SC man wins custody of his daughter, after she was adopted without his permission
AIKEN COUNTY, S.C. (WACH) — It’s something no father would ever want to experience.
Your own daughter being taken away from you through adoption.
For one South Carolina man, this was his story and after months of fighting through court, he was able to show his daughter the love of a father.
“I didn’t know if I would ever see her again,” says Christopher Emanuel, Founder of Sky Is The Limit Foundation.
Christopher Emanuel is talking about his daughter Skyler.
“I always said I wanted to be a great dad,” says Emanuel.
But his dreams of being a dad turned into a nightmare after his girlfriend placed their newborn daughter up for adoption without telling him.
“I was lost man I was hurt I was confused because I wanted to ensure that I could be there for my child,” says Emanuel.
Christopher fought back turning to the court system in Aiken County, where Skyler was born.
“This was my opportunity to prove that I was deprived of that my constitution and state rights were violated,” says Emanuel.
Under South Carolina law unwed fathers can sign up on the responsible fatherhood registry. It’s an online database through DSS that lets the state know that you fathered a child. Pat Littlejohn is the president of the advocacy group South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families.
“Before rights are terminated to allow an adoption to occur attorneys as well as the department of social services will check this registry and if his name is on there he must be notified,” says Pat Littlejohn, President of South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families.
Christopher registered adding the name of Skyler’s mother, making it mandatory that he would be notified if she put the child up for adoption and that’s actually what she did.
Court documents show Christopher added his name to the registry on February 4th2014. However, the adopted parents filed a motion on February 19th to adopt Skyler. Christopher was not added on the documentation as the biological father even though he was listed as such on the registry.
But under South Carolina law – someone living in another state can adopt a baby born here only under unusual or exceptional circumstances.
So, under the South Carolina Children’s Code, a biracial child like Skylar fell under that category.
Therefore the adoption in part was able to go forward.
“My daughter was in San Diego, CA with the prospective adoptive couple where her name is changed. I have medical documentation calling my daughter another name and she was never legally adopted,” says Emanuel.
Christopher kept the faith and contested the adoption. Court records show that his paternal rights were terminated without his permission. At one point he and his lawyers were willing to adopt his own daughter back. After almost a year a judge sided with him. Baby Skyler was sent back to South Carolina and the courts granted Christopher sole custody of his daughter.
“Aiken County Judicial Center this is where it went down at. But when I’m here being in this space it fills me with joy, I feel safe because Aiken County brought my daughter home where she belongs,” says Emanuel.
Senator Shealy tells me that at the time the adoption code was written, it was more because of the public’s unwillingness to want to adopt mixed-race or children with disabilities. She says the out-of-state option was added so that South Carolina children could find a forever home. She also tells me that with changing times it might be a good idea to review and update that portion of the adoption code.
In response to his fight, Emanuel started the Sky Is The Limit Foundation where he travels across the nation educating father’s on their parental rights.
via: https://wpde.com/news/local/sc-man-wins-custody-of-his-daughter-after-she-was-adopted-without-his-permission-02-16-2021
Photo Credit: wpde.com
Arizona schools won’t receive letter grades this year because of pandemic
(CNN) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill on Monday that will suspend the use of a letter grade system for schools statewide, due to how disrupted this school year has been by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“Today I signed House Bill 2402, which ensures that students continue to be evaluated, so the State can ensure continued accountability in our education system, while also recognizing this year is unique and therefore provides some flexibility around the state’s A-F letter grade system for school,” Ducey wrote in the executive order.
Ducey also called on Arizona’s Board of Education to conduct a statewide assessment to see how significant the learning loss among students has been.
Students in Arizona are scheduled to take their AZMerit2 (AZM2) exams in April to assess academic proficiency. The tests were canceled in 2020 because school buildings were already closed.
“The Arizona State Board of Education shall utilize AZM2 (AZMerit) assessment data, and other assessment or academic data, for this school year to draw comparisons to prior years and identify the extent of learning loss that has occurred,” the executive order states.
“Getting kids caught up and on track needs to be a top focus of ours,” Ducey wrote in a February 15 letter to Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.
“This will ensure we continue to have accountability in our education system, so parents can make the best educational choice for their kids,” he added.
Correction: This story and headline have been updated to reflect that Arizona schools will do away with letter grades for the system’s schools. Letter grades will still be used to assess the students’ individual performance, according to the governor’s office.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/arizona-schools-wont-receive-letter-grades-this-year-because-of-pandemic/article_ac21e0a1-1a82-5bc0-a294-76ed1dbd739f.html
Photo Credit: Ross D. Franklin/AP/FILE
Anti-Trump Capitol rioter sold footage for $35K to NBC and CNN
Accused Capitol rioter John Sullivan sold video footage he recorded at the Jan. 6 siege to NBC and CNN for $35,000 each, according to new court papers.
The news came as prosecutors on Tuesday tried to ban the Utah provocateur — a self-styled anti-Trump activist who they allege infiltrates protests to cause chaos and record video footage — from accessing social media, according to Politico.
Sullivan maintains that he is a journalist for his website Insurgence USA — and his defense attorney filed invoices for the $35,000 that NBC News and CNN each apparently paid for rights to use the videos.
But the feds allege in a criminal complaint that Sullivan was actively participating in and encouraging the siege.
As throngs of President Donald Trump supporters stormed the building, Sullivan helped one of the rioters scale a wall leading up to an entrance of the Capitol, an affidavit alleges.
He then entered the Capitol through a window that had been smashed by a rioter.
As he recorded footage inside the building, Sullivan allegedly said, “we gotta get this s—t burned.”
“It’s our house, motherf—kers. We are getting this s–t,” he added.
Still recording, Sullivan moved with the crowd to outside the Speaker’s Lobby, where rioters faced off with police officers who were securing a doorway.
He then captured an officer fatally shoot rioter Ashli Babbitt as she attempted to climb through a broken window that was being guarded by the officers — footage he sold to several news networks.
“On January 6th, CNN was contacted by a reputable agent regarding an eye-witness video from the Capitol Hill riots. The company entered into a one-week agreement for use of 44-seconds of key content, which was attributed to the witness on air. When his role in the event was later called into question, the company informed staff to cease all use of the video,” a CNN spokesperson said.
Sullivan was arrested soon after the riot and indicted by a grand jury last week on six charges, including obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder and disorderly conduct.
In a court hearing Tuesday, a magistrate judge in Washington blocked prosecutors’ request that Sullivan be barred from his social media accounts while he awaits trial for the riot, according to Politico.
The judge, however, did order Sullivan to cease work for Insurgence USA, and said he could not use social media to incite riots or violence.
A representative for NBC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/02/17/accused-capitol-rioter-john-sullivan-sold-footage-for-35k-to-nbc-cnn/
Photo Credit: nypost
Colorado teen beaten to death in parking lot, ex-boyfriend arrested
An 18-year-old animal shelter volunteer in Colorado was allegedly beaten to death in a parking lot by her ex-boyfriend, authorities said.
Danielle Hopton was found unconscious “with life-threatening injuries consistent with an assault” in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Fort Collins on Feb. 6, according to Fort Collins police.
She was taken to a local hospital, where she died of her injuries. Her death was ruled a homicide. Cops didn’t elaborate on what kind of injuries she sustained.
Police later arrested her ex-boyfriend Stephen McNeil, 20, for the slaying. Another suspect, Ian Rayas, 20, was also taken into custody in connection with the killing.
A police investigation revealed Hopton was with the men the night of her death. The group drove to the parking of the apartment complex and parked there to hang out, cops said.
At some point, Hopton and McNeil got out of the car to talk and then the assault occurred. The ex fled, “and a member of the group called 911,” according to police.
McNeil is charged with first-degree murder, and Rayas is charged with attempt to influence a public servant and accessory to a crime.
Hopton was described as an animal lover who “genuinely cared about others.”
“Danielle loved spending her time volunteering at the animal shelter, and helping her dad raise guide dog puppies,” according to a GoFundMe page set up for her family.
“She was such a selfless and caring person.”
via: https://nypost.com/2021/02/16/colorado-teen-beaten-to-death-in-parking-lot-ex-boyfriend-arrested/
Photo Credit: GoFundMe
Demi Lovato had ‘three strokes and a heart attack’ after overdose – described in her upcoming 4 part docuseries
“I had three strokes. I had a heart attack. My doctors said that I had five to 10 more minutes [to live].”
Demi Lovato reveals that her near-fatal drug overdose was much more serious than fans ever knew in a trailer for her upcoming four-part YouTube docuseries, “Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil.”
The 28-year-old pop star said she hopes to “set the record straight” about what really happened when she was hospitalized for a heroin overdose in 2018.
“For the past couple years, I’ve heard a lot of stories about my life and what people think has happened, and I wanted to set the record straight,” Lovato says in the teaser. “If it can help you, I hope that it can. That was ultimately my purpose to putting this out: To help people on this path.”
Recalling her overdose on July 24, 2018, Lovato says she “snapped” despite her skyrocketing success at the time — with two songs topping the charts and having just been nominated for a Grammy.
“Demi’s good at making you believe that she’s OK,” says her stepdad, Eddie De La Garza. “Demi is very good at hiding what she needs to hide,” her sister Madison De La Garza joins in.
“She should be dead,” adds a friend.
The trailer, which shares a snippet of her forthcoming song “Dancing With the Devil,” debuted Wednesday at the Television Critics Association’s winter 2021 press tour. The series will apparently leave no stone unturned, as Lovato even discusses her now-failed engagement to Max Ehrich — flashing her diamond ring before the next scene shows her scowling and ringless.
“I don’t even know why I’m sober anymore,” she declares at one point, later in the trailer adding that she’s “really struggling” while in recovery.
Lovato also revealed that the OD left her with brain damage, according to Billboard, and she’s unable to drive because of blind spots in her vision. She also had to re-learn to read after suffering intense eye damage.
“I was left with brain damage, and I still deal with the effects of that today,” she said at the TCA event. “I don’t drive a car because of blind spots in my vision … I had a lot of trouble reading.”
“I’ve had a lot of lives, like my cat, you know?” Lovato said. “I’m on my ninth life.”
“Dancing With the Devil,” which will open the 2021 SXSW film festival in March, will premiere on YouTube March 23.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/02/17/demi-lovato-had-three-strokes-and-a-heart-attack-after-overdose/
Photo Credit: youtube
Kentucky couple was arrested over the weekend for allegedly leaving their 1-month-old son dehydrated and with a bad rash while they did drugs in their roach and bed bug-infested home
Deputies with Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office responded to the home of Dylan Litwora, 22, and Amber Neidlow, 19, in Shepherdsville on Saturday after a caller tipped them off that the couple had been using drugs around their baby boy, according to an arrest report obtained by WDRB-TV.
The parents are also accused of feeding their baby cow’s milk instead of formula, leaving him out in the cold and providing him with unsafe living conditions.
When officers arrived at the home, they say they found the baby had a “very bad rash” that was bleeding, and blisters around his diaper area, the arrest report states, per WDRB-TV.
“The baby seemed to be in distress, trouble breathing and in pain,” an officer wrote in the report. “The baby’s face was red, and when he was crying, his voice was very low and weak sounding.”
The authorities then called child protective services and EMS.
Paramedics at the scene noticed the tot had signs of dehydration and took him to the hospital, the news outlet reports.
Meanwhile, officials also allegedly found marijuana, bongs, glass pipes, syringes and a plastic bag that contained what appeared to be meth, court documents say.
Authorities say the home was infested with roaches, and there were bed bugs in the room where the baby slept.
“Clothing / blankets near the child were very dirty,” the arrest report says. “The residence lacked cleanliness and safety.”
Litwora and Neidlow have been charged with second degree criminal abuse of a child, possession of marijuana and buying or possession of drug paraphernalia. They’re being held in the Bullitt County Detention Center.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/02/16/kentucky-couple-allegedly-left-baby-in-bed-bug-infested-home/
Photo Credit: Bullitt County Detention Center
Woman, 8-year-old girl die after running car to stay warm in Houston home
A woman and an 8-year-old girl died of carbon monoxide poisoning while running a car to stay warm in Texas during power outages caused by subfreezing temperatures, authorities said.
The woman had been sitting in the running car in the garage when she became disoriented and passed out early Tuesday in Houston, news station KTRK reported.
She had been on the phone at the time with a relative, who called authorities, police said.
Police arrived to find the woman dead in her vehicle and the 8-year-old girl unresponsive in their condo, which is attached to the garage, KTRK reported. It was not immediately clear what relation the girl was to the woman.
A man and a 7-year-old boy were also transported to the hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning, police said.
The fatal incident comes as a winter blast caused more than 4 million homes and businesses to lose power.
“It’s a very difficult time. A lot of people are without power,” Lt. Larry Crowson told the outlet.
“I know it’s cold, but you’ve got to be careful about using generators or cars inside a garage, or any type of fire, grill or charcoal grill. Carbon monoxide is odorless and can kill people very easily.”
via: https://nypost.com/2021/02/16/woman-8-year-old-die-after-using-car-to-stay-warm-in-texas-home/
Photo Credit: Houston Police
NYC public school asks parents to ‘reflect’ on their ‘whiteness’
A city public school principal is asking parents to “reflect” on their “whiteness” — passing out literature that extols “white traitors’’ who “dismantle institutions,” education officials confirmed to The Post on Tuesday.
The “woke’’ offensive at the East Side Community School in Manhattan features a ranking list titled “The 8 White Identities,” which ranges from “White Supremacist’’ to “White Abolitionist.”
The curriculum, written by Barnor Hesse, an associate professor of African American studies at Northwestern University in Illinois, claims, “There is a regime of whiteness, and there are action-oriented white identities.
“People who identify with whiteness are one of these,’’ Hesse writes above the eight-point list.
“It’s about time we build an ethnography of whiteness, since white people have been the ones writing about and governing Others,’’ Hesse adds.
In between the two extreme “identities” of supremacist and abolitionist are such categories as “White Voyeurism’’ — defined as “wouldn’t challenge a white supremacist, desires non-whiteness because it’s interesting’’ — and “White Privilege,’’ or “sympathetic to a set of issues but only privately; won’t speak/act in solidarity publicly because benefitting through whiteness in public (some POC are in this category as well).”
The handout was accompanied by a color-coordinated meter with the red zone on the left titled “White Supremacist’’ and the green zone on the far right labeled “White Abolitionist.”
A New York City Department of Education official told The Post that some parents at the school, which caters to sixth- through 12-graders on the Lower East Side, first shared the material with staff.
The principal then disseminated it to every parent “as part of a series of materials meant for reflection” and as “food for thought,” the official said.
A DOE rep said in a statement, “Anti-racism and the celebration of diversity is at the core of our work on behalf of the young people of New York City, and the East Side Community School’s students, parents and staff partner together to advance equity in their community.
“The document in question was shared with the school by parents as a part of ongoing anti-racist work in the school community and is one of many resources the schools utilizes.”
The spokesman said school workers are now being threatened over the missive.
“Our staff are now being targeted with vile racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic slurs and degrading language from people outside of their school and nothing justifies the abuse directed at our educators,” the rep said.
Christopher Rufo of the Discovery Institute wrote in a tweet that included a posting of the curriculum, “This is the new language of public education.”
The dissemination of Hesse’s literature to parents comes as the DOE and schools chancellor Richard Carranza have pushed to eliminate what they call current administrators’ “white-supremacy culture.’’
The administration has embraced “anti-bias training” across the board, with staffers forced to attend slide-show presentations denouncing the current culture’s “paternalism” and “power hoarding” — while getting sued over Carranza’s alleged creation of “an environment which is hostile toward whites.”
Rufo’s Feb. 15 tweet drew mixed reactions on Twitter.
“If you find this hostile, or unnerving, it’s because you are fearing the loss of power and advantage that your skin colour has afforded you. It’s an agenda to bring true equality,” a Twitter user fired at Rufo over Hesse’s chart.
But another writer said, “THIS is what a public school spends time and money on? Anti-racism like this is a poison.”
The racial makeup of the student body at East Side Community was 55 percent Hispanic, 18 percent white, 15 percent black, 10 percent Asian and 2 percent other during the last school year.
The school’s principal, Mark Federman, declined comment through the Education Department.
Federman made headlines in 2007 when he tried to prevent the arrest of a student accused of punching a school safety agent. The principal was arrested after scuffling with another agent during the fracas but returned to school later that day.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/02/16/nyc-public-school-asks-parents-to-reflect-on-their-whiteness/
Photo Credit: Robert Miller/nypost
Arizona veteran says Chick-Fil-A employee made fun of his weight on receipt
GOODYEAR, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) – An Arizona veteran said an employee at a Chick-Fil-A made fun of him, claiming the worker printed an offensive phrase on his receipt pertaining to his weight.
The order name was printed as ‘2BIGGIE’ at a Chick-Fil-A in Goodyear near Dysart Rd. They are 7 characters that hold a lot of weight for the man who received it: Maricopa veteran David Allen, who has been trying to lose some.
“It’s been hard; it’s been really hard,” said Allen. “And to be slapped in the face like this? I served this country just to come home and be treated like this; just disgusting to me.”
Allen said he’s finally turning the corner for weight loss after years of trying, sidelined for so long by mental and physical issues from his time overseas. The Chick-Fil-A order wasn’t even for him, it was for his wife, Olymphia. “I couldn’t believe that they would write something like that so publicly and to be just so disrespectful,” said Olymphia. She confronted a manger who told her that the cashier thought the name was ‘BIGGIE’ and the number 2 was for the lane they were in. “She said his name back to him 3 different times, so no there was no miscommunication,” said Olymphia. “The miscommunication came into play because she didn’t think we would receive that receipt.”
The franchise owner of the Goodyear location told Arizona’s Family that he’s investigating the issue and said the customer’s experience was clearly not acceptable. He told us that he would meet with the Maricopa couple but the couple said he hasn’t. Meanwhile, Allen said he will use the insult as inspiration to meet his goal of living a healthier life. “All I can do is move on one day at a time,” said Allen. Arizona’s Family sent several requests to Chick-Fil-A’s corporate office and have not heard back.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/arizona-veteran-says-chick-fil-a-employee-made-fun-of-his-weight-on-receipt/article_6caed92b-fa0e-5489-b53b-a92b99296121.html
Photo Credit: kmov.com