Here's to hoping your lunch break is filled with sweet treats - here's some news to catch up on while you enjoy.National: White House security specialist is seeking official whistle-blower protection after accusing her boss of "unwarranted security clearances" for administration officials and engaging in discriminatory practices based on her sex and disability. The complaint, filed by Tricia Newbold, was submitted less than two weeks after she was suspended without pay for defying her supervisor, Carl Kline. Read more: Colorado students will finally have their teachers back in class. Denver teachers who were on strike over wages and bonuses have reached a tentative agreement with school district officials. The strike began Monday, after 15 months of negotiations ended without a deal. The agreement came after more than half of the district's teachers failed to report to classrooms on Wednesday - that's approximately 4,700 teachers. They are expected to be back in most classes today. Read more: One year after the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High, urgency for new gun restrictions has declined, but roughly half of the country is still concerned a mass shorting could take place at their school in their community, a new Marist poll finds. This is a stark contrast between the immediate aftermath of the shooting, where 71 percent of Americans said laws covering the sale of firearms should be stricter. That number is now 51 percent. Read more: Still got some time?
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Here's some news to digest:National:A former Air Force intelligence specialist has been charged for providing defense secrets to the Iranian Government. The DOJ alleges that Monica E. Witt, 39, was targeted and recruited by Iran. After she defected in 2013, she allegedly revealed the code name and mission of a classified Defense Department program. Authorities also alleged that Witt revealed the identity of a U.S. counter-intelligence agent who was working against "a specific target." In a letter she wrote to an Iranian contact, she was "endeavoring to put the training I received to good use instead of evil," said prosecutors. Read more: Swipe left - Americans lost $143 million in online relationship scams last year. The Federal Trade Commission received more than 21,000 reports about romance scams last year. Of those who said they lost money in the "catfish" relationships, the median amount lost was $2,600. That is seven times more than the media loss for other types of fraud... something to be mindful of this Valentine's Day. Read more: NASA announces Mars rover Opportunity is dead after 15 years on the planet. Opportunity has not been heard from since June 10, when a massive dust storm that lasted months blocked the sunlight that provided the rover its power. Today, NASA tried one last time, and failed, to contact the spacecraft after more than 1,000 failed recovery commands in previous months. Unable to activate its battery-powered heaters, the 15-year old Mars explorer was susceptible to the intense Martian cold and likely froze. Read more: Local News:An elderly man's body was found in a construction area outside Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital early Monday, Police say. HPD Homicide detectives are investigating the death of the victim, and say foul play is suspected. Representatives for the hospital say they don't believe the individual has any connection to the hospital, but they are working closely with investigators. Read more: Caught on tape outside of a Houston restaurant revealed a terrifying scene - a masked man approaching a woman and trying to steal her purse. It happened to two women in the Cooking Girl restaurant parking lot at 2400 West Holcombe on Monday. One of the victims was dragged and nearly run over. The two suspects took off westbound on West Holcombe. They are described as black men between the ages of 20 and 30. Read more: Have some extra time? Check these out:Here's a few bite sized nuggets of news to get you through your lunch hour:National:The infamous Mexican drug lord head of the Sinaloa cartel was found guilty today of all 10 federal criminal counts against him. Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera's top charge against him was engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. He is likely to spend the rest of his life in a maximum security prison with no possibility of parole. Read more: Michelle Cater, the Massachusetts woman who encouraged her teenage boyfriend to kill himself, was sentenced to 15 months in jail in 2017 - but is finally starting to serve her time. After Carter was originally sentenced, a judge allowed her to remain free while she appealed in state court. Massachusetts highest court upheld her conviction last week, saying her actions caused her boyfriend's death. Conrad Roy was 18 when he killed himself on July 12, 2014. In his last minutes, he had been talking to Carter by phone and text message. When Roy questioned committing suicide, Carter reassured that he should go through with it. Read more: The Pacific Northwest is facing a massive measles outbreak with more than 50 cases confirmed in Washington and Oregon. Most of these cases found in vaccinated children under 10. Labeled Washington's worst measles outbreak in the last 2 decades, prompting one county to declare a public health emergency. Washington lawmakers are working to fight the outbreak with a bill that would remove parent's ability to claim a personal or philosophical exemption to opt their school-age children out of the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. The bill has been protested by hundreds. Read more: Local NewsHoly cow - over 15,000 people have signed a petition asking Cardi B to cancel her show at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The petition reads that "Cardi B is, herself, an animal lover, which is why we're asking her to stand up for these poor animals and cancel her performance at the rodeo." Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo officials say they strongly believe in the importance of animal welfare, taking great pride in the care and attention they receive throughout the Rodeo. They also say they are looking forward to welcoming Cardi B on March 1. Read more: A new ruling in Leon County could raise some trouble for the proposed high-speed train between Houston and Dallas, by preventing the developer's from using eminent domain to acquire land for the rail line. Texas Central Railway has been working on the rail line over the past few years, with the plan to use eminent domain as a railroad when landowners don't want to sell their land voluntarily. Texas Central says it has the authority under state law, but a judge in Leon County has now ruled that Texas Central isn't actually a railroad. Texas Central issued a statement in response to the ruling, planning to appeal. "We are confident that the laws of Texas irrefutably give this project authority to access and survey private land to help determine the high-speed train’s most advantageous route between Houston and North Texas." Read more: Texas Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke greeted President Donald Trump into his hometown with a counter-rally against his fight for a border wall. Monday night, Trump promised an El Paso crowd that he would press for the construction of the wall - as news that congressional negotiators would fall short of his funding demands started breaking. Another partial government shutdown was brewing, when bipartisan negotiations in the capital agreed to $1.375 billion for "physical barriers" at the border, which will fund about 55 miles of fencing. Trump was demanding 5.7 billion for the barriers. Negotiators also agreed to more resources for non-barrier border security measures, such as technology and resources at ports of entry. While making his speech, the President claimed he did not know the details of the deal, sticking to his talking points on the border wall. “As I was walking up to the stage, they said that progress is being made with this committee. Just so you know, we’re building the wall anyway,” he said. Read more: If you have some additional time, here's some other things for today: |
Sarah PearceI just like to let people know what's going on in this world Archives
July 2019
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