Monday, May 31, 2021
Space Debris Has Hit And Damaged The International Space Station
The inevitable has occurred. A piece of space debris too small to be tracked has hit and damaged part of the International Space Station - namely, the Canadarm2 robotic arm.
The instrument is still operational, but the object punctured the thermal blanket and damaged the boom beneath. It's a sobering reminder that the low-Earth orbit's space junk problem is a ticking time bomb.
Obviously space agencies around the world are aware of the space debris problem. Over 23,000 pieces are being tracked in low-Earth orbit to help satellites and the ISS avoid collisions - but they're all about the size of a softball or larger.
Anything below that size is too small to track, but travelling at orbital velocities can still do some significant damage, including punching right through metal plates.
Read more: https://www.sciencealert.com/space-debris-has-damaged-the-international-space-station
Texas man arrested for allegedly planning mass shooting at Walmart: Police
A Texas man was arrested Friday after law enforcement intercepted a message indicating that he was planning to proceed with a mass shooting at a Walmart, police said.
"Coleman Thomas Blevins, age 28, of Kerrville, was arrested by the KCSO Special Operations Division in the 1000 block of Junction Highway on Friday, May 28th, on a warrant for a Terroristic Threat to Create Public Fear of Serious Bodily Injury. Supporting the arrest were the DPS-CID, FBI, Kerrville PD Patrol Division, and US Secret Service," the Kerr County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook statement Sunday night.
During the investigation, KCSO investigators spoke with Blevins and confirmed his affiliation and networking with extremist ideologies, the statement read.
Milwaukee police officer fatally shoots a man who was firing shots from a porch
A 49-year-old man who was firing shots from a porch of a residence Sunday night was shot and killed by a Milwaukee police officer after he refused to drop his gun, police said.
Officers responded to the residence in the 2700 block of South 29th Street on the city's south side just before 10:30 pm. after a caller reported someone was firing shots.
When officers arrived, they heard shots and saw a man with a gun on the front porch, according to a news release from the Police Department. The man then ran to the rear porch and fired several more shots, police said.
Police said he was ordered several times to drop his gun and when he didn't, he was shot by a 47-year-old Milwaukee police officer.
The officer has been with the department for more than six years and he has been placed on administrative leave, which is routine after officer-involved shootings.
No other officers discharged their weapons and no one else was injured, police said in the release. The man's firearm was recovered.
The Milwaukee Area Investigative Team is investigating the shooting. The Waukesha Police Department is the lead agency in the investigation.
Website hijacks Milwaukee address, draws nationwide complaints
MILWAUKEE - Consumers across the country are speaking out to Contact 6 about a website they say conned them out of their money. The website’s listed address is in Milwaukee.
Michigan beekeeper, Laura Van Hofwegen, thought she’d found a great deal on aihskc.com on her beekeeping supplies.
"It was about a 50 percent discount," said Van Hofwegen. "I checked out the website. It looked very professional."
However, the package that arrived in the mail from China nearly one month later didn’t contain her beekeeping supplies, but a small manicure kit.
"It just has these little nail scissors and two nail clippers," said Van Hofwegen. "It's not even something that's listed for sale on their website."
Read more: https://www.fox6now.com/news/website-hijacks-milwaukee-address-draws-nationwide-complaints
Ascension hospitals raising room and board prices in southeastern Wisconsin
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| Photo by: Rich Kirchen, Milwaukee Business Journal |
MILWAUKEE — Ascension Wisconsin is increasing list prices for room and board at its hospitals in southeastern Wisconsin.
Prices will go up by an average of 4.6% starting July 1, our partners at the Milwaukee Business Journal report.
Ascension expects the increase will lead to an average of 4 percent in additional patient revenue in the upcoming fiscal year.
The numbers, according to the BizJournal:
- Ascension said it will increase room and board charges by 4.67% at Ascension Franklin, Ascension Elmbrook and Ascension St. Joseph in Milwaukee. Total patient revenue will increase between 3.6% and 4%. The new daily list price at Elmbrook, Franklin and St. Joseph will be $1,657. That's compared to $1,583 the previous fiscal year.
- Room and board charges will increase 4.58% at Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s in Milwaukee and Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Ozaukee in Mequon. Total patient revenue at the Milwaukee campus will increase 3.87% and at Mequon 4.3%. The new daily list price at both Columbia St. Mary’s locations will be $1,462. That's compared to $1,398 during the fiscal year ending June 30, according to the BizJournal.
Sunday, May 30, 2021
Nashville's Hatwrks Under Fire for Selling Star of David Patches Reading 'Not Vaccinated'
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| Source: Tweet from Rachel Tiede of Deleted Instagram Post Screenshot |
A Nashville hat store known as Hatwrks has come under fire after Star of David patches were advertised on Instagram reading "Not Vaccinated."
It is hard to see how anyone would not make the connection. The patch sold at Hatwrks is even frayed at the edges similarly to the ones Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust.
Though the Instagram post has been deleted and the product does not look to be available anywhere on their website, the business is still receiving negative attention due to the original post and subsequent Instagram posts.
Saturday, May 29, 2021
Vietnam detects hybrid of Indian and UK COVID-19 variants
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| Medical workers in protective suits stand outside a quarantined building amid the coronavirus disease outbreak in Hanoi |
HANOI (Reuters) -Authorities in Vietnam have detected a new coronavirus variant that is a combination of the Indian and UK COVID-19 variants and spreads quickly by air, the health minister said on Saturday.
After successfully containing the virus for most of last year, Vietnam is grappling with a spike in infections since late April that accounts for more than half of the total 6,713 registered cases. So far, there have been 47 deaths.
"Vietnam has uncovered a new COVID-19 variant combining characteristics of the two existing variants first found in India and the UK," Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said in a statement.
Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/vietnam-detects-hybrid-indian-uk-050053810.html
US warns Wisconsin may lose $1.5 billion in pandemic aid under budget action
MADISON - Federal education officials are warning Wisconsin may lose more than a billion dollars in funding for schools unless the Legislature provides more state support in the two-year budget lawmakers are crafting this summer.
In a letter Friday, a U.S. Department of Education official told State Superintendent Carolyn Stanford Taylor that action taken Thursday by the Legislature's budget-writing committee puts at risk $1.5 billion in federal pandemic aid for schools.
The Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee dedicated $128 million in new funding for K-12 schools and set aside $350 million in a separate fund that GOP lawmakers said would be used for schools but was not yet appropriated as such.
Racine reopening public buildings beginning June 1
RACINE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The city of Racine announced Friday, May 28, it is reopening all city buildings to the public beginning Tuesday, June 1. However, there will still be safety precautions in place.
Everyone including guests and employees must wear masks when inside the buildings. Also, the public drinking fountains will be either disconnected or only used for filling water bottles.
“With a majority of City employees vaccinated and an increasing number of City residents getting vaccinated, we are confident we can re-open City buildings. Safety measures have been implemented to minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in each department,” said Dottie-Kay Bowersox, Public Health Administrator for the City of Racine.
More safety measures the public should expect to see when entering City buildings include:
- Community members who enter or engage in services within City buildings shall be responsive and compliant with City Departments’ risk-mitigation plans. Those plans may vary based on department or building. Failure to comply with those plans may result in community members being asked to leave.
- City employees will also be required to wear masks when inside City buildings, and City contractors and vendors are required to follow the same policies as City employees.
“I am happy to be able to open City buildings to the public once again after more than a year. Making sure a majority of our staff was fully vaccinated was key to re-opening our buildings. I hope that more and more community members will also get vaccinated so that we can lift the safety measure we have in place. I look forward to having a summer where our residents can enjoy our community centers, browse the Library, or come visit the Clerk’s office to get register to vote,” said Mayor Cory Mason.
From: https://www.cbs58.com/news/racine-reopening-public-buildings-beginning-june-1
Friday, May 28, 2021
Racine gas station shooting: Homicide charge against 2nd teen
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| Obie Glover |
RACINE, Wis. - A 17-year-old Racine boy has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, among other charges, stemming from a May 15 gas station shooting.
Obie Glover made his initial court appearance Thursday, May 27 after a warrant had been issued for his arrest. A judge set cash bond for Glover at $1 million.
Racine police responded to a shooting at the Marathon gas station on Rapids Drive on May 15. The shooting victim suffered multiple wounds and was pronounced dead. He was later identified as 20-year-old Deveon Robbins.
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| Shooting at gas station on Rapids Drive in Racine |
Officers learned there was surveillance video of the shooting incident. A criminal complaint states the video shows the shooter and Robbins "exchange some words" when the shooter "pulls a firearm from his left pocket with his left hand and aims and fires" at Robbins.
Investigators reviewed the video and based on prior contacts identified one of the people involved as Glover. Casings and a gun recovered from the scene were believed to have fallen out of Glover's pocket.
In addition to the homicide charge, Glover faces two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety.
A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for June 3.
The other individual identified in connection to the shooting, David Luckett Jr., has also been charged.
From: https://www.fox6now.com/news/racine-gas-station-shooting-obie-glover-charged
Thursday, May 27, 2021
Tennessee anti-vaxxer arrested after deliberately plowing car through vaccination site
On Wednesday, WSMV reported that a woman in eastern Tennessee was arrested after she drove recklessly through a drive-in COVID-19 vaccination site to protest the administration of the vaccine — nearly hitting several health workers in the process.
"Deputies arrested Virginia C. Brown, 36, of Greenback, TN, on Monday morning after she drove through a vaccination center set up at the Foothills Mall," reported Chuck Morris. "Deputies assigned to assist at the site saw a blue Chrysler SUV traveling at a high rate of speed through a closed cone course and through an enclosed tent with several Health Department and National Guard personnel working under the tent. The deputy observed the Chrysler SUV exit the tent and continue to drive recklessly through the cone course. A deputy was able to follow Brown after she drove through the site and arrest her. She was charged with seven counts of felony reckless endangerment."
According to the report, workers reported that she shouted something that sounded like "No vaccine!" as she blew past them, and after being apprehended, she denied driving recklessly.
"While sitting in the back of the deputy's car, she made several statements to deputies about wanting to protest the vaccine," said the report. "She said she was driving through the course and once she got to the tent, she told the personnel working she was not there for the vaccine. She told deputies she was only doing 5 miles per hour through the tent."
As of this week, half of U.S. adults have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19, although rates vary considerably from state to state. Historically, paranoia and conspiracy theories about vaccines have occurred across the aisle, although recent data suggests Republicans and Trump supporters are the largest anti-vaccine group.
From: https://www.rawstory.com/tennessee-anti-vaccine-violence/
Earth Is Barreling Toward 1.5 Degrees Celsius Of Warming, Scientists Warn
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| Santa Barbara County, Calif., Fire Department via AP |
The average temperature on Earth is now consistently 1 degree Celsius hotter than it was in the late 1800s, and that temperature will keep rising toward the critical 1.5-degree Celsius benchmark over the next five years, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization.
Scientists warn that humans must keep the average annual global temperature from lingering at or above 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid the most catastrophic and long-term effects of climate change. Those include massive flooding, severe drought and runaway ocean warming that fuels tropical storms and drives mass die-offs of marine species.
The new report from the WMO, an agency of the United Nations, finds that global temperatures are accelerating toward 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming. The authors of the new report predict there is a 44% chance that the average annual temperature on Earth will temporarily hit 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming at some point in the next five years. That likelihood has doubled since last year.
"We're seeing accelerating change in our climate," says Randall Cerveny, a climate scientist at Arizona State University and a World Meteorological Organization rapporteur who was not involved in the report.
Read and see more: https://www.npr.org/2021/05/26/1000465487/earth-is-barreling-toward-1-5-degrees-celsius-of-warming-scientists-warn
Amy Cooper sues ex-employer for racial discrimination after firing over Central Park incident
The "Central Park Karen" who went viral last summer for calling the police on a Black birdwatcher is suing her former employer for firing her over the incident — accusing the company of axing her without a thorough investigation and discriminating against her because of her race.
In the Manhattan federal suit, Amy Cooper accuses her former employer, Franklin Templeton, of perpetuating her image as a "privileged white female ‘Karen'" by making public statements that it had fired her after conducting an investigation into the incident.
She went viral in May 2020 after video showed her yelling at birder Christian Cooper and calling the police to claim an "African American man" was "threatening" her while she was walking her dog in Central Park.
Read more: https://www.foxnews.com/us/central-park-karen-amy-cooper-sues-ex-employer-for-racial-discrimination
Milwaukee Health Department faces questions on lifting health order as swath of city remains unvaccinated
Less than a week before Milwaukee's COVID-19 health order and mask ordinance are set to expire, members of the Common Council questioned the wisdom of the decision in light of lagging vaccination rates, especially among the city's Black residents.
"It, to me, just opens up the floodgates, particularly for the Black community here in Milwaukee," Ald. Milele Coggs said.
Mayor Tom Barrett and Health Commissioner Kirsten Johnson announced last week that the city's health order would expire on June 1 instead of June 15, as had been previously announced. The city's mask ordinance is only in effect as long as the city's health order is in place, meaning the mask mandate will also end that day.
The announcement followed a change in guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that said Americans who have been fully vaccinated may forgo masks and social distancing outside and in most indoor settings.
The shift at the city level caught members of the Common Council off guard, and on Wednesday they expressed frustration with what they said was a lack of communication from Barrett's administration before the announcement the order would be lifted.
But much of the conversation focused on the decision to lift the health order as vaccination rates in swaths of the city's north and northwest sides are well behind those of the city's overall rate of about 48.6% of residents having received a single dose.
In some census tracts, the percentage of residents who have received a first dose is in the 20s or 30s. The lowest, in the 53208 ZIP code, shows 20.7% of residents ages 16 and older have received a first dose.
Top Wisconsin Republican Robin Vos hires former cops to investigate November election
MADISON - Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is hiring retired police officers to investigate aspects of the November election, joining with Republicans from around the country who have questioned President Joe Biden’s victory.
Vos, of Rochester, said he recognizes Biden narrowly won Wisconsin and is not trying to change the results with his taxpayer-funded investigation.
He said he hopes the investigators can get to the bottom of issues Republicans have raised unsuccessfully in court, such as how the state’s largest cities used more than $6 million in grants from a private group to run their elections.
Vos in a Wednesday interview said he was giving the investigators a broad mandate to spend about three months reviewing all tips and following up on the most credible ones. In addition to the grant spending, he said they may look into claims of double voting and review how clerks fixed absentee ballot credentials.
“Is there a whole lot of smoke or is there actual fire? We just don’t know yet,” Vos said.
Ann Jacobs, a Democrat who leads the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said she was worried the investigation would undermine confidence in an election that was conducted properly.
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
3 arrested in Italy funicular crash; clamp deactivated brake
ROME -- Police arrested three people Wednesday in the cable car disaster that killed 14 people in northern Italy, saying workers placed a clamp on the emergency brake to deactivate it as a patchwork repair - one that prevented the brake from engaging when the lead cable snapped.
The revelations, obtained during an overnight police interrogation of the suspects, turned the horror of Sunday’s disaster into outrage, given the tragedy appeared to have been an entirely preventable.
Prosecutor Olimpia Bossi hypothesized that the operators of the sightseeing funicular, which had reopened after a wintertime COVID-19 closure, used the jerry-rigged clamp to avoid having to shut the attraction for the more extensive, “radical" repairs that were necessary.
Bossi said it still wasn't clear why the lead cable broke or whether it was related to the brake problem. But she said that the intentional deactivation of the brake, done several times over recent weeks for a persistent problem, prevented the brake from doing its job when the cable snapped.
Trump: ‘It was obvious to smart people’ COVID came from Wuhan lab
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| Guards surround the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China during a visit by members of the World Health Organization on February 3, 2021.AFP via Getty Images |
Former President Donald Trump claimed in an interview Tuesday that “it was obvious to smart people” that the coronavirus emerged from a lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
“I had no doubt about it,” Trump told Newsmax host and former adviser Steve Cortes. “I was criticized by the press because China has a lot of people taken care of. They took care of Hunter [Biden]. They took care of Joe. They took care of everybody, didn’t they? And people didn’t want to say China. Usually, they blame it on Russia. It’s always Russia, Russia, Russia, but I said right at the beginning it came out of Wuhan.”
Trump took a victory lap earlier Tuesday after Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to undertake a “transparent, science-based” investigation of the origins of the virus.
“Now everybody is agreeing that I was right when I very early on called Wuhan as the source of COVID-19, sometimes referred to as the China Virus,” the former president said in a statement. “To me it was obvious from the beginning but I was badly criticized, as usual. Now they are all saying ‘He was right.’ Thank you!”
Read more: https://nypost.com/2021/05/25/trump-it-was-obvious-to-smart-people-covid-came-from-wuhan-lab/
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