An advocacy group, JOCO United- has recently launched by friends and supporters of the parents of a suicidal teen killed by police during a welfare check. On Jan. 20, 2018, police were dispatched to the home of 17 year old John Albers at about 5:35 p.m. on a report that he was home alone and suicidal. Albers had no criminal history but a history of mental health issues, was shot as he was backing the family’s minivan down the driveway by one of the first Overland Park officers to arrive at the home, Clayton Jenison. Jenison resigned shortly after the shooting for personal reasons. A month later, after a multi-jurisdictional investigation, Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe concluded the officer reasonably feared for his life, deeming the shooting justified. Dashcam footage was released and shown at the press conference when Howe announced that no charges would be filed.
Howe and Overland Park Police Chief Frank Donchez said they thought the officer’s actions were not unreasonable and that investigators could not determine if Albers was killed by the first two shots or the subsequent shots. The release of the video touched off intense debate among the public, especially parents wondering whether calling the police for help with mental health issues was even a safe option. The video shows two different dashcam recordings of the shooting and begins with the view of a police vehicle as it drives toward the Albers home. The Albers home comes into view and the family minivan is backing out of the garage into the driveway with Albers at the wheel. Overland Park Police Officer Clayton Jenison stands to the rear of the van and shouts “Stop!” As the van continues, Jenison fires two shots at it. The van pauses and then continues backing down the driveway past the police officer, making a U-turn in reverse back toward the house. The officer shouts “Stop the car!” as another police vehicle pulls up to the entrance of the driveway. Officer Jenison shoots at the van 11 more times and another officer runs toward the driveway. One of the officers shouts “Shots fired! Shots fired! ” The van rolls forward into the street and one of the officers shouts “Stop! Stop, John, stop the car!” The van rolls across the street into a neighbor’s front yard as other officers run to the van. One officer calls for medical assistance “Shots fired, He’s down, we need medical ASAP.” An officer talks to Albers. “John, John, John, John. God damn it! Glove up, glove up!” The officer continues talking to Albers. “John, are you all right? Ah, (expletive).
Another video, taken from a dash cam in a vehicle parked on the opposite side of the Albers home, begins before the shooting. It shows the first two officers arrive first and walk up to the house. One officer walks back down the driveway while Officer Jenison stays at the front of the house. Jenison walks into the driveway as the garage door opens. The van starts backing out of the garage toward the officer. The officer shouts “Stop!” three times while stepping backward down the driveway and into the grass. Officer Jenison pulls his gun, firing twice and the van briefly stops in the driveway. The van continues backing down the driveway and the officer steps to his right to avoid the van. The van makes a U-Turn in reverse into the yard as another police vehicle pulls into the driveway. Officer Jenison shouts “Stop the car!” and fires 11 more times at the van as it backs up through the yard toward the house. As other officers run toward the van two officers walk away. “Hey, deep breaths, man,” one officer says to Officer Jenison. “Deep breaths. “Come here, buddy, come over here,” one officer says. Jenison, who sounds obviously shaken says “I thought he was going to run me over, man.” Another officer answers, “I know.”
Many people were disturbed by the shooting and by the district attorney’s findings, said Mark Schmid of Overland Park, who helped found JOCO United. “We want to bridge the divide standing between us and the city’s police and political leaders so we can work together.” One goal is to improve how officers respond to people with mental illness or are in mental distress. Steve and Sheila Albers told news outlets “People from all walks of life were devastated and shaken by such a senseless act and the exceedingly poor response.” Sheila Albers filed a lawsuit in April, suing the officer who shot her son and the city of Overland Park. The court documents state that the officer “acted recklessly and deliberately” when he shot and killed Albers, who may not have known police were at his home and was “simply backing his mom’s minivan out of the family garage, Aavehicle passing a police officer does not give that officer an ongoing license to kill an unthreatening citizen.” The lawsuit is pending.
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A 3-year-old child refugee from Ethiopia attacked at her birthday party by a knife-wielding man has died of her injuries. Ruya Kadir died at a trauma center in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she was flown for treatment. Police said five other children and three adults were wounded in the stabbing attack. Police have arrested a 30-year-old man from Los Angeles who had been staying in the same apartment building. Seven of the other eight victims remain in the hospital, many with serious or critical injuries, and one child was treated and released. The wounded children ranged in age from 4 to 12 years old.
The suspect, Timothy Kinner, 30, was initially charged with nine counts of aggravated battery, and six counts of injury to a child. Kinner was arraigned in Ada County Court in Boise when a judge informed him that the charges had been amended and that he’s now facing one count of first-degree murder. Kinner has an extensive criminal record spanning multiple states and has spent time in prison for previous violent offenses. If convicted, Kinner could be eligible for the death penalty under Idaho law. Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts said her office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty, saying those “high-level decisions” are made only after all the facts are in.
Boise Police Chief Bill Bones said during an emotional news conference that the suspect’s motive was “vengeance” for being asked to leave an apartment in the complex due to his behavior. Bones said Kinner had been invited to stay for a few days at the apartment of a renter who had shown him compassion but was asked to leave on Friday due to his disruptive behavior. According to Police Chief Bones, Kinner returned to the apartment where he had been a guest on Saturday and found nobody home. Around 8:45 p.m. Kinner went a few doors down to where the party was going on and allegedly stormed the apartment, stabbing the people with a folding knife.
Zine Mutlack, the 8 year old boy who was treated and released from the hospital said he first saw Kinner hiding near the party. “Then he popped up and I was in front of my aunt,” Zine said. “He just came to me and stabbed me in my belly. Then he went to her, made her fall on the ground, then he stabbed her lots of times and I heard her yelling.” In the chaos that followed, Zine said his mother was stabbed in the neck and his father told him to run home and call the police. “I said, ‘Somebody is stabbing people in the apartment,'” Zine said. “They said they were already on their way.”
The attack took place at an apartment complex that is home to refugee families. Kinner is not a refugee but he temporarily lived at the complex until he was asked to leave the day before his attack. The chief said the victims were all refugees from Syria, Iraq and Ethiopia who had escaped violence in their homelands only to be confronted with it in America. The victims were placed in Boise as part of the refugee resettlement program. International Rescue Committee CEO David Miliband said his group settled Ruya and her mother in Boise from Ethiopia in December 2015. Her father is in Turkey.
Monday evening, around 1,500 people turned out at a vigil honoring members of refugee families targeted in the stabbing. People wept, sang and shouted their support for the refugee community, and many brought bouquets of white flowers intended to symbolize peace. By the end of the rally, hundreds of bouquets filled dozens of baskets on the steps of Boise’s City Hall.
A 3-year-old child refugee from Ethiopia attacked at her birthday party by a knife-wielding man has died of her injuries. Ruya Kadir died at a trauma center in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she was flown for treatment. Police said five other children and three adults were wounded in the stabbing attack. Police have arrested a 30-year-old man from Los Angeles who had been staying in the same apartment building. Seven of the other eight victims remain in the hospital, many with serious or critical injuries, and one child was treated and released. The wounded children ranged in age from 4 to 12 years old.
The suspect, Timothy Kinner, 30, was initially charged with nine counts of aggravated battery, and six counts of injury to a child. Kinner was arraigned in Ada County Court in Boise when a judge informed him that the charges had been amended and that he’s now facing one count of first-degree murder. Kinner has an extensive criminal record spanning multiple states and has spent time in prison for previous violent offenses. If convicted, Kinner could be eligible for the death penalty under Idaho law. Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts said her office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty, saying those “high-level decisions” are made only after all the facts are in.
Boise Police Chief Bill Bones said during an emotional news conference that the suspect’s motive was “vengeance” for being asked to leave an apartment in the complex due to his behavior. Bones said Kinner had been invited to stay for a few days at the apartment of a renter who had shown him compassion but was asked to leave on Friday due to his disruptive behavior. According to Police Chief Bones, Kinner returned to the apartment where he had been a guest on Saturday and found nobody home. Around 8:45 p.m. Kinner went a few doors down to where the party was going on and allegedly stormed the apartment, stabbing the people with a folding knife.
Zine Mutlack, the 8 year old boy who was treated and released from the hospital said he first saw Kinner hiding near the party. “Then he popped up and I was in front of my aunt,” Zine said. “He just came to me and stabbed me in my belly. Then he went to her, made her fall on the ground, then he stabbed her lots of times and I heard her yelling.” In the chaos that followed, Zine said his mother was stabbed in the neck and his father told him to run home and call the police. “I said, ‘Somebody is stabbing people in the apartment,'” Zine said. “They said they were already on their way.”
The attack took place at an apartment complex that is home to refugee families. Kinner is not a refugee but he temporarily lived at the complex until he was asked to leave the day before his attack. The chief said the victims were all refugees from Syria, Iraq and Ethiopia who had escaped violence in their homelands only to be confronted with it in America. The victims were placed in Boise as part of the refugee resettlement program. International Rescue Committee CEO David Miliband said his group settled Ruya and her mother in Boise from Ethiopia in December 2015. Her father is in Turkey.
Monday evening, around 1,500 people turned out at a vigil honoring members of refugee families targeted in the stabbing. People wept, sang and shouted their support for the refugee community, and many brought bouquets of white flowers intended to symbolize peace. By the end of the rally, hundreds of bouquets filled dozens of baskets on the steps of Boise’s City Hall.
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In Annapolis, Maryland, five people were left dead and two others injured after a gunman armed with a shotgun and smoke grenades stormed the newsroom of the Capital Gazette newspaper on the afternoon of June 28th. The suspect, Jarrod W. Ramos, 38, was taken into custody at the scene and was charged on Friday morning with five counts of first-degree murder. Police say Ramos refused to cooperate with the authorities or provide his name and was identified using facial recognition technology.
The attack was covered in real time by some of the journalists who found themselves under siege. A message saying “please help us” with the address of the office building was tweeted from the account of Anthony Messenger, a summer intern. A crime reporter, Phil Davis, described how the gunman “shot through the glass door to the office” before opening fire on employees. “There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload,” Mr. Davis wrote.
Davis said during a phone interview that the gunman was silent as he stalked the newsroom, stopping once to reload as journalists huddled in fear under their desks. Once the police arrived, staff members put their hands in the air and shouted, “We’re not him,” Mr. Davis recalled. The gunman was hiding under a desk as the police moved in. He did not exchange gunfire with officers when he was taken in.
Police say Ramos had a long history of conflict with the Capital Gazette, which produces a number of local newspapers along Maryland’s shore, suing journalists there for defamation and waging a social media campaign against them. “This was a targeted attack on the Capital Gazette,” said William Krampf, acting chief of the Anne Arundel County Police Department. “This person was prepared to shoot people. His intent was to cause harm.”
In July 2012, Mr. Ramos filed a defamation lawsuit in Maryland’s Prince George’s County Circuit Court against Capital Gazette Communications, its then editor and publisher and a former reporter, claiming that his reputation had been damaged after the newspaper published a story in 2011 about Mr. Ramos’s guilty plea in a harassment case. Three months later, he filed a fuller complaint alleging invasion of privacy. The lawsuit was later dismissed by Judge Maureen M. Lamasney after a March 2013 hearing, in which Mr. Ramos, who represented himself, was unable to identify anything that was falsely reported in the July 2011 article nor could he cite examples about how he had been harmed. According to the appellate decision that later affirmed the dismissal, Ramos showed no understanding of defamation law.
During a press conference, Acting Deputy Chief William Krampf told reportrs that the suspect had made violent threats against the paper and the paper had been threatened the day of the shooting. Krampf could not specifically confirm what the threats entailed or if the shooter targeted anyone specifically but did say the shooting was a targeted attack. Those killed in the shooting were identified as longtime editor and columnist Rob Hiaasen, editorial page editor Gerald Fischman, columnist and editor John McNamara, sales assistant Rebecca Smith and editor and community reporter Wendi Winters.
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In an effort to broaden the company’s “social interaction” with our clients and FaceBook fans, Daily Trivia Questions are posted on both of our business pages. Here are the weekly standings for this past week, and the winner of the Sunday night Weekly Drawing for an AmEx gift card!
Congratulations – To this past week’s Trivia Contest Winner!! Our latest contest winner for the weekly FaceBook HealthInsurance4Everyone/Health & Life Solutions, LLC Trivia Contest, drawn randomly by computer late Sunday evening, July 1st, 2018 was:
HUNTER COFFEYHUNTER COFFEY
Salton City, CA
Winner Of A $25.00 AmEx Gift Card
Each day, fans who have “liked” either of our company FaceBook pages (HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions LLC) are able to test their skills with our Daily TRIVIA QUESTION. The first 20 winners who post the correct answer to the TRIVIA QUESTION, will then get entered into the weekly drawing held late on Sunday evenings for a $25.00 Am Ex Gift Card.
Weekly Gift Card winners will be posted in our blog at this site. Remember to become a FaceBook “fan” on either of our company pages to enter and post your answers.
Here are the daily contestants from last week’s Trivia Contest that were entered into the Sunday drawing:
6/25/18
Jill Nauyokas
Beth Embrey
Alisa Jones
Toi Minnifield
Kelsey Brooke Vinson
Suzie Mize Lockhart
Cassandra Berholtz
Beth Meemo
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Cyndi Jansheski
Brandi Kerr
Penny Fisher
Sheila Carvell
Sajida Hasham Salemohamed
Jodi Stevens
Marilyn Wall
Kellina Fernell Murphy
Ashley Agner
Trish Musgrave
Jenn Anthony
Tanya Holmes
6/26/18
Nacole Patrick
Ashley Agner
Jennifer Ramlet
Jenifer Garza
Priscilla Shimp
Jodi Stevens
Sheila Carvell
Brooke Scott
Brandy Marie Williams
Brandi Kerr
Ally Martiz
Patricia Oehlert Vazquez
Kathleen Marks
Bea Patrick
Alexandria Fields
Edward John
Tom Cavalli
April Ashcraft
Jennifer Cameron
Naomi Whitlatch
6/27/18
Kristina Rosson
Jenifer Garza
Amanda Rosario
Tonya Velazquez
Ashley Agner
Tanya Holmes
Mary Mcmenamy
Naomi Whitlatch
Lauren Bradley
Sherri McQueen Gilstrap
Priscilla Shimp
Debbie Smith
Hunter Coffey
Audessa Vaught
Althea Thomas
Wilma Mast
Diane Hamric
Andrea Workman
Morgan Fam
Karen Bondehagen
6/28/18
Brittany Light
Marcy Coull
Samantha Brwn
Jenifer Garza
Kacie Rogers
Kelly Jo Francisco
Morgan Fam
Patricia Oehlert Vazquez
Ang Richards
Brooke Scott
Michelle Tyler Jeske
Jill Nauyokas
Jennifer Lee Clack
Dawn Raasch
Dustin Lawson
Andrea Workman
Trish Musgrave
Sherri Kidwell
Britta Brown Lawson
Karen Brunet Moore
Brandi K Chaney
Traci Anderson
Kim Avery
Dale Fish
April Ashcraft
Sandy K High
6/29/18
Anggie Marie
Brittany Light
Jenifer Garza
Jill Nauyokas
Tracey Smith
Kimberly Taylor Hall
Trish Musgrave
Tonya Velazquez
Kayla Clemons
Michelle Webb
Bre Kershaw
June Rivera
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Angela Janise
Diane Hamric
Nicole Blaha
Jennifer Cameron
Vinessa Vasquez
Annette Broxton
Melissa Ann Stura-Bassett
6/30/18
Trish Musgrave
Jill Nauyokas
Mary Mcmenamy
Deborah Farris
Lenis Abshire
Trish Hysell
Morgan Fam
Chrissy Kim
April Denise Council-Redmond
Melissa Ann Stura-Bassett
Kacie Rogers
Tonya Velazquez
Nicole Blaha
Jenifer Garza
Kim Avery
Diane Hamric
Jessica Miller
Tina Herrin
Mya Murphy
Debbie Gremlin
7/1/18
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Jill Nauyokas
Trish Hysell
Heather Marocco
Amber Chandler
Kathleen Hickman
Summer July
April Ashcraft
Sheri Boydston
Pheobe Gerou
Karen Rimiller Presley
Suzie Mize Lockhart
Jennifer Kinner
Christy Martinez
Hunter Coffey
Brittany Light
Ashley Agner
Lenis Abshire
Brandi K Chaney
Alexis Maureen
Amy Marie Wilkinson
Be sure to watch both of our FaceBook pages for your chance to win and enter again next week, with questions posted daily on HealthInsurance4Everyone or at Health & Life Solutions, LLC!!
Remember that if you try your hand at answering the Trivia Question several days each week, your odds of winning the Sunday weekly drawing are much better.
Also note that a number of the posted answers each day are from contestants who have forgotten to “Like” one of our pages, so their names WILL NOT be entered at the end week drawing for the gift card, giving our fans a better chance!
You may also find that if you “Like” BOTH of the business pages, you will receive faster notifications of the other players as they post their answers to compete with you!
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The off-duty FBI agent who accidentally shot a man while doing a back flip on the dance floor of a Denver bar has been charged. Chase Bishop, 29, whose gun went flying out of his holster at Mile High Spirits bar in Denver, was charged with second-degree assault. The incident was captured in a viral video with many outraged that he had not been charged by the Denver Police. Police had initially released Bishop to an FBI supervisor while awaiting toxicology results before deciding whether to charge him.
A spokeswoman for the Denver District Attorney’s Office said Bishop turned himself in after a warrant for his arrest was issued on Tuesday. He was being held in Downtown Detention Center in Denver but jail records say Bishop posted a $1000 bond and was released. Additional charges could be filed based on the results of a blood alcohol content test, which has not yet been received, authorities have said. Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said the assault charge was filed before that report comes back “because sufficient evidence has been presented to file it. If an additional charge needs to be filed after further evidence is received, we can file those charges then.” Results from the BAC test are expected within a week.
The incident happened at 12:45am on June 2. Bishop’s gun discharged and struck fellow patron Tom Reddington in the leg. Bishop immediately picked up the weapon but accidentally squeezed off a single round. He then placed the gun in his waistband and walked off the dance floor with his hands in the air, the video shows. Reddington said “We sat down at one of those picnic tables — I heard a loud bang and I thought some idiot set off a firecracker. Then I looked down at my leg and see some brown residue… All of a sudden from the knee down it became completely red. Then it clicked that I’ve been shot.” Reddington told “Good Morning America” that he asked for someone to call 911 before blacking out. A security guard and fellow club-goers applied a tourniquet to his leg. “I soaked through several blankets, several towels, a few gauze pads,” Reddington said. Reddington is expected to fully recover.
Though Bishop offered no assistance to Reddington on the night of the shooting, his attorney said his client would like to meet with the man who was injured and is praying for his recovery. Attorney David Goddard asked that Bishop be allowed to travel because he lives and works in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors did not object, and Denver County Court Judge Andrea Eddy gave Bishop permission to travel. Chase Bishop, 29, made his first appearance in a Denver courtroomon Wednesday, where a judge issued a standard protection order stating that he must have zero contact and stay at least 100 yards away from the victim, Tom Reddington.
Bishop did not enter a plea and declined to answer any questions as he left the courthouse. The FBI field office in Denver declined to comment on the incident “to preserve the integrity of the ongoing investigation,” said Amy Sanders, a spokeswoman. Sanders said the field office would fully cooperate with Denver police and prosecutors “as this matter proceeds through the judicial process.”
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FEMA has ordered the evacuation of parts of a neighborhood on Hawaii’s Big Island as fast-moving lava from Kilauea volcano threatens to destroy more homes. The volcano first erupted on May 3, 2018 and has destroyed over 100 houses. Since the first eruption, 22 fissure vents have opened on the volcano’s East Rift Zone in the Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens subdivisions.
Hawaii’s Highway 137 has been blocked by lava, cutting off access to Kapoho Bay, Vacationland, Hwy 132 and the Puna Geothermal power plant. The flowing lava completely filled Kapoho Bay, inundated most of Vacationland and covered all but the northern part of Kapoho Beach Lots. There are several hundred homes in these two subdivisions. Homes in Kapoho Beach Lots and Vacationland are on smaller lots and are closer together than in other parts of the Puna district.
More than 2,500 local residents have been forced to evacuate the dangerous lava flows and toxic sulfur dioxide fumes that have consumed the neighborhoods. Officials have warned residents of the threat of toxic gases, choking ash plumes, and volcanic glass falling from the sky. When the sulfur dioxide from the fissures mix with sunlight and oxygen it forms a type of volcanic smog called “vog,” which can cause pneumonia and bronchitis-like symptoms.
Lava continues oozing from volcanic fissures, burning homes to the ground and turning into rivers of molten rock. The lava from Kilauea has spread across 2,000 acres of land into the surrounding neighborhoods on Hawaii’s Big Island. The rate of lava flow in the East Rift Zone has increased, advancing at rates up to 300 yards per hour. Officials say flowing lava has reached the Pacific Ocean, creating a steam cloud of lava haze commonly called “laze”. Laze is a mix of hydrochloric acid and fine glass particles. The laze extends 15 miles west of the Big Island and can cause breathing issues and skin irritation.
On May 29, 2018, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported that an ash eruption at Kīlauea summit occurred overnight at around 2 am. According to officials, the resulting ash plume reached 15,000 feet and the wind was blowing in the Northwest direction, sending ash fall out into the surrounding area. A a 4.5 magnitude earthquake was also reported in the summit region of the Kīlauea Volcano at 1:56 a.m. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a statement saying that no tsunami was expected.
Hawaii Civil Defense Service officials said they went through the neighborhood to warn residents this was their last chance to evacuate before their final escape route was cut off by lava Some chose to stay in the area, which now has no power, cell reception, landlines or county water, officials said. Authorities are planning to airlift people out if the lava spreads farther and endangers the dozen or so holdouts. Hundreds of residents are now living in shelters and emergency tents as local residents provide food and supplies.
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A 58-year-old convicted murderer has been charged in the road rage stabbing death of a Missouri Air National Guard member that occurred around 7:30pm on May 5th in Lee’s Summit, Mo. Nicholas M. Webb is charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of Cody Harter, 23, of St. Joseph, Mo. The killing appeared to stem from a dispute over a lane merge as Webb and Harter both drove along northbound Missouri 291 at the merger of Interstate 470 in Lee’s Summit according to Webb’s statement to police in court documents.
At the scene, multiple drivers called police to the area after seeing Harter stumbling into traffic.
By the time EMT’s arrived, Harter had collapsed in the median and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Lee’s Summit Police Department. Witnesses told police they had seen a vehicle stopped in front of Harter’s truck and that he was arguing with another person with his hands in the air when the person swung at Harter. Police believe that that the swing was when Harter was actually stabbed once in the chest before he stumbled back into the lanes of traffic and later died.
Police asked for the public’s help in finding the killer who fled north on I-470 or anyone that may have seen the confrontation. “Literally hundreds of cars would have passed by and possibly saw the actual incident along 470. What we’re asking people to do is come forward and help this family get closure and help us bring them justice in this case,” Sergeant Depue told reporters. Harter’s family also made a tearful plea to the public in finding the suspect. Police identified Webb as the suspect after viewing nearby security footage of the vehicles stopped along the highway from over 40 businesses in the area and through statements of 51 witnesses who came forward with information.
Webb was taken into custody around 6 p.m. Wednesday at his home in Pleasant Hill. Webb was previously sentenced to 35 years in prison in 1981 for the strangling death of a 15 year old girl in Belton, MO in 1980. He served 15 years for that murder and was released in 1996. In 1997, he was sent back to prison for violating parole and was released again in 2003. In 2005, Webb was taken back into custody and remained in prison until his most recent parole in July 2017. Police say Webb had several convictions including some for assault. He was arrested in Liberty for drug possession and DUI on the same day of the deadly confrontation with Harter. Information from that arrest said Webb had a knife in his pocket at the time of his arrest.
After the arrest, Cody Harter’s family and his girlfriend Shelby Berkemeier said they were thankful to the people who rushed to his aid, held his hand and prayed with him as he passed. Harter’s mother Kerrie said her son was a loadmaster with the Missouri Air National Guard’s 180th Airlift Squadron who served a tour in Iraq and was in Quatar. He also helped with hurricane relief in Houston and Puerto Rico. He was one semester away from completing his degree in technical engineering from Missouri Western State University. During a press conference, his loved ones shared several stories about the kindness Cody showed people every day. His sister Kylee spoke of a time he was driving with his girlfriend when he stopped to shovel the driveway after seeing an older woman outside in the snow. Another time he was at the dirt bike track and took time away from his own riding to fix a little boy’s bicycle chain after it broke. “He had the biggest heart and would do anything to help anyone at the drop of a hat,” said Kylee Harter. “It was senseless. He’s been to war and back and to die because someone was angry, for someone to just take everything from him… They didn’t know him. He didn’t deserve this and we don’t deserve the pain that came with it.”
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Officials have identified nine Puerto Rico Air National Guard airmen killed when their plane crashed shortly after taking off in Savanna, Georgia. The plane, a C-130-type cargo plane from Puerto Rico’s 156th Airlift Wing, had been in Savannah for several days for routine maintenance. It took off about 11:30 a.m on Wednesday morning heading to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group in Arizona, where it was set to be decommissioned since it was one of the oldest such aircraft still flying—at more than 60 years old.
The plane made it about a mile from Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport before it nose-dived toward a state highway intersection and exploded into a ball of fire and black smoke. Witnesses say the aircraft, with four turboprop engines on its overhead wing, banked left as it rapidly descended. The plane then plummeted behind trees. Seconds later, a fireball and thick black smoke erupted from the tree line. The wreck left a debris field of 360,000 square feet — about the area of six football fields. Chatham County officials said that Georgia Highway 21 will remain closed indefinitely as investigators examine the crash site and debris field.
Those killed in the crash have been identified as the pilot, Maj. Jose R. Roman Rosado from Manati, who left behind a wife and two sons; co-pilot, 1st Lt. David Albandoz from Madison, Alabama who left behind a wife and daughter; navigator, Maj. Carlos Perez Serra from Canovanas, who left behind a wife, two sons and a daughter; Senior Master Sgt. Jan Paravisini from Canovanas who left behing two daughters and son; Master Sgt. Jean Audriffred from Carolina who left behind a wife and two sons; Master Sgt. Mario Brana from Bayamon who left behind a daughter; Master Sgt. Eric Circuns from Rio Grande who left behind a wife, two stepdaughters and son; Master Sgt. Victor Colon of Santa Isabel, who left behind a wife and two daughters and Senior Airman Roberto Espada, from Salinas, who is survived by his grandmother.
An investigation into the cause of the crash is being carried out by the National Guard Bureau and the Air Force including whether it could be related to maintenance performed on the plane shortly before it took off or the craft’s age. A team from Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina is conducting the investigation, while a team from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware was sent to recover the airmen’s remains.
The destroyed C-130 and all nine crew members killed had helped with the hurricane recovery effort. The plane had been used to rescue Americans stranded in the British Virgin Islands after Hurricane Irma hit the Caribbean late last year. Days later, Hurricane Maria slammed into the 156th Airlift Wing’s home base in Puerto Rico, and the plane subsequently transported supplies from the U.S. mainland to the ruined island. Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Roselló declared nine days of mourning for the crew, during which flags in the territory will fly at half-staff, according to a statement from his office.
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During a historic meeting between Kim Jong-un and South Korean leader Moon Jae-in at the Demilitarized Zone between the two countries, Kim Jong-un told Moon Jae-in that North Korea would be willing to denuclearize in return for a commitment that the U.S. will not invade the country. During the meeting, which was broadcast live on the Korean Peninsula and around the world, the two leaders held hands and pledged to work for peace and replace the 1953 armistice with a formal peace treaty. The two countries have been involved a tense standoff on the Korean Peninsula that’s been in place since fighting in the Korean War ended 65 years ago.
The meeting was aimed at paving the way for Kim’s upcoming summit with President Trump. During the meeting, Kim signed a joint declaration affirming a “complete denuclearization” and “a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.” According to the South Korean government, the North Korean leader said he would invite experts and journalists from South Korea and the U.S. to witness the closing of the country’s only known underground nuclear test site. Kim announced an end to nuclear and long-range missile testing last week.
The Trump administration has been firm that complete denuclearization is required for the lifting of economic sanctions that have been placed on the country for years. U.S. officials spoke cautiously about the chances of reaching a deal and laid out a plan for the dismantling of the North’s nuclear program over a two-year period. National security adviser John R. Bolton said That would be accompanied by a “full, complete, total disclosure of everything related to their nuclear program with a full international verification.”
The two countries have recently taken other steps toward peace since the meeting with the South Korean military beginning to dismantle loudspeakers that have been blaring propaganda into the North since 2016. North Korea has announced it will shift its clocks forward 30 minutes to align with South Korea’s time zone. South Korean leader Moon Jae-in has also convinced North Korea’s Kim Jong-un to hold an upcoming summit with President Trump at the Demilitarized Zone, known as the DMZ.
Skeptics warn that North Korea previously made similar pledges of denuclearization on numerous occasions, with little or no intention of abiding by them. Kim’s could turn out to be nothing more than empty promises aimed at lifting sanctions on his isolated country. They say the closing of the nuclear site could be symbolic since the site may already be too unstable for further testing. They also question the honesty of Kim’s intentions siting the practicality of monitoring and inspections of supposedly closed sites.
The Denuclearization announcement came as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke for the first time about a “good conversation” he had with Mr. Kim during his secret visit to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, over Easter weekend. “We had an extensive conversation on the hardest issues that face our two countries. I had a clear mission statement from President Trump. When I left, Kim Jong-un understood the mission exactly as I described it today” Mr. Pompeo said. Pompeo added that the administration’s objective was “complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization” with North Korea, and that Mr. Kim was prepared to “lay out a map that would help us achieve” denuclearization.
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The federal government, along with state regulators have halted the demolition of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation until a safe plan can be developed after the discovery that dozens of demolition workers have inhaled or ingested radioactive particles in the past year. The Hanford site is a plutonium processing plant from the 1940s located Richland, Washington that took liquid plutonium and shaped it into hockey puck-sized disks for use in nuclear warheads. The plant helped create the nation’s nuclear arsenal and made key portions of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan that ended WWII.
Plutonium production ended in the 1980s and by 1989, the site switched its focus to cleanup of nuclear wastes. The contamination is a discouraging delay in a massive $2 billion a year cleanup effort that started in 2016. Hanford is the nation’s most polluted nuclear weapons production site. The Energy Department, which owns Hanford, has launched an independent investigation into the spread of radiation at the plant.
Hanford officials issued a report in late March that said a total of 42 Hanford workers inhaled or ingested radioactive particles from demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant when they were exposed during contamination events in June and December of last year. Radioactive contamination was also found outside plant offices and inside two dozen vehicles, the report said. Seven workers’ homes were checked for radioactive contamination, with none found, the report said. The report concluded Hanford officials placed too much reliance on air-monitoring systems that failed to pick up the spread of radioactive particles.
According to the report, managers of the private contractor performing the demolition work for the federal government were caught between maintaining safety and trying to make progress toward project deadlines. The risk escalated as walls of the plutonium plant were knocked down and the rubble was stored in piles. The report stated that fixatives sprayed on the rubble to keep radioactive particles from blowing away may not have been effective. This theory seems to be backed up by the the state Health Department’s findings of very small amounts of airborne radioactive contamination near Highway 240 in the past year that is believed to have come from the plant demolition 10 miles away.
The amount of radiation involved was reportedly low, lower than naturally occurring levels of radiation people are exposed to in everyday life. The amounts of radiation that have escaped are considered too small by state experts to pose a health risk. All the contamination was found on lands that are closed to the public. The project was not supposed to exposed workers to any contamination but in June radioactive particles escaped and traces were found inside 31 workers. In December, eleven more workers were found to be contaminated which prompted the government to shut down demolition.
The state Health Department said there is presently no threat to public health from the releases. “However, we are concerned if work resumes without better controls, a risk to the public may develop,” the agency said in a recent letter to Hanford managers.
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