Minneapolis eyeing outside police to help with violent crime, officer shortage
Officials in Minneapolis are considering bringing in police from other jurisdictions as the city faces a shortage of officers and a wave of violent crime, according to a report on Monday.
Officers from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and Metro Transit Police would form Joint Enforcement Teams and primarily respond to violent 911 calls, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
If the initial proposal is approved by the City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey this week, the teams would form on Sunday and run through the end of the year.
“We’re not gonna be having these people out taking bicycle theft reports. These are going to be people out combating crime issues,” said John Elder, a spokesman for Minneapolis police.
The proposal comes as an unusually large number of officers in Minneapolis have left the force following the death of George Floyd in the city on May 25, according to the paper.
Floyd died after an officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, which ignited a wave of protests and riots throughout the country this year.
After his death, the left-leaning City Council members pushed to disband the Minneapolis police department, as activists in other cities aimed to defund the police.
The unrest, in addition to the departures, has strained the department’s resources, and some officers have filed PTSD claims, according to the Star Tribune.
The city has also seen a wave of violent crime, with 74 homicides recorded this year.
The proposal to bring in outside officers will come before the council’s Policy & Government Oversight Committee on Tuesday, the paper reported. If it passes, a final vote will likely be held on Friday before it goes to Frey for approval.
The mayor supports the plan, according to his office. It’s estimated to cost just under $497,000.
Article via Fox News
Chicago woman snuck onto flight without ticket to see Jay-Z
A Chicago woman skirted several layers of security and somehow boarded a plane at O’Hare International Airport without a ticket, hoping to fly to Los Angeles to see rapper Jay-Z, prosecutors said.
Yaazmina Payton, 23, was arrested at the Chicago airport early Sunday after she was identified as the woman who “boarded an airplane without proper documentation,” police said in a statement.
Prosecutors told a judge Monday that Payton was caught ducking under ropes at a Terminal 3 boarding door near the ticket gate of an American Airlines flight destined for Los Angeles when someone alerted a ticket agent, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Payton — who couldn’t provide a ticket or a boarding pass for the flight — was arrested “without incident” and later charged with felony criminal trespass, police said.
After her arrest, Payton told investigators she pushed past a gate into a secure area at the airport when Transportation Security Administration officers were distracted, the Tribune reported.
Payton, of Chicago’s Marquette Park section, has PTSD and anxiety disorder, her court-appointed attorney told a judge during Monday’s hearing.
Assistant State’s Attorney Jocelyn Schieve told a judge that Payton also confessed to storming past another security checkpoint and claimed she was trying to get to Los Angeles to see Jay-Z.
A judge ordered Payton to be released on $500 bail. She was also banned from returning to O’Hare, the Tribune reported.
A TSA spokesman told The Post Tuesday that Payton had been “successfully screened” by its agents before she entered a secure area at O’Hare.
“The safety and security of all travelers are our top priority,” spokesman Sonny Lorrius said in a statement.
American Airlines reps at O’Hare requested police assistance for a “possible security issue” during the incident, a spokeswoman for American Airlines told The Post in a statement Tuesday.
“The flight departed to LAX after law enforcement searched and cleared the aircraft for departure,” according to the statement, which referred additional inquires to Chicago police.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/10/chicago-woman-snuck-onto-flight-without-ticket-to-see-jay-z-prosecutors/
Photo Credit: Chicago Police Department
California couple allegedly forced man to work without pay, sleep in closet
A California couple has been charged with human trafficking after an Indian man was found living in a storage room in their liquor store — where he worked 105-hour weeks for no pay, according to authorities.
Amarjit and Balwinder Mann, both 66, were busted when an Alcoholic Beverage Control inspector found the man in a back room at their store in Gilroy, with milk crates for a bed and a mop bucket for a bath, the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.
He told investigators he flew in from India in 2019 expecting to travel the US with the Manns. Instead, the couple took his money and passport and forced him to work every day for 15 hours without pay, while threatening him with deportation, the office said.
Three other men — two who worked at the liquor store and one who worked at the market across the street — also told agents they were forced to work marathon hours with hardly any pay, the office said.
Prosecutors estimate that the couple stole more than $150,000 in wages from the victims while running a profitable business.
“Slavery officially was abolished in 1865. Tragically, we are seeing examples of it in 2020,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said.
“My Office will prosecute anyone to the fullest extent of the law who practices this kind of criminal and inhumane exploitation.”
The Manns face possible prison time on charges of human trafficking, witness intimidation and wage theft, the DA’s office said.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/10/couple-allegedly-forced-man-to-work-without-pay-sleep-in-closet/
Photo Credit: Police Handout
School board president resigns over wife’s racist tweets about Kamala Harris – “All she needs to be qualified is a black p—y!”
A California school board president has resigned amid outrage over racist and sexist slurs his wife posted about Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Former Google executive Jon Venverloh resigned from the Las Lomitas Elementary School District in the San Francisco Bay Area on Sunday — while distancing himself from the “reprehensible views” his wife, Mehridith Philips Venverloh, had tweeted hours earlier.
In one disturbing post, she dismissed Harris’ place in history as both the first black vice president as well as the first female one.
“All she needs to be qualified is a black p—y! No brain needed!” Philips Venverloh wrote on her Twitter account, which has since been deleted.
Another post suggested that Harris had used sex to “whore” her way to her history-making position, with other posts also attacking the LGBTQ community.
One local mom, Brianna Caldwell, told KGO that it was like was “watching systemic racism happening, on display in my own children’s school in our backyard.”
“I almost vomited, then I cried a little bit and then I was just shaking and I was so angry,” Caldwell told the station.
Philips Venverloh’s husband resigned from the school board after a petition was signed by more than 100 people in just hours, according to the Mercury News.
“Given my wife’s social media posts, which expressed reprehensible views that I do not agree with, I know that my continued service would be a distraction from the work that needs to be done in the District over the two years remaining in my term,” Venverloh said in a statement.
Before deleting her account, Philips Venverloh apologized for her “vulgar” words that she said were written “in a moment of disappointment.”
“I am deeply sorry and ashamed,” she said and added that she has been taking medications for a “debilitating neurological disease” but had been weaning herself off them in preparation for a scheduled hospitalization.
“I believe that the change in medication reduced my judgment between right and wrong when I made the posts,” she said.
The trustees of the board — which includes a middle school in Menlo Park and an Atherton elementary school — condemned the “abhorrent … racially based and gender-based hatred” shared in the posts.
The statement said the egregiousness of Phillips Venverloh’s posts has “undermined Jon’s ability to serve effectively on our governance team.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/10/school-board-president-resigns-over-wifes-racist-tweets-about-kamala-harris/
Photo Credit: twitter
Steven Spielberg’s daughter Mikaela says doing porn is a ‘healing journey’
She’s a Marvin Gaye song come to life: Mikaela Spielberg is speaking out about appearing in porn, saying her work in the sex industry has been “healing” for her.
The 24-year-old adopted daughter of legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg, 73, and his actress wife Kate Capshaw, 66, made headlines in February when she was jailed for domestic abuse following a clash with then-fiancé and pro dart player Chuck Pankow, who is 27 years her senior.
The charges were later dropped after successfully completing court-ordered counseling sessions.
The news of her arrest came several days after the public learned that she had launched a career as an independent pornographer on the internet, producing solo videos of her erotic performances from her home in Nashville, Tennessee.
In a new interview with the Daily Beast, the adult webcam actress said her work has been “life-affirming.”
“I felt like had I not done the work I needed to do on myself, and on my relationships, I would have been dead within the year,” she said.
Spielberg has previously been open about her struggles with anxiety, depression, substance abuse and finding herself on the brink of homelessness. Reps for her iconic “E.T.” and “Schindler’s List” director dad have yet to respond to requests for comment.
However, earlier this year, she claimed her high-profile parents were “intrigued” by her new career path — and expressed hopes they would be proud of how she bounced back from a drinking problem that almost took her life “a couple of times” after she turned 21.
“I actually think that once they see how far I’ve come from the bottom I was at a year and a half ago, they’re going to look at this and go, ‘Wow, we actually raised a really self-assured young lady,’ ” she said in February. “My safety has always been a number one priority for them. I’m not doing this out of an urge to hurt anyone or to be spiteful.”
Eight months and one global COVID-19 pandemic later: “I’m in the middle of a healing journey,” Spielberg told The Daily Beast. “About two years ago, I was at my worst.”
The aspiring professional exotic dancer also talked about refining her work on adult content platform ManyVids, which she maintains is “online and dance-only” and “not full-service,” though she did not elaborate on what’s included in her partial service channel. (Full disclosure: Online fans report that it involves full nudity and various sex toys.)
“I’ve learned that I do not enjoy hardcore content personally,” she explained. “Whatever you decide to make is your decision, but I enjoy soft content and passion content.”
The biracial millennial also spoke to issues concerning the nation right now, particularly racism and human rights, adding that the “housing crisis needs to be tackled … speaking from personal experiences.”
Growing up with two white parents, she said, “Racial self-acceptance has been a huge part of my journey.” She later added, “I’ll put it this way: You could have all the love in the world and still be incredibly lonely. And that’s all I’m going to say about it out of respect for everyone I know.”
Spielberg also reflected on news coverage of her arrest in February in harrowing terms.
“I almost feel I can’t speak on the actual events because that would put my safety in jeopardy, but I can say that I feel I was made into this spooky media caricature of what we don’t want in society,” she said. “I felt almost like a racialist caricature of a Jew or a black woman in those moments, because I maintained my innocence that entire time. And that’s all I can say about it.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/09/steven-spielbergs-daughter-mikaela-making-porn-is-a-healing-journey/
Photo Credit: ManyVids
McDonald’s to launch ‘McPlant’ burgers next year
McDonald’s said Monday it will begin testing a new veggie burger next year called the “McPlant.”
The world’s biggest restaurant chain has “created a delicious burger that will be the first menu option in a plant-based platform,” said Ian Borden, president of McDonald’s International. The McPlant line also may eventually include plant-based chicken and breakfast sandwiches, he added.
McDonald’s said the McPlant is part of a new growth strategy. It also expects to launch a new Crispy Chicken Sandwich early next year, in part because sales of its Chicken McNuggets and McChicken Sandwich are exceeding sales of hamburgers.
But McDonald’s is playing catch-up with key rivals when it comes to plant-based meat. Last year, Burger King launched an Impossible Whopper from Impossible Foods, and White Castle launched an Impossible Slider in 2018. KFC, meanwhile, has been serving “Beyond Fried Chicken” in a partnership with Beyond Meat since last year.
“There are other plant-based burgers out there, but the McPlant delivers our iconic taste in a sink-your-teeth-in (and wipe-your-mouth) kind of sandwich,” the company said in a blog post according to USA Today. “It’s made with a juicy, plant-based patty and served on a warm sesame seed bun with all the classic toppings.”
The announcement took shares of Beyond Meat — which had tested burgers with McDonald’s last year — on a roller-coaster ride. Borden said during a Monday investor call that the McPlant will be created by “McDonald’s for McDonald’s,” sending Beyond Meat shares tumbling 8 percent.
Later in the afternoon, a Beyond Meat’s stock recovered after a spokesman said the company “co-created” the McPlant patty with McDonald’s, but it tanked again after-hours trades after Beyond Meat delivered disappointing earnings and a McDonald’s spokesman declined to confirm the partnership with Beyond Meat.
McDonald’s recent marketing programs with such celebrities as rapper, Travis Scott and Latin singer J Balvin have helped to boost sales in recent weeks as the restaurant giant ran out of some ingredients, including lettuce and beef, after the Travis Scott meal launched.
The new growth strategy comes as McDonald’s has been posting surprisingly strong financial results during the pandemic. Same store sales in the US in the most recent quarter rose by 4.6 percent and its profit was $1.8 billion up from $1.6 billion a year ago.
McDonald’s global revenues fell 2 percent to $5.4 billion as international markets, including Europe experience a second wave of Covid-19 shutdowns.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/09/mcdonalds-to-launch-mcplant-burgers-next-year/
Photo Credit: REUTERS
Woman named ‘Corona’ says she gets threats, abuse
2020 is not a great year to be named “Corona.”
A British woman named Corona Newton told the BBC that she’s received a number of threatening phone calls and can’t give her name at a restaurant without getting looks from staff amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“People have said to me ‘as if I’m going to listen to somebody named after a virus,’” Newton told the news outlet.
Newton, who lives in the COVID-19 hotspot of Oldham, near Manchester, added that last week when she was driving her daughter to the dentist a man called and screamed at her because of her name.
“He screamed down the phone at me ‘what does it feel like to f—k the world over?’” she said.
At a recent parent-teacher meeting at her school, a teacher thought Newton’s daughter was being inappropriate when she was just saying her mom’s name — not referring to the virus, she told the BBC.
Newton, a native of Ireland who was named after the midwife who delivered her, said she’s faced jokes her entire life — but most of it was related to the beer she shares a name with.
“People used to call me Guinness and Budweiser,” she told the BBC. “That I could always laugh off. But this is more frustrating, especially when it gets aggressive.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/09/woman-named-corona-says-she-gets-threats-abuse/
Photo Credit: facebook
Graphic video shows attacker stab man in the head in Harlem
A graphic new video shows a 40-year-old man being stabbed in the head several times on the streets of Harlem early Monday.
The surveillance footage, obtained by The Post, shows the knife-wielding attacker grabbing the victim by his blue sweatshirt with his left hand and swinging the knife with his right hand.
The attacker stabs the man at least eight times — twice in the face — before the victim runs off, the video shows.
The vicious assault unfolded just after 1 a.m. at the intersection of Second Avenue and East 108th Street, police said.
Cops arrested a 17-year-old shortly after following a trail of blood.
The teen was charged with attempted murder, possession of a weapon and robbery, cops said.
The 40-year-old man was taken to Harlem Hospital where he was listed as stable.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/09/graphic-video-shows-attacker-stab-man-in-the-head-in-harlem/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Protesters rally after Biden effigy found
(Meredith) — A community in Southern California is outraged over a homeowner’s front yard display.
On Wednesday, the homeowner hung a dummy with a black hood from a noose and had a sign that says ‘Sleepy Joe Cheater.’
Local police say that according to the D.A.’s office a crime was not committed but the department has forwarded the case to the Secret Service.
Black Lives Matter supporters showed up in protest the next day outside the man’s house.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/protesters-rally-after-biden-effigy-found/article_de9f2724-512f-52cc-a57d-764893ba4d84.html?block_id=991246
Photo Credit: kmov.com
Young entrepreneur overcomes troubled childhood, opens beauty salon and inspires others
SOUTH ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) – In less than a month, a local 19-year-old entrepreneur is taking the leap into the small business world, all while setting an example for young girls.
Kaniya Slusher, 19, opened Major Beauty House salon in Dogtown on Nov. 1. The salon focuses on eye brow tinting and eyelash extensions, and Slusher said she plans to expand services down the road.
“I’m happy it’s not going how I thought it would, because it’s even better,” she said.
Part of her motivation stems from a troubled upbringing, where she often lived in various places due to her parents’ substance abuse. After deciding she wanted more for herself, she found a love for eyebrow and eyelash work thanks to a family member. Soon after, the next step was figuring out what it took to open a business.
“I didn’t have that family push that people would automatically assume that I have,” she said. “But I think that’s okay, I did it on my own and I would encourage others to do the same. You don’t have to let your current circumstances define what you do or how you do it.”
In October, she leased a space for the salon on Tamm Avenue in Dogtown. A month later, she opened her doors.
“My business arrived to me by being able to do what I love to do everyday,” she said. “So I don’t like to say I’m a small business owner, or I’m a boss, or this is how I got here. I just like to say I’m living my life and I’m doing what I love everyday.”
Slusher employs nine people and said their goal as a salon is to increase diversity in their clientele and in the area.
“We feel welcome here, but I want people to feel comfortable coming in here as well,” she said. “We want people to know we can work with different skin types and don’t want people to be self-conscious and afraid to come in.”
In addition to running her business, Slusher inadvertently found herself in the role of mentor.
Aspiring entrepreneur Reginae Jackson, 11, saw the salon on social media and made a point to meet Slusher. She said she sells accessories and purses after getting her business license when she was 10.
“We both want to go somewhere in life, we both live in St. Louis, we’re both trying to make a business out of something and we’re both just young ladies,” Jackson said.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/young-entrepreneur-overcomes-troubled-childhood-opens-beauty-salon-and-inspires-others/article_be081e7a-2138-11eb-b0c7-3b5e8f00525d.html
Photo Credit: KMOV