‘Magic School Bus’ author Joanna Cole dies at 75
Popular children’s series has sold tens of millions of copies and sparked a popular animated TV series and Netflix series.
Article via NBC
Author Joanna Cole, whose “Magic School Bus” books transported millions of young people on extraordinary and educational adventures, has died aged 75.
Scholastic announced that Cole, a resident of Sioux City, Iowa, died Sunday. The cause was Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.
“Joanna Cole had the perfect touch for blending science and story,” Scholastic Chairman and CEO Dick Robinson said in a statement Wednesday. “Joanna’s books, packed with equal parts humor and information, made science both easy to understand and fun for the hundreds of millions of children around the world who read her books and watched the award-winning television series.”
The idea for “The Magic School Bus” came in the mid-1980s. Scholastic senior editorial director Craig Walker was receiving frequent requests from teachers for books about science and thought a combination of storytelling and science would catch on. He brought in Cole, whose humorous work such as the children’s book “Cockroaches” he had admired, and illustrator Bruce Degen.
“I think for Joanna the excitement was always in the idea. What? Why? How?” Degen said in a statement. “And with “The Magic School Bus” it was how to explain it so that it is accurate and in a form that a kid can understand and use. And you can actually joke around while you are learning. She had a rare sense of what could be humorous.”
With the ever maddening but inspired Ms. Frizzle leading her students on journeys that explored everything from the solar system to underwater, “Magic School Bus” books have sold tens of millions of copies and were the basis for a popular animated TV series and a Netflix series.
Plans for a live-action movie, with Elizabeth Banks as Ms. Frizzle — who was based on Cole’s middle school science teacher — were announced last month.
After hearing the news of Cole’s death, Banks wrote on Twitter that she was “sending love to Joanna’s family.”
“These books have brought so much joy to children for so many years and I am so honored I get to help shine a light on the legendary Ms. Frizzle,” she said.
A number of young adults also paid tribute to her work on social media.
“I was raised to believe that the earth was six thousand years old,” wrote one Twitter user. “Magic School Bus was my one window on real science, my one hint that maybe that isn’t true.”
Many shared how Cole’s books encouraged an early love of science.
Others wrote how the television series adaptation had helped them feel safe in an often frightening world.
“One last field trip. Thank you for all the adventures years ago,” added voice actor Michael A. Zekas.
Before Scholastic senior editorial director Walker’s death in 2007, he had encouraged Cole and illustrator Degen to explore more “controversial topics” such as climate change, the author told PBS in a 2019 interview. Cole’s final book with Degen, “The Magic School Bus Explores Human Evolution,” is due to be published later this year.
A lifelong fan of science, Cole was a native of Newark, New Jersey, and a graduate of the City College of New York who worked as a children’s librarian and magazine editor before “The Magic School Bus.”
She is survived by her husband Phil; daughter Rachel Cole and her husband, John Helms; grandchildren, Annabelle and William, and her sister Virginia McBride.
A 33-year-old tech CEO was found dismembered in a New York apartment, law enforcement source says
A 33-year-old tech CEO was found dismembered in a luxury New York condo, a law enforcement source told CNN. The New York Police Department confirmed a man had been found dead Tuesday in an apartment in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The source identified him as tech entrepreneur Fahim Saleh, a venture capitalist and CEO of Gokada, Nigeria’s motorcycle ride-hail company.
Saleh was last seen in surveillance footage Monday evening, getting into the elevator in his apartment building in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the source said. A man dressed in all black — who, according to police, is suspected to be Saleh’s assailant — is seen in the video entering the elevator with him, according to the official. The elevator in Saleh’s building goes straight into the apartment units there, the source said. Once inside Saleh’s apartment, the alleged assailant started to attack him, the source said.
When the CEO’s sister went to check in on him, she discovered Saleh’s torso in an area next to the living room, the official said.Other parts of his body were stuffed into individual bags in the apartment, the source said. Police haven’t yet determined a motive behind the grisly attack, the source said. The NYPD is looking into how the attacker exited the apartment building.
Saleh’s family confirmed his death in a statement.”The headlines talk about a crime we still cannot fathom,” the statement said. “Fahim is more than what you are reading. He is so much more. His brilliant and innovative mind took everyone who was a part of his world on a journey and he made sure never to leave anyone behind.” “There are no words or actions to provide any of us comfort except the capture of the person who exhibited nothing short of evil upon our loved one.”Gokada called Saleh’s death “sudden and tragic” on Twitter.
“Fahim was a great leader, inspiration and positive light for all of us,” the company wrote. “Our hearts go out to his friends, family and all those feeling the pain and heartbreak we are currently experiencing, here at Gokada. All updates and changes will be communicated with you, as it unfolds. Forever in our hearts.”CNN has reached out to the medical examiner’s office and NYPD for further comment.
As a high schooler, Saleh founded PrankDial.com, a website for prerecorded prank phone calls that, he wrote in 2018, had generated over $10 million since its start. He continued to found and sell sites throughout his teens and his time at Bentley University.Most recently, he founded the venture capital firm Adventure Capital, which invested in ride-sharing start-ups in countries like Bangladesh and Colombia.
On Medium, where he blogged regularly, he called his founding of Gokada “one of the most out there things” he’d ever done. His limited knowledge of Nigeria’s transportation system at first turned off Nigerians he tried to recruit for his start-up. The company raised over $5 million and hired over 800 drivers, but Gokada’s business hit a snag earlier this year when Lagos banned commercial motorcycles in the city. Saleh filmed an impassioned plea on behalf of his employees to lift the ban. In the meantime, the company pivoted to delivery and was working toward launching a boat hailing service, he told CNN in February. “We need and urge the NYPD and other members of law enforcement to work diligently to get to the bottom of this horrific crime and bring justice for Fahim,” his family said.
Article via CNN
6-year-old dies after reportedly shooting himself in south St. Louis
ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) — Police are reporting that a six-year-old died in a shooting Wednesday afternoon in South City.
The shooting was reported in the 5000 block of South Broadway around 3:15 p.m. Police said they received a call saying the young boy was suffering from a “self-inflicted” gunshot, according to the caller.
Police on the scene said the boy had died. Homicide detectives have been requested for the investigation.
No other information has been released yet.
Photo Credit: kmov.com
Florida mom left 2-year-old daughter in sweltering car to shop
A Florida mother left her 2-year-old daughter in a locked car as she shopped at Macy’s, authorities said.
Thamyres Maria Araujo Ponce, 32, was arrested Monday on a charge of child neglect after a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy smashed the window of a white Nissan parked at the Mall at Wellington Green to free the tot, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.
The temperature in Wellington that afternoon reached 96 degrees, according to an arrest report. The girl, who had a body temp of 102 when she was rescued, was treated by responding paramedics, deputies said.
Security camera video from the mall indicated that the girl was inside the car for roughly 25 minutes. A deputy who found the car busted the driver’s side window to free the child, who was discovered in a car seat, the newspaper reports.
Ponce returned to the car about 10 minutes after the deputy arrived and subsequently confessed to leaving the girl alone as she shopped at Macy’s, the Miami Herald reports.
The arrest report did not indicate what happened to the girl — who was found “crying, sweating and appeared to be in distress,” deputies said — once Ponce was taken into custody, according to the newspaper.
Ponce, of Belle Glade, was released later Monday after posting $1,000 bond, jail records show.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/15/florida-mom-left-2-year-old-daughter-in-hot-car-to-shop-deputies/
Photo Credit: pbso.org
Johnny Depp allegedly wrote Amber Heard’s name in pee at their vacation home
Johnny Depp allegedly tried to write Amber Heard’s name in pee inside their trashed rental home while on a bender, a UK court heard Wednesday.
Heard accused the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star of whipping out his privates while being escorted off the Queensland, Australia, property in March 2015 — telling security, “I need to take a f—ing piss, it’s my house,” according to a witness statement in his London libel case.
“He then went back inside and did it right in front of them to nervous laughter,” Heard said, according to UK’s The Sun. “He said was he was trying to write my name on the walls and carpet while peeing in the house.”
But Depp’s estate manager, Ben King, told London’s High Court he was sure there was no urine in the rental home, where he also found the tip of the actor’s severed finger following a row between the pair.
“I did not see any signs of urine, and I did not smell it, as I would have done had someone urinated around the house,” King said, adding that he returned to the house to “chaperone” a cleaning team and they “didn’t mention anything” about pee.
It isn’t the only message the star is accused of scrawling in bodily fluid in the home — he also scrawled “I love you” on a mirror with blood from his sliced finger.
A lawyer representing The Sun newspaper — which Depp is suing for libel after it dubbed him a “wife beater”— asked King if he was sure there was no pee in the home.
“Amongst all this blood and paint, you say you are sure that there was no urine?” Sasha Wass asked.
“Quite sure,” King replied.
Heard has alleged that Depp slapped and shoved her during a booze-fueled fight at the vacation home — evidence offered by The Sun to show he did beat her.
Depp, who insists he has never assaulted Heard, has accused his ex of severing the tip of his finger when she threw a bottle of vodka at him. Heard claims Depp did it to himself when he angrily smashed a phone against a wall.
Photo Credit: nypost.com
NYC cops find decapitated, limbless man in million-dollar condo; electric saw found next to torso
The limbless, headless torso of a millionaire tech entrepreneur was found inside his swanky Manhattan condo Tuesday afternoon — an electric saw lying next to the remains, police said.
Police made the grisly discovery in a building on E. Houston St. at Suffolk St. on the Lower East side about 3:30 p.m. Cops found contractor bags near the torso, sources said, but didn’t immediately open them to see if the body parts were inside.
An NYPD official said investigators believe the victim is tech entrepreneur Fahim Saleh, 33, who bought the condo for $2.25 million last year. Saleh, a website developer turned venture capital, is the CEO of a motorcycle-sharing company in Lagos, Nigeria.
NYPD spokesman Sgt. Carlos Nieves said all of the body parts were found at the scene but declined to give specifics on where.
“We have a torso, a head that’s been removed, arms, and legs. Everything is still on the scene. We don’t have a motive,” he said.
Detectives were waiting for fingerprint and forensics tests on the body, police sources said.
The NYPD went to the seventh-floor condo after the victim’s sister called 911. She came calling Tuesday because she hadn’t seen her brother in a day, then discovered his dismembered corpse, an NYPD spokesman said.
An elevator surveillance camera may have caught the victim’s last moments, sources said. It shows the victim getting into the elevator Monday, followed quickly by a second man, dressed in a suit, wearing gloves, a hat and a mask over his face.
After the victim walked out onto his floor, he fell immediately, possibly shot or stunned.
“The perp had a suitcase. He was very professional,” one police source said.
The curtains were drawn at the newly-constructed apartment building, where condos were sold starting at $2.15 million last year.
Neighbor Daniel Faust, 40, said he saw police lead two women from the building.
“There was one that came first, with short black hair. Then a second one came, a little taller and with long hair. They were just hysterical, I guess in disbelief. And then they left with the detectives,” he said.
Police also brought a dog, a mid-sized Pomsky, out of the building, he said.
Saleh has described his history as an entrepreneur in a series of posts on Medium.com. He got his start creating a prank calling website, then moved on to create a motorcycle taxi company in his parents’ native Bangladesh.
Most recently, he started Gokada, a motorcycle ride-sharing company in Lagos, but the company faced setbacks and mass layoffs after Lagos banned companies like his in January.
Detectives took his sister to the 7th Precinct stationhouse Tuesday night, and ushered her away from reporters.
Later, two of Saleh’s friends, a man and a woman, arrived at the precinct to check on his sister.
“He was extremely smart, ambitious, very kind,” the female friend said. “Always smiling.”
They described him as a self-made millionaire who brought tech companies into nations like Nigeria and Indonesia, an energetic person who loved gadgets and video games.
Though they believe he was targeted, he never acted like he was worried about anything, the friend said.
“He never said he was scared,” the male friend said. “[He was] always very happy-go-lucky.”
They said he had just moved in recently to this apartment – somewhere around the end of 2019. Saleh posted a photo of his new home on Twitter in December.
“I hope they find that person,” he said.
“Very nice guy,” said Susan Jeffers, who lived in Saleh’s last apartment building on E. 28th St. said. “We met him right at the end of him living here…. He was a young dude from Bangladesh.”
Another woman who works in his old building, called Saleh a “big-time person.”
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“No way, that is so sad,” she said after learning about his slaying. “He was a great guy, very friendly, very courteous.”
A worker at a nearby smoke shop, after hearing earlier reports of the gruesome death, said he had nothing but fond memories of Saleh.
“We were open through the (coronavirus) pandemic, he always comes to get candy and beer,” said worker Sam Parakal. “He’s so friendly. It’s pretty sad if he’s the one.”
The 7th Precinct hasn’t seen a killing since 2015.
”It’s shocking and horrifying,” said Jamal Hyman, 51, a longtime E. Houston St. resident. “We don’t have this type of thing around here anymore. It’s just another thing to worry about in the world.”
Photo Credit: nydailynews.com
Disturbing video shows teens beating pregnant mom, kicking toddler
A group of teens pummeled a pregnant Illinois mom — and even drop-kicked her helpless tot — during a caught-on-video brawl, according to footage and reports.
The disturbing confrontation circulating on Twitter showed two young women attacking the woman as she stood with her young daughter outside a home Friday in the village of Brooklyn.
Two of the girls are seen in the footage attacking the woman, pulling her hair and pushing her to the ground.
A third girl filmed the attack on the mom, who is pregnant, The Sun reported.
As the group clobbered the mom, a teen boy suddenly ran over and kicked the toddler in the head, the report said.
He then proceeded to stomp on the mother’s head, as she struggled on the ground.
The mom of the teen boy defended him on her Facebook, claiming the tot kick was an “accident,” the Mirror reported.
“He didn’t try 2 kick that baby he tried 2 jump over the baby on to her and made a mistake…as y’all can see the baby ran from under the girl fighting while he was coming down,” said the mom, who was not identified in the report.
“My kid is not that type 2 kick a baby…accident [sic] happen.”
Brooklyn Police Department said they responded to a “disturbance” involving both adults and minors Friday at Thomas Terrance Apartments.
They were able to speak to a female victim, who had suffered a minor head injury and was able to identify her assailants.
The accused attackers’ names have not been released pending charges.
Police said they are actively investigating and the case will be referred to the St. Clair County States Attorney’s Office.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/15/video-shows-teens-beating-pregnant-mom-kicking-toddler/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Las Vegas mom was driving 121 mph before crash that killed her 1-year-old son
LAS VEGAS (KVVU) — Police said a Las Vegas woman was driving 121 mph before a deadly crash that claimed the life of her 1-year-old son.
Lauren Prescia, 24, faces multiple charges including DUI resulting in death, felony reckless driving and abuse, and child endangerment. Her son, Royce Jones, was killed in the crash, according to Prescia’s arrest report.
Police responded to the collision near a Las Vegas intersection around 7:30 p.m. on July 12. Witnesses told police a baby was ejected from the car and showed no signs of life.
Officers said Prescia had bloodshot eyes and smelled strongly of alcohol.
A man at the scene identified himself as the child’s father. He told police he was in the process of a custody exchange with Prescia. The man said he was driving on the same roadway while talking to her on the phone.
He said Prescia told him she would beat him to a house, then began speeding. He said she passed him at one point, and he told her to slow down because their son was in her car. While trying to change lanes, he said he saw her car hit another vehicle.
Because of the force of the crash, the entire right side of Prescia’s 2020 Hyundai Sonata was “sheered from the vehicle,” police said.
Data from the car showed five seconds before the crash, she drove at 120 mph with the throttle at 100%. Police said 2.5 seconds before the crash, the vehicle reached a max speed of 121 mph.
The report said a forward-facing child seat was secured in the right rear passenger seat of the Hyundai. Prescia’s son suffered severe trauma to his head in the crash. A Clark County Coroner’s investigator pronounced the baby dead at 1:10 a.m. on July 13.
Because Prescia received medical treatment at the scene, officers could not conduct a field sobriety check. She had her blood drawn at University Medical Center, and police are awaiting those results.
Prescia is expected in court again on Tuesday for a 72-hour hearing.
Photo Credit: Las Vegas PD
Amazon is rolling out grocery carts that let shoppers skip checkout lines, bag their groceries and walk out
- Amazon is launching smart shopping carts at its Woodland Hills, California, grocery store in 2020.
- Dash Carts are embedded with cameras, sensors and a smart display that automatically track a shopper’s order.
- Similar to Amazon’s cashierless Go stores, Dash Carts allow shoppers to avoid checkout lines as they exit the store.
Amazon is launching shopping carts that track items as shoppers add them, then automatically charges them when they remove the grocery bags, allowing them to skip the checkout line.
The Dash Carts will roll out at Amazon’s new Los Angeles-area grocery store, which is slated to open this year, the company announced Tuesday.
Dash Carts build on the “Just Walk Out” cashierless technology first deployed at Amazon Go convenience stores. Amazon Go stores, which opened to the public in 2018, let customers buy items without waiting in checkout lines. The company has made inroads into the grocery market over the past several years, but with cashierless technology, Amazon is hoping to make the shopping experience more enjoyable and set itself apart from other physical retailers.
Shoppers must have an Amazon account and a smartphoneto use a Dash Cart. After entering the store, users scan a QR code, located in the Amazon app, that signs them into the cart and loads Alexa shopping lists.
Each cart is equipped with cameras that use computer vision to identify items as they’re placed in bags inside the cart, and a built-in scale to weigh them if necessary. For items like fresh produce, shoppers type in the item’s four-digit code and quantity on the display, which registers the weight and price. The cart is also equipped with a coupon scanner that applies any rebates to the shopper’s order. The carts are designed for small- to mid-sized grocery trips, where shoppers might leave the store with one or two bags.
As shoppers add and remove items, a display on the front of the cart adjusts the total price.
When they’re ready to leave, shoppers exit via the store’s Dash Cart lane. The company charges the credit card linked to their Amazon account and emails a copy of the receipt.
Unlike Amazon Go locations, which offer a variety of on-the-go meals and snacks, the Woodland Hills, California, grocery store resembles a conventional supermarket in its offerings and layout. The Woodland Hills location will be a part of a new chain of Amazon grocery stores, expected to open this year, that the company has been using to fulfill grocery delivery orders during the coronavirus pandemic.
The California store’s expanded offerings presented new challenges when Amazon designed the Dash Cart, since the full-size supermarket features a “huge catalog of items,” said Dilip Kumar, Amazon’s vice president of physical retail and technology.
“You need to be able to add that and keep track of all of that and it just increases the complexity,” Kumar said in an interview. “Plus, the weighing component of it also has to be very robust to be able to allow for a very accurate receipt experience for a customer.”
Dash Carts are embedded with an array of cameras and sensors, yet, aside from the display, they look just like a standard shopping cart.
“We try to hide that complexity away from customers so you don’t have to learn any new shopping behaviors,” Kumar said. “Once you’re signed in with your phone, you can put the phone away and your normal way that you shop stays the same.”
Amazon has continued to expand its cashierless technology beyond its Go convenience stores. In February, it opened its first, full-size, cashierless grocery store, called Amazon Go Grocery, in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. The store is stocked with about 5,000 items, such as fresh produce, baked goods, meats and household items like paper towels.
Article via CNBC
Squirrel tests positive for the bubonic plague in Colorado
Symptoms of plague include sudden high fever, chills, headache, and nausea.
Public health officials have announced that a squirrel in Colorado has tested positive for the bubonic plague.
The town of Morrison, Colorado, in Jefferson County, which is just west of Denver, made the startling announcement saying that the squirrel is the first case of plague in the county.
“Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, and can be contracted by humans and household animals if proper precautions are not taken,” officials from Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) said in a statement released to the public.
It is possible for humans to be infected with the bubonic plague through bites from infected fleas and by direct contact with blood or tissues of infected animals such as a cough or a bite.
Jefferson County Public Health said that cats are highly susceptible to the plague from things like flea bites, a rodent scratch or bite, and ingesting an infected rodent. Cats can die if not treated quickly with antibiotics after contact with the plague.
Officials also said that dogs are not as susceptible to the plague as cats are but still may pick up and carry plague-infected rodent fleas. Any pet owner who suspects that their pet is ill should contact a veterinarian immediately.
“Symptoms of plague may include sudden onset of high fever, chills, headache, nausea and extreme pain and swelling of lymph nodes, occurring within two to seven days after exposure. Plague can be effectively treated with antibiotics when diagnosed early. Anyone experiencing these symptoms should consult a physician,” said JCPH.
Risk for contracting the bubonic plague is extremely low as long as the proper precautions are taken and JCPH published a list of them including eliminating all sources of food, shelter and access for wild animals around the home, not feeding wild animals, maintaining a litter and trash-free yard to reduce wild animal habitats, having people and pets should avoid all contact with sick or dead wild animals and rodents, using precaution when handling sick pets and having them examined by a veterinarian, consulting with a veterinarian about flea and tick control for pets and keeping pets from roaming freely outside the home where they may prey on wild animals and bring the disease home with them.
“All pet owners who live close to wild animal populations, such as prairie dog colonies or other known wildlife habitats, should consult their veterinarian about flea control for their pets to help prevent the transfer of fleas to humans,” JCPH said.
According to the CDC, even though there is no vaccine for the plague, it can be treated successfully with antibiotics if caught within 24 hours of exhibiting symptoms.
“Arguably the most infamous plague outbreak was the so-called Black Death, a multi-century pandemic that swept through Asia and Europe,” according to National Geographic. “It was believed to start in China in 1334, spreading along trade routes and reaching Europe via Sicilian ports in the late 1340s. The plague killed an estimated 25 million people, almost a third of the continent’s population. The Black Death lingered on for centuries, particularly in cities. Outbreaks included the Great Plague of London (1665-66), in which 70,000 residents died.”
However, the CDC says that there is now only an average of seven human plague cases per year and the WHO says the mortality rate is estimated to be between 8-10%.
Article via ABCNews