January 6, 2022

so many lampposts have been stolen from historic bridge that LA is taking the remaining down

Broken glass and sawed off bolts mark the spot of a missing lamppost.






For nearly a century, dozens of silent sentinels have stood guard along the road between Atwater Village and Silver Lake.

Clad in the green patina of weathered bronze, the lampposts lining the historic Glendale-Hyperion Viaduct warded off the darkness that would otherwise engulf the spans.

But in recent months, several of the lampposts have been stolen, reportedly sawed down and hauled away by unidentified thieves, some as recently as this week.

According to the Los Angeles Department of Public Works, 22 of the historic streetlights are missing. City crews have taken down an additional 18 lights and stored them.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-01-05/historic-streetlights-stolen-from-glendale-hyperion-bridge



"The stolen street lights on the bridge are bronze, and were installed in 1926," said Stern. "The Bureau of Street Lighting has no replacement lights readily available, given the age and the solid bronze make of the lamp post."

She added that the department is working on various temporary measures "to protect the lights and ensure public safety."

Last September, police said they would be notifying local salvage yards of the stolen fixtures in case thieves were trying to sell the lights. But there's no word if anyone has been caught or any lampposts have been recovered.

Replacing the lights will have to wait until an upcoming seismic upgrade of the bridge, which will include restoration as well as replication of original historic features, according to city officials.

Thieves have been stealing the fluted lampposts off the bridge for several years now.

https://www.theeastsiderla.com/news/crime/city-removes-historic-lampposts-off-glendale-hyperion-bridge-following-thefts/article_0a86688c-6cf7-11ec-8459-b75ea8b11790.html

January 6, 2022

Judge halts mega-resort in California wildfire zone, says residents could die trying to flee

Development of a $1 billion resort and housing project in one of the state’s most wildfire-prone communities has been placed on hold after a judge ruled developers didn’t adequately plan for what might happen when a wildfire erupts and thousands of people have to run for their lives.

The Lake County judge’s ruling on the Guenoc Valley Resort could have sweeping ramifications for housing and business developments across a state where fires are growing in severity and local officials are under intense pressure to approve new building projects during a housing crisis.

The ruling, under California’s powerful environmental law, also represents a major victory for environmentalists opposed to new housing and business projects in areas with extreme wildfire risks.

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On Tuesday, Lake County Judge J. David Markham agreed with environmentalists and the state that Lake County planners signed off on the development’s environmental documents without accounting for what would happen when a fast-moving fire erupts and the resort’s workers and guests all try to leave the area at the same time.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article257093052.html#storylink=cpy

January 6, 2022

'Who Steals From a Deaf Kid?' Allegedly, Alex Murdaugh

We're learning more details about the alleged financial fraud of Alex Murdaugh, including claims that the South Carolina lawyer stole from a deaf quadriplegic he represented following a car accident, and a former highway patrolman he represented following an injury in the line of duty. Murdaugh, already accused of defrauding the sons of his late housekeeper out of nearly $3 million, will soon face eight more lawsuits from ex-clients who claim he stole between $90,000 and $750,000 from their pockets, Fox News reports. "It is really infuriating, to be honest," Justin Bamberg, a Democratic state representative and attorney representing the former clients, tells the outlet. "Who steals from a deaf kid?"

According to Bamberg, the family of a young deaf man rendered a quadriplegic in a 2011 car accident was entitled to a $309,000 payout after he died but received none of it. The man's mother, also involved in the crash, was defrauded out of $89,000, while a passenger never saw the $375,000 she was entitled to, Bamberg says.

He adds another client of Murdaugh only learned from law enforcement about a $750,000 payment he was to have received. Prosecutors say Murdaugh—facing more than 50 charges, some relating to his botched suicide attempt—used a fraudulent bank account while defrauding a highway patrolman out of $125,000 and defrauding three other clients in separate personal-injury lawsuits out of $338,000, $90,000, and $70,000.

Indictments indicate another client in an "accidental reconstruction" suit was defrauded out of $100,000, while another $112,500 was misappropriated following a wrongful death settlement, Fox reports. Additionally, a longtime friend of the Murdaugh family was allegedly defrauded out of $85,000 from medical insurance liens.


https://www.newser.com/story/315343/who-steals-from-a-deaf-kid-allegedly-alex-murdaugh.html?

January 6, 2022

TN republican lawmaker tried to pull referee's pants off at son's basketball game

and spells "loses" and "looses"..

One of Tennessee's most powerful Republican lawmakers has apologized for his "completely stupid" behavior at his son's high school basketball game earlier this week—which included trying to pull down a referee's pants. The attempted pantsing of ref Paul Pendleton happened near the end of the third quarter, when both teams received a foul for unsportsmanlike conduct, the Tennessean reports. According to a report Pendleton filed with the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, Rep. Jeremy Faison was ordered to leave the gym at Johnson City's Providence Academy after he came down from the stands and yelled at game officials.

The report states that Faison, whose son was on the visiting Lakeway Christian Academy team, told Pendleton, "You can't tell me to leave the floor, this was your fault," before trying to pull his pants "down and off." According to the TSSAA report, game officials decided against calling police and Faison left "without further incident." Faison, caucus chair in Tennessee's House of Representatives, later tweeted that he had "acted the fool" and was "hoping to be able to make it right," the Guardian reports.

"For years I thought how wrong it is when a parent looses [sic] their temper at a sporting event," Faison wrote. "It's not Christian and it's not mature and it's embarrassing to the child have always been my thoughts." He added: "I hope to be able to find the ref and ask for his forgiveness. I was bad wrong."

https://www.newser.com/story/315348/lawmaker-tries-to-pants-referee-at-sons-game.html?

January 6, 2022

founder of anti-vax "Free People" party dies of COVID. Greece

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — An unvaccinated Greek commentator and publisher died of respiratory failure and resulting complications from COVID-19 on Tuesday, focusing public attention on the large number of older people in Greece who still haven't received their shots as the country struggles with a spike in infections and deaths.

Giorgos Trangas, 71, died at a state hospital in Athens after being admitted on Dec. 4 with severe breathing difficulties. He was unvaccinated, and had recently formed a small political party, “Free People,” that was critical of vaccine mandates and lockdown measures.

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Trangas’ doctor, Christos Zoupas, said he had pleaded with him to get vaccinated.

“I think he thought that he would just tough it out, the way he had with so many other things in his life, as if it's like getting the flu,” Zoupas told state-run ERT television. “I tried to persuade him to get vaccinated up until the last moment.”

https://news.yahoo.com/greek-commentator-death-puts-spotlight-124423590.html

January 6, 2022

Unvaxxed teen in LA tests positive for a co-infection of COVID-19 & the flu now dubbed 'flurona'

Unvaccinated teen in Los Angeles tests positive for a co-infection of COVID-19 and the flu now being dubbed 'flurona'

Unvaxxed teen in LA tests positive for a co-infection of COVID-19 & the flu now being dubbed 'flurona'

Los Angeles teenager who was unvaccinated against the flu and COVID-19 has tested positive for a dual infection of both illnesses, dubbed "flurona," according to the Los Angeles Times.

The co-infection was detected in a teenager who was returning from a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with his family, per the 911 COVID Testing center in Brentwood.

The teenager reportedly had a runny nose after the trip and tested at the 911 COVID Testing center. Steve Farzam, the chief operating officer of the testing center said it was the first case of a co-infection that the testing center was aware of.

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The LA County Department of Public Health told the LA Times in a statement that co-infections were "exceedingly common" with the flu.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/unvaccinated-teen-in-los-angeles-tests-positive-for-a-co-infection-of-covid-19-and-the-flu-now-being-dubbed-flurona/ar-AASttNJ

January 5, 2022

Rabbi who was shot in Poway synagogue attack is sentenced to prison for fraud

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-01-05/former-chabad-of-poway-rabbi-yisroel-goldstein-sentenced-to-prison

AN DIEGO — The founding rabbi of a Poway synagogue who rose to national prominence after being wounded in an antisemitic shooting, and was then exposed as the perpetrator of multimillion-dollar fraud schemes, was sentenced Tuesday to 14 months in prison.

In a rare agreement under even rarer circumstances, both prosecutors and defense attorneys had recommended home confinement rather than time behind bars for Yisroel Goldstein. They cited his leadership in the weeks following the 2019 attack on Chabad of Poway, the immense physical and emotional trauma the former rabbi continues to battle, and his cooperation in the FBI’s fraud investigation.

But the judge rejected that punishment as not appropriate given the severity of the crimes.

“You not only committed this offense yourself but you took a lot of people with you,” U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant told Goldstein, 60.

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The most prevalent of the schemes is known as the “90/10" fraud. Donors regularly made large charitable contributions to Chabad of Poway or one of its affiliated nonprofits, to be written off their taxes. But instead of the money going to the organizations, Goldstein secretly funneled 90% of it back to the donor, keeping 10% for himself. One donor got his donation returned in the form of $1 million in gold, prosecutors said.

January 5, 2022

"I fell asleep and woke up at the same spot" Passenger's description of Virginia traffic jam

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/i-fell-asleep-and-woke-up-in-the-same-spot/vi-AASqWWV

January 5, 2022

childless Pope: Having Pets Instead of Kids Is 'Selfish', a 'denial of fatherhood and motherhood'

https://www.newser.com/story/315304/pope-having-pets-instead-of-kids-is-selfish.html


Francis calls it a 'denial of fatherhood and motherhood'

Pope Francis isn't happy with people who forego having children and opt for pets instead. While discussing parenthood at the Vatican, Francis called the idea of being childless "a form of selfishness," per AFP. "We see that some people do not want to have a child,” said the pontiff. “Sometimes they have one and that’s it, but they have dogs and cats that take the place of children. This may make people laugh but it is a reality.” And in his view, it's a damaging reality because it amounts to "a denial of fatherhood and motherhood and diminishes us, takes away our humanity."

It's not the first time Francis has spoken out on the issue, declaring in 2014 that the idea of couples having a dog or cat instead of a child is “another phenomenon of cultural degradation." For those who cannot have biological children, Francis encouraged adoption and used the example of Joseph, presented in the Bible as the "foster-father" of Jesus, per Vatican News. “Having a child is always a risk, whether naturally or by adoption," he said. "But it is more risky not to have them, to negate fatherhood or motherhood, be it real or spiritual.”

January 5, 2022

it took 7 police officers 15 minutes to restrain pandemic-denier

Staff are attacked at Tustin vaccination site by man claiming pandemic is a hoax; suspect arrested

Jahanbani said he was punched several times before his colleague stepped between him and the assailant. The attacker knocked that coworker onto the ground and then rained punches down on him, all while calling clinic staff “murderers” and accusing them of causing the pandemic, Jahanbani said.

“You could just see the rage in his face at this point,” Jahanbani said.


Two patients who were waiting for booster shots had to help Jahanbani and the security guard in order to free the man pinned beneath the attacker. It took all five of them to hold the man down while police were summoned.

He was eventually handcuffed to a stretcher and arrested. The man was yelling and kicking, even as he was shocked with a stun gun, Jahanbani said.

“He was shouting ‘you’re a part of this too!’ at the officers,” Jahanbani said.

https://www.ocregister.com/2022/01/03/staff-are-attacked-at-tustin-vaccination-site-by-man-claiming-pandemic-is-a-hoax-suspect-arrested/

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After a security guard asked the man to wear a mask, he became increasingly angry — claiming medical workers were complicit in a COVID-19 hoax and that "he was 'not a sheep'" — said Jahanbani, the mobile operations manager for Families Together of Orange County, where the clinic was operating in the parking lot Dec. 30.


As Jahanbani, 37, and a medical assistant approached, the man — identified by police as Thomas Apollo, 43 — launched at them, landing a blow to Jahanbani's face, he said Tuesday. The medical assistant, who declined to be identified, tried to pull Apollo back and took "a few pretty strong punches" to his head, chest and back, Jahanbani said.

The assistant ended up pinned under Apollo as he delivered punch after punch, Jahanbani said. He said it took five people — including another healthcare worker and two patients — to pry the man off. About 10 to 20 patients were at the clinic, which has seen a recent surge in demand for vaccines and tests as the Omicron variant continues to drive a rapid increase in cases, said Cassie Rossel, a spokesperson for the community healthcare center.

It took seven police officers roughly 15 minutes to restrain Apollo, who was "irate and shouting profanities," Jahanbani said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/man-attacks-workers-at-orange-county-covid-19-vaccine-clinic-calling-them-murderers/ar-AASrugT?ocid=msedgntp