Texas man ‘freezes to death’ in recliner amid frigid temperatures
A Texas man reportedly “froze to death” in his recliner amid the freezing temperatures sweeping through the region.
The 60-year-old victim, who was not identified, was found dead in his chair on Wednesday after his home in Abilene lost power for three days, one of three people to die in that city, KTXS 12 reported.
The man’s wife, 72, was taken to the hospital.
“Please go check on your neighbors,” Abilene resident Josh Casey wrote on Facebook on Thursday. “A man froze to death in his recliner yesterday. His wife was beside him nearly dead. She is in the hospital still in peril. They had no power.”
The Abilene Fire Department said the temperature inside the couple’s home was about the same as the chilly temps outside.
The mercury in Abilene, about 200 miles west of Dallas, plunged to as low as -2 degrees Fahrenheit this week as a historic Arctic blast moved through the area, bringing two rare winter storms that have killed dozens and caused widespread power outages and water issues.
Two others perished in the city amid the extreme weather — a 67-year-old homeless man found dead Monday due to exposure to the elements and another victim who died Wednesday at a “local medical facility,” KTXS reported.
Abilene Fire Chief Cande Flores said the medical facility couldn’t provide adequate treatment because of loss of water pressure — a serious problem also seen elsewhere in the state.
The patient was supposed to be transferred to another facility but died before getting there.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/02/19/texas-man-freezes-to-death-in-recliner-amid-frigid-weather/
Photo Credit: Ronald W. Erdrich
Homeowners hit with electric bills as high as $17K amid Texas winter storm
Electric bills in the Lone Star State skyrocketed to as high as $17,000 per month after a historic storm and power outage sparked a high demand for heat, according to reports Friday.
Dallas-area resident Ty Williams was hit with sticker shock when his monthly bill soared from $600 last month to nearly $17,000 so far this month, according to the local station WFAA.
“How in the world can anyone pay that? I mean you go from a couple hundred dollars a month…there’s absolutely no way‚ it makes no sense,” Williams, who said he received the bill from the energy firm Griddy.
The price of power in Texas spiked from $50 to $9,000 per Megawatt in some cases due to the supply and demand disaster, according to the station.
Customers with so-called “variable or indexed” electricity plans in Texas — the only state to run its own unique stand-alone electricity grid — are partially controlled by market demand.
That caused prices to increase as Texans who didn’t lose power cranked up the heat amid brutally cold temperatures this week, an expert told NBC.
“The last thing an awful lot of people need right now is a higher electric bill — and that’s unfortunately something a lot of people will get stuck with,” said Matt Schulz, a chief industry analyst.
Royce Pierce, who lives in the Dallas suburb of Willow Park, said the electricity bill for his three-bedroom home soared to $10,000 over the past few days.
“We are hoping there will be relief,” Royce said. “This is something maybe we can skate by and tackle as time goes on but how many people can’t? A lot.”
Veronica Garcia, a Reliant Energy customer in Mansfield, Texas, said the electricity bill for her one-bedroom apartment nearly doubled to $114 for her one-bedroom apartment.
“Hopefully if they’re decent, they won’t charge people for this, because we had no control over the situation,” said Garcia, who is an administrative associate at UT Southwestern Medical Center. “Hopefully I can beat the charges and they do the right thing.”
A Reliant Energy spokeswoman told NBC that it’s offering flexible bill payment options to support customers impacted by the storm.
Griddy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/02/19/homeowners-hit-with-massive-electric-bills-amid-texas-winter-storm/
Photo Credit: Eli Hartman/Odessa American via AP
7-year-old boy in Switzerland killed by homemade igloo
A 7-year-old boy was killed in Switzerland when his homemade igloo caved in on him, police said Wednesday.
The accident occurred Tuesday while the boy was with his father in the igloo they built in the eastern Switzerland town of Tarasp.
Police in the Graubuenden region said they were both buried in the collapse, but the father was able to free himself.
With the help of others, the dad was able to locate the boy under the snow 15 minutes later.
The boy was flown to a hospital in Chur, where he succumbed to his injuries.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/02/17/7-year-old-boy-in-switzerland-killed-by-homemade-igloo/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Woman embraces hairy chest: I finally feel sexy
After years of bullying, shaving and waxing, Esther Calixte-Bea has decided to let her chest, armpit and leg hair grow — and she says she feels “sexier” than ever.
“I don’t want hair to be an obstacle anymore,” the 24-year-old artist from Montreal, Canada, told Caters News. “It has taken me most of my life for me to accept my body and embrace who I am.”
Although she may have more body hair than most women, it’s completely natural: Calixte-Bea’s ancestors are from the Wè Tribe of Ivory Coast, Africa. “The women in my great-grandmother’s time were very hairy, and it was seen as beautiful,” she said. “There is no medical explanation behind my hair — I am just a hairy person.”
For years, Calixte-Bea felt extremely insecure and depressed, even suicidal at times. “I obsessively shaved in school to make sure nobody would see my hairy chest,” she said. The artist would break out the razor if even one hair broke through. Hair removal — especially waxing — was “tremendously painful. It was more hassle than it was worth.”
But in May 2020, enough was enough. She ditched her razor and started embracing her natural look.
“I had to push myself at the start by walking out with short shorts with leg hair,” said Calixte-Bea.
After a few weeks, she felt better.
“It is the best thing I have ever done, as I feel sexier and comfortable in my own skin,” she said.
It hasn’t been the easiest transition. The young woman is sometimes met with stares from strangers. Once, someone filmed her. But online, she’s received nothing but support.
“I have received thousands of messages from women all over the globe who thought they were alone,” the Canadian said. “I have shown them that facial and body hair is nothing to be ashamed of.”
Calixte-Bea wants others to know they’re beautiful just the way they are.
“If women weren’t supposed to have hair, we wouldn’t grow it,” she said. “It is the society that tells us to shave.”
Her paintings often feature women that look like her, with hair on their bodies. It’s just another way for Calixte-Bea to normalize female body hair.
“I refuse to victimize myself because of it,” she said. “I have decided what beautiful is for me.”
via: https://nypost.com/2021/02/17/woman-embraces-her-chest-hair-i-finally-feel-sexy/
Photo Credit: artist_esie
Turkish man allegedly pushes pregnant wife off cliff after taking selfies
A Turkish man killed his pregnant wife by throwing her off a cliff after posing for selfies and then tried to cash in on her life insurance, prosecutors allege.
Hakan Aysal was arrested for murdering his 32-year-old wife Semra Aysal and their unborn baby during a vacation in Butterfly Valley in Mugla Turkey in June 2018, The Sun reported.
Aysal, 40, allegedly shoved his wife — who was seven-months pregnant — off the cliff after they took pictures. She fell 1,000 feet to her death and was killed instantly, according to the outlet.
After Serma’s death, the husband then tried to claim a life insurance policy he took out for her worth 400,000 Turkish lira, or about $57,000. But he was denied due to a police investigation.
Prosecutors charge the murder wasn’t an “accident” and was premeditated because he wanted her money.
A court has ruled that Aysal be remanded in custody for premeditated murder.
Semra’s brother, Naim Yolcu, said his brother-in-law didn’t appear to show any emotion after his sister died.
“When we went to the Forensic Medicine Institute to get the body, Hakan was sitting in the car,” recalled Yoluc during a video interview in court.
“My family and I were destroyed, but Hakan did not even appear sad.”
via: https://nypost.com/2021/02/17/turkish-man-allegedly-pushes-pregnant-wife-off-cliff-after-taking-selfies/
Photo Credit: Newsflash
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