Powerlifting granny a world record holder at 81
EAST ALTON, Ill. – Shirley Webb first joined a gym three years ago when she was 78.
“When I first joined I could not climb steps unless I held on with both hands and pulled myself up,” Webb told KTVI.
Now 81, Webb has traveled all over, taking down dumbbells, taking home 17 medals – and now powerlifting her way to a world record.
“I’m a world champion right now,” Webb said. “That’s a nice title to have. A silver in bench press, a silver in squats and deadlift. I got a gold medal and overall weights I got a gold medal and world championship.”
Webb owns three national records, including one for deadlifting 259 pounds. However, she had to qualify and be invited to the World Championship, where 60 countries were represented. That’s where Webb deadlifted 265 pounds.
“My job, and I’ve been restricted to this at my own request, is to load the bar,” said Dick Webb, husband and coach. “So I don’t have to lift more than 45 pounds.”
Their trip to Sweden resulted in two silver and two gold medals, beating a competitor a decade younger.
“I heard these people cheering me every time I went out on the stage to compete and I thought, ‘I wonder who they are, maybe from the U.S.?’” Webb said. “They were from Iceland, rooting me on!”
Webb said she won’t be slowing anytime soon. She’s training for the nationals in October outside Chicago.
“You’re never too old to start,” she said. “No matter how you feel, you can start real light weight, very light, and work yourself up to where you’re feeling good. You’ve got to get that blood flowing.”
via: https://pix11.com/2019/06/27/powerlifting-granny-a-world-record-holder-at-81/
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Police officer in MA charged with raping 16-year-old homeless girl while on duty
Lowell, MA (WBZ ) — A Lowell police officer was arraigned Thursday on two charges of rape after he allegedly assaulted a 16-year-old homeless girl while on duty.
A Middlesex County grand jury indicted 49-year-old Kevin Garneau of Pelham, N.H.
Prosecutors say that in 2016, Garneau was working as part of a community outreach program to help homeless residents.
Garneau allegedly entered the girl’s tent and told her there were warrants out for her arrest but in exchange for sexual services he would not arrest her. Prosecutors say Garneau sexually assaulted the girl several more times in the ensuing months.
Lowell Police learned about the allegation in January 2019 and launched an investigation in May. He is on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of his case.
“I’m astonished and deeply disappointed. I acted as soon as we were made aware of these allegations. This is not what the men and women of the Lowell PD represent. They police legally, respectfully and compassionately,” Superintendent of Police Raymond Richardson said in a statement.
A clerk magistrate released Garneau on personal recognizance and ordered him be placed on a GPS monitoring system and stay away from the girl. Garneau is next scheduled to appear in court on July 23.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
School snow days could become a thing of the past in PA. Lawmakers want kids to telecommute to school if it’s closed for weather
Technology disrupts everything, and now it’s coming for beloved snow days.
Lawmakers in Pennsylvania have just greenlit a bill that would transform snow days into work-from-home days for students. Senate Bill 440 would create an opt-in program for school districts to establish “flexible instruction days,” using technology to fill the gap rather than have students and teachers take the day off for inclement weather.
If districts choose to participate, young scholars will spend snowy days inside working on writing assignments and math problems, rather than building snowmen and pelting friends with snowballs.
No more snow days
The legislation is now on Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk to be signed into law. Wolf has previously expressed support, saying “Cyber snow days, I think it’s a great idea, I would sign it,” according to CNN affiliate KYW.
But Wolf added the caveat, “You don’t have broadband, you can’t do cyber snow days.”
The bill would require that school districts applying for the program demonstrate they have ways for students without Internet to participate.
Justin Johnson, a parent with a school-age child, told KYW he supported putting snow days to better use. “With the new bill, that’s something that could definitely be productive,” Johnson said.
If it becomes law, the bill would take effect take effect in 60 days, in plenty of time to be in practice for snow days this winter.
Schools have already shown the idea can work
According to a fiscal note on the legislature’s website, the state’s Department of Education has tested the program for three years with 10 districts.
In February, KYW reported that Holy Cross Prep just across the New Jersey border was succeeding with the Google Classroom App on snow days.
Senior Dominic Decker told the station, “Honestly, it was just a change of environment. It was no different than what I do every day.”
Holy Cross principal Bill Stonis told KYW schools could use these technologies to give students more flexibility to learn from home throughout the year, and not just on snow days. Students might be able to telecommute to school on certain days the same way that some workplaces allow employees to work from home.
“As we travel through the 21st century, schools are going to look different,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to have the same structure.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Pregnant women shot in stomach charged with manslaughter over unborn baby’s death; shooter freed
MONTGOMERY, AL — A pregnant Alabama woman who was shot in the stomach during an altercation was charged with manslaughter for the death of her unborn child, while the woman accused of shooting her was set free.
Marshae Jones, 28, was five months pregnant when 23-year-old Ebony Jemison allegedly shot her in the stomach during an altercation about Jones’ baby’s father, the Associated Press reported.
The incident happened in December and, at the time, Jemison was charged with manslaughter; however, she was not indicted after investigators said that Jones was the one who started the fight and Jemison was acting in self-defense.
On Wednesday, Jones was indicted by a grand jury for the death of her unborn child.
According to AL.com, Lt. Danny Reid of the Pleasant Grove Police Department said the only true victim in the altercation was the unborn baby and that Jones initiating the fight ultimately caused the death of her unborn child.
Advocates for women’s rights expressed outrage.
Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, said women across the country have been prosecuted for manslaughter or murder for having an abortion or experiencing a miscarriage. She said Alabama currently leads the nation in charging women for crimes related to their pregnancies. She said hundreds have been prosecuted for running afoul of the state’s “chemical endangerment of a child” statute by exposing their embryo or fetus to controlled substances.
But this is the first time she’s heard of a pregnant woman being charged after getting shot.
“This takes us to a new level of inhumanity and illegality towards pregnant women,” Paltrow said. “I can’t think of any other circumstance where a person who themselves is a victim of a crime is treated as the criminal.”
Jones’ arrest also drew criticism from the Yellowhammer Fund, which raises money to help women have access to abortions.
“The state of Alabama has proven yet again that the moment a person becomes pregnant their sole responsibility is to produce a live, healthy baby and that it considers any action a pregnant person takes that might impede in that live birth to be a criminal act,” said Amanda Reyes, the group’s director.
Photo Credit: Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office
New Mexico mom accused of beating her children, boiling their puppies to death
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A woman beat and tortured at least some of her 15 children and forced them to watch as she brutally killed their pets, authorities said in New Mexico, the latest place where the woman and her husband have been the subject of complaints.
Martha Crouch and her husband Timothy of Aztec, New Mexico, were arrested Monday following interviews with a number of their adult and young children living in different states, according to court records. It was not immediately clear if all the allegations made by the children had been verified by authorities.
State officials say documents also point to prior complaints involving the couple in Missouri, Alaska, Kansas and Montana.
Martha Crouch, 53, was charged with child abuse and extreme cruelty to animals. Timothy Crouch, 57, is facing an obstruction charge. The couple has yet to be assigned public defenders. They are due in court Wednesday.
The San Juan County sheriff’s office began an investigation following the arrest of one the couple’s adult children on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. Detectives say they uncovered false allegations that two sons beat another brother to death and kidnapped a sister, but heard other claims of abuse, torture and extreme animal cruelty.
One teen daughter told authorities of physical and emotional abuse that had gotten so bad that two of her older siblings took her from New Mexico to Arizona to keep her safe, according to court documents. The teen said after one of their dogs had puppies, the mother “took the puppies and put them into a giant pot and boiled them, making all the kids watch,” the documents said.
The girl told investigators the mother also fed a kitten poison.
She said she was hit by her mother with a plastic cooking spatula for questioning why she wasn’t allowed to go to school. Another, whose age also wasn’t disclosed, said she got pregnant at 14 and her mother beat her until she had a miscarriage.
Another daughter told authorities she was kept in a “fat chain” for three years while the family lived in Alaska because her mother thought she was overweight.
A son told detectives he was “beaten, shot, stabbed and run over by his parents” and “had BBs still inside his arm from when the mother shot him with a shotgun.”
He said New Mexico child welfare investigators recently came to the house to look into allegations of educational neglect but the mother loaded up the three younger children in a car and took them to the Navajo Dam to avoid them being spotted.
The children told detectives the family had lived in a number of places over the years and every time authorities questioned the parents’ activities, they fled to a new place, according to court documents.
Deanna Taylor, an investigator with the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, said she received hundreds of pages of reports from other social service agencies in several other states, including Alaska, Kansas, Missouri and Montana. It is not clear what types of allegations were made against the couple in those states and whether any action was taken against them.
Court records show Timothy Crouch pleaded no contest to a theft charge in 1999 in Alaska. A forgery charge in Alaska also was dismissed that year.
Court records show the family had at least one other recent encounter with authorities. San Juan County officials cited Timothy Crouch in May with illegally burning trash.
Court records also show that county authorities’ initial investigation into an assault by an adult son at the family’s home on May 30 came after several brothers said they had been arguing over food.
The son, a 31-year-old also named Timothy Crouch, was accused of pointing a gun at three of his brothers saying he would shoot them. One of the three said the fight started because he was allergic to beef and could not eat hot dogs, an affidavit for an arrest warrant said.
A sister told a deputy there were guns located “throughout the house.”
Authorities also reported finding the body of a dog buried in the backyard that was shot as a punishment to the children.
Photo Credit: San Juan County Sheriff’s Office
Nearly 100 drivers followed a Google Maps detour — and ended up stuck in an empty field
(CNN) — Technology isn’t always foolproof, as about 100 Colorado drivers learned when Google Maps offered them a supposedly quick way out of a traffic jam.
A crash on Peña Boulevard, a road leading to Denver International Airport, prompted the app to take drivers on a detour on Sunday.
But it was too good to be true.
The alternate route took drivers down a dirt road that rain had turned into a muddy mess, and cars started sliding around.
Some vehicles couldn’t make it through the mud, and about 100 others became trapped behind them.
Connie Monsees was on her way to pick up her husband at the airport when she encountered the wreck on Peña Boulevard.
“I thought ‘maybe there’s a detour’ and pulled it up on Google Maps, and it gave me a a detour that was half the time,” she said. “It was 43 minutes initially, and it was going to be 23 instead — so I took the exit and drove where they told me to.
“There were a bunch of other cars going down [the dirt road] too, so I said, ‘I guess it’s OK.’ It was not OK.”
Luckily, Monsees’ car has all-wheel drive, and she was able to get through the sticky situation. She even gave two people a ride to the airport, and they were able to catch their flights.
“I tore up the front passenger wheel well liner,” Monsees said, adding that others had it much worse.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Photo Credit: Courtesy Connie Monsees
Art teacher accused of stealing craft supplies from Walmart
(Meredith) – A high school teacher allegedly walked out of a North Carolina Walmart with more than $200 worth of unpaid craft supplies stuffed inside her raincoat.
Joanna Frantz, 59, was charged with misdemeanor larceny following the incident on Saturday, the Johnson County News reported.
An employee at the store in Clayton called police to report a woman hiding merchandise underneath a coat that was inside a shopping cart, according to the newspaper.
Authorities said the woman had nearly $225 worth of unpaid merchandise in her possession when loss prevention workers stopped her on the way out the store. She cooperated with both store staff and police.
Frantz is an art teacher at Clayton High School and has worked there for six years, WTVD reported.
Photo Credit: Johnson County Schools
Kim Kardashian Addresses Another Culture Vulture Charge
Article via USMagazine
The Kardashians are no strangers to cultural appropriation allegations. Kim has now decided to up the stakes by TRADEMARKING ‘Kimono’ – what should be a formal Japanese wear is now Kim’s shapewear line.
When Kim Kardashian Opens a New Window. announced her new shapewear line called Kimono (as a play on her first name) on June 25, some expressed concern over use of the term for the traditional Japanese garment, even spawning the hashtag Opens a New Window. #KimOhNo on Twitter. And now Kardashian has responded.
On June 27, the businesswoman addressed these critiques in a statement to the New York Times Opens a New Window. , which reads: “I understand and have deep respect for the significance of the kimono in Japanese culture and have no plans to design or release any garments that would in any way resemble or dishonor the traditional garment. I made the decision to name my company Kimono, not to disassociate the word from its Japanese roots but as a nod to the beauty and detail that goes into a garment. Filing a trademark is a source identifier that will allow me to use the word for my shapewear and intimates line but does not preclude or restrict anyone, in this instance, from making kimonos or using the word kimono in reference to the traditional garment. My solutionwear brand is built with inclusivity and diversity at its core and I’m incredibly proud of what’s to come.”
This comes in response to fan comments Opens a New Window. questioning the use of the word on her original social media announcement. For example, user @takano_meg commented on Twitter, “For Japanese, Kimono is really important culture and we are proud of having this culture. Even now, I often wear Kimono not only special events but also normal days. I hope everyone know Kimono as a Japanese traditional and beautiful clothes…”
Still others praised the mogul’s attention to inclusiveness Opens a New Window. (the line includes nine colors to match various skin tones and sizes ranging from XXS to 4XL).
Article via USMagazine
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Jada Pinkett Smith Reveals She Initially Didn’t Want Jordyn Woods On ‘Red Table Talk’
Smith said she eventually changed her mind and saw the appearance as a chance to give Woods a safe space to open up.
Article via Essence
Turns out Jada Pinkett Smith almost passed on having Jordyn Woods appear on Red Table Talk.
The Facebook Watch series, hosted by Pinkett Smith, her daughter, Willow Smith, and her mom, Adrienne Banfield-Jones, sees the three tackling tough topics and given fans insight into their lives.
Woods appeared on the show after news broke that she had hooked up with Tristan Thompson, the father of Khloe Kardashian’s daughter, True.
“It actually wasn’t something I wanted to do because it was very close [to home],” Smith revealed to People. “But as time transpired, Jordyn was just like, ‘I really need you in this platform’ and Will [Smith] felt like it was supremely important. So I was like, ‘Okay, let’s do it.’
The episode broke records as the most viewed Facebook original episode in its first 24 hours.
Pinkett Smith—whose family has known Woods since she was a child thanks to Woods’s late father, John, working as a sound engineer on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air—said she wanted to give the 21-year-old “a platform to tell her story.”
“Jordyn really felt like it was the only safe place that she could do that interview,” Pinkett Smith said. “That was my intention honestly. I just wanted her to have a platform to tell her story. That’s it.”
“She’s a young beautiful woman inside and out and me having been a young girl, we sometimes get in situations that we don’t necessarily know how to handle,” the actress continued. “You just [try to] help young girls navigate through life, through difficult situations we’ve all come across.”
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7-Year-Old ‘Avengers’ Actress Asks Not to Be Bullied
The young actress who played Robert Downey Jr.’s daughter in “Avengers: Endgame” is asking people on social media to stop bullying her. In a plea posted on Instagram, 7-year-old Lexi Rabe pleads with people to not be so mean. Her mom Jessica wrote on Instagram in part, “Please keep your opinions to yourself so Lexi can grow up in the free world. She’s a normal human being and she’s a child.” InsideEdition.com’s Stephanie Officer reports on the incident that triggered the plea.