Virginia pastor who defiantly held church service dies of coronavirus
He practiced what he preached — then he died of coronavirus.
An evangelical pastor died of COVID-19 just weeks after proudly showing off how packed his Virginia church was — and vowing to keep preaching “unless I’m in jail or the hospital.”
In his last known in-person service on March 22, Bishop Gerald O. Glenn got his congregation at Richmond’s New Deliverance Evangelistic Church to stand to prove how many were there despite warnings against gatherings of more than 10 people.
“I firmly believe that God is larger than this dreaded virus. You can quote me on that,” he said, repeating it a second time to claps, saying that “people are healed” in his church.
Happily announcing he was being “controversial” by being “in violation” of safety protocols — with “way more than 10 people” at the church — he vowed to keep his church open “unless I’m in jail or the hospital.”
“I am essential,” he said of remaining open, adding, “I’m a preacher — I talk to God!”
On Sunday, his church announced “with an exceedingly sorrowful and heavy heart” that the pastor had died a week after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
His wife, Marcietia Glenn, is also sick with the bug, with church members offering their prayers.
Their daughter, Mar-Gerie Crawley, told WTVR that her father initially dismissed his symptoms because he has a condition that often leads to fevers and infections.
She is now urging everyone to stay home.
“It becomes very real to you,” she told WTVR after her parents’ diagnoses.
“I just beg people to understand the severity and the seriousness of this, because people are saying it’s not just about us, it’s about everyone around us.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/04/13/virginia-pastor-who-held-packed-church-service-dies-of-coronavirus/
Photo Credit: The New Deliverance Evangelistic Church
Fully-naked woman tries to book flight at New Orleans airport
A woman was arrested after trying to book a flight at New Orleans airport — fully naked — and then refusing to leave.
Mariel Vergara, 27, allegedly strolled up to the Spirit Airlines counter at Louis Armstrong International Airport Friday night without a stitch of clothing, Nola.com reported.
Airline officials told her she wouldn’t be able to travel in her current getup — or lack thereof — and asked her to leave, but she refused, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
By the time a deputy arrived, Vergara had pulled on a dress, but it was too short to cover her genitals and she had on no underwear, cops said.
She allegedly ignored orders to leave and scuffled with deputies as she was taken into custody.
She was booked on charges of obscenity, resisting arrest, battery of a police officer, simple battery and remaining in a place after being forbidden.
Vergara, of Pueblo, Colo., was being held at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna on $5,000 bond.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/04/12/fully-naked-woman-tries-to-book-flight-at-new-orleans-airport/
Photo Credit: Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office
93-year-old’s plea for more beer during coronavirus lockdown goes viral
A 93-year-old woman made a hilarious plea from the window of her Pennsylvania home, begging for an essential supply of beer during coronavirus lockdowns, according to a report.
Olive Veronesi was snapped holding up a Coors Light can and a whiteboard saying, “I need more beer” at her home in Seminole, news station KDKA reported.
The photo, which was taken by a relative, has since gone viral on Facebook, racking up more than 10,000 likes.
“It’s nice, something for a young lady,” Veronesi said, according to the report.
Photo Credit: KDKA
North Carolina woman gets coronavirus despite staying home for three weeks
A North Carolina coronavirus patient said she was infected despite staying home for the three weeks leading up to her diagnosis last Thursday, a report said.
“This is the sickest I’ve ever been and it’s the most scared I’ve ever been,” Rachel Brummert told WCNC. “I’m absolutely terrified.”
Brummert, who suffers from an autoimmune disorder, told the outlet that she last left her Charlotte home for a trip to the pharmacy in mid-March.
Because of her underlying condition, Brummert, as a precautionary measure, had kept her distance from others, including her husband, who is living in a separate room.
On one occasion, a woman who has since tested positive for the illness dropped off groceries on Brummert’s doorstep, the report said.
While Brummert didn’t come into contact with the woman, she said she retrieved the bags of food from her porch without gloves.
“I really thought I was doing everything right,” Brummert said.
“I’ve never had anything like this before,” she said. “I’ve had the flu. This is not the flu. It’s a whole other monster.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/04/13/nc-woman-gets-covid-19-despite-staying-home-for-three-weeks/
Photo Credit: twitter
Kentucky will take down license plates of people attending Easter services and order them to quarantine
Kentucky is urging residents to avoid Easter services this weekend due to the coronavirus pandemic, warning that anyone who attends in person will be ordered to quarantine for 14 days.
Officials are aware of about six churches planning to hold in-person services, state Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement. The state police will record attendees’ license plates and notify them it is a misdemeanor violation of orders issued by state health officials, the governor said.
“Local health officials then will contact the people associated with those vehicles and require them to self-quarantine for 14 days. This is the only way we can ensure that your decision doesn’t kill someone else,” Beshear said.
It’s crucial for the state to take the measures especially after an outbreak that left dozens sick and multiple people dead in Hopkins County was traced to a church revival there last month, he said.
“Folks, we shouldn’t have to do this,” he said. “What we’re asking is for you to love your neighbor as yourself. We shouldn’t have to do this.”
There are at least 1,693 coronavirus confirmed cases and 90 deaths in Kentucky as of Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins University.
“The next couple of weeks being absolutely critical not only to us blunting or flattening the curve but really protecting those that are most vulnerable, especially our seniors that are in different types of assisted living facilities,” he said.
In a tweet Friday, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who is recovering from coronavirus, criticized the governor.
“Taking license plates at church? Quarantining someone for being Christian on Easter Sunday? Someone needs to take a step back here,” Paul said.
Despite the ban on mass gatherings and travel restrictions, the governor told the state’s young residents not to worry about the Easter Bunny, who will be considered an “essential worker” and can travel and work this weekend.
The US recorded at least 2,074 deaths on Friday, the largest increase in coronavirus fatalities the country has seen since the beginning of the outbreak. So far, the total number of reported deaths is 19,882.
More than 514,000 people in the United States have tested positive, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tally of cases.
President Donald Trump has approved a disaster declaration for Kentucky in response to the coronavirus outbreak. All 50 states plus the US Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico have all received a federal disaster declaration.
The pandemic is the first time in history every state in the country is under federal disaster declaration simultaneously.
Photo Credit: kmov.com/Andy Lyons
Ja Rule dropping line of face-coverings, donates masks to the homeless
Ja Rule is donating medical masks to the homeless in New York City — and making his own line of fashionable face-coverings.
The rapper — who’s working with David Prince of Prince Management and charity group Knock, Knock Give a Sock — says he’s given out 3,000.
“Unfortunately masks are going to be a new way of life,” he told Page Six, “The homeless population are people we often forget about. These are the people who can’t stay home and social distance. But they are part of our society.”
He added, “They are hard working people but now this is becoming a real situation that they cannot dig out of and now families can end up on the street.”
Meanwhile, he’s also making masks for his Iconn brand, which sell for $20. “I wear a mask every day — that’s why I want to make something cool, because the one I had looked whack. I needed something to go with my ‘fit.” He added, “So I’m gonna have fun with it.” He says that he’ll donate a mask for every one he sells.
Photo Credit: WireImage
Bhad Bhabie’s transformation has people accusing her of blackfishing
The rapper known as Bhad Bhabie is hitting back after being accused of purposely darkening her skin.
Earlier this week Danielle Bregoli, who rose to internet fame as the “Cash Me Outside” girl from “Dr. Phil,” shared multiple videos of herself to social media sporting a noticeably darker skin tone.
The 17-year-old “Gucci Flip Flops” rapper immediately drew criticism from her more than 17.8 million followers, who accused the star of “blackfishing,” a term used when a person purposely alters their appearance to look as though they were black.
“OK, I think we can all agree she’s trying too hard to be a part of a culture she’s not,” one person commented on Bergoli’s video, while another told “bhlack bhabie” to “act her race.”
“This has to be blackfishing,” one fan wrote, while another asked “Why are you trying to look like Cardi B?”
In an article for Girls United by Essence, Brooklyn White called the act of blackfishing “racism at its core” and criticized people, like Bregoli, who adopt elements of black culture and black style for profit.
“It’s painful to watch someone cash in on your actual lifestyle and look, especially when you’re still vilified for being your authentic self,” White wrote. “How long will we crucify Black girls for being Black girls, while uplifting white women for jocking our essence?”
The controversy surrounding her latest look prompted a reaction from Bregoli, blasting her critics for picking her apart instead of focusing on COVID-19.
“Millions of people sick, thousands dying every day and y’all worried about me getting my makeup done for a photoshoot? I’m usually the wild one but y’all need to chill and focus on what’s important right now,” Bregoli said.
Several of Bregoli’s fans defended her new look, dismissing claims she was blackfishing.
“Some you never heard of makeup, filters and lighting or have seen her with makeup before and it really shows,” one supporter wrote.
“Guess what? Italians get tanned!” another argued. “Guess what? A full face of makeup makes you look darker. Get over yourselves.”
via: https://ca.style.yahoo.com/danielle-bregoli-blackfishing-new-videos-215657988.html
Photo Credit: Instagram
Family uses their time stuck inside to build daughters a mini Target and Starbucks
(KERO/CNN/Meredith) — Need to go on a Target run? Or how about grabbing a latte? In an effort to stay home, one California family decided to bring their two favorite places indoors.
Toddler Mila and baby Madilyn would usually stroll the aisles of Target with their mom Cindy Iribe, but now that’s changed.
“We haven’t been able to take her out. Usually [Target] was our place to go, and she liked to walk around and look at toys and stuff,” Iribe said. “And she already knows at Starbucks, she gets her cake pop.”
Dad Diego Gonzalez said with social distancing, the family can’t play at the park either.
“We decided to build her something indoors, and a small little project turned into a little theme project,” Gonzalez said.
In just two weeks, the family built their own mini versions of Target and Starbucks. The Target store was customized from a play set and the Starbucks was custom built from scratch.
Name tags and aprons were given to the family from a local store. The parents have stocked the play areas with real food to make them as realistic as possible.
“For me, at the end of the day watching them play and enjoy it and us knowing that we put it together as a family means everything to me,” Gonzalez said. “We don’t have to see it as a negative aspect that we have to be indoors all day.”
Photo Credit: kmov.com
Students in a MO school hold prom online after school cancels event
LADUE, Mo. – The joy of high school celebrations has been sidelined by the coronavirus. All public schools in Missouri have been closed until the end of the school year, but some students are finding creative ways to keep some traditions alive.
Ladue Horton Watkins High School’s class of 2020 missed out on walking for graduation ceremonies and cheering on the Ladue Rams in spring athletic events, but they did find a way to go to their prom.
“My girlfriend definitely named it ‘proom.’ Prom Zoom; that was definitely her. But I think we had been talking in our group chat that we should do something for prom, how about a zoom call,” said Will Minifie, a senior.
Minifie wasn’t going to let the coronavirus stop him from going to prom.
“In a few months I’ll be leaving for college, so these high school traditions are kind of like the last way I could say goodbye to a lot of my classmates,” he said.
Minifie, 18, will be shipping off to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland this fall.
The high school’s in-person prom had been scheduled for April 4 but was then canceled because of COVID-19. So students went to prom at home. Will dressed in a tuxedo form the waist up for the big night.
“And so we all dressed up and put on our clothes that we were actually planning on wearing to our prom. We talked for like four hours. I actually made a jeopardy game for us,” Minifie said.
Certainly, a prom the class of 2020 will not soon forget.
“I know it was tremendous for the morale of my girlfriend and I and my other friends that were on the Zoom chat because it means, ‘Hey, we know that this stuff is going on in the world but we’re here for you and we’re going to provide some distraction’ and I know that everybody that was on Zoom had a very good time,” Minifie said.
They students even had an after-prom Zoom party; they all changed into their pajamas.
via: https://fox2now.com/news/ladue-horton-watkins-students-hold-prom-online-after-school-cancels-event/
Photo Credit: fox2now.com
Walmart CEO says we’re in the ‘hair color’ phase of panic buying
First went the hand sanitizer, disinfectants and toilet paper.
Now hair clippers and hair dye are flying off shelves.
In recent weeks, Americans’ shopping patterns are serving as a reflection of how the coronavirus pandemic continues to evolve and affect daily lives.
“You can definitely see that as people have stayed home, their focus shifted,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on the Today Show, Friday.
After stocking up on food and consumable products, shoppers turned to puzzles, games and other timeless forms of entertainment as well as education, he said.
Now, sales are showing that — without the ability to venture to a hair salon — folks are getting shaggy.
“People are starting to need a haircut,” McMillon said. “You see more beard trimmers and hair color and things like that. It’s interesting to watch the dynamic play out.”
Here’s a look at how buying patterns have shifted in the last few weeks:
Week 1: Hand sanitizers, soaps and disinfectants
The first wave of heightened shopping showed consumers were buying up various means to protect themselves as the virus spread in the United States — masks, cleaning products and hand sanitizers.
During the week ending March 7, hand sanitizer sales skyrocketed 470% from the year before, according to Nielsen data. Aerosol disinfectant product sales shot up 385%.
Consumers nationwide were behaving as if they were preparing for a major storm.
“We are working to keep our shelves packed with products similar to when a blizzard is being called for and folks know they might be stuck at home,” Andrea Karns, vice president of sales and marketing at Karns Foods, a family-owned chain of nine stores in Pennsylvania, told CNN Business in early March.
Week 2: Toilet paper
Then, in a buying binge that flummoxed many and served as an inspiration for Covid-19 memes and calculators, shoppers stockpiled toilet paper.
Panic buying begat even more panic buying, and the run on bathroom tissue sent ripple effects through the supply chain.
“Most mills are 24 hours, 7 days a week operations already. They are running on fixed capacity,” Tom Sellars, CEO of Sellars Absorbent Materials in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, told CNN Business last month. “It’s not like there’s an idle machine that can be cranked up to increase production.”
Nielsen reported that bath tissue, facial tissue and paper towel products all saw triple-digit sales increases during the week that ended March 14. That same week, aerosol disinfectant sales spiked 519%, according to Nielsen.
Weeks 3 and 4: Spiral hams and baking yeast
As hunkering down at home transitioned to settling in, Americans turned to baking.
In the weeks ending March 21 and March 28, baking yeast sales grew more than any other consumer packaged goods product, up 647% and 457%, respectively, over the same weeks in 2019.Spiral hams were also popular, with sales spiking 622% and 413%, in that same time period, according to Nielsen.
Flour and yeast makers say there are no supply shortages of their products (plus, there’s never really a shortage of yeast). They’re just trying to play catch-up much like other manufacturers whose products are suddenly in demand.
“It’s going to be a minute for the supply chain to react to so much more demand in such a short amount of time,” Sherri Merrill, procurement manager for Bob’s Red Mill, told Quartz.
Week 5: Hair clippers and hair dye on the rise
Spiral ham was still king during the week ending April 4, but Nielsen’s data also showed that consumers were starting to gravitate toward other products to maintain their manes.
Sales of hair clippers increased 166% and hair coloring products rose 23%, from the same period a year earlier, according to Nielsen.
Americans have become do-it-yourself barbers and stylists as hair salons across the nation have temporarily shuttered to maintain social distancing measures.
Monique Campbell, owner of Endless Extensions in Dallas, told the Dallas Morning News that closing down is financially stressful, but she understands the situation.
“By asking a stylist to come to you or you going to them, it’s still very high risk,” she said, according to the report. “I don’t want to put myself at risk [of catching the coronavirus] just to make sure someone’s hair is pretty.”
via: https://fox2now.com/news/walmart-ceo-says-were-in-the-hair-color-phase-of-panic-buying/
Photo Credit: wfla.com