September 30, 2016

Man Found Guilty Of Murder, Rape In Brutal Attack On Teen Lesbian Couple

SINTON -- More than four years after a horrific attack on a teenage lesbian couple in South Texas, a jury on Wednesday found 30-year-old David Malcom Stickland guilty of capital murder and aggravated sexual assault in connection with the crime.

The attack on Mollie Olgin, 19, and Kristene Chapa, then 18, which many suspected to be an anti-gay hate crime, made national news and led to LGBT vigils around the country.

Following an eight-day trial, Stickland was convicted Wednesday of sexually assaulting Olgin and Chapa, before shooting them in the head execution style, at a park in Portland, Texas, in June 2012. Bird-watchers discovered the young women stacked on top of each other the next morning. Olgin died from her injuries, but Chapa somehow survived and has undergone a painstaking recovery that allowed her to begin college last year. Chapa, now 22, took the stand Friday to testify against Strickland, who will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Strickland, who lived near the park at the time, went to a vigil for Olgin a few days after the attack, asking mourners for details about the investigation and searching the grass in the area where the couple had been found. However, Strickland wasn't arrested until 2014 after his girlfriend delivered a letter to Chapa's father that included details of the crime that hadn't previously been made public. The letter was written from the perspective of a hitman who claimed he'd been hired by Strickland's former roommate to kill the lone survivor, Chapa. However, authorities concluded the letter was written by Strickland, who later confessed to the crime before recanting.

Read more: http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/johnwright/breaking_man_found_guilty_of_murder_rape_in_brutal_attack_on_teen_lesbian_couple

September 30, 2016

New Hampshire hotel is home to supersized cat

AP Photo/Jim Cole

WATERVILLE VALLEY, N.H. (AP) -- Guests at a hotel in New Hampshire can be forgiven for thinking a raccoon is lounging out front.

The huge ball of fur on the sidewalk of the Best Western Silver Fox Inn at the Waterville Valley Resort is actually a fat cat. A really fat cat.

The 8-year-old tabby is named Logan and weighs 31 pounds - nearly three times the size of a normal cat. Often found wandering through the hotel or stretched out on the sidewalk, Logan has become a huge hit with visitors and is an internet sensation. Guests have posted photos of Logan sitting in a chair, and a Facebook video that's been viewed 29 million times, shows it waddling through the parking lot.

Susan and Tor Brunvand adopted Logan from a Meridith, New Hampshire, shelter six years ago. Logan arrived as a normal sized cat but soon was gobbling up food from the bowls of the couple's two other cats and finding a way to sneak into the stash of food. Logan slowly put on weight.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HOTEL_CAT_WEIGHT_STRUGGLE_NHOL-?SITE=MOCAP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

September 30, 2016

Missouri State quarterback ticketed for animal cruelty, dog at large

Missouri State quarterback Breck Ruddick was ticketed Monday by Springfield Animal Control for animal cruelty and allowing a dog to run at large, both municipal ordinance violations.

The incident report states that an officer was dispatched Sept. 20 about a complaint that Ruddick, babysitting the dog of friend Kaitlyn Riggs, hit and broke the dog’s jaw, cracking at least six teeth in the process and requiring surgery the next day.

The report alleges that Ruddick admitted to hitting the dog, a 42-pound Australian shepherd named Luca, both in front of a witness and in a text message to Riggs, and his parents agreed to pay the bills for the dog’s care.

Springfield Animal Control is keeping the investigation open and active, and there is the possibility further charges could be filed.

Read more: http://www.news-leader.com/story/sports/college/msu/2016/09/26/missouri-state-quarterback-ticketed-animal-cruelty-dog-large/91139974/

September 30, 2016

Teacher apologizes for Missouri high school students 'lighthearted' video on slavery

A video made by a group of white social studies students about slavery is drawing criticism for its attempts to make the topic lighthearted.

The students in Mid-Buchanan R-V School District teacher Colby Gibson’s social studies class created a video illustrating the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which was a measure to provide the return of escaped slaves who had fled to the north.

The video depicted the plight of the runaway slaves with musical snippets from the "Mission Impossible" television theme music, "Song of the South" and parts of a tune about picking cotton. It also included a scene that showed one student whipping a runaway "slave."

The school is in Faucett, Mo., in northwest Missouri. Mid-Buchanan has a dozen African-American students in seventh through 12th grades.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/teacher-apologizes-for-missouri-high-school-students-lighthearted-video-on/article_162e30d0-1b32-5448-bbea-838da4e53203.html

September 30, 2016

Fraternity suspended after racial slur incident at Mizzou

Racial tensions flared once again on the University of Missouri’s Columbia campus Wednesday, nearly a year after protests put the school in the national spotlight and toppled top administrators.

The latest trouble began, according to MU’s Legion of Black Collegians student organization, when a group of white students hurled racial slurs at two black students as they crossed paths in front of a fraternity house late Tuesday. That incident drew a crowd, police and allegedly more racial slurs shouted from the windows of the fraternity house.

The fraternity, Delta Upsilon, was placed on emergency suspension Wednesday by its international governing body as fraternity and university officials sought to learn exactly what happened.

“Quite frankly, we are sick of this,” the Legion of Black Collegians said in a statement. “Any student that selects to intentionally use hate speech on a campus that pushes the morals of ‘inclusivity’ and ‘diversity’ does not belong, and their presence continues to foster the apparent dichotomy amongst black and white students. ... Enough is enough.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article104673026.html

September 30, 2016

Jackson County pension change would allow double-dipping

Top Jackson County officials have been working behind the scenes since February, The Star has learned, to rewrite the county’s pension plan to benefit a single county legislator.

Garry Baker, a retired county employee, got a rude surprise shortly after he was picked in January to fill an unexpired term for the 1st District at-large seat after Jackson County Executive Frank White was named to his current job.

Baker’s monthly pension checks stopped when he started collecting his $35,000 annual salary as one of nine county legislators.

Like many public pension systems, Jackson County’s plan forbids county employees from collecting a county pension and a county paycheck at the same time.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article104441171.html

September 30, 2016

Some University of Missouri students want campus hate speech punished

The response by University of Missouri leaders to racial tension that flared up on campus this week was swift and public, but not enough, some students say.

“I was very impressed with how quick the university administration identified the students, how quick they were to acknowledge publicly that a racist act had occurred and to say it wasn’t going to be tolerated,” said Sean Earl, student body president on the Columbia campus.

“The highlight of this new administration is they have been very active, actively listening and providing insight,” Earl said. But, he added, students want more — they want people held accountable for racist behavior.

“There is no disciplinary action attached to racist speech, hate speech; instead it just falls under harassment,” Earl said. “If this university is going to say that discrimination and racist speech is not going to be tolerated, then there needs to be consequence attached to that.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article105048746.html

September 30, 2016

Kansas City streetcars are so crowded that system needs more vehicles

As Kansas City’s downtown streetcar system approaches its one millionth ride, the cars are so crowded that the Streetcar Authority wants to buy two more vehicles and possibly expand the route north to Berkley Riverfront Park.

The authority voted Thursday to develop a financing plan to add two more streetcars to the four-vehicle fleet. Because each car is custom-made and the procurement process takes so long, they likely won’t arrive until 2019.

“It’s a good problem to have,” Streetcar Authority member Russ Johnson said Thursday, noting that the downtown streetcar starter route, from the River Market to Union Station, had been expected to average about 2,700 rides per day.

Instead, since it opened May 6, it has averaged about 6,600 rides per day — with Saturday ridership often exceeding 10,000 rides.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/kc-streetcar/article104987366.html

September 30, 2016

Lawmakers raise concerns with ISU plane purchase

Of the foundations supporting Iowa's three public universities, only the Iowa State University Foundation reports purchasing a piece of equipment for more than $1 million and gifting that equipment to its university during the past five years.

The Des Moines Register asked the foundations for a list of such purchases after officials confirmed last week that the ISU Foundation bought a $2.4 million aircraft — a double-engine Beechcraft King Air — in 2014 and gifted it to ISU. That same year, the university spent $470,000, after trading in an older aircraft, to purchase a single-engine Cirrus SR22.

Officials with the Iowa Board of Regents said that because the $2.4 million plane was bought by the foundation, the purchase was not subject to a policy that requires universities to seek board approval for equipment purchases of more than $1 million.

"The Board of Regents does not approve any purchase made by foundations, and gifts of equipment from foundations do not require board approval," Josh Lehman, a spokesman for the board, said via email Thursday.

Read more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/education/2016/09/29/lawmakers-raise-concerns-isu-plane-purchase/91182744/

September 30, 2016

Full speech: Hillary Clinton rally in Des Moines (Video)

Video at link:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/videos/news/politics/2016/09/29/91290310/