Phone sex line number printed as suicide hotline on middle school student ID cards
Lancaster (KCAL/KCBS) — A suicide prevention effort at a Lancaster middle school ended up inadvertently printing the number of an adult chat line on the school’s student ID cards.
Lancaster school district superintendent Dr. Michele Bowers issued a letter Monday apologizing for the move after officials at New Vista Middle School became aware that “the wrong phone number” was listed after two digits were transposed.
“This is a mistake,” Bowers wrote. “The number listed on the card is actually a sex line.”
An image of the card was posted to social media.
School administrators were set to collect all ID cards from students and print new replacement cards, according to Bower.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Amanda Seales: ‘I’m Expected To Make White People Uncomfortable’
On this week’s episode of “The Last Laugh,” Amanda Seales opens up about tensions among the “Insecure” cast, confronting Caitlyn Jenner, and her new book.
Amanda Seales already knows what the title of her next stand-up special is going to be: “I’m Not for Everyone.”
The comedian, best known for playing Tiffany DuBois on HBO’s Insecure, opened her first hour-long special for that network, titled I Be Knowin’, by calling out all of the people her comedy wasn’t for, a list that included “racists, rapists, sexists, misogynists, narcissists, folks that are calling the cops on blacks folks for just living our lives” and, of course, Trump voters.
The night before our interview for this week’s episode of The Last Laugh podcast, Seales had encountered a heckler who seemed to fit many of those descriptions during the International Myeloma Foundation’s annual comedy celebration at the Beverly Hilton hotel.
“Whenever I’m in those situations, I’m expected to make white people uncomfortable,” Seales tells me. “I’m the only black person on the bill. It was a bunch of straight white guys and Caroline Rhea, so I was just playing my role.”
At one point during her set, when Seales was making jokes about the difference between white women and women who “happen to be white,” an older gentleman in the audience yelled out, “I love white women!”
Seales reveals that she got a DM later in the night from a black woman who was sitting at his table. She wrote, “Thank you for being the voice in the room because oftentimes I am the only black person in the room and I don’t feel like I get to have that voice.” The woman said she knew the heckler was “racist” because when she sat down at the table, he asked her, “Are you here from a prison release program?”
When I respond with shock, Seales tells me, “White people, you don’t understand what other white people are saying to us!”
A self-described “truth-teller,” Seales imparts pearls of wisdom like this, acquired over an eclectic career that includes stints on Nickelodeon, MTV and Def Poetry (as her alter-ego Amanda Diva) in her new book Small Doses: Potent Truths for Everyday Use, which codifies on paper what she shares with listeners of her popular podcast—also called Small Doses—on a weekly basis.
Like with her stand-up, Seales’ target audience is fellow black women who are trying to make their way in a world primarily run by white men. “I know for me, I would have appreciated this type of book,” Seales says of her early days in show business, “because it would have given me a little more peace in the process.” As an artist, she spent so much time asking herself questions like, “Will people like this? How do I get people to like this? Am I enough?”
She may know she’s “not for everyone,” but she’s no longer willing to compromise.
Highlights from our conversation are below and you can listen to the whole thing right now by subscribing to The Last Laugh on Apple Podcasts, the Himalaya app or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Article via TheDailyHypeBeast
Juul Shipped One Million Contaminated Pods, Says Former Exec
“Half our customers are drunk and vaping like mo-fos, who the fuck is going to notice the quality of our pods,” the former CEO allegedly said.
SAN FRANCISCO — A former Juul executive is alleging in a lawsuit that the fast-growing startup shipped out 1 million contaminated e-cigarette pods earlier this year — but did not tell customers or issue a recall.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by Siddharth Breja, a former senior vice president of global finance who worked at the San Francisco–based company from May 2018 to March 2019. In the lawsuit — filed in US District Court for the Northern District of California on the same day that Juul confirmed its plans to lay off about 500 people — Breja claims he was retaliated against for raising concerns about the contaminated shipment.
In another instance, Breja says he was worried when the company, in February 2019, wanted to resell pods that were at that point almost one year old. He protested their resale and urged the company to at least include an expiration or “best by” date, or a date of manufacture, on the packaging.
The lawsuit claims that then-CEO Kevin Burns shot down that idea, saying, “Half our customers are drunk and vaping like mo-fos, who the fuck is going to notice the quality of our pods.”
Burns, who was replaced by Altria executive K.C. Crosthwaite in September, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Mr. Breja became aware of very concerning actions at the company, and he performed his duty to shareholders and to the board by reporting these issues internally,” Harmeet Dhillon, an attorney for Breja, told BuzzFeed News when reached for comment. “In exchange for doing that, he was inappropriately terminated. This is very concerning, particularly since some of the issues he raised concerned matters of public safety.”
A Juul spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Juul is fighting off a firestorm from government agencies, public health advocates, and clinicians, who blame the e-cigarette giant for addicting millions of teens to nicotine. A nationwide lung injury outbreak, now standing at 1,604 cases and 34 deaths, is being investigated by public health agencies, which have primarily linked the illnesses to vaping black-market THC. But the connection to nicotine-containing devices, such as Juul, has not been fully ruled out, either.
Breja alleges that on March 12, in an executive team meeting, he learned that some batches of mint e-liquid had been found to be contaminated. Approximately 250,000 mint refill kits, the equivalent of one million pods, were manufactured with the contaminated e-liquid, shipped to retailers, and sold to customers.
Breja was concerned about the public’s safety, the lawsuit alleges, especially in the wake of consumers recently having reported seizures after Juuling.
And he was asked to charge the supplier of the e-liquid, Alternative Ingredients, Inc., for $7 million for the contaminated batches. (That company did not immediately return a request for comment.) Breja was concerned by “this hypocritical approach of not informing the customers about the contamination on one hand (claiming it was not a serious issue) and charging the supplier for it on the other hand,” according to the lawsuit.
That same day, Breja “protested Juul’s refusal to issue a product recall for the contaminated pods, or at a minimum issue a public health and safety notice to consumers.” Tim Danaher, the chief finance officer at the time, reportedly “questioned his financial acumen,” since these suggestions would lead to billions of dollars in lost sales and hurt Juul’s then–$38 billion valuation, according to the lawsuit.
Danaher, whose departure was announced by the company on Tuesday, allegedly told Breja that he should remember his loyalty to Juul. (Danaher did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)
According to the lawsuit, Breja was terminated on March 21, just over a week after he raised concerns about the contaminated pods. He was told it was because he had misrepresented himself as the chief financial officer at Uber. Breja says that he never made that claim, but had accurately stated that he was the chief financial officer of a division of Uber. Juul’s claim is “preposterous” and “intentionally invented” to hurt Breja’s reputation and employment prospects, the lawsuit alleges.
Article via BuzzFeedNews
British Actress Cynthia Erivo Responds To Past Tweets That Seemingly Mocked Black Americans Chantilly Post
“I’ve never spoken negatively about people because I don’t want that.”
Cynthia Erivo is the British actress who portrays Harriet Tubman in the upcoming biopic on the heroic abolitionist’s life that hits theaters November 1st. The 32-year-old has already received some hate for her role in the film since people questioned why an American actress wasn’t cast to play Harriet and now she’s responded to other hate she received from her past tweets.
In 2013, Cynthia sent out tweets that made it seem as though she was mocking Black Americans adding more fuel to people’s belief that an actress who has no controversy on such a topic should have been cast for the starring role in Harriet.
“As for the tweets, taken out of context without giving me the room to tell you what it meant–and it wasn’t mocking anyone really,” Cynthia told Shadow And Act. “It wasn’t for that purpose at all. It was to celebrate a song I had wrote when I was 16.”
“I would never…I’ve never spoken negatively about people because I don’t want that, I don’t want that energy from me to others,” she added. “I don’t believe that serves us at all, I don’t believe it serves a purpose other than bringing negativity into my life and your life and I just don’t want that.”
Article via HotNewHipHop
Massachusetts high school teacher swapped nude photo with teen student
A Massachusetts high school teacher allegedly exchanged nude photos with a 15-year-old student on Snapchat, authorities said Tuesday.
Prosecutors say 42-year-old Dorothy Bancroft Veracka “actively” solicited lewd images from the teenage boy and sent him skin pics as well between September 2018 and March 2019, MassLive.com reported.
The student saved images of Veracka and some of their Snapchat conversations that he handed to police, according to court documents.
The Nashoba Regional High School teacher admitted receiving nude photos from the boy, the documents say.
She was arraigned in Clinton District Court Tuesday on charges of child pornography, distributing obscene matter to a minor and posing or exhibiting a child in the state of nudity. She was released without bail.
“Everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence,” her defense attorney, Frank McNamara, told WBZ-TV, adding that his client is married and has three children.
She was placed on administrative leave from the school in Bolton Sept. 30
Photo Credit: WBZ-TV/YouTube
Mom charged with killing baby after admitting she hit him over dirty diaper
A Georgia woman has been charged with killing her 1-year-old child, telling investigators she hit the boy because she was angry that he’d soiled his diaper, according to local reports.
Trinity Pittman of Palmetto, faces murder and child cruelty charges in the death of her 20-month-old son, Conner Perry.
Pittman, 23, took her son to the emergency room on Friday night, telling medical staff he had been injured after falling off a trampoline. The staff became suspicious and reported that the injuries were not consistent with a fall; his abdomen was full of blood and his lungs were filling up with fluids, 11 Alive reported.
Police reportedly said they interviewed Pittman and her boyfriend, Jeremy Davis, 24, and their accounts of what had happened did not align.
Pittman later admitted that she had lied about Perry falling off a trampoline and confessed that she was angry at her son because he had soiled his diaper, the television station reported, citing warrants.
She reportedly admitted to police that she had hit her son several times after he did not obey her demands and at one point, Perry fell on the floor and hit his head after she hit him.
Pittman went to work hours after the episode and left her son and her 4-year-old daughter in her boyfriend’s care, the news outlet reported, saying she also told him Perry had fallen off the trampoline earlier.
Davis later called Pittman and told her that Perry was having trouble breathing and was throwing up, the station reported, adding that Pittman then came home and took Perry to an Atlanta children’s hospital. He died at the hospital.
Pittman has been jailed without bail. It’s unclear if she has a lawyer.
Pittman’s daughter was placed with relatives.
Photo Credit: nypost.com
McDonald’s removes Halloween decoration that included person hanging from tree
A McDonald’s restaurant in Massachusetts came under fire last week for displaying Halloween decorations that included a person hanging from a tree, reports said.
Customer Erik Pocock sounded the alarm last Tuesday after noticing the display while ordering food at the North Andover franchise.
He described the sight to WCVB as “more like a lynching” than a Halloween decoration.
Pocock initially thought the haunted tree and spiderwebs on the display were festive.
But when he looked closer he witnessed the figure hanging and thought, “that’s not cute. That’s not right.”
After Pocock posted a video of the decoration to Twitter, McDonald’s removed the display and issued a public apology, according to Patch.com.
Pocock, who has since made his account private, mentioned the official McDonald’s account and asked, “can you explain this?” the new site said.
Franchise owner Chuck Lietz said in a statement, “We deeply regret that these decorations were on display, and as soon as we identified the inappropriate content, we immediately removed the decorations display.”
“We apologize for any unintended offense they may have had on our community.”
Other customers WCVB spoke to had mixed feelings on the image.
One man said, “Anything hanging with a kid is offensive.”
A woman told the outlet: “It’s pretty graphic. I think people might be sensitive to the topic.”
Another customer didn’t see an issue, saying, “I think it’s alright.”
Photo Credit: twitter
School bus aide charged with striking special needs child, knocking out 2 teeth
GENEVA, ILL. (AP) — A former northern Illinois bus aide is accused of striking a special needs student, knocking out two teeth.
Jean M. Micklevitz, who worked for the Burlington Central School District, is charged with aggravated battery to a child for allegedly dragging him to a seat after he refused to move from the bus steps. Kane County prosecutors say the 63-year-old Burlington woman then struck the boy several times in the face.
At the time of the Oct. 2 incident, Micklevitz was a helper on a bus for special needs students. She was arrested Wednesday and a Kane County judge ordered Micklevitz held in lieu of $30,000 bond. She posted bond and was released. It wasn’t immediately known if she has legal representation.
District Superintendent Todd Stirn says Micklevitz and the bus driver were suspended after the school learned of the incident. Stirn wouldn’t say how the driver was involved in the incident.
Photo Credit: Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office
Boston College student accused of driving boyfriend Alexander Urtulam to suicide
A Boston College student repeatedly urged her boyfriend to kill himself — telling him the “world would be better without him” before he jumped to his death on the morning of his graduation in May, according to a new report.
Suffolk County prosecutors on Monday announced Inyoung You, 21, had been charged with involuntary manslaughter over the suicide of her boyfriend, fellow Boston College student Alexander Urtulam, the Boston Globe reported.
The suspect psychologically and physically abused Urtula during their 18-month relationship — repeatedly encouraging him to kill himself despite being aware of his “spiraling depression,” District Attorney Rachael Rollins said at a press conference.
The pair exchanged 75,000 text messages in the two months before Urtula took his own life, with You telling him “go die” and “go kill yourself,” prosecutors said.
The 21-year-old has returned to her native South Korea but will be extradited to the US if she does not voluntarily return to face the charges, Rollins said.
“This case is a tragedy but it’s just one example of a systemic epidemic [of domestic violence],” Rollins said.
“Domestic violence may not look the same [in every instance] but it is always about power and control,” she added.
Urtula, of Cedar Grove, NJ, jumped to his death from the Renaissance parking garage in Boston on May 20, the same day he was supposed to graduate with a biology degree.
You isolated her boyfriend from his family and friends and tracked his location on her phone. Chillingly, You was present at the parking garage when Urtula leaped to his death, Rollins said.
A grand jury handed up the indictment on Oct. 18, finding You was “wanton and reckless” and created “life-threatening conditions for Mr. Urtula that she had a legal duty to alleviate,” according to court documents obtained by the Globe.
The case echoes “suicide text” girlfriend Michelle Carter, the Massachusetts woman who was convicted of urging her boyfriend via text messages to kill himself in July 2014.
According to the Boston Herald, You sent Urtula, 22, more than 780 “manipulative and threatening” text messages each day in the months leading up to his death.
The suspect also used threats of self-harm to control her boyfriend and manipulate him.
Urtula killed himself just two hours before he was supposed to walk in his graduation ceremony — his family traveling from New Jersey to Boston for the event.
“His family never got to do so,” Rollins said Monday.
His girlfriend was studying economics and was scheduled to graduate in May 2020 but withdrew from classes in August, three months after Urtula died, a Boston College spokesperson told The Globe.
Urtula was remembered as a “gifted student” and was involved in many groups, including the Phillippine Society of Boston College.
He had been working as a researcher in a New York hospital and according to his LinkedIn, also worked as a researcher at a women’s hospital in Boston in the hematology department.
Rollins told reporters domestic violence “does not discriminate” — noting it affected people regardless of their race, sexual orientation or age.
“Domestic violence may not always looked the same, but it is always about power and control,” she added.
Photo Credit: Suffolk County District Attorney
Doctor pleads guilty to sending 9,000 threatening texts to ex-Tinder date
A jilted Australian doctor pleaded guilty Monday to sending 9,000 abusive and threatening messages to her former Tinder date, according to a new report.
Radiologist Denise Jane Lee, 40, of Sydney, copped to four of 10 charges against her ahead of a scheduled five-day hearing in the Downing Centre Local Court, the Australian Associated Press reported.
Lee, who was arrested in February 2017, copped to three counts of using a carriage service to harass, menace or offend and one count of intimidation, according to the report. Six additional charges were withdrawn.
The doctor was accused of becoming obsessive and sending thousands of abusive, threatening texts and emails to Matthew Holberton, his new girlfriend and their relatives, according to the report.
Some of the alleged threats included: “Whatever you value most, I’ll target,” “I will make you pay,” and “You deserve everything you’re going to get,” according to the report.
Lee and Holberton had four dinner dates between July and September 2015, as well as two sexual encounters, before Holberton ended things and moved to Melbourne, the outlet reported.
Earlier this month, Magistrate Michael Barko refused to dismiss the charges against Lee on mental health grounds.
Lee’s admission came after hours of negotiations between the doctor’s lawyer and the prosecutor.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock