A black family whose ancestors were robbed of the beach resort they owned in Manhattan Beach almost 100 years ago may finally get the land back.

A new bill, if passed, will permit Los Angeles County officials to transfer the site, which is currently run as a lifeguard center, to the descendants of Charles and Willa Bruce — who lost their land and business when the city seized it in 1924, the Los Angeles Times reported.

State legislation is needed because of restrictions placed on the property when the state transferred the two parcels to L.A. County in 1995.

“We stand here today to introduce a bill that will correct this gross injustice and allow the land to be returned to the Bruce family,” state Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) said Friday when formally introducing the bill. “It is my hope that this legislation will not be the last in a series of actions by the state to address centuries of atrocious actions against black Americans.”

Bruce family representative Duane Shepard Sr. thanked those who fought to get his family’s land back Friday while slamming Manhattan Beach city officials for refusing to formally apologize for the historic wrong.

“We reserve our rights on this Earth to be men, to be women, to be human beings, to be given the rights of human beings, to be given the respect of human beings, in this country in this day and in this society in this damn city,” Shepard said.

The Bruce family saga began in 1912, when Willa Bruce bought the first of two lots along the Strand between 26th and 27th streets for $1,225. Her husband, Charles, worked as a dining-car chef on trains. Willa turned the site into a thriving resort for black families who, because of racism, could not enjoy other beach areas along the coast.

The place became known as “Bruce’s Beach” and other black families moved to the area and built their own summer cottages.

The Bruces and their guests endured threats and harassment from the Ku Klux Klan, among others, for years. Then, in 1924, the city condemned the area, seizing more than 20 properties through eminent domain.

Officials justified the move by claiming there was an urgent need for a public park. But the land stood empty for decades and was not turned into a park until years later, the LA Times said.

LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who initiated the crusade to return the land, said the county is negotiating with the Bruce family about what’s next. If the bill passes as expected, the county will likely lease the land from the family.

“I believe that the best part about this is that we will be allowed to transfer the property back to the descendants of the family and let them decide what they want to do,” she said. “The Bruce family had their California dream stolen from them.”

via: https://nypost.com/2021/04/10/black-family-whose-ancestors-were-robbed-of-la-resort-may-get-land-back/

Photo Credit: MediaNews Group

A postal worker in Michigan was viciously attacked by two enraged women — as an onlooker accused them of trying to steal stimulus checks in the mail carrier’s van, video shows.

But the law enforcement branch of the US Postal Service says there’s “no indication” Thursday’s attack at River Village Apartments in Flint was related to so-called economic impact payments.

The wild footage shows two women repeatedly hitting and punching a USPS worker while she is on the ground.

The female worker tries to fight back as her hair is violently yanked — while one of the women accuses the mail carrier of striking her first, the clip shows.

“You hit me first!” the woman screeches. “You hit me first!”

The bystander recording the footage, which went viral on social media, can then be heard claiming the two women were after the postal worker’s stimulus checks in her dented van.

“Bro, y’all hit the mailman!” the man says. “They tryin’ to get that stimulus … this s–t is serious!”

Another onlooker is also heard saying “y’all going to jail,” according to the chaotic clip.

One woman has since been arrested in the attack, Flint police told The Post Friday. However, Detective Sgt. Tyrone Booth declined to identify the suspect until she was arraigned.

Booth also declined to say what motivated the alleged assault, including whether stimulus checks had anything to do with the incident.

“We are investigating an assault incident that involved a United States postal worker,” Booth said. “An arrest was made and we’re seeking additional warrants for an additional arrest.”

Detectives are reviewing the footage as part of the ongoing investigation, Booth said.

“We heard the same thing you saw in the video,” he said.

The unidentified women sped off in an SUV after the alleged assault.

“They done hit this mail lady’s car and hopped out,” the man who filmed the attack says as the clip ended.

In a statement to The Post Friday, the United States Postal Inspection Service said the “safety and well-being” of all USPS employees was a top priority while adding no evidence shows the caught-on-camera attack was somehow tied to stimulus checks.

“Postal Inspectors are aware of the incident involving a Postal Service employee,” the statement said. “There is no indication this incident was related to the disbursement of the Economic Impact Payments. The investigation is ongoing.”

Flint police said in a statement Friday afternoon they were working with the federal agency in its investigation. Arrest warrants for two suspects in the video will be handed over to the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office Friday, police said.

The postal worker, meanwhile, has recovered, police said.

“She is fine,” Booth said Friday.

via: https://nypost.com/2021/04/09/postal-worker-beaten-by-women-allegedly-looking-for-stimulus-checks/

Photo Credit: Facebook

For 25 years, Brittany Jacobs had no idea she had two vaginas — until she went into labor.

“Oh honey, you have two vaginas, two cervixes and two uteruses,” a nurse finally told her while Jacobs was in the process of giving birth to her first child, the now-26-year-old recounted in a viral TikTok video which has racked up over 2.7 million views. 

While Jacobs didn’t realize she had double anatomy, she had noticed that something was off in her nether regions, where she’d first observed as a young girl that she had two openings. “I always believed it was my hymen, and as I got older, I thought it was just really tough and maybe would break one day,” she told BuzzFeed.

She also had another sign that her body was unique. Despite considering herself to have a “really high pain tolerance,” she always had excruciating periods which were “so bad I would cry,” she said in the video. Jacobs posted the revelation in response to another TikTok user’s prompt clip asking, “What is something a doctor completely ignored you about when clearly there was something wrong?” 

She’d bleed through tampons in mere minutes, sex hurt terribly and her menstrual cramps were debilitating — but her doctors never told her she was in any way different, so she accepted the discomfort as a part of life.

Really, though, her problems were likely all symptoms of having what is called uterus didelphys, or double uterus, which is not such a rare occurrence. 

“Basically, all gynecologists who get to be old see some patients with it in their lifetime,” Yale University School of Medicine clinical professor Dr. Mary Jane Minkin told BuzzFeed. “My take-home message is you’re not a freak, you’re not weird, and by definition: If I’ve seen something a few times, it’s not rare.”

The condition can occasionally complicate reproductive ability and cause kidney problems, Dr. Minkin added. In Jacobs’ case, her labor doctors cut the septum dividing her two vaginas — “meaning now I only have one hole” — so she could give birth. 

via: https://nypost.com/2021/04/08/woman-finds-out-she-has-two-vaginas-while-giving-birth/

Photo Credit: TikTok

A former NFL player fatally shot a doctor, his wife, two of their grandchildren and another person before turning the gun on himself in a horrifying scene at a South Carolina home, according to the county coroner and sources.

Phillip Adams, who had stints with the Seahawks, 49ers, Raiders and Jets, opened fire at the home in Rock Hill late Wednesday afternoon, the York County Coroner and sources told The State.

Killed in the shooting was Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, his wife, Barbara Lesslie, 69, and two of their grandchildren, 9-year-old Adah Lesslie and 5-year-old Noah Lesslie, according to the York County Sheriff’s Office.

Adams’ parents live near the doctor’s Rock Hill home and he was one of Lesslie’s patients, a source told the Associated Press.

A fifth victim, James Lewis, 38, who was working at the home at the time, was also fatally shot outside, WSOC-TV reported.

A sixth person, who was not immediately identified, was hospitalized with a serious gunshot wound, authorities said. The victim was also a maintenance worker at the Lesslie family’s home, sources told The Herald.

Lewis and the wounded person both worked for Gaston Sheet Metal Services in Gastonia and were doing work at the home, WSOC reported.

“Both men involved in this incident are long-standing, beloved members of our family at GSM,” the company said in a Facebook post. “These men embody the values we strive to achieve at GSM and are family focused, up-beat, and wonderful team members who are about all the people they encountered.”

“In the coming days, our focus is on helping these families and our team members cope with this tragedy.” 

Adams later died by suicide, the AP source said. He is believed to have killed himself as police surrounded a home near where the victims were found, sources told the Herald.

Investigators discovered the gunman’s body at a nearby home after an eight-hour manhunt, the sheriff’s office tweeted.

“There is no active threat to the community,” sheriff’s officials tweeted early Thursday.

Robert Lesslie had been practicing medicine in Rock Hill since 1981, according to his biography on Riverview House Calls & Riverview Hospice and Palliative Care, where he worked as the medical director. He’s survived by four children. He and Barbara Lesslie had been married for more than 40 years, The State reported.

Lesslie earned his degree from the Medical University of South Carolina and worked at facilities in Greenville and Charlotte, where he served as the chief resident at Charlotte Memorial Hospital. 

The board-certified emergency medicine physician also specialized in occupational medicine and had authored several books on his experiences with patients, including “Angels in the ER,” which sold more than 200,000 copies, according to his bio.

“Dr. Lesslie lives in Rock Hill with his wife, Barbara, and their golden retriever, Moses, several miniature horses, goats, donkeys, chickens and a lot of bees,” the bio continues. “They have four grown children and eight growing grandchildren. He enjoys golfing, traveling and bagpiping.”

“We are all shocked this could happen here in York County,” spokesman Trent Farris said. “This is a mass shooting. Normally you think of a movie theater or a mall, but we are treating this as a mass shooting because there were five victims killed.”

Faris noted how prominent Lesslie had been in the Rock Hill community.

“He was my doctor, if that says enough,” Faris told The State.

Sheriff’s officials tweeted Wednesday they were looking for a “young black male” wearing a hoodie and camouflage pants after the six victims were found.

Lesslie’s family is asking for privacy as they mourn, Faris said.

Adams, a defensive back, played in 78 NFL games before calling it quits after the 2015 season.

NFL officials acknowledged the mass shooting in a statement Thursday to The Post.

“Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the victims of this devastating tragedy,” the statement read.

via: https://nypost.com/2021/04/08/five-dead-including-two-kids-in-south-carolina-mass-shooting/

Photo Credit: AP

It was time for a major manicure for a Texas woman, who finally parted ways with her record-shattering 24-foot-long fingernails — which remained unclipped since the George H.W. Bush administration.

Ayanna Williams, of Houston, got her epic back scratchers sawn off with an electric rotary tool at the hands of Dr. Allison Readinger of Trinity Vista Dermatology in Forth Worth, the famous record book reported.

When she broke the Guinness World Record as the woman with the longest talons in 2018, her nails measured 18 feet, 10.9 inches – and she needed more than two bottles of polish and 20 hours to decorate them.

When she finally decided to have her prized possessions sliced off, the first time she cut them since the early 1990s, they measured an astounding 24 feet, 0.7 inches.

Along with the record-holding glory came many challenges for Williams, who struggled with common day-to-day tasks — such as doing the dishes and putting sheets on her bed — due to their prodigious length.

She said that she’s received lots of different reactions over the years from people who saw her claws, most of which were positive and supportive.  

“I have this thing that I do with children when they come up to me and they say ‘Are those your nails?!’” she said.

“And I say, ‘Yeah” and then I ask and I say, ‘How old are you?’ and they say, ‘I’m 10 or I’m 7’ and I say, ‘Guess how old my nails are? They’re like 28 – 29 years! They’re older than you!’” Williams said.

She said she’s very excited that her newly cut nails will be displayed at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum in Orlando, Florida.

“With or without my nails, I will still be the queen. My nails don’t make me, I make my nails!” Williams said.

via: https://nypost.com/2021/04/08/woman-with-worlds-longest-nails-cuts-them-after-nearly-30-years/

Photo Credit: Guinness World Records