Teen admits he pushed a 6-foot log off a cliff in an Ohio park, resulting in woman’s death
A 17-year-old boy admitted guilt Wednesday for pushing a log off a cliff at an Ohio state park, resulting in the death of a woman last September.
Jaden W. Churchheus pleaded guilty in Hocking County Common Pleas Court to a charge of involuntary manslaughter for causing the Sept. 2, 2019, death of Victoria Schafer, 44, a married mother of four.
Another co-defendant in the case is scheduled to appear in court later this month and is expected to enter a plea under a similar agreement.
Churchheus and his friend, 17-year-old Jordan Buckley, are accused of pushing a more than six-foot-long log weighing 74 pounds off a cliff at the top of stairs at the Old Man’s Cave in Hocking Hills State Park, according to Ohio Department of Natural Resources investigators.
Last year both juveniles were bound over to adult court to stand trial.
Schafer, who was taking photographs for high schoolers at the foot of the stairs to Old Man’s Cave below, suffered a fatal blow when the log struck her. Investigators with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources determined that the falling log was not a natural occurrence and that her death could be a possible homicide. Schafer was well-known around Chillicothe for her photography business.
The two teens were charged with with murder, involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide. They were originally charged in Hocking County Juvenile Court, but the case was transferred to the Hocking County Common Pleas Court so the teens could be tried as adults.
As part of Churchheus’ plea agreement, the murder and reckless homicide charges were dropped.
As part of the plea agreement, Hocking County Common Pleas Court Judge John T. Wallace agreed that he would transfer Churchheus’ case back to juvenile court for sentencing at a later date.
Wallace recommended that Churchheus serve a minimum of three years and up to 4.5 years in an Ohio juvenile detention facility.
Churchheus apologized to the Schafer family, some of whom were in the courtroom, during his hearing.
“I have thought about the fact that I caused someone’s death every day since it happened. And I will carry that for the rest of my life,” he said. “I realize that nothing I say can bring Ms. Schafer back, but I am truly sorry.”
Schafer’s family chose not to speak in court.
via: https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/xandr/teen-admits-pushed-6-foot-203642298.html
Photo Credit: dailymail.co.uk
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dead at 87
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the four liberal justices on the Court, died Friday evening, the court announced in a statement.
Ginsburg, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1993, was 87 years old and in delicate health for some months, although she had kept up a full schedule on the bench. She was hospitalized earlier this year with a recurrence of metastatic pancreatic cancer, which was first detected in 2009, and that was listed as the cause of her death.
Before her death, Ginsburg dictated a statement to her granddaughter, Clara Spera. “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new President is installed,” she wrote.
The decision to fill the court vacancy now enters the hyperpartisan atmosphere of the 2020 race, with just weeks before the Nov. 3 election.
In February, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that if a Supreme Court seat opened up this year, “we would fill it.”
In 2016, McConnell refused to bring up President Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, for a vote to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, with the justification that “this nomination ought to be made by the president we’re in the process of electing this year.”
After his election to the presidency later that year, President Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch, another conservative, to fill the vacancy. Gorsuch’s nomination was confirmed by the Senate in April 2017.
In a speech in 2018, McConnell recounted that “one of my proudest moments was when I looked Barack Obama in the eye and I said, ‘Mr. President, you will not fill the Supreme Court vacancy.’”
On Sept. 9, President Trump announced a number of new names to his long list of possible Supreme Court nominees, including Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
While it remains to be seen whether Trump will try to fill Ginsburg’s seat before the end of the year, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told reporters that she would not confirm a new justice until after a new president is inaugurated next January.
Republicans still control the Senate with a slim 52-48 majority. But Ginsburg’s death will now become a dominant issue heading into the election, and it’s certain to mobilize liberal and conservative voters alike heading into November.
Throughout her career, Ginsburg was a leading advocate for gender equality and civil rights.
“Women’s rights are an essential part of the overall human rights agenda, trained on the equal dignity and ability to live in freedom all people should enjoy,” she said.
After growing up in Brooklyn, Ginsburg attended Columbia Law School, graduating in 1959 at the top of her class. She went on to take a job at Rutgers Law School in 1963 and received her first judicial appointment in 1980.
Some of Ginsburg’s most notable cases sought to level the playing field for women, including 1996’s United States v. Virginia, which barred the Virginia Military Institute from excluding women at the college.
“Neither the goal of producing citizen soldiers nor VMI’s implementing methodology is inherently unsuitable to women,” Ginsburg wrote in the majority opinion.”
During the oral arguments for Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2013 case that would legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 states, Ginsburg’s forceful questioning of the attorneys seeking to uphold a ban in certain states is cited as a key factor in the court’s verdict.
The 2016 case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellersterdt overturned strict measures in a Texas law (known as H.B. 2) to curtail access to abortion.
“It is beyond rational belief that H.B. 2 could genuinely protect the health of women, and certain that the law would simply make it more difficult for them to obtain abortions,” Ginsburg wrote. “When a State severely limits access to safe and legal procedures, women in desperate circumstances may resort to unlicensed rogue practitioners … at great risk to their health and safety.”
via: https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-has-died-supreme-court-says-234042604.html
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Indonesians caught without a mask forced to dig graves for Covid-19 victims
(CNN) — Villagers who refuse to wear masks are being forced to dig graves for victims of Covid-19 by local authorities in one part of rural Indonesia, in the hopes that a little bit of manual labor and empathy will convince others to do their part to help stop the pandemic.
Three middle-aged men and five minors in Cerme district of Gresik Regency, East Java, were given the unique punishment on September 9, authorities said.
Though mask-wearing is mandatory in public throughout Indonesia, there has been a vocal segment of the population that has been reluctant to wear masks and practice social distancing.
Experts say the lack of public vigilance has made it more difficult for Indonesian authorities to stymie the spread of the virus, which to date has infected nearly 230,000 people in the country. More than 160,000 of those patients have recovered, while at least 9,100 have died, according to the Indonesian Health Ministry.
As cases spiked in recent months, Indonesia’s government passed a law in July requiring people to wear masks in public, but left it to local officials to determine punishments for noncompliance. A joint team called the “three pillars” — which consists of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, Indonesian National Police and local law enforcement — are in charge of enforcing mask restrictions across the country.
In Cerme, the “three pillars” gives those caught not wearing a mask the option of accepting a fine of 150,000 rupiah ($10) or accepting what the government calls “social punishment,” according to the district’s leader, Suyono.
Suyono, who goes by one name, told CNN most people have accepted the social punishment, which often involves push-ups or cleaning. But he hopes options like grave-digging would be educational and show “firsthand the real and serious effect of Covid-19.” None of those punished were present when the dead were buried, Suyono said.
Authorities in the capital of Jakarta adopted a similar idea earlier this month. A man there was required to sit in a coffin in public after being caught not wearing a mask.
However, it’s not clear if these types of penalties have increased mask-wearing in Indonesia. The country has failed to flatten the curve for months and infections are still on the rise — only the Philippines has recorded more cases in Southeast Asia.
Large-scale social restrictions were put in place in Jakarta on Sunday, the second time authorities have been forced to do so since the pandemic began.
With cases still climbing, the city’s health infrastructure may be nearing a breaking point. The emergency units in all 20 Jakarta hospitals approved to treat Covid-19 patients are full, officials said Monday.
CNN’s Joshua Berlinger and journalist Nadira Arnindya contributed to this report
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/indonesians-caught-without-a-mask-forced-to-dig-graves-for-covid-19-victims/article_acc5b098-2f0f-527e-982b-61702dbc017f.html
Photo Credit: Fahmi Dolli/AFP
Student claims roach-infested college gave one roll of toilet paper to quarantiners
University of Michigan students say the school’s testing and quarantine protocols are seriously lacking — and they’re taking to TikTok to prove it.
“I’m making a video to share with you what it’s like up here,” junior Sam Burnstein, 20, says in a video he filmed after testing positive for COVID-19 and moving into one of the empty apartments the university has designated for those who contract the coronavirus. “We were given almost no supplies. We were given no food, no masks, no gloves, no microwave, no bed sheets, no soap, no cleaning supplies, nothing — except we were given one roll of toilet paper, single-ply. Oh, and did I mention there’s a roach infestation as well?”
He concludes the video by challenging the university’s president to spend a single night in one of the apartments and “let us know what you think.”
Throughout the ordeal, he says in the video, the students of the Graduate Employees’ Organization have been “saviors” for those in the university’s quarantine, as they’ve been donating their leftover food and supplies for the past few days.
The organization has also been striking since Sept. 8 in the name of the school “failing to keep students safe from COVID,” says Burnstein.
“We’re striking over the university’s totally inadequate reopening plans and just the series of policies they put in place over the summer that’s making students and workers on campus unsafe,” GEO Secretary Amir Fleischmann told the Michigan Daily.
Burnstein is not the only student who has gone public with his complaints.
“Is anyone else who goes to the University of Michigan just like what the f–k is happening right now and, like, terrified of like what’s going to happen?” says another University of Michigan student named Ruby in one of many videos documenting the goings-on at the school.
The University did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment but told Insider that students aren’t required to use the school’s housing to quarantine — although Burnstein told the outlet that this was not made clear to him — and that it hasn’t received any complaints about roaches or other pests.
“Each single-occupancy apartment includes a furnished bedroom, including sheets, blankets and pillowcases. Each kitchen has a refrigerator and oven. Microwaves are being procured for each apartment,” the University of Michigan spokesperson told Insider in a statement.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/09/16/quarantined-university-of-michigan-student-rips-schools-protocol/
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Man takes 5-hour bus ride carrying suitcases stuffed with body parts
A Kentucky man was arrested after taking a five-hour bus ride to visit his parents in Illinois — with suitcases stuffed with body parts of a woman believed to be his girlfriend, police said.
Melvin Martin Jr. recently hopped on a Greyhound bus in Louisville, Kentucky, with the luggage and headed to downtown Chicago, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Martin Jr.’s parents then took him — and, unwittingly, the bags concealing the dismembered body — to their home in Markham.
“That’s even more crazy — traveling body parts,” David Scott, who lives across the street, told CBS Chicago. “You see stuff like this on TV.”
The kin soon grew suspicious because Martin Jr. never unpacked the heavy bags after several days — and kept guarding them.
“There were some early reports of a foul odor coming from the bags,” Markham Police Chief Terry White told the network.
The family made the grisly discovery on Monday morning when Martin Jr.went out to the library.
“A human body part was discovered,” said White. “They immediately backed away and called police.”
White said the body part’s appeared to be those of Martin Jr.’s 31-year-old girlfriend, according to the Sun-Times. The couple lived together in Kentucky, where other body parts were found, according to White.
“With the remains we have here, we have the advantage of dental records, and then of course there is DNA,” White said.
“Of course her upper torso remains in Kentucky, so the level of their forensics, I’m sure, mirrors ours, so I’m quite sure that there’s going to be a positive identification about this victim.”
Authorities from the FBI, Markham and Louisville were investigating.
Martin Jr. was charged with a felony count of being a fugitive from justice. Additional charges are pending, police said.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/09/16/man-takes-5-hour-bus-ride-carrying-suitcases-stuffed-with-body-parts-cops-say/
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Dentist who extracted tooth on hoverboard sentenced to 12 years in prison
An Alaska dentist who extracted a patient’s tooth while riding on a hoverboard has been sentenced to 12 years behind bars for that stunt and other wheel-y bad crimes.
Seth Lookhart was sentenced Monday in Anchorage Superior Court on dozens of charges that stemmed from actions that ranged from his scooting antics to Medicaid fraud and removing a patient’s teeth without their permission, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
He was convicted back in January on charges of reckless endangerment, illegally practicing dentistry and medical assistance fraud.
“In reviewing all this over and over again, I have this visceral response — you darn near killed some people,” Judge Michael Wolverton said in handing down the sentence.
The court heard testimony at his trial from patient Veronica Wilhelm, who was sedated when he was recorded performing her tooth extraction on a hoverboard in July 2016.
In the cellphone video, Lookhart could be seen riding away from the procedure with his hands triumphantly in the air.
He allegedly texted a video of the stunt to at least eight people, joking that it was a “new standard of care,” NBC News reported.
Lookhart — whose dental license was suspended in 2017 — was also ordered by the judge not to practice medicine during his 10-year probation once he’s released from prison, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/09/16/dentist-who-extracted-tooth-on-hoverboard-gets-12-years/
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Utah police officer was charged with aggravated assault after ordering a dog to attack a Black man who had put his hands in the air and saying “good boy”
Jeffery Ryans was in his backyard on April 24 when police responded to a domestic dispute call. The Salt Lake County district attorney’s office said Ryans complied with officers’ orders to raise his hands and remain in the backyard.
K9 officer Nickolas Pearce then told Ryans to get on the ground before kicking him in the leg, forcing him to his knees, and ordering the dog to bite Ryans, prosecutors said.
On body camera footage, Pearce can be heard repeatedly praising the animal and saying “good boy” while it latched onto Ryans’ left leg for about 20 seconds as he was being put in handcuffs.
After he was bitten, Ryans underwent surgery and later experienced “prolonged loss of the use” of his leg, prosecutors said. His attorneys have said the officer caused an avoidable injury that resulted in Ryans suffering nerve and tendon damage and infections that could lead to amputation.
It’s rare for police officers to be charged with crimes amid excessive-force allegations. During his decade in office, District Attorney Sim Gill has charged three officers accused of wrongly using deadly force. None were convicted. In two of those cases, charges were later dropped. The third was thrown out by a judge.
“Officers in their interactions with everyday citizens by virtue of who they are and the institution they represent does not absolve them from the responsibility to make sure that whatever force they use is being used in a lawful manner,” Gill, a Democrat, said Wednesday.
After Ryans went public with his story in an article in The Salt Lake Tribune last month, the police department said it was opening an investigation and suspending the use of police dogs in apprehensions.
The department said Wednesday that it takes the district attorney’s decision “very seriously” and that it will be considered as part of its internal affairs investigation.
It was unknown if Pearce has an attorney. A phone call to a number listed for him wasn’t answered and no voicemail was set up.
Ryans’ attorneys, Daniel Garner and Gabriel White, didn’t immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment.
via: https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/utah-officer-charged-assault-dog-205431053.html
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18-year-old honored after pulling a mother, 3 children from burning car in Connecticut
(Meredith/CNN) — A Connecticut teenager was walking down the street when he saw something that made his heart sink. A small SUV covered in flames drove past him — he could see a little girl out the car window.
The Waterbury Police Department received multiple calls on Sept. 9, describing a woman trapped inside a burning vehicle, WFSB-TV reported.
Justin Gavin, 18, was on a walk to a local Walgreens when he first realized there was a car on fire. Drivers honked their horns and got out their cars to notify the mother driving the burning vehicle that it was in flames, Gavin said.
“I’m yelling stop the car! Your car is on fire! Your car is on fire!” Gavin told CNN.
But the mother couldn’t stop. That’s when, Gavin says he didn’t have time to think and fell into action. He chased down the burning car to help the family escape.
“I just felt like if I was in that situation, I would want somebody to help me out,” Gavin said. “I guess my instincts took over.”
When Gavin finally reached the vehicle it had come to a stop. He opened the car door and helped the mother out of the driver’s seat first, officials said. As the flames grew larger, he pulled the three children in the back seat to safety, including a 4, 9, and 1-year-old, who was in a car seat.
According to Gavin, the car was engulfed by flames moments later.
“It kind of got scary because I didn’t know whether I was going to be able to get everyone out in time. And luckily, I did,” Gavin said.
The mother credits the teen with saving her family’s life, officials said.
The police department honored Gavin as a hero. Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo awarded the teenager with a “challenge coin” to acknowledge his courageous act. Gavin smiled big as the chief shook his hand and offered him the token of appreciation.
“I hope that when you have that coin it just reminds you of this day and you can reflect back on all the good that came out of this for you and that family that you saved,” said Spagnolo.
Gavin told CNN the experience was inspiring and changed his perspective of the police.
“It made me realize life is short,” Gavin said.
Written By Kelsie Smith, CNN
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/18-year-old-honored-after-pulling-a-mother-3-children-from-burning-car-in-connecticut/article_f4199a21-9f44-56c3-b52d-b5a782988323.html
Photo Credit: Waterbury Police Dept.
Woman yells “Get out of here, n—r, go back to Africa!” at Queens jogger, chucks bottle at her, video shows
A woman hurled a racial slur — and a bottle — at a Queens jogger, new video released by cops Wednesday shows.
A 37-year-old woman was jogging at 53rd Place and Broadway in Woodside around noon August 17 when a stranger — shown in the clip finishing the last drop of her beverage — suddenly threw it at her.
“Get out of here, n—r, go back to Africa!” the attacker seethed, according to cops.
The victim was not injured and continued to jog away.
Cops describe the suspect as a woman in her 40s with a light complexion, about 5-foot-5, weighing around 160 pounds, with blue eyes and long blonde hair.
She was last seen wearing dark sunglasses, a black tank-top and white shorts.
The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/09/16/woman-hurls-racial-slur-at-nyc-jogger-chucks-bottle-at-her-video/
Photo Credit: DCPI
Fitness centers sue California, L.A. County over coronavirus closures
California fitness centers have filed a lawsuit alleging Gov. Gavin Newsom’s measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus unfairly target the industry and demanding they be allowed to reopen.
Scott Street, a lawyer for the California Fitness Alliance, said Tuesday that the suit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
It accuses state and Los Angeles County officials of requiring gyms to close without providing evidence they contribute to virus outbreaks and at a time when staying healthy is critical for residents.
Messages seeking comment were sent to state and county public health officials.
via: https://ktla.com/news/local-news/fitness-centers-sue-california-l-a-county-over-coronavirus-closures/
Photo Credit: latimes.com