Keke Palmer: Tyler Perry offered to cover treatment for my ‘traumatic’ skin
Actress Keke Palmer has been struggling with troubled skin for years, recently revealing that director Tyler Perry once offered to cover the cost of correcting the issue.
“I remember when I was 14 and Tyler Perry pulled my mom aside at the NAACP awards and literally said, ‘I would pay for her to go to a dermatologist, to the best dermatologist, to help her with her skin,’” Palmer recalls in a clip from People. “So what I’ve dealt with, with my skin, has been so traumatic and big that people have literally reached into their own pockets to help me.”
The 27-year-old later added, “I’m grateful to Tyler Perry to this day. I don’t tell many people that story, but I was so grateful to him for helping me because he had the resources and he was paying it forward. And he was giving me that kind of first introduction to doing that personal care and knowing that I don’t have to live like that. If there’s something I want to improve about myself, there are people that can help me with that.”
“I had to go to so many specialists, that a lot of people don’t have the money to even go to one doctor,” she said.
The “Hustlers” actress recently shared an unfiltered photo of her facial acne, revealing that she never knew her PCOS was the cause of it all along.
“Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome has been attacking me from the inside out my entire life and I had no idea,” Palmer captioned her Instagram photos. “My acne has been so bad that people in my field offered to pay for me to get it fixed. I tried EVERYTHING.”
via: https://pagesix.com/2020/12/19/keke-palmer-tyler-perry-offered-to-cover-treatment-for-my-traumatic-skin/
Photo Credit: Instagram
Lil’ Kim drops sexy new clothing collection for PrettyLittleThing
Lil’ Kim is still the queen bee when it comes to style.
And on Thursday, the 46-year-old rap legend unveiled her new clothing line for PrettyLittleThing, which includes sexy snake-print looks, see-through mesh dresses, shiny vinyl separates and more.
“The thing I love is that it’s a little bit of me mixed with PrettyLittleThing. You guys can get beautiful looks that are so affordable,” Lil’ Kim said in a press release.
“I wanted to stay true to the PLT aesthetic and show everyone that I’m a real stylist and visionary. This collection was designed by me and I’m super proud of that.”
Prices start at $10 for an animal-print face mask, and top out at $190 for a floor-length faux fur coat and sparkling mesh body-con dress.
“I’ve been a huge fan of Kim for years and after her performance at our New York Fashion Week show I knew she would be the perfect fit to launch our Partywear collection,” said PrettyLittleThing CEO Umar Kamani.
“She has worked so closely with our design team bringing her version to life, recreating some of her most iconic looks which I know her fans will recognize.”
Head to PrettyLittleThing.com to shop the full collection.
via: https://pagesix.com/2020/12/18/lil-kim-drops-sexy-new-clothing-line-for-prettylittlething/?_ga=2.134016969.618904403.1608253016-1483909753.1590005431
Photo Credit: PrettyLittleThing
Temp travel nurses are making $11K a week to give COVID-19 vaccines
Travel nurses are raking in big bucks as the city’s public hospital system is filing its ranks with temps to give COVID shots, some earning as much as $11,000 a week.
The Health + Hospitals Corp. is supplementing its staff during the coronavirus outbreak with travel nurses from across the country who come for weeks or months at a time.
One local RN said she was recruited to do COVID-19 vaccinations at a rate of $70 an hour for a 40-hour week plus a stipend of $2,200 for a total of $5,000 a week. But she said she met other nurses at an orientation session and some said they would be pulling down $11,000 a week.
“If it was … to work in the ICU or the [emergency room], then it’s kind of like hazard pay,” she said. “But this is just to deliver immunizations.”
The nurse was recruited by Eminent, a Tennessee-based staffing agency which said it has been working with the public hospital system since April.
The system runs 11 hospitals including Elmhurst, which was overwhelmed with sick and dying patients at the height of the spring outbreak.
“We have several hundred people placed up there,” said Janet Tracy, the agency’s director of business development.
She said the nurses were placed at several H+H hospitals and declined to provide any information on how much they were getting paid.
Michael Fazio, who runs the Prime Staffing agency in Manhattan, said the company works with both H+H and the city’s private hospitals to provide nurses. He said the need has picked up in recent weeks similar to the spring surge when travel nurses poured into the Big Apple.
“The second we put 150 nurses in and I think ‘OK, we’ll settle for a few days,’ bang we get another 250 needs,” he said.
The Prime Staffing nurses are typically paid $110 to $120 a hour, including a weekly stipend for expenses in New York. The agency provides housing, usually putting them up in one of the city’s hotels.
He said the greatest need was for RNs to work in ICUs, emergency departments and on medical-surgical units.
Fazio said hospitals were trying to stay ahead of the rising number of coronavirus patients.
“Until we get this vaccine out there, they just don’t know what the end result is so they don’t want to not be prepared,” he said.
The hospitals contract with the the staffing agencies which then recruit, screen and pay the nurses.
A Health + Hospitals spokesman said it brought on 43 registered nurses, 16 licensed practical nurses and three nurse leaders for the immunization effort, as well as other nurses for other areas. He would not comment on how much they were being paid or the amount spent by the system this year on travel nurses.
“In light of increasing Covid-19 infections, we are onboarding additional staff to ensure that there is adequate support across affected clinical areas in our system,” said Christopher Miller.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/19/travel-nurses-are-making-11k-a-week-to-give-covid-vaccines/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
A homeless man sentenced to life in prison for a $20 marijuana sale is freed after 12 years
(CNN) — In 2008, Fate Winslow was approached by a plain-clothed undercover police officer in Shreveport, Louisiana, looking for some marijuana.
Winslow, recently homeless at the time, borrowed a friend’s bike and came back 10 minutes later with two small bags of marijuana worth $20, according to the Innocence Project New Orleans, who represented Winslow.
The officer arrested Winslow. And because Winslow had three priors — a burglary of a business when he was 17 in 1985, a car burglary in 1995 and possession of cocaine when he was 36 — the $20 sale landed Winslow a life sentence, according to IPNO.
On Wednesday, Winslow walked free after his case was resentenced for 12 years, with credit for time already served.
His case highlights the issues within the criminal justice system, IPNO said in a statement.
“There are hundreds of individuals serving life sentences for nonviolent crimes in Louisiana,” said Jee Park, Winslow’s attorney and the executive director of IPNO. “Instead of throwing the book at Mr. Winslow and sentencing him to life imprisonment just because we could, does not mean that was constitutional, legal and humane. He received an obscenely excessive sentence given his life circumstances and crime, and today, we are correcting that unconstitutional, inhumane sentence.”Returning to magic.For those longing for The Most Magical Place on Earth we’re thrilled to say: welcome.Ad By Walt Disney World Resort See More
The District Attorney’s office, according to the IPNO, agreed that Winslow did not receive effective counsel at his original sentencing. The office has agreed to the relief sought by Winslow in his Application for Postconviction Relief, the IPNO said.
CNN reached out to the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office but has not received a response.
With 15 states and Washington DC having legalized recreational cannabis, the drug has become a multi-billion dollar industry in the US, although it remains illegal under federal law.
As states legalize marijuana’s recreational use, more advocates have called for the expungement of marijuana-related criminal convictions. After legalizing cannabis in 2019, for example, Illinois offered relief to roughly 770,000 residents with marijauna-related offenses on their records, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.
New York made a similar move in 2019, though recreational marijuana is not legal in the state. More than 150,000 people had their marijuana convictions sealed in the state after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law in July.
“My dad and I got closer while he was imprisoned,” Faith Winslow Canada, Winslow’s daughter, said in a statement. “I cannot wait to have my dad back fully in my life. Twelve years is a long time. Too long. He deserves a second chance and I am so glad he is getting one.”
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/a-homeless-man-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-a-20-marijuana-sale-is-freed/article_2285d713-4493-5a42-ae56-3990120263df.html
Photo Credit: Innocence Project New Orleans
ICU nurse’s home burns down while she was at work treating COVID-19 patients
An Oklahoma ICU nurse has been left homeless for the holidays after her house burned down while she was at work treating COVID-19 patients.
Tina Irwin was working a 12-hour shift at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City when her neighbor called to tell her that her home was on fire, according to KOCO News 5.
Three of the single mother’s four children were at home when the fire started, the outlet reported.
“I got ahold of my daughter … the terrifying scream. Never heard a scream like this,” Irwin told KOCO 5.
“The flames were … I couldn’t believe. I’m a single mom and just walking up and everything gone.”
Irwin was able to recover some keepsakes, including photographs and her daughter’s graduation cap.
Amid the recovered items was also the firefighter movie “Ladder 49,” which Irwin said was ironic.
Thankfully, Irwin’s son was able to lead his sisters and their pets to safety and no one in the family sustained any injuries.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Meanwhile, community members and well-wishers have donated nearly $20,000 to the family on a GoFundMe page.
“They will need the basic necessities for the next couple of weeks, but if we could bless her family financially, any amount would help while they pick up the pieces, especially during this holiday season,” the fundraising plea reads.
In a Facebook post, Irwin thanked her neighbors for coming to her aide, and said she is trying to stay positive.
“I am receiving so many texts and posts with much needed words of encouragement and offers to help. I want each and every one of you to know how much this means to our family… I woke up this morning praying this was just a nightmare but when I opened my eyes it became surreal. I immediately realized baby steps was all I can do. We are safe, warm, together and food to eat, we are off to a good start,” the post reads.
Irwin has been working 12-hour days at the hospital since the start of the pandemic.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/18/icu-nurses-home-burns-down-while-she-was-treating-covid-19-patients/
Photo Credit: GoFundMe
Teen fatally stabbed while defending mother from domestic attack
AUSTIN, Minn. — A teenage boy stepped in to save his mother from an attack by her husband, only to end up being fatally stabbed by the man, authorities said.
Authorities are calling the teen a hero, noting that five younger children were hiding upstairs during the attack Tuesday and were not hurt.
According to criminal charges, Jaime Vaca, 27, and his wife were arguing in their bedroom when one of the younger children got the teenage boy to help. The teen kicked in the bedroom door as Vaca was choking his mother. Vaca stopped when the son intervened, grabbed a knife and stabbed the boy, the charges say.
Vaca was charged Wednesday in Mower County District Court with second-degree murder and first-degree assault. He was scheduled to make his first court appearance Friday, according to the Star Tribune.
Austin Police Chief David McKichan said in a Facebook post that the violence prompted “one of the most challenging and tragic calls I can recall in our city’s history.”
The complaint said officers found the woman outside with a stab wound to the neck and her son bleeding on a couch. Vaca was hiding in a bathroom with a knife, which he refused to drop. He was subdued with a stun gun. The officers found five children hiding upstairs.
Vaca allegedly told detectives he stabbed the boy then went upstairs and kissed the other kids goodbye because he intended to kill himself. When a detective told Vaca the boy died, he replied, “I’m a murderer,” the complaint says.
Authorities haven’t released the names of the woman or the son. But McKichan commended the boy’s actions.
“Despite everyone’s best efforts, we were unable to save the young man who acted the most heroically of anyone yesterday. All of us wanted a different outcome for him,” McKichan wrote on Facebook. “What he did in the defense of his family was incredible and should be recognized. His love for his mother and his siblings was proven without a doubt and all who responded and have knowledge of the investigation were moved by his actions. He saved their lives.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/18/teen-fatally-stabbed-while-defending-mother-from-domestic-attack/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Two women brawl over PS5 at Walmart
Two women wound up in a knock-down, hair-dragging battle over a PS5 game console at a North Carolina Walmart this week, leaving both apparently bruised and empty-handed.
The two women exchanged punches over the hot ticket item at a Walmart in Charlotte on Dec. 13, TMZ reported.
Video of their confrontation has since gone viral.
A woman with long braids can be seen shouting at another woman with a black hoodie, “What the f–k are you gonna do?”
At one point, a man in a motorized scooter and a woman in a red mask try to intervene but the woman in braids continues to shout, video shows.
The women then get into a fistfight in the electronic section, ending with the woman in braids being knocked down flat on the ground.
Cops responded to the scene but the women left the store before officers arrived — apparently without a PS5, according to TMZ.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/18/two-women-brawl-over-ps5-at-walmart/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Hillsong Church rife with ‘inappropriate’ sex, members claimed
Hillsong staffers used the church like a seedy dating service, “sleeping around” with volunteers and asking them to send nude pictures — according to a group of volunteers who allegedly complained about the situation.
The whistleblowers also claimed the organization — which has been rocked by recent revelations that its former leader, Carl Lentz, had multiple tawdry affairs — was “a breeding ground for unchecked abuse.”
Page Six is told that in 2018 a group of former “high-level” volunteers — and one who was still a volunteer at the time — sent a letter to the trendy ministry’s leaders warning of “verified, widely circulated stories of inappropriate sexual behavior amongst staff/interns.”
We’re told that one person employed by the church was asked to step down after it was revealed that, as the letter put it, he had “multiple inappropriate sexual relationships with several female leaders and volunteers and was verbally, emotionally, and according to one woman, physically abusive in his relationships with these women.”
The group claimed that another church member even caught the same employee “having sex” with a church leader.
Meanwhile, the letter accused another male staffer of “not respecting physical and sexual boundaries within dating relationships with female church volunteers,” including having “sex with a 19-20-year-old female team member.”
The group claimed in the letter that there are only “vague or absent sexual harassment/sexual assault” policies at the church, and that the organization fosters a “culture of silence and fear.”
The group added, “This environment is dangerous and a breeding ground for unchecked abuse.”
The letter also claimed that the church’s volunteers feared verbal abuse and “harsh words, belittlement, name-calling from certain pastors and staff.”
It accused one pastor of “losing his temper, bullying, yelling and outright screaming at other volunteers and leaders.” When someone spoke to staff about the pastor, they were told, “that’s just how they are — it’s their personality/culture.”
We’re told the letter was sent to seven of the top leaders in the US branch of the church, including Lentz. It’s unclear how the church responded to the letter or the allegations made in it.
Lentz — who founded the American wing of the superchurch, which began in Australia — was fired in November after it was revealed that he had cheated on his wife this year.
In was subsequently revealed that he’d had a number of other affairs.
Hillsong has counted Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Chris Pratt and Kourtney Kardashian among its congregation, among many other celebrities.
via: https://pagesix.com/2020/12/17/hillsong-rife-with-inappropriate-sex-members-claimed/?_ga=2.199491817.618904403.1608253016-1483909753.1590005431
Photo Credit: SplashNews.com
Atlantic City auctions off chance to blow up major Trump property
Locals in Atlantic City, New Jersey, will have a unique opportunity next month — the chance to blow up a casino belonging to president Donald Trump. The winner will be picked through a fundraiser for a charity in the area for children and teens.
Mr Trump’s property was being used as a casino since 1984 until it shut down in 2014 and fell into a state of disrepair. The demolition work had already begun early this year but the remaining structure is set to be blown up on 29 January, just nine days after the swearing-in of the president-elect Joe Biden.
Now authorities have decided to make the destruction of the property a fundraiser. The person who will press the button will be decided through a live bidding process on 19 January, with the honour going to the highest bidder.
“Local buyers can push the button as close as safely possible,” to “implode Trump plaza for charity,” the listing said.
“Some of Atlantic City’s iconic moments happened there, but on his way out, Donald Trump openly mocked Atlantic City, saying he made a lot of money and then got out,” the Associated Press quoted Mayor Marty Small as saying. “I wanted to use the demolition of this place to raise money for charity.”
The money would benefit the charity Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City, and the mayor hopes it will raise in excess of $1m. The organisation provides after-school and summer recreation, education and career-training programmes for Atlantic City children and teens.
Mr Trump, who was a real estate developer before becoming a reality TV star, opened the casino in a prime spot at the centre of Atlantic City’s Boardwalk, where the Atlantic City Expressway deposited cars entering the resort. It was the site of many high-profile boxing matches, which Mr Trump would regularly attend.
It closed in 2014, one of four Atlantic City casinos to shut down that year, followed by another former Trump casino, the Taj Mahal, in 2016. That property has since reopened as the Hard Rock casino.
Mr Trump at one point owned three casinos in the city. The third casino, Trump Marina, was sold to Texas billionaire Tilman Fertitta in 2011 and is now called the Golden Nugget.
Mr Trump cut ties with Atlantic City in 2009 aside from a 10 per cent fee for the use of his name on what were then three casinos in the city. That stake was extinguished when billionaire Carl Icahn took ownership of the company out of bankruptcy court in February 2016.
via: https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/cm/atlantic-city-auctions-off-chance-134631219.html
Photo Credit: AP
Colombian woman killed after beheading owl on video
A woman who posted a video of herself beheading an owl on social media was reportedly shot and killed Sunday by two assailants outside her home in Colombia.
Mileydis Aldana, whom the internet dubbed “Owl Killer” after she posted the gruesome clip, was killed Sunday when a pair of men on motorcycles opened fire outside her home in Corozal.
Aldana was leaving her home when the incident occurred, according to the Daily Mail.
She was rushed to a local hospital by family members who heard the shots but was pronounced dead on arrival.
She was questioned by police in June after they were made aware of a video showing Aldana decapitating a white barn owl, but she was not charged, the outlet reported.
Police have released no motive for the slaying, though Aldana had reportedly received several death threats on social media relating to the incident.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/17/woman-dubbed-as-owl-killer-assassinated-in-latin-america/
Photo Credit: twitter