Texas teen growing out hair for sick sister withdraws from school when told to get haircut
When 16-year-old Newt Johnson found out his little sister was sick, he was ready to do anything for her.
That included growing out his hair until it was long enough to make a wig, in case she needed it. But because of his school’s policies, that also meant withdrawing from his high school.
His sister and best friend, Maggie Johnson, was recently diagnosed with Wegener’s disease. The rare auto immune disease affects her kidneys, leaving her with severe nausea and headaches that forced her to leave school in October.
The fiery 11-year-old known for her beautiful, long red locks was starting to lose her hair after she began chemotherapy and dialysis treatments.
“Some spots of my hair has came out, just like started falling out,” Maggie told CNN affiliates WOAI/KABB.
“[Newt’s] growing out his hair in case I need a wig.”
But her brother’s sweet gesture meant he had to make one serious decision: either cut his hair or withdraw from his Texas school.
According to the Poth Independent School District (ISD) handbook, which was obtained by CNN, male students are not permitted to have hair extending “beyond the ear opening on the sides nor beyond the top of a dress shirt collar in the back.”
“It really stressed me out because I already worried about my sister,” Johnson said. “It made me feel good that I could do something for her.”
Instead of cutting his hair and following the rules. Johnson decided to withdraw from Poth High School and home school while continuing to grow his mane. It needs to reach eight to 14 inches before he can donate his hair to his sister through the nonprofit Locks of Love.
District officials confirmed that Johnson is no longer a student at the high school.
“Listen to your kids, if they really believe in something, even if it does go against the rules, sometimes you just have to dig deep [to] see if it’s really worth it or not,” said Johnson’s father, Alan Johnson. “It’s worth it.”
Rules are rules
Johnson was asked by his high school to cut his hair before the beginning of winter break in December. The school gave him until Tuesday, January 21, before the code of conduct consequences would be implemented, according to Poth ISD Superintendent Paula Renken.
But when he returned to school, he hadn’t gotten a haircut.
Johnson’s mother, Jamie Mathis-Johnson, was called into the school to pick up Johnson to get a haircut that Tuesday, Renken said. After meeting with the principal, the school also offered Johnson’s parents a meeting to formally discuss their feelings with the school district’s officials.
“The parent declined the offer from the Poth High School principal, Mr. [Todd] Deaver to set up a meeting with the superintendent to discuss her dissatisfaction with the dress code,” Renken told CNN.
The district holds an annual review of the student handbook before the school year starts, giving the public an opportunity to provide recommended changes to district guidelines, including student dress code.
If Johnson had returned to school, he would have been assigned in school suspension or after school detention, according to Renken. Johnson, she said, “would not have been denied his education.”
“I don’t understand why he has to get in trouble for doing this for me,” Maggie said.
Despite the unfortunate circumstances, PISD raised over $3,000 for the Johnson family to help with hospital expenses, along with collecting hundreds of cards from fellow students and staff.
“It was never about not supporting a sick child,” Renken said.
“Principal Deaver performed his duties as he is expected to under the policies and procedures in place. He and his staff, along with the other two campuses in Poth ISD, enforce the board directed rules and guidelines fairly and consistently.”
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First grade teacher tried to buy an ‘eight ball’ of meth while at Florida school
A Florida teacher is facing felony drug charges after police say she tried to buy methamphetamine while teaching.
Valerie Lee Prince, a first grade teacher at Jacksonville Heights Elementary School in Jacksonville, was in contact with an undercover officer with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, according to a news release.
An audio recording that CCSO made and provided to the media revealed a woman talking to an officer about buying an $85 “eight ball” –an eighth of an ounce — of methamphetamine.
The woman, who the CCSO identified as Prince, is heard telling the undercover officer he can come to the school before kids arrive at 8:30 a.m. or during her lunch break at 11 a.m.
“It was a pretty nonchalant request and the indication was it was no big deal to the suspect,” Clay County Sgt. Vincent Hall said.
The teacher intended to leave the classroom of first graders to buy the narcotics, use some and save the rest for her boyfriend, said Clay County Lt. Domenic Paniccia with the CCSO during a press conference Friday.
The CCSO actually made the arrest after school, Hall said. Prince was charged with possession of methamphetamine.
“In a case like this, for a teacher to be willing to leave the classroom, leave those children and to have the intent to go consume any degree of narcotics and then to return to the classroom setting where she has care of children is unacceptable,” Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels said.
Prince also admitted she used methamphetamine 10 times within the last five to six months, the news release said.
CNN has reached out to Duval County Public School Board for comment, but has not heard back. It was not clear as of Saturday whether Prince has retained an attorney.
Prince is being held at the Clay County Jail. She is scheduled to be arraigned on March 10, court records show.
Photo Credit: fox2now.com
Doctor shot after fight over stuffed animal at Dallas Dave & Buster’s
DALLAS (KTVT) – An argument over a stuffed animal at a Dallas Dave & Buster’s led to a shooting that injured a local doctor.
Police said two groups of people were involved in a verbal altercation inside the restaurant located in the 9400 block of North Central Expressway when one of the suspects open fired — striking the victim.
The victim — later identified as Dr. Carlos Chapa — was transported to a local hospital with a non-life threatening injury and is expected to recover.
Witness Emiliano Chapa found his brother on the floor of the restaurant after gunshots rang out.
“I picked him up and dragged him all the way through the whole building, around the corner and everything… ripped his pants, took off my belt, wrapped it around his thigh because I saw he was hit in the leg,” he recalled.
Chapa said he wrapped his brother’s leg, made sure it was OK and elevated it when one of the people involved in the incident came up to him.
“I tell him, “Right now it’s not the time, you need to speed up that tongue because… you’re apologizing, are you the one?’ He was like, ‘No, they were aiming at me,’ and then he said that it was all over a stupid animal… Stuffed animal, toys,” he said. “So, I tell him ‘You’re telling me over some toys, my brother got shot?”
When Belinda Young heard gunfire, she immediately started trying to find her son and his pee wee football team.
“All of the families got together and counted kids, getting them in a section in the back,” she said.
Another visitor Kirk Wilson grabbed his daughter — who was celebrating her 10th birthday — and put her in a utility closet.
I was telling her everything is OK, everything is fine,” Wilson recalled.
Dr. Chapa is the founder and medical director of Acupuncture & Integrative Medical Center and the board director & president for the National Acupuncture Association. He is also a U.S. Navy Veteran.
Police arrested Aurikel Silverio, 24, for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection to the shooting.
via: http://fox2now.com/2020/02/10/doctor-shot-after-fight-over-stuffed-animal-at-dallas-dave-busters/
Photo Credit: Dallas Police Department
Bill introduced to ban pumping own gas in Illinois
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would ban pumping your own gas starting next year.
Camille Lilly (D-Oak Park) sponsored House Bill 4571, which had its first reading on Feb. 5. It was subsequently referred to the House Rules Committee.
If passed, the bill would create the Gas Station Attendant Act. It states that no gas may be pumped at a gas station in Illinois unless it is pumped by a gas station attendant.
It would go into effect Jan. 1, 2021.
via: http://fox2now.com/2020/02/10/bill-introduced-to-ban-pumping-own-gas-in-illinois/
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Black woman checks shamers who criticized her for having large family: ‘I am a married, ADULT!’
An expectant mother of four found herself having to defend criticism of her growing family.
Last Monday, Leslie Lewis took to her wildly popular Instagram page, which features pictures and videos of her family and their adventures, to address criticisms about her large brood. Pregnant with baby No. 5, Lewis revealed in her post that people were questioning how she could afford all of her children among other comments.
Lewis’s post was liked over 50,000 times and received tons of comments.
“This is definitely a ppl of color issue. No one questions white women when they have large families, hell its encouraged but ppl are always policing our brown bodies,” one person wrote.
“I go through the same thing. I have 5 kids from my HUSBAND & people still feel the need to make comments about it,” another commenter said.
Being an entrepreneur and social media influencer, Lewis tells Yahoo Lifestyle that she expected negative comments, but she said that a recent message about her latest pregnancy prompted her to create the post.
“The last straw was when another woman felt the need to send me really hurtful messages assuming I must be on welfare and how I should be on birth control, etc.,” she says.
With networks like TLC making millions from shows portraying large, predominately white families in a positive way, Lewis called out a double standard where large black and brown families are portrayed as broken and unable to care for their children.
“It is… common practice, even in this day, for the media to portray families of color as incapable of raising large families positively,” Lewis explains. “In reality, working families of color have historically been large in size, usually with more than 3 children.”
Lewis urges other families being shamed to not let a stranger dictate their lives and says that she hoped that sharing her story would make a positive impact.
“I have learned to use my platform to uplift families and women of color, and to use the criticism as fuel to meet and exceed my personal and family goals!” She continues, “Maybe one day we will get a reality show since there’s no families of color with multiple kids on TV that people can relate to.”
Photo Credit: instagram/The Lewis Family Instagram
Over $4 million stolen from Mississippi’s poorest
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV)- State Auditor Shad White will be paying a visit to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Monday to brief officials on the largest public embezzlement scheme in Mississippi’s history.
“We moved quickly and quietly in the Auditor’s office to put a stop to the DHS scheme before any more money was taken, and now is the time to use every investigative resource available to uncover all the fraud that remains,” said White.
After an eight month investigation, auditors found that the former Director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services and five others conspired to illegally obtain millions in public funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program administered by DHS. Defendants used a variety of business entities and schemes to defraud the taxpayers.
White says at least $4 million in federal welfare money was stolen by the former head of the state welfare agency and others in nation’s poorest state.
via: https://www.wjtv.com/news/state-auditor-to-visit-fbi-regarding-embezzlement-scheme/
Photo Credit: wjtv.com
Arizona woman’s ex-husband hides in car and chokes her while driving, police say
PHOENIX, AZ (3TV/CBS5) — A west Phoenix woman was choked by her ex-husband while driving after he hid in the back seat, police say.
This happened in March of 2019.
As she was driving, he then wrapped his arms around her neck, choking her, court documents state. The victim then tried to slow down the car, while her legs dangled out of the driver’s side door. She thought her ex-husband may have had a gun, but wasn’t certain, according to the arrest report. Witnesses saw what was happening and pulled the suspect off of her.
“Situational awareness is key in these situations because you can very easily avoid them,” said Ivette Hofrichter, co-owner of EVKM Fitness & Self Defense. She has been practicing the technique for nearly a decade, and said if you are ever in this situation you have to “escalate with response.
“Throwing elbows to the back, biting, keeping your chin down, scratching the face,” Hofrichter advised. “Reaching for objects to stab and slash to the attackers face.”
She said to use your car to your advantage. “If we have our seat belt on we can slam on the brakes, hard, to get them off balance, and allow us enough time to exit the vehicle,” Hofrichter said. “Swerving left and right to get our potentially un-belted attacker off.”
The suspect is facing felony charges of burglary and unlawful imprisonment. He is due in court March 4.
Photo Credit: kmov.com
8-year-old boy with rare terminal cancer is made police chief for a day
JEFFERSONTOWN, Ky. (WDRB/CNN/Meredith) — An 8-year-old boy is battling a rare, terminal cancer. His home city of Jeffersontown, Kentucky decided to surprise him – by naming him police chief for the day.
Officer Brandon Gwynn with the Jeffersontown police said he wanted to go “above and beyond” for Kyler Buckner.
“He deserves anything and everything,” Gwynn said.
They say live in the moment, each day at its best. But when you’re eight years old and the doctors say your days are few, these minutes and moments just matter more.
Kristen Mackin, Kyler’s mother, said her son’s condition was more serious than they thought. A tumor had spidered over his brain stem. He has a rare pediatric cancer. There’s no cure and no effective treatment. It’s the kind of cancer no child survives.
“It’s so hard to have a kid that’s running around and playing and just enjoying life and being so silly,” Mackin said. “And then next day he can’t walk. He can’t feed himself. He can’t go the bathroom. And it’s just like you just don’t know. You just don’t know that this is possible until you walk in those shoes. And then you’re just heartbroken that it has to happen to anybody and you’re devastated that your child is one of those.”
The Jeffersontown police did everything they could to make Kyler’s moment as police chief one of his best, from K-9’s to firearms and even some true detective work with Kyler’s brother Jakob at his side as assistant chief.
But it wasn’t just training for the new recruit. Kyler’s day one had a very real police run.
On the 8-year-old’s way to the station, he witnessed his fellow officers tend to a crash complete with injuries and an infant.
“He kind of looked up and me and said, ‘is this real?’” Gwynn said. “I said, ‘Kyler, this is what it’s like to be a hero.'”
All those involved in the crash were expected to be okay.
“You don’t get picked or chosen to do certain things, you just got to act,” Gwynn said.
You don’t get picked for cancer either, and the kind Kyler has kills most kids in less than a year.
“We just live day to day,” Mackin said. “Live and laugh and love and enjoy what time we have because nobody knows how long.”
Each moment, every day at its best.
“The smile’s never left his face,” Mackin said.
Kyler and his family will soon travel to San Francisco for an experimental treatment that will put chemo directly into his brain stem.
Photo Credit: kmov.com
Utah Man Admits to Killing Wife Aboard Cruise Ship After She Asked for Divorce
A Utah man pleaded guilty to beating his wife to death aboard a cruise ship two and a half years ago, the US Department of Justice announced Friday.
Kenneth Ray Manzanares pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the death of Kristy Manzanares in July 2017.
The Emerald Princess cruise ship was in US waters when the Manzanareses had a verbal fight in their cabin, a news release from the Department of Justice said.
“According to admissions made in connection with the plea, Kenneth and Kristy Manzanares became involved in a verbal argument about Kenneth’s behavior that evening, and, during the discussion, Kristy stated she wanted a divorce and told him to disembark the vessel at Juneau in order for him to travel back home to Utah,” the news release said.
Kenneth Manzanares told two children in the room to go to an adjoining room where some of Kristy’s relatives were staying, the Justice Department said. After the children heard screaming they tried to get back in the room but couldn’t. They could see from a connected balcony the husband striking his wife with his hands while she was on the floor, the release said.
Kristy Manzanares died of blunt force trauma to her face and head.
CNN reached out to a public defender for Kenneth Manzanares but didn’t get an immediate response.
Kenneth Manzanares faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000, the Justice Department said. The case fell under federal jurisdiction because the killing occurred while the ship was in US waters.
The couple was from Santa Clara, Utah. The Emerald Princess is operated by Princess Cruises.
Photo Credit: ktla.com
Sexologist Shan Boodran uses her own ‘vagina juice’ as ‘love potion’ to drive men wild
Vaginal secretions are all the rage these days.
Gwyneth Paltrow is selling a $75 candle called “This Smells Like My Vagina” via her site, Goop. This week, Erykah Badu announced she the sale of incense called “Badu’s P—y,” that smells like her vagina, on her own soon-to-launch online store — but one sexologist just goes straight to the good stuff.
Shan Boodran, the author of a book called The Game of Desire: 5 Surprising Secrets to Dating with Dominance — and Getting What You Want, insists that her “vagina juice” works like a love potion when it comes to attracting men, making them flock to her.
“Vaginal fluids, especially around ovulation, but really any time you want to feel an extra boost of confidence, can serve as a love potion,” Boodran told Refinery 29.
“Regardless of if vaginal pheromones truly make a person irresistible or not, the fact that you think it does, will cause you to act in a bolder, more confident manner. There are no health risks for others and unless you suspect you may have bacterial vaginosis, it will not make you smell bad,” she said.
“I’ve used this technique countless times in the past 10 years and have had mixed results: sometimes people are flocking to me, sometimes I don’t notice a difference. So while I’m not sure how effective this experiment is, I am certain that every single time I employ it, it makes me feel like an enchanted goddess with a delicious secret.”
Photo Credit: instagram