Woman allegedly bashed cop’s head into ‘concrete’ for asking her about mask
An Australian woman allegedly bashed a cop’s head into the ground after being stopped for not wearing a mask — and police believe she’s part of a growing trend of “sovereign citizens,” according to a report.
Two female police officers approached the maskless woman, 38, Monday night in Frankston, a suburb of Melbourne, to question her about why she wasn’t wearing the face covering, ABC.net reported.
The woman allegedly flew into a rage, striking one officer in the head and shoving the other.
“After a confrontation and being assaulted by that woman, those police officers went to ground and there was a scuffle,” said Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton. “During that scuffle, this 38-year-old woman smashed the head of the [26-year-old] policewoman several times into a concrete area on the ground.”
The injured cop was taken to the hospital with “significant head injuries.” She suffered a concussion and lost a chunk of her hair.
Police believe the alleged assault is part of a trend of “sovereign citizens” who refuse to comply with coronavirus rules, including wearing a mask — then “bait” cops into confrontations.
“This was a particularly violent occurrence but our members have been stood up by smartarses around the state for five minutes of fame in front of a camera,” said Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt.
The alleged attacker was charged with nine counts, including assault of an emergency worker and one count of recklessly causing injury. She has no criminal history.
On Monday, officials in Victoria, the country’s second-most populous state, rolled out strict COVID-19 restrictions and penalties, including a $3,300 fine for scofflaws who don’t abide by the stay-at-home order.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/08/04/woman-allegedly-bashed-cops-head-after-being-stopped-over-mask/
Photo Credit: The Police Association Victoria
Video shows Florida ‘Karen’ use racial slur against landscapers in tirade – “You f–king n—-r b—h.”
A Florida woman was recorded repeatedly calling landscapers the N-word in a caught-on-camera tirade.
Footage posted to Instagram showed the unidentified, blond woman — who social media users have dubbed a “Karen” — shouting along a residential street in Orlando on Sunday at a crew of landscapers, saying “You f–king n—-r b—h.”
“Here’s the type of s–t we go through, man,” one of the landscapers says to the camera, as the woman stands on nearby on a sidewalk shouting at them.
She then comes closer to the landscapers, prompting one of them to call to the neighbors, “Hey, can you get this lady?”
“Yeah you f–king n—-r b—h,” the woman shouts before others nearby attempt to intervene.
“Have a good day!” one of the landscapers said to her before they got into their vehicle.
It’s unclear what prompted the altercation.
A second video posted to social media shows at least four Orlando police officers approach the woman as she screams obscenities at them.
“Oh, yeah!? F–king arrest me, motherf—ker!” she yells as one of the officers grabs her and places her arms behind her back.
F–k you!” she adds.
The woman was not arrested, but taken to a medical facility for a mental evaluation, a spokeswoman for the Orlando Police Department said Tuesday.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/08/04/florida-karen-uses-racial-slur-against-landscapers-video/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
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Florida man fatally shoots Burger King worker over drive-thru delay
A Florida man fatally shot an Orlando Burger King worker Saturday night after his friend’s drive-thru order took too long to complete, according to a report.
Kelvis Rodriguez-Tormes, 37, is accused of gunning down Desmond Joshua, 22, in the parking lot of the fast-food restaurant on East Colonial Drive about 7:30 p.m., according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
“You got two seconds before I shoot you,” Rodriguez-Tormes told the victim, who had only been recently hired, before pulling the trigger, WKMG reported, citing deputies.
Rodriguez-Tormes had earlier stormed to the Burger King at the behest of a woman who made a scene over a long wait time at the drive-thru.
The unidentified woman was refunded $40 and told to leave after she got out of her car and screamed she was going to get “her man” to come to the eatery, according to an arrest record.
She drove away, but soon returned with Rodriguez-Tormes, who targeted Joshua, demanding the employee fight him.
Rodriguez-Tormes placed Joshua in a headlock before a witness separated the two, records show.
But moments later, Rodriguez-Tormes returned from his truck with a gun and shot Joshua, police said.
The employee was taken to an area hospital and pronounced dead.
Rodriguez-Tormes was charged with murder, destruction of evidence and weapons possession.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/08/03/florida-man-fatally-shoots-burger-king-worker-over-drive-thru-delay/
Photo Credit: Orange County Sheriff’s Office
Plane so stuffed with cocaine it crashed during take-off
A small plane stuffed with $80 million in cocaine crashed en-route to Australia — possibly because it was laden with drugs to fly, police said.
The drugs were allegedly found packed on the aircraft after it crashed upon takeoff in Papua New Guinea last week, Australian network 9News reported.
Five members of a Melbourne-based crime syndicate were arrested on Monday, shortly after the plane was dispatched from the Aussie state of Queensland to nearby Papua New Guinea to collect the drugs, cops said.
The craft crashed later that day between 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. while allegedly attempting to fly 500 kilograms of coke out of a remote air-strip on the island nation.
“The Australian Federal Police (AFP) alleges greed played a significant part in the [crime] syndicate’s activities and cannot rule out that the weight of the cocaine had an impact on the plane’s ability to take off,” a police statement read.
Papua New Guinea authorities discovered the downed Cessna 402C plane empty shortly after the crash. Sniffer dogs identified trace amounts of cocaine at the scene, which led cops to the contraband after a four day search.
No one was found in the partially burned wreckage, according to Sky News.
The pilot turned himself in to the Australian consulate in Papua New Guinea on Tuesday and was charged with immigration offenses.
A truck had allegedly been waiting for the plane in Queensland, with plans to transport the drugs south.
The alleged Aussie co-conspirators had been under police surveillance for two years, according to ABC News.
The five men arrested in Australia — ages 31, 31, 33, 33 and 61 — have ties to the Italian mafia, police said. They face life in prison for their role in the alleged scheme.
“These arrests send a clear message that PNG will not tolerate transnational crime syndicates using our nation as a transit point for illicit commodities intended for Australia,” said David Manning, Papua New Guinea’s police chief.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/08/02/plane-so-stuffed-with-cocaine-it-crashed-during-take-off/
Photo Credit: EPA/AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE HANDOUT
Florida man buys Porsche with fake check printed from home computer
A man in Florida reportedly purchased a brand new Porsche with a check he printed on a home computer — and then decided to splurge on some watches.
Casey William Kelley, 42, cashed in the nearly $140,000 check at a local car dealership on Tuesday but was taken into custody one day later when he attempted to buy several Rolex watches at a jeweler in Miramar Beach with more bogus checks, according to the Palm Beach Post.
He was subsequently arrested for grand theft of a motor vehicle and uttering a false bank note.
After selling the car, a Porsche 911 Turbo, the dealership unsuccessfully tried to cash Kelley’s check and then reported the vehicle as stolen.
The jeweler, however, opted to keep both the check and the watches until the money cleared.
When the check came back as false, the cashier reported the crime to police — though Kelley was already in custody.
He later admitted to authorities that he had printed the checks at home, police said.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/08/03/florida-man-buys-porsche-with-fake-check-printed-from-home-computer/
Photo Credit: Walton County Sheriff’s Office
Teachers bring coffins, guillotine while protesting NYC schools reopening plan
Teachers brought along visual aids, including handmade coffins and a guillotine, while protesting Mayor Bill de Blasio’s schools reopening plan in Lower Manhattan on Monday afternoon.
About 200 protesters — many of them educators, parents and students — marched from the United Federation of Teachers Headquarters to the NYC Department of Education offices near Foley Square.
“We demand safe schools,” they chanted.
The crafty group lugged a DIY yellow guillotine, with “DOE” painted on the blade and “US” written where the head would go.
They also carried at least two boxes designed to look like coffins, with black cloth draped over them, and three handmade body bags.
“Children cannot focus on schoolwork if their family members or teachers are in the hospital or dying,” said Frankie Cook, a kindergarten teacher at PS 261 in Brooklyn.
“Children cannot learn if they’re dead.”
The protesters were up in arms about the mayor’s plan for a partial reopening of the country’s biggest school system amid the coronavirus pandemic, asserting that the current model does not go far enough in terms of safety or logistical specificity.
“Hey-hey, ho-ho, Bill de Blasio has got to go!,” the group roared.
Under Hizzoner’s plan, “Schools will be like prisons,” said Cook, adding “Teachers’ main focus will be on enforcing health and safety because one slip could cause someone their lives.”
Anthony Bautista-Ramil, another Brooklyn educator whose colleague, Kimarlee Nguyen, died of COVID-19 in May, added that “The plan does not prioritize safety.”
The mayor has vowed to reopen schools in September as long as city coronavirus infection rates remain below 3 percent and City Hall has rolled out broad safety protocols for the upcoming year.
City Hall’s model will encourage, but not require, teachers to get tested just before the September start of the school year and will provide expedited testing and results for them at 34 centers.
But the United Federation of Teachers has pushed back and called for more stringent safety measures, including mandatory random testing throughout the year to guard against exposures.
The mayor defended the plan on Monday, claiming that: “It’s all about health and safety first.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/08/03/teachers-get-creative-while-protesting-nyc-schools-reopening-plan/
Photo Credit: nypost.com/Dan Herrick
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Georgia camp hit with coronavirus outbreak didn’t require masks
Test results were available for 344 people and 260 of them — about three-quarters — were positive.
A Georgia overnight camp hit by a coronavirus outbreak took many precautions but didn’t make campers wear masks or have proper ventilation in buildings, according to a government report released Friday.
The camp followed disinfecting rules and required staff to wear masks, but campers didn’t have to wear face coverings. Health officials said “relatively large” groups of kids slept in the same cabin where they regularly sang and cheered, likely leading to spread.
Nearly 600 people were at the overnight camp, which was not named in the report by Georgia health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Media outlets reported a large outbreak occurred at the time at a YMCA camp at Lake Burton in Rabun County, near the state’s northern border with North Carolina.
Campers ranged in age from 6 to 19, and many of the staffers were teenagers. Cabins had between 16 to 26 people. The report said this was “relatively large” but doesn’t clearly say if it was too many. Health investigators did fault the camp for not opening enough windows and doors to increase circulation in buildings.
The report said a teenage staff member developed chills on the evening of June 22 and left the camp the following day.
The camp began sending campers home two days later when the staffer got a positive test result for coronavirus. The camp notified state health officials and closed the camp on June 27.
Test results were available for 344 people and 260 of them – about three-quarters – were positive.
The percentage of campers infected was higher among younger kids than older kids, the report found. It also was higher in kids who were at the camp for longer periods of time.
Officials recorded information about symptoms for only 136 kids. Of those, 100 reported symptoms – mostly fever, headache and sore throat.
Inslee requests federal funding for National Guard through end of year to help with COVID response
OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee has asked the federal government to continue paying for the use of National Guard soldiers through the end of the year to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
Inslee’s request Monday comes as cases of coronavirus have begun to climb across Washington and hospitalizations involving the virus have also started creeping back up.
The governor’s request, made in a letter to the U.S. Department of Defense, seeks an extension through Dec. 31 of federal funding currently paying for the more than 1,000 guard members assisting with various parts of the COVID-19 outbreak response.
“They are critical to our efforts to slow the spread of the virus by supporting COVID-mapping missions, assembling test kits, and operating community-based test sites,” Inslee wrote in the letter.
“Additionally, uniquely skilled National Guard planners are assisting my COVID-19 food security team and other state agencies to ensure that we meet the health and welfare needs of Washingtonians through our phased re-opening plan,” Inslee added.
The current federal funding is set to expire Aug. 21, according to Inslee spokeswoman Tara Lee.
Even without federal reauthorization, the state could still deploy Guard members at the request of local governments, Lee wrote in an email.
“However, they’d need to be on State Active Duty and the cost burden would shift to the state and local level,” she wrote.
Guard members have been a part of Washington’s pandemic response since early April.
At that time, 130 members deployed to help staff food banks in King, Pierce, Chelan, Franklin and Walla Walla counties. In Issaquah, for example, Guard members unloaded deliveries, repackaged food and then staged 44-pound boxes so food supplies were ready for distribution.
The state has also trained more than 720 National Guard members to help with contact tracing, also known as COVID mapping. Those members call people who have tested positive for the virus, to learn who they have been in close contact with.
Then, in an effort to halt the spread of the virus, contact tracers call those people and encourage them to get tested and to quarantine for two weeks.
In her email, Lee wrote that some food banks are now able to have volunteers return, which could cut down on the need for Guard members in that role.
But, “we anticipate more will be needed to conduct the covid mapping mission,” Lee wrote, and, “Test kit assembly and the operation of community based test sites will be an ongoing need.”
Also on Monday, Inslee participated in a call between governors and members of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response efforts, including Vice President Mike Pence. The call came after Trump on Saturday appeared in public for the first time wearing a mask.
On the call, Inslee told Pence that he appreciated that the president wore a mask, according to an account of the call provided by Inslee’s office.
Pence responded by saying that the administration would keep using masks whenever possible, according to the account, and that he would be wearing a mask when he disembarked on Tuesday from Air Force Two during a schedule stop in Louisiana.
Original Article here???? https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/inslee-requests-federal-funding-for-national-guard-through-end-of-year-to-help-with-covid-response/