Stephanie Seymour agrees to enter alcohol program to have DUI charge dismissed

Stephanie Seymour is expected to show model behavior in exchange for the dismissal of her drunk- driving charge.

Douglas Healey/AP
Stephanie Seymour appears for a hearing at the Stamford Conn. Superior Court, Monday in her DUI case.

On Monday, the 47-year-old former Sports Illustrated cover girl agreed to enter a voluntary alcohol education and rehabilitation program to wipe away her Jan. 15 arrest in Greenwich, Conn.

"She addressed the court directly, and apologized to the court, the people involved in the minor accident, the prosecution and the police," her lawyer Phillip Russell told reporters outside Stamford Conn. Superior Court, according to CNN.

The 5-foot-10 stunner, who's married to billionaire real estate developer Peter Brant, was busted for DUI after allegedly reversing her SUV into another car at a stop sign. Cops said she refused to take a sobriety test at the scene and her breath smelled like alcohol.

The arresting officer wrote in his police report that Seymour "tried to answer my questions" but had "a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage omitting from her mouth."

As part of the plea, she will enter the Connecticut Alcohol Education Program and follow up with a state-sponsored rehabilitation program.

Seymour heard the judge's approval of the deal, Seymour flashed the stunning smile that made her one of the world's most famous supermodels of the late 80s and early 90s.

During her heyday, she dated Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose, and starred in the band's video for the iconic power ballad, "November Rain."

It's been a rough start to the year for Seymour and Brant as their oldest son, Peter Brant Jr., was arrested last week at Kennedy Airport for allegedly brawling with a Port Authority cop while drunk.

MLS coach Peter Nowak fired by Philadelphia Union in 2012 for spanking players so hard he hurt his hand

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (AP) — The Philadelphia Union fired coach Peter Nowak in 2012 after getting complaints he hazed rookie players by spanking them so hard it hurt his hand, directed them to run 10 miles in warm weather without water, and was dismissive of concussion injuries, according to newly filed court documents.

Hunter Martin/Getty Images
Peter Nowak

Lawyers for the Major League Soccer team and Nowak made filings recently as Nowak tries to convince a federal court to overturn an April 2015 arbitrator’s ruling that upheld the dismissal and ordered him to pay the team about $400,000 in legal fees and costs.

“The hazing of rookies, by spanking them, sometimes with a sandal, was completely unacceptable,” arbitrator Margaret Brogan wrote in April.

“His description of what he did was quite unnerving, especially when he described how he put his hand in a bucket of ice water to ease his pain, obviously because he was hitting the young people so hard,” said Brogan, who also regularly arbitrates Major League Baseball player salaries.

Brogan also found that he required injured players to run 10 miles in 80 degree Fahrenheit (27 Celsius) heat, taking water bottles away to toughen them up.

“Nowak created an environment where players felt the need to hide or mask concussions,” the team’s lawyers wrote. “Indeed, the record evidence established that Nowak vilified players who suffered from concussion symptoms.”

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Nowak sued the team in July 2012, a month after he was fired, despite a contract that was to pay him through 2015. At that time, the team’s record was 2-7-2.

Nowak’s lawyer said in a memorandum filed this week that the reasons for his dismissal were a pretext, the arbitrator was biased against him and her ruling should be overturned.

Last year, his lawyer argued the firing was unfair because the team did not get Nowak’s input, he did not have a written record of discipline, he wasn’t given a chance to “cure” the issues involved and it was not done in good faith, as his contract required.

Calls seeking comment from lawyers for Nowak and the team were not immediately returned Wednesday.

Bernie Sanders slams Hillary Clinton as unqualified for presidency at Philadelphia rally

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders on Wednesday called Hillary Clinton unqualified to sit in the Oval Office.

The Vermont senator slammed his rival during a rally in Philadelphia, saying Clinton was “nervous” about his recent surge in delegates . After bringing up how Clinton apparently called him unqualified, Sanders didn’t hold back.

“I don’t believe that she is qualified if she is . . . taking tens of millions of dollars in special interest funds,” he told a crowd in Philadelphia. “I don’t think you are qualified if you get $15 million from Wall Street through your super PAC.”

A Clinton spokesman called Sanders’ comments “a new low.”

Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images
A Bernie Sanders supporter poses at Temple University in Philadelphia on Wednesday. The Vermont senator questioned Hillary Clinton's qualification for the presidency at the rally.

Man found dead at exclusive Upper East Side hotel in apparent drug overdose

A man was found dead at an exclusive Upper East Side hotel Friday in an apparent drug overdose, cops said.

Sam Costanza/for New York Daily News
The ritzy hotel, where rooms start at $516 per night and go up to $2000, is one block from Central Park.

The man, in his 50s, was found in a room at The Lowell Hotel on E. 63rd St. and Madison Ave., an NYPD spokesman said.

A maid at the swanky hotel found the body when she entered the man’s room Friday afternoon, and drug residue was nearby, a police source said.

The source said the man was a “regular” at the hotel.

The man’s name was not immediately released, but he is believed to be from California, police said.

The ritzy hotel, where rooms start at $516 per night and go up to $2000, is one block from Central Park.

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Rock legend Bruce Springsteen has reportedly stayed at the hotel, and Robert Redford is rumored to have an apartment there.

Spanking favored in certain racial, religious and political groups: survey

“Spare the rod, spoil the child” is where African-Americans, born-again Christians and Republicans find common ground.

Hannah Foslien/Getty Images
Minnesota Vikings’ Adrian Peterson has been accused of abusing two of his sons. He says he just disciplined them.

Amid the furor over reports that Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson brutally “whooped” two of his kids, the website FiveThirtyEight discoveredthat Americans’ feelings about spanking kids depend on where they live, how they vote, the color of their skin and their religion.

Crunching numbers researchers from the University of Chicago’s General Social Survey have been collecting since 1986, they discovered that New Yorkers and people in the northeast are much less likely to spank their kids than Southerners such as Peterson, who lives near Houston.

“Republicans are more likely than either Democrats or independents to favor spanking,” the website reported. “And that gap has become wider over time.”

Blacks tend to vote Democratic. And yet, they were more likely than whites and other races to use corporal punishment to discipline their children, the numbers revealed.

Also, some 80% of born-agains support spanking while support among the rest of the people surveyed was 65% — and slipping.

Back in 1986, 84% of the country was pro-spanking.

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Since then, spanking has become less socially acceptable and, as of 2012, the percentage in favor was down to 70%, the researchers found.

FiveThirtyEight said there appears to be a correlation between the decline in spanking and that fact that Americans had been growing less religious.

Two years ago the Pew Research Centerreported that a fifth of the U.S. public — and third of all adults under age 30 — reported no religious affiliation.

Man found dead at exclusive Upper East Side hotel in apparent drug overdose

A man was found dead at an exclusive Upper East Side hotel Friday in an apparent drug overdose, cops said.

Sam Costanza/for New York Daily News
The ritzy hotel, where rooms start at $516 per night and go up to $2000, is one block from Central Park.

The man, in his 50s, was found in a room at The Lowell Hotel on E. 63rd St. and Madison Ave., an NYPD spokesman said.

A maid at the swanky hotel found the body when she entered the man’s room Friday afternoon, and drug residue was nearby, a police source said.

The source said the man was a “regular” at the hotel.

The man’s name was not immediately released, but he is believed to be from California, police said.

The ritzy hotel, where rooms start at $516 per night and go up to $2000, is one block from Central Park.

Related Stories

Rock legend Bruce Springsteen has reportedly stayed at the hotel, and Robert Redford is rumored to have an apartment there.

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Hulk Hogan wants to take Gawker's Nick Denton into the wrestling ring

Hulk Hogan wanted to body-slam Gawker founder Nick Denton in the wrestling ring, but he had to settle for a Florida courtroom.

"If this was WrestleMania, he was in the ring with me, it was just me and him, wouldn't it be fun?" Hogan told ABC's "Good Morning America"Wednesday after being awarded $140 million in his sex tape lawsuit against Gawker Media.

Hogan, 62, whose real name is Terry Bollea, told reporter Linzie Janis that he came face-to-face with Denton — who he called "the puppet master" — in a courthouse bathroom during the two-week trial. No one else was present, only the two men on either side of the lawsuit.

"My first thought was, 'What if he just falls down and holds his neck or something?' Who are they going to believe?" Hogan said.

STASI: DON'T FEEL BAD FOR RACIST LOWLIFE HULK HOGAN

The jury ended up believing Hogan, awarding him $115 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages — a judgment that could cripple the site if upheld on appeal.

"I knew we were doing what was right," Hogan said. "Even if we would have lost, it would have been good because everybody would have known what Gawker was all about, because I exposed them. And what they do, and how they look at the world — which to me, is very, very scary."

Good Morning America
Hulk Hogan discussed the jury's decision with ABC News.

The Hulkster — wearing his trademark bandana in court — argued that Gawker destroyed his life by posting video of the wrestler sleeping with the wife of his former best friend, radio host Bubba (the Love Sponge) Clem.

Hogan was dropped by WWE last year after transcript segments from the sex tape footage revealed concerns with his daughter dating a black man.

Hogan's legal team argued that Gawker invaded the pro wrestler's privacy by publishing the video.

"I will be naked forever, until my children’s children’s children die, because of the internet," Hogan told ABC News.

Later appearing on "The View" alongside his lawyer David Houston, the former wrestling legend branded Gawker "the ultimate bully" — stressing that his crusade against the gossip site had been motivated by principle, not money.

Don't feel bad for racist lowlife Hulk Hogan: Not since Kim Kardashian has a sex tape been so profitable

Hulk Hogan was awarded a $115 million judgement against Gawker because the site posted a sex tape of Hogan going at it with Heather Clem, the wife of his best friend, Bubba the Love Sponge, in Sponge Bubba’s home.

Mark Dadswell/Getty Images
What's Hulk Hogan listening to? The sweet cha-ching of a cash register.

Not since Kim Kardashian’s sex tape has oral sex been so profitable.

Hulk’s lawyer Kenneth Turkel actually said (and wasn’t laughed out of the Bar although he would have been laughed out of any regular bar in the world), “I think that being in a bedroom with your best friend’s wife should be something Terry should expect to be private.”

Exactly! Where has our humanity gone? If you get oral sex from your best friend’s wife, the last thing you deserve is to have your privacy invaded — even if you knew your best friend liked to watch his wife having sex with other men!

The St. Petersburg, Fla., jury awarded Hogan $55 million for economic injuries and another $60 mil just for the “emotional distress” the Hulk-a-Maniac suffered. No, Hogan wasn’t distressed from the oral sex (as far as we know anyway), but from the shock of having his romp posted for 7 million to see.

Why would someone who laughed about the tape on the Howard Stern show be so distressed after the fact?

Hulk Hogan appeared in a sex tape with Heather Clem.

“Because,” said Turkel, “he’s a regular family guy,” that’s why.

A regular racist family guy who got fired for saying on that same sex tape — according to Radar Online and The Enquirer — about his daughter, yet: “I mean, I’d rather if she was going to f--- some n-----, I’d rather have her marry an 8-foot-tall n----- worth a hundred million dollars! Like a basketball player!”

And, “I guess we’re all a little racist. Fucking n-----. …I am a racist, to a point, f---ing n----s. But then when it comes to nice people and sh-t, and whatever.”

Now that’s a concerned dad!

It was all enough to make a hard man cry. And cry Hulk did-after the settlement was announced.

Meantime, how is it that sportscaster Erin Andrews felt the Internet hate after a jury awarded her $55 million for being violated inside her own hotel room by a man who drilled a hole into the door, videotaped her naked, and posted it online for 17 million to see?

Gawker’s Nick Denton says Hulk Hogan views sex tape lawsuit as ‘wrestling metaphor’ instead of ‘serious case’

Hulk Hogan sees his sex tape lawsuit as a WWE match instead of the critical free press issue that it is, says the man whose company now owes the wrestler $140 million .

“He’s looked at this whole thing through a wrestling metaphor — a smackdown,” Gawker Media founder Nick Denton told “Good Morning America” Thursday. “It’s a serious case.”

Denton was presumably referring to Hogan’s remarks during his visit to the ABC morning show a day earlier, when he posed the question, “If this was WrestleMania, he was in the ring with me, it was just me and him, wouldn’t it be fun?”

The editor also brushed off Hogan’s dramatic tale of coming face-to-face with his legal foe — who he called “the puppet master” — in a courthouse bathroom staredown.

“I was aware that our eyes met for a considerable amount of time,” Denton said.

A jury awarded the 62-year-old Hulkster $115 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages in his case against Gawker, which he says ruined his life by posting a skin flick of him sleeping with the wife of his ex-best friend, shock jock Bubba (the Love Sponge) Clem.

Hogan’s legal team successfully argued last week that the gossip site had invaded the WWE great’s privacy by publishing the video — which he insists he didn’t know was being shot — in 2012.

ABC
Nick Denton called the sex tape lawsuit a matter of "publicity versus the free press."

But Denton on Thursday maintained that Hogan had known he was being recorded — and that a text from Clem unsealed in the case supported that argument.

“He knew he was being taped. They were best friends,” Denton said. “I just don’t think it’s credible for Hulk Hogan to pretend that he actually had no idea what was going on.”

The former wrestling champ even joked about the tape, he added, until Gawker got a hold of it.

“He didn’t like the story that we wrote,” the site’s founder said.

Denton went on to clarify that the company’s decision to publish the tape — which it did on grounds that Hogan had made his sex life a matter of public concern — was not a case of “privacy versus free press,” as many have dubbed it.

“I think it's actually publicity versus the free press,” he said.

Inky the octopus legs it from New Zealand aquarium, becomes famous around the world

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How does the octopus move so well?

How does an octopus control eight flexible and independent arms?

PT1M17S 620 349

It was an audacious nighttime escape.

After busting through an enclosure, the nimble contortionist quietly crossed the floor, slithered through a narrow drain hole about 15 centimetres in diameter and jumped into the sea. Then he disappeared without a trace.

This was no Houdini, but rather a common New Zealand octopus called Inky, about the size of a soccer ball.

Inky the octopus, who escaped from an aquarium in Napier, New Zealand. Photo: Stuff.co.nz

The breakout at the National Aquarium of New Zealand in Napier, which has captured the imagination of New Zealanders and made headlines around the world, apparently began when Inky slipped through a small gap at the top of his tank.

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Octopus tracks suggest he then scampered across the floor and slid down a 50 metre long drainpipe that dropped him into Hawke's Bay, on the east coast of North Island, according to reports in New Zealand's news media.

The aquarium's keepers noticed the escape when they came to work and discovered that Inky was not in his tank. A less independence-minded octopus, Blotchy, remained behind.

The aquarium's manager, Rob Yarrall, told Radio New Zealand that employees had searched the aquarium's pipes after discovering Inky's trail, to no avail.

The escape happened several months ago, but only recently came to light. "He managed to make his way to one of the drain holes that go back to the ocean, and off he went," Yarrall said. "Didn't even leave us a message."

Inky's escape surprised few in the world of marine biology, where octopuses are known for their strength, dexterity and intelligence.

Alix Harvey, an aquarist at the Marine Biological Association in England, noted that octopuses, members of a class of marine animals including squid and cuttlefish called Cephalopoda, have shown themselves to be adept at escaping through spaces as small as a coin, constrained only by their beaks, the only inflexible part of their bodies.

Harvey said that octopuses had also been documented opening jars, sneaking through tiny holes on boats, and that they could deflect predators by spraying an ink that lingers in the water and acts as a decoy. Some have been seen hauling coconut shells to build underwater shelters.

"Octopuses are fantastic escape artists," she said. "They are programmed to hunt prey at night and have a natural inclination to move around at night."

She continued: "They have a complex brain, have excellent eyesight, and research suggests they have an ability to learn and form mental maps."

Harvey recalled one wily octopus at a British aquarium that escaped nightly from his tank, slithered to a nearby tank to snack on fish for dinner, and returned home.

Octopuses' intelligence, she said, was partly an evolutionary response to their habitation in complex environments such as coral reefs, in which the animals need to hide from predators and sneak up on their prey.

The New York Times

Gawker appeals $140M verdict in Hulk Hogan lawsuit

Round two of Hulk Hogan versus Gawker got underway Tuesday as the website filed papers appealing the $140 million verdict after the wrestler’s sex tape was posted.

Eve Edelheit/AP
Gawker founder Nick Denton, expects the company to be "fully vindicated" after appeal.

“Key evidence was wrongly withheld and the jury was not properly instructed on the constitutional standards,” Gawker said in a statement. “So we expect to be fully vindicated. And even if the verdict were to stand, there is no justification for awarding tens of millions of dollars never seen by victims of death and serious injuries.”

Hogan’s attorney said the appeal only showed Gawker was unwilling to take responsibility for invading the wrestler’s privacy.

POOL/REUTERS
Terry Bollea, aka Hulk Hogan, was awarded $140 million from the company that published a sex tape online.

Canberra Weather: The fog rolls in

It wasn't a magician behind the disappearing act pulled by some of Canberra's national icons this week.

Fog rolls in on Anzac Parade as workers tidy the gardens ahead of Anzac Day. Photo: Rohan Thomson

Thick pillows of fog quilted parts of the city on Friday morning, capping off a week of misty mornings in areas across the capital.

Low-lying cloud curled over the Australian War Memorial while Black Mountain was completely swallowed by white fog.

Weatherzone meteorologist Tristan Meyers said what we are seeing is the result of a high-pressure ridge laying across eastern Australia, in particular over NSW and Victoria.

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"What that is doing is bringing light winds and fairly clear skies and those conditions, particularly in the shoulder months leading into winter are indicative of fog forming in the early mornings," Mr Meyers said.

#Fogin #Canberrathis morning. Drive safely. 25C dry to end a warm week. Weekend weather: https://t.co/lfciu6Nkv5 pic.twitter.com/iFv4DjFdbz

��� BOM ACT (@BOM_ACT) April 14, 2016

"What happens is the temperature drops overnight and in the evening and once it reaches a certain threshold, the water vapour starts condensing out of the air and fog begins to form.

"It looks like temperatures fell to around seven, eight degrees early on Friday morning and that was low enough to create a rather thick blanket across the Canberra region."

Canberra Airport in particular was affected, Mr Meyers said.

"There's a runway out there, honest!" Tony Breeds tweeted from the airport.

There's a runway out there honest! #canberrafog pic.twitter.com/CPa6kjz5UQ

��� Tony Breeds (@tonybreeds) April 14, 2016

Despite the misty starts for much of this week, next week should be much clearer.

"Looking further ahead, we're going to see a trough moving throughout the region with an accompanying front, and what this is going to do is cause winds to pick up a little bit, they're not going to be crazy gusty but it's going to be just enough so fog isn't going to form on those days," Mr Meyers said.

Who switched on the fog machine, Canberra?

��� Good Things (@LizPosmyk) April 14, 2016

"Looking ahead at Saturday or Sunday, we have winds becoming a little bit stronger and cloud forming as well as some showers. The showers may make it so in the late evening you get some fog, or in the early morning, but it doesn't look like a full return to those conditions."

What you can expect is a bit of drizzle, he said.

"It looks like we'll have a few showers on Saturday although it'll be a mostly sunny start to the day but further on we'll see a few isolated showers pick up, a few heavier pockets in there but fortunately not too much, 5 to 10 millimetres in some areas but generally 1 to 3 millimetres.

"Then on Sunday we could get the odd shower and storm but they're most likely to stay around the Brindabellas with a low chance of anything to actually hit Canberra and the city," Mr Meyers said.

"Further ahead some light showers possible but these are lighter than previous days and then a ridge will develop after that which should bring mostly dry conditions."

Weatherzoneis owned by Fairfax Media, publisher of this website.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens,' 'Deadpool' big winners at MTV Movie Awards

'Star Wars: The Force Awakens,' 'Deadpool' big winners at MTV Movie Awards
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was in its own orbit at the MTV Movie Awards.

Joe Lederer/Twentieth Century Fo
"Deadpool" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" cleaned up at the MTV Movie Awards.

The sci-fi flick, treated like a Sith by Academy voters, fared much better at the less staid and more populist award show, netting Movie of the Year honors.

The film’s star, Daisy Ridley, also exited the Warner Bros. Studio lot with a popcorn statuette for breakthrough performance. Darth Vader wannabe Kylo Ren was named best villain.

The R-rated superhero romp “Deadpool” also fared well during Saturday night’s taping. The MTV Movie Awards, hosted by Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson, will air for the public on Sunday night at 8 p.m.

Star Ryan Reynolds won best comedic performance for playing the hero who fires as many profane one-liners as he does bullets.

He then proved his comedic chops with his acceptance speech, “"I want to thank my wife Blake — everything I do is to make her laugh especially the sex," he said.

The X-Men spinoff also nabbed best fight honors later in the telecast.

The only overlap between the Oscars and MTV’s version of a movie awards ceremony came when Leonardo DiCaprio followed up his best actor Oscar for “The Revenant” with a best male performance popcorn statuette.

Special honors were given to Will Smith (The Generation Award) and Melissa McCarthy, who became the first woman to win the Comedic Genius Award.

Movie of the Year: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

Best Female Performance: Charlize Theron, “Mad Max: Fury Road”

Best Male Performance: Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant”

Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski charged for grabbing ex-Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields

He should be fired!

In an unprecedented move, Donald Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was charged with battery on Tuesday by Florida cops for grabbing a reporter who had tried to ask the presidential candidate a question.

Trump’s top goon was busted for the alleged rough-up that took place at a March 8 news conference in Jupiter, Fla. Upon his surrender, Jupiter police put out previously unseen surveillance footage of the incident. It shows former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields moving alongside Trump as he heads for the exit, trying to ask him a question.

WATCH: VIDEO SHOWS TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER GRAB AT REPORTER'S ARM

It captured Lewandowski, 43, forcefully pulling her back so he could “catch up” to Trump, the police report said. The police report said events in the video backed up Fields’ side of the story.

Under Florida law, he faces up to one year in jail if convicted. Fields said Lewandowski had grabbed her arm hard enough that she nearly tripped.

She filed a police report and tweeted a photo of her bruises after the incident.

Charlie Neibergall/AP
Corey Lewandowski (l.) with Donald Trump.

But her right-wing, Trump-loving employer refused to stand by her — sparking a mutiny in which Fields and several other Breitbart staffers resigned.

Trump later tweeted a grainy still from the footage that showed Fields next to him — with her hand almost resting on his sleeve as the real estate tycoon pulled away from her.

“Why is this reporter touching me as I leave news conference? What is in her hand??” Trump pointedly asked.

Fields was holding a pen at the time.

Yet Fields’ proximity didn’t seem to bother Trump’s Secret Service detail, which was also seen at his heels in the surveillance video.

Mom who sent sons to alleged N.J. 'fight club' daycare says she's now staying home with kids: 'You can't trust anybody'

Luiz C.

Luiz C. Ribeiro/for The New York Daily News
'I’m now staying home with the kiddos and working part time. You can’t trust anybody,' said Eliana Rantz, who sent her two sons, Izzy and Uriah, to Lightbridge Academy.

She broke the first rule of child care fight club — never talk about it.

But distraught mom Eliana Meira Rantz, 31, is doing just that — dishing about kiddie “fight club” bouts that were being held at the New Jersey child care center where she sent her two tykes last year.

“It’s just quite shocking,” Rantz, of Linden, N.J., told the Daily News Wednesday. “I’m now staying home with the kiddos and working part time. You can’t trust anybody.”

She said she doesn't believe that her sons, Izzy, 3, and Uri, 19 months, were part of toddler tussles at the Lightbridge Academy in Cranford that authorities say were broadcast on Snapchat.

“He’s quite verbal,” Rantz said of Izzy. “I imagine that if he saw anything (like toddlers fighting) he would probably have come home and told me.”

Overall, the staff at the center was very friendly and caring, she added.

On Tuesday, Union County authorities charged two former academy employees, Erica Kenny, 22, and Chanese White, 28, with fourth-degree child abuse for allegedly forcing children to duke it out inside the Khaki Kangaroo and Brown Bear classrooms.

Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News
Union County authorities charged two former academy employees, Erica Kenny, 22, and Chanese White, 28, with fourth-degree child abuse for allegedly forcing children to duke it out inside the Khaki Kangaroo and Brown Bear classrooms.

Authorities said the coerced kiddie combat took place on at least one day in August, and Kenny recorded some of it on her phone and sent clips to friends through Snapchat.

In the video, Kenny is heard quoting from the novel and film “Fight Club,” about angry men who beat each other senseless in underground rumbles.

At least a dozen children, all between ages 4 and 6, are seen in the videos, county police said.

Two former Lightbridge staffers who asked not to be named told The News White had a history of problems at the center.

“She was always just a very negative, non-social person,” said one of the ex-staffers, who added that White would often trick the youngsters into hitting each other if one of them misbehaved.

The two fired staffers and school officials did not return calls seeking comment.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens,' 'Deadpool' big winners at MTV Movie Awards

'Star Wars: The Force Awakens,' 'Deadpool' big winners at MTV Movie Awards
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was in its own orbit at the MTV Movie Awards.

Joe Lederer/Twentieth Century Fo
"Deadpool" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" cleaned up at the MTV Movie Awards.

The sci-fi flick, treated like a Sith by Academy voters, fared much better at the less staid and more populist award show, netting Movie of the Year honors.

The film’s star, Daisy Ridley, also exited the Warner Bros. Studio lot with a popcorn statuette for breakthrough performance. Darth Vader wannabe Kylo Ren was named best villain.

The R-rated superhero romp “Deadpool” also fared well during Saturday night’s taping. The MTV Movie Awards, hosted by Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson, will air for the public on Sunday night at 8 p.m.

Star Ryan Reynolds won best comedic performance for playing the hero who fires as many profane one-liners as he does bullets.

He then proved his comedic chops with his acceptance speech, “"I want to thank my wife Blake — everything I do is to make her laugh especially the sex," he said.

The X-Men spinoff also nabbed best fight honors later in the telecast.

The only overlap between the Oscars and MTV’s version of a movie awards ceremony came when Leonardo DiCaprio followed up his best actor Oscar for “The Revenant” with a best male performance popcorn statuette.

Special honors were given to Will Smith (The Generation Award) and Melissa McCarthy, who became the first woman to win the Comedic Genius Award.

Movie of the Year: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

Best Female Performance: Charlize Theron, “Mad Max: Fury Road”

Best Male Performance: Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant”

Brooklyn day care worker charged with molesting 10-year-old boy

A volunteer tutor at a Brooklyn day care — also the site of an unlicensed after-school program — molested a 10-year-old boy, police sources said.

Todd Maisel/New York Daily News
Manathis Anderson, 63, who volunteered at Heavenly Miracle Academy Services in East New York, was charged Sunday with sexual abuse and child endangerment.

Manathis Anderson, 63, who helped students with reading and writing at Heavenly Miracle Academy on Blake Ave. in East New York, was charged Sunday with sexual abuse and child endangerment, sources said.

The alleged victim told police Anderson groped him over his pants on four different occasions between Dec. 22 and Jan. 11, according to a criminal complaint.

Jacqueline Mendoza, the owner of Heavenly Miracle, was stunned by the allegations against Anderson, who had volunteered there for two years.

“It’s very painful for me because these are my children, they are my life. If he did this, if he messed up my baby, I’d tear him up like a lion,” Mendoza said.

She admitted she did not have proper city permits to run a tutoring program at the preschool.

Todd Maisel/New York Daily News
A day care worker at Heavenly Miracle Academy on Blake Ave. is accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy in his care.

“I don’t believe he did anything to that boy or any of the other kids. Someone would have seen it. He didn’t have the time or space,” Mendoza said. “He is certified, he has no record. Why would he risk everything to do something like that? But guilty or not guilty, he will not work here anymore.”

The victim comes from a troubled home and might have made up the allegations to get attention, Mendoza speculated.

“I think it’s a setup. I’ve watched this boy since he was a baby. His mother never came to me about any of this,” she said. “The boy has problems.”

Mendoza planned to review hours of security camera footage for signs of anything amiss. Anderson’s sister, who declined to give her name, said the charges against him were false.

“He’s been helping children over 30 years,” she said, adding that her brother is a minister. “This is a really crazy accusation.”

Kanye West defends 2009 VMAs incident, Taylor Swift ‘Famous’ lyric: ‘I just said what everybody else was thinking’

Don’t blame Kanye West for his attention-grabbing jabs at Taylor Swift — he’s just holding a mirror up to society.

The always-expressive rapper stoked the embers of his lingering feud with Swift yet again during a Philippines show this weekend, defending his 2009 VMAs outburst and the song it inspired by claiming he’d just “said what everybody else was thinking.”

“In the spirit of Nina Simone, in the spirit of real artists, this is the song that broke the writer’s block for me because it’s something I wanted to say so bad that they told me I couldn’t say,” West reflected on his new rap, “Famous,” in a fan-recorded video.

“That night when I went onstage was the beginning of the end of my life ... You know what night I’m talking about. When I just said what everybody else was thinking,” he continued. “So if I get in trouble for saying the truth, what’s being said the rest of the time?”

The 38-year-old rapper memorably commandeered a mic at the MTV fete as Swift accepted the best female video award, proclaiming that Beyoncé had made “one of the best videos of all time. Of all time!”

The ensuing years found West attempting to apologize on “The Tonight Show” in 2009, Swift subtly forgiving him on her track “Innocent” in 2010, West retracting his apology in 2013, and the duo eventually making nice onstage at the 2015 VMAs.

But the rapper-turned-shoe mogul stirred up a fresh batch of drama this year with “Famous,” which contained the lyric “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b---h famous (God Damn), I made that b---h famous” — a line Swift deftly condemned with a sly feminist barb during her Grammys speech in February.

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Kanye West has a new explanation for dissing Taylor Swift.

West has waffled between contrition and unabashed ranting in response to backlash over his lyric. Following the Grammys, he claimed he wanted “the best” for Swift — then yelled during a nightclub show days later that she “had two seconds to be cool and she f---ed it up.”

This time, he waxed sincere about the struggles of artistry.

“I had to fight every day of my life, with the whole world turned against me, for saying out loud what everyone else felt,” he said during the concert.

“But that’s the job of an artist, of a true artist: not to be controlled by their finances, not to be controlled by perceptions, but only to be controlled by their truth.”

Verizon wants to pony up $1.8 billion in new purchase of fiber-optic network business XO Communications

Verizon says it will pay $1.8 billion to buy the fiber-optic network business of XO Communications, in a deal that the wireless phone company said would improve service for its customers.

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XO Communications, based in Herndon, Va., owns and operates networks that its customers use for Internet access, cloud computing and other services.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is chairman and sole shareholder of the company.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of next year. New York-based Verizon Communications says it will also rent XO’s wireless spectrum and has the option to buy the spectrum at the end of 2018.

Verizon shares rose 24 cents to $51.10 in afternoon trading.

Meanwhile, to revive interest in smartphones, Samsung and LG are improving their cameras and embracing the nascent world of virtual reality.

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New Mexico day care worker fired after video shows her violently rocking baby

A New Mexico day care employee has been fired after shocking video showing her violently rocking a baby surfaced and sparked outrage.

The worker at Eastern Child Development Center in Albuquerque was captured covering the baby girl's face with a blanket and then aggressively shaking her up and down in cell phone footage obtained by KOB News 4.

The 6-month-old girl was unharmed after being jolted about 10 times, her fuming mother told the local news station.

"I was shaking. I was so angry and hurt because I had never had any concerns about my daughter's teacher," said mom Ashley Tapia, who also works at the day care center. "She was always well-trusted and well-liked."

It's unclear if the worker, whose identity has not been released, has been charged since the Sept. 18 incident.

The state's Children, Youth and Families Department has temporarily shut down the facility as it investigates claims of multiple "maltreatment" cases in the center's infant room, according to KOB.

The closure reportedly sparked protests from parents who demanded it reopen.

KOB
A New Mexico day care employee was caught on camera covering a baby's face with a blanket and then violently rocking her.

"Our priority is the safety of the babies and children who attend Eastern Child Development Center," the agency's spokesman Henry Varela said in a statement.

"Based on the disturbing videos we have seen, we are not comfortable with children being at the facility until we have completed a more in-depth investigation into possible systemic issues," he added.

About 300 children attend the day care.

The terminated employee had worked there for more than five years.

"I asked her why. She said that she just had one bad day," said Hannah Tapia, the daycare's director. "We told her that wasn't acceptable behavior. She could have really hurt that baby."

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Michigan teen nearly jumped in Uber car driven by accused Kalamazoo killer Jason Dalton: 'I'm glad I didn't get in that car'

DeAllen Blackburn was seconds away from jumping into a car with a suspected mass murderer clutching a smoking gun.

The 18-year-old Michigan man discovered hours after his near-miss that accused Kalamazoo killer Jason Dalton was driving the Uber sent to pick him up — and had just shot a young mom in front of her kid.

“Thinking back, I'm glad I didn't get into that car," the fortunate Blackburn told the Daily News. “I think this is so crazy.”

By the end of last Saturday, Dalton’s rampage left six people dead, a 14-year-old girl critically injured and another woman shot three times while protecting her child.

In between the murders, the Uber-driving suspect picked up fares as if nothing had happened.

Blackburn was coming down from his Richland Township apartment last Saturday to catch an Uber ride to his girlfriend Maci Eldridge’s house when he heard gunshots.

HANDOUT/REUTERS
DeAllen Blackburn, 18, discovered hours after his near-miss that accused Kalamazoo killer Jason Dalton (pictured) was driving the Uber sent to pick him up.

Eldridge had told Blackburn to look for a Chevy Equinox sent by Uber — but never told her boyfriend the color. Initially, he wasn’t sure if the silver car seen speeding away from The Meadows development was coming for him.

But later, after catching another Uber to his teenage girlfriend’s home in Kalamazoo, Blackburn connected the dots that led to Dalton.

Rather than pick up his fare, Dalton allegedly opened fire on a young mother watching her daughter and four other kids in a playground near their townhouse.

Local residents told the Daily News that Dalton, 45, of Cooper Township, Mich., approached Tiana Carruthers to ask if she was “Mazey” — an apparent reference to Blackburn’s girlfriend.

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It’s unclear if Carruthers replied, but Dalton opened fire with his .9mm semi-automatic handgun to start his five-hour shooting spree, authorities said.

Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders join Verizon workers on strike in N.Y.

Presidential politics hit the picket line Wednesday as Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton supported striking Verizon workers on day one of their walkout.

The White House hopefuls greeted strikers outside Verizon offices in Brooklyn and Manhattan after some 39,000 employees in nine states and Washington, D.C., walked off the job.

“This is just another major corporation trying to destroy the lives of working Americans,” said Sanders, standing on a chair before 200 strikers in his native Brooklyn. “And today you’re standing up not just for justice for Verizon workers.

“You’re standing up for millions of Americans who don’t have a union. You’re telling corporate America ... that workers in this country are not going to be pushed down and down and down.”

The job action by members of the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers began eight months after their old contract expired.

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are among the regions affected by the unions’ second strike in five years against the communications giant.

Todd Maisel/New York Daily News
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders rallies during the Verizon workers' protest on DeKalb Avenue in front of the Verizon Building in downtown Brooklyn Wednesday morning.

Clinton, appearing Wednesday afternoon on 42nd St., shook hands with scores of cheering strikers before encouraging Verizon to resume the now-suspended talks.

“I believe in collective bargaining in good faith,” said Clinton. “I believe in unions being the voice for working people.”

Father John Misty recalls dropping acid at Taylor Swift concert, says the artist ‘impregnated his soul’

Taylor Swift can make the good guys bad for a weekend.

Jack Plunkett/Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP
Joshua Tillman, known as Father John Misty, recalled tripping on acid at a Taylor Swift concert in 2015.

Indie artist Father John Misty (Josh Tillman) admitted to taking LSD at a Taylor Swift concert in a recent Q&A with Rolling Stone.

Tillman recalled meeting Swift’s crew at a bar, who then invited him to her Dec. 12, 2015 show in Melbourne, Australia.

“I got my tour manager to get me some acid: 'This is written in the stars,” he told the magazine. “’I'm supposed to go take acid at this Taylor Swift concert.’”

The rocker went on to detail his bizarre trip.

"I experienced the show like an 8-year-old girl — as much as that's possible for a 35-year-old man," the former Fleet Foxes drummer said.

"It was holy. It was psychedelic,” Tillman added. “She fully impregnated my dilated soul with her ideology. I remember laughing uncontrollably. I remember going outside for a smoke and thinking, 'I need to get back in there.'"

Tillman also shared that Swift’s message to the crowd about being normal felt forced.

“It's a very, very false normal,” he said. “And that's dangerous."

Father John Misty’s 2015 album, “I Love You, Honeybear” landed on several “Best Album of 2015” lists. The artist is known for his sarcastic and honest ballads.

He previously poked fun at fellow artist Ryan Adams after Adams’ completely covered Swift’s “1989” album. Tillman put out covers of Adams’ covers in the style of The Velvet Underground before removing them shortly after.

Accused Kalamazoo gunman Jason Dalton repeated Donald Trump's slogan 'make America great again' before shooting victim

The Uber driver arrested in a mass killing invoked Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” mantra while carrying out his shooting spree, according to police in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Jason Dalton didn’t mention Trump by name when he rolled up on one victim, but he did ask if “she could spare a dollar to make America great again” before emptying his gun into her, Michigan State Police Sgt. Kyle Gorham wrote in a report.

The report sheds light on the depravity of Dalton’s crimes, as well as the killer’s bizarre mental state. It says Dalton told investigators his mind was being controlled by an Uber app. He was interviewed Feb. 21, a day after the attack that killed six and injured two others.

During the interview, Dalton (photo inset) said he had recently begun driving for the ride service for extra income. The Uber app wouldn’t let him “shut down,” consistently beeping at him and disrupting his sleep, he said.

Dalton said the audio directions made him feel like he was “on fire,” Gorham wrote.

Dalton told authorities after his arrest that when you “plug into” the app, “you can actually feel the presence on you.” He said the difference between the night of the shootings and others was that an icon on the Uber app that is normally red “had changed to black.”

© Handout . / Reuters
Jason Dalton is seen on closed circuit television during his arraignment in Kalamazoo County in February.

After dropping off a group of passengers, he was overcome by the app, he said. He scared a passenger by accelerating into oncoming traffic, zigzagging and driving over sidewalks — leading the passenger to jump out of the car.

“You got to your destination, sir,” Dalton told the rider in a high-pitched voice.

Dalton told cops he returned home and drank a glass of water before going into his basement, where he “began preparing his guns.”

He called the moment an “altered reality.” Dalton placed several guns into a black bag, and he and his dog returned to his Equinox. He told authorities that he pulled up to an apartment complex and pointed his gun at the woman, who was later determined to be victim Tiana Carruthers.

“(He) began pulling the trigger, indicating this by a finger gesture as well as the noise of ‘pop pop pop pop,’ ” police wrote. “He advised he dumped the entire magazine.”

Kalamazoo man accused in shooting rampage says Uber app was controlling him ‘like artificial intelligence that can tap into your body’

The madman accused of massacring six people during a shooting rampage across Kalamazoo, Mich., told police his cellphone was controlling him as he drove across the city and murdered victims at random.

Jason Dalton, 45, was picking up fares for UberFeb. 20 when he says the ride-sharing app gained control of him “like artificial intelligence that can tap into your body,” a report obtained Monday by WOOD-TV reveals.

The Uber symbol on his phone turned into an inverted, colored five-point star known as the Eastern Star symbol before Dalton felt his body was taken over, the news station reported.

“Dalton acknowledged that he recognized the Uber symbol as being that of the Eastern Star and a devil head popped up on his screen and when he pressed the button on the app, that is when all the problems started,” police wrote in their report on the hours-long spree that left another two people wounded.

“It feels like it is coming from the phone itself and he didn’t know how to describe that.”

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Six people were killed in the rampage.

Police on Monday also released cruiser dash camera video showing Dalton’s arrest early Feb. 21. Officers are heard yelling, “Stick your hands out the window!” and he does.

“Keep your hands out where we can see them!” The cops bark before they approach the car with guns drawn, then remove, search and cuff the accused killer.

The rampage started after Dalton allegedly shot Tianna Carruthers multiple timesoutside the Meadows Townhomes at 5:40 p.m., leaving her in serious condition. Two children walking with the 25-year-old mom were not injured.

About five hours later, he fatally shot Rich Smith and his 18-year-old son Tyler Smith, who were browsing the brightly-lit parking lot of a Kia dealership, police said.

Twenty minutes later, Dalton allegedly opened fire on four women parked outside a nearby Cracker Barrel restaurant, killing them all. The shooting also left 14-year-old Abigail Kopf clinging to her life in critical condition.

Mistaken address from Uber customer may have led Kalamazoo shooter Jason Dalton to first victim

Dalton, who has confessed to his crimes, opened fire on young mother Tiana Carruthers outside a residential complex, leaving her seriously wounded on a playground filled with children, including one of her own.

© Handout . / Reuters
Confessed Kalamazoo shooter Jason Dalton.

A mistaken address from a customer may have led Uber driver Jason Dalton to the first victim of his alleged shooting rampagein Kalamazoo, Mich. last month, according to investigators.

Dalton, who has confessed to his crimes, opened fire on young mother Tiana Carruthers outside a residential complex, leaving her seriously wounded on a playground filled with children, including one of her own. That shooting started a reign of terror in which Dalton spent the night allegedly shooting people at random — while still picking up Uber customers. Six people died before he was arrested.

Carruthers apparently came into the killer’s sights thanks to an Uber request from a nearby customer. The woman called for a ride at the Meadows Townhomes complex at 5:15 p.m. — shortly before the first shooting. But she soon followed up with a text correcting the address, asking the driver to come to the complex’s main office instead of its townhouse unit, according to investigators’ documents obtained by the Detroit Free Press.

Dalton arrived near the townhouses anyway, and witnesses said he appeared to erratically drive around the area for a few minutes. He then stopped and waved over Carruthers, according to the documents. Dalton called out “Have you seen Mazie?” before firing up to 10 shots — striking Carruthers four times.

Witnesses saidCarruthers, 25, warned the other people on the playground to run for safety even after she took a bullet. She survived the shooting after several surgeries, and doctors told WOOD-TVshe is making an “amazing" recovery.

It’s unclear if “Mazie” was the woman who asked for the ride.

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Tiana Carruthers, 25, was the first victim of the rampage that left six people dead. A mistaken address from an Uber customer may have led Jason Dalton to her.

Minutes after the first attack, Dalton called the customer who brought him to the area and abruptly announced he wouldn’t be picking her up.

He “was rude and told her that something had come up and he could not do the pick up,” according to the report.

The woman simply requested another driver.

Dalton went on to allegedly gun down a father and son at a car dealership, and then four women outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant, while still doing his duties as an Uber driver.

He later blamed his massacreon the ride-sharing app, claiming it took over his mind “like artificial intelligence that can tap into your body.” Dalton is now charged with six counts of murder, and his wife has filed for divorce.

Scientists create ‘cockroach’ robots to help search in disasters like earthquakes

WASHINGTON — When buildings collapse in future disasters, the hero helping rescue trapped people may be a robotic cockroach.

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Repulsive as they may be, roaches have the remarkable ability to squish their bodies down to one quarter their normal size, yet still scamper at lightning speed. Also, they can withstand 900 times their body weight without being hurt. That’s equivalent to a 200-pound man who wouldn’t be crushed by 90 tons on his head.

The amazing cockroach inspired scientists to create a mini-robot that can mimic those feats of strength and agility.

The researchers hope swarms of future roach-like robots could be fitted with cameras, microphones and other sensors and then used in earthquakes and other disasters to help search for victims by squeezing through small cracks. The skittering robots could also let rescuers know if the rubble pile is stable.

Cockroaches “seem to be able to go anywhere,” said University of California at Berkeley biology professor Robert Full, co-author of a study about the prototype cockroach robot. “I think they’re really disgusting and really revolting, but they always tell us something new.”

The study was published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The palm-size prototype, called the Compressible Robot with Articulated Mechanisms, or CRAM, looks more like an armadillo and walks sort of like Charlie Chaplin when it’s compressed. It’s about 20 times the size of the roach that inspired it. And it’s simple and cheap.

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Co-author Kaushik Jayaram, a Harvard robotics researcher, said the most difficult part was the design, but after that he used off-the-shelf electronics and motors, cardboard, polyester and some knowledge of origami. He could probably put one together in about half an hour, he estimated.

All told, the prototype probably cost less than $100, Jayaram said. He figures if mass-produced, with sensors and other equipment added on, the robots could eventually cost less than $10 apiece.

In the past, when engineers looked at trying to create robots that could get into tight places, they thought about shape-changing soft animals like worms, slugs or octopuses, Full said. But the cockroach, which already is studied by roboticists for other abilities, has certain advantages, including crush-resistance and speed.

With nothing in its way, the American cockroach can travel 50 body lengths in a second, which would be the equivalent of a human running more than 140 mph, Full said. When compressed, the cockroach slows to 20 body lengths per second, which is still pretty fast.

Full and colleagues found roaches used a newly identified type of locomotion to ooze through cracks and crevices based on the ideal amount of belly friction.

Cockroaches have inspired other robots, including ones that travel on six legs to get over debris more easily, said Johns Hopkins University mechanical engineering professor Noah Cowan, who wasn’t part of the study. He said cockroaches and insects in general are great design guides for roboticists to borrow from.

Kalamazoo shooting victim, 14, utters first word since Uber driver's rampage: 'pig,' a reference to her pet

The 14-year-old girl who was left with severe brain damage amid the Kalamazoo shooting spree has spoken her first word since the attack — “pig.”
Abigail Kopf was feared to be dead in the aftermath of the shooting last month in a Cracker Barrel parking lot, one of three sites where Uber driver Jason Dalton sprayed bullets during a rampage.

She is now on a long road to recovery and was able to make reference to her pet, a pig named Hamlet, in her first word since being shot.

Kopf’s family announced the “huge milestone” on a GoFundMepage for her medical expenses, and added that it has spurred hopes she will regain her speech.

At one point her parents had been making plans to donate their daughter’s organs until the teenager squeezed her mom’s hand, but the girl was able to go from the hospital to a rehab center this week.

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Abigail Kopf, 14, has uttered her first word since being injured in the Kalamazoo shooting last month, "pig," a reference to Hamlet, her porcine pet.

Dalton killed six people in his shooting rampage on Feb. 20, including four older women with whom Kopf had gone to the restaurant after seeing a show.

Tiana Carruthers, a 26-year-old mother who put herself between Dalton and a group of playing children when he drove up to a housing complex, is also recovering after being hit by four bullets.

Carruthers was hit in both legs, but has begun to walk again and is expected to heal within 12 months, Borgess Medical Center chief of staff Thomas Rohs told WOOD.

A GoFundMepage for Carruthers had raised $15,000 as of Saturday morning.

A 5.1 magnitude earthquake shook Oklahoma and seven other states

OKLAHOMA CITY — A 5.1 magnitude earthquake shook northwest Oklahoma and was felt in seven other states on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, the third-largest temblor ever recorded in the state where the power and frequency of earthquakes has dramatically increased in recent years.

J Pat Carter/Getty Images
A 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck Oklahoma Saturday.

The earthquake centered about 17 miles north of Fairview in northwestern Oklahoma occurred at 11:07 a.m. and was reportedly felt across Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas, the USGS said.

A second quake measured at 3.9 magnitude struck ten minutes later, followed at 11:41 a.m. by a 2.5 magnitude quake.

Both were in the same area of the larger temblor and about 100 miles northwest of Oklahoma City.

Fairview police and the Major County Sheriff’s Office had no reports of injury or significant damage.

Sheriff’s dispatcher Cheryl Landes said there had been several calls from concerned residents, but no damage more than pictures knocked off shelves and walls. One woman said she’d wait until it got warmer outside to check her home for damage, Landes said.

The strongest earthquake on record in Oklahoma is a magnitude 5.6 temblor centered in Prague, about 55 miles east of Oklahoma City, in November 2011 that damaged 200 buildings and shook a college football stadium in Stillwater, about 65 miles away.

The second-strongest was a 5.5 magnitude earthquake in April 1952 that was centered in El Reno, on the western edge of Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma’s stronger and more frequent earthquakes have been linked to the injection of the briny wastewater left over from oil and gas production underground.

Regulators have recommended reducing the volume or shutting down some of the disposal wells. Oil and gas operators in Oklahoma, where the industry is a major economic and political force, have resisted cutting back on their injections of wastewater.

The hundreds of quakes have been mostly small to medium sized, and have caused limited damage.

But a quake did knock out power in parts of an Oklahoma City suburb several weeks ago, and last month about 200 unhappy residents packed a forum at the state capitol convened by critics of the state’s response.

Gov. Mary Fallin last month approved the use of nearly $1.4 million in state emergency funds for state agencies working to reduce the number of earthquakes linked to the wastewater disposal.

Occupy pepper-spray cop John Pike banks $38,000 for ‘psychiatric’ trauma

A former University of California policeman who stirred public outrage by pepper-spraying peaceful student protesters has been awarded $38,000 in worker's compensation for psychiatric damage he claimed to have suffered from the 2011 incident, the university said on Wednesday.

� Brian Nguyen / Reuters
Former University of California Davis police Lt. John Pike is filmed in 2011 as he pepper-sprays students during their sit-in at an ‘Occupy UCD’ demonstration.

Then-campus police Lieutenant John Pike came to symbolize law enforcement aggression against anti-Wall Street protests at the time when video footage widely aired on TV and the Internet showed him casually dousing demonstrators in the face with a can of pepper spray as they sat on the ground.

Pike was suspended from his job at UC Davis and ultimately left the force in July 2012, but university officials did not disclose the circumstances of his departure.

A scathing 190-page report on the incident found that university officials and UC Davis police used poor judgment and excessive force in the confrontation. And the incident was widely mocked in satirical messages posted on the Internet in which still photos of Pike wielding his pepper spray were inserted into famed works or art or pop culture images.

The university last fall agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit brought on behalf of the 21 students who got sprayed and later reported suffering panic attacks, trauma and academic problems as a result.

In June of this year, Pike himself filed a worker's compensation claim with UC Davis over the incident, saying he suffered unspecified psychiatric and nervous system damage, though the document did not explain how he claimed to have been harmed, records show.

On October 16, the state Division of Workers Compensation Appeals Board agreed to resolve his claim by paying him a settlement totaling $38,055, UC Davis spokesman Andy Fell said on Wednesday.

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"This case has been resolved in accordance with state law and processes on workers' compensation," Fell said in a written statement. "The final resolution is in line with permanent impairment as calculated by the state's disability evaluation unit."

Fell said he was not at liberty to elaborate on Pike's claim or the circumstances behind it.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Pike had earned more than $110,000 from his job in 2010, citing a database of state worker salaries from the last year for which figures are available.

The newspaper said he had received more than 17,000 angry or threatening emails, 10,000 text messages and hundreds of letters after the video of the pepper-spraying went viral.

UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi had asked prosecutors to look into possible criminal charges against the police officers involved in the pepper-spraying. But the Yolo County District Attorney's office determined there were no grounds on which to bring a case.

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Nordstrom Rack employees held hostage in armed robbery at Los Angeles store

LOS ANGELES — Two gunmen invaded a Nordstrom Rack clothing store in California on Thursday night and took 14 employees captive, sexually assaulting one, stabbing another and locking the detainees in a storage room for hours, police said.

The gunmen were nowhere to be found by the time police entered the Los Angeles store shortly after 2 a.m. on Friday and rescued the employees.

The armed invasion at Nordstrom Rack at the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center on Thursday in the middle-class Westchester district of Los Angeles was treated as a robbery, said Los Angeles police spokesman Lieutenant Andy Neiman.

But it was unclear if the suspects absconded with any cash and police could not immediately say if they stormed the store or emerged from hiding after closing time.

The Promenade, located next to a major freeway, is an outdoor shopping center with restaurants, stores, a cinema and a glow-in-the-dark indoor mini-golf center.

Police became aware of the invasion after an employee at Nordstrom Rack called a loved one to ask him to report to police that two men armed with handguns were inside the store after closing time, which is 10 p.m. local time, Neiman said.

Officers who arrived at the scene about an hour after the store's closing time saw a man come out of the store and run back inside, police said. Shortly afterward, another man leaving the store with a woman also spotted officers and retreated as he forced her back inside.

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Officers became concerned that hostages were being held in the store, and a police SWAT team was called.

The SWAT team entered the store shortly after 2 a.m. and found the employees, 13 women and a man. Most were locked inside a storage room in the rear of the store, and a couple of them were found in a bathroom, police said.

At the height of the police response, there were dozens of officers at the scene and it was unclear how the two suspects evaded police while fleeing the store.

"If the suspects are there when SWAT gets there, it's pretty unusual for them to get away," Neiman said. But he added that the mall is large with a lot of access points.

"It's possible that they eluded or exited the building prior to us establishing a complete perimeter," he said.

A white SUV was seen hurtling out of the shopping center at high speed when officers first arrived, and a similar vehicle was later found in the neighboring community of Culver City, police said.

Ex-cop who pepper-sprayed Occupy protesters at University of California seeks worker's comp

The former police officer who pepper-sprayed students during an Occupy protest at the University of California, Davis is appealing for worker’s compensation, saying he suffered psychiatric injury from the 2011 confrontation.

John Pikehas a settlement conference set for Aug. 13 in Sacramento, according to the state Department of Industrial Relations’ website.

Pike was fired in July 2012, eight months after a task force investigation found that his action was unwarranted.

Online videos of him and another officer casually dousing demonstrators with pepper spray went viral, sparking outrage at UC Davis leaders. The images became a rallying symbol for the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Hackers posted Pike’s information online. He received scores of threats that led an Alameda County Court judge to rule against releasing the names of other officers at the scene.

This week, a state appeals court ruled news organizations are entitled to know the names of a dozen University of California police officers who were interviewed about the use of pepper spray on demonstrators at UC Davis.

The Los Angeles Times and The Sacramento Bee are seeking the officers’ identities, which were redacted from two reports on the incident.

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In the aftermath, the University of California agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed by demonstrators and the chief of the UC Davis police department resigned.

Justice Story: Serial killer Dana Sue Gray offed elderly women so she could shop with their credit cards

A peculiar item recently came up for sale on a website that caters to people who collect things created, owned, or even just touched by murderers.

David Bauman/The Press-Enterprise/PE.com
Serial killer Dana Sue Gray in a Riverside courtroom. She avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty to two murders.

A peculiar item recently came up for sale on a website that caters to people who collect things created, owned, or even just touched by murderers. It was a pair of plain white panties, with the name Dana Sue Gray and a number, W76776, scrawled at the crotch. The asking price was $250.

Twenty years earlier, Gray, now 56, had a different way of making money. She murdered old ladies and stole their credit cards.

“I got desperate to buy things,” she told detectives. “Shopping puts me at rest.”

Three women died so she could go buy things. A fourth miraculously survived and helped put an end to Gray’s slay-and-spend spree.

Gray’s first victim was Norma Davis, 86, who lived in a gated community of Canyon Lake, Calif., about an hour and 15 minutes south of Los Angeles.

On Valentine’s Day 1994, a worried friend checked in on the widow. She found a bloody corpse. Davis had been strangled and then stabbed 11 times. Two knives were left in the body and the neck wounds were so deep they nearly took her head off. Police found a footprint from a small-sized running shoe at the scene, but little else.

A couple weeks later, there was another killing in Canyon Lake. June Roberts turned 66 on February 28, but friends could not get through to her to wish her a happy birthday. She had been strangled and bludgeoned with a decanter.

Police composite sketch bore a strong resemblance to Dana Sue Gray.

In both cases, little seemed to have been taken from the victims’ homes; even diamond rings, cash and checkbooks were left behind. Then, Roberts’ daughter told police that her mother’s bank called to report a flurry of activity on her credit card the day she died.

Among the purchases were swimsuits, cowboy boots, a ski mask, vodka, and a massage at a ritzy spa. Opium perfume, fancy shoes and sneakers — in both men’s and women’s sizes — were also on the list. Clerks, hairdressers, and waiters described the woman who used the cards as a petite, well-dressed blonde who drove a brown Cadillac and was accompanied by either a small boy or a tall, dark-haired man.

Cops were closing in on Gray, but they were not quick enough to prevent the next attack.

On March 10, Dorinda Hawkins, 58, was alone, minding an antiques shop in Lake Elsinore when a young woman with bleached blond hair stepped in. After some small talk, the woman asked Hawkins to show her a couple of paintings propped against the wall. The shopkeeper bent down to get them. At that moment, she felt a rope around her neck. She put up a fierce struggle but could not get away. The last thing Hawkins remembered hearing before she blacked out was her assailant saying, “Relax. Just relax.”

Hawkins told police that the would-be killer spoke those words in a quiet, soothing voice, the kind a doctor or nurse might use.

She had no idea that her observation was a bullseye. Until just recently, her attacker had worked as a nurse. It had been Dana Sue Gray’s ambition since she was a teenager and watched her mother die of cancer. This early trauma inspired her to learn the healing arts, wrote Kathy Braidhill in her book on the case, “To Die For.”

2016 Chevrolet Camaro Coupe

You might have heard something about a redesigned Chevy Camaro.

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You might have heard something about a redesigned Chevy Camaro. Well, the rumors are true, and the latest Camaro sits on a new platform derived from Cadillac ATS and CTS underpinnings. That bodes well in terms of driving dynamics, as do most of the changes Chevrolet makes to its rear-drive sports coupe for 2016.

Changes for 2016

• Stiffer, lighter, smaller, more aerodynamic

• Coupe or convertible in LT or SS trim levels

• Turbocharged 4-cylinder, V6, or V8 engine

• Manual or automatic transmission

• Improved interior materials

• Next-generation infotainment systems

• New safety technologies

• Lots of customization options

• Reduced powertrain warranty, fewer free scheduled maintenance visits

Ford now accepting applicants for all-new GT supercar

If your dream is to not only own a Ford GT, but to be able to fully customize it to your liking, well you my friends are in luck.

Ford
An all-new, personalized Ford GT supercar could be yours by simply applying at the Ford GT website. (And also having $400,000)

Today Ford began accepting applications for the all-new supercar, of which only 500 will be made. All you have to do is head over to the Ford GT websiteand submit your application for the vehicle of your dreams. I actually just got my application started. Now if I could just find $400,000 I may have myself a sweet supercar.

If you do have that kind of money to spare, we highly recommend submitting your application. The experience is said to be incredibly customer-focused, including a Ford GT concierge service to help personalize your process. Ford hopes that the 500 applicants and future owners are ambassadors for the brand, which shouldn’t be too hard if you get yourself a GT.

The GT will come with eight color choices and seven different stripe color choices to make it as rare and exclusive to your liking as possible. This experience will last for the first two years of production, with 250 units made each year. Those interested have until May 12 to get their order in.

Ford
The GT will come in eight color choices, along with seven different stripe color choices.

2016 Ford F-150

After a tough launch last year, the aluminum-bodied 2016 Ford F-150 picks up steam with improved crash protection, an upgraded infotainment system, innovative trailering assistance technology, and a luxurious new Limited model.

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Changes for 2016

• Ford upgrades the front structure of the regular cab and extended cab models in order to improve small overlap frontal impact crash protection

• Luxurious F-150 Limited model returns to the lineup for 2016

• Next-generation Sync 3 infotainment technology debuts for the F-150

• New Pro Trailer Backup Assist technology allows a driver to reverse a trailer by turning a knob, the truck then steering autonomously to achieve the desired effect

• V8 engine now offered with compressed natural gas/propane preparation package

• 20-inch aluminum wheels offered for the XL model

• New Special Edition option packages offered for the XLT and Lariat models

• Guard paint color is cancelled; Shadow Black and Lithium Gray are new colors

2016 F-150 Highlights

When the redesigned F-150 arrived last year, Ford faced criticism for the truck’s aluminum body work and potential repair costs, suffered through production glitches and delays, and then endured scrutiny over how underlying structural differences between cab styles produced inconsistent crash-test results in assessments conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

2016 Toyota Tundra

Toyota hasn’t redesigned the full-size Tundra pickup truck in a decade.

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Toyota hasn’t redesigned the full-size Tundra pickup truck in a decade. It has restyled it, yes. It has added modern convenience and technologies, sure. But under the sheet metal and behind the boundaries of the cabin, the Tundra is the same rig Toyota rolled out for the 2007 model year. Ten years ago, this truck was competitive. Today, it’s not.

Changes for 2016

• Larger fuel tank now holds 38 gallons of gas

• 5.7-liter V8 engine includes a trailer brake controller

• Updated Entune infotainment systems debut

• SR5 and 1794 Edition models get revised front styling

• TRD Pro model gets new seats

2016 Tundra Highlights

Toyota makes a pretty big deal about how the Tundra was designed and engineered in California and Michigan, about how the powertrain components are sourced from Alabama and North Carolina, and how final assembly takes place just outside of San Antonio, Texas. That’s because truck buyers want to buy American trucks, and never you mind that a Ram 1500 is sold by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which houses its global headquarters in London, England.

Not only does the Tundra have a compelling story to tell as far as flag waving is concerned, but now that gas is cheaper than bottled water, the 5.7-liter V8 engine’s guzzling isn’t nearly as consequential to budgets. Plus, for 2016, the fuel tank has grown from 26.4 gallons to 36 gallons, and the Tundra doesn’t inspire its driver to stop at every gas station that appears on the horizon. Still, every other light-duty pickup truck on the market, except for certain versions of the Ram 1500 equipped with a “Hemi” V8, is more efficient than this Toyota.

The Tundra also has trouble competing with newer and stronger competitors that can tow and haul more weight. Until last year, Toyota could claim it was the only company rating its truck according to SAE J2807 standards. Now, everybody does, and the Tundra comes up short at 10,500 pounds. The maximum payload rating is 2,060 pounds, far less than a Ford F-150.

2016 GMC Sierra 1500

Positioned as a more upscale truck that a Chevrolet Silverado, the GMC Sierra is basically the same thing but with different styling and slight changes to equipment.

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Positioned as a more upscale truck that a Chevrolet Silverado, the GMC Sierra is basically the same thing but with different styling and slight changes to equipment. When deciding between the two, it comes down to design, plain and simple.

Changes for 2016

• Revised front styling with standard LED running lights, available LED fog lights, available LED headlights

• New Elevation Edition version of Sierra Double Cab

• New All Terrain X Edition version of Sierra Double Cab and Crew Cab

• Upgraded IntelliLink infotainment systems with faster response and performance, plus Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration platforms

• Wireless phone charging is standard for all Sierras with front bucket seats

• 5.3-liter V8 comes with an 8-speed automatic transmission when installed in SLT trim level

• Optional remote locking tailgate, 20-inch chrome-clad aluminum wheel design

• Driver Alert option package adds lane keeping assist and automatic high-beam headlights

• Reduced powertrain warranty and free scheduled maintenance program

• Metallic paint colors are extra cost, instead of free

2016 Ram 1500

The current Ram 1500 model’s basic design and engineering dates to the 2009 model year.

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The current Ram 1500 model’s basic design and engineering dates to the 2009 model year. Since then, the truck has enjoyed a continuous program of improvement, and today it is better than ever. Still, it is time for a full redesign.

Changes for 2016

• Engineering changes to improve safety

• Standard Bluetooth connection for basic radio system

• Redesigned center console layout

• Black headliner offered for Rebel and Laramie Limited

• New limited-edition versions of the Ram Sport arrive

• New colors: Red Pearl, Pearl White, Luxury Brown

• Reduced powertrain warranty; drops from 100,000 miles to 60,000 miles for gasoline engines

2016 Ram 1500 Highlights

Like other full-size trucks, the Ram 1500 is offered in regular, extended (Quad), and crew cab styles with a choice between three cargo box lengths, three engines, and 2-wheel or 4-wheel drive. Where the Ram distinguishes itself is in the 12 different trim levels that are available, ranging from the Tradesman on the low end to the Laramie Limited on the high end.

This year, the Ram Sport is offered in limited-edition models painted Ignition Orange, Torred Red, Stinger Yellow, or Ceramic Blue. These versions of the Ram Sport have a standard V8 engine, an 8-speed automatic transmission, a 3.92 gear set, and a dual exhaust system. A ventilated hood and 20-inch aluminum wheels help to distinguish them, while the interiors have body-color accent stitching and Sport embroidery on the seats with a Ram’s head featured on the head restraints. A Uconnect infotainment system with an 8.4-inch touchscreen display, a navigation system, and a reversing camera are also standard on these unique Ram Sport models.

2016 Chevrolet Silverado 1500

Perhaps smelling a little bit of blood in the water over rival Ford’s decision to go with an aluminum-bodied F-150, Chevrolet makes a number of changes to the capable Silverado 1500 in a bid to draw new buyers to Chevy showrooms.

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Changes for 2016

• New hood, grille and lighting

• Black-out Edition option package for Work Truck models

• Realtree Edition option package for LTZ Z71 models

• LED headlights and taillights standard for LTZ and High Country models

• 8-speed automatic transmission standard for LTZ and High Country

• Automatic high-beam headlights and lane keeping assist available for LTZ and High Country

• Power articulating side steps optional for High Country

• MyLink infotainment system boasts faster performance, adds Apple CarPlay and Android Auto technology

• Wireless phone charging standard when truck has front bucket seats

• Available remote locking tailgate; Cargo Convenience option package with spray-in bedliner, upper cargo tie-downs, cross-rails tiered storage system

2016 Nissan Titan XD

After ignoring the full-size truck market for far too long, Nissan rolls out what it calls an “Every Duty” truck.

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After ignoring the full-size truck market for far too long, Nissan rolls out what it calls an “Every Duty” truck. The concept is a good one. The execution? Not so much.

Changes for 2016

• Extra-duty version of the upcoming redesigned 2017 Nissan Titan

• Supposed to tackle tougher jobs than a light-duty truck, but without the cost of a heavy-duty truck

• Standard turbo-diesel engine

• Spec numbers reveal a marketing challenge

2016 Titan XD Highlights

Compared to the most popular pickup truck in America, the Ford F-150, the Nissan Titan XD out-tows it by just over 600 pounds when equivalently optioned, but the Ford can still tackle more than 800 extra pounds of payload and does it for less money while offering more equipment (Titan XD S vs. F-150 XLT).

We’re pointing this out because Nissan is positioning the Titan XD as a truck that splits the difference between traditional light-duty and heavy-duty pickups. The reality, at least when compared to equivalent Ford models, is that the Nissan barely bests the F-150 in terms of towing and comes nowhere near it in terms of payload capacity.

You can’t get a diesel engine in an F-150…yet. The Titan XD has one as standard equipment, a Cummins 5.0-liter turbo-diesel V8 whipping up 310 horsepower at 3,200 rpm, 555 lb.-ft. of torque at 1,600 rpm, accompanied by a clatter that does a Peterbilt proud. Compare that to the F-150’s twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6, which musters 365 horsepower at 5,000 rpm and 420 lb.-ft. of torque at 2,500 rpm.

So what gives regarding the Nissan’s stumble on payload capacity? The Titan XD weighs more than 2,000 pounds more than the F-150 EcoBoost. In other words, it’s got a bunch of extra blubber to haul around before anything gets placed in the cargo bed, so that means you can’t pack it with as much people and stuff as you can the Ford.

Daily Drive-Thru: A redesigned Tesla Model S, a top safety pick for the Ford F-150, Dodge Dart's dying days, and more

Looking for a roundup of the latest and most important news from the automotive world?

Ford
Ford credits the F-150’s high-strength steel frame and military-grade aluminum alloy body for its incredible crash-test results.

Looking for a roundup of the latest and most important news from the automotive world? You’ve found it in the Daily Drive-Thru. Check it out every weekday to see what you missed and what you need to know.

The Daily Drive-Thru: as hard to avoid as a Tesla headline this month.

TeslaMotors launched a restyled Model S as quietly as, well, a Model S. The 2017 edition of the luxury sedan will include a cleaner front fascia that features a small, decorative insert around the “T” badge in lieu of the large, fake grille that previously dominated the EV’s front end. The new design is happy medium between original, superfluous grille and the disturbingly-smooth front end of the Model 3.

The soft launch of the 2017 Model S is a win for Tesla in this roller coaster of a month that began with the unveiling of the Model 3 sedanand a deluge of down paymentsfor the company’s first mass-production vehicle. Then things took a slight downturn. A crash test failure spurred a recall of Model X SUVsand reports surfaced that Tesla might run out of tax creditsfor the pre-ordered Model 3s.

Source: Tesla

Tesla
Tesla rolled out a restyled Model S ealier this week.

Another day, another automaker launches a car-sharing app. JaguarLand Rover is the latest brand to catch the sharing bug with the premiere of its “InMotion” app, which will provide a variety of services “such as car sharing and car ownership solutions,” according the British manufacturer.

Unlike contemporaries such as Car2Go(Daimler), Maven(General Motors) and ReachNow(BMW), InMotion is not billed explicitly as a car-sharing program, but rather an app that might connect to car-sharing and other services. Jaguar is trying not to fall too far behind in this decreasingly car-dependent world, but don’t expect to be able to borrow a Jag to pick up groceries or a Land Roverto move your IKEA furniture around any time soon.

Source: Jaguar Land Rover/InMotion

The FordF-150 was the only pickup truck to earn a “good” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS, in the small overlap frontal test (also known as the corner crash test), one of the more common types of real-world crashes. The field of trucks tested included the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Ram 1500 and Toyota Tundra. Ford credits the F-150’s high-strength steel frame and military-grade aluminum alloy body for its strong crash-test performance and subsequent Top Safety Pick designation.

The Ram 1500, on the other hand, did not fare as wellduring its round of testing. The 1500 earned an overall safety rating of “marginal” and a “poor” rating in terms of structural security.

Sources: Ford , Yahoo! Autos

NYCHA tenant, 81, dies after falling and cracking skull in Bronx elevator

An elderly public housing tenant died on Christmas Day after falling and cracking his skull in a Bronx elevator that had been serviced by NYCHA repairmen just the day before.

Michael Schwartz/for New York Daily News
A sign is put on the Bronx elevator where Olegario Pabon, 81, had fallen and cracked his skull.

Olegario Pabon, 81, left his fifth-floor apartment on Boston Road around 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve. He tripped as he stepped into the elevator, which wasn’t level with the floor, sources told the Daily News. He crawled out of the elevator, leaving a trail of blood to the first-floor apartment of fellow tenant Rena Ashby.

"He was trying to talk. He was asking about his wife," said Ashby, 84. "He was saying, ‘Who's going to look after my wife.’ It was so sad. He knew he was going to pass."

Edelmira Rivera, 79, the co-captain of the building's tenant patrol, also tried to help him.

"I saw him right after it happened," Rivera said. "He told me he jumped out because he panicked."

Rivera said the elevator has been malfunctioning for years. "It could have been any one of us,” she said. “They (NYCHA) always claim they fixed it and it's always the same."

Michael Schwartz/for New York Daily News
Tenant Olegario Pabon (r.) died after tripping into an elevator that had been serviced by NYCHA repairmen just the day before. His wife (l.) was identified by neighbors as Emma.

Ashby called 911, and then used towels and sheets to clean the blood from the elevator floor and the hallway as best she could.

"The stain is still in the hall," her daughter Jenine Ashby, 49, said.

Pabon was taken to Saint Barnabas Hospital and died the following day. The city medical examiner ruled that Pabon died of bleeding in the brain due to blunt impact to his head. He was also on anticoagulant drugs for treatment of heart disease. It was an accident, officials said.

Two days before the tenant died, a NYCHA elevator mechanic responding to tenant complaints was sent to examine the lift at Boston Road Plaza. He discovered the lift's door would not open properly when it reached its destination, so the mechanic called for a special services unit, sources said.

On Dec. 23, the special services unit replaced a device in the lift called a regulator, which controls its speed. The unit then signed off on the elevator and restored it to service.

Porsche 911 takes a plunge into canal

Yesterday in Holland, a beautiful Porsche 911 GT3 took a devastating dive.

Porsche RS Magazine
Just the tip of this Porsche got wet, but we are sure the car will still need to be fixed up after this plunge.

The Porsche Centrum Amsterdam dealership is located next to a canal, the eventual unfortunate landing spot for one of the German automaker’s models.

Luckily, the 911 GT3 only took a slight dip, as you can see from the picture. A full plunge could have caused irreparable damage, but Hans Van der Valk, the dealership’s managing director, told RTL News that the car would be saved.

Thank goodness, because losing a $175,900 model would have been a tough pill to swallow.