Over 900 cars paid for each other’s meals at a Dairy Queen drive-thru in Minnesota
(CNN) — What started as a random act of kindness from one man paying for the car behind him in a Dairy Queen drive-thru resulted in over 900 cars also taking part in the pay it forward chain.
There’s no question about it: This year has been tough for so many. Some, fighting battles we may know nothing about. But at a drive-thru in Brainerd, Minnesota, over 100 miles north of Minneapolis, people stepped up in a small way to show one another that they care.
Tina Jensen, the store manager at one of the two Dairy Queens in town, told CNN a man came by the drive-thru window on Thursday and asked if he could pay for his meal and for the car behind him.
Jensen told her cashier this tends to happen once in a while but at most it lasts for 15 or 20 cars and fizzles out.
This time, the chain continued for two and a half days with over 900 cars participating, raking in $10,000 in sales, according to Jensen.
When the next customer came to the fast food chain’s window, Jensen explained what the man in front of them had done — and the acts of kindness continued to multiply.
“There’s all different types of ways to help people,” Jensen said. “I think this touched a lot of people that we didn’t even know it touched, deeper than we know. And you don’t know what’s going on in a person’s life.”
When the chain closed for the night Thursday, one car left $10 to begin the chain back up Friday morning and again on Saturday morning. Jensen provided updates on the number of cars at each day’s end on the store’s Facebook page.Benefit From a New Digital Journey to Financial Well-BeingVanguard Understands that Your Journey to Financial Well-Being Is The Result of Smart People Partnering with Smart TechnologyAd By Vanguard See More
Heidi Bruse experienced that act of kindness on Friday evening during a dinner run, she told CNN.
“During times like these it kinda restores your faith in humanity a little,” Bruse said. “The way the world is now you see a lot of anger, tension, and selfish behavior. What we witnessed was pure kindness and it was a breath of fresh air really.”
But that wasn’t even the best part. For Bruse, it was going home to tell her family that they played a role in the chain and kept it going.
“Not that we got free ice cream,” she said. “The gesture was way more valuable.”
Like so many others in the restaurant industry, the restaurant has faced some challenges adapting to new business practices during the coronavirus pandemic.
“With the lobby shutting down, being only open for take out, being able to open for half your capacity, different things like that,” have played a role in trying to keep morale high, Jensen said. Her top priority is the safety of her customers and crew with increased disinfecting and cleaning measures, she said.
Seeing how positive her staff became with every passing car paying it forward, married to the reactions of her customers when the cashier told them their meal had been taken care of, was touching, Jensen said.
“No matter what’s going on, take care of each other, be positive, be happy and don’t focus on the negative, we’ll get through it,” she said.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/over-900-cars-paid-for-each-others-meals-at-a-dairy-queen-drive-thru-in/article_1d81dc88-0140-5f61-a775-8ad9b38ea97e.html
Photo Credit: Courtesy Tina Jensen via CNN Wire
7-year-old’s bracelet making raises $20,000 for hospital pandemic gear
(CNN) — Hayley Orlinsky wanted to fundraise $200 for Chicago’s Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s hospital by making colorful rubber band bracelets.
A few months and over 8,000 bracelets later, Orlinsky, 7, has raised over $20,000, helping the hospital purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) and support research efforts.
The Chicago second-grader began the project with an apparent knack for entrepreneurship — she sold the most cookies in her girl scout troop last year — and a desire to spread kindness in response to bullies who made fun of her height.
“When I was three years old, I got bullied for being the shortest kid in the class, and my mom wrote a book about it, and it was my moment I knew I wanted to spread kindness everywhere,” Orlinsky said.
When asked if she understands what a significant financial contribution she’s made to her hometown hospital, she smiled.
“It’s definitely more than the tooth fairy gives!” she said.
Orlinsky’s mom, author Lori Orlinsky, says what started as an after school hobby quickly became a sensation.
Orlinsky has now sold bracelets to customers as far as Italy, as well as to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the Chicago White Sox and Miguel Cervantes, the lead role in Chicago’s production of “Hamilton.”
Quickly after Mayor Lightfoot posted about the bracelets, the Chicago flag colors became Orlinsky’s most in-demand bracelet design.
Orlinsky’s bracelet making has become a community effort. She says she’s gotten her friends involved, teaching bracelet making at her summer camp, and later to friends over Facetime and Zoom.
“Every day the campers had the choice to help Haley make bracelets, and she would come home with hundreds. It was really helpful to us,” said Lori Orlinsky.
Added Haley: “Yeah, because that’s when we were really in a tight squeeze.”
Orlinsky chose to donate to the Lurie Children’s hospital, having spent time in their intensive care unit at birth. She wanted to give back after hearing that healthcare workers were running low on PPE.
“$20,000 is a pretty incredible amount to raise, especially for a 7-year-old,” said Tracey McCusker, an associate director for the hospital’s foundation. “This kind of fundraising effort allows the hospital to use the money for a variety of different things. It was definitely needed at a time, when we really needed to respond rapidly to Covid-19.”
McCusker says the money has been used for PPE, but it has also helped fund the hospital’s telehealth services, development of a diagnostic test and Covid-19 research. Additionally, McCusker says the hospital has used some of the money to provide low-income communities with PPE and safety information they need to help combat the virus.
“Her support is helping, of course, inside of our hospital, but I would certainly in our greater community as well,” McCusker said.
Orlinsky says she wants to keep making bracelets until the pandemic is over, and she is already planning special designs for the holidays. As her donations near the $21,000 mark, her mom says she’s most proud of her daughter for being a uniting force during divided times.
“It was just a time when the world was at odds with each other and we had people from all walks of life donate,” Lori said. “This is proof that in really trying times we can all come together under a little girl with a beautiful mission.”
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/7-year-olds-bracelet-making-raises-20-000-for-hospital-pandemic-gear/article_819befc9-e388-53e5-9ee7-95214bfaff61.html
Photo Credit: Office of Mayor Lightfoot
New comic book celebrates nurses as health care superheroes
Marvel Comics and Allegheny Health Network (AHN) say they have collaborated to celebrate real-life health care heroes with a new comic book. It’s been developed with advertising agency Doner.
In a year where the coronavirus pandemic has overshadowed everything else, health care workers have emerged as real-life superheroes, risking their own health every day to save the lives of others.
The True Nurse Stories comic book focuses on nurses and their heroism. Each character and story stems from the experiences of real people who provide health care throughout AHN’s 13 hospitals in Western Pennsylvania, serving as amalgams of the dozens of nurses who shared their stories, Marvel comics said in a news release.
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been in awe of the courage and resourcefulness of our nurses, who put their own health at risk to care for these vulnerable patients,” said Claire Zangerle, chief nurse executive at AHN.
Jessi Showalter, who works at West Penn Hospital, is one of eight nurses featured in the comic books, according to CNN affiliate KDKA. “I think that, ‘why me? I’m not anything special.’ I kind of just come here and do what I love every day and try to help my patients. If that makes me a hero, I guess that makes me a hero,” Showalter told KDKA.
The project was a complete surprise to all the nurses across the network and was unveiled to them on Thursday morning, according to KDKA. The comic books are a tribute of thanks to the sacrifices nurses have been making throughout this pandemic.
“We are so proud of them, and we want to make sure they know how much we appreciate their exceptional work. We hope that in seeing themselves as real Marvel Comics Super Heroes, they can take a moment to look back in pride on their exceptional work and compassion during an exceptionally difficult time for our communities,” Zangerle added.
AHN’s website showcased a video of the nurses featured in the comic books. In the video clip, their children talk about how they have not seen their parents much this year because they are busy in the hospital and how they worry they might get Covid-19. Some of the nurses teared up while reading the comic book to their kids.
“At Marvel, we tell stories about heroes every day. But this story is special. It tells a story about our everyday heroes — the nurses and health care professionals working tirelessly and courageously to save lives,” said Dan Buckley, president of Marvel Entertainment in a news release. “Along with AHN, we are honored to help tell these stories, which we dedicate to the real heroes who are saving the world.”
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/new-comic-book-celebrates-nurses-as-health-care-superheroes/article_dbabd980-a39b-5bb7-aae4-78a0dfc8fd15.html
Photo Credit: Courtesy of AHN and Marvel
Georgia mom facing murder charges after stabbing her children, ages 5 and 6
(CNN) — A Gainesville, Georgia, mother is facing murder charges after, investigators say, she fatally stabbed her 5- and 6-year-old children before turning the knife on herself.
Berenice Jaramillo-Hernandez, 26, faces two counts each of felony murder, malice murder and aggravated assault in the Friday killings, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.”
Authorities announced Saturday evening that it had notified the siblings’ next of kin, and that Jaramillo-Hernandez would be charged.
Police received a Friday afternoon 911 call about a woman who had cut herself. When they arrived at her home east of Gainesville, about an hour’s drive north of Atlanta, deputies found the injured mother, along with the bodies of Mateo Miranda Jaramillo, 5, and Katherine Miranda Jaramillo, 6.
The investigation, which is in its preliminary stages, indicates “Jaramillo-Hernandez killed the children with a knife and then turned the knife on herself, resulting in serious injuries,” the sheriff’s office said.
The mother was transported to a medical center. She will be formally charged after doctors finish treating her injuries, the sheriff’s office said Saturday night. It was not immediately clear if Jaramillo-Hernandez has an attorney. CNN has reached out to the sheriff’s office for further comment.
On Friday, before the mother was named as a suspect, the sheriff’s office said that the incident was isolated and it was not seeking any other suspects.
“There is no danger to the community as a result of the incident,” the sheriff’s office said.
Police disclosed no motive. The investigation remains ongoing.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/georgia-mom-facing-murder-charges-after-stabbing-her-children-ages-5-and-6-police-say/article_1cfa567d-bb5a-5988-ba13-b027b33be28e.html?block_id=985911
Photo Credit: Hall County Sheriff’s Office
Florida woman stuffed roommates’ body in trash to collect his benefits
A Florida woman was arrested Wednesday for hiding her roommate’s body in a trash can so she could collect his Social Security benefits, authorities said.
Michelle Haney, 48, told deputies she found her roommate, Jon Leonard, dead in their Bradenton mobile home in July, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
But instead of calling the sheriff’s office, Haney stuffed Leonard’s body in a closet for three weeks.
When that short-sighted plan became unbearable, she put the rotting corpse in a trash bin and left it with a neighbor, authorities said.
Haney allegedly told the neighbor she’d come back for the bin later.
But after two months, Haney still hadn’t shown up.
The neighbor decided to open the trash bin on Tuesday, and discovered Leonard’s still-decomposing body, authorities said.
Haney later admitted to deputies she had hidden Leonard’s body so she could collect his Social Security checks.
Authorities are investigating how Leonard died.
Haney has been charged with abuse of a human body, and additional charges are pending.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/13/florida-woman-stuffed-roommates-body-in-trash-to-collect-his-benefits/
Photo Credit: Manatee County Sheriff’s Office
Proud Boys tear down BLM sign outside black church in DC
A group of Proud Boys ripped a Black Lives Matter sign off the front of a black Washington, DC, church and stomped on it during pro-Trump demonstrations in the nation’s capital Saturday night, video shows.
The footage, posted on Twitter by freelance reporter Brandan Gutenschwager, shows at least a half-dozen members of the right-wing radical group tearing down the sign outside the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church.
The men can be seen punching and stomping on the sign right outside the front door of the church, while other demonstrators celebrate by chanting, “Our streets!”
One Twitter commenter called the incident “stupid and pointless.”
Another wrote, “They can’t possibly think this is a good look, right?”
But other people voiced support for the vandalism, with one Twitter user writing, “Tear it down boys! F–k yea!”
The church did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Thousands of supporters of President Trump converged on DC on Saturday to back the president’s claims of widespread voter fraud in last month’s election, which he lost.
The demonstrators, including a large number of members of the Proud Boys, marched through the capital, clashing with counter-protesters including members of the left-wing group Antifa in incidents that turned increasingly violent as night fell
Police said four people were stabbed in the melees.
One disturbing video shows a knife fight between the two sides.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/13/video-shows-proud-boys-tearing-down-blm-sign-outside-black-church-in-dc/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Off-duty Chicago police officer shoots, kills son during domestic-related incident
Chicago (WBBM) — An off-duty Chicago police officer shot and killed his son during a domestic dispute early Wednesday in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood, sources said.
Sources said the off-duty officer was involved in a physical altercation with his son around 1:45 a.m. at a home in the 5600 block of South Nottingham Avenue when he fired his weapon, killing his 23-year-old son.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office identified the officer’s son as Rafael Flores. He died at the scene.
Police said Area One detectives are investigating and the incident is domestic-related.
As CBS 2’s Suzanne Le Mignot reported, an ambulance was seen parked outside the house as officers entered. Crime scene tape was also seen in front of the house. Officers were at the scene for more than five hours Wednesday morning.
“We were woken up by the emergency vehicles approaching,” said Jeff Jestadt, who lives two houses down from where the shooting happened.
Jestadt said, while he didn’t hear any gunshots overnight, the large police presence kept him awake.
He has known Flores and his family for about 13 years.
“I consider them to be great neighbors. They’re the kind of people that you know, has your back,” he said. “They were very, very, very nice people. We have the same kind of a dog and that’s kind of our connection between the two of us, two families. Just very nice people overall.”
Jefstadt’s son played baseball with Flores in elementary school.
Of Flores, Jestadt said: “He was just a quiet kid. We’d see him, just over this past summer. He’d go out for walks, by himself. Sometimes he’d take his dog with him. We’d see him out in the alley, sometimes playing basketball or whatever, kind of hanging out. We’d wave. He’d wave back.”
A source said Flores was recently hired as an assistant football coach at St. Rita of Cascia High School. He also graduated from the school in 2015.
The St. Rita Mustangs mourned Flores’ death in a tweet on Wednesday.
Jefstadt said the officer lives at the Nottingham Avenue home with his wife and wasn’t sure if their son still lived with them.
Sources said the off-duty officer was taken to a hospital to be treated for a head injury after the incident.
“I feel horrible for the family,” Jefstadt said.
He added that his heart “absolutely, 100 percent” goes out to the family.
“And I don’t know if they’d ever see this, but we’re willing to do anything we can to help them,” Jefstadt said.
The officer has been on the force for 19 years. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability and the Chicago Police Internal Affairs Division are investigating the shooting.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/off-duty-chicago-police-officer-shoots-kills-son-during-domestic-related-incident/article_ee4c5cfb-9ebf-54e9-badd-f9a100e5fd09.html
Photo Credit: kmov.com
Connecticut man charged with fatally shooting neighbor’s dog – mistook it for a coyote
A Connecticut hunter is facing charges for gunning down his neighbor’s dog — which he said he mistook for a coyote, police said.
Peter Martinelli, 53, told Vernon police he was hunting in a tree stand on his 12-acre property in early November when he spotted a deer about 50 yards away but didn’t fire his rifle, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the Hartford Courant.
Martinelli then saw what he believed to be a coyote chasing the buck — and squeezed the trigger on his .30-06 rifle, later telling investigators he would have “bet his life it was a coyote,” police said.
Some 10 minutes later, Martinelli said, he found the lifeless animal, but he was dismayed by the kill upon realizing he had actually shot his neighbor’s 8-year-old German shepherd named Karo, police said.
“He stated he was completely shocked and unnerved to see that it was a dog,” the warrant said.
Martinelli, who has been charged with illegal discharge of a firearm in the incident, had an active hunting license and legally owned the rifle, police said.
Karo belonged to Martinelli’s neighbors, Belleann Maffessoli and her husband, she previously told the Courant.
The dog was outside on Nov. 3 when Maffessoli heard a gunshot, prompting her to search for Karo nearby and on the 40 acres the couple owns, she said.
A day later, Maffessoli went to Martinelli’s house, where he didn’t tell her about the shooting — subsequently telling investigators he “didn’t really know how to handle” the matter, the warrant states.
Maffessoli found Karo dead behind Martinelli’s house two days after the shooting, prompting her husband to confront him, police said.
Martinelli admitted shooting Karo, and that’s why Maffessoli’s husband threatened him, the warrant states.
“You’re a dead man walking,” Martinelli told detectives of the alleged threat while saying he did not want to press charges, police said.
Messages seeking comment from Martinelli and Vernon police were not immediately returned early Thursday.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/10/connecticut-man-charged-with-fatally-shooting-neighbors-dog/
Photo Credit: Belleann Maffessoli
Workers sue Illinois dental practice over hidden cameras found in bathroom
An Illinois dental practice has been sued by 11 employees after an hygienist allegedly hid two cameras in the work bathroom, new court papers show.
One camera was discovered Oct. 22 in a unisex employees’ bathroom of the national dental chain Aspen Dental in Crestwood, and it was turned over to the police department, according to the lawsuits filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Thursday.
That same day, dental hygienist Armani Alexander, 25, “admitted to placing the camera” in the bathroom and was arrested, the court papers say.
The office assured the workers that they swept the premises and didn’t find any more cameras.
Yet Oct. 26, a second camera was discovered in the same bathroom, the court documents allege.
Lawyers for the workers — who include dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants and a marketer — say the cameras were first placed in the bathroom sometime in September.
Aspen admitted that a background check for Alexander — who had only been with the company for two months — “was flagged for criminal activity,” the court papers say.
Dentist Trent Jones, who along with dental assistant Alyssa Raine quit over the cameras, said the corporate office told him they knew Alexander had a criminal record.
“In essence, Aspen Dental rolled out the proverbial red carpet for this documented offender so that he could carry out his perverse actions against a predominantly female staff,” Jones said in a prepared statement.
Raine said she was horrified to discover the violation of her privacy.
“I am a very private person, and when I learned on Oct. 22 that a camera was found in the employee’s bathroom, I was shocked,” Raine said in a statement. “I was sick to my stomach. Many of us at the clinic were crying.
“I still cry about the way my privacy was taken from me,” Raine’s statement continued.
Raine said that when the second camera was discovered despite Aspen’s assurances that there were no others, “I knew this was the absolute worst place to work.
“I still am unable to use any public bathroom,” Raine said.
“These individuals relied on Aspen Dental to provide a safe and healthy working environment which they failed to do with their negligent hiring of a dental hygienist with a criminal background,”
Plaintiff lawyer Joseph Rourke said in a statement, “Aspen Dental, and its owners and managers, could have avoided this perverse invasion of privacy that resulted in unthinkable mental and emotional distress if they had followed up on the background check they conducted before deciding to hire this despicable individual.”
The workers — who are each suing for at least $50,000 — have brought claims of negligent hiring and supervision against the practice.
Alexander did not immediately return a request for comment.
A woman who answered at Aspen Dental corporate declined to take a message.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/11/workers-sue-dental-practice-over-hidden-cameras-found-in-bathroom/
Photo Credit: Clifford Law Offices
Horror movie fan who decapitated mom found not guilty
An Australian horror movie fan who hacked her mother’s head off after stabbing her more than 100 times in a fit of rage was found not guilty of her murder Thursday.
A jury in the Supreme Court of New South Wales instead found 27-year-old Jessica Camilleri guilty of manslaughter in the grisly slaying of her mother, Rita Camilleri, in their western Sydney home in July 2019, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Camilleri’s defense attorneys argued her multiple mental health conditions, which include autism spectrum disorder and dyslexia, made her lose control, including when she carved her mother’s eyeballs out and severed her tongue and nose.
The jury heard gruesome details of Rita Camilleri’s murder during the seven-day trial, including how Jessica Camilleri left her mother’s bloody severed head on the doorstep of a neighbor’s home.
They also learned Camilleri was obsessed with the horror films “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Jeepers Creepers.”
Kristy Torrisi, Camilleri’s sister, testified Camilleri would pause and rewind scenes in horror movies where dismemberment was shown, according to the Herald.
Forensic psychiatrist David Greenberg also testified Camilleri was aware she was killing her mother but that her mental health conditions “substantially impaired” her from controlling herself after going into a fit of rage when Rita Camilleri tried to get her daughter professional help.
Camilleri initially told police she was defending herself from her mother, but then told Greenberg she got the idea of decapitating her from watching movies.
“I remember stabbing my mum. I wouldn’t stop,” Camilleri told the forensic psychiatrist. “I injured myself. I was getting her everywhere.”
Camilleri’s sentencing is scheduled for February.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/10/horror-movie-fan-who-decapitated-mom-found-not-guilty/
Photo Credit: facebook