February 22, 2023

South Carolina weighs 'Yankee tax' on newcomer driving fees

Additional fees may be coming for incoming South Carolina residents who want to legally drive on their new home state’s roads.

Droves of newcomers have made South Carolina one of the nation’s fastest-growing states. As legislators respond to climbing population totals, a bill dubbed the “Yankee tax” could require freshly minted Palmetto State locals to pay $500 total in one-time fees for new driver’s licenses and vehicle registration.

The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday approved the proposal by a 11-6 vote. It now heads to the Senate floor.

Republican Sen. Stephen Goldfinch’s bill purports to capitalize on the state’s in-migration by ensuring these new neighbors pay for the infrastructure already funded by existing taxpayers. He compared the tax to impact fees: one-time charges commonly paid by developers to help cover the increased demands their new project might bring for public facilities.

https://www.wvlt.tv/2023/02/22/south-carolina-weighs-yankee-tax-newcomer-driving-fees/

Welcome to South Cackalacky. Now pay up.

February 22, 2023

(update) DA: Woman who collapsed in Knoxville police custody died of a stroke

The woman who collapsed last month in Knoxville Police Department custody later died of a stroke, the Knox County District Attorney General's Office said, and the officers who handled her arrest will not face charges.

Lisa Edwards, 60, died earlier this month at a local hospital after she lost consciousness in the back of a Knoxville Police Department cruiser while she was being taken to jail.

"An autopsy conducted by medical examiners with the Regional Forensic Center concluded that Lisa Edwards died of natural causes, namely 'ischemic stroke due to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease' and 'that at no time did law enforcement interaction cause or contribute to Ms. Edwards’ death,'" DA spokesman Sean McDermott wrote in a news release Feb. 21.

Officers responded to Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, Knoxville Police Department spokesman Scott Erland said, after a caller told them Edwards was outside the emergency room and refusing to leave after she had been discharged from the hospital.

Edwards was placed in the back of a police cruiser to be taken to the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility to be booked on trespassing charges. Erland said Edwards was not handcuffed and no force was used while taking her into custody.

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/local/2023/02/21/woman-who-collapsed-in-knoxville-police-cruiser-died-of-stroke-da-says/69928641007/

As I said when I published this story originally, I'm pretty sure she knew something was wrong, which was why she wouldn't leave. Stroke victims often have a sense that something is wrong, even if they don't know what. The cops get off on this one, but the dr. and the hospital could be in for a lawsuit.

February 22, 2023

Southern Baptist Convention ousts Saddleback Church over woman pastor

Southern Baptist Convention leadership disfellowshipped Saddleback Church from the convention on Tuesday, concluding a long-running debate about one of the largest and most well-known churches in the denomination.

The California megachurch’s stance on a woman serving as head co-pastor led the convention's Executive Committee to consider a recommendation for the SBC to break with Saddleback.

The executive committee approved similar recommendations for five other churches, one for a sex abuse-related issue and four others for women serving in senior pastor roles. There is a mechanism for the churches to appeal the decisions.

The convention's Executive Committee is comprised of about 30 staff and an 86-member board of elected representatives and manages denomination business outside the Nashville-based SBC's annual meeting. It met for a major two-day meeting in Nashville on Monday and Tuesday.

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/21/southern-baptist-convention-saddleback-church-women-pastors/11316198002/

So behind the times! The early church had women leaders. As a female UMC pastor said to me, "What do these guys THINK Lydia and Priscilla and all those women were doing? They sure weren't in the kitchen making coffee!"

February 17, 2023

Oregon, a hotbed of extremism, seeks to curb paramilitaries

An armed takeover of a federal wildlife refuge. Over 100 straight days of racial justice protests that turned downtown Portland into a battleground. A violent breach of the state Capitol. Clashes between gun-toting right-wingers and leftist militants.

Over the past decade, Oregon experienced the sixth-highest number of extremist incidents in the nation, despite being 27th in population, according to an Oregon Secretary of State report. Now, the state Legislature is considering a bill that, experts say, would create the nation’s most comprehensive law against paramilitary activity.

It would provide citizens and the state attorney general with civil remedies in court if armed members of a private paramilitary group interfere with, or intimidate, another person who is engaging in an activity they have a legal right to do, such as voting. A court could block paramilitary members from pursuing an activity if the state attorney general believed it would be illegal conduct.


All 50 states prohibit private paramilitary organizations and/or paramilitary activity, but no other law creates civil remedies, said Mary McCord, an expert on terrorism and domestic extremism who helped craft the bill. The Oregon bill is also unique because it would allow people injured by private, unauthorized paramilitary activity to sue, she said.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-oregon-state-government-portland-39f77e0b5572fc9678687b1f0aaced6e?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_01

February 17, 2023

Ann Coulter tells Nikki Haley to 'go back to your own country' in racist rant

Ann Coulter tells Nikki Haley to 'go back to your own country' in racist rant against new GOP presidential candidate

Conservative pundit Ann Coulter is under fire for a racist tirade against new Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.

In an appearance on the "The Mark Simone Show" podcast this week, Coulter made several xenophobic comments about Haley, the former governor of South Carolina who was born in the U.S. to Indian immigrant parents. "Why don't you go back to your own country?" Coulter said.

Coulter also called Haley a "bimbo" and a "preposterous creature," criticizing her for having advocated removing the Confederate flag from the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse in the wake of the 2015 shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.


https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/ann-coulter-tells-nikki-haley-go-back-country-racist-rant-new-gop-pres-rcna71119

And then she'll turn around and slobber all over Dinesh...consistency, thou art a jewel. At least Nimrata Radhawa was borh in this country....

February 15, 2023

I gave away all my hearts!

Somehow I had more than I thought I did, maybe leftovers from previous years or something, so I gave them all away. Most of them I gave to DUers who didn't have a lot, because my first year I didn't either. It felt great! Happy day after Valentine's Day. y'all!

February 15, 2023

Restaurant owner forced servers to return wages, keep only tips and $10 per week

A restaurant owner in Ohio is accused of forcing servers to pay their wages back to him in cash, allowing workers to keep just the tips they earned plus $10 a week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The DOL said in a news release servers and cooks at Los Mariachis worked an average of 60 hours a week.

Owner Ruben Lopez paid the cooks a straight salary for all 60 hours they worked weekly, denying them overtime wages due for hours over 40 per week, the DOL investigation found.

Authorities also determined the employer failed to keep accurate time and payroll records.

The investigation recovered $245,509 in back wages for six servers and 12 cooks at Los Mariachis.

“No server should be forced to work for just tips and $10 per week, and no cook should be paid straight time for 20 hours of overtime,” Wage and Hour Division District Director Matthew Utley said.

https://www.whsv.com/2023/02/15/restaurant-owner-forced-servers-return-wages-keep-only-tips-10-per-week/

Just part of what's wrong with the restaurant industry here.

February 14, 2023

Worried residents near Ohio train derailment report dead fish and chickens as authorities say it's s

Worried residents near Ohio train derailment report dead fish and chickens as authorities say it's safe to return

For days, authorities have been telling residents of the area around East Palestine, Ohio, that it is safe to return home after a 150-car train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed Feb. 3.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said the chemical spill resulting from the derailment had killed an estimated 3,500 small fish across 7½ miles of streams as of Wednesday.

And one resident of North Lima, more than 10 miles from East Palestine, told WKBN-TV of Youngstown that her five hens and rooster died suddenly Tuesday. The day before, rail operator Norfolk Southern had burned train cars carrying vinyl chloride — a flammable gas — to prevent an explosion.

For some people who live near the derailment site, the reports continue to spur fear that they and their animals might be exposed to chemicals through the air, water and soil.

"Don’t tell me it’s safe. Something is going on if the fish are floating in the creek," Cathey Reese, who lives in Negley, Ohio, told NBC affiliate WPXI of Pittsburgh last week. Reese said she saw dead fish in a stream that flows through her backyard.

Jenna Giannios, 39, a wedding photographer in nearby Boardman, said she has had a persistent cough for the past week and a half. She has been drinking bottled water, and she is uncomfortable bathing in water from the bathroom spigot, she said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/residents-ohio-train-derailment-report-dead-fish-chickens-rcna70378

February 14, 2023

N.J. school district where Adriana Kuch was attacked has a 'culture of violence,' community members

N.J. school district where Adriana Kuch was attacked has a 'culture of violence,' community members say

The New Jersey school district where 14-year-old Adriana Kuch was attacked before she died by suicide days later has a "culture of violence," according to members of the community.

Parents, teachers and students of Central Regional School District say administrators have a history of ignoring violence within the schools that dates back almost two decades.

Kuch was found dead in her Bayville home two days after a Feb. 1 attack at Central Regional High School. The attack was recorded, and the four students involved in the assault were suspended and charged, officials said.

At least four students told NBC News that administrators are dismissive when students come forward with bullying claims.

“There’s been a lot of rage and anger. They didn’t do anything,” said sophomore Sarah Gibson, 15. “That’s for everybody, not just Adriana. I, myself, have filed about seven bullying or harassment reports and nothing’s been done.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nj-school-district-adriana-kuch-was-attacked-culture-violence-communit-rcna70453

I don't know how many of you have been following this story, but the ex-superintendent who ran his mouth ought to be stone. He is an a-hole.

February 14, 2023

Barney the purple dinosaur is coming back with a new show -- and a new look

Barney, the polarizing purple dinosaur who was a mainstay of many millennial upbringings, is making a triumphant return to TV screens next year — but this time, he'll be animated.

Mattel Inc. announced a "comprehensive revitalization of the Barney brand," saying that a new flagship television series will air globally in 2024. Also in the works: a film, YouTube content, music, toys, books and apparel for kids and kids-at-heart.

And while the new and improved Barney may have bigger eyes and a more maneuverable jaw, the lessons he delivers through song and dance will be familiar to many former fans, Mattel says.

"Barney's message of love and kindness has stood the test of time," said Josh Silverman, Mattel's chief franchise officer. "We will tap into the nostalgia of the generations who grew up with Barney, now parents themselves, and introduce the iconic purple dinosaur to a new generation of kids and families around the world across content, products, and experiences."

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/14/1156916620/barney-new-show-mattel

I hate you, you hate me
We're a dysfunctional gamily
Then a shot rang out and a body hit the floor
NO more purple dinosaur!