ICU nurse’s home burns down while she was at work treating COVID-19 patients
An Oklahoma ICU nurse has been left homeless for the holidays after her house burned down while she was at work treating COVID-19 patients.
Tina Irwin was working a 12-hour shift at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City when her neighbor called to tell her that her home was on fire, according to KOCO News 5.
Three of the single mother’s four children were at home when the fire started, the outlet reported.
“I got ahold of my daughter … the terrifying scream. Never heard a scream like this,” Irwin told KOCO 5.
“The flames were … I couldn’t believe. I’m a single mom and just walking up and everything gone.”
Irwin was able to recover some keepsakes, including photographs and her daughter’s graduation cap.
Amid the recovered items was also the firefighter movie “Ladder 49,” which Irwin said was ironic.
Thankfully, Irwin’s son was able to lead his sisters and their pets to safety and no one in the family sustained any injuries.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Meanwhile, community members and well-wishers have donated nearly $20,000 to the family on a GoFundMe page.
“They will need the basic necessities for the next couple of weeks, but if we could bless her family financially, any amount would help while they pick up the pieces, especially during this holiday season,” the fundraising plea reads.
In a Facebook post, Irwin thanked her neighbors for coming to her aide, and said she is trying to stay positive.
“I am receiving so many texts and posts with much needed words of encouragement and offers to help. I want each and every one of you to know how much this means to our family… I woke up this morning praying this was just a nightmare but when I opened my eyes it became surreal. I immediately realized baby steps was all I can do. We are safe, warm, together and food to eat, we are off to a good start,” the post reads.
Irwin has been working 12-hour days at the hospital since the start of the pandemic.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/18/icu-nurses-home-burns-down-while-she-was-treating-covid-19-patients/
Photo Credit: GoFundMe
Teen fatally stabbed while defending mother from domestic attack
AUSTIN, Minn. — A teenage boy stepped in to save his mother from an attack by her husband, only to end up being fatally stabbed by the man, authorities said.
Authorities are calling the teen a hero, noting that five younger children were hiding upstairs during the attack Tuesday and were not hurt.
According to criminal charges, Jaime Vaca, 27, and his wife were arguing in their bedroom when one of the younger children got the teenage boy to help. The teen kicked in the bedroom door as Vaca was choking his mother. Vaca stopped when the son intervened, grabbed a knife and stabbed the boy, the charges say.
Vaca was charged Wednesday in Mower County District Court with second-degree murder and first-degree assault. He was scheduled to make his first court appearance Friday, according to the Star Tribune.
Austin Police Chief David McKichan said in a Facebook post that the violence prompted “one of the most challenging and tragic calls I can recall in our city’s history.”
The complaint said officers found the woman outside with a stab wound to the neck and her son bleeding on a couch. Vaca was hiding in a bathroom with a knife, which he refused to drop. He was subdued with a stun gun. The officers found five children hiding upstairs.
Vaca allegedly told detectives he stabbed the boy then went upstairs and kissed the other kids goodbye because he intended to kill himself. When a detective told Vaca the boy died, he replied, “I’m a murderer,” the complaint says.
Authorities haven’t released the names of the woman or the son. But McKichan commended the boy’s actions.
“Despite everyone’s best efforts, we were unable to save the young man who acted the most heroically of anyone yesterday. All of us wanted a different outcome for him,” McKichan wrote on Facebook. “What he did in the defense of his family was incredible and should be recognized. His love for his mother and his siblings was proven without a doubt and all who responded and have knowledge of the investigation were moved by his actions. He saved their lives.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/18/teen-fatally-stabbed-while-defending-mother-from-domestic-attack/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Two women brawl over PS5 at Walmart
Two women wound up in a knock-down, hair-dragging battle over a PS5 game console at a North Carolina Walmart this week, leaving both apparently bruised and empty-handed.
The two women exchanged punches over the hot ticket item at a Walmart in Charlotte on Dec. 13, TMZ reported.
Video of their confrontation has since gone viral.
A woman with long braids can be seen shouting at another woman with a black hoodie, “What the f–k are you gonna do?”
At one point, a man in a motorized scooter and a woman in a red mask try to intervene but the woman in braids continues to shout, video shows.
The women then get into a fistfight in the electronic section, ending with the woman in braids being knocked down flat on the ground.
Cops responded to the scene but the women left the store before officers arrived — apparently without a PS5, according to TMZ.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/18/two-women-brawl-over-ps5-at-walmart/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Hillsong Church rife with ‘inappropriate’ sex, members claimed
Hillsong staffers used the church like a seedy dating service, “sleeping around” with volunteers and asking them to send nude pictures — according to a group of volunteers who allegedly complained about the situation.
The whistleblowers also claimed the organization — which has been rocked by recent revelations that its former leader, Carl Lentz, had multiple tawdry affairs — was “a breeding ground for unchecked abuse.”
Page Six is told that in 2018 a group of former “high-level” volunteers — and one who was still a volunteer at the time — sent a letter to the trendy ministry’s leaders warning of “verified, widely circulated stories of inappropriate sexual behavior amongst staff/interns.”
We’re told that one person employed by the church was asked to step down after it was revealed that, as the letter put it, he had “multiple inappropriate sexual relationships with several female leaders and volunteers and was verbally, emotionally, and according to one woman, physically abusive in his relationships with these women.”
The group claimed that another church member even caught the same employee “having sex” with a church leader.
Meanwhile, the letter accused another male staffer of “not respecting physical and sexual boundaries within dating relationships with female church volunteers,” including having “sex with a 19-20-year-old female team member.”
The group claimed in the letter that there are only “vague or absent sexual harassment/sexual assault” policies at the church, and that the organization fosters a “culture of silence and fear.”
The group added, “This environment is dangerous and a breeding ground for unchecked abuse.”
The letter also claimed that the church’s volunteers feared verbal abuse and “harsh words, belittlement, name-calling from certain pastors and staff.”
It accused one pastor of “losing his temper, bullying, yelling and outright screaming at other volunteers and leaders.” When someone spoke to staff about the pastor, they were told, “that’s just how they are — it’s their personality/culture.”
We’re told the letter was sent to seven of the top leaders in the US branch of the church, including Lentz. It’s unclear how the church responded to the letter or the allegations made in it.
Lentz — who founded the American wing of the superchurch, which began in Australia — was fired in November after it was revealed that he had cheated on his wife this year.
In was subsequently revealed that he’d had a number of other affairs.
Hillsong has counted Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Chris Pratt and Kourtney Kardashian among its congregation, among many other celebrities.
via: https://pagesix.com/2020/12/17/hillsong-rife-with-inappropriate-sex-members-claimed/?_ga=2.199491817.618904403.1608253016-1483909753.1590005431
Photo Credit: SplashNews.com
Atlantic City auctions off chance to blow up major Trump property
Locals in Atlantic City, New Jersey, will have a unique opportunity next month — the chance to blow up a casino belonging to president Donald Trump. The winner will be picked through a fundraiser for a charity in the area for children and teens.
Mr Trump’s property was being used as a casino since 1984 until it shut down in 2014 and fell into a state of disrepair. The demolition work had already begun early this year but the remaining structure is set to be blown up on 29 January, just nine days after the swearing-in of the president-elect Joe Biden.
Now authorities have decided to make the destruction of the property a fundraiser. The person who will press the button will be decided through a live bidding process on 19 January, with the honour going to the highest bidder.
“Local buyers can push the button as close as safely possible,” to “implode Trump plaza for charity,” the listing said.
“Some of Atlantic City’s iconic moments happened there, but on his way out, Donald Trump openly mocked Atlantic City, saying he made a lot of money and then got out,” the Associated Press quoted Mayor Marty Small as saying. “I wanted to use the demolition of this place to raise money for charity.”
The money would benefit the charity Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City, and the mayor hopes it will raise in excess of $1m. The organisation provides after-school and summer recreation, education and career-training programmes for Atlantic City children and teens.
Mr Trump, who was a real estate developer before becoming a reality TV star, opened the casino in a prime spot at the centre of Atlantic City’s Boardwalk, where the Atlantic City Expressway deposited cars entering the resort. It was the site of many high-profile boxing matches, which Mr Trump would regularly attend.
It closed in 2014, one of four Atlantic City casinos to shut down that year, followed by another former Trump casino, the Taj Mahal, in 2016. That property has since reopened as the Hard Rock casino.
Mr Trump at one point owned three casinos in the city. The third casino, Trump Marina, was sold to Texas billionaire Tilman Fertitta in 2011 and is now called the Golden Nugget.
Mr Trump cut ties with Atlantic City in 2009 aside from a 10 per cent fee for the use of his name on what were then three casinos in the city. That stake was extinguished when billionaire Carl Icahn took ownership of the company out of bankruptcy court in February 2016.
via: https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/cm/atlantic-city-auctions-off-chance-134631219.html
Photo Credit: AP
Colombian woman killed after beheading owl on video
A woman who posted a video of herself beheading an owl on social media was reportedly shot and killed Sunday by two assailants outside her home in Colombia.
Mileydis Aldana, whom the internet dubbed “Owl Killer” after she posted the gruesome clip, was killed Sunday when a pair of men on motorcycles opened fire outside her home in Corozal.
Aldana was leaving her home when the incident occurred, according to the Daily Mail.
She was rushed to a local hospital by family members who heard the shots but was pronounced dead on arrival.
She was questioned by police in June after they were made aware of a video showing Aldana decapitating a white barn owl, but she was not charged, the outlet reported.
Police have released no motive for the slaying, though Aldana had reportedly received several death threats on social media relating to the incident.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/17/woman-dubbed-as-owl-killer-assassinated-in-latin-america/
Photo Credit: twitter
Some restaurants adding ‘fuel charge’ to bill to cover heating for outdoor dining
ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) — Restaurants trying to stay afloat during the pandemic are doing things they’ve never considered before.
Some restaurants are making changes that could bring a new charge to your bill.
Like a lot of other business owners, The Royale Food & Spirits owner, Steven Fitzpatrick Smith, is doing what he can to stay in business and little costs become big costs quickly.
His restaurant will now add a five dollar an hour “fuel charge”, which will heat the patio for outdoor dining.
“I’m heating the outside which is not a normal type of thing that you should expect to have at a normal price for dinner. So five dollars is a bargain rate to be sitting outside heated,” said Smith.
Regular customers, like Chris King support the idea.
He’s here once a week meeting friends for lunch and says even winter snows won’t stop him.
“We plan to keep meeting here every Thursday for lunch as long as he’s open, I’ll be here chattering my teeth and eating some good food,” said King.
And for customers who want to do it more than just every once in a while, Smith is also offering a monthly package deal. Twenty five dollars a month for unlimited access to the courtyard.
A mile away at Favazza’s on the Hill, their patio is enclosed where most people want to eat.
“They care very much…Most people want to only sit on the patio, even if it’s enclosed they feel safer out here,” said owner John Favazza.
Some restaurant owners want to up their game with outdoor dining say they’re having a hard time finding heaters.
Smith says he hasn’t crunched all the numbers yet, he cringes at what it will cost.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/some-restaurants-adding-fuel-charge-to-bill-to-cover-heating-for-outdoor-dining/article_dc444d50-40b4-11eb-9a65-5fe267aaccf0.html?block_id=985911
Photo Credit: kmov.com
Mom blows $10K on veneers, Botox while refusing kids’ Christmas gifts
A self-obsessed mom in the UK is making Christmas jingle hell this year by blowing $10,000 on herself — and refusing to spend a single penny on her two children.
Carla Bellucci, 38, boasted about using a stocking full of cash for new veneers, Botox, manicures, facials and brand new duds ahead of Christmas Day, while demanding that her kids, Tanisha, 15, and Jayden, 13, make their own money if they want gifts under the tree.
She’s calling the Scrooge move “no gift COVID Christmas.”
“If they want Christmas gifts, they’ll have to buy them for themselves — like I did,” Bellucci, who lives in Hitchin, about a 90-minute drive north of London, told the Sun.
The single mom says she deserved the blowout amid the harrowing COVID-19 pandemic.
“Lockdown stressed me so I need to spoil myself,” she said. “I have always bought the kids nice things at Christmas throughout the years. It’s mommy time now.”
Bellucci, who makes money selling sexy snaps on her OnlyFans account, also called the self-indulgent splurge a “necessity.”
“I rely on my looks so it’s a necessity. But it means the kids will have to go without over Christmas,” she told the paper.
The mom then compared herself to Kris Jenner, saying she’s pushing Tanisha and Jayden to become insta-famous and TikTok stars — and they will thank her one day.
“It sounds harsh but I know they’re on their social media feeds doubling their efforts for promotion deals, just like the Kardashians and Kylie Jenner, so I consider myself a super mom for inspiring them,” the mom said.
However, she added, “Tanisha’s told me I’m spoiled and Jayden’s not talking to me.”
Last year, the image-obsessed Bellucci stoked outrage by bragging about getting a free nose job from the cash-strapped NHS, the country’s universal health care system, the Sun reported.
“I deserved my free nose job. I did what I had to get it. If anything, the NHS inspired me to have more plastic surgery,” she said. “I got my veneers and touch up Botox and fillers this year. I was furious when lockdown hit and I couldn’t fly overseas for surgery.”
Bellucci said she doesn’t care what others think of her parenting style.
“My kids know I love them and frankly that’s what matters,” she said. “That and perfect teeth for my Christmas turkey.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/17/mom-spends-10k-on-herself-while-refusing-kids-christmas-gifts/
Photo Credit: facebook
Wisconsin motorist pulled over for driving car covered in Christmas lights
A Wisconsin driver was pulled over for driving a car decked out in colorful Christmas lights, police said Tuesday.
A state trooper credited the driver for his creativity, but warned him it is against state law to drive with the festive lights display.
Wisconsin State Patrol posted a photo of the sports vehicle covered in bulbs to their Facebook page.
One of the commenters to the post was a man who said he was the driver’s father.
“Yep this was my kid! As a retired cop myself I warned him of the violations of these lights. But we all know kids,” Larry Kamholz wrote.
“Anyways, my son said this Trooper was really nice and she kinda laughed at him. Trooper, whoever you are, thanks!” he said.
Kamholz added that his son is getting requests to stop by from nursing homes, activity centers and different neighbors.
“The joy that my kid has brought has left me speechless,” he said.
“As a fellow brother of blue, I initially cringed, but I’m over that now. It has def brought unexpected joy to so many and for that I’m proud of my kid!”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/17/wisconsin-driver-pulled-over-for-operating-car-decorated-in-christmas-lights/
Photo Credit: facebook
Man allegedly stabs girlfriend’s eyes, throws daughter out window
A mentally ill Florida man was arrested for allegedly beating his mother and stabbing his girlfriend’s eyes before throwing their 1-year-old daughter out a window Saturday, authorities said.
Pierre Francois, 29, first attacked his mother in their Fort Lauderdale home by beating her with a two-by-four as she demanded that he stop hurting her during a schizophrenic episode, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office said.
Francois then began hitting his daughter and the girl’s mother, who pleaded, “Don’t hit us,” according to an arrest report obtained by WTVJ-TV.
Francois’ mother managed to escape to a neighbor’s house to ask for help. The neighbor called police, who immediately responded to the home.
Officers found Francois had thrown the toddler out a one-story window, and she was lying face-down in the family’s front yard, the arrest report says.
The girlfriend had stab wounds in her face, eyes and throat, police said.
Both victims were rushed to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. Francois’ mother suffered a dislocated thumb and cuts on her forearms, police said.
Broward Assistant State Attorney Eric Linder said in court Monday that Francois’ girlfriend would be blind as a result of her injuries, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
The baby girl was on life support with a traumatic brain injury, WTVJ reported.
Francois’ mother told cops her son was diagnosed with schizophrenia and wasn’t taking his medication. She also believed he was taking other drugs at the time of the attack, the arrest report says.
Francois has been charged with three counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated battery. He’s being held in jail on $550,000 bond.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/16/man-allegedly-stabs-girlfriends-eyes-throws-daughter-out-of-window/
Photo Credit: nypost