the news conference Sunday that federal teams are working with state and local officials to clear debris and develop a housing strategy for immediate as well as long-term needs. “Some people are still in shelters run by the state and some are staying with family and friends,” Criswell said. “We’re going to work closely with the state and see what we can do through our non-congregate sheltering program that’s part of the disaster declaration, as well as other tools that we have in our toolbox to look at what the long term options that we have available to meet the specific needs of these communities.” President Joe Biden approved an emergency disaster declaration last week and a major disaster declaration on Saturday. According to the major disaster declaration announcement, federal funding is now available to affected individuals in Boulder County, which can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs as well as low cost loans to covered uninsured losses. Power remains out for a number of residents in the burn zone area. “Within the burn zone we have roughly a thousand customers that remain without power,” said Alice Jackson, president at power company Xcel Energy-Colorado. The process of restoration is ongoing, she said.",4300.0,Amir Vera
196,2022-01-03,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/02/us/long-beach-sewage-spill-california/index.html,More than 8 million gallons of sewage shuts beaches in California’s Long Beach,US,CNN,"A massive sewage spill has led to the temporary closure of all swimming areas at beaches in the Southern California city of Long Beach. City officials announced the spill in a news release Friday, confirming millions of gallons of untreated sewage was discharged into the Dominguez Channel, a waterway that empties into Los Angeles Harbor. The spill, which was first detected Thursday afternoon, occurred in the city of Carson because of the failure of a 48-inch sewer main line, the city of Long Beach said in the news release. It is estimated that about 8.5 million gallons of sewage spilled into a nearby storm drain and continued through the Dominguez Channel and the LA Harbor, Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts (LACSD) spokesperson Bryan Langpap told CNN. This is the largest spill on record for the LACSD, Langpap said. Long Beach, located in Los Angeles County, has approximately seven miles of public beach, according to the city. The Long Beach Health Department’s Water Quality inspection team is monitoring water quality in the affected beach areas and will continue until results comply with state water quality standards. No hydrogen sulfide was detected, according to the LACSD. “As a safety precaution due to spilled sewage reaching the ocean, the LA County Department of Public Health issued a closure of beaches from Long Beach to Rancho Palos Verdes,” LACSD said. “We will be working with health officials over the coming days to monitor water quality to determine when beaches are safe to reopen and assess environmental impacts.” Crews were able to finally stop the sewage overflow Saturday by installing five bypass systems, according to LACSD, adding that three additional bypass systems were installed as protection. “A spill of this magnitude is dangerous and unacceptable, and we need to understand what happened,” LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn said on Twitter. “The recent storm undoubtedly contributed, but we need infrastructure that doesn’t fail when it rains.” Hahn called on the LACSD to perform a full investigation into what caused the spill and whether “aging or faulty infrastructure” played a role. Last July, a stretch of Los Angeles beaches was closed due to health concerns after roughly 17 million gallons of sewage was discharged into Santa Monica Bay. The spill came from the Hyperion Water Reclamation plant, which is next to Dockweiler State Beach and is the city’s oldest and largest wastewater plant, operating since 1894. The spill prompted the closure of one to two miles of beaches near Los Angeles International Airport.",2580.0,Alaa Elassar
197,2022-01-03,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/02/us/delizza-brand-cream-puffs-recall-metal/index.html,Delizza brand cream puffs recalled due to possible metal fragments,US,CNN,"Dessert manufacturer Poppies International, Inc. is issuing a voluntary recall of the Delizza brand’s Belgian Mini Cream Puffs due to the “possible presence” of small metal fragments, according to the US Food and Drug Administration. The Battleboro, North Carolina, company announced Tuesday it would recall selected products made between December 7 and 10, according to the FDA recall announcement. The issue was detected during production and no injuries or incidents have been reported in connection with the recalled items, the company said. The products included in the recall were available for sale from December 16-23, 2021. “Any consumers who have purchased or received any of the products described below should immediately discontinue use of the product and return it to the place of purchase for a full refund,” the company said. CNN has attempted to reach Poppies International, Inc. for comment on the recall. The company describes Delizza on its website as its “premium brand” with desserts crafted from “traditional Belgian recipes.” The recalled products were distributed to Costco stores in Northern California and Nevada; Safeway stores in Northern California; and ShopRite and PriceRite locations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Images and details of the recalled items are on the FDA’s website.",1402.0,Emma Tucker
198,2022-01-02,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/02/us/nypd-officer-shot/index.html,"NYPD officer shot in the head while sleeping in car, but police unsure if he was the target",US,CNN,"An off-duty New York City Police Department officer was shot in the head while sleeping in his car on New Year’s Day, police announced at a news conference Saturday. Officials said it was unclear whether the officer was the intended target. The bullet was fired from a significant distance, making it hard to determine whether there was even a target, officials said. An NYPD spokesperson could not verify whether the officer was wearing any police uniform items at the time. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who officially took office the same day as the shooting, briefed the media about the incident on Saturday in one of his first official duties. He emphasized that he would not let New York become “a city of disorder.” The mayor said he would be at the forefront with the commissioner and the department to ensure the city doesn’t become “a violent city.” “We must not only find a gun, but we must find the person who discharged the weapon and we must find those who believe they are going to destroy our city with gun and gang violence,” Adams said at the news conference. “That is not going to happen.” “Mission One is to deal with the gun violence in our city,” he continued. “You don’t start bringing in the new year with bringing in violence it’s unacceptable.” Newly installed NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell echoed Adams’ words, saying the incident underscores the plethora of guns in the wrong hands – and that too many people are willing to discharge firearms, something she intends to tackle head-on. The commissioner said the officer had ended an eight-hour shift at a New Year’s Eve event at Central Park at 2:30 a.m, and was slated to begin his next tour at 7 a.m. the same day. With the NYPD dormitories full, the officer elected to sleep in his car. The commissioner said the officer awoke at 6:15 a.m. and felt a pain on the left side of his head and discovered a shattered car window. An on-duty sergeant observed blood coming from the officer’s head, rendered aid and called an ambulance, Sewell said. The officer underwent surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital where it was determined he had a fractured skull. Bullet fragments were removed during surgery and the officer is recovering, Sewell said. The investigation is ongoing and police are offering a $10,000 reward to anyone able to help identify the shooter.",2345.0,Liam Reilly
199,2022-01-02,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/02/us/mummers-parade-new-years-day/index.html,‘Everyone is welcome’: New Year’s parade with checkered past of offensive costumes returns with an inclusive message,US,CNN,"America’s oldest folk parade returns Sunday after coronavirus shut down the New Year’s Day tradition that has come under scrutiny for racist and other offensive costumes worn by some participants throughout the years. Thousands are expected to attend and participate in Philadelphia’s time-honored Mummers Parade despite rising Covid-19 cases, locally and nationally, due to the Omicron variant. Normally, the event is held on New Year’s Day, but a forecast of rain pushed it to January 2 this year. Mummers will celebrate in the streets and perform skits and parodies in costumes, but this year’s revelers will be more culturally sensitive, organizers and participants say. In recent years, some participants in the parade have donned anti-semitic, transphobic and racist costumes – including blackface – according to Shira Goodman, director of Campaigns and Outreach at the Anti-Defamation League. “There’s a troubling history there,” Goodman told CNN. But Mummers leadership and city officials said they have put in additional safeguards to address past inappropriate and offensive conduct, Kevin Lessard, director of communications for the mayor of Philadelphia, told CNN. Trainings, all skits and performances must be approved by the human relations commission first, and clubs or individuals found out of compliance will be banned from Mummer’s Association and future parades, he said. In 2016, all Mummers began to receive cultural and racial sensitivity training after complaints about some of the costumes and parodies. The training included understanding cultural appropriation, rules of satire and LGBTQ cultural competence, Maita Soukup, a city spokesperson, told CNN. In recent years, some Mummers wore blackface even though it was banned in 1963 after the local branch of the NAACP and the Congress of Racial Equality persuaded the then-director of the parade to forbid it, Catherine Hicks, president of Philadelphia’s NAACP branch, told CNN. The decision sparked anger among many Mummers, who protested the ban, according to Temple University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center. Despite the ban and recent trainings, some Mummers had continued to don blackface. The most recent incident was in the 2020 parade. “The use of blackface by someone affiliated with Froggy Carr today was abhorrent and unacceptable. This selfish, hateful behavior has no place in the Mummers, or the city itself. We must be better than this. The group was disqualified, and we will be exploring additional penalties,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney tweeted at the time. Hicks said, “the history of blackface is very disturbing and it’s very sensitive when it comes to the African American community. People should do their homework before they dress up as any character because it can be offensive to a minority group.” “People might think it’s a joke or dressing up as character, but it brings back a lot of feelings of being enslaved,” she added. Additional training ahead of the 2022 parade included bias awareness training, Soukup said. Veteran Mummers acknowledge there have been some issues over the years but say it’s not the majority of members. Sam Regalbuto, a Mummer and president of the String Band Association, told CNN the individuals who donned blackface in 2020, “were two individuals who are not 365-days-a-year Mummers, had a political ax to grind in the city of Philadelphia with politicians. They used us as a platform to make their political statement that day and ruined it for all of us. Those individuals have been banned. People who have a political ax to grind aren’t welcome in our parade. We have rules and bylaws that we follow.” Mummery was brought into the United States in the 17th century by European immigrants from Scandinavian countries and England, according to the Mummers Museum. Philadelphia has sponsored the parade since 1901. The Mummers comprise more than “40 organized clubs, categorized into five divisions that each have their own performance specialty, and compete against each other for bragging rights, the Comics, Wench Brigades, Fancies, String Bands, and Fancy Brigades,” according to the city’s visitors website. Regalbuto is a Philadelphia native and has participated in the parade for 35 years. “It’s been a family tradition. My uncles and father went out in parade and brigades,” he said. “I have a creative edge, I get to use that creative edge – I like to create. I like to make sure we put smiles on people’s faces. We’re a very family-oriented and family-friendly hobby… I would love to be able to do it and raise my son in it,” Regalbuto explained. He said the parade has evolved since the days when the use of blackface was rampant. “That era was different, it was wrong then, it’s wrong now. There’s no need for that type of entertainment.” Regalbuto said the Mummers are moving away from celebrating different cultures and ethnicities, and celebrating more, “fantasy stuff, Pirates of the Caribbean, wizardry, Halloween type stuff, we pull a lot from movies, space.” But he says they’ve always worked to ensure that no one is offended. “If we have themes that relate to religion, we make sure we reach out to people to make sure we’re doing it in celebratory fashion to make sure we are not offensive in any way,” Regalbuto said. “We’re adjusting and learning… everyone is welcome.” Regalbuto said a few years ago the String Band Association wanted to perform a tribute to “Fiddler on the Roof,” a play about Jewish life in a village in 20th century Russia. His organization went to a Jewish organization to discuss what would be appropriate to do and say in the parade. Melissa MacNair, co-chair of the Vaudevillians New York Band, said she is aware of certain cultural stereotypes that existed in previous Mummer parades. “We’ve certainly seen stereotypes and we see things we disagree with. The vast majority of Mummers are good-hearted people,” she said. MacNair says the mandated cultural and racial sensitivity trainings have been beneficial to Mummers. “I’m happy the city has opened the door to the conversation, but there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done.” The parade starts at City Hall at 9 a.m. and lasts until 6 p.m. “While city health officials urge all parade participants and spectators to get vaccinated, vaccination is not required to participate. City health regulations require all parade-goers along the parade route to wear masks,” Soukup, a city spokesperson, told CNN.",6471.0,Sahar Akbarzai
200,2022-01-02,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/01/us/gulfport-shooting-new-years-eve-party-mississippi/index.html,Three people are dead and four more injured after a shooting at a Mississippi New Year’s Eve party,US,CNN,"Three people have been killed and four others injured at a New Year’s Eve party in Mississippi when multiple people started shooting following a physical altercation. The fatal incident at the celebration in Gulfport happened just minutes before the end of 2021, Gulfport Police said. An initial investigation by police revealed a large crowd had gathered outside for a party to celebrate the New Year. During the party, a physical altercation ensued and quickly escalated to shots being fired by multiple individuals, Gulfport Police Department Chief Chris Ryle said at a news conference Saturday. “When there is a party where alcohol, drugs, and assault rifles are present, it is a recipe for disaster,” Ryle said. “Once again this was proven factual.” Shell casings from handguns and assault rifles were found at the scene. Ryle estimates more than 50 shots were fired during the deadly incident. The Harrison County Coroner identified the slain victims as 23-year-old Corey Dubose of D’Iberville, 28-year-old Sedrick McCord of Gulfport, and 22-year-old Aubrey Lewis of Bay St. Louis, according to Jase Payne, the city of Gulfport communications and marketing manager. Of those wounded, one person remains in critical condition and the other three individuals sustained non-life-threatening injuries, police said. No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing, Ryle added.",1388.0,Sharif Paget
201,2022-01-02,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/01/us/white-people-overcoming-racist-backgrounds-blake-cec/index.html,They grew up surrounded by racism. But early on they chose a different path,US,CNN,"He’s been called a “racist P.O.S.” and accused of indoctrinating students. He lost the job he loved. The constant attacks have reduced him to tears. Matt Hawn has become a focal point of one of this past year’s biggest racial controversies. The former public high school teacher in Tennessee was thrust into the national spotlight after he was fired from his tenured job for the way he taught students about White privilege. Hawn became one of the most prominent casualties in an ongoing debate over how racism and history should be taught to students in the US. His plight has divided people in his conservative, heavily White city near the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. But Hawn’s improbable personal journey is as dramatic as the headlines he’s provoked. There is nothing in his background that suggests that he’d take such a public stand against racism. Hawn grew up in a White community and says he didn’t have a single nonwhite classmate from kindergarten through high school. He says he was surrounded by people who used the N-word, flew Confederate flags and wore T-shirts declaring “The South Will Rise Again.” So why did he turn out differently? One way to answer that question is to examine a group of Americans who rarely come up in discussions about race. They are White people who grew up in families and communities where racism was the norm, but they rejected those beliefs early on. They zigged when everyone else around them zagged. These aren’t the type of people who made headlines in 2021, when White supremacists waved a Confederate flag at the US Capitol on January 6, racist conspiracy theories entered mainstream politics and new voter suppression laws were enacted across the nation. It’s easy to conclude after the events of this past year that human beings are too tribal to see past color, and racism is a “permanent feature of American life.” Yet these racial non-conformists show that even the most unlikely people can change. None of them claim they are free of racism. As children some of them absorbed the attitudes they saw in their family or friends. But people like Hawn possessed an innate ability to self-correct when they were young and defy expectations at an age when the pressure to conform is the highest. These outliers appear in history books, in news stories and in public life. Many can’t explain why they turned out so different. Hawn, 43, says when he was growing up his family never talked about racism. “There wasn’t anyone to have these conversations with,” he says. “It’s really hard to talk about racism in the US without someone who experienced it.” A closer look at people like Hawn reveals at least four traits that they all share. During the height of the George Floyd protests in the summer of 2020, filmmaker Kasi Lemmons wrote a searing essay titled, “White Americans, your lack of imagination is killing us.” Lemmons, director of “Harriet” and “Eve’s Bayou,” said pervasive racism exists because many White people cannot imagine what it’s like to be Black. They can’t imagine what it’s like to be murdered by a police officer or to experience the constant vulnerability of dealing with racism every day. “As a filmmaker, I help people imagine what’s it’s like to be someone else, to experience things from a character’s point of view — things they never will experience outside the theater,” she wrote. “But when it comes to black life in America, there’s only one conclusion I can reach about some white people: You don’t care to put yourself in our shoes.” Yet there are some White people who can imagine what it’s like to be an outsider – because they are outsiders themselves. Hawn was diagnosed at age 13 with Type I diabetes. He had to carry his blood-sugar meter everywhere, and insulin  to his baseball games.  He was painfully thin. “I was very sick for a long time,” Hawn says. “My entire seventh-grade year I was sick.” The illness made him stand out at a young age. Rhonda Hawn, his mother, says she had a friend who gave birth to twin boys with Down syndrome. Her son was one of the few boys in their community who would visit them and take them outside to play baseball. “Matt has always had an empathy for anyone who is different,” she says. “That made him totally different from his peers. “None of his peers were diabetic. He knew what it was like to be different, not because of his skin color but in other ways.” Many White progressives say they were transformed by a close relationship or a memorable encounter with a nonwhite person. Charles Black, Jr. was a White man who grew up in Texas during the Jim Crow era, believing that Black people were inferior. Then he met a Black man that changed his life. In 1931, Black went to a hotel in Austin, Texas, to hear jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong play. He knew nothing about jazz, but something shifted in him as he watched a rapturous Armstrong perform. “He was the first genius I’d ever seen,” Black recalled in a Yale Review essay. “It is impossible to underestimate the significance of a 16-year-old Southern boy seeing genius for the first time in a black person. We literally never saw a black man in anything but a servant’s capacity. “Louis opened my eyes wide and put to me a choice: Blacks, the saying went, were ‘all right in their place,’ but what was the place of such a man, and of the people from which he sprung?” Black would go on to join a team of lawyers that successfully convinced the US Supreme Court to overturn the segregation of students based on race in the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision. Hawn had a similar experience. He says he began to question what many of his peers believed when he met a Black teenager in an American Legion program designed to promote teenage boys’ civic engagement. The teens spent a week together with others in a dormitory. Hawn bonded with his new friend over their love of hip hop music, sports and girls. “He was the first African-American person I’d ever befriended,” Hawn says. “I just remember him being just like me and my friends, somebody I could instantly make a connection with.” The transformative power of interracial relationships has been so well documented by social scientists that there’s a name for it: “contact theory.” That’s the term that Gordon Allport, one of the towering figures of psychology in the 20th century, used to describe experiences similar to Hawn’s. In one of his most famous studies, Allport conducted surveys of White soldiers who fought alongside Black soldiers during World War II. He discovered that in companies with both Black and White platoons, White soldiers disliked Black people far less than did White soldiers who served in segregated units. But Allport found it was not enough for Whites and non-Whites to simply know one another. Other conditions also had to be met, such as personal interaction, equal status and both groups sharing common goals. Allport’s findings, which were replicated with civilians in varying settings, proved that hatred and racism stem from lack of contact, the historian Rutger Bregman wrote in an essay describing Allport’s work. “We generalize wildly about strangers because we don’t know them,” Bregman wrote. “So the remedy seemed obvious: more contact.” The Rev. Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe comes from an even harsher racial environment than Hawn. He grew up in Helena, Arkansas, during the Jim Crow era. Stroupe was a boy when a group of Black students braved jeering White mobs to integrate White public schools in Little Rock. The President of the United States had to summon federal troops to protect them. The Black students were dubbed “the Little Rock Nine.” Stroupe cast his sympathies with the mob. He thought Black people were inferior, almost like animals. He couldn’t imagine sharing classrooms with them. “No one ever sat down with me and told me that Black people were inferior,” he says. “It was just in the air; you breathed it in.” Then one day Stroupe opened a book. He was a junior in high school when a teacher handed him a copy of “Cry, the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton. The novel is a classic that focuses on a rural Black pastor’s search for his missing son against the backdrop of apartheid South Africa. The pastor’s search stirred painful feelings for Stroupe. His own father had abandoned him when he was a kid. The pastor’s earnestness and kindness touched him. Stroupe wished his father would search for him. Something in him shifted. He began to think of the Black people he made fun of his in his hometown. “I remember looking up from the book’s page and thinking, ‘Gosh, they might be like us.” Stroupe, now 75, became a civil rights activist, an award-winning author and one of the nation’s most prominent anti-racist speakers. He and his wife, Caroline Leach, became co-pastors of Oakhurst Presbyterian Church in Decatur, Georgia, whose successful efforts to build a vibrant interracial congregation drew national attention and became a model for others. Some stories are so powerful that they can change White people who grew up in even the most racially isolated circumstances. Charissa Johnson was raised in a fundamentalist Christian community in rural Colorado that cut off contact from much of the world. She was home-schooled, and the people she encountered were almost entirely White. Racism in her town was common, she says. She heard people say that Blacks were lazy and lived off government handouts. Townspeople openly opposed interracial marriages. She occasionally heard them use the N-word. “If we saw a Black person walking down the street, someone would say, ‘Oh be careful. Lock your car doors,’ ” she says. But Johnson says she rejected much of this thinking because of her love of reading. She recalled one book in particular. Titled “Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale,” it was a lavishly illustrated folktale set in Zimbabwe that centered on a father’s attempt to marry one of his two daughters to a king. The book portrays the African girls as beautiful and intelligent and the father as noble and wise. Johnson started reading other African folk tales. Then she read the “The Diary of Anne Frank.” The girls in the books looked different than her, but she shared many of their dreams and hopes. “I was curious about the world and about people, and finding connection with those people in the books helped break down a lot of the us-versus-them mentality I learned,” says Johnson, now 35. The stories inspired her to take a stand when she was in the fourth grade. She was attending a home-school enrichment program with other students when she noticed how a Black girl was being treated. None of the White students would play with the Black girl in their physical education class. Young Charissa approached the girl, introduced herself, and asked if they could be PE partners. “It didn’t just make sense to me,” she says. “Nobody ever wanted to partner with her. And so we became friends. We would run together, and she became my buddy. It was a lot of fun.” During many of his sermons, Stroupe made an observation that made some White parishioners squirm in their seats. He said he didn’t learn racism from unapologetic racists like members of the Ku Klux Klan. Nice White people taught him how to hate. “I had been taught racism by my family, my church, and my teachers – by really decent white people in my hometown on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi River Delta,” Stroupe wrote in a 2018 essay in The Atlantic. One of the biggest challenges any White racial non-conformist faces is being expelled by their tribe. It’s hard to break from family and friends who see you as an oddity or a traitor. Stroupe had to break with his mother, Mary, who viewed the civil rights movement with suspicion. When he was a teenager, he started to ask her about it to sort through his evolving perspective. “Don’t mess with this, Nibs, and don’t fret about it,” she told him. “It is not our business.” He didn’t take his mother’s advice. After high school, he enrolled in a church program that took him to New York City where he forged friendships with Black people for the first time. He became a civil rights activist. He even dated a Black woman. He decided to go into the ministry. When he returned to Arkansas to bring the good news to the nice White people in his church, many rejected him. Church elders told him that going to the North had corrupted him. “They said that I had gotten ‘Yankified,’ ” Stroupe recalls. But Stroupe was willing to jeopardize the relationship with his mother and his community for his beliefs in racial justice. And eventually, his mother became a convert and supported his civil rights activism. Stroupe, the author of five books, is currently working on a memoir about his relationship with his mother. “I learned from my mother and church that God loved me and God loved everybody,” he says. “The question was, who is everybody? Once I could make that connection with Black people being part of everybody, then that was really it.” Hawn, too, is paying the price for his beliefs. His parents have stood behind him. But some people in his staunchly conservative community denounced him on Facebook, and the lengthy dismissal process, which ended with his firing last May, has worn him down at times. School board members said they didn’t fire Hawn because he taught students about White privilege. They said he treated the concept as a fact, and didn’t offer students opposing points of view. Hawn’s firing came the same month that Tennessee legislators passed a law dictating how public school teachers should talk about race in classrooms. The law was passed as heated debates spread nationwide over critical race theory, the idea that systemic racism is part of American history and institutions, and that racism remains an everyday experience for most people of color. A school official said Hawn’s firing had nothing to do with the passage of the law. The school board voted in December to uphold Hawn’s firing. He’s considering appealing the decision. Hawn says he misses teaching and has financial worries now. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help him. “What am I going to do for health insurance?” he says. “I’m a Type 1 diabetic.” But he still calls himself an “anti-racist teacher,” and says there’s a need for people like him in small towns. “If I didn’t teach those lessons, I wouldn’t be doing my job,” he says. “It’s important for teachers to see, in light of these bills and laws, that if you get caught up in all of this (debate over teaching about racism) that there are people out there to support you. “And if no one does, I will. At least you’ll have one.” But even just one person who refuses to conform can change history. A South African man showed how. Abraham and Constand Viljoen were identical twin brothers and Afrikaners, members of South African’s dominant White ethnic group. Both were indoctrinated from birth to defend apartheid, the brutal system that denied Blacks and other people of color equal access to political and economic power. They were taught that Blacks were biologically inferior, and to dread the “Black danger” – a scenario in which armed Blacks would pillage and take over South Africa. But then their paths diverged. Abraham became a minister, joined the underground resistance to apartheid and became a close ally of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first Black president.  His brother became chief of the South African Defense Force, which crushed Black dissent and, some say, assassinated Black activists. He was apartheid’s ultimate enforcer. Afrikaners called Abraham Viljoen a traitor. But he helped save his country from a civil war in 1993 when he brokered a meeting between Mandela and his brother. Constand Viljoen’s disdain for Mandela changed after he met the anti-apartheid legend over tea in Mandela’s home. When Mandela was inaugurated a year after their meeting, Constand Viljoen saluted him in the halls of Parliament and would later call him “the greatest of men.” Abraham Viljoen’s example could help us today.  The news is filled with stories about White people acting in blatantly racist ways. Racism can seem like apartheid once did: ineradicable. Yet we are also surrounded by people like Abraham Viljoen. They show us that compassion can bloom in the most unexpected places. And while many people are taught to hate, there are others who seem born with the instinct to question those messages. It’s time we started paying more attention to them as well.",16515.0,John Blake
202,2022-01-02,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/02/us/san-diego-man-pushed-train-dies/index.html,A man died after being pushed into an oncoming train in San Diego,US,CNN,"A man died after he was pushed into an oncoming train in an unprovoked attack on New Year’s Day in San Diego, police said. Authorities are still searching for the suspect who fled on foot after the attack, which happened around 6:15 a.m. on Saturday, the San Diego Police Department said in a statement. The victim and suspect exited a southbound trolley at the Old Town station and were walking on the platform when the suspect, without being provoked, pushed the man into the oncoming train, according to police. “The male struck the side of a passing train, causing his injuries,” police said. Officers found the victim unresponsive with “apparent trauma to his upper body on the trolley platform.” He was pronounced  dead at 6:23 a.m. The identity of the victim, described as a white male in his 60s, was not immediately released. The suspect is described by police as a thin, light-skinned male, 5-feet-7-inches to 5-feet-9-inches tall. He was dressed in black clothes, police added. The Old Town Transit Center was closed while detectives investigated the incident and attempted to locate witnesses, but service was to resume, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System said on Twitter.",1191.0,Sharif Paget
203,2022-01-02,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/01/us/key-west-southernmost-point-burned-vandals/index.html,"Key West’s Southernmost Point buoy damaged after men burn a Christmas tree in front of it, police say",US,CNN,"The iconic Southernmost Point landmark, an anchored concrete buoy in Key West, Florida, sustained “extensive damage” early Saturday morning after vandals placed a Christmas tree in front of it which they lit on fire, Key West Police said in statement. Police are now looking for two male suspects they say are responsible for the damage. The tree was set on fire, sparking the blaze that damaged the landmark, sometime between 3 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., police said. Key West Police said the incident is under investigation and are asking people with any information to reach out.",575.0,Sharif Paget
204,2022-01-01,https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/31/us/virginia-giuffre-prince-andrew-court-filing-intl/index.html,Virginia Giuffre’s lawyers demand proof that Prince Andrew can’t sweat,US,CNN,"Prince Andrew has been asked to provide documents proving his “alleged medical inability to sweat” in a court filing by attorneys for Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who has accused the royal of sexual assault in a US civil lawsuit. In the court document filed Thursday, Giuffre’s attorneys also ask for any documents relating to anyone Andrew met at a Pizza Express restaurant in Woking, England, or at Club Tramp nightclub in London, and to his travel to and from those places. In her lawsuit, Giuffre alleges she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and forced to have sex with his friends – including the prince – and that Andrew was aware she was underage (17) in the US. Prince Andrew strongly denies the allegations. In a BBC interview in 2019, Andrew said he had taken his elder daughter to a party at a pizza restaurant on the night in 2001 when it is alleged that he had sex with Giuffre. He also said in the interview that for many years he could not sweat, countering the allegations made by Giuffre that he was sweating profusely before they had sex in London when she was 17. “I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady,” he said of Giuffre. In claims made prior to filing her lawsuit, Giuffre alleges that in 2001 Epstein brought her to London, where she was introduced to Prince Andrew and went dancing at a nightclub with Epstein, his then-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell and the prince. In a BBC interview also broadcast in 2019, Giuffre said she had been taken to the Tramp nightclub where, Giuffre alleged, Andrew asked her to dance and was “sweating all over me.” Giuffre’s attorneys have also demanded any documents concerning Andrew’s travel to or from, or presence in, Epstein’s planes, Florida, New York, New Mexico and the United States Virgin Islands, according to their filing Thursday, as well as documents relating to “all gifts or other things of value” received by Andrew from Epstein or Maxwell “including but not limited to puppets.” “If Prince Andrew truly has no documents concerning his communications with Maxwell or Epstein, his travel to Florida, New York, or various locations in London, his alleged medical inability to sweat, or anything that would support the alibis he gave during his BBC interview, then continuing with discovery will not be burdensome to him at all,” the filing said. Oral arguments in the case are set for January 4, where attorneys for the 61-year-old prince are expected to argue for the lawsuit’s dismissal. Andrew’s legal team claimed in a motion filed Tuesday that the court does not have jurisdiction over the case. Giuffre’s attorneys said the motion “lacks any basis in law or fact” and urged the court to deny it, according to the Thursday court filing. The judge denied the motion on Friday. US judges have also ruled that a confidential 2009 settlement agreement between Epstein and Giuffre, which may have also referenced Prince Andrew, should be released publicly next week. Maxwell, a British socialite, was found guilty by a New York jury Wednesday on five counts relating to her role in Epstein’s sexual abuse of minor girls.",3100.0,Laura Smith-Spark
205,2022-01-01,https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/31/us/colorado-wildfires-friday/index.html,"No deaths have been reported in the ferocious Colorado wildfire. It may be a ‘New Year’s miracle,’ governor says",US,CNN,"No deaths have been reported as a result of a swift and vicious wildfire that consumed at least 500 homes in Boulder County, Colorado, and forced some 35,000 people to flee, authorities said Friday. “We might have our very own New Year’s miracle on our hands if it holds up that there was no loss of life,” Gov. Jared Polis said. One person who was unaccounted for has been found and several others treated for injuries, authorities said. The outcome appears all the more astonishing considering how quickly the Marshall Fire spread, carried by historically powerful winds across drought-parched land. “In the blink of an eye,” the governor said Friday at a news conference, “many families having minutes, minutes to get whatever they could, their pets, their kids into the car and leave.” FIRE RESPONSE: GET LIVE UPDATES Still, hundreds have lost homes and perhaps everything they own. Entire subdivisions burned, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said. “The west side of Superior, Old Town Superior … are totally gone. That accounts easily for 500 homes,” he said after he and the governor flew over the area to assess the damage. And the tally could rise, Pelle acknowledged. In addition to the devastation in Superior, a town about 10 miles southeast of Boulder, the sheriff said they saw dozens of homes burned in other areas. “I would estimate it’s going to be at least 500 homes,” Pelle said. “I would not be surprised if it’s a thousand.” The wildfire began Thursday morning and swallowed at least 1,600 acres in a matter of hours, prompting orders for people across two communities to evacuate. Some 370 homes were destroyed in a single subdivision just west of the town of Superior, while another 210 homes may have been lost in Old Town Superior, the Boulder County sheriff said Thursday. Superior Mayor Clint Folsom told CNN’s Poppy Harlow the hurricane-force winds were unusual. “We get these strong winds occasionally, but it’s rare when it really moves soil like this one did, and then you combine it with the fire element and then our extremely dry – extremely dry conditions that we’ve had over the last several months. It was just a recipe for disaster,” he said Friday. As quickly as the winds began, they subsided overnight and the weather started a quick swing to the other extreme: The fire-ravaged area was under a winter weather warning Friday, with 5 to 10 inches of snow expected to fall by Saturday, CNN meteorologist Robert Shackelford said. Fire officials do not anticipate much more fire growth. Containment remains at 0% because fighting the Marshall Fire is different from battling other blazes, the fire’s incident commander, Michael Smith, told reporters Friday. “This is about working around the perimeters of homes and working our way through the process,” he said. “We’re having to kind of change our thought process on what containment looks like as far as a percentage, but I do think that our forward progress is going to be very minimal from this point on.” Downed power lines are suspected as the cause of the Marshall Fire, Pelle said, though authorities continue to investigate. But, according to a Boulder Office of Emergency Management statement, power company Xcel Energy said it found no downed power lines in the area where the fire started. About 17,000 customers had no power Friday in Colorado, most of them in Boulder County, after the blaze grew to 6,200 acres overnight, Michelle Kelly with the Boulder Incident Management Team told CNN affiliate KUSA. “We do still have active burning within the fire perimeter both in the communities of Superior and Louisville,” she said. Thursday’s event was a “truly historic windstorm,” with gusts over 100 mph in Jefferson and Boulder counties fueling the blazes, the National Weather Service said. Folsom “witnessed houses just exploding right before our eyes” on Thursday evening, he told CNN. “It was one of the most disturbing situations I have ever been in,” Folsom said Friday. “One minute, there was nothing. Then, plumes of smoke appeared. Then, flames. Then, the flames jumped around and multiplied,” said Boulder Heights resident Andy Thorn, who’d always worried about wildfires during periods of high wind. He watched the flames and smoke spread Thursday from his home in the foothills. Wind gusts Thursday pushed the blaze “down a football field in a matter of seconds,” Polis said Thursday. “There’s no way,” he said, “to quantify in any financial way, the price of a loss – of losing the chair that was handed down to you from your grandmother, of losing your childhood yearbooks, of losing your photos, of losing your computer files – which hundreds of Colorado families have experienced today with no warning.” Among them is a University of Colorado assistant football coach who said his family lost “every material possession” Thursday in the wildfire. “Our home, cars, and everything we had in our home lost to the fires that ripped through our community,” Mark Smith tweeted. “Thank you to those who reached out. Processing how to completely start over and grateful for our health.” Former Boulder Mayor Sam Weaver evacuated animals Thursday afternoon from the home of his brother, who with his family is out of the country, he told CNN on Friday. “The winds were going crazy strong. We saw two different flame fronts near their house about half a mile away,” said Weaver, who’s also the former fire chief for the community of Sugarloaf. “We spent a couple hours loading the animals into trailers and trucks and taking them away, pulling out the computer and photo albums as the flames got closer and closer,” he said. “By the time we left, say around 4, the flames were a few hundred yards away – maybe 300, 400 yards away. So, we had to leave. “We hope the house is OK,” Weaver added, “but have no word yet today.” Evacuation centers were opened, including one for evacuees who have Covid-19, Polis said. In line with a nationwide explosion of cases, Colorado on Thursday recorded its highest ever daily coronavirus case count, with 5,427 cases per day on average statewide over the prior week, according to a CNN analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. Overall, “We had 300 people overnight in shelters,” Kelly said. On Thursday at a Costco in Superior, Hunt Frye was shopping for soup for his wife when a worker told customers to evacuate. People initially were calm as they left the store, Frye said, but then took off like “antelope, running all over the place.” “It was pretty scary. It was kind of like a life beyond a dream,” he said. “It was just apocalyptic-feeling.” As he drove away through the haze, Frye was “trying to get out of there in a safe manner.” “But people were running from their houses with their pet cats and, you know, everybody was very panic-stricken,” he said. “The thing that really struck me was the fear in the police officers’ face(s) who were trying to kind of get traffic going. They were legitimately scared.” A notification Thursday morning from their daughters’ day care in nearby Louisville pinged Chris Smith and his wife, of downtown Superior, to “come pick up the girls,” he told CNN affiliate KCNC. “Please act quickly,” city officials there had urged in their evacuation order. “I called my wife, and she started collecting valuables and clothes to evacuate,” Smith said. He drove through smoke on his way there and on his way back. Across the fire zone, roads were blocked by smoke and traffic gridlock as people tried to make their way out. The situation on the ground was “unbelievable,” Weaver told CNN. “When you talk about what’s going on on the ground, it was really about trying to stay away from the front of the fire that was being pushed forward and get everything out that we could,” he said. “The focus was on life safety.” Julie Tanous, an employee at a Home Depot in Louisville, watched from the store as wind and smoke blew through the area. “It was like a disaster movie,” Tanous told CNN on Friday. She was back at the store cleaning up. Ash is everywhere, she said. Strong wind would make battling the fire head on a challenge, Weaver told CNN’s “New Day.” “The high wind speeds were driving embers and other flames forward so quickly,” he said, adding, “There is no way to attack it head on, that’s absolutely true. Even from the sides, you have to be careful with the swirling winds that are nearby.” Winds had dropped by early Friday to below 20 mph, and the area is under a winter weather warning, with heavy snowfall expected by sunrise, CNN meteorologist Shackelford said. Friday’s anticipated snowfall “comes at a good time,” Shackelford said, “since 100% of the state is under some sort of drought, and this snowfall will also help to contain the Marshall Fire.” Much of the western US has been mired in serious and historic drought, with warmer temperatures and drier conditions consequences of climate change. Denver has seen just over 1 inch of precipitation in the past six months – a record low for the second half of the year. Boulder and its surrounding counties are classified as under an “extreme drought,” per the US Drought Monitor. The wildfires plaguing Colorado close out a year in which more than 58,000 wildfires burned more than 7.8 million acres across the United States – just above the 10-year average – according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The national wildfire preparedness ranking stood at its highest level for a record 68 consecutive days this summer as the Northern Hemisphere’s summer of wildfires let off record-breaking carbon emissions. But while snow Friday in Colorado will help halt the wildfire’s advance, “for some people that’s going to be a problem for trying to retrieve belongings from any burned home,” Weaver said. “If the snow falls too quickly,” he added, “it can do further damage to property.” Boulder’s Office of Emergency Management asked residents to stay out of evacuation zones Friday morning, though some had already begun the recovery process. A search party was scheduled on Facebook for the weekend. On another Facebook page, dozens posted about animals they’re looking for or found in and around the burned areas. Polis and President Joe Biden spoke Friday, the governor said, and Biden approved an expedited major disaster declaration which would be finalized later in the day. “What that means is, it allows those who suffered loss – small businesses and homeowners – they won’t have to wait for the preliminary damage assessment for housing and small business assistance,” Polis said. “So that will be forthcoming very soon. “And the President sends his regards to the people of Colorado and those who are directly impacted.” At least six people had been treated for injuries related to one of the fires, a UCHealth spokesperson told CNN. A law enforcement officer suffered a minor eye injury from blowing debris. Polis on Thursday declared a state of emergency, allowing the state to access emergency disaster funds to help the response.",11000.0,Dakin Andone
206,2022-01-01,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/01/us/colorado-wildfires-saturday/index.html,Three people are missing and feared dead after vicious wildfire wipes out entire subdivisions in a Colorado county,US,CNN,"At least three people are missing and feared dead after a horrific wildfire tore through Boulder, County, Colorado, Thursday, leveling whole subdivisions and charring more than 6,000 acres. Two of the missing residents were in Superior and the third individual is from the unincorporated Marshall area, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said at a news conference Saturday afternoon. Cadaver dogs will be brought in on Sunday to assist in the search. “Unfortunately, I believe these are going to turn into recovery cases,” Pelle added. Each of the structures associated with the missing residents are “completely destroyed and covered with eight inches of snow,” the sheriff said. To date, county officials have received five missing persons reports and two have been resolved, according to Pelle. The news comes a day after officials initially said there had been no deaths as a result of the blaze, which was miraculous given the Marshall Fire’s speed and ferocity, they said. At the time, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said one person who had been missing Thursday night had been accounted for. Officials flew over the affected area Friday morning to assess the damage shortly before the weather swung to the other extreme, with a cold front that dumped several inches of snow. Subdivisions on the west side of Superior and in Old Town Superior were “totally gone,” Pelle said in the news conference later that day, adding the south side of Louisville suffered “catastrophic losses” as well. At least 991 homes in Louisville, Superior and unincorporated portions of Boulder County have been lost in the blaze, Pelle added. More than 550 homes in Louisville were destroyed, as were 332 in Superior and another 106 homes were destroyed in unincorporated portions of the county. Another 127 structures were also damaged in the area, Pelle said. Judy Delaware’s family lost their Louisville home in the blaze, escaping the fast-moving fires with not much more than their dogs and the clothes on their backs, she told CNN Saturday, as she stood with her family in the snow that has blanketed the region over the last couple days. Now the home is a “pile of rubble,” she said. “It just felt like a punch to the stomach,” she said of the moment she realized her home was gone. “And this can’t be real, it’s just so surreal to be able to even fathom, everything you own is just gone. Gone.” Authorities announced evacuation orders Thursday as the fire quickly made its way to suburban neighborhoods. Many of those areas remain blocked off because it’s “still too dangerous” for residents to return just yet, the sheriff said Friday. Authorities on Saturday continued to visit burned out properties, Superior Mayor Clint Folsom told CNN, checking that they are safe and searching for possible victims. “Part of this recovery effort is having crews go to each property – and we’ve got hundreds of them – to shut off the gas, shut off the water, make the power safe … and search for any fatalities,” he said. “And now we’ve got a nice layer of snow on top of all of these scenes, and that’s going to slow down those efforts,” he said. “I understand people want to get back into these areas to check on their properties, but I just ask for everybody’s patience as much as possible.” The Marshall Fire was one of two blazes that started Thursday morning. Fueled by historic winds, its flames sped across drought-parched land, traveling “down a football field in a matter of seconds,” Gov. Jared Polis described in a Thursday news conference. The other fire, known as the Middle Fork Fire, was attacked quickly and “laid down,” the sheriff said. Containment of the Marshall Fire remained at 0% Friday because fighting this blaze is different, the fire’s incident commander, Michael Smith, told reporters. “This is about working around the perimeters of homes and working our way through the process,” he said. “We’re having to kind of change our thought process on what containment looks like,” he said. But fire officials did not expect much more fire growth as the winds died down and more snow fell. The area has seen between 5 and 8 inches of snow in the last 24 hours, CNN meteorologist Robert Shackelford said Saturday afternoon: Louisville has seen 8 inches, and Boulder had seen 8.2 inches, he said. Many of the residents in the fire’s path were caught off-guard by the evacuation orders, and the rush to leave was a chaotic one, as they scrambled to grab belongings and pets before fleeing. “They were given immediate orders to evacuate,” Denver Fire Department spokesperson Capt. Greg Pixley told CNN on Friday. “People aren’t prepared for that.” The Delaware family was together the day of the blaze, chatting with a friend on FaceTime when their son alerted them to the fire nearby. When they went out to take a look, they could tell things were moving swiftly. Prescott Delaware, Judy’s son, estimated the flames were about 600 yards away. “But with, like, 100 mile per hour winds,” he added. His partner, Tayler Sustello, described seeing a red and orange sky and blackening smoke, and the wind was strong enough to knock her over, she said. “Things were moving quickly,” she said. “And the sound of the wind – it honestly just sounded like a hurricane of smoke and fire.” The family took just a few minutes to grab a handful of essentials: phone chargers, their dogs’ leashes and medicine. Judy Delaware grabbed some slippers and pajamas, but she had to leave behind other belongings, like photographs of her parents. It was overwhelming to drive away and think about all the people she knew who were affected by the fire, her daughter, Elise Delaware, said. “Just seeing the home that you love and you are so proud of just going up in smoke is just horrible. It’s horrible,” she said. But she’s just grateful her loved ones are safe. Resident Hunt Frye said he was shopping for soup for his wife at a Costco in Superior when a worker suddenly told customers to evacuate, sending them running. As he drove home, Frye watched a frenzied evacuation around him, describing it as “apocalyptic-feeling.” “People were running from their houses with their pet cats and, you know, everybody was very panic-stricken,” he said. “The thing that really struck me was the fear in the police officers’ face(s) who were trying to kind of get traffic going. They were legitimately scared.” While no deaths had been reported by Friday, several people were treated for injuries, authorities said. “In this kind of situation you’d expect, honestly, dozens of fatalities,” Polis told CNN Friday evening. “These are thousands of people, many had five minutes to flee. It would be remarkable if there aren’t any (deaths).” The origin of the blaze is still under investigation, but a search warrant has been executed at an undisclosed property potentially connected to the fire, according to Pelle. The sheriff did not elaborate at Saturday’s press conference except to say an active investigation is being conducted by the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office “in conjunction with federal and state partners.” The search warrant was obtained based off a tip from the community, he told reporters. Pelle had initially said there were power lines down where the Marshall Fire started, but confirmed Saturday officials have not located any downed power lines. The Boulder Office of Emergency Management (OEM) also said power company Xcel Energy “found no downed power lines.” “Xcel Energy has been a very responsive and invaluable partner. At this point, they have inspected all of their lines within the ignition area and found no downed power lines,” Boulder OEM said in a news release. “They did find some compromised communication lines that may have been misidentified as power lines. Typically, communications lines (telephone, cable, internet, etc.) would not be the cause of a fire,” the release added. A full investigation is ongoing, it said. Officials are reopening certain parts of Superior and Louisville today and re-entry to other areas is expected to increase in the coming days.",8070.0,Christina Maxouris
207,2022-01-01,https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/31/us/southern-los-angeles-grocery-store-shooting/index.html,"6 people were injured in a shooting incident outside a southern Los Angeles grocery store, police say",US,CNN,"Six people were injured in a shooting incident outside a Southern Los Angeles grocery store late Friday afternoon at a strip mall, police said. Los Angeles Police responded to a call of shots fired outside a Superior Grocers outlet store, Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Stacy Spell told CNN. The suspects and someone at the grocery store got into an argument inside and the suspects left the store and fired back into it, apparently with handguns, Spell said. There were reports that the suspects opened fire on a single person, but Spell said an additional five bystanders were also injured in the shooting – bringing the total number of victims to six. The people who were injured were taken to various local hospitals, all with non-life threatening injuries, Spell said. There was no immediate information on who was responsible for the shooting.",854.0,Paul Vercammen
208,2022-01-01,https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/01/us/texas-raining-fish-scn-cec/index.html,It rained fish over a Texas town this week in a bizarre weather event,US,CNN,"It’s raining fish in east Texas – but it’s nothing too out of the ordinary. Earlier this week, residents of Texarkana reported small fish falling from the sky in what seemed like an epochal weather event. The reality was more mundane: The swimmers, many of them palm-sized, were likely picked up by a waterspout and dropped back down to earth as it lost momentum, the city told residents in a Facebook post. The fish showers are an example of “animal rain,” the city explained, and “while it’s uncommon,” it can happen when the weather is just right – and the fish are just light enough. The animals didn’t originate in the sky before they started raining, of course – rather, they were picked up off the ground by powerful waterspouts, which begin in the air and move down toward water’s surface. As these spouts gain momentum, the vortex at the center of the waterspouts can start picking up small, light objects – including fish. And when the waterspout loses energy, those small objects come falling back down, explains the Library of Congress. Updrafts – super-strong winds – are more powerful than waterspouts and can pick up animals larger than skinny fish, according to National Geographic, including birds, bats, frogs and snakes. The residents of Texarkana were by all accounts relatively nonplussed by the bizarre weather event. Tim Brigham told CNN affiliate KSLA he thought it was “pretty cool” to see tiny fish falling from the sky and useful, too – he said he “started to get me a bucket and pick them up for fishing bait.” The employees of Discount Wheel and Tire stepped away from the tires and instead started cleaning up their parking lot’s surprise seafood platter. Others shared photos of their own backyard fish finds after the city’s Facebook page asked them to “show us your fishy pics.” Most of them were no bigger than the palm of the hand of the resident who took the photo. Texarkana’s animal rain may be one of the only recorded instances of the phenomenon in the state, but California last saw the same thing in 2017, when elementary school officials in Oroville reported that 100 fish fell from the sky and onto school property. Fish have fallen from the sky in the town of Lajamanu in Australia’s Northern Territory at least three times in the last 30 years, per the Weather Channel.",2315.0,Scottie Andrew