| Death of troubled officer whose gun wasn't taken away marks record number of suicides in NYPD Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:53 AM PDT  A police officer's recent death has disturbingly highlighted the record number of suicides among members of the New York Police Department this year.
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| PHOTOS: Rescued sea otter pups being named in a digital contest Posted: 19 Sep 2019 10:44 AM PDT  Heading into Sea Otter Awareness Week, people across the country will have a say in how two rescued southern sea otter pups at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium get names. The aquarium will host a digital naming contest focused on building affinity and understanding around sea otters and inspiring voters to also make their voices heard in support of conservation legislation and protections that are critical for vulnerable species.
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| South Korea police say they may have found serial killer Posted: 19 Sep 2019 07:10 AM PDT  South Korean police said Thursday that they have found a suspect thought to be an infamous serial killer wanted for the slaying of nine women some 30 years ago. Senior police officer Ban Gi-soo said police have continued their investigation into the 1986-1991 slayings even after the statute of limitations expired 13 years ago in order to find the truth. Ban said the technological improvement of DNA analysis allowed authorities to extract DNA samples from evidence that wasn't possible at the time of the cases.
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| Trump: San Francisco to get environmental violation for homelessness Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:03 PM PDT  President Trump said late Wednesday that his administration would issue a notice of environmental violation against the city of San Francisco because of what he described as its homelessness problem.
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| How Iran Would Unleash an 'All Out War': Lots of Missiles Posted: 19 Sep 2019 07:19 AM PDT  If Trump decides to strike here is how Tehran could respond.
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| Earth to 2020 Democrats. The Syrian civil war was not caused by climate change. Posted: 19 Sep 2019 02:00 AM PDT  This is a sad excuse for real discussion on climate change and international conflict, two very separate issues.
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| Man who allegedly changed adopted daughter's age then abandoned her turns himself in Posted: 19 Sep 2019 05:14 AM PDT  An Indiana couple has been charged with neglect after allegedly changing their daughter's age from 11 to 22, moving to Canada and leaving her behind.
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| All the National Coffee Day deals and freebies you should take advantage of Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:59 AM PDT  National Coffee Day takes place on Sept. 29 and luckily for customers, there are tons of deals and even free cups of coffee to be had.
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| How to make ratatouille, a vegetable dish that's both hearty and healthy Posted: 19 Sep 2019 11:59 AM PDT  This fall ratatouille recipe works perfectly as a side dish or a delicious vegetarian main. The different colored veggies looks great on the table, too.
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| Guatemala joins ranks of cocaine producers as plantations and labs emerge Posted: 19 Sep 2019 08:41 AM PDT  Guatemala is no longer just a transit point for traffickers seeking to smuggle cocaine north towards the United States, authorities said on Thursday after security officials discovered several coca plantations and processing laboratories. The finds underscored concerns that cocaine production is moving beyond Andean nations, where the leaf has traditionally been grown, and closer to its main market, the United States. The discoveries of coca plantations and laboratories in different locations prompted Interior Minister Enrique Degenhart to admit Guatemala was now a cocaine-producing nation.
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| 'Serial killer' charged with killing four women and leaving their bodies in abandoned houses Posted: 18 Sep 2019 11:53 AM PDT  A suspected serial killer has been charged with murdering four women and leaving their bodies in abandoned houses in Detroit.Police had arrested Deangelo Martin in June for allegedly stabbing and sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman, who managed to escape, the previous month.
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| California’s Ban on School Suspensions Invites Another Parkland Posted: 18 Sep 2019 03:30 AM PDT  My daughter Meadow was murdered in the Parkland school shooting in Florida last year. It was the most avoidable mass murder in American history. And last week, Governor Gavin Newsom just forced into every school in California the policies that made it inevitable.The Parkland shooter was a known-wolf. Before the massacre was over, students knew who did it. He was considered so dangerous when he attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that school administrators banned him from bringing a backpack and frisked him every day for fear that he'd bring a deadly weapon.Even though security staff brought him to the principal's office all the time, his disciplinary record looked pretty clean on paper. If he had been arrested at school for his crimes, maybe the FBI could have followed through on tips that he would shoot up the school. And if he'd been disciplined for his sub-criminal misbehavior, maybe school administrators could have made a strong case for sending him back to a specialized school for disturbed students, where he so badly needed to be.But the Broward County school district had embarked on a quest to fight the "school-to-prison pipeline" by lowering suspensions, expulsions, and arrests. And school principals responded by systematically sweeping disturbing behavior under the rug. If one individual in the Broward school district made one responsible decision about the killer, the tragedy could have been averted. But you can't even call what happened a "failure," because each obviously irresponsible decision makes perfect sense given the policies.The state of California has just lurched far harder on leniency than Broward, by banning suspensions and expulsions for nonviolent offenses.Don't you dare think that in practice this leniency won't extend to violence, though. In Broward, 52 percent of teachers fear for their safety. Twenty-four percent have been threatened. Thirteen percent have been assaulted. And only 39 percent think that a student would be suspended if he assaulted them.Beyond leading to an increase in school violence and risk of deadly catastrophe, these leniency policies are profoundly bad for learning and for character. We know what happens when schools ban suspension.In Philadelphia, math proficiency declined by three percentage points, and reading proficiency by seven. Truancy skyrocketed from about 25 percent to over 40 percent, perhaps because even as suspensions for nonviolent offenses fell, suspensions for serious offenses rose.Education researcher Dominic Zarecki studied the effects of suspension bans in several California districts: Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, and Pasadena. The harm to math achievement was large enough to take a student from the 50th percentile to the 39th percentile after three years.Anti-discipline advocates claim that suspensions can be replaced by "restorative justice" and "healing circles." In reality, that does further damage. A gold-standard study from the RAND corporation found that in Pittsburgh, "restorative justice" harmed academic achievement among black students.Anti-discipline advocates claim that they are fighting the "school-to-prison pipeline." In reality, their policies increase the flow. The idea that not holding kids accountable for their actions will make them more law-abiding as adults is idiotic. If we tell juveniles there are no consequences for misbehavior, we set them up for failure in the workplace. And we put them at risk for a hard reckoning when they find that behavior that didn't even get them suspended in school gets them a felony charge when they hit age 18.For evidence, look no further than Los Angeles. As the school board banned suspensions, referrals to law enforcement increased 145 percent. And last year, threats of violence in Los Angeles schools increased by 70 percent.I sent my daughter to public school thinking she was safe. I had no idea there was a kid there so dangerous that they frisked him every day. I had no idea that the school was systematically covering up threats and violence. I didn't know.I can't let any other parent make that excuse. That's why I wrote a book to tell the true story of Parkland. I don't expect that this article or that book, or that anything, really, will convince the Democratic politicians who run California to think twice about this terrible mistake. My whole life's mission now is to inform parents.Chances are, your kid won't get murdered at school. But you have to know about the type of environment you're putting your child in. Public school in California is now a place where disruption, threats, and even violence can't even be punished.My advice to California parents: Stretch your wallet to send them to private school. Or keep them in public school and roll the dice.
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| The Latest: Top Iranian officials get US visas for UN event Posted: 19 Sep 2019 04:37 PM PDT  Iran says its president and foreign minister have received visas from the United States to attend next week's U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York. A spokesman at Iran's mission to the U.N said Thursday that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif would arrive in New York on Friday, and President Hassan Rouhani on Monday.
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| Teens are pledging not to have kids until the government takes climate change seriously Posted: 18 Sep 2019 01:51 PM PDT  Emma Lim, an 18-year-old student at McGill University in Montreal, recently launched a climate-change movement called "NoFutureNoChildren."
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| Makeup guru Bobbi Brown reveals her top six favorite products from Walmart Posted: 18 Sep 2019 12:50 PM PDT  If we're going to take beauty advice from anybody, it's going to be Bobbi Brown.
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| Russia detains shaman on mission to 'banish Putin' Posted: 19 Sep 2019 07:26 AM PDT  Russian police on Thursday said they had detained a Siberian shaman trekking towards Moscow on a mission to expel "demon" President Vladimir Putin, picking up a crowd of supporters on the way. Police in the eastern Siberian region of Buryatia told Interfax they had detained Alexander Gabyshev, the shaman, on a highway near Lake Baikal and would put him on a flight back to his home region where he is "wanted for committing a crime". Gabyshev's eccentric bid to walk from his home city of Yakutsk to Moscow, a distance of over 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles), has seen a group of followers join him on the way.
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| The F-35 Is About to Enter Beast Mode Posted: 19 Sep 2019 06:24 AM PDT  Here's the missile that will seriously boost the fighter jet's firepower.
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| Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Verdict Leads to Angry Fallout Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:54 AM PDT  Christopher FurlongTOKYO—Three executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) who ignored repeated warnings of a potential tidal wave that could result in a nuclear disaster, which did in fact take place, were found not guilty of criminal negligence resulting in death and injury by a Tokyo Court on Thursday. Many feel justice was poorly served. However, a former prosecutor says that the verdict was to be expected. * * *The Four-Hour Verdict* * *The Tokyo District Court ruled former executives of TEPCO were not guilty of criminal negligence, in the only criminal prosecution to come out of the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.The cataclysm at the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in March of 2011 resulted in over 100,000 people losing their homes, wide-spread radioactive pollution, injuries, and the deaths of patients who had to be evacuated. The disaster, on the scale of Chernobyl, raised alarms around the world about nuclear energy and atomic safety. The disaster area has not been cleaned up entirely and is essentially a nuclear accident still in progress, requiring constant cooling. Radioactive water stored at the TEPCO facilities is likely to be dumped into the ocean next year—probably after the Olympics. The three former executives of TEPCO who were indicted on charges of professional negligence resulting in injury and death were: Tsunehisa Katsumata, 79, chairman of TEPCO at the time of the accident, and two former vice presidents—Sakae Muto, 69, and Ichiro Takekuro, 73. The trial centered on whether these three could be held criminally responsible for what the Japanese Parliament's Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission called "a man-made disaster." How the Earth Is Reclaiming Fukushima, the Ninth Ward, and Staten IslandThe central issue at stake could be summarized as this: Did the TEPCO officials know about the possibility of a nuclear-meltdown-inducing tidal wave, when did they know, and what did they do—or not do about it? TEPCO's six-reactor plant, located on the Pacific coast, was disabled after tsunamis triggered by the massive earthquake of March 11, 2011 flooded power supply facilities, which were unprotected, and crippled reactor cooling systems. Some reactors suffered fuel meltdowns, while hydrogen explosions damaged others. The indictment blamed the three former executives for injuries to more than 10 people from hydrogen explosions at the plant, as well as the deaths of 44 patients forced to evacuate from nearby hospitals. As early as 2002, TEPCO and the Japanese government were aware of a potentially disastrous earthquake and tidal wave causing a nuclear accident. The prosecutors argued, and the court also acknowledged that several times between February 2008 and March 2009 the TEPCO executives were warned of the risk of a tidal wave 14 meters (45 feet) high or higher hitting the power plant and causing a potential nuclear disaster. On March 11, tidal waves between 11.5 and 15.5 meters (50 feet) did hit the power plant, knocking out the power grid and, yes, as predicted for years, triggering the nuclear disaster. There were also independent reports that suggested the earthquake's tremors caused a nuclear meltdown in the 40-year-old Reactor One even before the waves hit, but those allegations were not considered by the court.The verdict, which took several hours for the judges to finish reading out loud—starting at 1:15 p.m. and ending around 4:30 p.m. with a short break—concluded that while the TEPCO executives did receive several warnings of a tidal wave large enough to cause a nuclear accident, they were justified in taking no safety measures for a number of reasons:1) If they had taken the warnings seriously and tried to take countermeasures it would have required them to close the plant down temporarily, which was considered prohibitively expensive. 2) There were questions as to how seriously to take the data about tsunamis.3) Even if the TEPCO executives had acted on the warnings, they probably wouldn't have completed safety countermeasures in time. In reaching the decision, the court stated that tsunami forecast information was vague, and that the three could not have "realistically" foreseen a disaster on such a grand scale. It took the judges so long to read out the explanation for their ruling because as ex-prosecutor Nobuo Gohara explains, "Legally the judgment made sense but on an emotional level, gut instinct level—it all seems wrong and the judges must know that. They wanted to convince people their judgment makes sense." Residents of Fukushima Prefecture took the judgment less gracefully. "It's a disgrace. It's a slap in the face and it shows that the courts here always value profits over people," said a 67 year old farmer from the area who had come to hear the verdict himself this afternoon. Former prosecutor Gohara noted, "There are limits to the Japanese justice system and I have said from the start that it was unlikely the individuals would be found guilty. What you have in the Fukushima Nuclear disaster is a failure of policy and of the entire organization. Japan does not have a legal mechanism for holding a corporation responsible for criminal behavior, and in this case the charges were criminal negligence—on an individual level. The hurdle is very high to prove that." * * *The Trial That Almost Never Took Place* * *The trial of TEPCO executives almost never took place at all.In June of 2012 residents of Fukushima Prefecture submitted criminal complaints against TEPCO executives and central government officials to try to make sure someone was found responsible for the nuclear accident. As noted, the Japanese Parliament's Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission called it "a man-made disaster," so it would seem to follow that men should be help accountable.However, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office decided not to indict anyone named in those complaints. In typical Tokyo Prosecutor's Office fashion, they deliberately tried to bury the story at first by leaking their decision not to prosecute on the day Japan won the bid for the 2020 Olympics.Despite the best efforts of the prosecutors not to serve the public interest, a prosecutorial review board decided on two separate occasions that the former executives should be indicted and made to stand trial. The Prosecutorial Review Board system was introduced in May of 2009 as part of judicial reforms in Japan that included the introduction of a modified jury system. If eight of 11 citizens chosen for the board agree that the prosecutors have failed to do their job, and that indeed an indictment is warranted—on two separate occasions—the individual named must stand trial. The court designates civilian lawyers to act as prosecutors, who then indict the individual. In February of 2016, the three former executives were indicted formally. The trial began in June of 2017. All of the former executives pled not guilty. The prosecution asked for five years in prison. * * *Jokyo Kokumi* * *It should be noted that even after the TEPCO executives were indicted, they were not jailed, although the charges were very serious and involved loss of life. In Japan, suspects in criminal cases typically are arrested and held for up to 23 days. But the executives of TEPCO, who are politically connected, belong to what the Japanese public now angrily refer to as Jokyu Kokumi (upper-class citizens who are above the law) so they remained at large during the entire trial. Carlos Ghosn, the former Chairman of Nissan charged with far lesser crimes, but a foreigner, spent months in detention without bail while prosecutors tried to extract a confession. Miwa Chiwaki, a 49-year old woman who was living in a small village in Fukushima Prefecture at the time of the meltdown, was outraged by the verdict. She is the spokesperson for a group of citizens supporting the pursuit of criminal justice in the Fukushima nuclear disaster. She told The Daily Beast, "It's as if the Japanese courts said that there is no one responsible at all. The argument that TEPCO executives would have had to shut down the power plant to put safety measures into place, therefore they had reason not to do it, makes no sense. It is the same as saying corporate profits matter more than people. The Japanese courts care more about the well-being of a company than a person. At least the case established that they knew of the danger...and did nothing."The Real Fukushima Fallout Isn't RadiationThe designated prosecutors in the case may appeal and demand a second trial. In Japan, prosecutors do have the right to appeal a case. Not guilty verdicts are rare and occur in less than one percent of all criminal cases. In general, prosecutors almost always appeal when losing the first round, but the prosecutors in this case are civilian lawyers. It is not clear what will happen next, or if anything will happen at all. Nuclear power plant operators in Japan have faced charges of criminal negligence resulting in death in the past and were found guilty. In April 2003, the Mito District Court found six of employees of JCO guilty over a fatal nuclear accident. They ruled that the company had allowed workers to use buckets to pour uranium solution into a processing tank, causing a nuclear fission chain reaction that resulted in the deaths of workers. The guilty were given suspended sentences and served no time in jail.Hiroyuki Kawai, a lawyer who represents the 5,700 Fukushima residents who filed the original criminal complaint, said in a press conference, "It's a terrible verdict. Yet, if there had been no indictment, the evidence would have never seen the light of day. In that sense, [the trial] has a historical significance." Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Lebanon concludes Israeli drones were on attack mission Posted: 19 Sep 2019 05:35 AM PDT  A Lebanese government investigation concluded that two Israeli drones were on an attack mission when they crashed in the capital last month, one of them armed with 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds) of explosives, Lebanon's defense minister said Thursday. Elias Bou Saab said investigations show the drones came from over the Mediterranean Sea on Aug. 25, with one drone crashing on the roof of the militant group Hezbollah's media office in southern Beirut, while the other exploded and crashed into a nearby plot of land 42 minutes later. Speaking at a press conference in Beirut to present the findings of the investigation, Bou Saab said it was "the most dangerous act of aggression by Israel" since the monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.
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| Here's Why Russia Has Detained 161 North Korean Sailors Posted: 19 Sep 2019 02:31 AM PDT  Is a crisis brewing over illegal fishing?
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| Possible sighting of Loch Ness monster may back up scientists' theory Posted: 19 Sep 2019 05:56 AM PDT  Could the mystery of the Loch Ness monster finally be solved?
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| Marianne Williamson wants a national mandatory service for people ages 18-26 to combat climate change Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:22 PM PDT  At a presidential climate forum hosted by MSNBC, Marianne Williamson said Americans need a "World War II" level of mobilization against climate change.
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| Single 25-year-old mother of 3 diagnosed with terminal cancer: 'I'm scared of leaving them behind' Posted: 19 Sep 2019 01:51 PM PDT  A single mother of three who had gone cancer-free for months has now been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
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| A tropical storm is striking Texas with flash floods 'worse than Harvey' rising up to 35 inches Posted: 19 Sep 2019 08:03 AM PDT  Tropical Depression Imelda may drop up to 35 inches of rain onto southeastern Texas, the same region devastated by Hurricane Harvey.
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| This Activist Invited ICE to a Community Meeting. Days Later They Arrested Him. Posted: 19 Sep 2019 01:51 AM PDT  Smith Collection/Gado/GettyWhen Houston immigration activist Roland Gramajo Reyes invited U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to a public meeting for people worried about being arrested due to their immigration status, he didn't think he'd end up behind bars.He was wrong. Gramajo's longtime advocacy on behalf of Houston's immigrant and Latino communities, family, attorney, and allies said, make them seriously doubt that the timing of his apprehension was an accident.Now, Gramajo, 40, is caught in a tug-of-war between law enforcement agencies seeking to either deport him after 25 cumulative years in the United States, or to first incarcerate him for improper entry into the United States, a charge that could land him in prison.Handout"His bond was denied Monday by a federal judge, so he will remain in detention while his illegal reentry charges are resolved," Raed Gonzalez, Gramajo's attorney, told The Daily Beast. "We are trying to reopen his immigration case… Many hurdles await us, but we are trying our best."Gramajo, a father of five and grandfather of two, was born in Retalhuleu, Guatemala in 1979, and first moved to Houston at age 15. Since then, he has made the improvement of the Guatemalan community and his adopted hometown his life's mission.He founded the Centro Organizativo Guatemalteco, which raises funds for humanitarian causes in Guatemala, as well as the Southwest American Systems Chamber of Commerce, which helps minority children participate in sports and beauty pageants. After Hurricane Harvey devastated the city in 2017, he took weeks off work to organize community efforts in helping those affected by the storm's flooding that caused an estimated $125 billion in damage. For his work, Gramajo has received commendations from a host of state and local organizations, including the Alief Independent School District, Houston Community College, the Golden Eagle Society, and the Houston City Council.Only days before his apprehension by ICE, Gramajo had organized a "know your rights" seminar for undocumented immigrants and their families in the city—the seminar to which he had invited immigration agents to participate. That invitation, Gramajo's defenders believe, may have unintentionally goaded ICE into looking into Gramajo's immigration status, a charge ICE has called "baseless.""To be abundantly clear, ICE personnel did not attend this Immigration Forum in any capacity—official or unofficial," the agency released in a statement last week, saying that Gramajo became a target after ICE received an anonymous tip about his status. "To portray him in one-sided media reports… as a victim of some 'covert' law enforcement operation is an insulting affront to public safety.""We're not gonna be able to comment any further on the anonymous tip" that led to Gramajo's apprehension, ICE spokesperson Tim Oberle told The Daily Beast when asked about the timing of the tip that lead to his arrest, "because it's anonymous, obviously."At the heart of ICE's deportation case is Gramajo's 1998 guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of burglary of a vehicle, for which he was sentenced to 20 days in prison. Gramajo's family told reporters in Houston that the charge was the result of a practical joke that he had played on a friend, the vehicle's owner.After his plea, immigration authorities commenced deportation proceedings against Gramajo, culminating in his deportation to Guatemala in summer 2004. Gramajo returned months later to be with his family in Houston—including his wife and children—and has remained ever since.It's that 2004 illegal entry for which Gramajo will stand trial. If he is found guilty, he could face a six-month prison sentence before his potential deportation."My sons, they are texting me asking how is their father, and that's what hurts the most," Magaly Quicano, Gramajo's wife, told reporters in Houston last week. "I've been praying, praying praying that he will win this immigration battle."Gramajo's defenders, who count members of Houston's political establishment among their members, told The Daily Beast that the potential deportation of the father of five is disgraceful."The prospect of deporting Mr. Gramajo is outrageous," Mayor pro tem Ellen Cohen, a member of the Houston City Council, told The Daily Beast. Last year, the city council commended Gramajo as "dedicated to serving and inspiring the community," and whose "qualities represent a true leader with an exceptional drive to improve the quality of life" throughout the city."His so-called 'crime' of coming back to this country—his country—after his 2004 deportation is a result of unjust laws. If I were in his shoes, I would have tried to find a way back to my spouse and children too," Cohen added, noting that she has called upon ICE to immediately release him. "He is an asset to Houston and there is no legitimate public safety-related reason to deport him again. If ICE's concern is public safety, they should be focusing their limited resources on those who are bringing violence, drugs, and human trafficking in to our communities."Houston City Council member Steve Le, who brought forth a successful proposal last year to name May 17, 2018 as "Roland Omar Gramajo Reyes Day" in the city, called Gramajo "a good person and community leader" whose presence in the city makes it a better place to live. "Our office appreciates everything he has done for the community and recognized him with a Mayoral Proclamation for his achievements," Le told The Daily Beast. "We were surprised by his arrest and hope the court will take into account all the great contributions he has made when determining his sentencing. We look forward to a favorable outcome for his family and our community."But after a judge denied his bond in a hearing on Monday, Gramajo will remain in federal detention until trial. Even if he wins his criminal case, his presence in the United States is far from assured—if deported, Gramajo will be barred from entering the United States for 20 years."I don't know what the verdict will be, but I leave everything in the hands of God and wait," Quicano said tearfully. "No more."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| ‘We are preparing for the worst’: Storm Area 51 event could be disaster, locals fear Posted: 19 Sep 2019 11:26 AM PDT  Local residents are "preparing for the worst" as fans of the viral Storm Area 51 Facebook event descend on a town near the secretive military base.The event could become a disaster as people struggle with the difficult conditions in Nevada without proper preparation, they have warned.
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| The Navy SEAL who ran the bin Laden raid says negotiating with the Taliban is like sitting down for talks with ISIS Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:19 PM PDT  Talking to the Taliban is like meeting with ISIS, the retired Navy SEAL said weeks after Trump tried to bring Taliban leaders to the US for talks.
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| Police: Pirates' Vázquez attempted to have sex with minor Posted: 18 Sep 2019 01:09 PM PDT  Pittsburgh Pirates closer Felipe Vázquez was being held Wednesday in a Pennsylvania jail on multiple felony charges after allegedly telling investigators he attempted to have sex with an underage girl during a meeting at her house in 2017. Vázquez is charged with statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors, all felonies, and a misdemeanor count of indecent assault of a person under 16 years old. The charges are related to Vázquez's alleged encounters with a girl starting in 2017, when she was 13 and living about an hour east of downtown Pittsburgh.
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| Injured crewman sues California dive boat owner after 34 diein fiery tragedy Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:44 PM PDT  Ryan Sims filed the suit last week in Ventura County Superior Court saying the Conception dive boat was unseaworthy and operated in an unsafe manner.
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| Dascha Polanco dishes on her journey to body positivity Posted: 18 Sep 2019 06:14 PM PDT  Dascha Polanco, star of 'Orange is the New Black' and the upcoming musical 'In The Heights,' sat with AOL to share her struggles as a Latina in Hollywood.
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| Women’s March Dismisses New Board Member amid Backlash over Statements Comparing ISIS to U.S. Military Posted: 19 Sep 2019 06:23 AM PDT  Zahra Billoo, who joined the board of the Women's March just several days ago, announced on her Twitter feed Thursday morning that she has been voted off the board.Billoo has a history of controversial statements on Twitter, in which she has compared the U.S. and Israeli militaries to ISIS and Nazis, once even asserting that the FBI recruits "mentally ill" people to join ISIS.The Women's March has not released a statement explaining the justification for her dismissal as of this writing.However, Billoo asserted in a tweet thread that she was voted out as a result of an "Islamophobic smear campaign led by the usual antagonists, who have long targeted me, my colleagues, and anyone else who dares speak out in defense of Palestinian human rights and the right to self determination."Addressing the controversy over her tweets, she wrote "In looking at the tweets in question, I acknowledge that I wrote passionately. While I may have phrased some of my content differently today, I stand by my words."> In looking at the tweets in question, I acknowledge that I wrote passionately. While I may have phrased some of my content differently today, I stand by my words. 15/> > -- Zahra Billoo (@ZahraBilloo) September 19, 2019Billoo stated on Facebook in 2017 that she would not go to see the movie "Wonder Woman" because of the participation of actress Gal Gadot, who served in the Israeli Defense Forces. She justified her stance by saying she would similarly not see a movie in which the lead actress was proud of being a member of ISIS, al-Qaeda, or the U.S. military.In a 2014 post on Twitter, Billoo said she was opposed to "all terrorism, including all that regularly committed by the US military and Al Qaeda, the Israeli Defense Forces and ISIS."Billoo and other new members were hired to replace three former Women's March leaders dogged by allegations of anti-Semitism. Two of these members, Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour, have drawn fire for their support of Louis Farrakhan, the anti-Semitic leader of the Nation of Islam.
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| Jerry becomes Category 1 hurricane swirling in Atlantic Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:43 AM PDT  Jerry, a storm swirling in the Atlantic Ocean, became a Category 1 hurricane Thursday, but so far posed minimal threat of landfall as it made its way northwest, forecasters reported. "The center of Jerry will be near or north of the northern Leeward Islands Friday, pass north of Puerto Rico on Saturday and east of the southeastern Bahamas on Sunday," the US-based National Hurricane Center said. A tropical storm watch was in affect for a trail of Caribbean islands stretching from Barbuda to Anguilla, indicating that tropical storm conditions are possible in those regions over the next 36 hours.
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| Senate Democrats release list of climate studies buried by Trump administration Posted: 19 Sep 2019 10:48 AM PDT ![Senate Democrats release list of climate studies buried by Trump administration]( "Senate Democrats release list of climate studies buried by Trump administration") At least 1,400 USDA studies related to climate change were found.
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| U.S. to return about $100 million to the Treasury for an Afghanistan project due to a lack of transparency Posted: 19 Sep 2019 07:27 AM PDT  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that the United States would return about $100 million to the Treasury for an energy infrastructure project in Afghanistan and would withhold a further $60 million in planned assistance to the country due to a lack of transparency.
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| Officer who guarded El Chapo's wife arrested in drug sting Posted: 19 Sep 2019 04:14 PM PDT  A New York City police officer who moonlighted as a bodyguard for the wife of convicted Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was arrested in a drug sting Wednesday after prosecutors say he transported cocaine for an undercover officer posing as a drug dealer. Ishmael Bailey, 36, cried as he was arraigned Wednesday night.
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| This Plane Landed on a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier. The Pilot Wasn't American. Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:40 AM PDT  It might have a little to do with Russia.
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| Chicken plants lured them. Feds jailed them. How Mississippi's immigration crisis unfolded Posted: 18 Sep 2019 11:59 AM PDT  Undocumented immigrants helped build poultry into Mississippi's richest agricultural commodity.
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| Danger lurks in the surf from Florida to Georgia, Bahamas for the last weekend of summer Posted: 19 Sep 2019 11:08 AM PDT  Even though Humberto is speeding away over the Atlantic, stiff breezes and rough seas and surf are forecast to continue and may get worse along part of the southeastern United States coast and in the Bahamas for the last official weekend of summer.The dangers will heighten as the ongoing sunny, hot weather over the South will have thousands of people flocking to area beaches this weekend. In addition to gusty winds along the Atlantic coast from Florida to Georgia and the exposed north- and east-facing shores of the Bahamas, water will tend to lap along the shoreline in the form of large waves and above-normal tides as well as frequent and strong rip currents.Bathers and small craft should exercise extreme caution when venturing into unprotected waters. Bathers should avoid venturing out past their knees as rip currents can develop, strengthen and shift without notice.Bathers that get caught in these rivers of water should not attempt to fight the current, which could lead to exhaustion, but rather focus on staying afloat and/or swimming parallel to shore. Eventually, the rip current will subside and the bather can then swim back to the beach.Multiple weather features will play a role in the state of seas and surf along the southern part of the Atlantic this weekend, according to Jim Andrews, AccuWeather meteorologist. "Swells will continue to propagate southwestward from where Humberto once was," Andrews said."But the main reason for seas and surf to remain stirred up along part of the southwestern Atlantic coast will have to do with a building area of high pressure near the Carolina coast this weekend," he added.The clockwise circulation around this high will create stiff east to northeasterly winds over hundreds of miles of the Atlantic Ocean east of Florida and Georgia and northeast of the Bahamas."Another player will be swells propagating outward from the approach of Hurricane Jerry," Andrews said.Jerry is currently forecast to take a path just north of the Leeward Islands late this week, then northeast of the Bahamas this weekend.Even if Jerry takes a path well away from Florida and the Bahamas, swells from it and the circulation around the high pressure area can continue the rough surf into early next week.With less onshore flow directed toward areas located farther north along the coast this weekend, winds and waves will subside from the Carolinas to the mid-Atlantic and New England.Depending on the track and strength of Jerry, building swells may trigger another period of rough seas and surf farther north along the Atlantic coast next week.For people heading to Gulf Coast waters into this weekend, conditions will be more tranquil with Imelda forecast to be well inland and dissipating over the central U.S.Summer officially ends early Monday morning, Sept. 23.
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| Parents of Israeli held in Gaza plead for news, action five years on Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:14 PM PDT  The parents of an Israeli man believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza since 2014 travelled to Geneva this week to demand international action to help bring him home. Avera Mengistu, a 33-year-old Israeli of Ethiopian descent, is depressed and suffering from mental problems since the death of his older brother when he crossed into Gaza five years ago. Israel's defence ministry determined he was being held by Hamas, but the Islamist movement governing Gaza has to date provided no information about his whereabouts or condition.
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| A black Charlottesville city council candidate dropped out of the race after receiving violent threats from a white supremacist, prosecutors say Posted: 19 Sep 2019 08:15 AM PDT  A federal indictment accuses Daniel McMahon, 31, of using social media "to threaten and intimidate a potential candidate."
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| See Photos of the 2020 BMW Z4 M40i Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:59 AM PDT |
