Gonorrhea infections increasing in Michigan
Gonorrhea infections are increasing in Michigan, according to state health officials.
By the end of October, cases of gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease (STD), had surpassed those reported in 2019, the Detroit News reported, citing the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Last year, an estimated 18,264 gonorrhea infections were reported in Michigan. The state this year is on track for a 22 percent increase in infections.
The uptick in cases is “even more alarming as it is likely an underestimate of the actual burden of disease due to decreased testing for sexually transmitted diseases during the pandemic,” health officials said in a statement, per the outlet.
“A shortage of testing supplies during a significant statewide increase in cases presents an alarming potential for a host of negative health outcomes for (Michiganians),” Joneigh Khaldun, the department’s chief medical executive and chief deputy for health, said in a statement, according to the Detroit News. “Because laboratory testing is challenging at this time, it is imperative that medical providers continue to clinically diagnose and treat suspected cases of gonorrhea to slow the spread in our state.”
Gonorrhea – colloquially referred to as “the clap” – is an STD that can affect both men and women, typically causing “infections in the genitals, rectum and throat,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most people become infected with gonorrhea after having intercourse with someone who has the disease.
Men who have the STD can experience a burning sensation when urinating, discharge from the penis – it’s usually green, yellow or white in color – and swollen testicles. For women, however, symptoms are less obvious – if they’re apparent at all.
“Even when a woman has symptoms, they are often mild and can be mistaken for a bladder or vaginal infection,” the federal health agency says, noting women with gonorrhea “are at risk of developing serious complications from the infection, even if they don’t have any symptoms.”
If a woman does experience symptoms, however, they typically include a burning sensation when urinating, increased vaginal discharge and bleeding between periods, among other signs.
The disease can cause serious complications if left untreated. The gonorrhea bacterium is capable of spreading through an untreated person’s bloodstream and eventually infecting other parts of the body, causing joint pain and a skin rash, according to the Mayo Clinic.
If the disease is left untreated altogether, it can also lead to infertility in both men and women.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/19/gonorrhea-infections-increasing-in-michigan/
Photo Credit: iStockphoto
Deputy fired for post depicting Kamala Harris as watermelon jack-o’-lantern
A Michigan sheriff’s deputy has been fired for posting a “disgusting” photo of a carved watermelon intended to depict Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, department officials said.
The part-time Oakland County Sheriff’s Office deputy, Sherry Prose, was terminated immediately once department officials learned of the vile Facebook post, officials told The Post in a statement Thursday.
“We are outraged by this former employee’s actions and condemn the behavior she chose to engage in,” Undersheriff Michael McCabe said in a statement. “These types of incidents are disgusting and will never be tolerated or pushed aside at the sheriff’s office. Behavior such as this brings tarnish to the badge and is not representative [of] all those in law enforcement who protect and serve.”
The post, first reported Monday by WXYZ, features several carved pumpkins meant to depict several political figures, including President Trump, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence.
A second photo, however, shows Harris as a carved watermelon.
“Trump, Biden, Pence and Kamala,” the post read. “Happy Halloween.”
Prose had worked for the agency since 1994, according to a screenshot of her Facebook profile. She was fired on Oct. 27, four days after putting up the hateful Halloween-themed post, sheriff’s department sources told The Post.
A message left for Prose was not immediately returned Thursday, but she insisted to WXYZ that she isn’t a bigot.
“I worked hard in my law enforcement career and I am proud of the reputation I earned in my 30 plus years of service,” the former deputy told the station in a text. “I am not racist and never will be.”
Correlating watermelons to blacks is a relic of the “past” and is “linked to buffoonery and to ‘less than’,” the Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony, president of Detroit’s NAACP branch, told the station.
“I believe that the intent was purposely structured to diminish and to dilute the significance of the first African American … as vice president of the United States,” Anthony said. “To some people, ignorance is bliss.”
McCabe said the post had already been removed when sheriff’s officials learned of it.
“The employee was terminated immediately by us for this post,” his statement continued. “With over 1,400 employees, we expect all of them to have integrity and good moral values. However, when they do not, it is addressed immediately with discipline and/or termination.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/19/deputy-fired-for-depicting-kamala-harris-as-a-watermelon/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Walmart partners with other companies to offer free Thanksgiving dinner for families in need
Article via KTLA
Walmart is partnering with several companies, including Butterball and Coca-Cola, in an effort to feed hungry American families on Thanksgiving.
The Free Thanksgiving Dinner program by Walmart and mobile rewards app Ibotta, along with partners Campbell’s, Butterball and Coca-Cola, aims to help families nationwide by giving them a traditional holiday meal without the financial burden.
The items included in the Free Thanksgiving Dinner program are:
- Campbell’s condensed cream of mushroom soup (10.5-ounce can)
- 2-liter bottle of Coke
- All varieties of Butterball 3-pound turkey roast or $9.98 cash back on all Butterball whole turkeys
- McCormick turkey gravy seasoning packet (0.87-ounce package)
- French’s crispy onions (2.8-ounce package)
- Idahoan instant mashed potatoes (8-ounce package)
- Great Value stuffing (6-ounce package)
- Great Value cranberry sauce (14-ounce can)
- Great Value frozen green beans (12-ounce bag)
To get your free Thanksgiving dinner, you have to download the Ibotta app or Ibotta’s web browser extension, click on the “Free Thanksgiving Dinner” offer and shop for your Thanksgiving items at any Walmart or at Walmart.com.
Once purchased, you can scan your receipt into the Ibotta app or link your Walmart Grocery account to verify the purchases, and you’ll earn cash back for your entire purchase (approx. $20.27). Shoppers have seven days to redeem the purchases.
The offer is available while supplies last and will run no later than Nov. 25.
Ibotta says the company is also donating to Feeding America this holiday season.
“While this year has been trying for so many Americans, Ibotta’s ‘Free Thanksgiving Dinner’ program is our way of making them feel extra supported this holiday season,” said Bryan Leach, CEO and Founder of Ibotta.
Ibotta, which has its headquarters in Denver, is a free app that provides cash back rewards at “more than 1,500 leading brands and retail partners,” according to a news release.
Cheerleader who buried baby in backyard released from probation early
The former Ohio cheerleader acquitted of murdering her newborn baby has been released from probation nearly two months early — saying she wants to be “a normal person again.”
Brooke Skylar Richardson was sentenced to three years probation for burying the baby girl’s corpse in her parents’ Carlisle backyard in May 2017. She was released on Tuesday after serving 14 months, the Dayton Daily News reported.
racy Johnson, the grandmother of Richardson’s child, fought against her early release.
“You had the option of giving her up to six months in prison with time served … I don’t think three years probation is too much to ask,” Johnson told Warren County Judge Donald Oda II.
Richardson, meanwhile, again apologized in a teary-eyed statement in court.
“I am sorry for everything I have put everyone through … I know that doesn’t seem like a lot at all,” she said, according to the publication.
“I am very sorry and I hurt a lot. I just want to show that I can be a normal person again, that’s all.”
The judge said the purpose of probation was not punishment.
“There is no reason for me to invest the time and resources of my probation department in supervising you,” Oda told Richardson.
“It is an opportunity to demonstrate why the stated prison term of 12 months in prison should not be imposed.”
Richardson was 18 years old when she hid her pregnancy from her family and friends, giving birth to a full-term baby girl she named Annabelle in 2017.
She claimed the baby was stillborn — but was charged with killing the child and burying it in her parents’ backyard.
A jury acquitted Richardson of murder but convicted her of abuse of a corpse.
Oda sentenced her to seven days in county jail but she was credited with time served and given three years probation.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/18/brooke-skylar-richardson-released-from-probation-early/
Photo Credit: AP
Man wanted for savagely beating woman he met on dating app because the date “cost too much”
A nightmare date in Georgia is wanted for savagely beating a woman he met on an app — telling her the outing “cost too much,” according to a report.
Benjamin Fancher arranged to meet Brittany Correri on Wednesday night after matching with her on the dating app Hinge, 11Alive reported.
Correri said the first date with “Ben” started off smoothly, with him even meeting her family and friends.
But the night took a turn for the worse after they left Hide Lounge in Buckhead and were together in the car.
“He started beating me in my head, punching me everywhere — my forehead, my temples, my cheeks, jaws, throat, arms, my back. He was just telling me that the date cost too much, that I’m not worth that,” Correri said.
At one point, the situation escalated to him pulling out a gun, she said.
“I just believe that he was dead set on killing me,” Correri told the news station.
Correi said that’s when Fancher stopped his white BMW and pulled her out by the hair.
“He’s dragging me and beating me and there just happens to be a security guard there. She comes running and taking pictures and I think he gets spooked,” she said, adding that he drove away.
He’s now wanted by police on charges of aggravated assault, kidnapping and false imprisonment.
Hinge said it’s “outraged” by the alleged attack and has been cooperating with law enforcement.
“The violence she describes is horrible and is something no one should ever have to experience,” the company said.
“Our moderators reviewed this report and immediately removed and banned the individual from our community.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/17/man-wanted-for-savagely-beating-woman-he-met-on-dating-app-report/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Woman armed with Taser tells neighbors to “stop acting black” in their “white neighborhood”
A California woman showed up at her neighbors’ home with what appears to be a Taser and told them to “stop acting black” in their “white neighborhood” when a confrontation over their dogs escalated, videos show.
“You guys are acting like black people and you should act like white people,” the white woman — whom neighbors identified as Adana Dean — said in footage of the altercation, news station KGO reported.
Jariell Jones, who is black, said Dean initially approached her 13-year-old nephew Monday in their Discovery Bay neighborhood asking to pet the family’s pit bull, Dice, and he obliged, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
But then five minutes later, she showed up on their doorstep and claimed that their dog had attacked her poodle.
Dean was seen on video holding her poodle in one hand and what appears to be a Taser in the other, KGO reported.
“I don’t want to see that dog outside,” Dean could be heard telling Jones’ brother, Gerritt Jones.
Gerritt then replies, “Well, he’s going to be outside, I have a right to have him outside like every other person.”
In the videos, Dean could be heard telling him, “You’re a black person in a white neighborhood and you’re acting like one. Why don’t you act like a white person in a white neighborhood?”
Gerritt asked Dean to leave the property, which she eventually did, but not before threatening legal action against the family, KGO reported.
Dean on Tuesday said she had only approached the family to ask if the pit bull had received its rabies shot.
“The reason I went to them was because there was a dog in the street with a little boy — a little black boy — so I knew whose it was,” Dean told the Chronicle.
She denied making any racist comments and suggested that the Jones family had doctored the footage.
“There’s no racial discrimination here — absolutely none. I am completely aghast at what’s going on here,” Dean told the paper.
She also insisted that she had not been wielding a stun gun, saying it was a device that uses a bright light to chase away other dogs, the outlet reported.
The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office said it responded to the scene, though they determined there was no criminal behavior.
“Although Deputies determined that no crime had been committed, a report was taken to document the interaction between the two neighbors, as the original complaint was in reference to a neighbor dispute due to an off-leash dog,” the agency said.
The Jones family denied the pit bull was off its leash and called accusations they altered their video “delusional.”
“She’s obviously lying, and it’s sad to see that she continues to lie, even after she’s been caught,” Jariell told the Chronicle.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/18/ca-family-told-to-stop-acting-like-black-people-by-neighbor/
Photo Credit: KTVU
City Winery will soon require $50 on-site COVID-19 test for patrons
A New York City restaurant will soon require all patrons to take a rapid coronavirus test at the door before being allowed to eat inside two days a week.
In what may be a first for Big Apple eateries, City Winery in the Meatpacking District will launch its pilot testing program on Tuesday.
“Given the change of the seasons, finding the next level of safety and comfort level for people to dine indoors is critical for us today,” Michael Dorf, the founder and CEO, said in a press release.
“A COVID-19 test is one of the only solutions to get patrons inside restaurants for the next five months until the springtime.”
Guests who want to visit the Pier 57 establishment on Tuesdays and Wednesdays will pre-pay $50 per person for the test when making a reservation via Resy online.
Upon arrival, a health professional will administer a nasal swab, and patrons will be able to sip on a glass of City Winery bubbly while they wait the 10 to 15 minutes for their results.
If the results are negative, the guests can go in — though they’ll still have to follow standard regulations such as wearing a mask and social distancing.
Should the test be positive, the venue will send the results to be verified by a lab — but the individual won’t be allowed in.
The eatery is still open test-free Thursday through Monday, and also offers outdoor dining.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/18/city-winery-will-require-50-on-site-covid-19-test-for-diners/
Photo Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock
National Guard soldier killed herself after being gang-raped by colleagues
A devoted Army National Guard soldier killed herself after she reported being sexually assaulted on the job — but the military branch did nothing to help, according to her mom.
“To think that that’s what took her life — that’s what broke her,” Debbie Robinson, the mother of officer Morgan Robinson, told CBS Evening News.
“They wanted her body. And they took her soul.”
The horror that led to Morgan Robinson’s suicide began two years earlier, when one of her supervisors allegedly sexually assaulted her multiple times while they were stationed in Kuwait, according to CBS, which is investigating failures by the US military to address sex crimes internally.
But when Morgan reported the attacks, higher-ups did “nothing” to punish the supervisor or protect her, according to her mother.
“She got nothing,” Debbie said.
While on the same deployment, Robinson was then sent to Afghanistan, where multiple soldiers allegedly gang-raped her, CBS reports. This time, she was too scared and disillusioned by the system to report it — and four months later, she committed suicide.
The Army began an investigation into her untimely death and later handed Debbie a report — but much of it was redacted.
The parts that weren’t blacked out said: “Sergeant Robinson suffered sexual, physical, and psychological trauma while deployed. The sequel of this trauma was a factor in her death,” according to CBS.
“I just didn’t understand how they could actually stand there and look me in the eyes, and hand that to me,” the mom said.
She believes the Army is responsible for Morgan’s death — for failing to properly investigate her daughter’s first sexual assault claim and “handle what happened.”
“They can’t police their self. How can you investigate yourself? You can’t,” Debbie said, adding there should be an outside agency that probes sexual assaults within the Army.
Eight months after her death, the officer who allegedly attacked her in Kuwait was finally given a written reprimand — which Debbie said is too little, too late.
“[It was] a job that she loved. It was for her country,” she said of her daughter, who joined the Army in 2010. “Everything just plays over and over and over in [my] head, thinking, ‘Did I miss something? Could I have done something?’”
The Army said in a statement that officers conducted a full investigation into the sexual assault report and took “appropriate” action against the supervisor in question.
“The department remains committed to our goals of ending sexual assault in the military, providing the highest quality response to service members and holding offenders appropriately accountable,” the Army’s principal policy adviser Elizabeth Van Winkle said.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/18/soldier-killed-herself-after-being-gang-raped-by-colleagues-mom/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Married woman ‘lures teen boy away from Mormon seminary for hot tub sex romps ‘ will only spend 3 months in jail
A woman who admitted she had sex with underage teens at her home will avoid having to register as a sex offender following a plea deal.
According to East Idaho News, Amanda Katherine Steele, 35 and formerly of Arco, had already admitted to sex with underage teens before she was sentenced Tuesday.
District Judge Darren Simpson to spend 90-days in jail followed by seven years on felony probation.
In exchange, the judge suspended a three to 10-year prison sentence that could still be imposed if Steele is not successful on probation. Steele will also avoid having to register as a sex offender.
According to investigators, the married woman was engaged in an apparently consensual relationship with a 17-year-old teen she would have sex with at her home and at his home.
The teen was reportedly encouraged to skip school and Mormon seminary to have sex with Steele on multiple occasions, prosecutors said.
According to The U.S. Sun, Steele was arrested in 2019 after her husband caught her in a hot tub with an underage teen, and she admitted she was having sex with minor teens — even allegedly filming one of the romps.
“(The victim) told me he knew several of his friends had sex with her too but didn’t know anyone else besides (a second victim) had been under 18,” a deputy wrote in a police report.
One teenager said he didn’t want to press charges against Steele saying he “didn’t think it was a big deal.”
Despite the woman and teens’ sex allegedly being consensual, under Idaho law a minor who is 16 and 17 cannot consent to sex with adults five or more years older than them and are considered underage.
According to Crime-Online, Steele pleaded guilty this summer to two felony counts of injury to a child which are not sex crime charges.
Steele was originally charged with three felony counts of child sexual battery committed by lewd conduct after the Butte County Sheriff’s Office concluded a lengthy investigation that first began in late 2017.
According to Law and Crime, the judge attempted to reject the plea deal over the summer but later backed off after reviewing case law.
The investigation into the woman’s sex with underage teens seemed to go cold for well over a year until her husband contacted deputies after catching Steele in a hot tub with a teen.
In addition to serving the jail time and probation, Simpson has ordered Steele to complete 300 hours of community service
She is also ordered to pay $4,671 in fees and fines, according to court records.
She will remain jailed for the next three months.
via: https://knewz.com/woman-sex-underage-teen/?utm_source=nypost
Photo Credit: newsbreak.com
‘MasterChef Junior’ contestant Ben Watkins dead at 14
Former “MasterChef Junior” contestant Ben Watkins lost his battle with a rare form of cancer Monday, according to his family. He was 14.
Watkins, who starred in the reality show’s sixth season in 2018, was undergoing treatment for angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma — a soft tissue tumor — at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, according to TMZ.
The young star was one out of only six people in the world who suffered from the disease.
“Despite all the pain and sickness Ben went through, he never complained, not once,” his uncle and legal guardian, Anthony Edwards, told the Chicago Tribune.
Edwards said he had been by Watkins’ hospital bedside for 18 months, as his nephew was undergoing chemotherapy for tumors in his lung, spine and shoulder.
“We were praying for a different outcome,” he told the outlet. “But Ben’s lungs could no longer give him the air he needed to breathe. It’s been devastating.”
The young culinary whiz’s life had already taken a tragic turn in 2017 when his dad killed his mother, and then himself, in a murder-suicide.
Despite the heartbreak, Watkins was always a happy child, his uncle said.
He had loved working at his father’s restaurant, Big Ben’s Bodacious Barbecue & Deli in Gary, Ind. — which was named after him — and had dreams of opening up his own restaurant and bakery.
“Ben was just so selfless,” his uncle told the Tribune. “It was unreal, the character he has… he had.”
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who hosts the “MasterChef” series, expressed his condolences to Ben’s family.
“We lost a Master of the @MasterChefJrFOX kitchen today. Ben you were an incredibly talented home cook and even stronger young man. Your young life had so many tough turns but you always persevered. Sending all the love to Ben Watkins’ family with this terrible loss,” Ramsay tweeted Tuesday.
via: https://pagesix.com/2020/11/17/masterchef-junior-contestant-ben-watkins-dead-at-14/?_ga=2.101942277.542707975.1605670499-1483909753.1590005431
Photo Credit: pagesix.com