16-year-old Wisconsin boy has been charged with killing an hours-old newborn he didn’t want to keep — shooting her twice in the head after burying her under snow
Logan Kruckenberg-Anderson admitted that he and the baby’s mom — a “juvenile female in her early teens” who gave birth in a bathtub — decided to “not have the child in their life” after she was born on Tuesday last week, the complaint said.
The teen dad initially told investigators that he gave baby Harper to a mystery man he met on Snapchat who offered to help get her adopted, according to officers’ testimony.
But he later admitted he’d actually put the crying newborn in a backpack soon after she was born and took her into the snowy woods in the Village of Albany, the documents said.
There, he put the “nude infant child into a small area inside a fallen tree” and “placed snow over the entire body” of the baby.
“As he walked away he could still hear the infant crying which caused him to emotionally break down, fall to his knees and cry,” the complaint stated.
Kruckenberg-Anderson admitted that “he knew that by leaving a nude infant child exposed and covered in the elements” she would almost certainly die, according to the investigators.
He led officers to the body on Sunday, the day he was arrested, and they “observed a gunshot wound to the forehead” and found a spent casing next to the body.
“Kruckenberg-Anderson admitted to placing the baby into the snow-covered area in the tree and shooting the baby twice in the head with a firearm,” the complaint stated.
The baby “was likely alive” when taken there because the snow had partially melted from the heat of her body, the complaint noted.
Kruckenberg-Anderson was charged with first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse and will be charged as an adult, the Wisconsin Department of Justice said.
He was held on $1 million bond and is due in court on Jan. 20 for his preliminary hearing, according to WTMJ-TV.
If found guilty, Kruckenberg-Anderson could spend the rest of his life behind bars, the station noted.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/01/14/wisconsin-teen-charged-with-shooting-unwanted-baby-in-head/
Photo Credit: Green County Circuit Court
Video shows recent Temple grad fatally shot while walking dog
A young Philadelphia man walking his dog was fatally shot during an apparent robbery attempt just one block from his home, police and his devastated relatives said.
The victim, identified by family members as 25-year-old Milan Loncar, was strolling with his beloved dachshund-Chihuahua mix, Roo, just before 7 p.m. Wednesday in the city’s Brewerytown section when two male suspects approached him, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
One of the assailants pointed a gun at Loncar as both suspects started reaching towards his pockets. The 2019 Temple University graduate was then shot once in the chest and later died at a hospital, police said.
Investigators on Thursday released disturbing surveillance footage of the slaying. The suspects then fled on foot westbound, police said.
A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest. No one was in custody as of Friday, a Philadelphia police spokesman confirmed to The Post.
“He was the kindest person in the entire world,” Loncar’s sister, Jelena Loncar, told the Inquirer. “This is so screwed up.”
Loncar’s sister, who lived just blocks away from her “charismatic and kind” younger brother, is now planning on moving out of Philadelphia, she said.
Loncar’s keys and cellphone were found at the scene, but his wallet was back at his house, relatives told the Inquirer.
“I don’t know if he was targeted,” Jelena Loncar said. “I don’t know if they were going to rob anyone. If he’s walking his dog, why would he have a ton of cash on him? I don’t get it.”
Loncar’s mother told WPVI he was planning to move in with his girlfriend in March and was “just starting out” in life.
“I don’t know why they did it,” Amy Lounsberry told the station. “I can’t understand. They didn’t get any money. Did they need it so badly or were they trying to show off?”
Police described the suspects as black males, one of whom was “slightly husky” and had a semi-automatic handgun. Anyone with information about the slaying should call homicide detectives at (215) 686-3334.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/01/15/videos-shows-recent-college-grad-fatally-shot-while-walking-dog/
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Man spent his stimulus money on 30,000 masks for the homeless and others in need
(CNN) — The federal government has sent out direct payments to bring much-needed relief to millions of Americans reeling from the financial impact of the pandemic.
Anyone below a certain income level — $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for married couples — received a check for $1,200 last spring, and another round of $600 checks are being sent out now.
But one criticism of the payments is that they are not targeting those who need help most. And not everyone needs the money.
CNN Business heard from many readers who say that since they remain financially stable, they have chosen to use their stimulus payments to help those in need. And some, regardless of their own financial situation, say they feel a moral obligation to help others. Here’s how they’re paying it forward.
Buying masks for the homeless
Jeff Suchon of Highland Park, New Jersey, lives on a low fixed income and isn’t working due to health concerns. While the stimulus money could allow him to live with greater ease for a short while, he decided last spring he wanted to use it instead to buy masks for the homeless and indigent.
To date, he says, he’s purchased more than 30,000 masks with his economic relief payments and some of his income.
He’s gotten help distributing the masks through the soup kitchen Elijah’s Promise, homeless shelters, churches and food pantries.
“I live on fumes after buying the masks, but I feel good about it,” Suchon said. His reasoning: By providing one person with a mask he’s not only helping that person stay healthy, but also the people that person comes in contact with.
“We’re all in this together. I just want other people to replicate it. If I can do it, you can do it,” Suchon said. “Good begets good.”
Providing help for homeless seniors
Stephanie Woods-McKinney, who works for a union pension fund, feels very lucky that she has been able to work from her home in Bronx, New York, throughout the pandemic.
She has even managed to save more money as a result. Plus, she hasn’t had to pay her student loans since Congress approved an automatic deferral for borrowers due to the Covid crisis.
“I’ve been donating money because I’m still working,” Woods-McKinney said. “Being able to help those in need has mentally helped me.”
One of Woods-McKinney’s charities of choice is 100 Suits for 100 Men. In normal times it provides business attire for underprivileged men and women searching for work. But during the pandemic the group has been, among other things, distributing food to seniors in homeless shelters, according to the group’s web site.
Helping low-income people in the LGBTQ community
Sheldon Joseph, who works at a credit union in the Seattle area, decided to take advantage of his employer’s three-for-one match when he donated his stimulus checks to a local food bank and the Lavender Rights Project, which provides legal and other services for low-income people in the LGBTQ community.
Working at a credit union, Joseph says, has made him all too aware of the fact that a large number of people don’t have enough in emergency savings.
Since he feels financially stable right now, he said, he felt his stimulus money should be put to good use. “It’s my responsibility to donate it and get it out into the community to those who need it,” Joseph said.
Supporting struggling pet owners
Carolyn Alonzo, who owns a Fetch! Pet Care franchise in Chicago, has seen her business take a huge hit during the pandemic. And to make matters worse, two of her dogs died.
To counter her feelings of grief on both counts, Alonzo decided to create the nonprofit Obi’s Pet Pantry to help people who are having a hard time financially providing for their pets.
She keeps it stocked with food, blankets, collars, shampoo and other pet supplies in part with her stimulus money and with the donations the pantry receives.
“It’s available for people in need, no questions asked, and all of the items are free,” Alonzo said. “I feel like I’m serving a purpose and if it wasn’t for this, I don’t know what I’d be doing right now.”
Helping animal shelter employees
Bryan Kendall and his wife, Sally, live in Waterloo, Illinois, not far from St. Louis. They’re both retired and volunteer at a local animal shelter. They used their last stimulus check and will use their current one largely to give money to the hourly workers at the shelter.
Kendall, who worked as an electrician, is happy to have a secure retirement thanks to a pension and having always lived within their means. But he said he and his wife both “came from nothing” and know what it’s like to struggle.
“My whole career was working by the hour. If I didn’t work, I didn’t get paid. And the minimum wage doesn’t go very far,” Kendall said.
Buying food for underprivileged kids
Matthew Pierce grew up in a low-income household and knows what it’s like to not have enough money for the basics.
Now that he’s a teacher at the Milton Hershey School in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which provides a free education and on-campus housing for low-income kids, he is eager to help his students whenever he can.
That’s why Pierce chose to use his stimulus payments to buy Uber Eats gift cards for many students and their families.
“This one is personal for me. Having been in need … I know what would solve one day’s worth of problems,” he said.
And as every good teacher knows, it’s important to set a good example for kids.
“We have to model good civics. It’s not something we’re born with,” Pierce said. “We need to give back in times of need.”
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/he-spent-his-stimulus-money-on-30-000-masks-for-the-homeless-and-others-in/article_0ede80b2-6569-577f-9083-a52be42a8785.html?block_id=991246
Photo Credit: kmov.com
Jacob Blake says he ‘didn’t want to be the next George Floyd’ in first interview since he was shot by police
(CNN) — In his first interview on national television, Jacob Blake said he “wasn’t thinking clearly” when he picked up a knife that he had dropped during an encounter with police, moments before a Kenosha, Wisconsin, officer shot him seven times last summer.
Blake talked about the Aug. 23 shooting that left him paralyzed from the waist down in a portion of an interview that aired Thursday on “Good Morning America.”
“I was like, ‘He’s shooting me,’ ” said Blake, a 29-year-old Black man. “I couldn’t believe it, so I kind of sat down in the car … put my hands up, because I didn’t want him to shoot me in my face or in my head or nothing. He just kept shooting, kept shooting.
“My babies are right here, my babies. So after he stopped shooting me, I said, ‘Daddy love you, no matter what,'” he said. “I thought it was going to be the last thing I say to them. Thank God it wasn’t.”
The shooting, caught on video, fueled protests this past summer over racial injustice and police brutality initially sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
“I didn’t want to be the next George Floyd,” Blake told ABC’s Michael Strahan. “I didn’t want to die.”
Rusten Sheskey, the White officer who shot Blake, will not face criminal charges, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley announced last week, pointing to Blake “actively resisting” arrest and his possession of a knife at the time of the shooting.
That Sheskey and two other officers were on a domestic disturbance call was “urgently important,” Graveley wrote in his investigative report on the shooting. Police also had a warrant for Blake’s arrest from a prior domestic incident, Graveley said.
Blake’s attorneys maintain their client did not pose a threat to police and the decision to not charge the officer fueled the community’s longstanding distrust of the justice system.
Incident began with a call to police
Blake said he was attempting to leave his son’s birthday party with his kids after an argument broke out between Laquisha Booker, the mother of three of his children, and a neighbor.
“I wanted to leave. My son is inside, tears coming out of his eyes and he said, ‘Daddy, you sure? It’s my birthday.'” Blake told ABC. “I’m taking them to the store again, make them forget about all this.”
As he got ready to leave, Booker called police, telling a dispatcher he had taken the keys to an SUV she rented and she was afraid he would crash it.
According to the investigative report, Booker said Blake was “not supposed to be here,” but she’d allowed him a couple hours to spend with his son on his birthday.
When police arrived, Blake said they did not explain why they were there and did not say they had a warrant for his arrest — a statement disputed by the officers’ statement to investigators.
“At that time I’m walking out,” he said. “I hadn’t done anything, so I didn’t feel like they were there for me.”
Blake says he shouldn’t have picked up knife
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Blake had just put one of his sons in the SUV when he felt one of the officers grab his arm.
A physical altercation broke out between Blake and the officers, who have said they believed he was reaching for a weapon. Blake told investigators he had a knife that dropped to the ground when Sheskey first grabbed him, but denied he was going to use it as a weapon against the officers. Sheskey discharged his Taser, but Blake broke the wires with his hand.
Blake picked up the knife and began to walk toward the driver’s door of the SUV, away from the officers.
“I shouldn’t have picked it up,” he said, adding, “I wasn’t thinking clearly.” Blake said he intended to put the knife in the SUV and then lay on the ground to submit to the police officers.
“If they did it there and they killed me there, everybody would see it.”
Blake told ABC he “couldn’t hear” the officers telling him to stop. “All I heard was screaming, screaming. My ears was ringing, so it was all muffled.”
In video captured from a second-floor apartment across the street, Blake is seen walking around the front of the SUV with a knife in his hand. The officers have their guns drawn, and a male voice is heard yelling, “Drop the knife!”
Moments later, after the officer grabbed Blake’s shirt, seven shots are heard. Blake had four entrance wounds to the back, and three to his left side.
“Officer Sheskey was presented with a difficult and dangerous situation and he acted appropriately and in accordance with his training,” Kenosha Professional Police Association attorney Brendan Matthews said in a statement last week.
“The video remains difficult to view but that does not change what actually occurred. False and misleading narratives to the contrary need to stop. Kenosha can and will move forward from this. That process begins now.”
Blake family attorneys in a statement last week expressed disappointment in the decision not to charge Sheskey, saying the decision “failed not only Jacob and his family, but the community that protested and demanded justice.”
Speaking to “Good Morning America,” attorney Ben Crump said Blake’s past actions did not justify the shooting.
“If you’re a Black person in America, and you’re not perfect, then they say, ‘Oh it was justified,'” he said. “It’s like our children have to be angels.”
According to ABC, Blake is going to physical rehab four days a week and is preparing for his 37th surgery since the shooting.
As for his children who witnessed the shooting, Blake said he’s explained, “Daddy can die, but for some reason I didn’t that day.”
CNN’s Melissa Alonso and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/jacob-blake-says-he-didnt-want-to-be-the-next-george-floyd-in-first-interview/article_df538e29-02b9-5fec-9609-4eb6fd44854c.html?block_id=985917
Photo Credit: Good Morning America/ABC News
‘Saved by the Bell’ star Dustin Diamond confirms cancer battle
Dustin Diamond of “Saved by the Bell” fame has confirmed his cancer diagnosis just days after an emergency hospitalization.
The 44-year-old actor and his team revealed the disheartening diagnosis via his official Facebook account Thursday evening.
“Official Statement from Team Dustin,” it began. “At this time we can confirm that Dustin does have cancer. Dustin will disclose more information once it is available and a plan moving forward is made.”
The television star was hospitalized Tuesday due to widespread pain and discomfort. His family also has a history of cancer, including his mother who died of breast cancer.
“We ask everyone to respect Dustin’s privacy during this difficult time. All positivity and prayers are appreciated,” the statement concluded.
Diamond first appeared as Samuel “Screech” Powers in 1988’s “Good Morning, Miss Bliss,” about classmates at the fictional Bayside High School, and continued the role through each iteration of the “SBTB” series, including “Saved by the Bell: The New Class,” in which he appeared as Bayside’s principal.
That final incarnation ended in the year 2000, well before the current reboot was conceived.
Most recently, he voiced a character based on himself in a 2017 episode of the Adult Swim animated series “Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell.”
via: https://pagesix.com/2021/01/14/saved-by-the-bells-dustin-diamond-confirms-cancer-diagnosis/?_ga=2.56865506.977372255.1610501056-593493795.1608856676
Photo Credit: pagesix.com
Ex-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder charged in Flint water crisis
Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has been charged for his role in the Flint water crisis, which caused an outbreak of Legionnaires disease and contaminated residents’ homes with lead-based water.
An indictment filed by the state attorney general’s office charged Snyder with two counts of willful neglect of duty after a years-long investigation into one of the worst environmental disasters in US history.
The misdemeanor charges could put Snyder behind bars up to a year along with a $1,000 fine.
Snyder, a Republican, was in office in 2014 when the state decided to alter the water supply, which contaminated homes in Flint with lead-tainted water.
Other officials are expected to be charged, including the state’s former health department director.
In 2014, officials switched Flint’s water supply to the Flint River as part of a cost-cutting measure while a pipeline to Lake Huron was under construction.
However, the water wasn’t treated properly and lead from old plumbing was released into the homes of the largely-black city.
Bacteria found in the contaminated water was also blamed for the Legionnaires outbreak that infected at least 90 people and killed 12 in Genesee County.
Residents sickened by the tainted water reached a $600 million settlement with the state.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/01/13/ex-michigan-gov-rick-snyder-charged-in-flint-water-crisis/
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio
‘QAnon Shaman’ Capitol rioter wants pardon from President Trump
The attorney representing the so-called “QAnon Shaman” who stormed the US Capitol in a bizarre getup says President Trump should pardon his client before he leaves office next week.
Attorney Al Watkins said his client Jacob Chansley, 33, was acting on Trump’s invitation when he and others forced their way into the Capitol on Jan. 6, as Congress began formally counting the Electoral College votes to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
“The words and invitation of a president are supposed to mean something,” Watkins said in a statement to the Kansas City Star.
Chansley “took seriously the countless messages of President Trump,” he added.
“Like tens of millions of other Americans, Chansley felt — for the first time in his life — as though his voice was being heard.”
Chansley, who also goes by the names Jake Angeli or QAnon Shaman, went viral for his wild outfit during the riot, which included a furry horned hat and red, white and blue face paint.
The shirtless conspiracy theorist also brandished a spear from which hung an American flag as he made a spectacle of himself on the dais of the US Senate.
“His attire was consistent with his long-held Shaman beliefs,” his attorney said.
Chansley turned himself in on Saturday and faces charges of disorderly conduct, violent entry and illegally being on restricted spaces within the Capitol grounds.
But Watkins said his client comported himself in a “peaceful and compliant fashion” during the siege, which left five dead, including a police officer.
“He was unarmed. He was not violent. He was not destructive” — and deserves clemency from the outgoing commander-in-chief, the lawyer said.
“It would be appropriate and honorable for the president to pardon Mr. Chansley and other like-minded, peaceful individuals who accepted the president’s invitation with honorable intentions,” Watkins said.
Meanwhile, Chansley is being held in a federal lockup in Phoenix, Arizona while he awaits charges in Washington, DC for his role in the insurrection.
A judge recently ruled that Chansley should be allowed to get organic food in line with his strict shaman diet behind bars after he refused to eat anything else.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/01/14/qanon-shaman-rioter-wants-pardon-from-president-trump/
Photo Credit: Chris Kleponis/Sipa USA
Ga. Congresswoman promises to file articles of impeachment against Biden for abuse of power
Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene announced on Twitter Wednesday night she plans to file articles of impeachment against President-elect Joe Biden on January 21.
Congresswoman Greene voted against impeaching President Donald Trump Wednesday on the single charge of inciting an insurrection. Greene’s no vote wasn’t enough and President Trump became the first president in history to be impeached twice while in office.
President-elect Biden takes office as president at noon on January 20.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/ga-congresswoman-promises-to-file-articles-of-impeachment-against-biden/article_b34d2e90-7ba7-5bba-8645-ecdc54164293.html?block_id=985911
Photo Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP
Kyle Rittenhouse flashes white-power sign at bar while out on bond
Photos show teen gunman Kyle Rittenhouse allegedly flashing white-power symbols while downing beers with members of the Proud Boys — images prosecutors are using to stiffen his bond conditions.
The 18-year-old was celebrated by members of the right-wing group at a Wisconsin bar just 90 minutes after he was arraigned on Jan. 5 for the deadly Kenosha riots, Kenosha County prosecutors said in court documents.
Wearing a T-shirt reading “Free as F–k,” Rittenhouse was serenaded with the Proud Boys anthem, “Proud of Your Boy” — and then repeatedly made the “OK” sign, which has been “co-opted as a symbol of white supremacy/ white power” and used by neo-Nazis and the KKK, prosecutors alleged.
Rittenhouse — who was with his mother at the bar — was shown making the symbol several times in surveillance images used in court filings to try to restrict his $2 million bond conditions.
The 18-year-old was filmed downing three beers in 90 minutes in Pudgy’s Pub in Mount Pleasant, prosecutors said, while noting it was legal in bars in the Badger State because his mother was with him.
They still pressed for him to be barred from drinking, however, noting it is illegal under 21 in his home state Illinois, and arguing that alcohol “increases the likelihood of violent criminal acts.”
Prosecutors are also requesting he be banned from making white-power signs — as well as having contact with “any known militia” or “violent white power/ white supremacist groups,” including the Proud Boys.
Rittenhouse is charged with the murders of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and attempted murder of Gaige Grosskreutz during the Aug. 23 protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
He has admitted being the gunman, but has always maintained he fired in self-defense. He was just 17 at the time.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/01/14/kyle-rittenhouse-flashes-white-power-sign-with-proud-boys/
Photo Credit: Kenosha County DA’s Office
FL teacher charged after spraying students with disinfectant for not wearing masks properly
A Florida high school teacher was arrested after allegedly spraying her students with disinfectant because they wouldn’t wear their masks properly.
Christina Reszetar, 51, was hauled out of Largo High School on Wednesday and booked into the Pinellas County Jail on four counts of child abuse, local outlet WFLA-TV reported.
Reszetar, who teaches learning disabled math, allegedly told cops that four of her students had refused to properly wear their face coverings amid the coronavirus pandemic.
She’s accused of aiming aerosol disinfectant spray directly “into the path of their faces and bodies,” according to a police report obtained by the outlet.
Reszetar, who has been a teacher for 21 years, spent the night in jail and appeared before a judge on Thursday.
She said that surveillance video of the incident would exonerate her, according to the outlet. The footage hasn’t yet been released by the Largo Police Department.
The judge released Reszetar without bond, noting that the educator doesn’t have a criminal record.
“I think I can fairly characterize this as a severely misguided attempt at discipline,” the judge said.
The teacher is still employed by the Pinellas County School District but it’s unclear when or if she’ll be back in the classroom.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/01/11/teacher-charged-for-spraying-students-not-wearing-masks-properly/
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