Heated LI school board meeting following slideshow some called ‘racist’
MIDDLE ISLAND, L.I. — A fiery school board meeting broke out on Thursday in Middle Island following a slideshow that many students and parents are calling racist.
But many other parents and students are coming to the defense of the teacher at the center of the controversy.
Parents who are defending the teacher argue that the intent wasn’t for the picture to be racist. In fact, they say students of all races have taken the same picture for that same slideshow in the past.
“One mistake shouldn’t ruin this persons life,” said Griffin Bell, a student at the high school.
Parents and students at Longwood High School are divided over what should happen to a science teacher following the slideshow.
“It scars them forever,” said Dr. Beverly Green, a Middle Island resident.
MIDDLE ISLAND, L.I. — A fiery school board meeting broke out on Thursday in Middle Island following a slideshow that many students and parents are calling racist.
But many other parents and students are coming to the defense of the teacher at the center of the controversy.
Parents who are defending the teacher argue that the intent wasn’t for the picture to be racist. In fact, they say students of all races have taken the same picture for that same slideshow in the past.
“One mistake shouldn’t ruin this persons life,” said Griffin Bell, a student at the high school.
Parents and students at Longwood High School are divided over what should happen to a science teacher following the slideshow.
“It scars them forever,” said Dr. Beverly Green, a Middle Island resident.
During a trip to the Bronx Zoo, a science teacher asked four black students to pose for a picture which was later used in the slideshow.
In one of the slides there’s a picture of a gorilla titled “monkey see,” then a picture of the four young men with the title “monkey do.”
“That picture was degrading and it was not right. Was not correct. It was a bad decision,” said Butch mMurray, a grandparent of one of the students in the picture.
But most of the hundreds who attended the meeting where there in support of the teacher in question.
“Never have I noticed an ounce of prejudice. He’s inherently good at heart,” said Kieran Monaghan, a student.
The school has yet to decide what will happen to that teacher, who has been with the Longwood school district for 20 years.
Online, there’s a change.org petition with over 5,000 signatures in support of the teacher.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
NJ family says they received used diapers in nightmare Amazon delivery
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — It’s a mystery that has rattled Nassly Sales and her family.
The Jersey City mom had ordered two boxes of diapers from Amazon as she does every month for her two daughters, purchasing the items from the site’s “Amazon Warehouse” section, where open-box and returned items are sold at a discounted rate.
When the package arrived this week, she said nothing could’ve prepared her for what she says she found inside.
“I picked up the diapers and it was a little bit heavy, I was half asleep the lights were off,” she explained. “At that point, I turn on the light and that’s when I noticed these diapers are neatly-folded and they are soiled.
The shocking discovery prompted the mom to immediately disinfect her nursery, even wiping down her 19-month-old daughter with rubbing alcohol.
The child, a micro preemie, was born 26 weeks premature, weighing a little over a pound, making her immune system compromised. According to Sales, the baby was just inches away from what she believed was a health hazard.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — It’s a mystery that has rattled Nassly Sales and her family.
The Jersey City mom had ordered two boxes of diapers from Amazon as she does every month for her two daughters, purchasing the items from the site’s “Amazon Warehouse” section, where open-box and returned items are sold at a discounted rate.
When the package arrived this week, she said nothing could’ve prepared her for what she says she found inside.
“I picked up the diapers and it was a little bit heavy, I was half asleep the lights were off,” she explained. “At that point, I turn on the light and that’s when I noticed these diapers are neatly-folded and they are soiled.
The shocking discovery prompted the mom to immediately disinfect her nursery, even wiping down her 19-month-old daughter with rubbing alcohol.
The child, a micro preemie, was born 26 weeks premature, weighing a little over a pound, making her immune system compromised. According to Sales, the baby was just inches away from what she believed was a health hazard.
Speaking to an Amazon customer service representative later that evening didn’t exactly put the family at ease.
“They were like ‘OK sorry for your inconvenience, we will give you a refund. You’re more than welcome to keep the stuff, you don’t need to return it,’” Sid Mukherje, the children’s father, told PIX11.
“And my thought was “Wow, you are not understanding what I’m saying.”
While the family has not officially sent the substance to be tested, they say it bears a strong resemblance and odor to fecal material.
What they want now is a better explanation from Amazon about the mishap.
According to their website, the company inspects and certifies all open-box products before re-selling them, something Sales says obviously did not happen.
In a statement to PIX11, an Amazon spokesperson said “We are investigating the situation and in contact with the customer to make it right.”
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Newbury Park Dental Employee Arrested After Allegedly Prescribing Herself Muscle Relaxant 11 Times
A dental employee at a Newbury Park office has been arrested after allegedly prescribing herself a muscle relaxant on 11 separate occasions dating back to 2018, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office officials announced Thursday.
Kristina Vargas was arrested in Newbury Park on Dec. 31 after an investigation.
Earlier in the month, deputies responded to the dental office after a report of fraudulent prescription activity.
The investigation revealed that Vargas allegedly used a dentist’s information to obtain Carisoprodol (also known as Soma), for herself. It is unclear what Vargas was using the muscle relaxer for.
After being interviewed, Vargas was booked on suspicion of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, forgery and commercial burglary.
She eventually bailed out and is expected in court on Jan. 17.
Photo Credit: Ventura County Sheriff’s Office
Florida Security Guard Arrested After Allegedly Threatening to Kill Trump Over Soleimani’s Death
A Florida security guard threatened to kill President Donald Trump as retaliation for the U.S. military killing an Iranian general, posting a live video on Facebook where he stated “he killed my leader and I have to kill him” while periodically displaying a semi-automatic rifle, authorities said in court documents.
Chauncy Lump, 26, of the Fort Lauderdale area, faces federal charges of threatening to kill the president and remained jailed Thursday with bond set at $100,000, according to court documents filed Wednesday by the Secret Service. He told agents the threats weren’t serious.
Agent Lucas White wrote that shortly after Trump announced last week that a U.S. airstrike had killed Qassem Soleimani in Iraq in retaliation for plotting numerous terrorist attacks, Lump under the name “BlackMan vs. America” began livestreaming a seven-minute video. During that video, agents say Lump made several threats against the president, who was staying at his Mar-a-Lago club, less than an hour away.
Lump had white cream on his face, a towel wrapped like a turban on his head and an apparent shower curtain wrapped on his body, White wrote of the video that Facebook reported to the authorities on Friday.
Lump made several threats, including “He killed my leader, please tell me where is Donald Trump?” and “I need to find the Donald because if I don’t find him, I am going to have to blow up Broward County,” White wrote. During the video, Lump showed a loaded AK-47 semi-automatic rifle.
The affidavit does not say where Lump works as a security guard, but it says he has a concealed weapons permit.
When confronted early Saturday at his home, Lump admitted producing the video in response to Soleimani’s death, but said it was a joke, White wrote. But nowhere in the video did Lump say he was joking and conceded, “I should not have did it in the first place,” White wrote.
No attorney is listed for Lump in court documents.
Photo Credit: Broward County Sheriff’s Office.
Woman punched boyfriend in the face twice for leaving her dog in the rain
MYRTLE POINT, Ore. – An Oregon woman left her boyfriend bruised and scratched after he allegedly “left her dog outside in the rain,” according to a Coos County Sheriff’s Office news release.
Melissa Morris, 38, of Myrtle Point, faces a charge of domestic assault for the New Year’s Eve incident.
Coos County deputies responded to a call around 6:16 p.m. and spoke with Morris’ boyfriend, James, who told them that she had punched him in the face twice.
James had “marble sized welt” and a scratch mark on his right eyebrow, according to the release.
Deputies said Morris admitted to punching him, explaining that she did it because he didn’t bring her dog in out of the rain.
Melissa was booked on a fourth-degree domestic assault charge at the Coos County Jail.
Photo Credit: fox2now.com
Teen girls attack mother arriving at school to discuss bullying with principal
UNION CITY (KRON) – A mother is recovering after she says two teenage girls brutally beat her up outside a Union City high school earlier this week.
Maria Guadalupe Jimenez, who just gave birth to a baby girl four months ago, spent two nights in the hospital after the incident at James Logan High School.
“I pick up my wife from the floor with the eyes wide, she was bleeding,” said Jimenez’ husband, Eder Rojas. “For me, it was hard.”
Their 16-year-old daughter goes to school at James Logan and told them she was being bullied by a group of girls.
On Tuesday morning, they drove their daughter to school and wanted to go inside to speak to the principal about the bullying.
Instead, they say the girls met them outside and began throwing punches.
“They want to hit my daughter but I cover a lot … they couldn’t get there so they grabbed my wife,” Rojas said. “She has the bones broken right here, she has the eyes all red a bump here.”
Union City police say they responded to the scene and arrested one juvenile, who was charged with battery with serious bodily injury.
The school district says the fight involved two Logan High School students, a student’s family and someone not from the school.
They say the incident is being investigated by administration.
“I feel really angry, sad at the same time,” Rojas said.
According to the family, the bullying began about a year ago and happened on campus and online.
They now plan on hiring a lawyer and moving their daughter to a new high school.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help pay for her medical expenses.
Photo Credit: fox2now.com
Pampers new device sends you a notification when your kid has a dirty diaper
LAS VEGAS (KTLA) – Lumi by Pampers is a smart sensor that attaches to your infant’s diaper and sends you a notification when they go to the bathroom.
Pampers showed off the sensor – which also tracks sleep – at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week.
Lumi by Pampers is described on the company’s website as “the world’s first all-in-one connected care system that helps parents track day-to-day developments, and monitor their baby, 24/7, so they can see emerging patterns and establish a suitable routine.”
The Lumi system uses an HD night vision camera capable of monitoring temperature and humidity, the baby sensor and an app to compile the data for parents.
The product is already available online; see the Lumi by Pampers page for more information.
Photo Credit: fox2now.com
An 11-year-old in Mexico told some of his classmates ‘today is the day.’ Then he opened fire
A teacher was killed and six other people injured when an 11-year-old student opened fire Friday at a private school in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila, officials said.
The shooter, a sixth-grader armed with two guns, also died, said Adelaido Flores, the regional coordinator for public safety in Coahuila, near the Texas border.
Coahuila Gov. Miguel Angel Riquelme told reporters that classmates said the boy was generally well behaved but voiced a strange warning before his rampage on Friday.
“He told some classmates, ‘Today is the day,’ ” Riquelme said.
Shortly after 8 a.m., the student asked to use the restroom. After about 15 minutes, the teacher went to look for him and found him leaving the restroom with weapons in hand, the governor said.
Riquelme said authorities believe the boy was influenced by the video game Natural Selection, a first-person shooting game. He said the boy was wearing a undershirt emblazoned with the game’s name.
“He had mentioned the video game, which I believe he tried to recreate today,” the governor said.
The website for Natural Selection 2 bills it as “an immersive, multiplayer shooter that pits aliens against humans in a strategic and action-packed struggle for survival.”
Unknown Worlds Entertainment, which manufacture the game, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Anxious relatives arrived at the school to pick up students after the incident, news footage from affiliate TV Azteca showed.
The shooting occurred at the Cervantes de Torreón School in the industrial city of Torreón, the city’s mayor, Jorge Zermeño Infante, told reporters.
Preliminary reports were that the student entered the school and fired at a teacher before apparently shooting himself, the mayor said.
Four of the wounded were taken to a nearby hospital, he said. Their condition was unknown.
The school, in a Facebook post, said a teacher and a student died in the shooting. Additionally, five students and a teacher were wounded, the post said.
“We never would have imagined that a situation like this could occur in our society,” the post said, adding that school officials were cooperating with the authorities.
The private school serves students from kindergarten through high school, according to its website. Enrollment was more than 1,900 students in 2016, the site states.
via: https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/2-dead-6-wounded-northern-171435117.html
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Las Vegas man accused of planning high school attack sentenced to boot camp
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A Las Vegas man accused of planning a shooting at a local high school at the beginning of the school year was sentenced to boot camp Wednesday.
Cody Pomeroy, 18, was ordered to attend boot camp Jan. 8 after he allegedly planned to “shoot up” Desert Oasis High School with a current student, court documents show.
According to his arrest report, Pomeroy was working at a McDonald’s on Aug. 16, 2019 on the 6900 block of Blue Diamond Road, and spoke to the assistant manager about how he and a current student at Desert Oasis planned a school shooting.
Police also found components of an explosive device in Pomeroy’s home, the report said.
The student Pomeroy made plans with was also an employee of the McDonald’s. According to the arrest report, Pomeroy graduated from Desert Oasis in 2018.
Pomeroy was arrested on Aug. 20, 2019. Once he completes boot camp, Pomeroy was set to appear in court again Aug. 31, 2020.
Photo Credit: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
Oregon woman sues church for reporting her husband’s sex abuse confession to the police
(CNN) — An Oregon woman whose husband is in prison for sexually abusing a child is suing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for reporting his confession to state authorities.
In the lawsuit, Kristine Johnson said her husband confessed his sexual abuse to clergy as required by church rules. That confession was passed along to state authorities, forming the basis of their investigation, she says.
She filed the lawsuit in Marion County Circuit Court last week and seeks $9.5 million for loss of income, emotional distress and her family’s loss of her husband’s companionship. The lawsuit, which argues the church went against its own policy that considers confessions confidential, also seeks an additional $40,000 for his criminal defense.
Couple followed church rules, wife says
In 2016, the lawsuit states, plaintiff Kristine Johnson learned that her husband, Timothy Johnson, had engaged in inappropriate conduct with an underage girl.
“In response to that, plaintiff Kristine Johnson and Timothy Johnson followed the rules and scriptures of the church, which … requires and admonish church members to ‘confess their sins unto the brethren before the Lord,'” the lawsuit says.
But the church failed to advise the couple that if he followed the guidance and confessed his sins, it would report him to state authorities. The church should have warned her husband that his confession would not stay private, the lawsuit says.
Timothy Samuel Johnson, 47, was arrested in 2017 and is serving 15 years in prison in Pendleton, Oregon, for abusing an underage girl, according to the state Department of Corrections.
Church stands by its decision
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints said it considers protecting victims a top priority, and has a 24-hour help line to report abuse.
“The church teaches that leaders and members should fulfill all legal obligations to report abuse to civil authorities,” church spokesman Eric Hawkins said in a statement.
Oregon is one of 28 states that considers clergy among professionals mandated by law to report known or suspected instances of child abuse or neglect. But that law makes some exceptions, and statutes in some states specify circumstances under which a communication is “privileged” or allowed to remain confidential.
Christine Bartholomew, an associate professor at the University at Buffalo School of Law, told The Oregonian that the lawsuit could have dire consequences.
“If successful, this litigation would push courts and these religious organizations toward less transparency than more,” Bartholomew said. “And you have to wonder if that would create the environment where abuse can really fester.”
Photo Credit: kmov.com