Teen accepted to 39 colleges, awarded $1.6 million in scholarships
ATLANTA (Meredith) – A high school senior in Georgia has been accepted to a whopping 39 colleges and has racked up more than $1.6 million in scholarship offers.
“The crazy thing is, I’m still waiting on decision letters — but I was not expecting that at all,” 17-year-old Jordan Nixon said in an interview with our sister station, WGCL in Atlanta.
The Douglas County teen said she researched which colleges would be the best fit for her, focusing on institutions that pride themselves on diversity and have stellar international business programs.
“We’re so happy for her because she does put in a lot of due diligence into applying for these schools,” said her mom, Angelia Nixon.
Her parents said she’s very independent, well-rounded, and has great time management skills on top of participating in many extracurricular activities.
“I am one of the captains of the varsity cheer team here at Douglas County. I’m in the Chick-fil-A Leader Academy, and I also participate in DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America),” added Nixon.
She applied to around 50 schools. Letter after letter, the same word kept showing up: congratulations.
“It’s shocking, each and every time, you’re taken aback every time you open one,” Nixon said.
Thirty-nine acceptance letters later and she has a big decision to make.
A spokesperson at Douglas County High School, where Nixon attends, said this is the most acceptance letters a student there has ever received.
“Students like Jordan who took advantage of being able to apply to a lot of schools through certain avenues like the Common Black App, you can apply to a lot of schools with one low price for that one, and also Common App they can apply to up to 20 schools at one time on one App,” said Pinky Quick, the College and Career Center Specialist at Douglass County High School.
Jordan said it’s her motivation and support system that helped her the most.
“I think my secret is to just give my all,” said Nixon.
The 17-year-old said she’s still narrowing down her choices, but will make a decision by May 1.
Woman uses child’s Social Security number to buy car at dealership
Waterloo (Meredith/The Courier) — A Cedar Rapids, Iowa, woman has been arrested for allegedly using a child’s Social Security number when she bought a new car at a Waterloo dealership.
According to authorities, Latrice Shante Roundtree, 36, drove off with the 2018 Chevrolet Cruze before workers at Dan Deery Motors discovered the discrepancy, and subsequent attempts to recover the $18,000 vehicle were unsuccessful.
On Thursday, Roundtree turned herself in on charges of first-degree theft and identity theft. She remains free pending trial.
The sale happened in November, and she allegedly entered the Social Security number — which wasn’t close to her own number — on financing paperwork, according to court records.
Self-driving cars risk ‘future errors’ due to difficulty detecting darker skin tones: Researchers
Systems used by self-driving cars to avoid pedestrians may be less accurate at detecting people with darker skin, a report out of the Georgia Institute of Technology warned recently.
Researchers published their findings in a report, “Predictive Inequity in Object Detection,” after testing several similar systems to determine how accurately they spot people of varying skin tones.
Using a collection of digital photographs showing street scenes with pedestrians, the researchers grouped each person pictured in the dataset by their placement on the Fitzpatrick scale — a classification schema that measures skin tone on a scale of one to six from lightest to darkest — and then gauged how well the object-detection systems spotted people lumped on either side of the spectrum.
Summarizing the results, the researchers wrote that their findings “show uniformly poorer performance of these systems when detecting pedestrians with Fitzpatrick skin types between 4 and 6.”
“This behavior suggests that future errors made by autonomous vehicles may not be evenly distributed across different demographic groups,” the researchers wrote.
On average, detection was five percentage point less accurate among individuals on the darker side of the scale, Vox reported Wednesday.
Read more via WashingtonTimes
Florida sixth-grader arrested in Pledge of Allegiance dispute will not be prosecuted
Article via CNN
(CNN)A Florida sixth-grader who was arrested last month following a Pledge of Allegiance dispute at his school will not be prosecuted, his attorney said Wednesday night. The student at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland refused to take part in the Pledge of Allegiance on February 4, according to the Polk County School District. At the time, it said the student was arrested for becoming disruptive, not for refusing to participate.The case attracted national attention after Team Roc, a branch of the Roc Nation entertainment company founded by hip-hop artist Jay-Z, became involved. It raised awareness about the case, describing the teen’s arrest as wrong. In a letter to the teen’s mother, Dhakira Talbot, the county’s teen court said there are no pending issues. “Since this was not entered in a criminal database, no delinquency record was created,” it said.
When the student did not take part in the Pledge of Allegiance, a substitute teacher in charge of the class was unaware that the district’s student code of conduct doesn’t mandate students’ participation, the district said at the time.
The substitute teacher said that when she asked the student, who is black, to stand forthe pledge, he “answered that he won’t because the flag of the country is racist. He then started to explain why the national anthem was offensive to black people.” The teacher’s statement to the school district was obtained by CNN affiliate Spectrum Bay News 9.The teacher exchanged words with the student and called the school administration, according to the district. A school resource officer also responded. A school administrator and the officer asked the student to leave the class, but the sixth grader refused, Lakeland police said. Authorities said the student made threats as he was escorted to the office, and he was arrested for disrupting a school function and resisting an officer without violence and transported to the Juvenile Assessment Center. The family disputed the version of events in the police report, describing it as “largely fabricated in order to justify the wrongful arrest,” said Roderick Ford, an attorney for the student and his mother. He said the student had never used the word racist, but indicated that he was not participating in the pledge because he felt the American flag represented unfair and discriminatory treatment of black people. “At that point, it is our position that this young man was well within his legal rights,” he said. The sixth-grader was suspended for three days and transferred to a private school following the incident. NFL player Leonard Fournette tweeted that he has invited the student to a Jacksonville Jaguars game.
The legal fight is not over
Talbot welcomed the court’s decision and thanked those who supported her son. But she said the legal fight is not over. “My son and I are grateful for all the athletes, entertainers, Roc Nation and community of supporters that have raised awareness about this injustice and showed their support — both publicly and privately — during our time of need, ” she said. “Although (my son’s) case has been dismissed, I do want people to know this isn’t just about my son — this prejudice happens to African-American kids all across the country. The fight isn’t over, which is why I have a civil rights complaint pending with the US Department of Education.”Ford said he hopes the parties involved will reach a resolution without going to trial. “We do not believe that this case needs to go to trial, although we certainly are prepared to try this case,” he said in a statement. “Instead, it is our hope that the US Department of Education will utilize all of the tools at its disposal to help bring the parties and community stakeholders together in order to reach a fair and just resolution of this case.”
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Man confessed to giving STDs to 3-year-old relative
A Texas man has confessed to raping a 3-year-old female relative, leading her to contract chlamydia and gonorrhea, court documents show. Top articles3/5Ocasio-Cortez wasn’t invited to Bernie’s campaign kickoff
Drevon Alexander Perkins, 26, of San Antonio, was arrested Tuesday after the girl’s mother noticed discharge in her diaper and took her to a hospital for observation. A doctor later confirmed she had been infected with two sexually transmitted diseases and a police investigation was launched, according to court records cited by the San Antonio Express-News.
Perkins later allegedly admitted during a polygraph test to raping the girl while he was high on drugs in January, telling investigators he attacked her at his apartment while her mother was working.
Perkins had previously been diagnosed with chlamydia and gonorrhea, court records show.
He remained in custody as of Thursday on $100,000 bond at the Bexar County Jail on a felony charge of super aggravated sexual assault of a child, jail records show. If convicted, Perkins faces a minimum of 25 years in prison, KTRK reports.
The alleged victim is Perkins’ relative, according to KSAT.
Man kills wife and pals who wouldn’t let him drive drunk
Police say a Mississippi man fatally shot his wife and two friends at her birthday celebration after he was prevented from driving drunk.
Michael Barnhill, 30, was charged Monday with three counts of homicide in connection to the tragic party in Carollton. He also faces charges for attempted murder, according to Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.
The party, which was hosted by Jim and Brooks Harrell, was held Friday in honor of the suspect’s wife, Marlee, who would’ve turned 27 the following day, according to authorities.
During the gathering, Marlee Barnhill kept the truck keys “to prevent driving away in his drunken state,” officials said.
But as the night wore on, Michael Barnhill allegedly became “combative” when his wife and pals tried to contain his behavior.
“These were all good friends having a nice time together,” Carroll County Sheriff Clint Walker said in a statement. “Michael Barnhill, however, became drunk and belligerent during the course of the evening.”
Michael Barnhill allegedly got a pistol from his truck and fatally shot his wife in the chest. When the Harrells tried to prevent more gunfire, Barnhill allegedly fired shots at both of them, news station WTVA reported.
Emergency responders pronounced 44-year-old Jim Harrell dead at the home. His 39-year-old wife, Brooks Harrell, was airlifted to a Jackson hospital, where she later died.
Two other guests were not injured and identified Michael Barnhill as the gunman to authorities.
Deputies arrested Michael Barnhill at the scene after a brief struggle. He is being held without bond.
“Marlee was trying to do the right thing to protect his life and the lives of other drivers,” Walker said.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/03/07/man-kills-wife-and-pals-who-wouldnt-let-him-drive-drunk-cops/
Baby girl hospitalized with blood alcohol level 3 times the adult legal limit, Cleveland police say
CLEVELAND — A 7-month-old baby girl was hospitalized earlier this week with a blood alcohol level three times the legal level for an adult driver, according to Cleveland police.
The baby’s mother told police she left the child with an aunt before going to work at 9 a.m Sunday. She reportedly came back around 5:30 p.m. and noticed the baby was acting differently.
Police said the mother took the child to University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s around 7:30 p.m. The baby was reportedly limp and unresponsive.
Hospital officials did a drug panel on the baby. Test results indicated that the baby had a BAC of 0.25, WJW reports. The legal limit for an adult driver is 0.08.
The mother and aunt claimed they have no idea how the child got alcohol in her system, according to police.
This is an ongoing investigation. No charges have been filed yet. Child and Family Services has been notified of the incident.
Man sentenced to prison after 4-year-old accidentally shoots mom with shotgun
NORWALK, Calif. – An ex-convict was sentenced to prison Wednesday after a 4-year-old boy found a loaded shotgun inside a car regularly used to drive children, and accidentally shot his mother, authorities said.
Brandon Gilbert Ambriz, 24, pleaded no contest to a single count of being a felon in possession of a firearm during what was scheduled to be a court appearance to set a preliminary hearing date, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and Los Angeles County Superior Court records. He was immediately sentenced to five years in state prison.
The case stems from the Jan. 23 shooting of a pregnant woman outside a school.
The woman’s 4-year-old son took the shotgun Ambriz had left in the backseat of the car, officials said. The child fired the gun, striking his mother in the driver’s seat. She was treated for a gunshot wound to the mid-torso, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Three other children who were also in the car were unhurt, prosecutors said.
Ambriz initially faced four charges of child abuse, in addition to the gun possession charge, according to the District Attorney’s Office. He could have faced more than 25 years in prison if convicted as originally charged.
It was not clear whether Wednesday’s court outcome was the result of a negotiated plea deal.
11-year-old shot trooper dad as he slept for taking video games away
GRANGER, Ind. – An 11-year-old boy reportedly shot his own father – an Indiana State Police trooper – over video games.
According to court documents obtained by WSBT, the state trooper’s son devised a plan to shoot his dad with his service gun while he was at school that day because he “was done with all of that” and “wanted it to end.”
The trooper said he keeps his gun locked in his car, so his kids wouldn’t have access to it. The boy allegedly said he went to his dad’s car three different times to look for the gun.
When he finally got it, he took the weapon into his parents’ room where they were sleeping. He waited “about 10 minutes” until his dad rolled over and was facing away from the door, and then he fired one shot into his backside, according to the documents.
When the trooper started screaming, his wife went to look for the boy, and she saw him going up the stairs with a gun and a Taser, the documents say.
The trooper is still recovering from the shot and is said to be steadily improving, WSBT reports.
The boy allegedly told investigators after the shooting if he didn’t get his video games, there would be “a part two,” and said he wanted to shoot his dad in the head but couldn’t because of the way he was laying down.
He also said he tested the Taser on the family’s dog before the shooting, according to authorities.
The 11-year-old is now facing charges of attempted murder in juvenile court. His next court date is set for April 10th.
Father found guilty of plotting acid attack on 3-year-old son
A father has been found guilty and sentenced to 16 years in prison for plotting an acid attack on his 3-year-old son amid a custody battle with his ex-wife.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted unanimously by a jury Wednesday at Worcester Crown Court in the UK following a six-week trial, the court confirmed to CNN.
The jury, which deliberated for nine hours, convicted the man and five co-conspirators of plotting to spray sulfuric acid in the child’s face with the intention to “burn, maim or disfigure.”
Jurors were told that the father, 40, a taxi driver from Wolverhampton, central England, but originally from Afghanistan, enlisted the help of his co-conspirators in order to attack his son in a bid to gain increased custody by depicting the child’s mother as incapable of providing adequate care, the UK’s Press Association agency reported.
The man’s wife left him in 2016, taking their three children with her, the court was told.
Jonathan Rees QC, prosecuting, said the father was the “driving force” behind the July 2018 attack, and described his victim as “defenseless.”
“This case concerns a cowardly attack on a defenseless 3-year-old boy in which he was squirted with a solution of sulfuric acid,” he said.
“At the time of the attack, the little boy was with his mother and his older brother and sister. The family had been shopping for a birthday present.”
The victim’s mother said in a statement that she found it “extremely hard to accept” that her child had been attacked in such a way by his father, but expressed joy over the verdict.
“I hope this case and sentence makes people consider the consequences before even thinking about acting is such a monstrous way, it is a family’s life that has been ruined and a young boy that has been scarred for life,” she said, according to a police statement.
Superintendent Damian Pettit described the attack as “horrific” and said the boy’s scars “will prove a constant reminder of that awful day.” He nevertheless welcomed the verdict and noted that the perpetrators will spend a combined total of 78 years in prison.
“It is hard for the family, the officers, and the community to comprehend how a family member could organize an attack of this nature on such a young child,” he said in a statement. “We hope that now the perpetrators are behind bars, the family can start to focus on the future.”
The attack, which took place in the Home Bargains store in the English city of Worcester, left the boy with serious burns to his face and arms.
The court heard that the boy repeatedly screamed “I hurt” following the attack. He has since made a “good recovery” and is in the care of his mother.
The five convicted co-conspirators were named as Adam Cech, Jan Dudi, Norbert Pulko, Jabar Paktia and Saied Hussini. Cech, Dudi, Pulko and Paktia were each sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Hussini was sentenced to 14 years, police confirmed.
A seventh defendant, Martina Badiova, who was accused of the same offenses, was found not guilty, the court told CNN.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/03/07/father-found-guilty-of-plotting-acid-attack-on-3-year-old-son/