Two New Jersey high schools remove Indians, Cowboys mascots
The sports teams at two New Jersey high schools in Bergen County will no longer be named the Indians and Cowboys.
At their two-hour virtual meeting on Monday night, the Pascack Valley Regional High School District Board of Education voted unanimously to remove the nickname of Pascack Hills, the Cowboy, and the mascot of Pascack Valley, the Indian, reported Pascack Hills Trailblazer.
“Indian mascots are dehumanizing and cause psychological damage to natives,” a former Pascack Valley teacher said during the meeting.
“Personal feelings of nostalgia do not absolve us from our responsibility to stand up for a marginalized group.”
Charleen Schwartzman, a Pascack Hills assistant principal said, “The cowboy is in no way free of bias as it excludes women and people of color.”
“Let’s choose a mascot that we can all be proud of,” she continued.
Immediately after the announcement was made, a counter-petition to keep the Cowboys and Indians names earned more than 700 signatures.
On Tuesday afternoon a protest erupted in the parking lot at Pascack Hills, where students and community members voiced their opposition of the removal of the Cowboy mascot.
In a video, protesters confronted the incoming principle and assistant principle over their dismay that “Cowboys” will be removed from the athletic field, a man yelled, “Who is going to pay to rip up the endzone?”
Others shouted, “This is what the majority looks like!” and “It makes no sense what you’re doing.”
A photo was tweeted of group of students —without face masks — holding signs that read “Defund the BOE” and “Trump Make Hills Great Again.”
The district plans to assign new names at a later date in a “thoughtful and expeditious manner.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/06/24/two-new-jersey-high-schools-remove-indians-and-cowboys-mascots/
Photo Credit: Stephen Schmidt/Pascack Hills Trailblazer
NJ family drowned trying to save young girl — because none of them could swim
The New Jersey family members who drowned in their backyard pool were trying to rescue an 8-year-old from deep water — but none of them could swim, according to a new report.
The tragic ordeal began when the child — identified by neighbors as Sacchi Patel — jumped into a 6- or 7-foot-deep section of the above-ground pool at the family’s newly-purchased house in East Brunswick on Monday afternoon, NBC New York reported.
An aunt who was watching the girl called for help, and the child’s 62-year-old grandfather, Bharat Patel, jumped in to try to save her, the outlet reported, citing a source familiar with the circumstances.
But Bharat struggled in the water because he didn’t know how to swim, according to the report.
So the girl’s mother, 33-year old Nisha Patel, then jumped in. But Nisha also didn’t know how to swim and struggled to save both her daughter and father-in-law before drowning, according to the report.
The aunt who witnessed the ordeal was able to reach the young girl in the water, but not soon enough to save her life, according to NBC.
The three lived in the house on Clearview Road, which the family bought in April for $451,000, according to public records.
A neighbor who spoke with Bharat before the incident told NBC the family recently had the pool fixed up — and Monday may have been the first time they had used it.
On Tuesday, Mayor Brad Cohen told NJ.com that the “entire East Brunswick community is shocked and saddened.”
“Our condolences go out to the family and may they find strength from the community that shares in their grief,” he said.
Authorities had originally been investigating whether the trio had been electrocuted in the pool, but ruled that out Tuesday afternoon.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/06/24/nj-family-not-knowing-how-to-swim-drowned-trying-to-save-girl/
Photo Credit: Gregory P. Mango
CAUGHT ON CAM: Bay Area police say woman removed mask and coughed on baby in stroller
Police said Monday they’re looking for a woman who coughed on a baby at a Yogurtland.
San Jose police said the incident happened Friday evening and involved a 1-year-old child in a stroller and a woman in her 60s who was standing in line inside.
The woman who coughed on the child was upset another woman was not maintaining proper physical distancing, according to police. So she removed her mask, got close to the baby’s face and coughed two to three times, based on a preliminary investigation, police said.
People are asked to contact police, which can be done anonymously, if they have information.
Article via KCCI
Man dies after relatives unplug ventilator for air conditioner unit
The relatives of a suspected COVID-19 patient in India allegedly unplugged his ventilator to use an air conditioner at a sweltering hospital, killing him, according to reports.
The unidentified patient, a 40-year-old man at Maharao Bhimsingh Hospital in Kota in northern India, was admitted into an ICU unit on June 13 as doctors believed he had contracted the bug, the Indian Express reports.
Two days later, the man was transferred to an isolation ward as a safety precaution since another ICU patient had tested positive for coronavirus, the newspaper reports.
The man’s relatives then took an air conditioner to the hospital – as daytime temps reportedly topped out at 106 degrees — and allegedly unplugged the ventilator after not finding an open socket to cool down the room, according to the report.
Hospital staffers had deactivated air conditioners in the unit in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, Vice News reports.
The ventilator had a backup battery, but the man’s relatives didn’t tell doctors or nurses that they unplugged it, the medical superintendent at the government-run hospital told the outlet.
An investigation into the incident is now underway, Dr. Navin Saxena said.
“We have set up a committee with the deputy superintendent of the hospital, nursing superintendent, isolation ward staff and chief medical officer to file a report that details what happened,” Saxena told Vice News.
The ventilator’s battery reportedly ran out of power almost 30 minutes after being unplugged, sending the man’s family scurrying for help from staffers who gave him CPR but could not revive him.
The man’s cause of death will also be included in the hospital’s report. He tested negative for COVID-19 following his death, Saxena said.
The temperature in Kota on June 15 reached 106 degrees. No formal complaint had been filed with local police in connection with the incident, Vice News reports.
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Oregon county issues face mask order that exempts non-white people
Lincoln County, Oregon, has exempted non-white people from a new order requiring that face coverings be worn in public — to prevent racial profiling.
Health officials announced last week residents must wear face coverings in public settings where they may come within six feet of another individual who is not from the same household.
But people of color do not have to follow the new rule if they have “heightened concerns about racial profiling and harassment” over wearing the masks, officials said.
“No person shall intimidate or harass people who do not comply,” health officials said.
With mask requirements becoming more common, activists have raised concerns that the directives could put non-white people in danger.
“For many black people, deciding whether or not to wear a bandanna in public to protect themselves and others from contracting coronavirus is a lose-lose situation that can result in life-threatening consequences either way,” ReNika Moore, director of the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program, told CNN.
Trevon Logan, who is black, said orders to wear face coverings are “basically telling people to look dangerous given racial stereotypes that are out there.”
“This is in the larger context of black men fitting the description of a suspect who has a hood on, who has a face covering on,” Logan, an economics professor at Ohio State University, told the outlet.
“It looks like almost every criminal sketch of any garden-variety black suspect.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/06/23/oregon-county-issues-face-mask-order-exempting-non-white-people/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Ron Jeremy charged with multiple counts of rape, sexual assault
Porn star Ron Jeremy has been criminally charged in a series of sex attacks, which he allegedly committed on women he met in the Hollywood area over the past six years, the Los Angeles County district attorney announced Tuesday.
The 63-year-old smut film legend was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles County Superior Court on three counts each of forcible rape and forcible penetration by a foreign object, and one count each of forcible oral copulation and sexual battery, officials said.
The counts against Jeremy, whose real name is Ronald Jeremy Hyatt, include the alleged rape of a 30-year-old woman at a West Hollywood bar in July 2019, according to the Los Angeles DA’s Office.
Two years earlier, Jeremy allegedly sexually assaulted two women, ages 33 and 46, at the same bar, court papers charge.
In May 2014, he allegedly raped a 25-year-old woman at a home in West Hollywood, officials said.
Jeremy has been dogged by sexual misconduct allegations, with more than a dozen women having publicly accused him of sexual assault. The Los Angeles DA previously said the office was investigating the allegations.
In 2018, Kristin Brodie, then 22, sued Jeremy in Washington state for allegedly sexually assaulting her during an event at a Tacoma sex shop the previous year, People magazine reported.
Brodie, who was working at the event as a promotional model for a Seattle radio station, said in the lawsuit that Jeremy groped her breast and buttocks then “forcefully” digitally penetrated her, according to the magazine.
The young woman sued Jeremy after local authorities declined to file criminal charges against him for the alleged assaults, the report said.
At the time, Jeremy’s lawyer said his client denied the allegations.
Prosecutors are expected to recommend bail of $6.6 million. If convicted, Jeremy, who stands 5 feet 6 and whose net worth is reportedly about $6 million, faces a possible maximum sentence of 90 years to life in prison.
via: https://pagesix.com/2020/06/23/porn-star-ron-jeremy-charged-with-raping-three-women-in-la/?_ga=2.226783901.1412085215.1592869191-2078301105.1521480554
Photo Credit: Rachpoot/MEGA
Cornell football commit kicked off team after using N-word on Snapchat
A star running back from Morristown, N.J., has been booted from the Cornell football team after he was recorded using a racial slur, The Post confirmed.
Nate Panza, who was slated to attend Cornell in the fall after rushing for more than 1,200 yards and 17 touchdowns during his senior year at Morristown-Beard, was heard saying “f–k that n—-r” in a Snapchat video recorded early Sunday morning and subsequently shared to other social media outlets.
A shirtless Panza was off-screen when he was heard uttering the slur. He could then be seen on video asking his classmate behind the camera, Adam Giaquinto, not to post the video.
Giaquinto then used the N-word in reference to George Floyd, the black man killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis, which set off nationwide protests of racial injustice and police brutality.
Panza then tells Giaquinto, “you can’t say that.”
Panza deleted his social media accounts, but others shared the video.
“Cornell football was made aware of the video early Sunday afternoon,” Andy Noel, director of Athletics and Physical Education at Cornell University, said in a statement to The Post. “After viewing it, head football coach, David Archer, made the decision to rescind the individual’s offer to join the team in the fall. There is no room for this behavior in Cornell Athletics.”
The Cornell Daily Sun student newspaper was the first to report that Panza was removed from the football team.
“A video was taken of me using a word that is offensive and hurtful,” Panza wrote in a statement to the Daily Sun. “The word has a long history of cruelty for the black community and is simply wrong. I am heartbroken I have hurt people; those I know and those I do not. I take full responsibility for my actions… I do not believe that my language that night aligns with who I have tried to be as a person, the values I live by or the manner in which I have conducted myself as an athlete. My immediate reaction to the video was to reach out to my entire high school community to offer my sincerest apologies.”
The @blackatcornell twitter account, as well as a student organization named Cornell Students for Black Lives, helped bring the video to light and asked people to notify Cornell’s administration.
It is unclear at this time whether Panza’s admission status to the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management will remain intact.
Giaquinto is headed to the University of Richmond, which tweeted that it would be investigating the video.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/06/23/nate-panza-cornell-football-commit-booted-after-using-n-word/
Photo Credit: twitter
Mannequin dressed in police uniform with pig mask found hanging from overpass in Florida
(WJXT/CNN/Meredith) — Investigators are looking for the person who hung a mannequin dressed like a police officer from an overpass in Jacksonville, Florida.
The sheriff said it’s disturbing, and the head of the City’s Fraternal order of police said it’s an act of hate that does not reflect the values of the community.
Witnesses who saw the dummy hanging by its neck also said it was disturbing.
Lamont Ross, a Jacksonville resident, said he when first saw the mannequin, he thought it was a real body and his “heart completely dropped.”
Ross captured video of the hanging mannequin, dressed in a police uniform with a pig’s head.
Ross’ wife Kiva Ross was with her husband when they saw the mannequin.
“I was in tears. I was like trembling. It was sad just to see something like that in person, it was just terrifying,” Kiva Ross said. “I was praying to God it wasn’t really a body, which it wasn’t, so that was a great thing. It was a big relief.”
Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams called the incident extremely disturbing and released the following statement:
“The incident that occurred this morning depicting the mock lynching of a mannequin dressed in what appeared to be the uniform of a law enforcement officer is extremely disturbing. Both the tactics and props used were a deliberate attempt to exasperate an anti-police sentiment and drive a divide in our community. This incident was carried out by people wanting to undermine our dedicated efforts to keep our city safe. Too many good citizens are working with us to keep our community safe through active partnerships, and frank conversations about the challenges we all face. This type of act will not be tolerated by our agency or our community, and we will work together to hold those responsible accountable.”
Police are still searching for the person who hung the dummy. Detectives said the mannequin will be processed for DNA.
Photo Credit: kmov.com/Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office
‘The Last of Us Part II’ looks like a slam dunk for Sony
(CNN) — “The Last of Us Part II,” the hotly anticipated sequel to the 2013 survival horror game, is out Friday on PlayStation 4. The game, developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony, offers a complex, emotional story and lots of infected zombies.
The franchise is beloved by fans, and analysts say it’s poised to do well, even in the midst of a real-life pandemic.
“The Last of Us” (2013) was a smash hit, selling 20 million copies by 2019, according to Niko Partners senior analyst Daniel Ahmad. It’s the third-best-selling PlayStation exclusive as of 2019, after “Marvel’s Spider-Man” and “God of War,” according to Mat Piscatella, executive director of games at research firm NPD Group.
The game is even being developed into a TV series by HBO (which is owned by CNN’s parent company WarnerMedia) in conjunction with Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions.
The franchise is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which a mutant fungus infected most humans and turned them into cannibalistic “zombies.” In the original game, players traverse the world as Joel, a smuggler, and Ellie, a young woman who has been orphaned.
The timing of the sequel’s release during a pandemic could actually attract more people to play it, analysts say. The ever present threat of infection in ‘The Last of Us’ franchise has clear parallels to reality, and players might find comfort in the agency they have in the fictional world.
“The Last of Us Part II” continues the story from the end of the original game. Ellie was revealed to be immune to the disease and her cells could unlock a vaccine, although the procedure to harvest her cells would kill her. Joel is unwilling to let Ellie die, and so he murders a doctor and lies, telling her that researchers are no longer looking for a cure.
“It was an incredibly bittersweet ending with tremendous room for interpretation and conversation,” said Rami Ismail, a game developer in the Netherlands. “From what we’ve seen so far, ‘The Last of Us II’ does not seem to hold any punches, and once again showcases the improbable level of craft and borderline unhealthy levels of effort by its creators.”
Part II of the story picks up five years later, where almost immediately Ellie embarks on a mission to avenge a person dear to her. As in the original, players switch characters throughout the game and experience different perspectives, from Ellie to another character whose actions may be difficult for some fans to stomach.
Amid the gunfights, explosions and zombies, the game also has cinematic cutscenes that deepen the player’s connection to the characters. When Ellie tells Dina, her new companion and lover, about her zombie bite mark and how she’s immune, she doesn’t take Ellie seriously.
It’s a tender moment within a post-apocalyptic world, where there are few humans and most buildings are in disrepair.
While the game falls under the shooter genre, ammo is a scarce resource, so players focus on outmaneuvering zombies through stealth and on character interactions that further the narrative.
The game will run on the PlayStation 5, which will be released this holiday season. David Cole, an analyst at research firm DFC Intelligence, said that will be to Sony’s advantage, given how the original Last of Us was released on the PlayStation 3 and then remastered for the PlayStation 4.
“Sony releasing an enhanced PS5 version not only gets people to buy the game again but also buy a PS5,” he said.Make your favorite Sparkling Ice® into a mocktail!All the fruit meets all the flavor in this summertime family favorite.Ad By Sparkling Ice® – Please drink responsibly See More
Why fans love ‘The Last of Us’
“The Last of Us” franchise heavily relies on cinematic elements and emotional narrative, and this depth of storytelling is attractive to its devoted fanbase.
Joost van Dreunen, founder of video game investment firm New Breukelen, told CNN Business, “The games industry has long suffered from Hollywood-envy and titles like ‘The Last of Us’ are among the few that show that video games can deliver an equally compelling experience.”
Dreunen expects “The Last of Us Part II” will be a “slam dunk” and a “blockbuster hit for Sony.”
Julia Singh, 21, a graphic designer in New York, who played the original and has already purchased Part II, explained why she loves the franchise.
“The story, to me, was so well-told and touching, showing the emotional bond between Joel and Ellie,” she said, “A bereaved father, and a girl with no home…They were survivors together, and I loved all of the detail in the game between them.”
Macaiyla Edwards, a 21-year-old Twitch streamer based in Missouri who said she plans to stream “The Last of Us Part II,” told CNN Business, “The storyline really makes you feel like you’re a part of the game itself. I genuinely enjoy the game and I’m excited to see where Joel and Ellie go from where they last stopped on their journey.”
LGBTQ representation
The original “Last of Us” was also celebrated for its queer representation. While Ellie was shown to be queer in a later downloadable release for the game, she isn’t explicitly defined by her sexuality.
“Given gaming’s historic issues with representation, this was considered a triumph by gamers who want to see games catch up to the reality of their player base,” said Laine Nooney, assistant professor and historian of video games at New York University.
Still, the game has received criticism on Twitter for not carrying a trigger warning for violence. Two minor characters in scenes that occur later on in the game deadname a trans character — calling him by his “dead,” given name, and not his chosen one.
For that reason, Kazuma Hashimoto, a Japanese-to-English translator and journalist based in Germany, called out the game on Thursday.
“The scenes that are in that cutscene can be extremely triggering, and even re-traumatize trans people regarding the abuse that we face, the dead naming, the small instances of violence that occur in our everyday lives,” he told CNN Business.
Sony and Naughty Dog did not immediately respond to comment.
CNN Business was provided with early access to the game by Sony.
Photo Credit: kmov/Sony Interactive Entertainment/Naughty Dog
A 9-year-old and her friends have raised nearly $100,000 selling bracelets to help black-owned businesses
MINNESOTA (CNN)– A group of friends with big dreams and even bigger hearts started a summer business that is helping black-owned businesses and neighborhoods in Minneapolis affected by the coronavirus pandemic and protests following the death of George Floyd.
Fueled by boredom and an itch for something new, 9-year-old Kamryn Johnson and five of her friends who live in neighboring Chanhassen decided to open a stand selling friendship bracelets.
After a lot thinking about where the money would end up going, the group agreed that the proceeds would be donated to businesses and food banks in Minneapolis.
Led by Kamryn, the group named their effort “Kamryn & Friends: Bracelets For Unity & Justice.” Since setting up the stand on May 30, the kind kiddos have raised more than $90,000 through sales of the bracelets online fundraising and donations, according to Kamryn’s dad, former NFL player Ron Johnson.
“She has a huge heart and simply wanted to be of help in whatever way she could,” Johnson told CNN. “She and her friends are finding ways to feed the families of Minneapolis and give back to their community in the way they know how.”
While the funds will be going toward helping various businesses damaged during protests, Johnson said the focus is on helping black business owners get back on their feet.
They had already been harmed by the coronavirus pandemic, which forced Minnesota into a statewide shutdown for a month. Then the May 25 death of black resident George Floyd triggered nights of protests and violence in cities across the country.
Scores of businesses in the Twin Cities — Minneapolis and St. Paul — were damaged or looted during days of unrest.
‘When you look at Minneapolis, there is a huge racial gap in basically every aspect of life,” Johnson said. “It’s not equal. We want to be there for black businesses, especially those that don’t have insurance agents to help them out, to let them know they have people that will protect and fight for them.”
A portion of the money is going toward feeding the community and providing families with resources such as diapers and laundry detergent. The kids are donating some of their funds to Minneapolis’ Sanctuary Covenant Church’s food drive and the Kyle Rudolph food and supply Drive.
When the children first came up with the idea, Johnson said he expected them to raise “maybe $50 or something small.” After news of their efforts unexpectedly began to spread, people across the country were donating to the cause.
But that’s not the only impact the children are having on the movement.
“Day after day, we’re having impactful conversations with so many people. So many of our community members have come by to drop off supplies, or just talk about things like racism and injustice, stuff that we don’t talk about very often,” Ron Johnson said.
“We want to stay in the fight. We don’t plan on giving a bit and then walking away and going about our day. We’re fighting for our community and it’s not going to end any time soon. This is a fight for racial equality and an end to police brutality. It’s something we still need to talk about.”
While America is a long way from reaching true equality, for now, Kamryn and her friends will continue spreading joy by selling bracelets for as long as people are willing to buy them.
Photo Credit: Jamie Stoia