Four workers at a New York group home have been fired after they were found to be causing the disabled residents of the home to fight for their amusement.
The workers shot video of the fights on their cell phones.
Erin McHenry, Justin McDonald, Stephen Komara and Rosemary Vanni are all facing a charge of endangering the welfare of a disabled person along with other individual charges. Bail was set at $10,000 for all but Vanni who did not appear at court and had a warrant issued for her arrest.
The group reportedly made two 50-year-old men who had the mental capacity of preschoolers fight with each other. When one was knocked out of his wheelchair by the others, the workers can be heard on the video praising the one who beat him.
All four workers will likely face prison time if convicted.
In the midst of a bitter cold winter across the country, power operators are calling for voluntary conservation and the turning down of thermostats to protect natural gas levels.
In California, the issue is so severe that operators took the very unusual step of issuing a “Flex Alert” during the winter to ask people to conserve their uses of utilities. A “Flex Alert” is usually sent in the summer when the temperatures are so high that air conditioner use strains the electrical grid.
In the Midwest, the gas shortage is driving prices to levels 33% or more higher than normal for this time of year. One resident in St. Louis says they’re taking steps to keep their thermostats significantly lower after a delivery of 200 gallons of propane, which usually costs around $600, cost him $1,200.
Several U.S. Senators are demanding that federal consumer protection agencies look into the severe price fluctuations that are causing Americans to shut off their gas and heat out of fear of price spikes.
North Dakota authorities are investigating the death of woman who was found in her home with an empty propane tank.
Debbie Dogskin’s body was discovered Tuesday morning at her Fort Yates home located on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.
Temperatures on the reservation dropped to 1 degree below zero overnight according to Sioux County Sheriff Frank Landeis.
Autopsy results are expected today, but Landeis believes Dogskin “froze to death.”
Tribal officials have declared a state of emergency due to about 5,000 homes on the reservation are heated by propane. According to Tribal Chairman, Dave Archambault II, many residents are struggling to afford the more expensive fuel due to the high prices.
Due to the nationwide propane shortage, the National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) asked the federal energy regulator to order more supplies to create more propane. The additional orders will come from an Enterprise Product Partners Pipeline.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) stated in a notice that the association asked Enterprise, one of the biggest suppliers of propane in the country, to supply 75,000 barrel per day (bpd) of propane along its TE Products pipeline running from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast. Service will start immediately until the end of the first week of March.
“NPGA submits that due to unique weather and other circumstances beyond control of shipers, propane supplies throughout the country, particularly the Midwest and Northeast, have reached dangerously low levels,” the FERC notice said.
Millions of Americans throughout the Northeast and Midwest have suffered from the shortage during this record breaking cold winter season.
Several state officials are investigating price gouging, trying to increase aid to low-income customers, and taking action against vendors due to propane shortages.
Midwestern and Southern residents are struggling to keep warm with the rising prices or supply cutoffs from propane distributors.
A major propane supplier in Kentucky was forced to stop delivering to commercial customers in several states after Kentucky’s attorney general was given an injunction against the company.
Missouri’s Justice Department and was asked by lawmakers to investigate rising propane prices. Missouri’s attorney general will be helping in the investigation as well.
A letter detailing concerns and actions of dealers was released by the Missouri Propane Association.
Colorado Senator Greg Brophy wants state officials to declare a state of emergency to assist families with skyrocketing propane prices.
Due to the many winter storms, many low-income families have maxed out their heating assistance benefits yet need more to continue staying warm throughout the winter.
Propane prices have risen by as much as 350% during this winter season across the United States. Residents of Colorado claim prices rose from approximately $2.50 a gallon to $5 a gallon and are expected to keep rising.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder announced today that state administration is taking action to assist residents who have been affected by the ongoing propane shortage.
The Department of Human Services and legislature are working together to dedicate $7 million to the Low Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program in addition to another $7 million that was devoted to heating assistance from the Michigan Energy Assistance Program.
A loan program is also being initialized to help propane dealers and distributors who are struggling to meet demand by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
Additionally, the state is pushing for increased propane supply. More than 1.3 million gallons of propane have been delivered to the state this week.
Security critics are raising the alarm about a new surveillance system that can track all the citizens and vehicles in a small city at the same time.
Dayton, Ohio based Persistent Surveillance Systems has been demonstrating a system where a low flying aircraft continually monitors traffic and humans in a wide area. While the system cannot show individual details like hair color, the motion of the objects and their travel locations can help police and federal agents identify and track civilians.
The system does not require a warrant from a judge to be used for tracking an individual.
Defense contractors are working on similar systems for military use but the PSS unit is designed to be used by civilian sources as well.
Ross McNutt of PSS says that a single camera from their system mounted on the top of the Washington Monument would allow police to monitor and track every person and vehicle that uses or approaches the National Mall. He says the devices could help police make a significant dent in crime levels.
The National Security Agency “probably” has been collecting the phone records of Congressmen and Senators.
Deputy Attorney General James Cole admitted under questioning from lawmakers of the House Judiciary Committee that the NSA likely tracked the calls in and out of Congressional offices.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Ca.) asked Cole if they collected information from the prefixes used to call congressional offices.
“We probably do, Mr. Congressman,” Cole answered. “But we’re not allowed to look at any of those, however, unless we have a reasonable, articulable suspicion that those numbers are related to a known terrorist threat.”
While most security observers were not surprised that the spying had been happening, they were surprised that a member of the Justice Department admitted it so openly in a public hearing.
NSA Director Keith Alexander has previously told Senator Bernie Sanders that nothing the NSA did could be considered spying on members of Congress.
The rate of abortions in the United States has fallen to its lowest level since 1973.
The Guttmacher Institute, which supports legal abortion, released a report Monday showing that 1.06 million children died via abortion in 2011. The number of abortions in 2008 was 1.2 million.
The abortion rate for women in the U.S. between 15 and 44 years old was 16.9 per 1,000 women. It was the lowest rate since 16.3 in 1973 and well below the record high of 29.3 in 1981.
The report also included some information that doesn’t support those calling recently passed abortion regulations a barrier to women. According to the Guttmacher’s information, the decline in abortions had no connection to the recent decline in abortion clinics.
Rachel Jones, the report’s lead author, said the drop in abortions is connected to a decline in overall pregnancy and birth rates.
However, Carol Tobias of the National Right To Life Committee, said the overall drop in abortions is connected to the pro-life movement’s lobbying and legislative efforts. Tobias said it shows women are rejecting the idea of abortion as an answer to unplanned pregnancies.