HOUSTON – The family of 19-year-old Ester Gonzalez, who also identifies as Isis Calderon, held a news conference Tuesday to announce that lawyers are working to hopefully dismiss three criminal charges against her.
One of her lawyers said they’re in discussions with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office about the three pending criminal charges against Gonzalez: resisting arrest, assault of a public servant and failure to identify.
Gonzalez’s lawyer said she did not have the mental capacity, nor the intention to commit these alleged crimes.
Footage of Gonzalez’s arrest at the hands of Harris County sheriff’s deputies went viral. Her family believes Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies used excessive force when arresting her on July 27 at a convenience store in the 12300 block of Eastex Freeway in east Harris County.
“It has taken us some time to gather true legal help for the Calderon family but we are happy to have put together such and exceptional team for the long road ahead,” FIEL executive director Cesar Espinosa said via a news release. “We look forward to working with the attorneys as well as the community to assure that Isis and her family get the justice they deserve.”
Watch KPRC 2′s report from early August below.
Family of woman claims excessive force against deputies
COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — The issue with mask mandates in schools continues.
Tuesday, the state’s highest court heard both sides for the first time.
At the center of the discussion is the question: Does the state’s budget proviso allow a ban on mask mandates or does it just prohibit state funds from being used to enforce it?
“It would be wrong for a school district or government to tell a parent that their child must wear a mask when the parents think that’s not good for the child and that’s not what they want their child to do,” said Gov. Henry McMaster on Tuesday.
The governor’s stance has been consistent, as has that of Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin.Earlier this summer, he announced a city wide mask mandate for 43 elementary and middle schools in the city.
Tuesday, an attorney defended this position in front of the South Carolina Supreme Court.
“Mask mandates have nothing to do with the appropriation. It is not in furtherance or connected with the raising or spending of money,” said Chris Kenney, an attorney representing the City of Columbia.
On the other side was the attorney general and an attorney representing the state. They argue that a mask mandate in schools goes against a budget proviso passed by state lawmakers this summer.
“The city’s ordinance would conflict with that proviso because it penalizes employees who fail to comply with the ordinance. Those employees are state funded,” said J. Emory Smith Jr., state deputy solicitor general.
The City of Columbia believes that using local funds to enforce the mask mandate does not go against the proviso.
In court, Chief Justice Donald Beatty asked Attorney Smith if the state law called for an outright ban on mask mandates, to which he answered ‘no.’ Another chief justice had an issue with this answer.
“Don’t tell him that this is not a blanket ban on mandates, because it is. You embrace that. Your position is that it is not possible for a school district to impose a mask mandate because of the proviso,” said Chief Justice John Cannon Few of the South Carolina Supreme Court. “The answer to the chief’s question is ‘yes’.”
A second trial continued in the afternoon. Attorneys representing Richland Two School District and an Orangeburg parent are against the state’s budget proviso.
According to state law, legislation must have one clear subject.Attorney Carl Solomon says this is not the case with the state’s budget proviso and also called it “unconstitutionally vague.”
“The threat is the Department of Education can take your state funds,” said Solomon, who represented Richland Two School District. “This disincentive is designed to control the actions of school boards on a policy basis and not to control spending.”
Despite hearing both cases, the South Carolina Supreme Court has yet to rule in either one.
Monday, the US Department of Education announced an investigation into South Carolina and four other Republican led states over their bans on mask mandates.
Defense Attorney John Pierce speaks during an extradition hearing for Kyle Rittenhouse in Lake County court Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, in Waukegan, Ill.
Nam Y. Huh | Pool | AP
Lawyer John Pierce — who is representing 17 criminal defendants in Capitol riot cases — has gone missing from court appearances amid conflicting excuses that include a claim he is hospitalized with Covid and is on a ventilator, a court filing says.
Federal prosecutors warned a judge in the filing that Pierce associate Ryan Marshall — who has been appearing in Pierce's absence over the past week — "is not a licensed attorney." Marshall also faces pending two separate felony criminal cases against him personally in Pennsylvania, the prosecutors said.
As a result, "Mr. Marshall cannot ethically or legally represent Mr. Pierce's clients," prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia told the judge in Monday's filing, which was made in the case of riot defendant James Burton McGrew.
"The United States thus finds itself in a position where this defendant and 16 other defendants charged in connection with the Capitol Riot appear to be effectively without counsel," prosecutors wrote Chief Judge Beryl Howell of Washington federal court.
Pierce's clients include members of the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups.
Monday's filing appears to give the benefit of the doubt to an initial claim by Marshall that Pierce, who is a Trump supporter himself, is, "Sadly ... ill with COVID-19, on a ventilator, and unresponsive."
"Unfortunately, it seems that Mr. Pierce may be hospitalized and unable to communicate, and it is unclear when Mr. Pierce will recover," prosecutors wrote.
"The government is making the Court aware of Mr. Pierce's reported illness so that it can take any steps it believes necessary to ensure the defendant's rights are adequately protected while Mr. Pierce remains hospitalized," the filing said.
Prosecutors also mention other reports that contradict that claim and give other explanations for the mysterious absence of Pierce, a name partner in the Los Angeles law firm Pierce Bainbridge.
"I have nothing to say," Marshall told CNBC on Tuesday.
When CNBC called the main office phone number of Pierce's firm on Tuesday, a recording said, "The number you called is not in service."
Pierce did not answer a phone number given for him on the court's docket. A message on that phone number said its voice mail had not been set up. Pierce did not immediately respond to an email query.
CNBC has left a message seeking comment with his firm on its online contact form.
Pierce previously represented Kyle Rittenhouse, an 18-year-old Illinois man charged with reckless homicide and other charges for fatally shooting two people and wounding a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last August during a civil disturbance sparked by the non-fatal police shooting of Black man named Jacob Blake.
Rittenhouse fired Pierce in February.
An article in The New Yorker in June detailed the events leading up to Pierce's termination, which included how the lawyer handled donations earmarked for Rittenhouse.
"Kyle was John's ticket out of debt," Rittenhouse's mother, Wendy Rittenhouse, told The New Yorker.
In their filing Monday, federal prosecutors wrote that they have "had no contact with Mr. Pierce — by phone, e-mail, or otherwise — since Monday, August 23, 2021," when he appeared in D.C. court for a hearing in the case of Capitol riot defendant Jeremiah Caplinger.
"Since that time, the U.S. Attorney's Office has heard conflicting information about Mr. Pierce's health and whereabouts," the filing.
On Aug. 24, Marshall appeared in court Pierce's place for another riot defendant, "and represented to the court that Mr. Pierce's absence was due to a conflict," the filing said.
"A few hours later, Mr. Marshall attended a reverse-proffer session with a different defendant represented by Mr. Pierce, telling the Assistant U.S. Attorney that he had just gotten word that Mr. Pierce had been in an accident and was on his way to the hospital," the filing said.
"Mr. Marshall then proceeded with the reverse-proffer session in Mr. Pierce's absence."
The next morning, Marshall appeared in Pierce's place for yet another riot defendant, "and represented to the court that Mr. Pierce was hospitalized with COVID-19, on a ventilator, and non-responsive," the filing said.
"After that information was reported publicly, a different individual reached out to an NPR correspondent and wrote that Mr. Pierce did not, in fact, have COVID, but instead 'was hospitalized on Monday due to symptoms that he believed might be related to Covid-19'; 'appears to have been suffering from dehydration and exhaustion'; and 'remains under the care of his doctors,' " the filing said.
Last Thursday, during a hearing for another defendant, Marshall told a judge that he had not had direct contact with Pierce, "but that one of Mr. Pierce's friends had told him that Mr. Pierce was sick with COVID-19 and another had said he was not," prosecutors wrote.
The filing noted that during the hearing, "Marshall requested, and was granted, a sealed bench conference at which to discuss Mr. Pierce's condition."
Prosecutors noted that Pierce routinely posted "multiple messages to Twitter on a daily basis" but has not done so since Aug. 20.
"And there are reports that "multiple phone numbers for Pierce's law firm, Pierce Bainbridge P.C., have been disconnected," the filing said.
Prosecutors said that Marshall seems to have taken actions for Capitol riot defendants "that he is not permitted to do," as he is not being currently licensed to practice law, "and thus cannot appear in this Court, represent Mr. Pierce's clients, or provide them with legal advice or services."
"From the government's perspective, given Mr. Pierce's reported illness and the fact that Mr. Marshall is not a licensed attorney, this case is effectively at a standstill," the filing said.
Prosecutors wrote that while '"Marshall has been the government's main or sole point of contact for many of the defendants represented by Mr. Pierce, the government does not believe it appropriate to continue to communicate with him in Mr. Pierce's absence, during which he would necessarily be acting without supervision by a licensed attorney."
Correction: An earlier version gave the wrong last name for Judge Beryl Howell.
Millions of households are behind on their rent and think they will be evicted in the next few months, wrote U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in an Aug. 30 letter to the legal community calling for volunteer services.
The American Bar Association supports his efforts, said ABA President Reginald M. Turner Jr. in a statement released Monday.
The communication follows the U.S. Supreme Court blocking a federal ban Aug. 27 on evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With volunteer actions, individual lawyers and law students can make an enormous difference in ensuring access to justice and minimizing the impact of evictions on individuals, families and communities, as well as landlords, during this critical time,” said Turner, a lawyer with Clark Hill in Detroit.
His statement follows a June announcement that the ABA is working with the White House on an initiative to protect renters and homeowners who remain affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic instability.
Citing a recent U.S. Census Bureau survey, Garland wrote that more than 6 million households reported being behind on their rent, and more than 3 million who were behind on rent believed they would be evicted in the next two months.
He asked lawyers and law students to help applicants access the federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program and assist local courts in implementing eviction diversion programs, as well as volunteer with legal aid providers. The letter includes a link to a National Center for State Courts website with a map of legal aid groups that handle eviction cases.
Good morning! Let’s start the day off with some good news. Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona have agreed terms to sign right back Emerson Royal, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Emerson Royal from Barcelona to Tottenham, done deal and here-we-go confirmed. €30m add ons included from Spurs, paperworks completed during the night. ⚪️ #THFC
Official announcement today after medicals. Contract until June 2026. Real Betis receive €5m from the deal. https://t.co/hfGKf1kfJJ
The agreement, as stated above, is for €30m plus add-ons, a pretty decent price for a 22-year old fullback, all things considered. Emerson is reportedly undergoing a medical at White Hart Lane but an announcement should be expected before too long.
This obviously creates a glut of fullbacks at the club, so hopefully Spurs can offload a couple of them before the window slams shut at 11 p.m. UK time today (that’s 6 pm in the USA).
New players are exciting! Emerson looks to have a high ceiling and enough potential to already challenge for a starting role in Tottenham’s first XI. Obviously it’s not confirmed yet so we wait for the official annoucnement from Spurs’ social media channels before starting the GIF party.
(Reuters) -Contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes declined for the second consecutive month in July in step with limited supply that’s been unable to keep up with demand from potential homebuyers.
FILE PHOTO: Residential single family homes construction by KB Home are shown under construction in the community of Valley Center, California, U.S. June 3, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo/File Photo
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Monday its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed last month, fell 1.8% after dropping a revised 2.0% in June. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast pending home sales would increase 0.4%.
Pending home contracts are seen as a forward-looking indicator of the health of the housing market because they become sales one to two months later.
“The market may be starting to cool slightly, but at the moment there is not enough supply to match the demand from would-be buyers,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement. “Inventory is slowly increasing and home shoppers should begin to see more options in the coming months.”
Home prices have surged nationwide in large part due to limited supply, with the median price for new single-family homes now topping $390,000 and for existing homes just under $360,000.
Compared with one year ago, pending home sales were down 8.5%.
“The highly competitive real estate market we saw in the first six months of 2021 squeezed available inventory to record-lows and pushed prices to new highs just as summer emerged, leaving many first-time buyers feeling frustrated,” said George Ratiu, manager of economic research for Realtor.com. “However, in a noticeable shift, homeowners responded to market trends and started listing homes in larger numbers.”
Only the West region posted a month-over-month gain in contract activity in July, while the Midwest, Northeast and the South all reported declines. All four regions saw transactions decrease on a year-over-year basis.
“Homes listed for sale are still garnering great interest, but the multiple, frenzied offers – sometimes double-digit bids on one property – have dissipated in most regions,” Yun said. “Even in a somewhat calmer market, a number of potential buyers are still choosing to waive appraisals and inspections.”
Existing home sales increased for the second consecutive month in July as inventories improved moderately.
New home sales also increased last month, but this followed three straight months of declines.
FILE PHOTO: Residential single family homes construction by KB Home are shown under construction in the community of Valley Center, California, U.S. June 3, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo/File Photo
(Reuters) - Contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes declined for the second consecutive month in July in step with limited supply that’s been unable to keep up with demand from potential homebuyers.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Monday its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed last month, fell 1.8% after dropping a revised 2.0% in June. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast pending home sales would increase 0.4%.
Pending home contracts are seen as a forward-looking indicator of the health of the housing market because they become sales one to two months later.
The stoppage shouldn't last more than a day, depending on what Ida does.
Logan Cyrus/Getty Images
Colonial Pipeline temporarily halted services this weekend as Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana, Reuters reported Sunday. The owner of the nation's largest petroleum pipeline told the news agency it expects to resume operations on Monday after it assesses damage from Ida, which is now classified as a tropical storm as it moves into the eastern part of the US.
The company did not immediately return a request for comment, though according to Reuters, deliveries from Houston to Greensboro stopped over the weekend. So far, it doesn't appear this measure should have any sort of ripple effect like the ransomware attack that took the pipeline offline earlier this year.
Fuel prices this year continue to remain high as Americans are eager to travel to make up for lost time amid 2020's lockdown measures. Combined with higher demand, a shortage of tanker drivers continues to hamper the industry. Drivers left the industry en masse amid the early days of the pandemic, and without them delivering fuel regularly, supply remains short.
Now playing:Watch this: America's energy crisis: How the Colonial Pipeline was...
(Reuters) – Contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes declined for the second consecutive month in July in step with limited supply that’s been unable to keep up with demand from potential homebuyers.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Monday its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed last month, fell 1.8% after dropping a revised 2.0% in June. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast pending home sales would increase 0.4%.
Pending home contracts are seen as a forward-looking indicator of the health of the housing market because they become sales one to two months later.
(Reporting by Evan Sully; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
FILE PHOTO: Residential single family homes construction by KB Home are shown under construction in the community of Valley Center, California, U.S. June 3, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo/File Photo
(Reuters) - Contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes declined for the second consecutive month in July in step with limited supply that’s been unable to keep up with demand from potential homebuyers.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Monday its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed last month, fell 1.8% after dropping a revised 2.0% in June. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast pending home sales would increase 0.4%.
Pending home contracts are seen as a forward-looking indicator of the health of the housing market because they become sales one to two months later.
SAINT-HYACINTHE, QUE. -- Federal Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole did not distance himself Sunday from comments made by a longtime member of his caucus who warned constituents the Liberals are preparing for a "climate lockdown."
But the party later said Cheryl Gallant has removed a video she posted in June that included a photo of Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau appearing to have some sort of noose around his neck.
"In light of events unfolding today, it's understandable how this photo can be misconstrued without context," party spokesman Cory Hann said in an email. "That's why Ms. Gallant has removed her video."
Gallant is running for re-election in the Ottawa Valley riding of Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke for the eighth time.
The events Hann referred to were angry crowds of anti-Trudeau agitators who have disrupted his campaign events in recent days, often hurling expletives and threatening violence. Their actions were deemed a threat too great to proceed with Trudeau's planned rally in Bolton, Ont., Friday and delayed his Sunday event in Cambridge, Ont., for more than hour as they surrounded his campaign buses shouting slurs and profanity.
At the Cambridge event, one person carried a sign with a manipulated picture of Trudeau about to be executed by hanging.
Hann said the photo Gallant used was one Trudeau had posed for himself, recreating a 1968 image of his father, prime minister Pierre Trudeau, who had pretended to hang himself with his own tie at a press club event.
The original photo clearly shows that Trudeau is holding the cord himself, and that it is a lanyard attached to a plastic ID badge. Gallant's version had cropped the image so it was not clear that Trudeau was holding the cord himself.
"How long do you think it will take before the Trudeau Liberals start calling for a climate lockdown?" Gallant asks in the video.
"Trudeau is counting on Liberal-minded Canadians not looking too closely at his agenda. If they did, they might realize Trudeau's a con man and climate change may be his biggest grift," she said.
Gallant also sent correspondence to her constituents before the election started, asking them if they were in favour of a "climate lockdown."
O'Toole was asked multiple times Sunday if he agreed with Gallant's statements or the anti-climate change sentiment behind them and did not once answer the question.
He has previously said his party is both focused on running a positive campaign and has a plan to tackle climate change. On Sunday he said Canadians are tired of lockdowns and reiterated his focus is on talking to residents about his party's plan to help the country's economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We're not running on things that were said five months ago, five years ago," he said.
Gallant did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The only response came from a tweet she sent Sunday evening.
"I'm proud to run on Canada's Recovery Plan, in its entirety," she wrote, referencing the name of the Conservative platform.
O'Toole has denounced the angry crowds that have dogged Trudeau, and told four Conservative volunteers who appeared in the crowd in Bolton Friday that they were no longer welcome in the campaign.
On Sunday, Trudeau pointed to the noisy crowd trying to intimidate and drown out his event as proof O'Toole needed to condemn Gallant's comments to show her supporters and protesters that they are wrong.
"We know they don't listen to me," he said. "Perhaps they will listen to Erin O'Toole if he tells them that climate change is real. If he tells them that vaccines are safe and secure and demonstrates with real leadership, how we're going to move forward as a country to be safer, to be better and more prosperous."
"That's the choice that Erin O'Toole needs to make right now around Cheryl Gallant and all of these conspiracy theories being peddled.
O'Toole's campaign stop in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., also saw the Tory leader propose a tax credit he said is meant to help small businesses bounce back from losses incurred during pandemic-related lockdowns.
The incentive dubbed the "Rebuild Main Street tax credit" would allow individuals who invest up to $100,000 in a small business to claim a 25 per cent tax break over the next two years. O'Toole also pledged to offer loans of up to $200,000 to small and medium-sized businesses.
O'Toole also spoke to a crowd of 180 masked Conservative supporters in Trois-Rivieres, Que., championing the party's plans to support the province where it hopes to pick up seats from the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois.
Climate change has long been a thorny issue for O'Toole and the party he leads.
In March, Conservatives rejected a motion to declare climate change as real during the party's convention, a result O'Toole said was a distraction.
He later released a climate platform that for the first time saw Conservatives include some form of carbon pricing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2021.
Erin O’Toole pledging business supports.
⁃25% tax credit on amounts of up to $100,000 that Canadians personally invest in a small business in the next two years.
Loans of up to $200,000 (interest-free) with “similar” qualification criteria as CEBA;
Up to 25% can be forgiven. https://t.co/vPQiy7vdMu
AUSTIN, Texas — Senate Bill 2, a bill that would prohibit students from playing on sports teams that don't align with the sex assigned to them at birth, had its first hearing during special session on Tuesday.
What You Need To Know
Senate Bill 2 was taken up again this week during the special session but remains pending in committee
The bill would prohibit student-athletes from participating with teams that don't align with the gender assigned to them at birth
Jordyn Pollack, a transgender man who played numerous sports in high school, says he was molded by athletics
Pollack believes that if the bill passes transgender athletes will be further isolated
An Austin transgender man says sports helped shape who he is today.
He played lacrosse, basketball, softball and other sports growing up and in high school.
“Those sports and being on those teams really helped mold me and gave me that dedication and drive and showed me character and teamwork which has made me the person I am today,” Jordyn Pollack, an Austin transgender man, said.
Pollack played on the girl’s team when he was in high school. He didn’t transition to a male until years later.
That’s why he’s now speaking out against Senate Bill 2, a bill that would require public school students to compete in interscholastic athletic competitions based on biological sex.
“It would’ve affected me in high school,” Pollack said.
He thinks if passed, the law would have major impacts on transgender students that he says could feel excluded from sports. Pollack has made multiple trips to the State Capitol, supporting families of transgender kids.
“She says she’s ready to leave Texas if this bill gets passed,” Pollack said, referring to the mother of a transgender girl he met at the State Capitol.
The multiple families he’s spoken to are worried about their kids' mental health. When he was that age, he was suicidal.
“As a kid, I would lay in bed some nights and wish I would wake up a boy for the day,” Pollack said.
It wasn’t until looking at Instagram as an adult he realized he could.
He says he couldn’t imagine transitioning as a kid, being told he couldn’t play on the boy’s team or being outcast for looking different than the rest of his team.
“I definitely think that if I looked like a man in high school and had to play on the girl's team I may not have played sports,” Pollack said.
Now he’s encouraging today’s transgender youth, regardless of what decisions are made at the State Capitol.
“I would tell them to not give up on themselves and they're still valid in who they are,” Pollack said.
The bill was left pending in the House Public Education Committee after a hours-long public hearing.
TIKI ISLAND — Erin Patricia Runge, age 88, passed away on Tuesday, August 24, 2021. Service arrangements are entrusted to Malloy & Son Funeral Home www.malloyfuneralsandcremations.com. 409.763.2475
SANTA FE — Donald Wayne Sweeney, age 64, passed away on Monday, August 23, 2021. Service arrangements are entrusted to Malloy & Son Funeral Home www.malloyfuneralsandcremations.com. 409.763.2475
LEAGUE CITY — Marjorie “Erin” Sikes, age 76, passed away on Thursday, August 26, 2021. Service arrangements are entrusted to Emken-Linton Funeral Home. www.emkenlinton.com
TEXAS CITY — Lillian Hill, age 94, passed away on Tuesday, August 24, 2021. Service arrangements are entrusted to Respect of Life Funeral Home. 281-742-0591
HAPPY VALLEY — One of Santa Cruz County’s smallest fire districts is set to resume administrative control for its agency at the end of next month, after nearly six years with Scotts Valley Fire Protection District at the helm.
Branciforte Fire Protection District, serving about 1,700 residents across nearly 9 square miles, is a hybrid volunteer agency, supplemented with three paid full-time fire captains and about 13 volunteers. For decades, district leaders have flirted with the idea of consolidating with neighboring fire organizations, officials say. Shortly after a Santa Cruz County Grand Jury issued a report critical of the agency’s precarious financial position, the Branciforte Fire board of directors authorized the district to hire Scotts Valley Fire to run the agency’s administrative functions — including staffing its fire chief role.
The Scotts Valley administrative contract, initially effective Oct. 1, 2015, was designed as a stop-gap solution at the time that ended up being extended over the years, officials say. This spring, Scotts Valley Fire District notified Branciforte Fire that it did not intend to renew the contract agreement, come Sept. 30, officials said during a Branciforte Fire Protection District board meeting Aug. 19.
“During the past year, our board has not been inactive. We have been researching our options since 2020,” said Board Chairman Pat O’Connell, Branciforte Fire’s most immediate past fire chief. “Our main goal was to prepare to return administrative services, administrative responsibilities, back to the Branciforte Fire Protection District. We are prepared to resume administrative services on Sept. 30. We are in a sound financial position.”
Volunteers and Branciforte firefighters lay down a “wetline” using a tanker engine to create a perimeter to prevent fire from escaping the area set to burn in July. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel file)
Preparing for a change
Santa Cruz County First District Supervisor Manu Koenig said constituents had reached out to him with concerns about the expiration of the Scotts Valley Fire Protection District contract with Branciforte Fire. Koenig said the issue prompted him to set aside time for a virtual town hall-style meeting focused on the issue, scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday.
“At the end of the day, what matters is the service level that’s provided to members of the Branciforte fire district,” Koenig said. “The most important thing is getting back to two firefighters staffed at the Branciforte fire station –that’s required by state law, and I know a goal of the Branciforte directors, as well.”
Scotts Valley Fire Chief Ron Whittle, who also serves as chief for Branciforte Fire, said discussions between the two districts about a future partnership stalled over staffing concerns from both sides. Scotts Valley Fire policies would require at least firefighters at the Branciforte fire station, located at 2711 Branciforte Drive, to maintain three firefighters on site, 24 hours a day, or to be shuttered and operated out of a Scotts Valley fire station. The Branciforte station generally has one guaranteed fire captain on staff daily, officials said. Whittle described efforts to improve the fire district’s financial outlook and efforts to remodel its fire station. The district’s financial reserves carried over from the previous year, when Scotts Valley stepped in during 2015, was around $62,000, Whittle said. The coming year’s budget, approved at the same meeting, is closer to $697,000, he said.
“I think we’ve done our due diligence to bring Branciforte from where they were to where they are now,” Whittle said.
A pending review of 13 fire service districts in the county by the Local Agency Formation Commission of Santa Cruz County recommends that the fire district come up with a detailed plan on how it plans to meet its statutory requirements with little to no administrative support, to hold community meetings on the topic of merging with Scotts Valley Fire or look at a larger merger of several fire protection districts. A draft copy of the report was provided to the Branciforte Fire board, though its recommendations proved untenable for Branciforte leaders.
Volunteer recruitment
More than 60 people attended the live-video board meeting, several eager to share stories of gratitude for the district and others raising concerns about the two districts parting ways. One speaker was Angie Lackey, who said her husband had been a firefighter with the district for the past 23 years. Lackey questioned the board on their plans to improve firefighter staffing numbers and on its reliance of neighboring fire districts in responding to 911 calls.
According to the LAFCO fire district report, Branciforte Fire had 159 calls in 2020, of which almost 40% were first responded by an outside agency.
“I would like to know what reassurance this board can give me that my husband will have the support that he can come home to me at night and that he will have the support from the volunteers, other than the recommendations you gave — which have been tried and have failed — that when he shows up on a call, he will not show up alone,” Lackey said.
O’Connell said the board had plans to make the district even better than it had been before, including increased volunteer firefighter recruitment at area high schools, community colleges and the fire academy. He also listed opportunities to seek staffing grants and consideration of reviving a duty chief and sleeper incentive programs. The board voted at the same meeting to make a job offer to a new part-time fire chief, who went unnamed, to take over when the Scotts Valley contract expired. The pending new chief, whose hiring remained conditional on ongoing negotiations and background test results, has an extensive work history with Cal Fire, O’Connell said.
“We only have a small number, just a few hires every year, is the problem. But we need to build up the numbers and anticipate that they’re going to be, some of them, hired by career departments,” O’Connell said. “Almost 30% of the city of Santa Cruz Fire Department firefighters started at the Branciforte fire. We need to embrace the concept that we will lose volunteers to career departments and celebrate their hiring and support them, and thereby it supports us.”
IF YOU GO
• What: 1st District Supervisor Manu Koenig town hall meeting.
This is Patent Pending. Supply-chain-related patent applications are published every day and this is where we'll talk about the ones that could have the biggest impact on the supply chain and the ones that challenge the norm. We want to give you an idea of where supply chains are heading and what the industry is thinking. Read the previous issue here.
Getting your stuff sorted
Amazon
After a customer order is picked at a fulfillment center, some companies will send it on to a sortation center. Amazon does this, and Target has announced plans to expand a similar model. The sortation center is where packages are divided up by delivery location for last-mile drivers. In a patent application published earlier this month, Amazon outlines its ideas for updating this process.
Amazon points out that the traditional way of organizing sortation centers does not allow for much flexibility. In this standard model, sortation zones within the facility correspond with geographic areas that are serviced by the sortation center. Changes in facility capacity or jurisdiction result in the need to "re-zone" the facility, which can lead to extended periods of downtime for the location.
The e-commerce company also points out that if one geography is ordering more packages, other parts of the sortation center are being underutilized.
What Amazon envisions is a "dynamically generated" sort zone assignment plan that can change daily or weekly. Here is how it would work:
The information on the packages arriving for the next sortation period will come from the fulfillment center.
A machine learning model is used to forecast additional orders that should be expected in different geographies.
A "package trace" is generated outlining the sequence in which packages would be delivered within a geography.
The trace is then divided into sortation zones using a function that attempts to minimize the number of zones.
The sort zone is determined by scanning a label on the package upon its arrival.
The package is taken to the sort zone either by a worker or an automated system.
When packages are in the sort zone, the delivery driver determines the routing.
Amazon also sees this as something that can be updated in real time to account for delivery delays or unexpected packages using the "sort zone assignment engine."
Read up:
Rerouting ... this way to our final stop
Walmart
The delivery route itself is another area that just about every company in the logistics business is trying to optimize. UPS has its ORION technology, and Amazon just gave away thousands of dollars in a route planning competition. Brick-and-mortar giant Walmart is also thinking about ways to improve route planning, according to a patent application published this month.
Walmart's idea would sound familiar to anyone who uses a modern GPS application on their phone: A route that updates in real-time based on changing conditions.
The initial route can be determined using a number of traditional route-planning algorithms. It will lay out the required stops to complete the delivery of all the items. But the system will monitor it in real time to ensure it's still the "preferred delivery route." And if changes need to be made to the initial route — because it ends up being longer or having more traffic — then the update will be sent to a computer that the driver uses for navigation.
But Walmart's idea is not to constantly reevaluate the entire delivery route. It's to reevaluate the next few stops in a predetermined range. And if the system determines there is a better way, the driver's route is updated.
According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, the Los Angeles Lakers could have interest in DeAndre Jordan if the Nets buy him out. The 33-year-old struggled in his most recent season in Brooklyn and he saw his minutes slowly decline. In fact, his minutes declined so much that he did not even touch the court during the postseason, which is still surprising.
Still, Jordan managed to put up 7.5 PPG along with 7.5 RPG in the 57 games he played. There’s no doubt that the one-time All-Star can find new life with the Lakers. In fact, he very well can be their missing piece.
Back during the Lakers’ 2020 championship run, their big men in the form of Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee feasted off of pick and rolls. With Anthony Davis providing floor spacing at power forward, Los Angeles found ways to win games solely through their size alone. They also have the luxury to go small too.
Keep in mind though, Jordan may not push for a buyout at all. If he stays on the Nets, he will make $9.8M. The Lakers are definitely not going to offer anything close to this so it will all come down to what the veteran wants at the end of day. Will he want to play meaningful minutes for a contender or accept his limited role for a contender.
Do you want to see the Lakers fill out the roster with Rajon Rondo if he's bought out? How about DeAndre Jordan? đ
No injuries were reported following a destructive vehicle fire on the Kansas Turnpike north of Emporia Thursday.
Miller, Burlingame and Harveyville fire crews were called to KTA southbound mile marker 152, roughly 5 miles north of Admire, after a semi caught fire shortly before 4:30 pm. The cause has yet to be determined, however, the fire is believed to have begun in the trailer destroying it as well as the load of pork ribs it was hauling.
While the trailer was a total loss, the tractor unit may be salvageable. The driver of the semi was not injured.
Traffic was fully stopped in the southbound lane at one point according to the KTA as fire crews worked to extinguish the flames but reopened shortly after.
8 pm Thursday: Details pending following destructive semi fire north of Emporia Thursday
A semi trailer was a total loss following a destructive vehicle fire on the Kansas Turnpike Thursday afternoon.
Miller, Burlingame and Harveyville fire crews were called to KTA southbound mile marker 152, roughly 5 miles north of Admire, after a semi caught fire for unknown reasons. Traffic was fully stopped in the southbound lane at one point according to the KTA as fire crews worked to extinguish the flames but reopened shortly afterward.
A judge on Thursday ordered accused child-killer Edwin Urbina held in prison pending trial, asserting it would be “highly inappropriate” to release him given the “disturbing” nature of the alleged crime and Urbina’s purported attempts to cover it up.
“It appears that a defenseless child was subjected to gross traumatic injury and died,” and Urbina and his girlfriend, mother of the 3-year-old boy, then tried to cover their tracks and mislead hospital staff and authorities, Superior Court Judge Thomas Critchley Jr. said during a half-hour virtual detention hearing.
Arguing for house arrest and electronic monitoring of Urbina, Public Defender Sharon Bittner Kean acknowledged the tragic death but contended “there is zero evidence that the cause of that death was a knowing and purposeful murder.”
Based partly on a statement from the boy’s 5-year-old sister, authorities say Urbina, 27, of Morristown, fatally beat the boy in the early hours of Aug. 13, 2021, at the Oyo Hotel in East Hanover, where they were living.
The children’s mother, 28-year-old Krystal Straw, was working a night shift at a QuickChek when the incident occurred, according to authorities. When Shaw came home, they say, she spent two hours packing Urbina’s belongings and drove him to a Morristown location before taking the children to Morristown Medical Center around 5 am.
At that point, the boy–believed to be named Liam, although identities refer to him as “XX”– was unresponsive. He was pronounced dead shortly afterwards. The Morris County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide, reporting multiple bruises as well as pre-existing injuries to the boy’s ribs and wrist.
Virtual detention hearing for Edwin Urbina, top left, accused of killing a 3-year. Top right: Morris Assistant Prosecutor Tara Wang; bottom row: Public Defender Sharon Bittner Kean, Superior Court Judge Thomas Critchley Jr., Aug. 26, 2021. Screenshot by Kevin Coughlin
At the hospital, Straw allegedly told her daughter not to say anything and, at Urbina’s direction, denied his presence at the hotel and deleted his contact information and text messages from her mobile phone.
Urbina surrendered to law enforcement in Morristown on Aug. 17. He is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree child endangerment, third-degree witness tampering, and fourth-degree evidence tampering.
Straw is charged with child endangerment, obstruction and tampering with evidence. She has pleaded not guilty. Both are being held in the Morris County Jail, where Urbina, wearing a mask, quietly watched Thursday’s proceeding via a video hookup.
‘DEPRAVED CRIME’
Kean, Urbina’s public defender, disputed the murder and endangerment charges. The prosecution has not provided an autopsy report, and the 5-year-old’s 40-minute statement to police is inconsistent, she said.
The sister emphatically told police she was asleep and did not witness what happened to her brother, according to Kean.
But the attorney said other parts of the little girl’s statement corroborated the mother’s story: Straw awakened to the sound of the boy’s labored breathing, found him covered in vomit, attempted chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and then slipped on a wet floor in the hotel bathroom.
Urbina’s voluntary surrender demonstrates he “fully intends to vigorously contest these charges,” Kean said.
Raised in Morristown, Urbina is unemployed land lacks resources to flee, Kean said, suggesting he could stay under house arrest with family on Clyde Potts Drive, “a few blocks from the courthouse,” pending trial.
Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Tara Wang argued vigorously against Urbina’s release.
Facing a potential life sentence, Urbina is a high risk to flee and is a threat to others, Wang said, citing his “history of violence and his utter disregard for the well being of others,” and his alleged efforts to “cover up his depraved crime.”
“I have difficulty putting into words the extent of the inhumanity displayed by this defendant,” Wang said.
Urbina’s record includes possession of a weapon as a juvenile in 2009, probation violations in 2013 and 2014, and convictions for robberies in Sussex and Morris counties in 2016 and 2017, Wang said.
Sentenced to three years in prison for each robbery, Urbina served those terms concurrently and was released last December.
The medical examiner’s final report still is pending, Wang said. Judge Critchley, a former prosecutor, said that’s not unusual; laboratory test results take time. He said he did not need that documentation to render Thursday’s ruling.
“I find there is substantial, perhaps, overwhelming evidence to support a finding of probable cause for all of the charges,” Critchley said.
ORLANDO, Fla. — For more than a year and a half, officials with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and Gov. Ron DeSantis have promised to fix the state’s crippled unemployment system. Despite those promises, the problems continue to persist.
What You Need To Know
Despite promises from officials, many Floridians say serious problems persist in the state's unemployment system
As those issues continue, a judge is expected to rule soon on a call to force the state to restore extended federal benefits
As the issues continue, a Tallahassee judge is expected to rule as early as Friday over calls to force the state to restore extended federal unemployment benefits.
Joel Greenfield of Winter Park said he’s waited a year now for DEO to approve his unemployment claim.
The independent financial auditor was first put out of work in August of 2020. While waiting for his initial claim he took a temporary 3-month job with the State of Florida.
“That paid $15 an hour, was 40 hours a week and I barely made it those three months,” Greenfield said.
Now with two claims pending, Greenfield said he has yet to see a single dime in the past year.
Waiting on some change - and help.
I can't even imagine how many Joel Greenfields there are out there.
As one man waits year+ for unemployment benefits, Governor blames system problems on fraud efforts.
Greenfield remains out of work, but not for a lack of trying, he said. He’s looked beyond financial auditing services, and into other management related fields.
The single dad of a 6-year-old said he has survived the last year by selling his most valuable possessions.
He’s now down to his final hope of DEO approving his claim so he can save the 400-square-foot apartment he rents — and ultimately the ability to keep visits with his son.
“I was embarrassed to tell my friends about it, I don’t like reaching out to the state of Florida to help me, but it’s exactly what the state of Florida's help is supposed to be,” Greenfield said. “People like me, looking for work, trying to find employment, we need the time that unemployment and DEO can provide. I’m out of time. Sept. 1, I’m out of work.”
A spokesman for Florida Department of Economic Opportunity told Spectrum News that the agency is reviewing Greenfield’s case.
Just asked Governor: where are promised unemployment system fixes?
I told him no one at call centers and stalled claims.
Governor didn’t address DEO staffing, saying few claims are stalled because of fraud prevention efforts. Then says there are lots of job openings. pic.twitter.com/7afomHrp2k
Spectrum News pressed Gov. Ron DeSantis Thursday about the ongoing troubles and asked about the complaints of people who say they can’t get through to call centers and have a backlog of stalled claims.
Not answering the staffing question, the governor said the fraud efforts are to blame for many of the issues.
“Here’s the issue, there have been attempts of fraud on our employment system, $10-$20 billion worth of attempts,” DeSantis said. “… That’s what’s happening, the system has to protect against that and so if there’s things flagged they have to go down and address it.”
In late July, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity officials announced a data breach, where hackers spent the better part of a month and a half inside the state’s system, compromising the personal information of nearly 50,000 people.
The agency is also dealing with a series of other related issues, including automatic locks of accounts and “pin glitches”.
The governor said there remains half a million job openings and there is no reason for anyone to be struggling to find work.
“Some of these jobs, you’re getting signing bonuses working at fast food or other stuff because the need is so tough,” DeSantis said. “Some of these restaurants are doing very, very well, but they have to close one or two days a week because they don’t have enough folks to work.”
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- One state lawmaker wants to add the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine to the list of required immunizations for all students attending school in New York.
Earlier this week, State Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) introduced a bill that would require all New York students to get vaccinated against the coronavirus in order to attend school, according to a NY1 report.
The bill, if passed, would take effect 30 days after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants full approval of the vaccine for children under the age of 12 and would require recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) immunization committee, the report states.
“We’re at 19 months into the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, and hospitalizations for children sick with COVID-19 are currently at a record high,” Hoylman said. “We must do everything we can to make sure there never is a pediatric ICU bed shortage in New York State, and that means requiring immunization against COVID-19 for school children once we know they are safe and effective.”
Currently, the coronavirus vaccine is only available to individuals over the age of 12.
There’s already a long list of vaccinations required for all New York students, including polio, mumps, measles, diphtheria, rubella, varicella, Haemophilus influenzae type b, pertussis, tetanus, pneumococcal disease, meningococcal disease and hepatitis b.
“New York law currently requires students to receive immunizations against 12 different illnesses. It’s a no-brainer to add COVID-19 to that list,” said Hoylman.
For faculty members, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced earlier this week that all school workers across the state will either need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to weekly testing.
“Our schools must be safe spaces for all children, and by mandating a first dose by Sept. 27, the first month of school, we are adding yet another layer of protection for our kids,” said NYC Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter.
CEDAR RAPIDS — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a Shellsburg man, indicted with 10 others for conspiracy to distribute heroin and fentanyl and other charges, will remain in jail pending his trial.
Cody Scott Deklotz, 31, formerly of Cedar Rapids, told law enforcement after his arrest in May that he was only a user of heroin and wasn’t selling it, but a drug enforcement agent testified during his detention hearing Wednesday that the quantities he bought were for redistributing, not for his personal use.
Kelly Meggers, special agent with Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, said Deklotz was buying more than 1 gram to 3-1/2 grams of heroin, which is more than someone would buy for personal use.
By the time Deklotz was arrested, during this investigation, he had bought about 90 grams of heroin from a co-defendant, Brian Jarrell Dennis, 31.
Brian Dennis
Meggers said Deklotz came to their attention last year when they were investigating another methamphetamine distribution case. One of the defendants, he said, was calling Deklotz to buy heroin.
In a search warrant obtained in March 2020 for Deklotz’s house in Cedar Rapids, officers found meth, marijuana, a coffee grinder, scales, packing materials and plastic bags with corners cut out, which are typically how small quantities of heroin are packaged and sold.
The coffee grinder was likely used for coffee that is used to “cut” heroin — extending the seller’s supply, she said.
Deklotz denied to agents that he was selling heroin. He said he was only a heroin user and he purchased from Dennis. He did say Dennis would come to his house to sell him heroin and then stay there to sell to others.
Meggers said later in the investigation they conducted controlled buys and set up wiretaps on Dennis.
From February through June of this year, before Dennis switched to a new phone number, they heard Deklotz and found text messages that indicated he was buying heroin from Dennis, Meggers said.
Investigators also made seizures of heroin and fentanyl connected to this investigation.
In April, another co-defendant, Ryan Rick Schlitter, was trying to contact Dennis because he wanted to sell heroin for him, Meggers said. Deklotz vouched for Schlitter and Dennis asked Deklotz to deal with Schlitter and Schlitter could sell heroin for Dennis.
In May, Cedar Rapids police stopped Deklotz and another person in a vehicle and officers found Deklotz’s backpack that contained 22 grams of meth, THC wax, plastic bags and a brown powdered substance. Deklotz said it was dirty sand, Meggers said, but tests showed it to be more than 2 grams of heroin and fentanyl.
After Deklotz was arrested last week, he again denied he sold heroin but said he bought it from Dennis and Demico Irvin, also indicted in the conspiracy, Meggers said. Deklotz bought at least 100 times from Irvin.
Deklotz insisted he was only using heroin and explained he sold his house for $60,000 to pay for his use of the drug. He said most of the sale money went for heroin but he still had about $20,000. Meggers said they had no evidence if Deklotz sold his house.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Roberts, during a detention hearing, said there was strong evidence to indicate Deklotz was buying large quantities of drugs for redistribution and also allowing Dennis to sell drugs to others from DeKlotz’s Cedar Rapids home.
Roberts said Deklotz has a lengthy criminal history and a number of failures to appear and of committing new offenses while on probation or pending trial. He concluded Deklotz posed a risk of failing to appear in court and was a danger to the community.
Deklotz and 10 others were indicited last week. They all have been charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of heroin and fentanyl, aiding and abetting or intent to distribute charges.
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