‘Mommy, I can’t breathe. This man was trying to kill me!’ School bus driver brawls with boy in video
A Florida bus driver was caught on camera in a physical altercation with a teen that had students begging the man to cut it out.
The video showed students breaking up a scuffle between the driver and an 13-year-old boy last week on an Aventura Waterways Preparatory school bus, according to news station WPLG.
After a shouting match, the student walked away down the aisle. But within moments, the driver was seen grabbing his collar and pressing him up against a window.
The teen’s mom Diana Cowan said that she was shocked to learn the driver physically assaulted her son.
“He said, ‘Mommy, I can’t breathe. This man was trying to kill me,’” Cowan told WPLG.
Cowan said that she’s concerned for her son and the other students.
“The anger that I saw in the video and how he handled my son, I’m very concerned for other kids,” Cowan said. “I’m concerned that this driver could hurt other children, I mean, worse than how he hurt my son.”
The school district said that the bus driver has been reassigned and they’re investigating the incident.
“Miami-Dade County Public Schools is taking this allegation, which first surfaced last week, very seriously,” spokeswoman Daisy Gonzalez-Diego said in a statement to WPLG. “We regard our students’ wellbeing among our top priorities. The employee has been reassigned while we conduct a thorough investigation into this matter.”
via: http://nypost.com/2017/10/18/i-cant-breathe-school-bus-driver-brawls-with-boy-in-video/
St. Louis Gas Station Clerk Allegedly Fatally Shot Customer Over $1 Bag of Candy; Victim Didn’t Steal
A 39-year-old gas station clerk has been charged after he allegedly shot and killed a person he thought had taken a bag of candy from his store in St. Louis.
The shooting occurred Sept. 26 at a gas station in the 2800 block of N. Florissant Avenue, according to court documents obtained by KTLA sister station KTVI in St. Louis.
The victim, Christopher Simmons, was a customer at the gas station when he got into an argument with the store clerk, identified as Taleb Rebhi Ali Jawher.
Jawher accused Simmons of stealing a bag of candy worth approximately $1.10 and pointed a handgun at him, prosecutors say. Simmons then left the store. Jawher followed him outside and allegedly shot Simmons in the back of the head.
Simmons did not steal or leave the store with the candy, police said.
“We’re just trying to find some peace,” Simmons’ mother, Dorothy Simmons, told the St. Louis Post Dispatch. “He was a wonderful young man who was taken from us too soon.”
Jawher has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action, according to the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office.
via: http://ktla.com/2017/10/18/clerk-accused-of-shooting-man-to-death-over-1-bag-of-gas-station-candy/
Dungeons and Dragons Stumbles With It’s Revision Of the Games Major Black Culture
For nearly a decade, there hasn’t been more than a vestige of a black society in the official world of Dungeons & Dragons. There have been black people, but no black civilizations except for a relatively small group of survivors of a catastrophe and locals living under colonists’ control. Back in 2008, D&D’s traditional African-analogue tribal society hailed from a “savage,” disease-ridden jungle. It sunk into the ocean. That changed this year with D&D’s latest adventure, which now describes that society as a lively mercantile people based in that former colony. But the newly-released adventure has left me and other D&D players disappointed. This is a fantasy role-playing game—anyone can be anything—so why did the way D&D designed 5th edition’s first black culture feel so lazy?
I’ve been exploring my reaction and that of other D&D players since I first read D&D’s latest adventure, Tomb of Annihilation, a month ago. I’d cracked open the 256-page tome eagerly, excited not only to study the maps, monsters and storylines laid out in its pages, but also to see what next steps D&D was taking to acknowledge the demographic breadth of its players in its tabletop fantasies. Flipping through Tomb of Annihilation, I found enchanting dungeons and gorgeous art and impressive puzzles and traps. I was also surprised to read about a black culture—5th edition’s first—that seemed to trade in dated stereotypes of African cultures…..
READ MORE: https://kotaku.com/dungeons-dragons-stumbles-with-its-revision-of-the-ga-1819657235
Woman Claims Delta Stopped Her From Singing National Anthem For Slain Soldier
If ya’ll are so patriotic then sing ALL 4 verses of the star spangled Banner!
O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,
’Tis the star-spangled banner—O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave
A Georgia doctor claims that Delta Air Lines prevented her from singing the national anthem to honor a slain soldier whose casket was on her plane.
Pamela Gaudry, an obstetrician in Savannah, said the incident happened last weekend on a flight from Philadelphia to Atlanta. Among its other passengers, the plane was bringing home the body of 29-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, a Green Beret killed two weeks ago in a raid in Niger.
“The captain came on and asked us if we would all remain seated while the soldier got off the plane first and while the honor guard took the deceased soldier out of the plane,” Gaudry said in a video she posted on Facebook.
She was so touched by the fallen soldier’s death, she explained, that she asked other passengers to join her in singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” to honor his sacrifice.
https://www.facebook.com/100005238404837/videos/774193229431950/
Marvel Studios’ Black Panther – Official Trailer
February 2018 BLACK HISTORY MONTH IS ABOUT TO BE LIT YA’LL
Pastor dug up 5-year-old’s gravestone after payment dispute
A North Carolina couple is experiencing a second heartbreak after their 5-year-old son’s grave marker was repossessed by the manufacturer over payment dispute.
The boy, Jake Leatherman, died nearly a year ago after a battle with leukemia. His funeral became national news when NASCAR racers Joey Logano, Matt DiBenedetto, Ryan Ellis J.J. Yeley and crew members from the teams of Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. attended.
But when Jake’s mother, Crystal, recently went to visit her sons grave, the stone was gone, she told WBTV on Monday.
“He repossessed it, like it was a car,” she said. The manufacturer of the monument, the Rev. J.C. Shoaf, said the family did pay in full for a stone, but made several changes, which added up to a larger bill. “If you buy something, you’ve got to pay for it. No matter what it is,” Shoaf, who runs Southeastern Monument company, told WBTV.
Southeastern Monument company, told WBTV.
When he was asked why he placed the marker originally without a full payment, Shoaf said he did it out of good will.
“Because they had been through so much emotionally, grieving so hard, I thought we’d just go ahead and do it,” he said.
Crystal Leatherman and her husband, Wayne, told WBTV they didn’t know about the additional costs, but if they did they would have paid.
“If I would have owed him the money I would have paid him,” Crystal Leatherman told WBTV. “This is not something you argue over.”
Shoaf said the dispute about Jake’s gravestone marked the first time in 54 year he’s had this problem — but he also said he feels for the family
“They’ve been through an awful lot, I know that. And right now, they’re thinking emotionally, and having that grave out there unmarked – that’s emotional trauma. I lost a child, I know what that is,” Shoaf said.
The couple is now looking at using another company to help provide a grave marker — and are looking into hiring an attorney.
via: http://nypost.com/2017/10/17/pastor-removes-5-year-olds-gravestone-after-payment-issue/
Hundreds of teens throws out of control party in for-sale home while owners grab dinner – tens of thousands of dollars of damage
A Colorado couple felt “violated” when they found hundreds of teenagers holding an out-of-control party in their home, according to reports.
Homeowner Mike Cox and his wife were out to dinner when they returned to find their home littered with partying youths and police assessing the situation, 7News Denver reported.
“I think we were targeted because our house was for sale on the market, and somebody saw it online and thought it was going to be empty. But it wasn’t,” Cox told 7News Denver. “Just rage. Felt violated. This is our home. It’s not just an empty house that’s for sale. It’s where we live.”
Cox’s description of the rowdy rager sounded like a scene straight out of the notorious beer-drenched party flick “Project X.”
“There were beer cans, liquor bottles, wine bottles, everywhere,” he told CBS Denver.
Windows and tiles were reportedly smashed, and the ceilings were stained with alcohol.
Cox also captured video of the drunken home-invaders standing on furniture while popping bottles of bubbly.
“There’s video of 5, 6 kids on top of this counter top, squirting champagne all over my house,” he said. “My wife was in tears. It was devastating.”
The couple’s dogs are also still traumatized from the ordeal, Cox said.
The home had undergone months of paint jobs and floor repairs in preparation for the sale, but due to the catastrophic damage, Cox said they will have to take it off the market.
“A lot of work we’ve done has been undone,” he told CBS Denver. “It’s tens of thousands of dollars.”
Cox told CBS4 a few of the miscreants have been arrested, and face charges of burglarizing and underage drinking.
“They don’t value anything. They don’t value people’s hard work, their property—any of it,” Cox said.
9-Year-Old Florida Girl Dies After 325-Pound Cousin Sits on Her as ‘Punishment’; Woman, Parents Charged
A 9-year-old Florida girl died on Saturday after her 325-pound cousin allegedly sat on her as punishment, according to the Pensacola News Journal.
Authorities responded to a home to find the child, Dericka Lindsay, unresponsive. She was transported to a local hospital where she died.
According to the arrest report, Veronica Green Posey, 64, was called to the home by the child’s parents to discipline her “for being out of control.” She allegedly struck the child with a ruler and metal pipe before the child ran to a chair.
Posey then sat on the child for several minutes, authorities reported.
The child cried that she could not breathe and when Posey stood up, the girl was unresponsive, reports state.
The report also stated that Posey weighs about 325 pounds.
Posey was charged with homicide and cruelty toward a child.
The girl’s parents, Grace Joan Smith, 69, and James Edmund Smith, 62, were also arrested and charged with child neglect for failing to report the abuse. Grace Smith has also been charged with cruelty toward a child.
Posey’s bond was set at $125,000, and she has been released.
via: http://ktla.com/2017/10/17/girl-9-dies-after-325-pound-cousin-sits-on-her-as-punishment/
Toddler denied kidney transplant from father because father violated probation
A mother says an Atlanta hospital is unfairly endangering her 2-year-old son because of his father’s mistakes.
Carmellia Burgess told WGCL that her son, A.J., was born without kidneys and needs a transplant. The boy’s father, Anthony Dickerson, is a perfect match and wants to give this lifesaving gift to his son.
“That’s all I ever wanted was a son,” Dickerson told the television station. “And I finally got him, and he’s in this situation.”
The surgery had been planned for Oct. 3, but an Emory University Hospital official sent Burgess a letter saying it would be delayed until Dickerson could show that he has complied with the conditions of his parole for three months.
“They’re making this about Dad,” Burgess told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . “It’s not about Dad. It’s about our son.”
Dickerson has repeatedly been in trouble with the law and was arrested last month for violating his probation, WGCL reported.
That didn’t initially seem to be an obstacle. A letter to the Gwinnett County jail from Emory’s Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program requested his temporary release.
“If Mr. Dickerson could be escorted to Emory for blood work and a pre-operative appointment tomorrow, September 29, we will be able to continue with the scheduled surgery,” the Sept. 28 letter says.
But then Burgess received a letter from the hospital saying the surgery would be delayed until Dickerson can provide documentation from his parole officer showing compliance for the next three months.
“We will re-evaluate Mr. Dickerson in January 2018 after receipt of this completed documentation,” the letter said.
Burgess was extremely upset by the hospital’s decision, saying it is endangering her son.
“He’s only 2,” she told WXIA. “He don’t deserve this. We’ve been waiting so long for this.”
Emory spokeswoman Janet Christenbury said privacy regulations bar her from providing specific information about the hospital’s patients. She also declined to speak more generally about how criminal history could affect an organ donor’s eligibility.
“Guidelines for organ transplantation are designed to maximize the chance of success for organ recipients and minimize risk for living donors,” she said in an emailed statement. “Transplant decisions regarding donors are made based on many medical, social, and psychological factors.”
via: http://abc7.com/health/toddler-denied-transplant-because-father-violated-probation/2541711/