Person calls 911 on ‘deranged’ man hugging pillow in cold; turns out to be cardboard cutout
(Meredith) – Police in Minnesota were called to check on the welfare of a man hugging a pillow in the cold, but it turned out to be a cardboard cutout of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
“Those cardboard cutouts sure can look real from a distance,” the Jordan Police Department said in a Facebook post.
According to the department, the caller dialed 911 on Thursday to report the “man” who had been standing motionless outside in freezing temperatures without wearing a coat.
“The caller certainly was not wanting to get too close thinking, ‘Who is this deranged person standing outside in the cold hugging a pillow?'” the department said. “Always better to call police.”
When Lindell heard about the hilarious call, he shared an article about it on Twitter with a laughing emoji.
Lindell is a Minnesota native and My Pillow is headquartered in Chaska, about 15 miles north of Jordan.
Woman arrested after she left injured 18-month-old on side of road, police say
Maryland (WMAR/Meredith) — Maryland State Police arrested a woman after they say she dropped an injured 18-month-old along the roadside.
According to police, an investigation on the incident revealed that 29-year-old Elizabeth Newman stood outside of her car when a nearby driver saw her throwing something into a field on MD Route 328 Thursday evening.
Investigators say a witness told them it looked like Newman had struck a deer during her stop. As the witness turned their vehicle around to help Newman, they told police that she got back in her car and fled the scene. The witness walked over to where Newman had been standing and found the injured 18-month-old.
Moments later, the witness contacted police to report the incident and was able to provide the description of Newman’s vehicle.
Troopers in the area located Newman inside of her car with her one-year-old child nearby. Investigators believe the one-year-old was in the car when she left the 18-month-old on the side of the road.
Officials say the 18-month-old was later transported to the University of Maryland Shore Medical Center for treatment.
A student couldn’t find a babysitter so his professor held his infant girl in class so he could take notes
(CNN) — It’s not the first time it’s happened. Nor will it be the last.
But it’s a viral moment that speaks to so many things: lack of childcare. The drive to seek an education. And compassion from others.
With midterms looming, Wayne Hayer didn’t want to miss his algebra class Friday at Morehouse College in Atlanta and couldn’t find childcare for his five-month-old daughter. It was an important class, since they were reviewing content for the upcoming midterms.
So he brought her along.
After Hayer explained his situation, Professor Nathan Alexander offered to hold little Assata and taught the rest of the class with the baby strapped to his chest.
Students in the class began posting images on social media showing the professor carrying the little girl. And a viral moment was born.
“My professor Nathan Alexander said ‘I’ll hold her so you can take good notes!'” one student said on Twitter. His post has been retweeted more than 70,000 times.
“It was this encounter that truly showed me the power and impact HBCU’s can have for the black community, for this professor to understand that life happens and sometimes there are just no ways around it,” another student posted on Facebook, using an acronym for historically black colleges and universities such as Morehouse.
The photos even reached Morehouse College President David Thomas, who tweeted, “This is about #love and #commitment. Loving our students and being committed to removing any barrier to their pursuit of excellence”
Professor: The girl ‘was really behaved’
It was the perfect storm of events that day for Hayer, 26. His wife, Firda, had errands to run, he had his class to attend and they couldn’t find a babysitter in time.
So Hayer threw his backpack on, strapped Assata into her carrier and the two adventured off to college.
“I was nervous to go to class,” Hayer, a senior majoring in kinesiology, told CNN. “Morehouse is an all-male college and seeing me with a baby strapped to me would make all eyes be on me.”
Hayer’s first class was canceled, so he and his daughter hung out in the student lounge while he did his coursework. His next class is when the viral moment happened.
Alexander told CNN that “part of my role and goal as educator is to provide opportunities for students. We work to build a community in class.”
Although Alexander is the one in the photo, he said the episode really shows the hard work that Hayer puts in every day.
“He works two jobs, is a full time student, is involved in leadership programs at school and is a parent,” the professor said. “This photo serves as a reminder of what parents have to do every day and how important it is to have affordable childcare.”
On top of it all, baby Assata was the perfect student and didn’t distract from the day’s lesson.
“She was really behaved and even started to fall asleep at the end,” said Alexander. “We had a bottle ready on standby, if needed. We enjoyed having her energy in class.”
Group brutally kicks, punches 4 Brooklyn homeless men as they sleep
BOROUGH PARK, Brooklyn — Four homeless men were viciously attacked by a group of men as they slept in front of a Brooklyn building, according to police. One of the victims is now in a coma PIX11 has learned.
The suspects walked up to the four men sleeping and sitting in front of 1002 60 Ave. in Borough Park, Brooklyn at about 6:45 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23 and first asked the victims for money, authorities said.
Based on surveillance footage provided by police, the group almost immediately began to kick and punch the victims, and then throw objects at them.
The suspects also stole $5 from one of the men before the group fled, Juan Padilla, one of the victims, told PIX11.
“They are young guys, all young guys. Like, maybe 20s… not even 30s,” a close friend of the victims said to PIX, describing the suspects.
NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill called the suspects “cowards” in a tweet on Saturday.
EMS responded as well and two of the victims were transported to an area hospital for treatment.
While the other two victims initially refused medical attention at the scene, one of them later complained of head pain and was transported to NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn. That victim is now listed in critical condition with severe head trauma, according to police.
A noose was found at a Boeing plant in South Carolina
(CNN) — Officials at Boeing are investigating reports of a noose being found at the assembly plant in North Charleston, South Carolina.
The “racially-charged symbol” — as it was first referred — was found at the plant Thursday, according to CNN affiliate WCSC. Officials later confirmed to CNN that the “symbol” was a noose.
Brad Zaback, vice president and general manager of Boeing’s program where 787 Dreamliner passenger jets are built, released a statement Friday condemning the incident.
“I am saddened and angered that a racially-charged symbol was discovered on site,” Zaback’s statement read. “Diversity and inclusion are core to Boeing’s enduring values, and there is absolutely no place for racism and these cowardly acts in society and especially in our company.”
Zaback’s statement also said this type of behavior wouldn’t be tolerated and the company takes “these matters very seriously.”
“We have already launched a thorough investigation, and will take all appropriate and necessary action,” his statement read.
The Boeing campus in North Charleston has about 7,000 employees at the site, according to Boeing’s website.
Employers elsewhere also discover nooses
Boeing hasn’t been the only employer dealing with racist incidents on their campus.
CNN published a scathing report in January about the culture at the General Motors Toledo, Ohio, plant through interviews with two men who worked there, Marcus Boyd and Derrick Brooks. The two men are among nine other black employees who filed a lawsuit against Toledo Powertrain, where components are made for various Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles.
Boyd said the N-word was a regular part of life at the plant. Brooks said he found a noose hanging in the area where he worked. As the only black employee in that space on his shift, he believed it was meant to intimidate him. In total, five nooses were found and reported to GM, according to the lawsuit.
In February, GM said it was offering a $25,000 reward for information about nooses and “whites-only” signs being hung at its plant.
Officials in Oroville, California, filed a lawsuit in January accusing the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) of corruption, sexism and racism. The complaint was lodged two years after storms across the state caused Lake Oroville’s levels to rise, leading to the evacuation of about 200,000 people because officials feared the dam could not hold the rushing water.
Oroville officials said the dam crisis was caused by “decades of mismanagement and intentional lack of maintenance by the California Department of Water Resources.”
The complaint alleges that a noose, directed at an African-American employee, was hung in a meeting room used daily by DWR staff. It stayed for three months until the employee took it down himself.
CNN’s Rene Marsh, Tina Burnside and Alta Spells contributed to this report.
Driver abandons school bus at gas station with nearly 30 students on it, tells students ‘go **** yourselves’
(Meredith) – A school bus driver in Pennsylvania is facing child endangerment charges after students say she abandoned a bus at a gas station with more than 25 students still on it.
Pennsylvania state police have charged Lori Ann Mankos, 44, with DUI and 26 counts of endangering the welfare of children, according to WFMZ.
According to Northhampton Senior High School students who were on the bus, the incident began Friday afternoon when Mankos appeared agitated.
Students said at first, they were joking about Mankos’ bad driving. But video captured on the bus shows students starting to panic when the bus begins swerving. In the video, one student can be heard telling the driver to pull over.
Student Mason Persiani, 16, told WFMZ that at first, the bus driver refused to pull over.
“She ended up telling us to… go **** ourselves and flipped us off,” Persiani said. “You know, stuck her hand in the air and flipped us off.”
Then, in the video, the driver can be heard asking, “Do you want, if I just pulled over and called everybody’s parents to pick them up?” The students can be heard shouting “yes” in response.
Eventually, Mankos parked the bus at a Sunoco gas station, but Persiani said she would not let the students off the bus.
Video then shows the students leaving out the back door’s emergency exit.
The school district told WFMZ that Mankos then got off the bus and walked away from the gas station, leaving the students stranded. Police said she handed the bus keys to a gas station employee before walking away.
Many students called their parents to come pick them up from the gas station. The school district arranged for another bus driver to arrive at the gas station and take home the rest of the students.
No one was hurt in the incident, but parents said they want an explanation.
While Mankos was arrested and charged, it’s unclear what penalties she will face with her employer.
Grandmother Allegedly Drowned Newborn in Bakersfield Home to ‘Prevent Family Shame
A grandmother allegedly drowned her grandson hours after his birth and buried him in the backyard of a Southwest Bakersfield home to “prevent family shame,” according to court documents obtained by Bakersfield television station KERO.
Beant Kaur Dhillon, 43, pleaded not guilty to all charges during a court appearance on Thursday afternoon, the station reported. She is scheduled to be back in court on March 13.
According to court documents, on November 12, 2018, Beant Kaur Dhillon and 23-year-old Bakhshinderpal Singh Mann allegedly found Dhillon’s 15-year-old daughter — and Mann’s cousin — had given birth to a boy in the bathroom of their family home, located in the 5200 block of Shining Crag Avenue.
Dhillon allegedly admitted to police that she then drowned the baby to “prevent family shame.”
Mann and Dhillon allegedly worked together to dig a hole in the backyard of the home, according to the legal documents. They then allegedly placed the baby into the hole, placed salt in the hole, and buried the baby.
Court documents say 47-year-old Jagsir Singh , the father of the 15-year-old, was summoned back to the residence after his wife allegedly killed the baby and placed him in a garbage bag. Singh allegedly allowed the baby to be buried in the yard in order to hide the baby and the pregnancy, then made no attempt to inform police of the birth or death.
Investigators have yet to release information on the father of the child.
According to court documents, Dhillon neglected to seek medical treatment for her daughter.
She was arrested and charged with felony first degree murder, felony assault of a child with force likely to cause great bodily injury, resulting in death, and felony child abuse, KERO reported. Singh was also arrested and charged with felony accessory to murder and felony child abuse.
According to the Kern County Central Receiving facility, Singh posted bail and was released Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Mann is wanted for his involvement in the homicide. Police say he has an outstanding arrest warrant for conspiracy and acting as an accessory to a felony after the fact.
According to the Kern County District Attorney’s Office, Mann has been charged with felony accessory to murder.
Mann removed a U.S. government applied GPS device and has yet to be contacted, according to the court documents.
‘RHOA’ star Peter Thomas arrested in Miami on a warrant from Louisiana for writing fraudulent checks
“Real Housewives of Atlanta” ex-husband Peter Thomas has been arrested at Miami International Airport.
The reality star, 58, who was married to Bravo star Cynthia Bailey for seven years, was taken into custody Friday on a warrant from Louisiana for writing fraudulent checks, according to TMZ.
He was taken into custody after landing in Miami and is being held without bond.
Last we reported of Thomas, he had started shooting a reality series centered on managing his Charlotte, North Carolina, hot spot — Club One — in 2017.
This weekend, he was reportedly heading to Miami for a different nightclub opening, according to local news outlet WPLG.
“RHOA” captured Thomas and Bailey’s wedding as well as marital struggles that ultimately led to their split on camera.
Reps for both the Miami Dade Police Department and Bailey did not immediately respond to our requests for comment.