Florida man pours salt in Walmart to ‘get rid of evil spirits,’ sheriff says
Meredith) — A man in central Florida poured salt on the floor of a Walmart store and told deputies it was to “get rid of evil spirits” around him, according to the Pasco Sheriff’s Office.
Dameon Dean Cantrell, 38, was arrested early Sunday morning.
According to WPEC, a store manager told investigators that Cantrell poured salt on his feet and on the Walmart floor before walking into the woods nearby.
It is unclear if the salt he allegedly used was his own or if it was salt from the Walmart store’s shelves.
Police found Cantrell laying in the woods, but still on Walmart property. He was arrested and taken to the Land O’Lakes Detention Center, according to jail records. He was charged with misdemeanor trespassing on property other than structure or conveyance with a bond set at $150.
According to arrest records, this is the fifth time Cantrell has been arrested since Nov. 2017.
Pasco County is about 35 miles north of Tampa.
Photo Credit: kmov.com/Pasco Sheriff’s Office
Neighbors appalled after man builds large swastika in his front yard
EL SOBRANTE (BAY AREA NEWS GROUP/Meredith) — Twenty-four hours after local news reports first shined the spotlight on the giant swastika carved in his front yard, Steven Johnson just doesn’t get the commotion. But what Johnson calls a “design” sure does look like the Nazi symbol — and it has set his East Bay neighbors on edge.
“That Nazi (stuff) happened like 80 years ago,” Johnson said Wednesday, sitting on his Harley Davidson motorcycle in front of his home in this out-of-the-way neighborhood where a narrow road separates houses tucked together on both sides. “Get over it, I guess.”
That’s not about to happen.
Aerial footage from local news stations on Tuesday captured the cement swastika, which measures about 10 feet by 10 feet and sits adjacent to the walkway of Johnson’s home, taking up half of the front yard of the modest one-story house. A day later, media and gawkers continued to show up on the street, and drone used by a photographer for a national news company hovered above the house, snapping images of Johnson’s yard.
The uproar over the swastika comes just as the world is commemorating the 75th anniversary of D-Day, when Allied Forces landed in Normandy, France on June 6, 1944, a battle considered one of the major turning points of World War II.
Speaking to a reporter and photographers after pulling up to his home Wednesday morning, Johnson was polite — and also showed zero remorse for his Nazi stone garden.
“I like swastikas,” he said. “I think they look cool. … I didn’t do it to get attention. I’m not a worshiper of Nazis. I just thought it’d be a cool thing to put in there.”
Calling the design a “Tibetan symbol,” Johnson said the swastika symbolizes “peace, tranquility and harmony.” But while the ancient symbol used in many eastern religions traditionally faced counter-clockwise, the symbol used by Nazi Germany — like the one in Johnson’s yard — turns to the right.
That swastika is widely recognized as a symbol of hatred, associated with the persecution and systematic murder of millions — including about 6 million Jewish people — under the Third Reich.
Johnson’s decision to build one has not inspired good feelings from neighbors, two of whom privately Wednesday expressed their disgust with his decision. And as images of the giant Nazi lawn art spread, others outside the community said they were deeply offended
“Personally, and professionally, I find it deeply deeply offensive,” said Nancy Appel, a spokesperson for the Anti-Defamation League. “The thing is huge, it’s in concrete and symmetrical. It appears that a lot of effort went into it.”
Anti-Semitic incidents — including the appearance of swastikas in plain view of the public — have been on the rise in California since 2016, according to data from ADL, which tracks bias incidents nationwide. The group recorded 341 anti-Semitic events statewide in 2018, up from 278 the year prior and more than any other state in the U.S. How Data Visionaries Drive Better Outcomes See how today’s innovators are breaking barriers and transforming their organizations with data. Watch here to learn more. Ad By NetApp See More
“This is 2019 and it’s California,” Appel said. Addressing Johnson’s swastika, she added, “Despite the long heritage, I think we all know what that symbol has come to mean. It’s not just offensive to Jews, it’s offensive to African-Americans, it’s offensive to Asian Americans, Mexican-Americans. It’s offensive to pretty much everybody and has come come to be seen as a symbol of hate for everyone.”
To which Johnson’s response seems to be: Tough darts.
“I don’t feel bad about putting it in,” he said. “I feel bad about everybody making such a big deal about it.”
He also said he doesn’t plan to remove it.
‘It’s what America stands for. It’s my property, my choice,” he said. “A few people don’t like and now I have to remove it? I enjoy it.”
By RICK HURD, Bay Area News Group
Photo Credit: wpxi.com
Monster gets 120 years in prison for livestreaming sexual abuse of his daughter
A depraved Iowa man was sentenced to 120 years behind bars for repeatedly sexually abusing his daughter — from infancy to 6 years old — and even raping her live on the internet, according to authorities and new reports.
Steven Douglas Crook Jr., 29, of Bloomfield, pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation of a child and received the maximum penalty Monday in connection with the disturbing crimes, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa said in a Tuesday statement.
Crook sexually abused the girl — sometimes violently — from the time she was an infant until law enforcement rescued her from the home in March 2018, when she was 6, according to the statement.
He took photos and videos of the abuse, and sometimes livestreamed it using the popular app Live.me, prosecutors said. He even allegedly encouraged his followers to watch him rape the helpless girl online.
Authorities discovered electronic devices in Crook’s possession that held videos of the abuse, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Des Moines Register. Disturbingly, one folder on a storage card bore the label “child porn and baby rape,” the complaint said.
“Any time a child is abused in Iowa, if we have photographs or videos of the abuse, the defendant can be prosecuted in federal court, and face decades, if not life, behind bars,” US Attorney Marc Krickbaum said in the statement. “Steven Crook will spend the rest of his life in federal prison, where he belongs. We want to make sure that other defendants like him, who are a threat to our children, face the stiffest penalties federal law allows.”
“In this case, sexual abuse went undetected for years because family members failed to report it to authorities,” he added.
US District Judge Stephanie M. Rose described Crook’s crimes as horrific — and blasted his efforts to hide the crimes for years as “insidious,” “thoughtful” and “manipulative.”
Meanwhile, the little girl’s mom, Kendra Hoover, has also been charged — as prosecutors charge that she left her daughter alone with Crook even after she saw a video of the horrific abuse, local station KTVO reported.
Hoover faces more than a dozen state charges of neglect and child endangerment, and will go on trial in December.
Photo Credit: nypost.com/Davis County Sheriff’s Office
Mom gets probation for putting 8 month old baby in freezer
A young Tennessee mother, 19, has received two years’ probation for putting her 8-month-old baby in a freezer while allegedly under the influence, then closing the lid, according to a report.
FOX 35 ORLANDO reported that Brittany Smith was facing felony charges of aggravated child abuse and neglect. She pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of child neglect only.
Witnesses said they saw Smith holding her baby next to an unused freezer in their backyard.
The resident went outside to speak with Smith, and found her in the crawlspace under their home.
The baby was found in the freezer, which had about an inch of standing water inside.
The baby survived.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/06/05/mom-gets-probation-for-putting-baby-in-freezer/
Photo Credit: nypost.com/Washington County Detention Center
Mom wrapped daughter in plastic bag and left her in bushes to die
A mom in the UK who wrapped her baby in plastic bags and left her to die after forcing an object down her throat to stop her crying has been convicted of murder.
Hannah Cobley, 29, is facing life behind bars after inflicting severe head injuries on the premature baby before dumping her in the bushes.
The mom claimed she didn’t know she was pregnant after a one-night stand with a stranger, but cops learned she had searched phrases including “signs of stillbirth,” “how long a baby can survive without being fed” and “what happens when a newborn baby is dropped.”
And jurors today took just an hour and a half to convict the mom of murder.
Leicester Crown Court had previously heard how the unnamed child suffered a catalog of injuries including three skull fractures, bruising, cuts and a brain injury.
Shockingly, an object had been forced down the child’s throat after she had been born prematurely at 32 weeks.
The four-week trial heard that the baby girl was found in the bushes next to a shed outside Cobley’s parents’ farmhouse on April 30, 2017.
During her police interview, Cobley admitted she had given birth but said the baby was not crying or moving, so she put her in a bag and placed her in the garden.
“This is an extremely sad and tragic case which has resulted in the death of a newborn baby girl, born at 32 weeks. Hannah Cobley had previously denied being responsible for her baby’s death but, following this investigation, has today been found guilty of murder,” senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Jon Blockley said.
“Cobley could have sought help from her own family or professionals, but instead took actions into her own hands. This decision meant a newborn baby girl was denied her life.”
Cobley, of Stanton, will be sentenced on Friday at the same court.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/06/06/mom-wrapped-daughter-in-plastic-bag-and-left-her-in-bushes-to-die/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Xbox deodorant and body wash let you smell like a gamer
Game face, meet game scent.
A new line of grooming products called Xbox Lynx embodies a fragrance that some might rather avoid than apply: that of a gamer.
The collaboration between Xbox and Axe body spray parent companies Microsoft and Unilever, respectively, won’t flaunt the pheromones of a sweaty, unwashed video game addict. Nope, this scent features “top notes of kaffir lime and winter lemon, aromatic herbal middle notes of mint and sage, and woody bottom notes of patchouli and clearwood,” GameSpot reports.
Instead of three-day old trail mix and “Call of Duty” carnage, its ingredient list contains “a range of natural essential oils,” including a “pulsing green citrus.”
Colored the same radioactive green as Mountain Dew, this new body spray, deodorant and shower gel pack will be test-marketed beginning come July exclusively in Australia and New Zealand.
Is an expansion to the US market on the horizon? It sure doesn’t appear that the man behind the creation of the Xbox wants that to happen.
“I seriously and honestly have no comment,” says Xbox developer Seamus Blackley on Twitter of the new product line. “I have no idea what a comment would even be on this. I’m rankly thinking of just going and drinking heavily at this point.”
Upon hearing of the product launch, tech journalist Mike Murphy wittily weighed in with, “Microsoft to Xbox owners: You smell.”
Xbox rep Tania Chee puts a more positive spin on it.
“We see Xbox fans achieve incredible things every day, and we wanted to celebrate that elevated skill, passion and determination by creating something truly special,” Chee says. “Now, powering up can be as simple as a quick spray before you head out the door.”
Microsoft’s Senior Programming Writer Ted Hudek got the last laugh with his tweet: “Now, if I just had a waterproof controller.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/06/05/xbox-deodorant-and-body-wash-let-you-smell-like-a-gamer/
Photo Credit: nypost.com/Unilever/Lynx/Microsoft
Maine student teacher busted on charges he had sex with pupil
An anonymous letter sent by an “outraged citizen” tipped off cops in Maine about a student teacher accused of having sex with a female pupil he met in one of his classes, court documents show.
Eben Wight, a 21-year-old music teacher who started at Camden Hills Regional High School in January, was charged with gross sexual assault after Five Town Community School District officials got an unsigned letter last month from someone who said the University of Maine grad had gotten too close to an 18-year-old student, the Bangor Daily News reported.
“I am writing because of the gross immorality that Mr. Wight has shown as a student teacher in hopes that this man will not be able to abuse his authorities and power as a teacher in the future,” the message read. “I am writing to stop further female students from being trapped by his neediness and moral turpitude.”
The district’s superintendent relayed the letter to Camden police, prompting an investigation. Wight, who taught the school’s band and chorus, as well as a rock-and-roll history course, admitted to having sex with the girl, according to a police affidavit obtained by the newspaper.
The teen acknowledged to cops that she and the instructor had sex in a car multiple times between March and May, but claimed they didn’t get intimate on school grounds, the Courier-Gazette reported.
Wight, of St. George, did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday. He was released on $250 bail following a court appearance Monday, the Bangor Daily News reported.
The age of consent in Maine is 16, but any teacher or school employee can be charged with gross sexual assault if they have relations with a student over whom they have authority.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/06/05/maine-student-teacher-busted-on-charges-he-had-sex-with-pupil/
Photo Credit: nypost.com/Knox County Jail
Mom found guilty of killing baby with fentanyl in sippy cup
A Pennsylvania mom who prosecutors argue gave her baby fentanyl in a sippy cup so she could return to smoking pot was found guilty in the child’s death.
Jhenea Pratt, 23, showed no emotion when she was convicted Tuesday in Allegheny County Court of involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of her 17-month-old daughter, news station KOCO reported.
The jury acquitted the mom of homicide charges in the April 5, 2018, death of Charlette Napper-Talley, who was poisoned by a fentanyl cocktail at their East Hills apartment.
Prosecutors argued Pratt fed her baby the fatal mixture because she wanted to “sit back, relax and smoke marijuana,” according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“That baby was getting in the way of her enjoying her pastime,” Assistant District Attorney Diana Page told the court.
Police who responded to the home in April 2018 discovered a red liquid inside a pink sippy cup that contained enough fentanyl to “kill two horses,” according to the newspaper.
Pratt told police she gave her daughter the cup and put her to sleep about an hour before she found her unresponsive in bed.
Jurors were shown footage of detectives questioning Pratt about the deadly opioid inside the cup — with the mom claiming the drug may have come from a fruit-flavored “happy drink.”
“I have no knowledge as to how fentanyl got into my daughter’s sippy cup,” Pratt was heard saying, according to KOCO.
Pratt’s court-appointed lawyer argued that she may “smoke weed every now and then” but wasn’t responsible for her daughter’s death, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
Her attorney, Brandon Herring, claimed the mom’s boyfriend, Albert Williams, prepared the fatal mixture in the sippy cup for her daughter.
“Albert had access to fentanyl and he prepared the sippy cup,” Herring told the court. “The prosecution hasn’t provided any evidence that Ms. Pratt put the fentanyl in that cup.”
The date for Pratt’s sentencing has not been set.
via: http:// https://nypost.com/2019/06/05/mom-found-guilty-of-killing-baby-with-fentanyl-in-sippy-cup/
Photo Credit: nypost.com/Pittsburgh Police
Medicaid bought erectile dysfunction drugs for NY sex offenders
Registered sex offenders in New York received $63,000 worth of erectile dysfunction drugs and other sexual treatments courtesy of the state’s publicly funded Medicaid program, according to an audit released Wednesday.
Federal rules bar Medicaid coverage of sexual treatments for all recipients, not just sex offenders. Yet state Medicaid officials approved $930,000 in improper payments for the drugs between 2012 and 2018, according to the audit released by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and first reported by The Associated Press.
According to the audit, 47 of those Medicaid recipients were also state sex offenders, who are prohibited from getting Medicaid-covered sexual treatments under a state law.
DiNapoli said the lapses identified in the audit show the need for immediate action by state health officials to increase accountability and oversight.
“There are clear rules about what conditions Medicaid will cover when it comes to erectile dysfunction drugs,” DiNapoli said. “Paying for sex offenders who’ve committed terrible crimes to get these drugs should never be lost in the bureaucratic administration of this program.”
State health officials dismissed much of the criticism, noting that under Medicaid rules, erectile dysfunction drugs can be prescribed to treat other conditions, such as prostate problems.
The auditors “either ignored the law or the facts, which undermines any value that can be associated with its findings,” the department said in a formal, written response to the audit.
But auditors discounted that explanation, noting that in many cases the medications were approved for Medicaid recipients who had no relevant diagnosis.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
A teacher just got fired for asking Trump to deport undocumented students
A Texas high school teacher who thought she was private messaging anti-immigration tweets to President Donald Trump has been fired for asking the President to deport undocumented students
“[Fort Worth] ISD is loaded with illegal students from Mexico,” Georgia Clark said in a series of tweets on May 17.
“I really do need a contact here in FW who should be actively investigating & removing illegals that are in the public school system.”
Clark has been a high school English teacher in the Fort Worth Independent School District since 1998, the district said.
In a special school board meeting on Tuesday night, a number of community members voiced very strong opinions against her tweets. The school board voted unanimously to terminate Clark’s contract with good cause.
Teacher will appeal the ruling
Clark’s attorney told CNN that they’ll be fighting her contract termination and will be asking for a hearing to contest her firing.
Texas state law says that she has 15 days to appeal the decision with the state Education Agency. As that appeal process plays out, Clark technically will remain an employee and collect a paycheck.
“Once the tweets came to light, so, too, did other allegations,” Superintendent Kent P. Scribner said after the school board meeting.
“In my professional judgment, the totality of the behavior warranted the recommendation for termination. Our mission is to prepare all students for success in college, career, and community leadership.”
But those tweets aren’t the only reason why she’s being fired.
Other allegations emerged
As the school district investigated the tweets, a confidential memo obtained by CNN through an open records request has revealed that students came forward and said she made racist statements in class the same day that she posted the tweets.
A statement given to school officials by unnamed students claims Clark said after a lesson that Mexicans should not enter the United States illegally.
When a student asked to go to the bathroom afterward, Clark allegedly said, “show me your papers that are saying you are legal.”
Clark responded to the accusations in the memo denying ever making any statement on anyone’s immigration status and said the student didn’t have a “planner” needed to leave the classroom.
According to the memo, the language in the classroom and her tweets were the reasons for Clark’s firing.
These incidents are not Clark’s first time using racially charged language in the classroom, specifically about students of Mexican heritage.
Disciplined over racially charged language
Clark was suspended without pay, and reassigned, in 2013, acccording to information received in the open records request. That was because she called a group of students working together and speaking Spanish, “Little Mexico,” and she referred to another student as “white bread.”
In that same disciplinary report, Clark also allegedly made her students do an activity in which she separated her students by their race and told the “Mexicans” to cross the border to the other side of the classroom.
The district refused to comment, or confirm, on the previous incident and told CNN to file an open records request for more information.
Photo Credit: pix11.com