An 84-year-old Staten Island woman got an unwanted Mother’s Day surprise when a speeding driver launched his BMW 330i into her home’s sunroom early Sunday, cops said.

The unidentified man drove the silver Beemer into the woman’s house at 6000 Amboy Road around 2:30 a.m., cops said.

“I was getting back into bed after getting up to go to the bathroom,” said homeowner Beatrice Rocle. “I heard Ba-rooom! I thought the boiler burst. I opened the door and saw the car on my porch. At least nobody got killed.”

A neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous, said the driver was speeding and jumped a curb before plowing into Rocle’s house.

“He was doing at least 50 mph!” the neighbor said. “He didn’t even slow down, he was flying! He was coming straight down Clearmont Avenue and he flew through the intersection right into the house.”

The neighbor said the man was driving so fast “he hit the curb and went airborne into the house.”

The man then sat in his car honking the horn before he jumped out spewing nonsense and tried to run away. At one point, his pants fell down and he ran into a fence, the neighbor said.

The man was taken to Staten Island University Hospital North with minor injuries. Charges were pending, cops said.

via: https://nypost.com/2020/05/10/man-drives-bmw-into-womans-house-on-mothers-day/

Photo Credit: nypost.com

Rats have been infecting humans in Hong Kong with a new strain of hepatitis, leaving scientists baffled about how exactly the virus was being transmitted from the rodents, according to a report.

There have been at least 11 patients, including one as recently as April 30, who have been found to have the rat strain of hepatitis E, CNN reported.

“What we know is the rats in Hong Kong carry the virus, and we test the humans and find the virus. But how exactly it jumps between them — whether the rats contaminate our food, or there’s another animal involved, we don’t know,” said Dr. Siddharth Sridhar, a microbiologist from the University of Hong Kong.

In the most recent case, the 61-year-old patient had no rats or rat excrement in his home, no one else in his household experienced symptoms, and he has no recent travel history, according to a report.

“Based on the available epidemiological information, the source and the route of infection could not be determined,” said Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP) in a statement, the outlet reported.

The illness, which can also cause fever, jaundice, and long-term liver damage, can be dangerous for vulnerable patients.

“This should not be happening,” Sridhar told the outlet. “We need ongoing vigilance in the public to control this unusual infection. I really hope that public health authorities take the first step and look at how much their populations are actually being exposed to rat hepatitis E.”

via: https://nypost.com/2020/05/10/rats-are-mysteriously-infecting-humans-with-hepatitis-in-hong-kong/

Photo Credit: nypost.com

As coronavirus restrictions begin to ease, people and their trash have been inundating Brevard’s beaches. 

Over 13,000 pounds of trash picked up at Cocoa Beach last weekend – less than a month after it reopened on April 21. As a result, officials are cracking down on littering, increasing fines and enforcement. 

Littering in Cocoa Beach can now fetch offenders a $250 fine. 

“As restrictions are becoming more relaxed during this pandemic, the City of Cocoa Beach is beginning to see an influx of day-trippers to our beaches, along with piles of unlawfully discarded trash in their wake,” Cocoa Beach Police Department wrote in a notice.

“This will not be tolerated.”

ccording to Cocoa Beach police, officers must witness a littering offense first hand to issue a citation. Anyone who wants to report littering is still encouraged to call police at 321-868-3251. 

“Our community works very hard to be stewards of environmental sustainability. If I need to reallocate critical resources during our peak season to combat litterers, we are no longer asking our visitors to comply with our litter laws, we expect it, and there will be consequences for offenders,” said Chief Scott Rosenfeld in a statement. 

Keep Brevard Beautiful, a volunteer organization that organizes trash pickups around the county, has recorded a large increase in trash on the beaches compared to other years. 

According to KBB deputy director Bryan Bobbitt, last weekend saw a heavy influx of trash on the beaches.

Volunteers with Keep Brevard Beautiful picked up 33 bags of trash from Friday beachgoers, 122 bags for Saturday and 142 for Sunday. 

That overshadows an average of fewer than 10 bags for a given day while beach access was restricted due to coronavirus. 

“Normally there is an uptick but what we’ve seen this past weekend is way above normal,” Bobbitt said. “It’s equivalent to Fourth of July and Memorial Day weekend.”

“People need to understand if they leave trash on the ground a bird, fish or sea turtle could be killed by it. It’s not just a blight issue it’s an environmental issue all around,” he said. 

Bobbitt said people who want to be even more helpful can take their trash and recyclables with them to prevent bins on the beach from overflowing. 

“We encourage everyone to come and enjoy the beaches but pick up after yourself.”

via: https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/returning-beachgoers-left-13-000-235230679.html

Photo Credit: msn.com