Spanish citizen Ignacio EcheverrÃa was last seen trying to fight off several attackers
in the act of stabbing a woman in Borough Market on Saturday. He died a hero, but his family only received confirmation five days later... read more
The Texas teacher who held a mock awards ceremony at a Channelview school
offended more than one student.
Blasting News recently reported the story of Lizeth Villanueva, a student in
an advanced academic program at Anthony Aguirre Junior High in Channelview,
Texas. Stacey Lockett, a teacher at the school, found it amusing to hold a fake
awards ceremony, handing out various certificates to students. In Lizeth’s
case, she was named “most likely to become a terrorist.” This was bad enough in
itself, but the fact it came a day after the Manchester Arena bombing made it
even worse. At that time, no news was available of any other awards handed out
at the mock ceremony, but now another story has come out.
Photo screen capture from KHOU video
It turns out Lockett gave Sydney Caesar – another seventh-grader – a similar
certificate deeming her “most likely to blend in with white people.” Fox News
reported that both Sydney and Lizeth were horrified by the awards they received
last week. According to Lizeth, the other teachers were laughing throughout the
ceremony.
Her mother commented saying, "everyone doesn't believe that this is real but yes this certificate shows that this is real..." @Fox26Houstonpic.twitter.com/6Oruoxek98
Sydney’s mother, Latonya Robinson told the news station that calling a child
a terrorist, or saying she is not black enough has now caused other students to
give the girls that same label for the rest of the school year. According to
Robinson, Sydney was so upset over the incident that she stayed away from class
the next day and didn’t want to talk about the incident.
As reported by Fox News, Robinson said people don’t believe the certificate
is real. But she says it is and it definitely happened. She added that there is
enough bullying by students these days, but now it is a teacher that is doing
the bullying. Lizeth also stayed away from school for a few days. As noted by the Huffington Post, Lockett was suspended by the Channelview
School District over the mock awards ceremony, but there is no news of any
further disciplinary action against the teacher. Lockett reportedly teaches a
college prep class, the Avid program. Lizeth and her mother believe the teacher
should be fired. Meanwhile the Channelview School District said in a statement that the mock
awards ceremony did not reflect the many good things happening in the district.
The statement said that officials do not condone the incident and are taking it
very seriously.
11-year-old Hodari was an 18-foot-tall Masai giraffe, living at Turtle Back
Zoo in West Orange. He died on Wednesday from complications during a dental procedure.
Hodari underwent surgery on Wednesday afternoon after exhibiting what Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo said was “strange behavior.” Vets had found
Hodari was finding it difficult to eat and decided to put the giraffe under
anesthesia and operate on his teeth.
Zoo veterinarian Dr. Jon Bergmann said they believed the surgery would give
Hodari a better quality of life and improve his general health. They hoped it
would allow the giraffe a chance to thrive at the Turtle Back Zoo. However,
Bergmann did say they knew there were risks when putting an animal of the
giraffe’s size under anesthesia, but said they also knew fixing his teeth would
be beneficial to the animal.
DiVincenzo said when Hodari went under anesthetic for his initial exam,
there were no negative effects. It was the second time the giraffe went under
that complications arose. Veterinarians will be performing a necropsy to
determine the exact cause of Hodari’s death and results are expected to take
around a month.
Hodari the Masai giraffe was born at San Diego Zoo and moved to Turtle Back
with three other giraffes in December 2015 to live in the zoo’s three-acre
Giraffe House.
According to a post by the zoo on Facebook, Hodari was a
beautiful animal who quickly became a fan favorite. They said they, and his fans,
will miss him terribly.
Thieves took advantage of the
Memorial Day weekend to steal 30,000 condoms and sex toys in two raids in
24-hours from an adult product warehouse.
What a way to spend the weekend. The Swedish adult product manufacturer LELO has released
surveillance footage showing thieves robbing their warehouse over the Memorial
Day holiday weekend. Within 24-hours the thieves raided the warehouse twice,
stealing 30,000 condoms and a variety of sex toys.
The culprits' first raid happened at approximately 7:45 pm on
May 26th. Two men were seen entering the warehouse via a back gate, then
helping themselves to two boxes containing more than 15,000 Lelo Hex condoms
each. According to LELO it is difficult to tie down a value for the stolen
condoms as they are individually wrapped. However, large packs of the condoms
are normally sold at around a dollar per individual item.
In a blog post, LELO said the dumbest thing about the theft
is that they are going to give away thousands of the condoms for free in a few
days’ time. The statement added that if the thieves had waited, they could have
asked just for the condoms like everyone else.
However, it turns out the thieves weren’t finished yet. The
next morning at approximately 10:30 a.m., the thieves drove a car through the
warehouse loading bay door (literally). On this occasion the culprits loaded themselves up
with a more expensive assortment of toys, including 48 kegel beads and 33
HUGO™ vibrating prostate massagers. The sex toys would normally retail for around $200 each, bringing the
total stolen over the weekend to approximately $40,000.
Speaking of the two separate raids of their warehouse, the
sex toy company joked: "Like all true romances, they weren’t satisfied
until they came twice." They also made a wish that the condom thieves, “got
into a time machine, went back 18-25 years (by the looks of it), and presented
them all to their own fathers.”
Their statement went on to ask the public if they have any
information relating to the theft, can identify the culprits from the
surveillance video or can lead the police to the stolen goods, they should get
in touch with the Las Vegas Police Department. LELO said on receipt of the
stolen items, the company will donate the full retail value of the products to
a charity of the finder’s choice.
LELO said in their statement about the theft, “But hey, with
33 HUGO™ vibrating prostate massagers, we suppose one thing is true: these
slippery crims can happily go f**k themselves.”
There’s definitely no arguing with the company’s sense of humor over
the whole issue, as their blog is titled, “You might Question our Security, but
You can’t Argue with Our Protection.” Nothing like plugging the business, if you'll forgive the pun.
You can watch the thieves at work in the video below.
Some good-hearted cops made sure a drunk man got home safely, then took a
selfie with him, using his phone, so he would remember how he got home.
According to Tasmania Police, they got a call from a taxi company, asking
them to help a man get home, who was “a bit worse for wear.” Reportedly Reece Park,
the man in question, was very drunk. The officers made sure he got home safely,
then took the now-viral selfie, so he would know exactly how he got there. In
the image the two officers can be seen in the foreground, with an intoxicated
Park giving the “thumbs up” in the background.
The next day Reece was scrolling through his phone when he discovered the
selfie and posted it to Facebook. He added the caption, “So was just looking
through my phone and turns out these good ****s took some banger selfies after
they took my drunk ass home,” adding the
words “Bloody legends.”After posting the image, it naturally went viral.
In the above Facebook post, Tasmanian police took the opportunity to use
that image to urge party-goers to in future “plan ahead.” "Pre-arrange a designated driver, use public transport or organise a taxi if you are intending to have a big night." Senior Sgt. Craig Fox of the Tasmania Police explained that on this
occasion, police had been called by the taxi company to help get a drunken man
home. When police arrived, they found out what his address was and took him
home. While they waited for a friend to arrive to look after Reece, they
decided to take the selfie.
Fox did stress that police do not normally drive
people home when they are suffering the effects of alcohol. However, he did say
police will always look for a place of safety for anyone suffering the effects
of too much to drink.
The private jet once owned by Elvis Presley and his father was sold on auction Saturday
after languishing on a runway in New Mexico.
Photo screengrab from Wochit News video
The 1962 red Lockheed JetStar was previously owned by Elvis and his father,
Vernon Presley, but has been sitting abandoned on a New Mexico runway for 30
years. It was auctioned on Saturday, bringing in $430,000 at the GWS Auctions
Inc. event in Agoura Hills, Calif. The auction reportedly featured celebrity
memorabilia. The name of the new owner of the plane was not disclosed.
According to GWS Auctions, the interior of the plane was designed by Elvis
himself and featured gold-toned woodwork, red shag carpeting and red velvet
seats. However Roy McKay, a previous owner of the jet, disputes the claim
that the rock ‘n roll star designed the interior. Billboard reports that McKay said he
designed it himself, saying when he bought the plane the interior was two-tone
gray, which he said looked like a casket.
Photo screengrab from Wochit News video
However, GWS Auctions spokesman Carl
Carter told the Associated Press that they are confident the interior was designed
by Elvis. According to Carter the records of the Federal Aviation
Administration show no changes had ever been made to the jet’s interior.
As reported by CBC News, while the interior is still in a
reasonable condition, the plane reportedly has no engine and the cockpit is in
need of major restoration. The exterior of the plane also needs some work.
Elvis was 42 when he died on August 16, 1977, in Memphis.
See more of the plane in the video included below.
