Tiger King’ star Joe Exotic seeking pardon from President Trump
“Tiger King” star Joe Exotic reportedly applied to seek a pardon from President Donald Trump.
According to TMZ, Exotic’s legal team will hand-deliver the 257-page application to the White House on Thursday.
A handwritten letter from Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was also included in the application, CBS News reported.
According to CBS News, Exotic called Trump his hero and asked that he listen to his son Donald Jr.
Exotic is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for plotting to kill Florida animal sanctuary owner Carole Baskin.
Photo Credit: Sue Ogrocki/AP
Uber driver chokes, sexually assaults woman who was trying to get out of his vehicle
An Uber driver was arrested after allegedly choking and sexually assaulting a woman as she was trying to get out of his vehicle during a ride early Wednesday, Santa Ana police said.
The incident occurred about 4 a.m., when the 51-year-old victim requested an Uber ride to get to work.
The driver, later identified as 30-year-old Jason Rodas, at one point canceled the ride and told the victim it would be free, police said in a news release.
Rodas then allegedly asked the victim questions about her sex life, before she became frightened and demanded he take her to work.
Rodas allegedly threatened to throw the victim out of the vehicle if she alerted authorities, police said.
The suspect didn’t stop the ride and drove erratically until getting to the 300 block of South Minnie Street. That’s when the victim jumped out of the vehicle in an attempt to escape, but Rodas “quickly caught her,” police said.
Rodas then allegedly placed the woman in a choke hold, strangled her and sexually assaulted her.
It is unclear how the victim got away, but Rodas was arrested hours later based on evidence at the scene, police said.
Detectives also served a search warrant at Rodas’ Garden Grove home.
He was booked on suspicion of several sexual assault charges, including kidnapping to commit rape, and is being held on $1 million bail.
“Santa Ana Police Department Detectives believe Rodas may have committed other crimes due to his actions,” officials said.
Anyone with additional information about Rodas or the alleged crimes can contact Detective Julio Gallardo at 714-245-8378 or [email protected], or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS.
Photo Credit: Santa Ana Police Department
Honolulu woman falls short of grocery bill by a penny, and no one in line could help her
A sign of the times — Honolulu resident Vee Hoffman said no one standing in line behind her at the grocery store could help pay the remainder of her grocery bill, which was only a penny.
“We’re in a time where a penny goes a long way,” Hoffman said.
While checking out at a grocery store, Hoffman said she was charged 47 cents for three bags to hold her groceries, and she thought she had enough money in her bank account to cover the cost.
“I did not. It just pulled out 37 cents, and I had only nine pennies on me, and was a penny short,” Hoffman recalled.
Hoffman said the cashier did not allow her to leave the store without paying the last penny, so she asked the other shoppers in line if they could spare one, but no one could help her.
“Not a lot of us have cash these days and it really showed that day,” Hoffman added.
The store manager then walked by, and decided to write off the remainder of the bill.
“We’re in times where it brings out certain sides of us, but it’s up to us to choose what we want to do with our opportunities and choices,” Hoffman said.
“We really try to hang on to that aloha spirit, but it’s really hard when you’re in the dark.”
Hoffman said that’s how she has felt for the past few months as she battles depression. She was working as a bartender in Waikiki before getting laid off in March.
Since then, she has been trying to secure a new job, and even applied to positions on the mainland, but has not had any luck. She also said she’s been collecting unemployment insurance, but it’s not enough to cover her rent alone.
“I juggle each month, which bill I’m going to pay, which one can I afford to pay, and it’s just a never ending nightmare,” Hoffman said.
Her message to lawmakers — listen to those in need.
“It’s really frustrating to be living in one of the most expensive places in the world, and having to go through this when we shouldn’t have to,” Hoffman said.
Photo Credit: cbs46.com
High school student suspended for going to class on a remote-learning day
A Long Island high school senior is reportedly facing a five-day suspension after he ignored protocol by showing up to class Tuesday when he was scheduled to learn remotely.
“I was going to school like students should be going to school,” Maverick Stow, 17-year-old student at William Floyd High School explained to WABC of why he attended in-person classes on the first day of school.
“I think that a five-day suspension is out of line,” Stow, who has the support of parents, told the outlet.
Stow said trouble first arose when his first-period teacher noticed he wasn’t on Tuesday’s in-person roster.
The teacher sent Stow to the principal’s office and he was asked to report home.
“‘Well, no, I think I need to go to class. This is during class time,’” Stow said he responded to administrators.
Instead of following their orders, Stow said he finished the day learning in class before being notified of the disciplinary action.
His mother, Nora Kaplan-Stow, agreed with her son’s decision.
“Kids need to be in school every day. Virtual learning is not learning,” she told WABC. “My son is being suspended because he wants to be in school.”
Added the student’s father, Richard Stow: “He’s a very smart kid. He knows what he’s doing. When he said this is how he wanted to handle things, we were like, ‘Then go for it.’”
A spokesman for the school district, James Montalto, said in a statement that for the school to comply with state-mandated social distancing measures, students must abide by their hybrid schedules.
“Students who refuse to adhere to their scheduled in-person days and/or flagrantly disregard directives to leave school grounds and cause a disruptive environment for other students, will face disciplinary actions,” Montalto said.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/09/08/student-suspended-for-going-to-class-on-remote-learning-day/
Photo Credit: ABC7
Los Angeles bans Halloween trick-or-treating due to COVID-19 risk
Traditional Halloween activities like trick-or-treating, parties, festivals and haunted houses won’t be permitted throughout Los Angeles this fall due to the risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19, health officials announced.
“Door to door trick or treating is not allowed because it can be very difficult to maintain proper social distancing on porches and at front doors especially in neighborhoods that are popular with trick or treaters,” the new guidance reads.
Also banned this year is so-called “trunk or treating,” where children get candy and other treats from cars instead of doorsteps, as well as gatherings or parties with non-household members and live entertainment like haunted house attractions, county officials said.
“Since some of the traditional ways in which this holiday is celebrated does not allow you to minimize contact with non-household members, it is important to plan early and identify safer alternatives,” county health officials said in a statement.
To that end, those who wish to celebrate Halloween amid the pandemic with safer alternatives can host or attend online get-togethers, costume contests or pumpkin carving parties.
Revelers can also take part in drive-by costume contests with judges maintaining proper social distance, decorate their homes or yards or participate in drive-by events with treat bags – although any candy doled out should be commercially packaged, county health officials said.
Other options include Halloween movie nights at participating drive-in theaters and themed meals at outdoor restaurants, where health protocols of face masks and at least 6 feet of distance from others must be followed.
The longtime owner of a costume store on Hollywood Boulevard, meanwhile, said he believes people throughout Los Angeles can still celebrate the holiday safely.
“People decorate their house, backyard … and [on] Hollywood Boulevard, it’s always Halloween,” Ron Moazzez told CBS Los Angeles. “There doesn’t need to be a private party.”
One woman told the station she expects Halloween to be a day for people who have been confined by the pandemic to let loose.
“Just because people have been kind of stir crazy, pent up at home [with] not much to do, so I would think it would be big release of fun for everybody and hopefully that’s what it is,” Alison Isbell told CBS Los Angeles.
A total of 249,241 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed as of Tuesday in Los Angeles County, where 6,036 people have died from the virus, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Ninety-two percent of the victims who succumbed to COVID-19 had underlying health conditions, officials said.
“L.A. County is still among the California counties with high rates of community transmission,” Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “Before we get into cooler weather and flu season, we need to significantly lower the number of new cases. This is the only path forward that allows us to get more students back to school and reopen more business sectors.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/09/09/los-angeles-bans-halloween-trick-or-treating-due-to-covid-19/
Photo Credit: nypost.com/Alamy Stock Photo
Trump nominated for Nobel Peace Prize noting that his predecessor, Barack Obama, had won it
President Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for helping broker a peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, according to a report.
Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a member of the Norwegian Parliament and chairman of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, submitted the nomination, Fox News reported.
“For his merit, I think he has done more trying to create peace between nations than most other Peace Prize nominees,” Tybring-Gjedde told Fox News.
In his letter to the Nobel Committee, Tybring-Gjedde wrote that the Trump administration has played a key role in the establishment of relations between the two nations.
“As it is expected other Middle Eastern countries will follow in the footsteps of the UAE, this agreement could be a game-changer that will turn the Middle East into a region of cooperation and prosperity,” he wrote, Fox News reported.
Tybring-Gjedde also cited Trump’s “key role in facilitating contact between conflicting parties and … creating new dynamics in other protracted conflicts, such as the Kashmir border dispute between India and Pakistan, and the conflict between North and South Korea, as well as dealing with the nuclear capabilities of North Korea.”
And he lauded the president for withdrawing a large number of forces from the Middle East.
“Indeed, Trump has broken a 39-year-old streak of American Presidents either starting a war or bringing the United States into an international armed conflict. The last president to avoid doing so was Peace Prize laureate Jimmy Carter,” he wrote.
The president last month made the announcement of the historic peace agreement that would pave the way for full normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE.
With the agreement, the UAE becomes the third Arab country, after Egypt and Jordan, to have full diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who is married to first daughter Ivanka Trump, helped orchestrate the deal.
Since the deal was made public, Israel signaled that it is willing to explore business opportunities with the UAE, specifically in the areas of commercial space and high tech.
Trump allies have previously suggested the possibility of a Nobel in response to his negotiations with North Korea.
The president also has grumbled about the prize, noting that his predecessor, Barack Obama, had won it.
“They gave it to Obama. He didn’t even know what he got it for. He was there for about 15 seconds and he got the Nobel Prize. He said, ‘Oh, what did I get it for?’” Trump said in February 2019. “With me, I probably will never get it.”
Tybring-Gjedde also submitted a Nobel nomination for Trump along with another Norwegian official in 2018 after the president’s Singapore summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize after receiving a request from the US government to do so, according to reports.
According to the official Nobel website, there were 318 candidates for the 2020 Peace Prize. The winner of the prize for 2021 will not be announced until October of next year.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/09/09/trump-nominated-for-nobel-peace-prize-by-norwegian-official/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Indiana father battling cancer kills wife, kids in triple murder-suicide
An Indiana father battling cancer killed his wife and two kids in an apparent murder-suicide, according to police.
Jeffrey Mumper, 61, fatally shot his wife, Annamarie, 54, daughter Emma, 26, and son Jakob, 18, before turning the gun on himself early Sunday in Bloomington, news station WXIN reported.
Police said a woman went to the home Sunday to pick up a friend but no one answered the door.
She entered with a key and she found her friend, who appeared to be dead, then called 911, authorities said.
Police said evidence at the scene indicated that Jeffrey shot his family before taking his own life.
No motive was released in the slaying.
Friends said that Jeffrey had survived a bout of prostate cancer, but was now fighting pancreatic cancer, news station WTHR reported.
Emma was a graduate student at Stony Brook University in New York, while her younger brother was a star swimmer at Bloomington North High School, the outlet reported.
Shocked pals stopped by the home in the aftermath of the shooting to pay their respects, the outlet reported.
“I felt they were like my second parents, to be honest,” said one friend, who identified himself as Joe T. “I loved his dad. I loved his mom.”
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Utah police repeatedly shoot autistic teen after his mom called 911 for help
A 13-year-old Utah boy with autism is recovering in the hospital after police responding to his mom’s 911 call for help repeatedly shot the teen.
Linden Cameron, who has Asperger syndrome, was left in serious condition with injuries to his intestines, bladder, shoulder and ankles from the shooting Friday in Glendale, news station KUTV reported.
“He’s a small child. Why didn’t you just tackle him?” Golda Barton told the outlet. “He’s a baby. He has mental issues.”
Barton said she called 911 on Friday for help with her son, who was experiencing a mental breakdown at their home.
When officers responded, she told them that Linden was unarmed and that he needed to be hospitalized.
“I said, ‘He’s unarmed, he doesn’t have anything, he just gets mad and he starts yelling and screaming,’” she said.
Police told her to stay outside while they went into the house, but minutes later, she heard the officers order Linden to “get down on the ground” and a round of gunfire.
Salt Lake City police Sgt. Keith Horrocks said Friday the officers feared that the teen might have a weapon.
Cameron had attempted to flee the house on foot, then one of the officers shot him, Horrocks said.
“Our investigators obviously will be looking at body-camera footage,” he told reporters.
His mother said her son was handcuffed and officers were unable to tell her whether he was alive.
“Why didn’t they tase him? Why didn’t they shoot him with a rubber bullet?” Barton told KUTV. “You are big police officers with massive amounts of resources. Come on. Give me a break.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/09/08/police-shoot-autistic-teen-after-his-mom-called-911-for-help/
Photo Credit: GoFundMe
Feds say Oklahoma man sexually assaulted baby, posted video online
Authorities in Oklahoma are searching for a man they claim filmed himself sexually assaulting a baby and distributed the clip online.
Brice Gage Watkins allegedly committed the horrific crime against a six-month-old before sending the clip around on social media, according to the Oklahoma City Police Department.
The department on Tuesday asked for the public’s help tracking Watkins down.
U.S. Marshals and the Enid Police Department are involved in the search. They believe Watkins to be in the Oklahoma City area. He also has ties to the towns of Norman and Enid, police said.
Watkins, 22, is facing a charge for distribution of child pornography, according to KFOR-TV.
Enid police announced Watkins’ capture back in August, only to clarify later that they had the wrong man, the station reported.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/09/08/oklahoma-man-sexually-assaulted-baby-posted-video-online-feds/
Photo Credit: Oklahoma City Police Department
Taco Bell ‘Karen’ goes ballistic on employees over burrito order – yelling “I’m gonna f–k you up n—-r to a non black worker
A “Karen’’ went ballistic over her burrito order at a Taco Bell in Missouri, calling workers the n-word — and threatening them while claiming to be “Charles Manson’s daughter,’’ according to reports.
The woman was caught on cellphone video claiming she’d been overcharged for her “three burritos and two tacos’’ — and launching into a violent, profanity-filled, now-viral tirade as the fast-food joint’s employees tried to calmly explain her bill was correct, shows video posted to Reddit.
“I’m gonna f- -k you up, n—-r,’’ she told one worker, who is apparently not black.
“Not good enough for a real job?” the white woman sneered, while a young boy, who was not with her, is seen at one point nervously sitting at a table in the foreground.
The out-of-control customer then grabs things off the counter and chucks them on the floor and at the workers before stalking off, threatening, “You’re going down, son of a bitch, personally. You f–ked with the wrong motherf—-r.
“I’m Charlie f–king Manson’s daughter,’’ she said — referring to the late infamous hippie psychopath behind the slaughter of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in the Hollywood Hills in August 1969.
A worker quipped on the side, “That explains a lot.’’
Manson is not known to have had a daughter.
It wasn’t clear when the footage, which was picked up by several online outlets, was taken. It was posted to Reddit on Monday, and the website Scallywag and Vagabond said the incident occurred in Bolivar, north of Springfield.
“Karen” is an online term for a typically middle-aged white woman who acts privileged and overreacts to something she deems offensive.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/09/08/taco-bell-karen-goes-ballistic-on-employees-over-burrito-order/
Photo Credit: Jam Press