A hiker in Waipio on the island of Oahu happened upon a stream that was more than just a little refreshing, in fact it was downright intoxicating.
The hiker, who described the stream as having the overwhelming smell of beer, quickly got in touch with Carroll Cox, an environmental activist and head of the non-profit EnviroWatch.
An analysis of the stream’s water showed it contained 1.2 percent alcohol and .04 percent sugar, giving the stream its unique smell. EnviroWatch reported its findings on Nov. 8 to government officials, who were able to trace the source to Paradise Beverages, the state’s largest supplier of alcoholic beverages.
“Right now, we’ve had the Department of Transportation come in with their representatives and we’re dealing with them and we’ve also been contacted by the Department of Health,” said Anthony Rowe, director of operations for Paradise Beverages. “It may be coming from us so that’s why we’re working with the proper authorities.”
Sweden’s parliament approved finance minister and Social Democratic Party leader Magdalena Andersson as the country’s prime minister; however, just hours later she resigned from the position.
New Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has resigned after just a few hours in power. The move comes following a budget defeat in parliament – which voted in favour of the oppositions' budget.
Andersson suffered a defeat in parliament with the budget then she stepped down seven hours after she earned the title of first female prime minister.
The budget proposal that was put forth by the opposition party was passed instead.
”For me, it is about respect, but I also do not want to lead a government where there may be grounds to question its legitimacy,” Andersson said at a press conference.
While the country had never had a female prime minister before Andersson, the government describes itself as feminist, putting equality between women and men at the heart of national and international work. Still many in the country were displeased about the long-running absence of a woman in the nation’s top leadership]roll.
“If women are only allowed to vote but are never elected to the highest office, democracy is not complete,” independent lawmaker Amineh Kakabaveh said in a speech to the country’s parliament.
“There is something symbolic in this decision. Feminism is always about girls and women being complete people who have the same opportunities as men and boys,” she added.
Kakabaveh supported Andersson in her bid to become the nation’s prime minister, citing her efforts as championing “equal suffrage.”
Teamsters’ boss Jimmy Hoffa went missing in 1975, since then, there have been many theories about what happened to him and where his body is buried. The FBI’s confirmation last week that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill is the most recent development in a search that started 46 years ago.
The FBI obtained a search warrant to examine the location as a possible burial site for Hoffa.
Ground Penetrating Radar was used in March 2020 to conduct an underground survey of the location which located large pieces of round metal that could be the 55-gallon drum Hoffa was rumored to have been buried in.
“Last month, the FBI obtained a search warrant to conduct a site survey underneath the Pulaski Skyway,” the FBI said in a statement. “On October 25th and 26th, FBI personnel from the Newark and Detroit field offices completed the survey, and that data is currently being analyzed. Because the affidavit in support of the search warrant was sealed by the court, we are unable to provide any additional information.”
There have been a number of theories about what might have happened to Hoffa, many of which have been tied to book releases.
Self-proclaimed Mafia murderer Charles Allen, who had served time in prison with Hoffa and had also been in the federal witness protection, told the U.S. Senate committee in 1982 that Hoffa was killed on the orders of alleged New Jersey mob figure Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano. His body was “ground up in little pieces, shipped to Florida and thrown into a swamp.
The FBI never found enough evidence to support the claim and there were questions about Allen trying to sell the story.
“When that information came to our attention we batted it around, but we were all convinced in the end that this guy was not reliable,” FBI agent Jim Kossler said then. “We were able to prove to our mind that what he was telling us couldn’t have happened because he either couldn’t have been there or he was in jail at the time.
Former Hoffa aide and strong-arm Joseph Franco alleged in the 1987 book “Hoffa’s Man,” claimed that Hoffa was abducted by ′′either federal marshals or federal agents,′′ driven to a nearby airport and dropped out of a plane, possibly into one of the Great Lakes.
Other than Franco’s allegation, there was nothing to support his claim.
Frank Sheeran, Hoffa’s once upon a time ally, said that he killed Hoffa at a Detroit house. Key parts of the narrative became the basis for the 2019 movie “The Irishman.”
Bloomfield Township police ripped up floorboards at the house in 2004, but the FBI crime lab concluded that blood found on them was not Hoffa’s.
Reputed Mafia captain Tony Zerilli was in prison for organized crime at the time of Hoffa’s disappearance, however, he claimed in the online “Hoffa Found,” that he was informed about Hoffa’s whereabouts after his release and that Hoffa was buried in a makeshift grave beneath a concrete slab of a barn in Oakland Township about 25 miles north of Detroit.
In 2013 the FBI and police spent two days digging at the site where the barn had been but found nothing.
Journalist Dan Moldea, who has written extensively about the Hoffa saga, as a result of interviews with Frank Cappola believes Hoffa’s body was delivered to a Jersey City landfill in 1975, placed in a steel drum and buried about 100 yards away on state property that sits below an elevated highway. Cappola, who died in 2020, claimed his father owned the landfill and buried the body.
The FBI obtained a search warrant to do a site survey, which it completed last month and is now analyzing the data. The agency hasn’t disclosed whether it removed anything from the site.
The Norwegian Postal Service released a Christmas ad promoting a gay romance between Santa Claus and a man named Harry which concludes with a long, passionate kiss.
The video, released Monday, is titled ‘When Harry met Santa.’ The approximately four-minute clip depicts a shirtless Harry who discovers Santa in his home just before he goes up the chimney. Then the video flashes ahead to Harry bumping into Santa several more times, one encounter shows Harry sleeping on the couch while Santa sits in a nearby chair.
“You’re snoring,” Santa says, then Harry lights up with glee. “I’ll be back next year.”
The couple appears to have several intimate moments before Harry writes a letter to Santa saying “all I want for Christmas is you.”
The video then flashes to Christmas and Harry finding his gifts as Santa makes a surprise visit to him in his living room.
“Well I arranged some help this year so I could be with you,” Santa said. The couple shares a kiss as the screen zooms out with a caption “In 2022, Norway marks 50 years of being able to love whoever we want.”
https://youtu.be/nDLumk_rQQw
The ad was hailed by LGBTQ activists, with Oda Rygh of the organization FRI saying that “Christmas is a time we spend with those we love, and it’s nice to see the Norway Post show that love belongs to everyone, regardless of orientation, age, or whether you live at the North Pole.”
In the past, the agency has put out other politically charged videos with one Christmas video in 2020 titled ‘Make Christmas Great Again.’
Five suspects stole 7-8 expensive purses worth about $25,000 from a Nordstrom store in the Westfield Topanga mall in Los Angeles Wednesday evening. They assaulted and used bear spray on a security guard during the robbery, then fled in a newer model gray Ford Mustang.
“It’s unfortunate because these people that are here are just trying to shop for the holidays [and] for their families,” said LAPD Deputy Chief Alen Hamilton. “We’ve deployed extra officers here. It just so happened that this was one part of the mall where they were able to get in and get out, even with our opfficers being deployed here.”
The police force had deployed extra officers to the mall following several mob thefts in the state recently, however the thieves targeted the store when no officers were around.
At least one suspect was described as wearing an orange wig during the incident.
The robbery comes after a group of thieves smashed windows with a sledgehammer and other tools at a Nordstrom store at the high end mall, The Grove, late Monday in Los Angeles. Three arrests have been made in relation to that incident.
The owner of The Grove, Rick Caruso, criticized leadership in California for the growing number of retail theft crimes in the state.
“I think it’s a manifestation of weak leadership. I think it’s a manifestation of some really bad decisions that our leaders made. It’s a manifestation of we’re going to defund the cops,” Caruso said.
Earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom called on mayors in his state to “step up” and hold the mobs of shoplifters to “account” after dozens of stores were affected by the rash of crimes in the San Francisco area.
“I’m not the mayor of California, but I was a mayor, and I know when things like this happen, mayors have to step up,” Newsom said Monday at a vaccine clinic in the Mission District of San Francisco. “That’s not an indictment. That’s not a cheap shot.”
The San Francisco area faced a rash of mob lootings over the last week, which targeted a Nordstrom, a Louis Vuitton, pharmacies, marijuana dispensaries and other retail locations.
Wellspring Pharmacy shared this video w/me showing dozens of thieves stealing medication SATURDAY around 7:30PM.
The pharmacy sped up the video & said their employees all came in today & restored the pharmacy so patients could get their meds tomorrow.
In Walnut Creek, which is located about 25 miles from San Francisco, approximately 80 looters besieged a Nordstrom and took between $100,000 and $200,000 in merchandise, according to police. Three people have been arrested in connection to that robbery.
The crimes have spread to San Jose, about 50 miles from San Francisco, where at least four people stole $40,000 from a Lululemon in an incident police described as “organized robbery.”
NASA and Elon Musk’s aerospace company, SpaceX, launched a test rocket Wednesday that is designed to crash into asteroids that could potentially threaten Earth.
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), a self-guiding spacecraft designed to seek out asteroids, was launched early Wednesday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the agency announced Wednesday. Once the DART detaches from the Falcon rocket it will fly millions of miles to find a large asteroid that it will collide with.
“DART is turning science fiction into science fact and is a testament to NASA’s proactivity and innovation for the benefit of all,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in the announcement. “In addition to all the ways NASA studies our universe and our home planet, we’re also working to protect that home, and this test will help prove out one viable way to protect our planet from a hazardous asteroid should one ever be discovered that is headed toward Earth.”
DART’s target is an asteroid called Dimorphos which is located in the Didymos asteroid system. The spacecraft is expected to reach the Didymos system between Sept. 26 and Oct. 1, 2022, and will collide with the asteroid at roughly 4 miles per second, NASA announced.
Researchers will study the effects of the collision on Dimorphos’ orbit and use the data to determine how effective it might be in deflecting a threatening asteroid.
NASA said that the technology is intended to serve as part of a planetary defense strategy that would prevent an asteroid event from causing a mass extinction event on Earth.
“We know a six-mile wide asteroid hitting what is today the Yucatán Peninsula was what wiped out much of life on earth, including the dinosaurs,” Nelson said.
A jail in Kentucky suspiciously reported that seven inmates had overdosed within hours of one another Monday. The inmates, who were all in the same cell, overdosed in three separate incidents, just hours apart, according to Big Sandy Regional Detention Center Administrator Byron Hansford.
“Fortunately, our staff, while doing security checks of the cells, found these individuals and contacted medical staff and they were all treated with Narcan and sent to Paul B. Hall Medical Center,” Hansford said.
All of the inmates who overdosed had only been at the facility for less than six days when the overdoses occurred. Investigators have not yet identified the drugs that caused the overdoses or how the prisoners obtained them.
Four of the inmates have been released from the medical facility and have been returned to the detention center while three inmates are still being treated in the hospital.
“All indications are that they’re fine and should be back in the facility today sometime,” Hansford said Monday.
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) released data Wednesday showing that more than 100,000 have died from drug overdoses between April 2020 and April 2021, up from 78,000 during the previous year. Kentucky in particular saw an increase in overdose deaths by more than 50% from the previous year.
Two doctors in Florence, Kentucky, were indicted in February for their involvement in distributing opioids. The doctors were linked to the overdose deaths of at least six of their former patients.
The White House and the United Nations are requesting “proof” of the whereabouts of a missing Chinese tennis player.
As the tennis world continues to demand answers regarding the whereabouts of missing Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, the United Nations and the White House are putting pressure on China to provide information on the 35-year-old women’s doubles player.
U.N. Human Rights spokesperson Liz Throssell demanded verification of Peng’s “whereabouts and well-being” on Friday.
“What we would say is that it would be important to have proof of her whereabouts and wellbeing, and we would urge that there be an investigation with full transparency into her allegations of sexual assault,” Throssell said.
“According to available information, the former world doubles No. 1 hasn’t been heard from publicly since she alleged on social media that she was sexually assaulted. We would stress that it is important to know where she is and know her state, know about her wellbeing.”
Peng hasn’t been seen in public since accusing former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexually assaulting her three years ago on November 2. Peng’s Weibo account — a Chinese social media network — was disabled after her message was erased about 30 minutes after it was published.
CGTN, a Chinese state-affiliated media firm, released a statement claiming to Peng on Wednesday, in which Peng disputes her claim that Zhang sexually attacked her.
“Hello everyone this is Peng Shuai. Regarding the recent news released on the official website of the WTA, the content has not been confirmed or verified by myself and it was released without my consent,” the statement read in part. “The news in that release, including the allegation of sexual assault, is not true. I’m not missing, nor am I unsafe. I’ve just been resting at home and everything is fine. Thank you again for caring about me.”
In her Friday briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated that the Biden administration is “deeply concerned” about Peng’s abduction.
“We join in the calls for PRC authorities to provide independent and verifiable proof of her whereabouts and that she is safe,” Psaki told reporters. “We know the PRC has zero-tolerance for criticism and a record of silencing those that speak out and we continue to condemn those practices,” Psaki continued.
Following the reported statement by Peng, WTA Chairman and CEO Steve Simon issued a statement on Wednesday calling the situation “concerning.”
“The statement released today by Chinese state media concerning Peng Shuai only raises my concerns as to her safety and whereabouts,” the statement read.
“I have a hard time believing that Peng Shuai actually wrote the email we received or believes what is being attributed to her. Peng Shuai displayed incredible courage in describing an allegation of sexual assault against a former top official in the Chinese government.”
On Friday, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, claimed he was “not aware of the situation”.
A Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin took a scary turn when a car drove into the crowd, and gunshots were fired Sunday.
Videos of the incident began circulating on social media shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday that showed the red car plowing into the crowd at the parade. Gunshots could be heard ringing out from the car.
“As we were walking back in between the buildings, we saw an SUV crossover, just put the pedal to the metal and just zooming full speed along the parade route. And then we heard a loud bang, and just deafening cries and screams from people who were struck by the vehicle,” Angelito Tenorio, an eyewitness of the incident, said.
“And then, and then we saw people running away or stopping crying, and there, there are people on the ground who looked like they’d been hit by the vehicle,” Tenorio added.
Right in front of my family, this man drives through the parade hitting as many people as possible while shooting out the window. He ran over several elderly women who were dancing in the parade and many others please pray for everyone in Waukesha
The parade was shut down and people were being evacuated from the area Sunday evening. A family reunification site was set up nearby for the terrified crowd, Waukesha police said.
As of Sunday evening, the number of injuries and casualties remained unclear.
Emily and Michael Johnson had not planned to record the birth of their second son, Thomas. When Emily went into labor things progressed much more quickly than expected and baby Thomas was delivered on the front lawn of their Vacaville, California home, and as an added bonus, the birth was recorded on their Ring video doorbell.
Emily said that her contractions started on the evening of Nov. 4, and were 10 minutes apart for the first couple of hours. The couple lives only a mile or so from the hospital so Emily and Michael felt “pretty confident” that they had plenty of time to get there.
Emily recalls her contractions suddenly going from 10 minutes apart to five minutes apart and within 10 minutes or so, the contractions were only two minutes apart, then suddenly one minute apart as the Johnsons were trying to get in the car to go to the hospital.
“Once they hit that three, two, one and I’m standing at the car door and they started occurring every 30 seconds, I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m getting in this car, even for a five-minute drive.”
She said she started to sweat and felt nauseous, so she laid down in the grass on the front lawn.
Michael said that when she couldn’t make it to the car, he knew she was going to be giving birth at home.
“As soon as she wouldn’t start moving, it was like, oh OK, this is going to happen here,” Michael said. “I’m not going to be able to get her anywhere.”
Just a few minutes after Emily laid down, her mother pulled up to take care of the Johnsons’ 3-year-old son Blake.
“She was coming to get him,” Emily said. “Not knowing that she was going to have to help us with the delivery.”
When Emily’s mother arrived, they called 9-1-1 and Michael followed the instructions given by a dispatcher while they waited for an ambulance.
“I felt like a cow giving birth in a field,” Emily said. “It was really bizarre and kind of primal. And at the same time, I was so uncomfortable. It was like, I can’t believe this is actually happening.”
She added, “I was just like, ‘Oh my god, I’m giving birth on the lawn. This is not where I want to be.’”
EMTs can be seen in the video arriving just in time to hear Emily’s mom announce that Thomas’ head was out. One of the medics instructed Emily to keep pushing then seconds later, Thomas can be heard crying.
“Hearing him cry… right after he came out was like, ‘we’ve done it,’” Michael said, adding that Thomas’ cries were “very, very reassuring.”
EMTs took Emily and Thomas to the hospital where the mother and baby were just fine.
After things settled down, Michael remembered that while he was running back and forth from the house to the lawn to get towels, he had noticed that the Ring video doorbell was recording.
Once Emily and Thomas were settled at the hospital, Michael looked back through the video and showed it to Emily.
“It caught it all,” Emily said, adding that she was thankful the video wasn’t too clear or detailed and that she had been facing her car instead of the house.
“If I was faced toward the house, the Ring camera wouldn’t have been able to be shared,” Emily said.
Michael added: “It luckily was far enough away where nothing showed.”
Even though the couple had not been planning to record Thomas’ birth, Emily said she’s glad to have the video as a keepsake.
“It’ll just be a cool little family memento that we have of him and his experience,” Emily said, joking that they could show it at his wedding or other big moments in his life.
Emily described the experience as being “really surreal” and said that she’s relieved that no one came out of their house to see what was going on.
“I was very thankful afterwards that it was 10:30 at night and not 10:30 in the morning, when neighbors and delivery trucks are driving by.
