Dozens of dead cows seen floating in Missouri River in North Dakota
BISMARCK, North Dakota (Bismarck Tribune) — Anywhere from 30 to 100 dead cattle were believed to be floating in the Missouri River on Monday, according to state Department of Environmental Quality spokeswoman Jennifer Skjod.
It was not immediately clear who owned the cattle that apparently wandered onto the ice and broke through north of Bismarck-Mandan.
The Oliver County Sheriff’s Department didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The North Dakota Stockmen’s Association didn’t immediately have any details.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/dozens-of-dead-cows-seen-floating-in-missouri-river-in-north-dakota/article_520f36c1-79e7-5894-bf42-0d7ed147f56e.html?block_id=991246
Photo Credit: Tom Stromme/Bismarck Tribune via CNN Wire
Man allegedly propped up dead wife’s body while kids opened Christmas gifts – “Mommy ruined Christmas” he allegedly told the children
A California man killed his wife — then propped up her body on a sofa for their children as they opened presents on Christmas morning, prosecutors alleged this week.
William Wallace, 39, allegedly told the kids that his 26-year-old wife, Za’Zell Preston, was drunk as they unwrapped presents at their Anaheim home in front of her body, the Orange County Register reported.
The disturbing scene from December 2011 was described as Wallace’s murder trial got underway Monday.
“This Christmas story does not have a happy ending, and unfortunately this is not just a story, it is real life,” Heather Brown, senior deputy district attorney, told jurors.
Prosecutors allege that the couple — who shared a newborn son, as well as Preston’s two daughters, then ages 3 and 8 — had gone to a neighbor’s Christmas Eve party before her sudden death almost a decade ago.
One neighbor said they heard the couple arguing later that night after they returned, the outlet reported.
Wallace allegedly told one of Preston’s relatives that “we were drinking and during the argument I tossed her around a bit.”
The next morning, Wallace dragged his wife’s body from the bedroom to the living room, where he placed her on the couch with sunglasses on, Brown said.
“Mommy ruined Christmas, she got drunk and ruined Christmas,” he allegedly told the children.
It’s unclear who called 911 but when paramedics arrived, she was slumped over on the couch, prosecutors said.
Police discovered blood throughout the apartment, in addition to holes punched in walls and a door that was off its hinges.
Wallace was arrested and has remained in custody on $1 million bail for nine years as he awaited trial, the newspaper reported.
His lawyer argued that Wallace wasn’t responsible for Preston’s sudden death — insisting that she died from injuries after she drunkenly tripped and fell into a glass table.
“Mr. Wallace is being accused of something that is not his fault,” Heather Moorhead told jurors. “You will hear about a relationship that was full of arguing and yelling, but also a lot of love.”
If convicted of first-degree murder, Wallace could face up to 25 years to life in prison.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/03/10/william-wallace-allegedly-propped-up-dead-wifes-body-while-kids-opened-presents/
Photo Credit: Family Handout
Fitness-obsessed dad made daughter sign ‘contract’ to never get fat – also beat his children with spoons and even choked one of his sons, a report says
A fitness-obsessed British man made his daughter sign a lifelong “contract” promising to never get fat — and weighed her almost daily as he ruled his family with an iron first, according to a report.
Rachid Khadla, 56, faces charges of child cruelty and assault over his alleged treatment of his now-adult daughter, Amira, and sons, Hicham and Karim, Hyde News & Pictures reported.
“I, Amira Khadla, will never let myself get fat. I will do lots of exercise to make sure I will never get fat, even until I die,” Khadla’s daughter wrote in her 2012 agreement, a court heard.
Amira’s domineering dad also allegedly assaulted her — regularly hitting her with a spoon, punching her in the chest and even once throwing a chair at her — and decided what she could wear, whom she could see and what she could watch on TV, according to the news agency.
The fitness fanatic, from Windsor just outside London, was always consumed with his kids’ girth and would weigh them to make sure they didn’t pack on the pounds, it said.
He also choked his now-18-year-old son and beat the children with spoons if he believed they had misbehaved, the court heard Tuesday.
Khadla’s wife of 27 years, Sarah, did not intervene in the abuse, but supported his prosecution, saying he had a “quick temper,” according to the report.
The father was reportedly “aggravated” by his younger son, Hicham, who had learning difficulties. In October 2019, he allegedly attacked the boy for being too slow when he was cleaning his sister’s room.
“He punched Hicham to the chest a number of times and then pushed him onto his sister’s bed,” prosecutor Alex Krikler said.
“He then placed both hands around his neck and strangled him for quite some time — five to 10 seconds — before pulling him up, punching him to the chest and walking away,” he said. “Hicham had tried to say ‘stop’ but had been unable to speak.
“He could not breathe and although the marks left by the strangulation were relatively minor, the incident was extremely frightening,” Krikler added.
Hicham told his mother the next day that his father had “crossed a line,” then shared his ordeal with schoolmates while the family celebrated his sister’s university graduation.
The boys told their teachers what Hicham had told them and the staff informed police, who arrested Khadla that evening.
“For the most minor of transgressions at home, he said that he would regularly get ‘the spoon,’” Krikler told the jury.
“His father would make him put his hands out and would smack the palms of his hands with a wooden spoon. He also described how his father would push and punch him and on occasion throw things at him,” he said.
“The abuse was not just physical. The defendant would also threaten extreme violence, that he would ‘splatter his brains across the ceiling and kill him.’ His father would tell him that he was weak,” Krikler added.
The elder son, Karim, now 26, recounted “the control, the temper and the violence” — and being struck in the head so forcefully when he was 15 that it knocked him over.
Karim left home and cut all ties with the family before the allegations emerged.
Krikler said the mother “describes the control he exerted over the family and how he had a quick temper and would get angry for no reason. That anger she describes as being directed towards the children.”
Khadla claimed he attacked Hicham in “self-defense,” saying he was afraid of his enraged son so he tried to restrain him.
“When asked how he would discipline his children, he said when they were younger, he would smack them on the bottom, but otherwise he said that he had never beaten or physically chastised them,” Kirkler said.
“He denied threatening his children or physically hurting them, saying that he sometimes shouted, but that was it. He denied controlling his children.”
Khadla faces three counts of child cruelty and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/03/10/fitness-fanatic-made-daughter-sign-contract-to-never-get-fat/
Photo Credit: Vagner Vidal/Hyde News & Pictures
British escaped inmate busted after venturing out to buy ‘Call of Duty’
Clint Butler, a 36-year-old British man, had eluded police for months after escaping from jail in November. But the jig was up after he ventured out of hiding to buy a copy of “Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War,” according to the West Midlands Police.
The fugitive — who had served 14 years of a 17-year sentence for robbery and weapons possession — was caught Jan. 13 in Birmingham after officers observed him and a friend suspiciously change directions after spotting police, according to the press release.
When an officer asked Butler and his companion why they were in town during the pandemic lockdown, his friend replied, “I’ve come to get the new ‘Call of Duty’ because I can’t sit around in lockdown,” officials said.
The fugitive admitted he was carrying marijuana, and allegedly gave police a fake name, according to officials.
When the officers said they’d be running the dimwitted duo’s information, Butler confused the violent video game for real life and attacked the cops, throwing kicks and punches, police said.
He’s now back behind bars and is set to do an extra two years for breaking out of jail and attacking the officers.
“This was great work by our officers, acting on instinct that there was something not quite right and then challenging the men,” West Midlands Police Superintendent Nick Rowe said.
“The situation escalated really quickly, but both PCs put their training to good effect by restraining Butler, subduing him and getting him safely in handcuffs, while also calling for back-up from officers nearby.”
via: https://nypost.com/2021/03/08/uk-fugitive-busted-after-venturing-out-to-buy-call-of-duty/
Photo Credit: Jam Press
Florida 15-year-old charged with kidnapping, killing real estate agent
A 15-year-old Florida boy allegedly held a man hostage at gunpoint, robbed him of $1,000 and then shot him to death, according to authorities.
The victim, a 37-year-old Fort Lauderdale real estate agent named Stefano Barbosa, was on his way to a meeting with tenants on Feb. 1 when a masked, armed teen accosted him, police said.
Barbosa was forced at gunpoint to drive to a nearby bank and take $1,000 out of an ATM in separate $500 withdrawals, according to investigators, who reviewed bank documents.
The suspect, Henry Lee Lewis III, allegedly had Barbosa drive a few miles away and then shot him in the chest at point-blank range, according to court records. The car crashed off the road, through a fence and into a tree, and the suspect allegedly fled on foot.
A nearby homeowner heard the crash and called police, who found Barbosa unresponsive with a bullet wound. An autopsy later ruled the death a homicide.
School workers were able to identify Lewis from surveillance video, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported, and investigators searching his phone allegedly found a story about the victim in his browser history.
He has a rap sheet dating back to a firearms charge when he was just 12, according to the paper.
Lewis had already been in custody on unrelated charges when Fort Lauderdale police identified him as a suspect in Barbosa’s slaying.
The teen faces charges as an adult of second-degree murder and armed robbery.
A judge ordered him held without bond.
Broward State Attorney Harold F. Pryor said in a statement that the decision to prosecute the 15-year-old as an adult had to do with consideration over the maximum punishment.
“These types of decisions are very difficult to make but I believe this is the correct decision in this case and in these circumstances,” he said. “This young person’s issues are so significant that they require treatment, help and services beyond what the juvenile justice system can provide at this time. If this case were to be handled as a juvenile matter, he would have to be released from the juvenile justice system at age 18.”
He added that a juvenile charge would limit the punishment to just three years of incarceration, and post-release supervision would end when the suspect turns 21.
Lewis pleaded not guilty Tuesday.
Barbosa was born in Campinas, Brazil, and graduated from Miami Palmetto High School in 2001, according to an obituary. He attended Penn State and returned to Florida to kick off his real estate career. He was into scuba diving, sailing, cycling and aviation.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/03/09/florida-15-year-old-charged-with-kidnapping-killing-real-estate-agent/
Photo Credit: Zillow
Anti-Cuomo billboard in Albany takes swipe at governor’s ‘nipple rings’
New billboard messages demanding Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s impeachment appeared in Albany on Tuesday — with one mocking the nipple rings that appeared to jut out under his official state shirt last year.
“6 strikes → CUOMO’S OUT — Free the Nipple, Fire the Boob,” one digital slogan says in hot pink and white letters against a black background, according to a mock-up posted on Twitter.
Another says, “I AM ONE MORE WOMAN — Impeach CUOMO,” while a third features an image of a bald eagle and the words “MAKE PUBLIC THE CUOMO ADMINISTRATION FBI INVESTIGATION!”
The poke at Cuomo’s nipples — amid spiraling accusations of sexual misconduct and other inappropriate behavior — stems from a series of photos shot on March 31, 2020, as he doffed a black coat bearing the state seal to reveal a white golf shirt underneath.
The photos also seem to show mysterious protrusions on Cuomo’s upper chest that online commenters suggested were the result of jewelry attached to his nipples.
A Cuomo spokesman denied the speculation at the time, saying, “Of course not, sorry, internet.”
The governor’s ex-girlfriend, celebrity chef Sandra Lee, also told Page Six that the nipple-ring theory was “nonsense,” but didn’t deny that Cuomo had any piercings.
The new electronic messages were commissioned by political activist Kat Sullivan, who said she’s paying $3,000 to have them and four others displayed on a billboard along I-787 near the Capitol building through Friday.
They appear in rotation, once a minute for 10 seconds each, she said.
Other messages target top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa and US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) for not unequivocally denouncing Cuomo over the sexual harassment allegations against him.
“I’m not sure that the people who are around Cuomo understand the gravity of things that are done wrong in New York state,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan said she dropped a plan to shame state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins when the Yonkers Democrat on Sunday called for Cuomo’s resignation.
Spokespeople for Cuomo and Gillibrand didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/03/09/anti-cuomo-billboard-takes-swipe-at-governors-nipple-rings/
Photo Credit: @AcidSullivan via Twitter
Cops were called to the scene a day before boy, 10, was beaten to death
The NYPD is investigating the actions of two cops who were called for a domestic dispute at a Harlem building a day before a 10-year-old boy was found beaten to death there — but decided there was nothing troubling afoot.
“I have directed the Office of the Chief of Department to review the police response on Friday to determine if the officers’ actions were consistent with all department procedures and whether our current procedures need to be revised,” Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said Tuesday in a statement.
Ryan Cato, 34, the boy’s stepfather, was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of endangering the welfare of a child for Ayden Wolfe’s tragic slaying inside the family’s fourth-floor apartment on Saturday.
Shea said that the day before, on March 5, a person inside the Saint Nicholas Houses at 260 West 131st called 911 to report an argument on the fourth floor.
“The 911 caller could not provide an apartment number but stated that there was banging and screaming heard in the hallway and that a child was present,” he said.
Two officers were dispatched to the building and went to the fourth floor to listen for any sound of a continued dispute where they remained for 12 minutes, according to the statement.
They dialed the 911 caller twice but the call went to voicemail. “After not detecting any ongoing dispute or contact with a caller, they resumed patrol,” Shea said.
The next day, at about 2:25 p.m., police returned to the building after Cato called 911. They found the boy naked and unconscious in the bathtub and covered from head to toe in bruises and cuts.
The child, who neighbors described as a “little angel,” was rushed to Harlem Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
According to the criminal complaint, a neighbor heard “banging and thuds against a wall and a man yelling” followed by whimpering on March 5 at about 3 p.m.
The same neighbor heard similar sounds the next day emanating from the apartment at about 11:45 a.m. A man was yelling, “‘You thought yesterday was something? You think this s–t is a game?” the complaint alleges.
An autopsy revealed that Wolfe had suffered countless injuries — both new and old — including multiple broken ribs and lacerations to his spleen, liver, kidney and renal vein.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/03/09/nypd-called-to-the-scene-a-day-before-boy-was-beaten-to-death/
Photo Credit: GoFundMe
Missouri family gives up on 911 after hearing automated please hold message for a 4 year old unconscious then seizing child
KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) — When you call 9-1-1, you expect to be able to talk with some immediately, But if you live in Kansas City, be prepared to sit on hold and wait.
You’ll likely hear a recorded message before you get a dispatcher.
One Kansas City family we talked to were stunned to get a recorded message when they called 9-1-1 seeking help for a child who suddenly went unconscious and started having seizures.
“We literally have a 4-year-old baby unconscious, seizing on the floor and we can’t get ahold of 911,” said Simone Grantham, the child’s aunt. “It was scary.”
Multiple family members grabbed phones and called for help for little Nathan. They all got the recording. Then they tried to call a precinct directly and got another automated message. They’re not alone.
Our investigative team has revealed the startling statistics on 911 hold times. The average wait time in four months of last year was longer than 20 seconds. That’s outside the national standards. Even worse, the maximum hold times in two months of last year was more than 12 minutes.
The family decided the best way to get help for the boy was to drive him to the hospital themselves.
“We got him in the car he had a seizure in my arms,” said Kajaun Johnson, Nathan’s dad. “I told him ‘Stay with me. We are going to get through this and get you there.”
Their story has a happy ending. Nathan is fine. But the family has no confidence is the 9-1-1 system. It failed them when they needed help.
“I was dumbfounded. It was crazy! Because how are you an emergency line? In an emergency, we can’t get a hold of you,” said Grantham.
To be fair, it’s possible that if the family had kept holding, their call might have been answered within seconds. We learned that on the day the family called for help, the average hold time was 12 seconds. The hour they called someone waited one minute and 21 seconds.
We also learned that on that same day, someone waited on hold for three minutes and 51 seconds.
Still, the best advice from the city is to be patient and wait. If you hang up and redial, you’ll move to the end of the hold queue.
Kansas City is unique when it comes to hold times. We checked other departments in the Kansas City Metro, and no other department struggles with long waits like KCMO sometimes does.
We even checked with other cities of comparable size. All who have responded so far are within the national guidelines. In Oklahoma City, 97% of 911 calls are answered with in 20 seconds. In Denver, the average wait last year was 6.06 seconds. Seattle’s average wait time was 1.9 seconds.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/missouri-family-gives-up-on-911-after-hearing-automated-please-hold-message/article_56041c47-3a1e-584d-abc4-9b4f1a7daadb.html
Photo Credit: kake.com
Idaho protesters burn masks at state capitol – “I will not self suffocate”
Protesters in Idaho staged a mask burning event at the state capital on Saturday, as frustration over coronavirus-related disruptions to daily life continue to fester.
At least three lawmakers from the state legislature and the Lt. Gov Janice McGeachin were there to cheer them on, according to local media reports from the scene.
Video posted to Twitter suggests that most of the actual burning of masks took place inside small, self-contained fires lit in garbage bins. At least one person was filmed burning a picture of Joe Biden.
Many protesters, often with children in tow, displayed signs reading “I will not self-suffocate,”
“We’re standing here today to rein back government. To reestablish our Republican form of government, a government that has balance between the branches,” said Daar Moon, a protest organizer, in a Twitter video. “It’s a widespread grassroots movement, an uprising in that regard, it’s come off very well today here in Boise.”
Last week Idaho legislators introduced a bill to make mask mandates illegal. Though there is no current statewide requirement, mask mandates are in force in seven of 11 Idaho counties, according to the Associated Press.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/03/06/idaho-protesters-burn-masks-at-state-capital/
Photo Credit: Nathan Howard
CNN host Chris Cuomo gets ripped for joking he is ‘black on the inside’
CNN’s Chris Cuomo is getting ripped as being “f—ing offensive” after joking that he is “black on the inside.”
The 50-year-old brother of embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was quickly roasted after a clip was shared Friday showing him hand over to CNN colleague Don Lemon by singing the theme to 1970s’ TV show “Good Times.”
Laughing awkwardly with his eyes lowered, Lemon asked his fellow host how he knew the words to the series about a black family living in a public housing project in Chicago.
“You know I’m black on the inside,” Cuomo responded.
While Lemon appeared to skip the comment, it was quickly picked up on the Twitterverse.
“It’s f–ing offensive,” tweeted Sister2Sister magazine managing editor Aisha Staggers, who said that “Black is not a costume.”
Many commentators compared Cuomo to his politician brother — who has faced repeated calls to resign amid sexual harassment allegations — with one asking if they were “competing for s–tiest Cuomo.”
Another ripped the TV host as a “spoilt, entitled guy raised in money and privilege, who is only on tv because of his surname.”
Rev. Mary Dande said she “had to turn off the television because I’m not here for that nonsense.”
“CNN needs to have some sensitivity training with their on-air personalities,” she tweeted.
Others insisted the exchange was “hilarious” and not worthy of the anger it sparked.
Others, meanwhile, joked that commentators were misreading what he meant by being “black on the inside.”
“Maybe his heart,” @docsamson829 joked.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/03/07/cnn-host-chris-cuomo-gets-ripped-for-joking-he-is-black-on-the-inside/
Photo Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP