A teenage boy ran through his high school with two ordinary kitchen knives, slashing and stabbing anyone who came across his path.
By the time 16-year-old Alex Hribal was finished, 22 people had been wounded including at least three facing critical injuries.
Witnesses say that Hribal, who was described as “quiet and unassuming”, tackled a freshman to the ground in what looked like a typical fistfight. Nate Moore, a classmate of Hribal, said he went in to break it up when he discovered Hribal was actually stabbing the victim in the stomach.
Hribal then slashed Moore’s face and started his rampage.
An assistant principal at Franklin Regional High School, 15 miles east of Pittsburgh, tackled Hribal and held him until others could help subdue him.
Police say Hribal is facing four counts of attempted murder and 18 counts of aggravated assault. He will reportedly be tried as an adult.
His lawyers are asking for a psychological evaluation. Witnesses say during the assault that Hribal’s face stayed completely expressionless and police say he has only commented that he wants to die.
A man who calls himself a contract killer reportedly confessed to police of killing at least 40 people.
Jose Manuel Martinez, 51, told investigators that he was an enforcer for a drug cartel and carried out multiple murders at the command of the cartel leaders. Martinez is facing a trial in Alabama on a single murder charge and then a trial in California for at least nine others.
Martinez was arrested last year as he was crossing the border into Arizona.
Errek Jett, district attorney for Lawrence County, Alabama, said that he believes Martinez because he told investigators details that only the killer would be able to know.
Florida officials also say they want to question Martinez in connection with gang related murders in their states.
Police say that the possibility Martinez was the killer came to light during an investigation into a series of home invasion robberies in 2012.
A kindergartner whose school accused her of making up a story that a staff member told her not to pray over her lunch has been vindicated when the young girl was able to identify the person who told her to stop praying.
Gabriella Perez had told her parents Marcos & Kathy that when she tried to pray over one of her lunches at school last week a staff member told her not to do it and that it was not good for someone to pray.
The parents contacted the principal of the school who said she informed teachers of the rights of a student to pray. However, all the teachers said they did not know of such an incident happening and the school spokesman insisted there was a “miscommunication” on the part of the child.
“The situation as stated by the parent has not occurred according to the school’s investigation,” Michael Lawrence of Seminole County Schools told WKMG-TV.
Now, after the school was approached by lawyers from the Liberty Institute representing the family, a new investigation is being launched after Gabriella was able to positively identify a lunch monitor out of a lineup as the one who told her that she had to stop praying.
“My goal throughout this process has been to defend my daughter’s religious liberty,” Marcos Perez said in a statement. “I am thankful that the school now believes that something clearly happened when my daughter attempted to say grace, and are taking swift action to correct the situation.”
An investigation by the New York Post has discovered the New York State Health Department has been negligent in their inspections of the state’s abortion clinics.
The report says that some facilities have not been inspected for violations in over a decade. The report also says that only 25 centers that provide abortions are regulated by the health department while pro-abortion supporters say that there are 225 abortion providers within the state.
The inspection reports show that 8 of the 25 clinics were never inspected between 2000-2012. Five had only one inspection and another eight only two or three times in the 12-year span. In all, a total of only 45 inspections were held during the 12-year period.
By comparison, state law requires all restaurants to be inspected once a year and every tanning salon once every two years.
A state Health Department employee told the Post that some facilities that perform abortions are not required to list that service in their operating certificates. In the case of places that do list abortion as a service, only one clinic had a legal action taken in the last 12 years.
The Air Force is taking another step to remove any Christian emblems from being displayed anywhere on their bases.
This time, they removed a memorial to men missing in action because the display contained a Bible.
A veteran who visited the base discovered the Missing Man Table at Patrick Air Force Base removed last week. The Missing Man Table is a remembrance of soldiers who are missing. The table consists traditionally of an inverted glass, a red rose and a Bible among other items.
When questioned on the disappearance, the Air Force admitted they removed the display because there was a Bible in it.
The Air Force replaced the display with a POW/MIA flag while they claimed to be seeking “an acceptable solution” to the controversy they created with the removal and targeting of the Christian holy book as the removal of the display.
Officials say they plan to return the display but did not say if they would allow the Bible to be returned to its rightful place in the display.
A new report shows that power outages in the United States increased 15% in 2013.
The Eaton Blackout Tracker Annual Report showed that for the 5th straight year California lead the nation in power outages. Texas finished second followed by Michigan. The average length of a power outage last year was 86 minutes leading to an average cost per blackout of $690,200.
“The Blackout Tracker Annual Report illustrates the scope and severity of power outages across the country and the serious consequences that can arise for businesses when the lights go out,” said Mike DeCamp, senior marketing communications manager for Eaton’s Power Quality Division. “With electrical power outages, surges and spikes estimated to cost the U.S. economy $150 billion, it’s more important than ever for companies of all sizes to invest in reliable power backup solutions.”
The White House weighed in on the impact of the 2013 blackouts as a way to encourage people to have a backup power source. The White House said the blackouts caused by harsh weather cost the economy up to $33 billion a year.
The report also included some of the wackiest reasons for blackouts. In Redondo Beach, Caliifornia, wild parrots who roosted on an overhead line knocked out power to 6,100 customers for over three hours. A man who went on a rampage with a bulldozer in Clallam County, Washington took out a 70 foot electric pole and left thousands in the dark for hours.
Imprisoned pastor Saeed Abedini is finally receiving hospital treatment for internal injuries suffered at the hands of his captors in Iranian prisons.
Naghmeh Abedini told Faith Radio her husband is finally being given decent meals and pain medication to deal with this wounds. He had been transferred to a hospital from Rajai Shahr prison, called Iran’s deadliest prison.
However, Saeed reportedly still needs to undergo surgery.
Iran backed off and called a “mistake” their recent actions where they shackled Abedini and denied him any medical treatment. The reversal came after a worldwide outcry of abuse.
His lawyers with the American Center for Law and Justice say the Iranian guards are still blocking visitors.
Mississippi legislators have passed a bill that would protect the freedom of religion for Christians and other people of faith.
The law would allow people of faith to challenge state actions that put substantial burden on the free exercise of their religion.
“State action or an action by any person based on state action shall not burden a person’s right to exercise of religion, even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability,” reads the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, SB 2681.
The bill passed the house and senate on the same day. The House approved the bill 79-43 while the Senate voted 37-14.
Senator Gary Jackson said that those opposing the bill claiming it would open the door to discrimination were just yelling loudly to try and frighten people because they did not have a good argument to stand in the way of protecting religious freedom.
The number one chicken franchise in the United States is no longer KFC.
The yearly reports of the “chicken quick service restaurant segment” show that Chick-Fil-A has surpassed KFC for total sales in the United States. Chick-Fil-A’s sales in 2013 totaled $5 billion compared to $4.22 billion for KFC.
What makes the move so remarkable to Wall Street and business leaders around the country is Chick-Fil-A’s refusal to open on Sunday because of their Christian values. Analysts say that the company loses hundreds of millions in revenue by staying closed on Sunday when competitors are still open.
The company also had a significant disadvantage in terms of stores. KFC had 4,491 stores in the U.S. last year compared to 1,775 for Chick-Fil-A. That’s also with Chick-Fil-A being based in the south and residents of the northern part of the United States not even exposed to their product.
Chick-Fil-A announced plans for 100 new restaurants in 2014 and also plans to expand to the “northern, Midwest and western states.”
CEO Dan Cathy gives all credit for the company’s success to God alone.
The Obama administration spied on Americans without warrants.
The head of U.S. intelligence admitted that the National Security Agency spied on ordinary Americans as part of their operations to target communications on foreigners located outside the United States.
“Senior officials have sometimes suggested that government agencies do not deliberately read Americans’ emails, monitor their online activity or listen to their phone calls without a warrant,” Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Udall of Colorado said in a joint statement. “However, the facts show that those suggestions were misleading, and that intelligence agencies have indeed conducted warrantless searches for Americans’ communications.”
Intelligence officials say the searches are necessary to try and detect terrorism activity by Americans living and working abroad.
“If a government agency thinks that a particular American is engaged in terrorism or espionage, the Fourth Amendment requires that the government secure a warrant or emergency authorization before monitoring his or her communications,” Wyden and Udall said.