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(11/28/17 10:11am)
By Joanne Kim
Staff Writer
Roy Moore, a 70-year-old Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat in Alabama, allegedly initiated sexual encounters with a 14-year-old girl when he was in his 30’s. Moore strongly denied that allegation and other alleged sexual encounters with teenage girls, according to The Washington Post.
Moore was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney when he allegedly met 14-year-old Leigh Corfman sitting on a bench in Etowah County, Alabama with her mother, Nancy Wells. As he chatted with Corfman, Moore learned Wells would be attending a child custody hearing. Wells said Moore offered to watch Corfman during the court proceedings.
“I thought, how nice for him to want to take care of my little girl,” Wells said.
Eventually Moore asked Corfman for her phone number.
Moore picked Corfman up from a street corner on their first visit without her mother’s knowledge, according to Corfman on Today.
Corfman assumed they would be meeting romantically. Though her friends warned her against seeing an older man, she went along with Moore’s plans, according to Today.
Moore drove Corfman to his home, complimented her repeatedly, and began to kiss her, according to Today.
On the second visit, Moore allegedly laid down blankets on the floor and took off his own clothes and eventually Corfman’s, according to Today.
“I was expecting candlelight and roses, and what I got was very different,” Corfman said, according to Today.
He touched her over her underwear and bra and guided her to touch him over his underwear, according to Today.
“Please just get this over with,” Corfman thought, according to The Washington Post.
Other women say Moore pursued them when he was in his early 30’s. Wendy Miller claimed he asked her out on a date when she was 16 years old. Debbie Wesson Gibson also said Moore asked her out when she was 17 years old. Gloria Thacker claimed she was 18 years old when she began dating Moore, according to The Washington Post.
In a written statement, Moore called these allegations “a desperate political attack by the National Democrat Party and the Washington Post on this campaign.”
John Skipper, a former chair of the Mobile County Republican Party, is a firm supporter of Moore, according to The New York Times.
“Most of (the Alabama Republicans he knew) will not be shocked and will rather be expecting these shenanigans being pulled by the Democrats as standard operating procedure,” Skipper said, according to The New York Times.
Corfman voted Republican in the last three presidential elections. She confessed she decided against confronting Moore in his first campaign for supreme court justice of Alabama in 2000. She was worried about how it would affect her two children still in school, according to The Washington Post.
Republicans are aware Moore could lose voter support.
Some senators like Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado want to expel Moore if he wins the election, according to Politico.
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a member of the Republican Party, feels Moore should voluntarily step down if the allegations are true, according to The Atlantic.
“I believe the women,” McConnell said, according to The Atlantic.
(11/14/17 3:15am)
By Joanne Kim
Staff Writer
More than 26 churchgoers were killed, and 20 were injured in a shooting on Monday, Nov. 6, at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. The youngest victim was only 18 months old, according to CBS.
The shooter was identified as 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley, a white male with a criminal record. Kelley had been charged and convicted twice for assaulting his ex-wife and stepson, for which he was court-martialed and discharged with bad conduct from the U.S. Air Force. Kelley served 12 months of confinement before his release in 2014, according to The Washington Post.
Federal law should have prevented Kelley as a convicted domestic abuser from purchasing or possessing firearms, according to The Washington Post.
Yet federal authorities were not aware of his criminal history since the Air Force did not report his prior charges, according to CBS.
The Air Force launched an internal review to find out why Kelley’s criminal record was not correctly stated, The Washington Post reported.
The motivation behind the shooting is unclear. Authorities have ruled out race or religious beliefs as motivators, according to Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director Freeman Martin.
Authorities noted at the time of the shooting, the gunman was having issues with his relatives that worship at the church, CBS reported.
Kelley also sent “threatening texts” to his mother-in-law who was not at church when the shootings started, according to The Washington Post.
The Ruger AR-556 rifle used in the shooting was purchased from an Academy Sports & Outdoors outlet in San Antonio, Texas, according to National Review.
The incident ended when armed civilians tried to distract Kelley as he left the church, CBS reported. It is not certain whether Kelley was wounded by the resulting car crash or a civilian.
An Air Force couple, Robert and Karen Marshall, was in the process of trying out different churches when they went to the First Baptist Church the day of the shooting, according to CBS. Their son, Scott, and daughter-in-law, Karen, were also visiting the church for the first time. The grandmother of Kelley’s wife, Lula White, was also killed in the shooting.
Kelley suffered three gunshot wounds after the shooting. Kelley was shot twice by a citizen and once by himself, according to Texas law enforcement authorities.
"While the details of this horrific act are still under investigation, Cecilia and I want to send our sincerest thoughts and prayers to all those who have been affected by this evil act," said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, according to KSAT.
(11/06/17 9:31pm)
By Joanne Kim
Staff Writer
Protesters from a “White Lives Matter” rally attacked an interracial couple on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 28, at Corner Pub in Brentwood, Tennessee, according to The Washington Post. A brawl broke out in a suburban bar following the second unsuccessful ‘White Lives Matter’ rally.
The protesters did not show up for a second planned rally in Murfreesboro, after they were outnumbered by counter-protesters in the first rally in Shelbyville, The Washington Post reported.
That same Saturday evening, a group of 20 to 30 white nationalists entered the Corner Pub Brentwood and started verbally and physically assaulting a biracial couple while they were eating dinner, according to The Tennessean. Police said calls poured in soon around 9:15 p.m. once the harassment escalated into a brawl.
Annelise Werme was a bar patron that witnessed the events. Werme had went to Brentwood to escape the rally in Murfreesboro, when white nationalists entered the same establishment as her sometime before 10:15 p.m., according to her post on Facebook.
Werme uploaded a video to Facebook of the brawl after it had escalated out onto the streets.
“It broke out into a huge fight with them busting open the face of the white girl who was furious with them for harassing them,” Werme said on Facebook. “I honestly can’t believe this is happening. My heart hurts. I’m shaking and trying not to cry.”
On Tuesday, Oct. 31, Ku Klux Klan members joined another White Lives Matter rally in Shelbyville, USA Today reported.
Among the white nationalists, there’s a split over support from the Klu Klux Klan. Brad Griffin, a League of the South member, felt having members of the Ku Klux Klan was “too much,” USA Today reported.
"I didn't want to start a scene with the KKK in Shelbyville. The whole point of this was to do something peaceful,” Griffin said, according to USA Today.
Members of the National Socialist Movement with “SS” bolt patches and swastika tattoos also attended the rally, USA Today reported.
Nathan Damigo, the founder of Identity Evropa, an alt-right white nationalist group, according to USA Today, believed the white nationalist symbols and tactics hurt their cause more than helped it.
"Today’s #WhiteLivesMatter protest was cringe. Self indulgent extremism is pure anti-propaganda. It’s unmarketable and a serious dead end,” Damigo tweeted.
Many white nationalists want to forgo the Ku Klux Klan and Nazi imagery in an effort to better appeal to the masses.
"This is what the infighting is about," said Marilyn Mayo, a senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism, according to USA Today. "It's about the people on one side who embrace National Socialism, who embrace the Klan, who embrace symbols of extremism, and those on the other side who really want to show a sort of suit-and-tie or khaki-and-polo-shirt version of the extremist movement."
(10/24/17 12:52am)
By Joanne Kim
Staff Writer
The last traces of Hurricane Nate will soon be forgotten, as cleanup crews begin to pick up swathes of debris on West Beach, Alabama, on Oct. 18, according to WKRG.
Hurricane Nate went from a tropical storm to hurricane on Oct. 6, according to CNBC. It became stronger as it passed through Central America and the Gulf of Mexico.
Cleanup crews begin to pick up swathes of debris on West Beach, Alabama (envato elements).
CNBC reported that on Oct. 8, Hurricane Nate’s presence shut down about 90 percent of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. Approximately 95,000 customers across Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi had no power. Around the same time, energy companies turned off the tap water system, and workers were evacuated to prepare for the hurricane.
Fortunately President Andrew Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates said the damage to the energy infrastructure overall was “very minor” past the weekend, according to CNBC.
CNN reported that the storm has already killed at least 28 people in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras by the time it hit North America mainland.
The hurricane made two landfalls, once in Mississippi as a Category one storm and then in Alabama, according to CBS.
President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in Alabama, Tennessee and Louisiana, according to CNN.
In Mobile, Alabama, many people were collecting storm debris through a trash pickup routine. It is not to the point where these people need a special pickup plan, since there isn’t too much storm debris left over, according to the city in Alabama.
Cleanup is taking the residents of Dauphin Island, Alabama more time than initially expected because of the storm. The town of Dauphin Island posted on Facebook that they are still in the midst of cleaning up three miles of the closed Bienville Boulevard.
Dauphin Island as of Tuesday, Oct. 17, was still cleaning up, as residents start to trickle back into their homes, according to WKRG.
As for Mobile, the water level grew four feet above usual tides, according to The Weather Channel.
The National Hurricane Center said that Hurricane Nate turned into a tropical depression on Oct. 8 and ceased all warnings associated with the storm.
CNN reported that Hurricane Nate was the third hurricane to hit the United States in succession after Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.
Victims were less fortunate, as The New York Times reported that people in Texas and Florida are still waiting for FEMA to assist them.
Hurricane season is still not over. It will last until Nov. 30, according to CNN.
(10/24/17 12:42am)
By Joanne Kim
Staff Writer
A 38-year-old model-actress from Italy was the sixth woman to accuse movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, according to the Los Angeles Times.
BBC reported that Weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of other women as well. Actresses Asia Argento, Rose McGowan, Lysette Anthony and Lucia Evans have also publicly accused Weinstein of rape.
Weinstein has been fired for his misconduct from the production company he cofounded, Weinstein Co., according to Forbes.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the model-actress on Oct. 12 gave her statement to Los Angeles police detectives. The alleged crime falls within the 10-year statute of limitations. If evidence exists, the prosecution can use this case to discuss rape, and potentially criminally charge Weinstein.
Weinstein has denied all allegations of rape, according to BBC.
The 38-year-old model-actress said the alleged incident occurred at the Mr. C Beverly Hills Hotel, according to the Los Angeles Times. It happened after she had attended the eighth annual Los Angeles, Italian Film, Fashion and Art Fest in February 2013.
The Los Angeles Times reported after the film fest, Weinstein was said to have showed up unexpectedly at the lobby of the woman’s hotel. Weinstein asked her if he can come up to her room. She said she told him no and offered to meet him downstairs. But then Weinstein knocked at her door.
“He … bullied his way into my hotel room, saying, ‘I’m not going to (have sex with) you, I just want to talk,’” the woman said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Once inside, he asked me questions about myself, but soon became very aggressive and demanding and kept asking to see me naked. He grabbed me by the hair and forced me to do something I did not want to do. He then dragged me to the bathroom and forcibly raped me.”
Finally, Weinstein left, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“It was the most demeaning thing ever done to me by far. It sickens me still. … He made me feel like an object, like nothing with all his power,” the woman said.
The allegations BBC compiled speak of Weinstein using his influence in the movie industry as a threat against women at the start of their careers.
The Los Angeles Times said the model-actress only persevered through the fear of retaliation to tell this story because of her daughter. When her daughter told her a boy had been mistreating her, the model-actress told her daughter about this incident to comfort her and get her daughter to report the mistreatment. The daughter pointed out the mother should report Weinstein by the same logic.
The Washington Post reported that Twitter campaigns like #MeToo showed consolidation for victims by affirming many other instances of sexual assault.
The trend of sexual misconduct is still prevalent in the Hollywood movie industry, as USA Today reported that 38 women as of Sunday, Oct. 22, have accused director James Toback of sexual harassment.
(10/17/17 7:34am)
By Joanne Kim
Staff Writer
Tens of thousands of people on Oct. 1 marched in Hong Kong in support of the city’s continued autonomy from China. This “anti-authoritarian rule” march called out against totalitarianism on the 68th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, according to CNN.
The civilians of Hong Kong called out for the release of three ‘Umbrella Movement’ leaders, Alex Chow, Nathan Law and Joshua Wong, to be released from prison.
CNN reported that the protesters, respectively 26, 24 and 20 years old, helped hundred of thousands of people protest for a democracy that better directly included the people. Initially, the three protest organizers were supposed to serve noncustodial sentences and do community work for their crimes.
The Department of Justice, specifically Justice Secretary Rimsky Yuen, pushed for the incarceration of the three young democracy activists to prison, according to CNN.
Reuters reported that Yuen overruled several other prosecutors to put the democracy activists in prison.
“We believe (Yuen) has been the key orchestrator in destroying Hong Kong’s justice,” said Avery Ng, a rally organizer, according to Reuters.
The protesters wanted Yuen to resign for the harsh punishment along for their voices to be heard by the government.
“Without democracy, how can we have the rule of law!” yelled the 40,000 people gathered in the streets, according to Reuters.
CNN reported that Wong echoed a similar sentiment on Twitter demonstrating resilience expected of someone dubbed the “face of the protest."
"They can silence protests, remove us from the legislature and lock us up," Wong posted on Twitter. "But they will not win the hearts and minds of Hong Kongers."
Never before has the law come under such scrutiny by the public.
It is odd considering that Reuters reported that the Hong Kong judiciary system is considered to be one of the best legal systems in Asia.
“It’s like mainland (Chinese) laws have intruded into Hong Kong,” Alex Ha, a classical guitar teacher who happened to be walking alone in the crowd, told Reuters.
Reuters reported that Hong Kong’s judicial independence ranking has been downgraded to 13 in the whole world.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam of Hong Kong remains optimistic for unity in the territory’s future, according to Reuters.
“As long as we capitalize on our strengths, stay focused, seize the opportunities before us and stand united, I am sure that Hong Kong can reach even greater heights,” Lam said.
(09/19/17 1:19am)
By Joanne Kim
Correspondent
Hurricane Irma is coming close to causing destruction to Florida, Georgia and other states in its path. The winds from Irma started coming down on the Tampa Bay, Florida area during the evening of Sunday, Sept. 10, according to The New York Times.
Hurricane Irma has started heading north since early Sunday, Sept. 10. As the eye gets closer, it will only get more dangerous as it is accompanied by a deadly storm surge, according to The Washington Post.
CNBC reported that Hurricane Irma spanned the west coast from Tampa to St. Petersburg, Florida.
The winds from Irma started coming down on the Tampa Bay, Florida area (envato elements).
Hurricane Irma made its first landfall on Sunday, Sept. 10, at 9:10 a.m. at Cudjoe Key. The storm was moving at eight miles per hour, while winds blew close to 130 miles per hour. The second landfall occurred at Marco Island at 3:35 p.m. the same day, according to The Washington Post.
Tampa was hit the same Sunday late in the night. The wind reached up to 100 miles per hour, according to The New York Times.
St. Petersburg was hit with wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour on Sept. 10 as well, according to The Times.
Irma’s maximum sustained wind speed was 185 miles per hour. It came close to breaking the record set by Hurricane Allen with wind speeds up to 190 miles per hour, according to The Washington Post.
Hurricane Irma did break West Palm Beach’s rain record of 3 inches set in 1904 by an additional 1.18 inches however, according to Palm Beach Post.
Because of the heavy damage, 4.4 million Florida Power and Light customers were without power as of Sept. 13, according to NPR.
Victims may be without electricity for days or weeks, relying solely on phone battery to stay updated on the storm, according to The Times.
Due to the storm, more than 5 million people were trying to find a place to live as of Sept. 11, according to The Washington Post.
The American Red Cross, Airbnb, and Unicef were collecting donations for the victims of Hurricane Irma as of Sept. 11, according to NJ.com.
Recommended donations are water, non-perishable food, toiletries and cleaning supplies, according to the Atlanta Community Food Bank.
To help low income families in the path of Irma, the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services made food stamps available before schedule. Georgian recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program can access September benefits through electronics benefits transfer cards as of Sept. 11, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.