School district turns unused cafeteria food into take-home meals for kids
An Indiana school district is working to make sure students have enough to eat.
Students usually get breakfast and lunch at school, but on the weekends at home, some go hungry.
WSBT reports Elkhart Schools is partnering with a local nonprofit called Cultivate to provide weekend meals through the use of unused food.
“Mostly, we rescue food that’s been made but never served by catering companies, large food service businesses, like the school system,” said Jim Conklin, with Cultivate. “You don’t always think of a school.”
Cultivate makes individual frozen meals out of discarded and unused food. On Fridays, About 20 students are given a backpack with eight individual frozen meals.
“At Elkhart Community Schools, we were wasting a lot of food,” said Natalie Bickel, with student services. “There wasn’t anything to do with the food. So they came to the school three times a week and rescued the food.”
The Elkhart school system hopes to expand the food program to other schools.
Men arrested for shooting at each other while wearing bulletproof vest after drinking
ROGERS, Ark. (AP) — Two Arkansas men have been arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault after police say they shot each other while taking turns wearing a bulletproof vest.
The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that 50-year-old Charles Ferris and 36-year-old Christopher Hicks were arrested Monday.
A police affidavit says the two men are neighbors and were drinking on a deck Sunday when Ferris told Hicks to shoot him with a .22-caliber rifle while Ferris wore the vest. The affidavit says the shot left a red mark on Ferris’ chest and that he was angry because it hurt.
The affidavit says Hicks then put on the vest and Ferris “unloaded the clip” into his back, causing bruises but no serious injuries.
Court records don’t list an attorney who could speak on behalf of either man.
Man attacked cashier because he was upset with how his groceries were bagged
FAIRVIEW TOWNSHIP, York County (WPMT) — A 55-year-old Fairview Township man is facing an assault charge after police he attacked an employee at a Giant Food Store on York Road.
Bradley A. Bower, of Brandt Avenue, is charged with one count of simple assault in the incident, which occurred on Feb. 2.
Police say Bower attacked a cashier after he was upset with the way his groceries were being bagged. Bower later told police the cashier put canned goods in the same grocery bag as the chips Bower and his wife were purchasing, and the chips were smashed. Bower said he asked the cashier to stop bagging his groceries that way.
As Bower was leaving, the cashier told police, he asked the cashier, “Do you have a problem with me? Because I have a problem with you.” The cashier said he thought Bower was joking, and replied, “Do you?”
Bower then attacked the cashier, placing his hand around the cashier’s neck. The cashier told police he shoved Bower away from him, and other employees then stepped in to separate them.
Police say the cashier suffered bruising to his neck.
The incident was captured on the store’s surveillance system, and police say their review of the footage supported the cashier’s claim.
Bower was charged via summons, police say.
Lori Lightfoot wins election, will become Chicago’s 1st black female mayor
CHICAGO — Former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot easily won the Chicago mayor’s race Tuesday, earning support from every part of the city to defeat a longtime political insider and become the first black woman and openly gay person to lead the nation’s third-largest city.
Lightfoot, who had never been elected to public office, delivered a commanding victory over Toni Preckwinkle, who served in the City Council for 19 years before becoming Cook County Board president. Preckwinkle also is chairwoman of the county Democratic Party.
Lightfoot promised to rid City Hall of corruption and help low-income and working-class people she said had been “left behind and ignored” by Chicago’s political ruling class. It was a message that resonated with voters weary of political scandal and insider deals, and who said the city’s leaders for too long have invested in downtown at the expense of neighborhoods.
“Together we can and will make Chicago a place where your zip code doesn’t determine your destiny,” Lightfoot told a cheering crowd at her victory party. “We can and we will break this city’s endless cycle of corruption and never again — never ever — allow politicians to profit from elected positions.”
She said people are seeing “a city reborn” — a place where race and “who you love” don’t matter.
Chicago will become the largest U.S. city to have a black woman serve as mayor when Lightfoot is sworn in May 20. She will join seven other black women currently serving as mayors in major U.S. cities, including Atlanta and New Orleans, and will be the second woman to lead Chicago.
Preckwinkle said she called Lightfoot Tuesday night to congratulate her on a “hard-fought campaign.”
“While I may be disappointed I’m not disheartened. For one thing, this is clearly a historic night,” she told a crowd gathered in her South Side neighborhood. “Not long ago two African American women vying for this position would have been unthinkable. And while it may be true that we took two very different paths to get here, tonight is about the path forward.”
Congratulations poured in for Lightfoot, 56, who has one daughter with her wife, Amy Eshleman.
Brian Johnson, CEO of Equality Illinois, said the civil rights organization for lesbian and gay people was “thrilled” with the outcome.
“This victory is historic, and it is also an undeniably proud moment for the LGBTQ community,” Johnson said.
Pete Buttigieg, the openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who’s running for president in 2020, said on Twitter that Lightfoot “will be a terrific new leader for her city and in the community of American mayors.”
Lightfoot emerged as the surprising leader in the first round of voting in February when 14 candidates were on the ballot to succeed Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who decided against running for a third term.
Lightfoot seized on outrage over a white police officer’s fatal shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald to launch her reformer campaign. She got in the race even before Emanuel announced he wouldn’t seek re-election amid criticism for initially resisting calls to release video of the shooting.
“I’m not a person who decided I would climb the ladder of a corrupt political party,” Lightfoot said during a debate last month. “I don’t hold the title of committeeman, central committeeman, boss of the party.”
Preckwinkle countered that her opponent lacks the necessary experience for the job.
“This is not an entry-level job,” Preckwinkle said repeatedly during the campaign.
Joyce Ross, 64, a resident of the city’s predominantly black West Side who is a certified nursing assistant, cast her ballot Tuesday for Lightfoot. Ross said she believes Lightfoot will be better able to clean up the police department and curb the city’s violence.
She was also bothered by Preckwinkle’s association with longtime Alderman Ed Burke, who was indicted earlier this year on charges he tried to shake down a restaurant owner who wanted to build in his ward.
“My momma always said birds of a feather flock together,” Ross said.
Truly Gannon, a 39-year old mother of four who works as a dietitian, said she wasn’t bothered by stories that portrayed Preckwinkle as an insider aligned with questionable politicians like Burke. She supported Preckwinkle, based on her experience.
“I’m not sure Lightfoot would be able to handle the job like Preckwinkle,” she said.
The campaign between the two women got off to a contentious start, with Preckwinkle’s advertising focusing on Lightfoot’s work as a partner at Mayer Brown, one of the nation’s largest law firms, and tagging her as a “wealthy corporate lawyer.”
Preckwinkle also tried to cast Lightfoot as an insider for working in police oversight posts under Emanuel and police oversight, procurement and emergency communications posts under Mayor Richard M. Daley.
But Preckwinkle had to spend much of her campaign answering for her ties to Chicago’s political establishment, including Burke.
Despite the barbs on the campaign trail, the two advanced similar ideas to boost the city’s deeply troubled finances, which include an estimated $250 million budget deficit next year and billions in unfunded pension liabilities.
Both candidates expressed support for a casino in Chicago and changing the state’s income tax system to a graduated tax, in which higher earners are taxed at a higher rate — two measures lawmakers have tried for unsuccessfully for years to pass.
NY mom admits killing adopted son, burning down home to cover it up
NORWICH, N.Y. — A woman admitted Tuesday that she worked with her husband to kill their adopted son and burn down their central New York home to cover it up.
Heather Franklin, 35, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and arson on the eve of her bench trial and is expected to be sentenced to at least seven years in prison on June 7, according to acting Chenango County District Attorney Michael Ferrarese.
A jury convicted 37-year-old Ernest Franklin of murder and arson last month after only a few hours of deliberation. He faces 25 years to life in prison when he’s sentenced in May.
They were charged in the February 2017 death of 16-year-old Jeffrey Franklin, who was deaf and had behavior issues. Prosecutors say they were inspired by the movie “Manchester by the Sea,” where a father accidentally starts a fire that kills his children but isn’t prosecuted.
Heather Franklin was pregnant with the couple’s first biological child at the time of Jeffrey’s death.
The fire destroyed their home in Guilford, 55 miles (88 kilometers) southeast of Syracuse. Prosecutors allege the fire was set sometime after midnight in a wood stove, with the stove door left open. Jeffrey Franklin was found dead on his bed. Prosecutors argued he was killed before the fire started because there was no smoke or soot in his lungs.
Ernest Franklin’s lawyer disputed the conclusions in autopsy reports, which didn’t specify a cause of death.
As the fire raged, the couple were away from home. Ernest Franklin told police he was chasing down his dogs. Heather Franklin said she was driving around for nearly three hours shopping for medicine.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/04/02/ny-mom-admits-killing-adopted-son-burning-down-home-to-cover-it-up/
2 students accused of jamming NJ high school’s Wi-Fi to avoid exams
SECAUCUS, N.J. — Authorities say two northern New Jersey boys successfully crashed their high school’s Wi-Fi network on multiple occasions to get out of taking exams.
The two Secaucus High School freshmen are arrested and charged with computer criminal activity and conspiracy last Thursday, according to police.
Authorities say the 14-year-olds used an app or a computer program to compromise the network, and apparently took requests from other students to bring it down.
“If they would put that effort into their school work, they’d probably be like geniuses,” said local mom, Tonia Schubert.
The two teens were released to their parents but this 3rd degree crime is punishable with jail time.
Since much of the school’s curriculum is internet-based, the lack of Wi-Fi connection disrupted the students’ daily assignments.
“I mean, the kids that are actually doing the hard work and putting their time into it, it’s taking away from them,” said another mom, Danielle Bosotina.
School Superintendent Jennifer Montesano said in a statement Tuesday:
“Our Wi-Fi connection was compromised over the past week. We have conducted an investigation and at the present time, we have determined that two students may have been involved in the disruption of our system. The system has been restored and is now fully operational.”
In recent weeks, there have been reports of students hacking into computers in schools in Rutherford, Elizabeth and Jersey City to change their grades or attendance.
In the past, where students at other schools may have called in prank bomb threats to get out of class or pulled a school fire alarm, this tactic takes teenage pranks to a more high-tech level.
“I kind of think the kids coming up know more than the adults,” said mom, Kerry Schubert. “Because when I don’t know something with the phone or the computer I ask my sons.”
Some parents raised concerns today about the safety of sensitive student information stored by schools.
“If anything like that was compromised, I’d be very upset,” said Schubert.
The two Secaucus teens arrested will go before a judge in a closed hearing. Their names are not being released because they are juveniles.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/04/02/2-students-accused-of-jamming-schools-wi-fi-network/
Woman allegedly drove on car rim with margarita in cup holder
Tequila makes her tires fall off!
Police say an Oklahoma driver was busted Sunday morning driving with a margarita in her cup holder — but no tire on a rim of her car.
Two officers pulled over Amy Ann Dillon, 28, after they heard the metal rim grinding on the asphalt from the approaching vehicle, according to the Tulsa Police Department.
“We could hear her coming from a block away,” police said in a social media post.
Dillon — who a breathalyzer later determined had a .21 blood-alcohol level — drove past the officers on the rim and was arrested after she turned into an apartment complex, authorities said.
When asked how much alcohol she had to drink, the woman — who police say “could barely stand upright” — told officers she had two shots of tequila.
The cops then discovered a full margarita in the cup holder of Dillon’s car.
Police said they believe she “wrecked her car on something” prior to the arrest and “assume she was driving on [the metal rim] for some time.”
Dillon was booked at David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center, where she grinned for a mugshot.
She faces charges for DUI, operating a motorized vehicle with defective tires, transport of an open container, and driving without a license in possession.
More charges could be filed against Dillon if authorities discover she was involved in a collision.
Dillon works as a waitress to put herself through school, according to social media, where one of her patrons defended her.
“She’s been a server at restaurants my husband and I have frequented for years,” a local resident — identified as Brooke Nicole — commented on the police Facebook page. “She’s not a bad person, she made a mistake… I look forward to (hopefully) seeing her back at work soon and pursuing her education.”
Woman charged with killing roommate while cleaning gun
A Georgia woman is accused of fatally shooting her roommate while cleaning a gun.
Keely Kilpatrick 26, was still at the Wynhall Drive home in Gwinnett County — about 20 miles northeast of Atlanta — when police responded at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday and found her roommate, Dixie Cowe, 43, with a gunshot wound to the chest, police said.
Police determined that Kilpatrick had told her mother, who also lived at the residence, that she was going downstairs to clean a firearm when the mom heard a “loud noise sounding like a gunshot,” cops said in a news release.
She ran downstairs to check on her daughter, who “immediately told her that the gun accidentally went off and struck [Cowe],” the release continued.
Cowe later died from her injuries at a hospital.
Kilpatrick and her mother are cooperating with investigators, police said. Kilpatrick was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter and remains held without bond at the Gwinnett County Detention Center, jail records show.
Brianna Johnson, Kilpatrick’s friend, told WSB-TV she believes that the shooting wasn’t intentional.
The charges are the latest legal trouble for Kilpatrick, who has been arrested on a variety of charges since 2010, including DUI, possession of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm or knife during the commission or attempt to commit certain felonies. Her latest arrest marked the third time she had been arrested this year, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/04/01/woman-charged-with-killing-roommate-while-cleaning-gun/