91-year-old woman loses $250,000 in Publishers Clearing House scam
BEL NOR, Mo. (KMOV.com) – Bel-Nor resident Barb Fish said her 91-year-old mother-in-law was swindled out of a huge chunk her of life savings when she fell victim to a scam.
Fish said it all started with a phone call. Her mother-in-law thought she won $4 million.
“He got her to trust him, she told him her life story,” Fish said.
Fish said her mother-in-law thought she was paying taxes to claim her prize. From November through February, she wrote check after check. Fish said her mother-in-law sent the scammers nearly $250,000 to claim the prize she thought she won.
“Devastated, she is now that she knows isn’t for real, she is devastated,” said Fish.
In some cases, Fish said her mother-in-law withdrew cash and mailed it off and wishes the bank would have stopped her.Try the Name Your Price® ToolTell us what you want to pay and we’ll find options to fit your budget.Ad By ProgressiveSee More
Publishers Clearing House recognizes the problem of scams and even mentions them on their website. They warn customers not to send any money to pre-pay taxes and they will only notify winners of a prize via mail or in person, never on the phone.
Fish said when she and her husband figured out what was going on, they had the calls forwarded to their cell phone. Fish said her husband told the scammer to stop and the conversation got personal.
“[My husband said] ‘You have done enough damage stop calling.’ [The scammer] said, ‘Go sit by your daughter’s grave and cry about it.’ So he knew we had lost a daughter,” said Fish.
Fish said it is important for everyone to watch elderly family members’ finances closely, even if its too late for them.
Fish also said she called the FBI. The money and checks were mailed to multiple addresses all over the country. Many of the calls originated from an 876 area code, which is Jamaica.
Experts told News 4 not to answer a call from an 876 area code if you don’t recognize the number.
Photo Credit: kmov.com
4-year-old boy dies after father beats him with guitar
CLARKDALE, Ariz. (KTVK) — Police in Arizona said a 4-year-old boy died after his father beat him with a guitar.
An officer who responded to the scene fatally shot the father during a struggle.
The incident happened at a home in Clarkdale around 3 p.m. Thursday. Police were called to the scene after reports of a domestic disturbance.
Authorities said 33-year-old Joshua Hernandez Lord struck his 4-year-old son multiple times in the head with a guitar, causing numerous skull fractures. Lord also struck his 51-year-old mother in the head, fracturing her skull.
Officers tried to deescalate the situation and deployed a Taser on Lord, but it was ineffective. As police repeatedly tried to calm him down, Lord allegedly grabbed a knife and used it to threaten the officers. Police said he then charged at one of them.
An officer then shot Lord, who died at the scene. His 4-year-old son was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead Friday.
The condition of the suspect’s mother was not released.
Photo Credit: myfox8.com
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Best friends in Philadelphia learn they are sisters after 17 years
HOLMES, Pennsylvania — “It was just God’s work, man,” said Kenneth Wimberly, who just learned he has another daughter.
This story takes us back 17 years to Sulzberger Middle School in Philadelphia. A 6th-grader, Ashley Thomas, would practice stylizing hair on her new best friend, Toya Wimberly.
Many said the pair from West Philly looked and acted like sisters. They grew up feeling that way, too.
Fifteen years ago, Ashley learned that her dad, Mike, was not her biological father. This never stopped Mike from being around and taking care of Ashley. Unfortunately, her mother passed away several years later.
Toya’s father, Kenneth, always joked that Ashley was his daughter, but it wasn’t until last week that he learned this was true.
It was a chain reaction that started on social media. Kenneth was pictured in photos of his daughter, Toya’s engagement party on Facebook.
Ashley’s late mother’s best friend recognized him as someone they used to hang out with. Kenneth remembered the women and started lining up the pieces.
This prompted the group to conduct a DNA test. Sure enough, Ashley, 31, and Toya, 29, are not-so-long-lost sisters. Both are the daughters of Kenneth Wimberly.
Although shocking, it is not a surprise given their similarities.
Both grew up having huge gaps in their front teeth and high cheekbones. Funnily enough, they both are currently wearing braces to fix the former.
They tout themselves as hustling entrepreneurs who both started their own businesses.
Toya owns a children’s transportation company, Global Rides Transportation, while Ashley created Hot Headz Hair Studio.
They recently planned a group trip to Miami, but ultimately they were the only two who carried out the vacation. This gave them an opportunity to deepen their bond further before even realizing they were related.
Both became pregnant at the same time and the fathers of their first children are brothers themselves. And now, they learn they have the same father.
The whole family is left to wonder, “why now?” after nearly two decades of successful friendships. There may not be any answers, but they know there is only room to become closer.
Photo Credit: 6abc.com
Straight-A student offers bonus points to classmate with lowest test score; helped turn a failing grade into a passing grade
(CNN) — An unusual request at the end of a student’s exam was quickly shared by thousands, thanks to a Kentucky teacher’s Facebook post.
Winston Lee, a teacher at Letcher County Central High School, was picking up exams about World War II in his 11th-grade history class when he noticed an asterisk with a small note toward the bottom of one exam.
It read, “If you could, can you give my bonus points to whoever scores the lowest?”
Lee said he was “taken aback” by his student’s request, especially when most are clinging to every extra point they can get to boost their grades.
“He wanted to give up what he had earned so blindly,” said Lee. “I took it as a really compassionate, loving and kind act from a young person that most people would consider rare.”
The unexpected ask touched Lee so much that he posted it to his Facebook page on February 21 in hopes of inspiring others. The post quickly did just that, with thousands of shares and comments praising the student.
Lee explained how “one of my guys” received an extra five points on the exam after doing well in the previous day’s review game. The straight-A student ended up scoring a 94 on the exam, and the points he gave away allowed his classmate to go from a failing to passing grade.
Although his generosity received a lot of positive feedback, some questioned whether giving a student who didn’t pass the extra points was the right thing to do.
One commenter suggested “an offer to help the struggling student(s) to learn the material would be better.” Another wrote, “The grades reflect that they learned something when they didn’t.”
But Lee said he has no regrets, and people “overthought” what took place.
“I tried to not let any of the negative comments affect any of the positivity that was coming from it,” said Lee. “I just wanted to honor what this student had asked for and felt he earned his right to give his points away because it was such an amazing gesture.”
He said he hopes his student’s spontaneous act of kindness serves as an even greater lesson outside the classroom.
“Never in my teaching experience have I heard of a student willingly give away something they had earned to allow an extra opportunity for someone else,” said Lee. “So, the ultimate message is to take from his example and pay it forward.”
Photo Credit: kmov.com
L.A. County DA Jackie Lacey apologizes for husband pointing gun at Black Lives Matter demonstrators
Tensions between Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey and Black Lives Matter heightened Monday after the prosecutor’s husband drew a gun and threatened to shoot an activist on the couple’s porch in Granada Hills.
About two dozen protesters had gathered outside the residence around 5 a.m. Monday, holding up Black Lives Matter signs and chanting their disapproval of Lacey on the eve of the March 3 primary, in which the two-term incumbent is facing two challengers.
One demonstrator shouted through a bullhorn. Another held a sign that read, “#ByeJackie.”
Just before 6 a.m., Melina Abdullah, one of the the most vocal Black Lives Matter organizers in Los Angeles, released video of Lacey’s husband David confronting her with a gun.
The footage opens with a man holding up a firearm at his door saying: “Get off of my porch, right now. Get off.”
A woman responds, “Good morning. Are you going to shoot me?”
The man replied: “I will shoot you. Get off of my porch. … Get off of my porch, right now. We’re calling the police, right now.”
He then shuts the door.
By around 7:40 a.m., Los Angeles Police Department officers were standing in front of Lacey’s home as protesters continued to shout, “Jackie Lacey must go.”
Later Monday morning, Lacey addressed the incident in a news conference at the Hall of Justice in downtown L.A.
Apparently distraught, she issued an apology, telling reporters that her husband responded in fear.
“And now that he realizes what happened, he wanted me to say to the protesters, the person that he showed the gun to, that he was sorry,” Lacey said. “That he’s profoundly sorry. That he meant no one any harm. That it was just him and I in that house and that we really didn’t know what was about to happen.”
She added, “I too am sorry if anybody was harmed. It was never my intent to harm any protester. I just want to live in peace and do my job.”
Activists have long criticized Lacey for her decision not to prosecute a number of high-profile, use-of-force cases involving law enforcement officers.
At Monday’s news conference, Lacey enumerated threats she said she’s received over the years. The protests ramped up in the time leading to Tuesday’s election, the DA said.
In an interview with KTLA, Abdullah said the activists went to her home early Monday “to catch her. We’ve been in front of her office demanding a meeting for 2 1/2 years.”
Lacey said they did not want to comply with her wish that a meeting be held one-on-one or in a small group setting.
“My hope is that one day that might change. …You can vote, that’s one way to speak your mind. But to publicly humiliate people, to say to them, ‘I hate you.’ That you’re a racist. What progress will we make in this world if that’s how we talk to one another?” Lacey said.
Soon after Lacey’s news conference, Black Lives Matter activists set up their own podium on the stairs outside the Hall of Justice.
Sherlyn Haynes held up a photo of her son Christopher Mitchell, who was fatally shot by Torrance police at a Ralph’s parking lot in December 2018.
Authorities said Mitchell, 23, had an air rifle and was driving a stolen car. The District Attorney’s Office found the two officers involved “acted lawfully in self-defense.”
Mitchell’s family said the officers did not need to shoot the 23-year-old.
“My son was murdered, officer still shot him with his hands up,” Haynes said on Monday.
She continued, “Jackie Lacey: You’re not doing your job. … I’m glad you didn’t kill none of our Black Live Matter people, like they murdered my son and the rest of our kids.”
Photo Credit: ktla.com
Marie Osmond says, ‘I’m not leaving any money to my children’ after death, sparking debate on ‘The Talk’
Marie Osmond won’t leave any money to her children after she passes away, The Talk co-host, 60, said Friday
The former country singer is a member of the famous Osmond family, who ruled the music scene in the 1960s and ‘70s as the Osmonds. Marie and her brother Donny Osmond, 62, also hosted a 1970s variety show called Donny & Marie. The Dancing with the Stars alum has been married three times and shares 6 children, two biological and five adopted, with her ex-husbands. (In 2010, Marie’s 18-year-old son Michael died by suicide).
During The Talk segment, the women discussed reports that Kirk Douglas, who died in February at age 103, left most of his multimillion dollar fortune to charity.
“I’m not leaving any money to my children,” Marie told her CBS co-hosts, adding, “Congratulations, kids.”
“My husband and I decided that…I think you do a great disservice to your children to just hand them a fortune because you take away the one most important gift you can give your children, and that’s the ability to work,” she said.
Marie said children of wealthy families often “don’t know what to do” and “get in trouble,” saying, “Let them be proud of what they make, and I’m going to give mine to my charity.” She clarified that her views don’t void a desire to help children, for example, helping them to purchase a home or car.
The topic gave way to a friendly debate. “I disagree with that,” said co-host Sheryl Underwood. “I think that when you come from a family of money, you raise your children to value money and understand money and because they [were] born into the family, they should have a healthy respect for money.”
Guest host Carnie Wilson of the former band Wilson Phillips, added, “I’m somewhere in the middle. I love the idea of teaching your children to work.” Admitting that she hails from a successful, hardworking family herself — Carnie and her sister bandmate Wendy are the daughters of Brian Wilson, a founding member of the Beach Boys — Carnie said she prefers leaving some money to her children while also instilling a work ethic.
Co-host Sharon Osbourne, who is married to three-time Grammy rocker Ozzy Osbourne, tactfully disagreed with Marie. “Everybody is different, and I just know that my husband’s body of work that he’s written and kept us all in the lifestyle that we love, goes to my children and his name and likeness goes to my children…” she said, adding, “I don’t want somebody that never met my husband owning his name and likeness and selling T shirts everywhere and…no, it stays in the Osbourne family.”
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