Blake Montgomery

The remains of a 19-year-old who went missing a decade ago were found this week, Colorado authorities said on Tuesday. Kara Nichols’ remains were discovered in the rural Black Forest area while police executed a search warrant at the home of a suspect, El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder said at a Tuesday press conference. Joel Hollendorfer, 46, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and felony evidence tampering in connection with Nichols’ disappearance. The sheriff’s office did not describe Hollendorfer’s relationship to Nichols. The identification of the remains was preliminary, Elder said, and the coroner’s office would be conducting a […]

Awkwafina took to Twitter to explain her controversial use of a “blaccent” Saturday. Then she quit the social network. The 33-year-old actor and rapper tweeted that “to mock, belittle, or to be unkind in any way possible at the expense of others is: Simply. Not. My. Nature. It never has, and it never was.” Awkwafina, who was born Nora Lum, has faced consistent criticism over her use of African-American vernacular English (AAVE) in her music and film performances, especially in Crazy Rich Asians in the role of Goh Peik Lin. She promised to “always listen.” “As a non-Black POC, I stand […]

One of Ahmaud Arbery’s killers withdrew a pledge to plead guilty to federal hate crimes Thursday after a judge rejected a proposed deal. The deal would have circumvented a trial and sentenced Gregory McMichael to an additional 30 years in prison for hate crimes and attempted kidnapping. With Thursday’s withdrawal of the promise to plead guilty and reaffirmation of his earlier not guilty plea, McMichael’s trail will go forward. “The prior plea agreement is null and void. Counsel respectfully announce ready for trial on February 7, 2022,” McMichael’s lawyers wrote. McMichael, age 66, his son Travis, 36, and their neighbor William […]

USA Swimming announced a new policy on transgender swimmers Tuesday, spelling out detailed medical requirements for trans women specifically. The same day, swimmers at the University of Pennsylvania wrote an open letter backing a trans teammate after she faced blowback for setting school records. USA Swimming said that panels of three medical experts will evaluate each individual trans swimmer who wishes to compete at the elite level and make a determination whether her physical development prior to transitioning gives her an unfair advantage over her cisgender competitors. Her testosterone levels must be less than 5 nanomoles per liter for three continuous […]

The parents of a 10-year-old Virginia girl who died of COVID-19 after her teacher assigned her the role of “class nurse” tore into the school on Saturday for what they described as a half-hearted investigation into her death. Teresa Sperry died Sept. 27, just five days after she started experiencing a headache—and six days after her parents say she was tasked with walking sick children to the nurse’s office. Her parents weren’t even informed she had tested positive until two days after her death. She was conscripted into the role of class nurse at her school, Hillpoint Elementary, on Sept. 21, […]

Nine police officers in Tennessee opened fire at a 37-year-old man on Thursday afternoon after a confrontation on an interstate highway in Nashville. The suspect, who police said had been sitting on a guardrail on the busy roadway, died. In a video filmed by a bystander and posted to Twitter by news outlet WSMV, the man can be seen standing still in the right lane of the highway as almost a dozen Tennessee Highway Patrolmen and Nashville Police look on, guns drawn. The entire highway is blocked on both sides. The man raises his arms towards police, and the video pauses. […]

Celebrity Big Brother announced the 11 members of its third season cast late Wednesday. The crew includes a two-time NBA champion and Kardashian ex-husband, a controversial former Real Housewife, a one-time Miss USA, a member of NSYNC, and an Olympian. Lamar Odom, Teddi Mellencamp, and Chris Kirkpatrick are among those who will compete in the house with the always-rolling cameras for the $250,000 cash prize. The show, hosted by Julie Chen Moonves, premieres Feb. 2 and runs through Feb. 23. Each week, guests of the house vote one member out. “Let the backstabbing begin,” said former Real Housewives of Atlanta star […]

An 8-year-old girl was fatally shot in Chicago on Saturday as she walked on a sidewalk with her mother. Police say she and her mother were not the intended targets, according to the Chicago Tribune. The two were reportedly walking together in the Little Village neighborhood when they heard gunfire and rushed into a nearby bank for cover. It was there that the extent of the child’s injuries became clear. She was rushed to nearby Stroger Hospital, but she succumbed to her injuries. The girl’s mother was unharmed. Angel Ocampo was in a funeral home nearby when the shooting broke out. […]

Two police officers were shot dead in Harlem on Friday night, the latest in a string of attacks on officers in New York City. A suspect was also shot and killed in the altercation, though whether it was by police is unclear. The police were responding to a domestic disturbance call—a dispute between a mother and her son, according to the New York Post—when the gunfire erupted. Garrett Fowler, a 62-year-old neighbor, told the New York Daily News, “They went into the building and it jumped off. There were two guys being brought out of the building on stretchers. They weren’t […]

Fashion icon Andre Leon Talley has died at 73. Talley died at a hospital in White Plains, New York, according to TMZ. A cause of death has not been revealed. Often clad in giant, flowing robes, Talley was a towering figure in the heyday of America’s most prominent fashion magazine, Vogue. He headed the news division from 1983 to 1987, then became the glossy publication’s creative director in 1988, and then moved on to the role of editor-at-large. In a memoir published mid-2020, the former editor scorched his boss Anna Wintour. He accused her of abandoning him after he was “no […]

One America News Network is getting the boot from its largest distributor. DirecTV plans to drop the mega-MAGA channel as well as its sibling AWE (“A Wealth of Entertainment”), both owned by Herring Networks, when OAN’s current contract with the satellite provider expires in April, the company said, noting that Herring has been notified of the decision. Bloomberg first reported the news. “We informed Herring Networks that, following a routine internal review, we do not plan to enter into a new contract when our current agreement expires,” a DirecTV spokesperson said in a statement. Dropping OAN is a swift reversal from […]

Britney Spears is sick and sick of her family. “So I got really sick last night… 104 fever, maybe high, not sure because I stopped checking!!!!” the singer wrote Thursday on Twitter. She said she asked a member of her security team to buy her Aleve for the pain in her head, but he refused. In a series of screenshots of lengthy notes, Spears aired out her feelings about her sister, Jamie Lynn, who has been giving interviews on a promotional tour for her new book, Things I Should Have Said. “Looked at my phone and I see that my did […]

The two men who allegedly shot and killed rapper Young Dolph last year were off the streets Tuesday, authorities said. Justin Johnson, 23, was arrested in Indiana on charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and property theft. He had proclaimed his innocence and promised to turn himself in Monday on his Instagram profile, but did not follow through on the pledge. The same day, Cornelius Smith, 32, was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, unlawful weapons possession, illegal use of a firearm, and property theft in connection with the slaying. Smith was arrested last month on a warrant […]

Police in Oregon believe they have identified the killer who cruelly murdered two teenagers more than four decades ago, a case that had baffled investigators and haunted deputies ever since. Kirk Leonard Wiseman, 19, and Cynthia Lynn Frayer, 17, were found dead on a frigid November day near Lake of the Woods in rural Southern Oregon in 1978. They had been hitchhiking, according to the cops. Frayer had been sexually assaulted, the coroner found, and both she and Wiseman were killed by shots to the head from a .22 caliber gun, a relatively small firearm. A person cutting firewood for the […]

Amid a shortage of COVID-19 tests that left huge swaths of the U.S. facing bare pharmacy shelves, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis allowed a million testing kits to expire in a state stockpile. The head of Florida’s Department of Emergency Management Kevin Guthrie made the shocking admission Thursday during a press conference alongside DeSantis. Guthrie said, “We had between 800,000 and a million Abbott test kits in our warehouse that did expire.” Despite an urgent December demand from Miami-Dade County for tests, Guthrie said no one had wanted the tests, which expired between Dec. 26 and Dec. 30. He said Thursday, “We […]

A bitter feud between Chicago officials and the city’s teachers union left classrooms across the Windy City silent and empty for the second day in a row Thursday. As the Omicron variant shatters case count records across the country, the nation’s third-largest school district—330,000 students—is embroiled in a knock-down-drag-out fight over COVID-19 safety measures and in-person learning. Union members say they want to teach remotely until the Omicron surge subsides, so they are not coming in to schools, which are left without enough staff to get through a full school day. Some schools have already canceled Friday classes in anticipation of […]

Seattle police staged sightings of Proud Boys in conversations on public police radio frequencies during last year’s protests over George Floyd’s murder, just after protesters had taken control of a police precinct and the police had left the “autonomous zone,” according to a scathing report released Wednesday by Seattle’s Office of Police Accountability (OPA). The “misinformation effort,” as the report dubbed it, “improperly added fuel to the fire” of the already tense protests, wrote OPA Director Andrew Myerberg. “The use of the Proud Boys when it was known that the transmissions would be monitored took a volatile situation and made it […]

A former lawyer for Donald Trump who authored a controversial memo on overturning the 2020 election is suing the House committee investigating the Capitol riot and Verizon. John Eastman, who spoke to the crowd of Trump supporters who went on to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, is suing for an injunction that would quash the committee’s subpoena for his phone and prevent Verizon from releasing data from it to lawmakers. He’s also asking a court to weigh in on another branch of government and rule that the committee itself is “constituted in violation of House Rules.” The suit comes just […]

Just 35 percent of the 35,000 people living Laclede County, Missouri, are vaccinated, but the county health department announced Thursday that it will stop all its COVID-19 mitigation efforts. “Laclede County Health Department has been forced to cease all COVID-19 related work at the current time,” the southern Missouri agency said in a statement on Facebook. Roughly half of all Missouri residents are vaccinated. The department is quashing its coronavirus prevention efforts—ordering exposed and positive residents to isolate themselves, contact tracing, tracking and announcing case numbers and deaths—under duress. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, currently campaigning for a seat in the […]

A Utah man who allegedly held his wife captive and tortured her for nearly two weeks in their home also committed the gruesome murder of his 99-year-old grandmother, authorities said in charging documents filed Wednesday. Garman Shaun Cunningham, 50, allegedly beat the near-centenarian until her skull “caved in,” tossed her down stairs three times, and stabbed her—once in the neck with a piece of her own walker and once with a steak knife, according to the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office.The 99-year-old’s body has not been found. Cunningham, who tried to fight police with a sword when they descended his […]

A dramatic SWAT standoff at a Utah home has uncovered a horrific kidnapping ordeal that police say saw a woman held captive for weeks while she was tortured in increasingly deranged ways. The woman’s alleged captor, identified by authorities in West Valley City as 50-year-old Garman Shaun Cunningham, is now behind bars and facing a slew of charges. Police learned of his alleged house of horrors after responding to a domestic violence call at his home late Friday; they were reportedly tipped off to him holding a woman against her will since Nov. 1. Cunningham is said to have raped the […]

Longtime anchor and former fabulist Brian Williams is leaving NBC after 28 years with the network. “Following much reflection, and after 28 years with the company, I have decided to leave NBC upon the completion of my current contract in December,” Williams, 62, said in a statement. “NBC is a part of me and always will be.” Noting the longevity of his tenure at the network, he said that he had been “on the air for the launch of MSNBC.” Williams, who said he wanted to spend more time with his family, did not say he plans to retire outright. He […]

The first victims of the eight who died Friday at Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival in Houston were identified Saturday afternoon. Franco Patino, 21, was a student at the University of Dayton from Naperville, Illinois. The college confirmed the mechanical engineering major’s death to local station WHIO. He was a member of Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the fraternity Alpha Psi Lambda. On social media, Patino joked about advanced calculus equations and often praised his “Dayton Family.”  Rudy Peña, a man from Laredo, Texas, also died in the tragedy. His family confirmed his death to local news outlet the Laredo […]

A concert pianist who studied at the nation’s most prestigious music school described himself as “on a mission to fill the world with the music of his favorite composer.” A South Carolina sheriff called it “a brutal crime scene.” Zachary Hughes, a 29-year-old Julliard-trained pianist, stabbed Christina Parcell, a 41-year-old veterinary technician, to death last month, according to the Greenville County Sheriff’s Department. The relationship between the two is unclear to authorities. Parcell’s corpse was found in her Greer, South Carolina home on Oct. 15, two days after the alleged murder, with “multiple sharp force injuries,” police said. Two other men […]

The University of Florida has ordered its professors not to take part in a case challenging voting rights restrictions, saying it would put them on a collision course with the state government. The lawsuit plaintiffs want to question Gov. Ron DeSantis about the university’s decision, but his lawyers have balked, arguing any discussions he had about it would contain privileged information. The suit seeks to overturn Florida’s new law restricting voting rights, similar to legislation in Georgia and Texas that sharply limited ballot drop boxes. According to a motion filed Friday in federal court, university officials emailed professor Michael McDonald in […]

Oklahoma broke a six-year moratorium on executions Thursday in grisly fashion as the prisoner put to death convulsed and vomited as he died. When the executioners administered a sedative, midazolam, to John Grant, 60, as he was strapped to a gurney, he began seizing and vomiting, according to the Associated Press, which sent a reporter to witness the execution. Before the prison raised the curtain to allow viewers to see the execution chamber, he yelled, “Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” and swore. Executioners wiped vomit from his neck and face before injecting him with the other two drugs in the […]

A former Southern California school safety officer has been charged with murder for shooting an 18-year-old in the head as she drove away from him in late September. The shooting left the teenager brain dead and on life support. “It was an unfortunate and unnecessary death that left a six-month-old without a mother, a family without a daughter, and clearly a tremendous loss to our entire community,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said at a press conference. “This case really illustrates the importance of holding public officials accountable, especially public officials that are entrusted with the safety of our […]

Huma Abedin writes in her forthcoming book that a U.S. senator sexually assaulted her in her 20s, kissing her unprompted and forcing his tongue in her mouth as the two conversed in his apartment. The longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, now 45, detailed the incident in her memoir Both/And: A Life in Many Words, set to be published next week, according to an except obtained by the Guardian. Abedin withheld details of the senator’s identity like his party, whether he is still in Congress, and which state he represented. According to Abedin’s account, she and the senator met at a dinner […]

Alec Baldwin cocked and fired a gun meant to be loaded with blanks on the set of a Western movie in Santa Fe on Thursday, hitting the film’s director and cinematographer. Halyna Hutchins, 42, was airlifted from the set of Rust, which began filming at Bonanza Creek Ranch this month, mid-afternoon to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where she succumbed to her injuries. Baldwin also hit the film’s director, Joel Souza, 48, according to the Santa Fe County sheriff. Souza remains in intensive care. The sheriff said in a statement the two “were shot when a prop firearm […]

A family of three found dead on a Northern California hiking trail in August died of heat exposure and possible dehydration, the local sheriff’s office revealed Thursday. “Heat-related deaths are extremely difficult to investigate,” Mariposa County sheriff Jeremy Briese said at a press conference, citing an official cause of death of hyperthermia. The bodies of John Gerrish, Ellen Chung, and their 1-year-old daughter Muji were found mid-August on the Savage Lundy Trail, a remote area of Sierra National Forest. Their dog Oksi was lying next to them, also dead. The family had been hiking on a trail where temperatures were sky-high, […]

A fitness instructor who made his name training Victoria’s Secret models and at least one Miss USA winner exhibited less than model behavior when he recorded his clients in the locker room, police in North Texas say. John Benton, 41, was arrested and jailed Wednesday on a charge of invasive recording. He posted a $20,000 bond at the Denton County Jail. Benton allegedly recorded clients in August 2020, according to court documents viewed by The Dallas Morning News. In addition to advertising his size-zero client list, Benton hawked his online fitness classes as a way to avoid “that gym creeper guy.” […]

Federal authorities issued a warrant on Thursday evening for the arrest of Brian Laundrie, boyfriend of 22-year-old “van-life” YouTuber Gabby Petito, whose body was found earlier this week in a Wyoming camping area. The coroner ruled Petito’s death a homicide. The warrant charges that Laundrie, 23, committed “use of unauthorized access devices” by using a Capital One debit card and bank account after Petito’s death. Authorities didn’t disclose who owned the card and bank account but said Laundrie racked up more than $1,000 in charges on Aug. 30 and Sept. 1. The FBI’s Denver field office tweeted, “While this warrant allows […]

Brazil’s health minister tested positive for the coronavirus Tuesday, just hours after attending the United Nations General Assembly. Marcelo Queiroga is the second member of President Jair Bolsonaro’s delegation to the United Nations to test positive. The first was a member of the advance team that arrived before the president. Queiroga says he will quarantine for 14 days in New York City. Video shows Queiroga shaking hands with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday, the day he tested positive for the virus. The Brazilian official is wearing a mask, as he said he was the entire day; the British prime […]

The Teton County coroner has ruled the death of Gabby Petito, the missing 22-year-old “van-life” YouTuber, a homicide. Her body, found Sunday near Grand Teton National Park, was positively identified Tuesday by both her family and the county coroner. The park was the last place Petito and her fiancé Brian Laundrie were seen together before Laundrie returned to Florida alone in Petito’s white Ford van. The Teton County coroner’s “initial determination for the manner of death is homicide,” according to the FBI. The coroner performed the autopsy Tuesday but has not determined the cause of death. Rick Stafford, an attorney for […]

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH) says he will not run for re-election in 2022 because of former President Donald Trump’s influence on the Republican Party. Gonzalez was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, and the former president backed Gonzalez’s primary opponent, Max Miller, in retaliation. Trump and Gonzalez had ridden together on Air Force One, but Trump called the Ohio congressman a “sellout” and “fake Republican” at a rally in June. “The current state of our politics, especially many of the toxic dynamics inside our own party, is a significant factor in my decision,” Gonzalez wrote on Twitter on […]

One Nicki Minaj tweet after another is being debunked this week. The pop star said Wednesday that she had been invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to discuss her recent tweets about coronavirus vaccines, but the White House responded that it had just offered her a phone call. After she said she had been locked out of her Twitter account over the same tweets, Twitter said it had not penalized her in any way. When she cited a secondhand story about a cousin’s friend’s testicles swollen as the result of a coronavirus vaccine, top public health officials in multiple countries said her […]

Three schools in Vancouver, Washington went into lockdown Friday after a group of anti-mask protesters that included the Proud Boys attempted to gain entry and disrupt the school day. Skyview High School, Alki Middle School, and Chinook Elementary were on high alert after local members of the Proud Boys extremist gang, frustrated parents of students, and other anti-maskers rallied against the requirement that students, staff, and teachers wear face coverings. The incident is just the latest example of the Proud Boys teaming up with anti-maskers to threaten school boards, from Florida to New Hampshire, over COVID mandates. On Friday, the Proud […]

A lawyer from a prominent legal family in Hampton, South Carolina was shot Saturday, mere months after his wife and son were shot and killed at their sprawling home. Alex Murdaugh’s lawyer told local outlet The State that his client had been driving on a remote road to Charleston to when his car malfunctioned. He stopped and later was shot, though the circumstances of the attack and the extent of his injuries are not yet known. He was rushed to a nearby hospital following the shooting. Police have not named a suspect. South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) confirmed to The […]

A judge in Texas handed a minor victory to Planned Parenthood late Friday in the organization’s fight against the state’s ban on abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy. Judge Maya Guerra Gamble issued a temporary restraining order against Texas Right to Life, an anti-abortion organization, prohibiting it from enforcing the new six-week ban, which empowers private citizens to sue those who carry out or assist in abortion procedures for up to $10,000. The judge ruled that the new bill, which took effect Sept. 1, “creates a probable, irreparable, and imminent injury” to Planned Parenthood as well as its doctors and staff, […]

Multiple tornadoes hit New Jersey on Wednesday as remnants of Hurricane Ida churned across the U.S., losing strength but still dumping dangerous amounts of rain on the Northeast. The National Weather Service issued its first-ever flash flood emergency alert for New York City, warning more than 9 million residents of imminent danger, according to tweets from the agency. The NWS warned of a “large and extremely dangerous tornado” in one area of Gloucester City, New Jersey, and advised, ​​“This is a particularly dangerous situation. Take cover now!” Videos showed cars trapped on flooded highways, and it was unclear if their occupants […]

On his first day in office, the white premier of Nova Scotia chose a fellow white man to serve as a representative for thousands of African Nova Scotians and as head of the Canadian province’s anti-racism efforts, enraging members of his community. “I understand the emotions of it but [the decision] shouldn’t be interpreted as not being concerned about listening to the community,” Tim Houston, a member of the Progressive Conservative Party, said in a statement Tuesday night. He picked Pat Dunn, a member of the Canadian Legislative Assembly, as the minister for African Nova Scotian Affairs and the Office of […]

A Florida man allegedly attempted to shake down Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Gaetz’s father, promising a presidential pardon in exchange for $25 million, according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday. Stephen Alford, a 62-year-old resident of Walton Beach, is charged with wire fraud and the attempted prevention of seizure of an electronic device. Alford allegedly told Don Gaetz, a wealthy Florida businessman worth hundreds of millions and the father of the Republican congressman, that he could make an investigation into his son vanish and guarantee Matt Gaetz would serve no jail time. Gaetz is under federal investigation for sex trafficking […]

This week on a bonus episode of The New Abnormal, Soledad O’Brien joins Molly Jong-Fast to discuss trust in the media, Fox News, coronavirus vaccines, and Afghanistan coverage. “Misinformation is an amazing tool to get people to not trust in their leadership or in the government. And I think the government and the media, too, have done a very poor job in making people trust them,” the broadcast journalist and talk show host says. In her view, CNN host Chris Cuomo’s entanglement with his brother, disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, damaged the network’s credibility as a whole. Source link

The United States targeted the Islamic State with an airstrike in Afghanistan late Friday in retaliation for the group’s attack on the Kabul airport the day before, the Pentagon announced. The drone strike killed one Islamic State member believed to be involved in the planning of the terrorist attack, a Pentagon spokesperson said. After ISIS took credit for the Thursday attack, President Joe Biden vowed, “We will hunt you down.” The bombing took nearly 200 lives, including those of more than a dozen U.S. servicemembers. Source link

After he resigned in disgrace, Andrew Cuomo seemed to want nothing to do with his former life. As the New York governor began leaving the state’s executive mansion, he seemed to do the same to his dog, Captain. News began circulating over the weekend that Cuomo was scouting out possibilities for someone to care for the Shepherd-mix, who has remained lodged at the Albany mansion after the governor moved out last week. According to the Times Union, two State Police sources said on Saturday that the governor had recently asked staffers at his former residence if anyone would be interested in […]

The Alabama Republican Party held a rally Saturday night starring former President Donald Trump, who touted his “good relationship” with the Taliban and shrugged off the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak at the massive event. After tearing into President Joe Biden for what he described as allowing “weakness in the White House,” Trump went on to boast of his chummy relations with the Taliban, who he described as “great negotiators” and “tough fighters,” insisting that “with me in office the Taliban would not have ever dreamt of capturing our air field or parading around with our American weapons.” He then appeared […]

A conservative radio host in Nashville who derided vaccines and spread misinformation about the coronavirus has died of COVID-19. Phil Valentine was 61. Though Valentine downplayed the efficacy of vaccines and even went so far as to record a parody song mocking them, he reversed his opinion while in the hospital, advising his family members to get the jab. He had said of the vaccine, “I have a very low risk of A) Getting COVID and B) dying of it if I do. Why would I risk getting a heart attack or paralysis by getting the vaccine?” He also said at […]

A 12-year-old boy is facing a murder charge in the mysterious death of his 6-year-old cousin outside their home in River Oaks, Texas, this week. Police have not disclosed the cause of death for Isabella Courtney, who sustained undisclosed injuries on Wednesday night before passing away at a local hospital. But a boy who Isabella’s parents described as like a brother to her was immediately detained at the scene. The boy, who has not been identified, is charged with delinquent-conduct murder. On Thursday, a judge ordered the boy detained at the Lynn W. Ross Juvenile Detention Center until his next detention […]

A University of Miami football player who allegedly shot his teammate in the back of the head in 2006 and evaded police investigations for 15 years was captured Thursday, police said. Rashaun Jones, a 35-year-old former Miami Hurricanes defensive back, was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing Bryan Pata, a defensive lineman and a rising star on the team at the time, the Miami Herald reported. Pata was a senior and 22 years old at the time. His jersey number was 95. The arrest brings potential closure to a brutal case that has remained unsolved for more […]

An anti-vaccine rally in downtown Los Angeles erupted into a streetfight Saturday afternoon, leaving one protester bloodied on the ground with a stab wound and a journalist filing a police report over an alleged assault. Organizers held the demonstration to decry coronavirus mask mandates like the one implemented in Los Angeles County last month, and vaccine requirements like the stipulations for entering many establishments in San Francisco instituted this week. The Los Angeles City council followed San Francisco’s lead earlier this week, voting to direct city attorneys to draft a law paving the way for entry into bars, restaurants, movie theaters, […]

A criminal justice professor allegedly went on an arson spree in Northern California along the edges of the gargantuan Dixie Fire in late July. Gary Maynard, age 47, set a series of fires in Lassen National Forest and Shasta Trinity National Forest, an area in rural Northern California near where the Dixie Fire, the second-largest in state history, still burns, federal prosecutors allege. California Forestry Department agents arrested him Saturday. He is charged with intentionally setting fire to public land and is being held without bail in the Sacramento County Main Jail. “There are simply no conditions that could be fashioned […]

A anti-vaccine right-wing radio host in West Palm Beach, Florida died Wednesday from COVID-19 complications. Dick Farrel, 65, used his local talk show to rail against Dr. Anthony Fauci and say that no one should get the coronavirus vaccine. When COVID-19 sent him to the hospital for three weeks, though, he changed his tune, urging friends to get vaccinated, friends told local station WPTV. Amy Leigh Hair, a close friend of Farrel, wrote on Facebook, “COVID took one of my best friends! RIP Dick Farrel. He is the reason I took the shot. He texted me and told me to ‘Get […]

A discussion of rising COVID-19 cases in Florida on Sean Hannity’s show devolved into a squabble Thursday night as Fox News host Geraldo Rivera sparred with Fox Nation host Dan Bongino. “On Tuesday in Florida, there were 16,000 new infections. On Wednesday, there were 17,000,” Rivera began. Interrupting Rivera, Hannity responded, “Ron DeSantis saved every older person… This is not bash Ron DeSantis… A lot of these cases are coming here because of Joe [Biden].” Rivera, seemingly dumbfounded, said, “This has nothing to do with Joe,” to which Hannity quipped immediately, “Oh yes it does,” and called on Bongino to speak. […]

A janitor at an Oregon high school was prepared to gun down students at teachers at the school where he worked and made detailed plans for the shooting spree, local police said Thursday. Thankfully, he turned himself in first, repentant. Kristopher Clay, the 24-year-old janitor for South Medford High School, surrendered to the Medford police department on July 20, allegedly confessing to officers he had “homicidal thoughts.” He remained in police custody until he was formally arrested Wednesday. “We are relieved a potentially catastrophic event was prevented,” a police spokesman said Thursday. The Medford police department and the Medford school district […]

A van carrying 25 migrants in southern Texas flipped over Wednesday afternoon after hitting a curb, killing 10 people inside. The driver was among the dead, and 12 were injured in the accident, which took place in Brooks County roughly 80 miles from the Texas-Mexico border, according to the Falfurrias Fire Department. Authorities believe the driver had been speeding and lost control of the vehicle after hitting a curb. This is a developing story… Source link

Mismanagement by contractors at a federal detention facility for migrant children in Texas led to squalid conditions for the young detainees, according to a new whistleblower complaint released Wednesday. The whistleblowers, describing what they say they witnessed at the facility from April to June 2021, sound the alarm about what they call “gross mismanagement, gross waste, and abuse of authority.” A senior U.S. Public Health Service manager allegedly concealed the true size of a substantial coronavirus outbreak at the detention facility amid a shortage of masks. The same manager, when asked about a lack of delousing kits, said there were no […]

Four days after the headless body of a former Pakistani diplomat’s young daughter was discovered in Islamabad, her death has ignited a wave of fury across the globe and sparked calls for stronger protections for women in Pakistan. Near the Toronto waterfront, writer and activist Zahra Haider—who grew up with both the 27-year-old victim, Noor Mukadam, and her alleged killer, Zahir Jaffer—hosted a vigil in Queen’s Park on Friday night. Haider opened the vigil with a quote from writer Mohammed Hanif: “There was not a single day—when she didn’t see a woman shot or hacked, strangled or suffocated, poisoned or burnt, […]

Kentaro Kobayashi, director of the Tokyo Olympics’ opening ceremony, was dismissed late Wednesday over footage of him joking about the Holocaust. Kobayashi, who joked about the Holocaust as a “let’s massacre Jewish people game” in one clip, previously made his name as part of a comedy duo dubbed Ramens. Japan’s Olympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto said in a press conference that she and other members of the planning commission would “review the entire program” Thursday, the day before the ceremony. Hashimoto said she learned of Kobayashi’s offensive jokes Tuesday morning and that she regretted how long it took to fire the comedian. […]

Rapper Biz Markie has died at the age of 57. His family told TMZ that the man behind the hit “Just a Friend” died of complications from diabetes in a Baltimore hospital surrounded by his family. He was hospitalized last summer with the same illness. A representative for Markie, legal name ​​Marcel Theo Hall, said in a statement, “We are grateful for the many calls and prayers of support that we have received during this difficult time. Biz created a legacy of artistry that will forever be celebrated by his industry peers and his beloved fans whose lives he was able […]

Iranian intelligence agents hatched a plan to kidnap a journalist in Brooklyn and spirit her away to Iran in retaliation for her criticism of the Iranian regime, the Justice Department alleged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday. The Iranian agents planned to take the journalist, who is an Iranian-born U.S. citizen, back to Iran, where, according to the Justice Department, “the victim’s fate would have been uncertain at best.” The Justice Department described her as “a journalist, author, and human rights activist, residing in Brooklyn, New York, who has publicized the Government of Iran’s human rights abuses.” The Iranians also allegedly mounted […]

As a Florida mother was preparing to leave work on a Friday last month, she received a horrifying phone call from her babysitter. Her three-year-old son, Jameson Nance, had drowned in the bathtub, the 25-year-old babysitter, Joshua Manns, allegedly told her. The mother rushed to home to the West Melbourne apartment complex to find her son dead in the bathroom, though Manns was nowhere in sight. He had not called for medical assistance. After two weeks on the run, Manns was found and arrested on June 28 in Georgia en route to West Virginia, where he was born. He had nothing […]

Two men have been arrested and identified in connection with a shooting in Amsterdam that left a famous Dutch crime journalist fighting for his life. Peter R. de Vries was shot in the head Tuesday in broad daylight near one of Amsterdam’s busiest plazas just minutes after he left a TV studio. He remains in critical condition, according to Dutch law enforcement. Delano G, 21, and Kamil Pawel E, 35, were taken into custody Tuesday in the vicinity of the Hague the same day as the shooting as they drove a “getaway car,” authorities said. Their last names have not been […]

A man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of shooting and killing three men at a country club in an Atlanta suburb. The suspect, who was taken into custody in Chamblee, Georgia, was identified as Bryan Rhoden, according to local station CBS 46. Police have not yet released details on a motive. The triple homicide last Saturday at the Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw claimed the lives of the country club’s head golf pro Gene Siller, 41, Paul Pierson, 76, and Henry Valdez, 46. The bodies of Pierson and Valdez were found in the back of Pierson’s white Dodge Ram 3500 pickup. […]

A federal court of appeals ruled Tuesday that the only school in the country that administers electric shocks to students can continue doing so. The court ruled that the Food and Drug Administration cannot block the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Canton, Massachusetts, from using a device called the graduated electronic decelerator as a “treatment of last resort.” The school serves those with severe disabilities, including many with non-verbal autism who have been ejected from other group homes over harm to themselves and others. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that “the FDA lacks the statutory authority […]

A well-known Dutch crime journalist was gunned down in one of Amsterdam’s largest plazas Tuesday. Local police said in a statement, “Peter R. de Vries was shot down in Lange Leidsedwarsstraat.” De Vries, 64, had visited broadcaster RTL’s television studio that evening and appeared on a talk show. He is now in “serious condition,” police said, and Amsterdam’s mayor said he was “fighting for his life.” Video showed a wound to de Vries’ head, the BBC reported, and RTL reported that eyewitnesses heard five shots fired at close range. The alleged shooter and two others have been arrested. Authorities are on […]

Donald Trump held a rally Saturday night in Sarasota, Florida, where he revived his long-running list of grievances about Joe Biden’s “atrocious” administration and appeared to voice support for Jan. 6 Capitol rioters. “The radical Left, thanks to a rigged and dishonest election, now controls the U.S. government,” he complained, continuing to propagate the lie that he won the 2020 presidential election. He also called New York prosecutors “fascist and authoritarian” for charging his family’s company, the Trump Organization, and its chief financial officer with tax crimes. “It’s solely because of politics,” he said, adding that “it’s because I got, we […]

To Catch a Predator’s Chris Hansen found himself in the spotlight he normally reserves for the subjects of his stories on Thursday: A judge in Michigan issued a warrant for his arrest after Hansen had failed to appear in court. “It’s the silliest thing I’ve ever seen. It was a total administrative disconnect,” the TV host told The Daily Beast. “This notion of ‘Hansen skips a hearing’ is not true.” The bench warrant arose from what Hansen described as a communication breakdown about a court appearance that began with the defense’s counsel. The news that a prominent journalist known for covering […]

The death toll of the Pacific Northwest’s catastrophic heatwave is rising as fast as its temperatures. Oregon is reporting that at least 63 people died over the weekend of heat-related illnesses, but the state’s death toll will likely rise, as the findings are only preliminary. In Multnomah County alone, home to Portland, 45 people—17 women and 27 men ages 44 to 97 (one person’s gender was not specified)—died of hyperthermia over the past five days. By contrast, only 12 people died of hyperthermia in all of Oregon between 2017 and 2019, according to the county medical examiner. Portland’s airport recorded a […]

Lori Daybell Vallow, an Idaho mother facing murder charges in the deaths of her two children, was hit with new charges Tuesday: conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of her former husband. Prosecutors in Maricopa County, Arizona, allege Vallow conspired with her brother Alexander Cox to murder her former husband, Charles Vallow, who was shot and killed in July 2019. Cox confessed to 911 dispatchers that he had shot Charles Vallow but said it was in self defense. Cox died in November of the same year. Vallow was found unfit to stand trial for the deaths of her two […]

In a fit of romantic rage, a 20-year-old woman in Louisiana allegedly recruited a squad of teenage boys to murder her ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. But the plot went off the rails at the last second, according to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office. Mykia Tyson is said to have driven the four boys she enlisted to the new boyfriend’s house in Lacombe, Louisiana in early June, but when the proposed hitmen arrived, the teenager meant to shoot the boyfriend bailed on the murder plot. At the last second, 19-year-old Delester Magee intentionally missed the target, firing shots into the side of […]

A massive country music festival in Kentucky this past weekend started off on rocky footing: Police found meth, marijuana, and an open bottle of alcohol in the first vehicle they stopped at a traffic checkpoint. One of the people in the car had two active warrants out for their arrest. “We were like, ‘Well, this doesn’t bode well for the weekend,’” Edmonson County Sheriff Shane Doyle told the Lexington Herald-Leader. By the end of the five-day bash, dubbed the “Redneck Rave,” a man had been impaled, a woman had been strangled to the point of unconsciousness, and a throat had been […]

A 16-year-old and her 18-year-old boyfriend allegedly stabbed her father to death in April and made vlogs in the aftermath, according to cellphone video presented to a Nevada grand jury this week. “Welcome back to our YouTube channel… Day 3 after murdering somebody…” Aaron Guerrero says to the camera in one clip, CBS 8 News Now reports. “Whoa, don’t put that on camera,” replies Sierra Halseth, laughing. The two appear to be lying in a tent. “It was worth it,” says Guerrero. They did not post the video online. Halseth and Guerrero are charged with murdering Daniel Halseth, 45, and burning […]

A senior federal judge in California overturned the state’s longtime ban on assault weapons Friday, likening an AR-15 to a Swiss Army Knife in his ruling. “Like the Swiss Army Knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment,” wrote Roger Benitez. It was far from the first time Roger Benitez took an expansive definition of the Second Amendment. In fact, he has sided with gun rights advocates so often that some activists believe such groups are deliberately steering their cases to him. He has repeatedly ruled against California’s gun laws, to the […]

The friends and family of a father of three killed by Minnesota sheriff’s deputies Thursday are calling for the release of all footage of the moments that led up to his death. But authorities say there is none to back up their version of events. Two sheriff’s deputies, one from Hennepin County and one from Ramsey County, shot and killed a man friends and family identified as 32-year-old Winston Boogie Smith in a parking garage in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis. The deputies had been working with U.S. Marshals to arrest Smith for felony firearm possession. Authorities have not released an […]

More than 12 hours after a shooter opened fire in a San Jose railway yard, authorities identified the eight victims killed in the gunfire. According to the Santa Clara County medical examiner-coroner, their names were Michael Rudometkin, 40; Lars Lane, 63; Paul Megia, 42; Taptejdeep Singh, 36; Adrian Balleza, 29; Jose Dejesus Hernandez III, 35; Timothy Romo, 49; and Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63. They were employees of the Valley Transportation Authority. The shooter was identified as Samuel Cassidy. Authorities said he killed himself at the scene. His ex-girlfriend accused him of domestic abuse and rape in 2009. Rudometkin’s mother, Rose, confirmed to […]

The Israeli military says it has launched ground operations against Hamas in Gaza, a major escalation of the conflict that is likely to leave many more dead. Both side have conducted increasing amounts of aerial warfare against one another in recent days, with Hamas firing more than 1,500 rockets at Israel and Israel leveling airstrikes against Hamas, including several Thursday. Israel claims to have killed more than 30 Hamas militants and struck more than 600 targets. Palestinian officials say more than 100 people have been killed in Gaza, including 27 children. Amid the fighting, mobs have also taken to the streets […]

The parents of a 5-week-old baby who disappeared this week gave a press conference Wednesday where they begged for the public’s help in finding their son but offered confusing accounts of what exactly happened. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, which sent out the first alert about missing Caleb “CJ” Whisnand, Jr., initially said he was last seen on Saturday night. But police in Montgomery County, Alabama, say they received a 911 call late Monday evening from a Circle K convenience store along a highway outside Montgomery about the missing baby, who weighs 10 pounds and was last seen in a camouflage […]

In a fiery address given from the floor of the House of Representatives late Tuesday, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) vowed to continue her crusade against former President Donald Trump despite becoming a persona non grata in her own party. “Today, we face a threat America has never seen before. A former president who provoked a violent attack on this Capitol, in an effort to steal the election, has resumed his aggressive effort to convince Americans that the election was stolen from him,” said Cheney, the third-most powerful Republican in Congress. Cheney faces a near-certain ouster from congressional leadership on Wednesday, in […]

A bankruptcy judge in Texas called the National Rifle Association’s bankruptcy filing disingenuous and “not having been filed in good faith” as he dismissed the petition Tuesday. The gun rights organization filed for bankruptcy in January despite boasting five million members and 500 employees, and it brings in roughly $300 million in revenue each year, according to court documents. The filing under Chapter 11 bankruptcy law would have allowed the NRA to relocate its financial assets from New York, where it faces a massive lawsuit from the state’s attorney general, to Texas. The group has been officially domiciled in New York […]

At least 44 people died and dozens more were injured after a massive stampede at a religious festival in northern Israel on Thursday night. Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews had gathered for the holiday of Lag b’Omer, taking part in the biggest event since the coronavirus pandemic began. But within an instant, the religious celebration turned into a scene of absolute horror. “I had just sat down to eat when I heard the screams. We rushed to help, and then we saw the bodies. At the start it was about 10. Now, there’s many more,” a witness, Avi, told Haaretz. […]

The people who allegedly stole Lady Gaga’s two French Bulldogs in February and opened fire on her dog walker have been arrested. Jennifer McBride, the woman who “found” the Frenchies, Gustav and Koji, in an alley and brought them to a police station just days after their disappearance, was also arrested, with footage of the pooches’ return becoming key evidence, according to TMZ. Police had advised the pop star not to pay the $500,000 reward she had advertised for the canines’ repatriation. “Evidence suggests the suspects knew the great value of the breed of dogs and [that] was the motivation for […]

Before a white Virginia sheriff’s deputy shot a Black man 10 times late Wednesday night, he told the man to drop his gun. Body-camera footage and the recording of the man’s initial call to 911, however, show he was never holding one. He had his phone in his hand, and he had told authorities so. The Spotsylvania County sheriff’s deputy had dropped Isaiah Brown, 32, home earlier on Wednesday night after Brown’s car had broken down miles away. But, moments later, Brown dialed 911 over a dispute with his brother that was apparently preventing him from getting back to his car. […]

Police in Columbus, Ohio, shot and killed a person on Tuesday afternoon just as a guilty verdict was being handed down in a police brutality case that had held the attention of an entire nation. According to local station NBC 4, the victim, who has not yet been identified, was transported to a nearby hospital, Mount Carmel East, where they succumbed to the injuries sustained in the shooting. The department has reportedly contacted the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to review the use of deadly force. The police department’s public information office did not respond to a request for comment. Video […]

The Justice Department sued Roger Stone on Friday, accusing him of failing to pay more than $2 million in taxes. The suit, filed in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, alleges Stone and his wife, Nydia, dodged $1,590,361 in taxes between 2007 and 2011 and stiffed the IRS of $407,036 in 2018 alone. The couple used a company, Drake Ventures, to “shield their personal income from enforced collection and fund a lavish lifestyle,” according to the Justice Department. Stone, 67, has been a longtime confidant of Donald Trump and briefly served as the former president’s campaign adviser. Stone was convicted of […]

A Pentagon cop accused of fatally shooting two men he “thought” were stealing a car in the parking lot of his Maryland condo complex this week has a history of whipping out guns in his building, according to video from last year that now has law enforcement scrutinizing the officer more closely. David Hall Dixon aimed a firearm at a homeless woman in the lobby of his apartment complex one evening in May 2020 and barked at her to leave, footage shows. Takoma Park Police plan to bring charges against him “for his actions in assaulting” her, WJLA reports. Dixon had […]

In the twilight of Donald Trump’s administration, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) sought a preemptive pardon for any crimes he and his allies in Congress may have committed, The New York Times reports. Gaetz is currently under federal investigation for potential sex trafficking in connection with an alleged relationship with a 17-year-old girl. The Department of Justice is also probing whether Gaetz paid multiple women for sex on various visits to Florida alongside his close ally Joel Greenberg, the now indicted former Seminole County tax collector. Gaetz has denied the allegations. It is unclear if Gaetz or Trump knew of the investigation […]

Multiple women interviewed by the FBI in a probe of Rep. Matt Gaetz told investigators the Florida Republican paid them for sex, The New York Times reports. The news is just the latest scandal to hit Gaetz since the Times revealed the congressman was under scrutiny by federal investigators looking into whether he violated sex trafficking laws in his relations with a 17-year-old girl. Since that bombshell came out a mere two days ago, disturbing details about Gaetz’s alleged behavior have piled up, from claims he has bragged and shared naked photos of his sexual partners on the House floor, to […]

A high-flying Michigan telecommunications executive led a double life as the financier of a sprawling international drug ring, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday. Among his alleged secrets: plans for “the Torpedo,” a parasitic submarine meant to haul clandestine cocaine across the globe. Marty Tibbitts was the CEO of Clementine Live Answering Service, but he often went by the generic code name “Dale Johnson” in communications related to his work as a drug trafficker, prosecutors say. He was killed at age 50 in a plane crash in 2018. An aviation buff with the pockets to prove it, he founded the […]

Four people have been killed, including a child, in a shooting at a California office complex late Wednesday, police said. A suspect is in custody after officers in the city of Orange responded to reports of a shooting at a multi-tenant business center only to be confronted by live gunfire as they arrived to find several victims. The suspect, who has not yet been identified, was wounded in a gunfight with police and subsequently transported to a local hospital, police Lt. Jennifer Amat was quoted telling The Orange County Register. In addition to the four victims, one other person apart from […]

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is under investigation for an alleged relationship with a 17-year-old girl, The New York Times reports. Federal investigators are reportedly examining Gaetz’s alleged payment for the minor’s travel alongside him, which could violate sex trafficking laws. It is unclear how the two met. The Justice Department opened the probe in the twilight of former President Donald Trump’s administration under former Attorney General William Barr, who briefed senior DOJ officials on the matter, according to the Times. Gaetz told Axios in a followup interview that none of the women he has dated were underage, of that he was […]

As questions swirled Saturday over the police shooting of a 25-year-old Black man during multiple chaotic shootings in Virginia Beach, city police chief Paul Neudigate admitted to reporters late Saturday that there is no bodycam footage of the confrontation—and police have no idea if the man was armed. “I don’t have a whole lot of answers,” Neudigate said about the death of Donovan Lynch, which he said was “still very much under investigation.” Lynch was killed at the hands of police as officers responded to a gunfight they said erupted while they were dealing with another, unrelated shooting nearby. Police said […]

Sharon Osbourne will no longer host CBS’ daytime talk show The Talk after a review by the network found that “her behavior toward her co-hosts” in a recent episode “did not align with our values for a respectful workplace,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. The network said her exit was her decision, however. “Sharon Osbourne has decided to leave The Talk,” CBS said in a statement. “The co-hosts were not properly prepared by the staff for a complex and sensitive discussion involving race.” Osbourne’s departure comes after she erupted into a rant defending Piers Morgan against accusations of racism following his […]

In the wake of Tuesday’s brutal killing spree against Asian women, activists say the bloodshed should serve as a wake-up call to how Asian American women are routinely dehumanized—but police are too busy humanizing the accused gunman to recognize the hate crime they say he committed. “The first thing I thought about when the police said it’s not a racially motivated crime because he said so is that they don’t understand how racism works in this country,” said Sung Yeon Choimorrow, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum. “We can’t just say we’re not talking about the racism […]

President Joe Biden has directed personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the U.S.-Mexico border to deal with a mounting influx of unaccompanied migrant teens and children. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas described the plan as a “government-wide effort over the next 90 days to safely receive, shelter, and transfer unaccompanied children who make the dangerous journey to the U.S. southwest border.” The agency will assist with alleviating overcrowding in detention facilities along the border, likely erecting temporary, so-called “soft-sided structures,” he said. Mayorkas said the agency is fielding “record numbers of individuals, including unaccompanied children, at the southwest border.” […]

Just weeks after Facebook purged its own Black History Month ads by mistake, Women’s History Month ads are also being flagged and deleted. Though the tech giant received media praise for its “refreshing” Black History Month content, it was one of dozens of advertisers that saw its ad campaigns about Black history removed from the social network in February. Among the others were a Fortune 500 energy company, the Chicago Bulls, the city government of Denver, a church, a grade school, health-care providers, a book store, universities, and history museums. The cycle appears primed to start again, this time targeting Women’s […]

A Maryland police chief retired after decades on the force only to spend much the next 10 years unleashing a series of arson attacks on his perceived enemies, according to a bevy of charges revealed on Wednesday. David Crawford, 69, the former police chief of Laurel, Maryland, is accused of attempted murder and a dozen arsons from 2011 to 2020. He had resigned from the police department in 2010. He is charged with 20 felonies in Prince George’s county alone, according to the The Baltimore Sun—four counts of first-degree attempted murder, four counts of second-degree attempted murder, one count first-degree arson, […]

A second former aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has accused him of sexual harassment. Charlotte Bennett, 25, a former executive assistant and health policy adviser in the administration, told The New York Times that Cuomo had asked her multiple questions about her sex life and relationships, including whether she had ever slept with an older man and whether she was romantically involved with other staff members, when the two were alone in his office in June 2020. She said he said he was open to a relationship with a woman in her 20s and had been looking for a […]

DON EMMERT The New York Times on Friday announced the ouster of science and health reporter Donald McNeil Jr., who The Daily Beast reported had allegedly used racist language while on a 2019 trip with students to Peru. This is a developing story… Read more at The Daily Beast. Source link

SOPHIE was an optimist, and she made me one too. The Scottish producer died in Athens, Greece, around 4 a.m. Saturday at the age of 34, according to a statement from the record labels Transgressive and Future Classic: “True to her spirituality she had climbed up to watch the full moon and accidentally slipped and fell.” The death is a deep loss for pop music. SOPHIE (government name: Sophie Xeon; artist name styled in all caps) sketched out worlds unconstrained by gender—or any bodies at all. A representative told Pitchfork the musician used no pronouns—neither the gendered he/she nor the nonbinary […]

A married Texas police chief was arrested Thursday for allegedly faking an annulment document to trick his mistress into believing they would soon be wed. When she tried to verify the document, she went viral and discovered he was dating yet another woman who was not his wife. After a series of twists fit for a soap opera, former Stinnett chief of police Jason Collier, a 41-year-old ordained minister who is married with four children, is charged with tampering with a government document with the intent to defraud, a felony, according to local station KACR. The Stinnett city government had placed […]