There used to be a time, not so long ago, when police officers were respected as the heroes they are. Lately however, whenever we see police officers featured on the evening news, it is because they have done something wrong.

That’s not to say that many of these corrupt cops haven’t earned our derision, but the majority of them are still the dedicated protectors of the public peace. Many of them, especially those presented here, are every bit the heroes we want them to be…

These Ordinary Police Officers Transformed Themselves Into Heroic Legends is an article from: LifeDaily

Judge Hears Parents Strange Request After Confronting Their Daughters’ Killer In Court is an article from: LifeDaily

You’d be surprised how many stories occur on a bright sunny day in the middle of the week. Of course, those that occur under cover of darkness or by the light of a full moon are a might more dramatic. Our story begins in the latter way, on a dark and snowy night.

A blizzard had fallen over Lake Elmo, Minnesota just as Susan was finishing up her late shift at the local KMart. As she prepared to head home around 9 pm, neither Susan, nor her friendly coworkers would have any idea what dangers awaited her out in the night….

Teenager’s Secret Rendezvous During Blizzard Ends In Her Mysterious Demise is an article from: LifeDaily

Domestic exploitation is something that transverses cultural borders, religion or culture. Countless spouses suffer ongoing and sustained adversity, often too scared to speak out and get the help they so desperately need because they are fearful of what retribution might befall them if they dared to say anything.

When you think of domestic abuse and violence, you usually picture an angry husband taking the day’s frustrations out on his wife. But what about when those rules are reversed and it was the poor husband who got the brunt of it?

Ongoing 12-Year Domestic Injustice Against Husband Blamed On Alcohol is an article from: LifeDaily

Knowing where you come from is an important part of life for many people. To know ones ancestral roots, where their DNA originates from, and where their forefathers hail from is information that most individuals want to know.

With the advent of websites like Ancestry.com, in this modern age of technology, it’s now possible to send off your DNA and receive a detailed profile of where your family originated from many moons ago. But how accurate is this technology, and how sure can you be that the results you get are legit?

Botched DNA Test Results Raise Tough Questions For Ancestry.com is an article from: LifeDaily

One of the things that’s easy to take for granted is that everyone has access to the same information we do. With more and more people gaining access to the internet around the world, it’s becoming more and more true.

But there are still places in the world where access to the internet, not to mention specialized forms of education, can be a bit behind. For one scientist, it was imperative that someone fight to educate and inspire the youth of her nation.

Featured photo credit: www.indiegogo.com

Scientist Makes History While Fighting To Educate Her People is an article from: LifeDaily

We call dogs “man’s best friend” for good reason. People keep all different kinds of animals as pets and many prefer other species over dogs but no matter your preferences. Even if you don’t like dogs at all, it’s impossible to deny the loyalty of a canine companion.

In most situations, that loyalty shows itself as nothing more than an excited greeting at the end of the day and maybe some protective barking at a strange noise. But in one dire circumstance, one dog would demonstrate just how far canine loyalty goes…

Elderly Dog Proves His Worth As Man’s Best Friend When Little Girl Goes Missing is an article from: LifeDaily

Dogs are often called ‘man’s best friend’, but anyone who has ever owned a dog knows that the bond between a human and their four-legged companion goes much deeper than friendship.

When a Florida family’s lives were threatened in a sickening attack, their 9-month-old pit bull put his life on the line to warn and save them. In order to return the favor, the family was about to make a heartbreaking decision until the community stepped up to give the hero dog what he deserved…

Community Rallies Behind Injured Pit Bull When They Discover His Heroic Act is an article from: LifeDaily

From the moment her daughter had come into the world on Valentine’s Day, Anna knew that she would be the love of her life. She vowed from that moment that she would do absolutely anything for her child. Little did she know what that vow would ultimately mean for her family.

She couldn’t have predicted the lengths she would go to for her daughter, nor how much both their lives would be affected by that decision. We all go through crazy lengths for our children. We want to help them no matter how much they have screwed stuff up in their lives. Anna was willing to help her daughter in much the same way, but as far as I’m concerned, buying her drugs might have been going a bit too far…

Her Terrible Addiction

Michelle was not doing great and her mother Anna thought she knew why. Her daughter was struggling with something she never could have imagined, an addiction to a drug that could potentially consume her body and soul. Before she could confront her about it, Michelle came home from work to tell her mom that not only had she been self-medicating with opioids since she was a teenager, but that it had become too expensive for her to keep up with it and she’d moved onto heroin: a much cheaper alternative. That day, Anna made a decision, she was going to help her daughter by helping her buy drugs…

Mother Attempts To Help Her Daughter’s Secret Addiction By Going To Dangerous Extremes is an article from: LifeDaily

Crowd of Strangers Restore Homeless Veteran’s Faith After Tragedy Brings Him To The Edge is an article from: LifeDaily

Everyone loves a hero. Whether it’s a superhero, like we see in all our Hollywood blockbusters lately, a selfless firefighter, or a dedicated cop willing to do whatever it takes to uphold the law and keep people safe.

We look up to these people because it gives us hope that there is good in this world that so often tries to throw all the bad in our faces. What many of us don’t understand though, is that anyone can be a hero. Even those who themselves don’t believe they can…

Hero and Father

Officer Thompson was an LA patrolman who had served on the force for nearly three decades. He was a dedicated officer, a family man, and a loyal friend to all those who knew him. One of the responsibilities he had within the LAPD over the years, was as a bomb technician. It was a skill that would come in handy one day.

Christmas Commute

It was a chilly December day: Christmas day to be exact, and Officer Thompson was headed towards the precinct. He didn’t always work Christmas, but every now and then he was glad to pick up the overtime and holiday pay that came along with the special detail…

Afternoon Shift

It wasn’t as if he had missed Christmas breakfast or anything either. He didn’t have to go into work until after 2:00 p.m. So, after spending some quality holiday time with his loving family, Officer Thompson got into his uniform and headed out onto the 405 Freeway.

Southbound

Officer Thompson was driving southbound on the 405 Freeway, just south of the 101 Freeway, when he noticed something odd happening on the northbound side of the road. A car was driving erratically, careening back and forth across lanes with abandon. It was clear they’d lost control…

Crash and Burn

The out-of-control vehicle on the northbound 405 had crashed headfirst into the center divider and stopped. A moment later, and the car burst into flames, with the driver still inside. Even from the officer’s vantage point, he could tell the driver was unconscious.

Most People…

Most people who found themselves in such a situation, would follow their instincts. They’d do whatever they could to get as far away from the potentially explosive car as fast as humanly possible. Luckily for the flaming wreck’s unconscious driver, Don Thompson was not most people…

To Their Aid

The officer stopped his vehicle and ran to the aid of the unconscious driver trapped in his burning vehicle. Don Thompson was never the type to shy away from helping people, let alone citizens who were in his charge. He was on shift and a person needed help, so he did the only sensible thing…

Sensible Actions

Officer Thompson walked towards the car with one single-minded purpose. He was going to rescue the driver while other passing motorists called 911. It was, as we said earlier, the only sensible thing for a police officer to do. But first he had to figure out how he’d get him out without burning himself…

Forced Open

Thompson was unable to find a way into the car that didn’t involve him being burnt, so he opted for what was his last remaining plan Z: open the crushed and red hot car door with his bare hands. After a few attempts, he forced open the badly damaged front door.

Goin’ In

It happened in the space of a few minutes, but Don probably thought it felt like mere seconds. He had wrenched open the car door and climbed into the boiling inferno to grab the driver, but there was a problem, his seat belt had become hopelessly locked tight. The driver was trapped by his own safety mechanism…

Cut the Belt

More and more arid smoke began to fill the vehicle. Flames had engulfed the entirety of the front seat and Officer Thompson was almost as trapped as the man he had come to save. He grabbed his pocket knife off his belt and started to slice into the tough nylon seatbelt.

Pulled Free

Outside the car, several other motorists had seen the fire and stopped to help. Some were on their cell phones, talking to emergency personnel, and others were nearer still, waiting for any opening they might need to jump in and assist the officer. A moment later and Thompson’s knife hit home. The seatbelt was cut but something inside the car was rumbling…

Explosion

Two of the other would-be rescuers grabbed hold of the man and helped Officer Thompson drag him from the car. They did it in just the nick of time too. No sooner had the officer and driver been laid out on the pavement, the fire spread throughout the entire car, engulfing it completely in crimson flames.

Burned Badly

If the officer had been a second slower, neither he, nor the driver would have escaped the burning death cage with their lives. As it was, the car fire was already the sort of fire that only the most accomplished action hero stuntman could escape from. Officer Thompson was no action hero, and his rescue attempt resulted in some rather bad burns…

Back to Work

Thompson suffered severe first and second degree burns and a bit of a sore throat thanks to the smoke inhalation, but he was otherwise perfectly alright. After being treated for his burns though, and taking a few days off, Don was back at work. He had shrugged off the day’s death-defying rescue as merely “all in a day’s work.”

Do It Again

When asked if he would suffer the burns again or take such a risk to save someone’s life, he replied with an equally badass answer: one befitting such an act of badassery. “If I am physically capable of doing it I would give it my best.” His accolades for the act were far from over, however…

Highest Honor

Sometime later, Officer Thompson was one of thirteen public safety officers awarded the Medal of Valor by President Obama. This medal is the highest honor for public safety officers and is awarded specifically to those officers who have exhibited exceptional courage in their attempts to save or protect others from harm. He was even invited to the White House to receive the honor.

Sign of the Times

Looking back to the ceremony, Officer Thompson had something to say about the world we live in. “We live in a time where people don’t care much about each other and we need to start caring about each other a bit more.” Wise words from a truly great man…

Not a Hero

Since that day, Thompson has received various awards besides the Medal of Valor. He has been recognized many times for his selflessly heroic actions that day. And yet, he doesn’t consider himself a hero. “Deep down inside I don’t really feel as if I’m a hero…I did something to help someone in a time of need.”

Keep in Touch

There’s an additional happy ending to the story as well. Officer Don Thompson and the unnamed but very grateful driver remain in contact to this day. It just goes to show you that there is some good in this world and that people are willing to do things to help one another.

LA Police Officer’s Christmas Commute Ends In Heroic Rescue is an article from: LifeDaily

Soap operas are a popular style of television show, not despite their outlandish, over the top storylines but because of them.

People love the over-the-top plots and impossible drama of these shows because they’re larger than life.

 But every now and then, real life resembles a soap opera and a person’s life is embroiled in sensational melodrama. But as one woman would find out, it’s a lot more fun to watch a soap opera than to have your life turn into one…

Life In Shambles

Nicole was a woman who, for good reason, was unhappy with her life. In 2002, her marriage was falling apart and as a woman who struggled with overeating for most of her life, the stress of her failing relationship led to an extreme weight increase.

Rock Bottom

There was just no saving her marriage and by the time she and her husband divorced, Nicole’s weight had risen to over 300 pounds. The only things she had going for her at that time were her career — she was an educator for special needs children — and her determination to make a better life for herself…

Making Changes

For Nicole, one of the key components of turning her life around was getting control of her eating and her health. In order to shed the pounds, the 32-year-old woman adopted new healthy eating habits and began exercising religiously at the gym.

Getting Results

Through her dedicated and consistent efforts, Nicole started to see results. As the weeks turned to months, she noticed positive changes in the way she looked and she wasn’t the only one. After losing nearly 150 lbs, she entered the dating scene with newfound confidence that she hadn’t felt in a long time…

Dating Again

Things were finally going well for Nicole again. After going on dates with a few men without anything serious coming of it, she met a guy that she seemed to hit it off with. He was kind, handsome enough, and had a good job — a lawyer — but none of that seemed to matter when a man named Emerson walked into her gym one day.

Brazilian Hunk

Originally from Brazil, Emerson was a former competitive bodybuilder 10 years her junior. Nicole found the younger man completely irresistible, in no small part because of his impressive physique. The beefy Brazilian took a liking to her as well…

‘Hot Rock’

In the words of Nicole’s friends, she dropped her lawyer boyfriend “like a hot rock” and quickly began dating Emerson. Before too long, they’d gotten a place together, had a daughter, and in 2009, the couple were married.

Financial Security

When she first met Emerson Benjoino, he was working as a busboy at a local restaurant, then as a painter. Despite not having the best of jobs, he rarely had money troubles. It wasn’t until they’d gotten married that Nicole discovered why…

‘Side Job’

It turned out that Emerson was supplementing his income the same way he was supplementing his workouts — with steroids. He was having the contraband shipped to him from Brazil, some of which he used to bolster his bulging muscles, some he sold to bolster his bank account.

Entrepreneurial Ambition

Rather than putting a stop to his illegal business, Nicole became a supporter. Emerson built a secure office in the garage of their home in Wellington, Florida where he stored his steroids behind a locked door that could only be opened by his fingerprint. As his business grew, he expanded into even more dangerous products…

Diversifying Products

Moving on from just steroids, Emerson also began selling the generic form of Xanax, fentanyl as well as GBL — known by the street name “liquid coma” — a dangerous drug that if improperly diluted can cause violent muscle spasms, put users into a coma, or kill them. He was getting some of these drugs shipped to him through the mail from contacts in China.

Double Life

Over the years, while Nicole was aware of the kind of business her husband was running, she was still working as the head of the special education department at Lake Worth Middle School. More than being aware, she helped Emerson in his business from time to time…

Attracting Attention

But because Emerson’s business had grown immensely since the days where he was just selling steroids to his friends, he’d caught the attention of law enforcement. Unbeknownst to the couple, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office had been gathering information to bring down his drug ring for a while.

Caught in the Act

On a June day in 2017, police arrested Emerson after he’d picked up 3 liters of GBL from a UPS store mailbox. When they searched his home, investigators found $407,000 in cash, a number of guns, a ledger containing records of at least a year’s worth of drug sales, as well as tens of thousands of generic Xanax pills and various other drugs…

She’s Involved

Text records and other evidence showed Nicole’s involvement in Emerson’s drug business and she was arrested as well. News of her arrest led to immediate termination from her job and the end of her 25 year teaching career. They were both released on bond after they were charged with state crimes but before federal investigators took control of the case, Emerson made a move.

Flee

He cleaned out his bank account and fled to Brazil, taking the couple’s now 10-year-old daughter with him and leaving his now 48-year-old wife swinging in the wind. When she listed their house for sale and withdrew $25,000 in cash from her bank account, it seemed as if Nicole planned on following her husband to South America, but the feds caught up with her before she could take action…

‘I Was Manipulated’

As soon as she was arrested, Nicole began cooperating with investigators. She told investigators how she’d gradually learned about Emerson’s increasingly illegal activities and had been drawn into his drug dealing in order to hold on to her younger “trophy” husband. She also claimed that her husband had used her low self-esteem and poor body image to manipulate her.

Obsessed

“She literally became obsessed with him and he seduced her into this conspiracy,” Nicole’s defense attorney Donnie Murrell said. “He exploited those things to keep her close to him and bend her to his will.”…

Trade-off

Ultimately, Nicole’s attorney negotiated a plea deal for her. The judge sided with leniency saying “But for the length of this crime, it could almost be considered an aberration.” She would have to give up the $407,000 as well as her $130,000 interest in the house which would be sold. In exchange, she would serve just 2-and-a-half years in prison.

Successful Fugitive

As for Emerson, he was in the clear. Because Brazil does not have an extradition agreement with the United States, all he would have to do to escape punishment is stay in his home country. Ironically, if Nicole wanted to reunite with her husband after her prison term, it would be made more difficult because of her criminal record.

48-Year-Old Special Ed Teacher Goes To Great Lengths To Keep ‘Trophy’ Husband is an article from: LifeDaily

Adolescents are filled with dozens of emotions, ranging from curiously to creativity, and a hunger to see the world. The need to experiment is also prominent and this usually takes the form of drugs, partying and alcohol.

Not all teens will desire these things, but most will at least try everything once. The teenagers in the following story craved a fun and carefree night of drinking, but that is the last thing it turned out to be. When emergency personnel got involved, the night turned sour very quickly…

A Busy Night At A Hospital In Ireland

Cork University Hospital in Ireland was operating at full-capacity one Friday night in February. Head of emergency medicine at the hospital, Dr. Chris Luke described the hospital as “congested, busy, and stretched.”

Dr. Chris Luke

The last thing any of the hospital staff needed was one more patient walking through the door. But when Dr. Luke received a call that three ambulances were dispatched carrying very ill teenagers and coming in his direction, his heart sank…

Calling For Backup

“We’re worn out and stretched to the pin,” said Dr. Luke so he called Jason Van Der Velde, a great friend and colleague and a well-known hero in the community to access the situation. Dr. Luke hoped his friend could minimize the number of teens that needed to come to the hospital.

The Perfect Man For The Job

Being that Van Der Velde has emergency medicine and critical care skills and he has been instrumental in dealing with situations and mishaps all over the county, he was the perfect man for the job. Not sure what to expect, Van Der Velde made his way to the scene knowing that when teenagers and alcohol are involved, the results could be dire…

Critical Situation

When he arrived, Van Der Velde described seeing a “vomitorium” on a party bus. Many of the drunk teenagers were not tipsy, they were “paralytic and unconsciously drunk.” It was a dangerous situation and Van Der Velde saw that one ambulance was already treating a completely unconscious teen.

Time Sensitive

He knew he needed to get a hold of these teenagers quickly because Cork University Hospital couldn’t occupy any more patients. In response, Van Der Velde gathered resources like he normally does in a major event and he set up a field hospital for the teenagers…

The Hospital Was Already Operating At 140%

He knew that the hospital would quickly run out of resources if all the kids were sent there so he set up a field hospital to treat them. His priority was keeping them warm and giving them intravenous hydration. Two of them, however, were so ill, that neither of these things would suffice and they were sent directly to the hospital.

How Sick Were They?

When Dr. Luke called Van Der Velde to ask how sick the teens were, he told him, “I’m not exaggerating when I say, two of them had the potential to die on the scene that night…Their blood pressure was in the 70s and they were that unconscious that they were unable to manage their own air ways safely.”…

On The Verge Of Death

The teens were so sick that they were in danger of dying if they weren’t properly cared for. The two worst ones wound up having to stay the night at Cork University Hospital, but the others they held on to and slowly got them to come around and got their parents to come in. However, this wasn’t the only chaos they had to manage that Friday night.

The Ones That Were Sent Away

Apparently, there were additional teens on the party bus who reportedly arrived at the field hospital, but were not let in. The teens turned away wound up going into town, starting fights and some of them even wound up in jail…

Handling The Situation At The Jail

Van Der Velde had to go as far as going into the jail cells himself after the guards couldn’t manage the drunk teens. The guards called an ambulance to allow professionals to access and treat the children. But the question remained, where were these kids coming from and how did they get so drunk?

Bandon Rugby Club

The children attended an underage alcohol-free disco at Bandon Rugby Club. They were as many as 500 teens in attendance, all were around 16-years-old. They were reportedly searched at the door and those who arrived drunk were directed to a dressing room where they were monitored…

Genius Ways Of Concealing Alcohol

However, some of the unconscious teens had straight vodka concealed in their socks. “These children will die, if they come and they’re scantily clad in the winter night and they fall asleep in a ditch, they will vomit and they could die from hypothermia or from choking on their own vomit,” Van Der Velde said.

It’s A Serious Matter

One of the things that upsets Van Der Velde is that most people are always rushing to the notion of a “spiked drink.” If parents raise the issue of “spiked drink” it’s like they’re raising something as serious as rape, robbery, kidnap and murder since it’s in that category. So it’s an incredibly serious thing to suggest to hospital staff…

Lack Of Accountability

Van Der Velde describes working with schools, bars, pubs, clubs to minimize this type of behavior, however, nobody else can prevent this type of scenario other than the parents. “It gets very upsetting when the parents lash out at staff as if there’s been some bogeyman has spiked their children’s drink.”

Parents In Denial

Even worse is when parents are borderline abusive to medical personnel who are just trying to do their job. It’s difficult when a parent doesn’t want to accept their child has crossed the line and endangered themselves. Parents will sometimes point the finger at everyone other than their child…

Did The Teens Regret Their Decisions The Following Day?

However, in this situation, most of the teenagers regretted their actions the following day. The ones taken to the hospital required emergency medicine, anesthesia, pediatrics, and other resources and were released within 24 hours.

The Future Of The Club

But now the future of Bandon Rugby Club is in jeopardy after all of this negative publicity has resulted from the incident. Brendan Fogarty says, “I don’t want to have to shut down such events but I do have a serious concern that three ambulances were tied up dealing with this.” In addition, he says…

Parental Supervision

“I would also like to emphasize the need for parental supervision…Parents really do have to step up.” As a result of the night, they detained three teenagers and when they contacted the parents of one teen, they said they weren’t in a position to travel and collect their child. Police wound up having to transport the child home.

Teens Being Teens

While teenagers do need a social outlet to express themselves and experiment, in this case, they let their parents and their communities down. Hiding containers or alcohol in their socks and underwear really highlights the need for parental supervision on these party buses.

Irish Teens Left In Dire Situation After Fun Night On Party Bus Goes Terribly Wrong is an article from: LifeDaily

Every family has their secrets. Most of the time, we keep these secrets from the world in order to spare ourselves something unimportant, like public embarrassment or to help secure our privacy. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule.

When police got the call that a carload of people crashed over a California cliffside, they believed that the tragic accident was just that, an accident. They would soon discover, however, that this accident and the family involved, were more than they seemed on the surface…

Fallen SUV

It was a devastating accident. An SUV, which held eight members of a family, was found crushed on the rocks at the bottom of a California cliff. Of the eight people in the car, five of them were found dead inside the vehicle. Including both parents and two of their five children.

Missing Children

The remaining three members of the family: 15-year-old Devonte, 16-year-old Hannah, and 12-year-old Sierra, are still missing and are presumed dead. Yet, it is not the crash itself which had proven most troubling to authorities. Indeed, it is the greater tragedies surrounding the dreadful event which have had investigators delving deeper into the victims’ lives…

Seat Belts

As police began their investigation into the accident, they began to notice some unusual details that they might have otherwise overlooked. For one thing, not one of the eight people in the car, including the driver, was wearing their seatbelt when the car went over the cliff. Then, there was the troubling toxicology report.

Blood Alcohol

Toxicology tests revealed that the driver of the car, a woman named Jennifer Hart, had a blood alcohol level of .102 when the car went careening over the cliff. The legal amount for a person to be considered drunk in California is 0.08 or higher. Which means that momma Jen was very, very drunk: far too drunk to be driving anything…

Allergy Drugs

The blood tests on Jennifer’s wife, Sarah Hart, and two of the adopted children in the car at the time, also came back as a bit unusual. All of their bodies had what police consider “a significant amount” of an ingredient typically found in the allergy drug Benadryl. Had Jennifer drugged her family and then gotten drunk herself in order to take a drive?

Something Amiss

The vehicle software also indicated something very troubling: it appears that the car had purposely been driven off the cliff. Law enforcement agents were not convinced that Jennifer Hart committed the murder/suicide on purpose. Key questions still lingered about the incident and those involved. The Harts were hundreds of miles from their home in Washington state, so why was the entire family traveling together on a Northern California road?

Lingering Questions

There was no way to prove that Jennifer Hart had committed the crime on purpose, so the police needed to find out more. To get an idea about the lives of the deceased, investigators began asking those who knew them. Overtly at first, but a look into the family history brought up some very red flags. The story was deeper and darker than they’d previously thought.

Sordid Details

The dreadful crash and Jennifer’s possible reasons behind it became more and more clear as the police uncovered the sordid details of the Hart’s family life. Tales of child abandonment, addiction, and horrific and systematic child abuse seemed to surround the outwardly “warm and loving” family. And it all stemmed back to the twin matriarchs…

An Isolated Incident?

There were tales of them living in Minnesota, this was before they moved to Woodland, Washington, and Sarah pleading guilty to having her her then 6-year-old daughter Abigail. Sarah admitted that she, as she put it, “Let my anger get out of control”, but no charges were ever officially levied against the pair. This was far from an isolated incident, however: not by a longshot.

Decades of Abuse

Soon enough, police discovered that the alleged abuse went back almost a decade and had continued into the present day. Neighbors recalled the children coming around begging for food because their parents weren’t feeding them. Mere days before the car went over the cliff, one of the Hart children tried to make a daring and desperate escape from her apparently wicked mothers’ clutches…

Mad Dash for Help

Three days before the crash, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services received a call that the six Hart children were the potential victims of not only severe neglect, but also over child abuse. In fact, Hannah, one of the adopted girls, had become so desperate that she jumped out a second-story window and ran to a neighbor’s house for help.

Racist Moms

The sobbing, skinny girl told her would-be rescuers that her mothers were whipping them with belts and withholding food. She added that her two caucasian mothers were “racist and were abusing her.” Was she telling the truth though? Were two women who took in six African American children actually racists deep down?

Collecting Her

Bruce DeKalb, the neighbor who had taken Hannah in and called the Dept. of Social Services, weighed in on the girl’s condition: That kid was totally losing her mind, just rattled to the bone. You can’t fake that.” The situation might have been resolved then and there, were it not for the fact that the complaint was dismissed as soon as the Harts came to collect the girl.

Trying to Help

Hannah came over to the DeKalb’s soon after to apologize for worrying them and the case was dropped. It wasn’t until after the crash that the horrifying truth about the Hart childrens’ dire situation was finally revealed. By one of Sarah and Jennifer’s first foster children, a girl who calls herself only Lee…

Former Child

From the onset, Lee admitted to having been a difficult case for any foster parent, but said that those who knew her deep down, could tell she was a good kid. She explained that her birth mother’s difficult situation had landed her in child care, moving from foster home to foster home during her teens. She only spent a short period with the Harts, but it wasn’t a particularly good time in her life.

At Odds

According to Lee, the first several months she’d spent with the couple had been good. They went camping and to amusement parks together. Lee felt loved and she felt like she belonged. Before long though, all that love would dissipate when she found herself at odds with Jennifer Hart. Jen was the shorter-tempered of the two moms and often accused Lee of being a brat…

Big Sister

Despite the mounting tension, Lee decided it would be best if she tried to stay with the Harts until she was 18. It became official when the three of them discussed it with the officials at the foster home. This was even while the Harts were planning to adopt other children, for whom Lee would be a big sister. She was legitimately thrilled to take on the role.

Dropped Off

Sadly though, things didn’t go as planned. A week before her new siblings were expected to arrive, the Harts took Lee to a therapy appointment. Jennifer and Sarah never returned to pick her up that night, nor any night after. Later that night, her therapist came in and told her that she would be living with a new family from then on, and that all her belongings had already been taken there…

Not Evil

At the time, Lee was absolutely devastated. That anger and disappointment faded as she got older and she learned to forgive her former foster moms. Of course when she heard what happened, she couldn’t believe even they would go that far. “I don’t believe Jen and Sarah to be evil people, and I don’t want to believe that they killed their family intentionally.” she explained.

Too Late

Much about this strange case still needs to be examined, but what we already know about the Harts and their situation is disturbing enough to be getting on with. The most troubling thing about it all, is how easily it could have been prevented is the Child Protective Services had followed up one of the three times they were called.

Police Discover Dark Secrets Of Family Who Crashed Over California Cliff is an article from: LifeDaily

The great thing about Facebook is that it enables you to get real-time updates of things which have happened in and around your area. Most will turn to Facebook to provide them with news from their friends that they wouldn’t see anywhere else.

But what happens when someone’s opinion or perception of a situation gets confused with the real thing? That’s exactly what happened in the following story when one mother’s good intentions went completely awry…

Alarming Facebook Post

One afternoon in April, a mom from Wellington, Florida posted an alarming message in a Facebook group for all other Wellington moms. The post read: “SAFETY ALERT!!!” it began. “Ladies, my husband just had a panicked woman with a small child walk into his RPB (Royal Palm Beach) restaurant to tell him the man who walked in behind her followed her from the Buy Buy Baby parking lot. He was watching her and didn’t order anything for a while until he noticed people watching him.”

Facebook Post Continued

“He continued to order a (to-go order) and then sat one table away from the woman. The police were called and asked the man to leave. They told my husband that there have been several attempted child abductions in the area of Wellington and Lake Worth lately. They are targeting women who are by themselves with their kids and then kidnapping their children!”

Warning Other Wellington Moms

The woman added, “Please, please be vigilant especially when you are by yourself! If you feel uneasy, it’s probably for a reason! Make a scene and ask for forgiveness later bc it’s better to be safe than sorry!! Stay safe everyone!!”

Concerned Mother

This woman appeared to be very concerned about what she had seen and the post spread quickly, being shared thousands of times. The frantic post made its way to a news reporter in Palm Beach and her first instinct was to contact the mother who wrote the post…

Learning More Of The Story

Kristina Webb from the Palm Beach Post heard back from the woman almost instantaneously and she said that her husband would be in touch with her soon. She also confirmed that the restaurant she was at that day was called Bolay.

Contacting Authorities

While she waited to hear back, Webb contacted the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO) to ask about the post’s claim of an increase in kidnapping attempts in their area. Their response really surprised her…

Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office

The PBSO districts that include Royal Palm Beach and unincorporated Wellington and Lake Worth did not report that there were increased kidnapping attempts or reports of suspicious people in the area. By then, Webb wondered if she should continue pursuing the story so she waited to hear from the restaurant’s manager.

The Post Was Spreading Like Wildfire

Meanwhile, the post was being shared thousands of times, with hundreds of people reacting. By then, a man named Brian Pollack saw the post. Pollack, 33, grew up in Wellington and recently moved to Loxahatchee…

A Devoted Husband And Father

Brian has been married for 10 years and has two sons ages 8 and 6. He’s coached baseball at the Willows in Royal Palm Beach for six years and he’s a captain with the Delray Beach Fire Rescue. He also happens to be the man the concerned mom was referring to in the post.

Pollack’s Side Of The Story

When Pollack read it, he thought, “Let me just head this off…I mean, what are the odds that this is the same situation?” So he took to Facebook himself, typing out his version of what happened that Thursday at the Royal Palm Beach Bolay…

Made His Way To Pick Up Dinner

Pollack drove to the restaurant down State Road 7 from his unit at CubeSmart Self Storage on Belvedere Road, right around the corner from Buy Buy Baby plaza. He went to Bolay to get lunch for himself and dinner for his wife and sons.

First Time At Bolay

It was Pollack’s first time ordering there and when he arrived, he said he sat inside for a while before placing his to-go order because his wife had not yet replied with her order. After the food was ready, he ate his meal before leaving to pick up his sons from school…

Stopped By Deputies

As he left the restaurant, Pollack was stopped by two PBSO deputies who pulled him to the side of the road and asked him what was going on. He told them that he picking up food for his family. The deputies did not ask Pollack for identification, nor take down his name.

Conducting All Necessary Protocols

“They did it properly. They pulled me to the side and said, ‘What happened?’ They raised no concern of me doing anything,” Pollack told Webb. The officers didn’t file a report on the incident but according to dispatch logs, a woman in a gray tank top with a child told the Bolay manager that a man with a green T-shirt and black shorts was following her…

Pollack’s Name Was Not Mentioned

When deputies arrived, they spoke with the man, Pollack, whose name was not mentioned in the log. The “event comment” said the man came to Bolay to eat and never made contact with the woman at all.

Responding To Facebook Posts

Pollack, completely perplexed by this, said in writing his responses to the many Facebook posts, he thought about one thing: What would happen if someone had taken a photo of him and sent it to his chief at Delray Fire Rescue?

Friends And Family Were Shocked To Learn The Man Was Pollack

After telling some of his friends about it, they said, “‘That was you? Oh my God, we were talking about that for a few days,’” Pollack said. He’s not upset with the woman who reported him to Bolay employees and as a first responder, Pollack understands what she did in reaching out for help.

He Can’t Fault The Woman

Pollack is actually glad the woman called the police, saying, “I can’t fault the woman who feels scared…I’m a father of two…But I can fault the person who’s spreading erroneous information.” Webb once again contacted the woman who posted on Facebook and she and her husband declined to comment for this article.” Pollack additionally said that he plans to reach out to Bolay to help clear up any confusion. As far as the original post…

A Facebook Post Gone Awry

The Facebook post has since been deleted, but copies remain on on the site. “This is where groups are great because you share this information immediately,” Pollack said. “But what are we sharing and at what expense?”

Something Unrelated Must Have Been Going On

In this case, the woman may have been paranoid for other completely unrelated reasons. The unfortunate thing however, is the toll this type of story could have taken on Pollack and his life. Thankfully that didn’t happen.

Woman’s “Safety Alert” On Facebook Is A Prime Example Of Good Intentions Gone Wrong is an article from: LifeDaily

When we’ve known someone for a long time, we get the impression that we know everything there is to know about them. Spending countless hours with someone spread out over many years, you get to know their likes and dislikes, hopes and fears, and how they react in a ton of different situations.

But as the saying goes, “you can never truly know someone.” Despite all the time spent with them, you can never listen in on someone’s thoughts and there are always times apart where you can’t truly be sure what someone is up to. One woman’s friends and family who thought they knew everything about her would eventually be shocked to find out about the secret life she was living…

Aesthetically Oriented

From a young age, Nicole was the kind of girl who was always interested in the beautiful things that people make. She had a love and fascination for all things art, architecture and design. That’s why it came as no surprise to her mother Diane when, after high school, Nicole wanted to attend the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.

Encouraging Her Passion

Nicole’s mother had always encouraged her daughters interests and when she graduated from the College of Art, Diane couldn’t have been prouder. She had decided to apply her talents to a career as an interior architect and designer…

Finding Success

Due to Nicole’s hard work and passion she had built herself a thriving business after putting over a decade of her life into it. “She’d just landed a big job with Marriott,” Diane said. “Her specialty was restaurants, but she worked for several high-end companies here and in Italy… Her love was design.”

Homebody

But for all of the long distance and international work Nicole did, she was never one to travel far from home. In fact, she still lived in the single family home she’d grown up in in Davidsonville, Maryland. “I gave her that home,” Diane said. “She’s lived there all her life.”…

Deep Roots

Because she’d lived in the town her whole life, Nicole had deep roots in her community. Some of the friendships she maintained had begun way back in elementary school. It would be a strange day if she went into town and didn’t run into somebody she knew.

Firing on All Cylinders

Things were also going well for Nicole in her romantic life. She had a steady boyfriend that she was getting pretty serious with. He spent so much time over her house that the two were in the midst of him moving in officially. With a thriving business, social, and romantic life, it was safe to say that things were going very well for the 37-year-old…

Closely Held Secret

But unknown to most of Nicole’s friends and family, not everything in her life was as it seemed. While carrying on with her successful design business, Nicole Burgess had a second business that was even more lucrative, though not exactly something her mother could be proud of.

Big Time Trafficker

Nicole’s second business was the sale of marijuana and she was no small-time dealer. In fact, she was purchasing and reselling huge amounts, about 30 pounds — yes pounds — of weed every 2 weeks. That meant Nicole was selling about $240,000 worth of marijuana each month…

High Risk Business

Of course, dealing drugs carries certain risks, especially when moving such a high volume of contraband. “With that much money, with that much product in an illicit business, it’s dangerous,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Jason Miller. Not only did Nicole have to worry about the law, her business made her a tempting target for other criminals.

Grisly Scene

The danger would apparently come to a head for Nicole Burgess in March of 2013. At 11:30am a couple of acquaintances came by her home only to find a grisly sight. They saw Nicole and her boyfriend’s pitbull mix dog, each lying in a pool of their own blood with multiple stab wounds…

Devastated Community

Nicole’s friends immediately called the police, but by the time first responders arrived, there was nothing they could do to save her or the dog. Diane was devastated, as were members of the community. “She was so well thought of,’ the bereaved mother said. “She was loved by everybody.”

Double Shock

The funeral service for Nicole was attended by a huge crowd of friends, family, colleagues and business associates, including a representative of one of the Italian companies she worked with who came all the way from Milan. Her death came as a complete shock to her community but as police investigated her death, they would be shocked again as her illegal activity came to light…

Financially Motivated

As investigators uncovered evidence of her criminal operation, it became clear that “this was a crime of opportunity,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Miller. Whoever had killed Nicole had also made off with roughly $28,000 worth of marijuana from her home.

Nothing To Go By

Unfortunately, there was very little evidence left at the scene that would aid in identifying Nicole’s killer. It would be over a year before investigators had enough evidence to make any arrests. When they did, it was of a suspect named Terrence Proctor…

A Suspect

“Several forensic examinations of both physical evidence and digital evidence were analyzed,” said a police spokesman. “The evidence obtained by homicide detectives supported probably cause in securing an arrest warrant for [Proctor].” That evidence was based on 3 main things.

The Evidence

First, a small amount of Proctor’s DNA was found on a sliding door at Nicole’s home. Second, there were a number of text messages between Proctor and Nicole that the prosecution said demonstrated he was at the scene during the murder. Third, on the day of the murder, Proctor had turned off his phone or placed it in airplane mode during the period of time when Nicole was killed…

All Circumstantial

But for all the circumstantial evidence investigators produced, there was no “smoking gun,” so to speak. That left room for William Cooke, Proctor’s defense attorney, to poke holes in the prosecution’s narrative.

Poking Holes

Cooke argued that while the DNA evidence showed that Proctor had been at Nicole’s home, it didn’t show that he’d been there when she was killed. “Their own DNA expert said ‘I can’t say when that DNA was left there,’” he said. Furthermore, “It was such a tiny amount… they couldn’t say if it was from a sneeze or skin cells or whatever.”…

Not Seen at the Scene

He also demonstrated that there were no witnesses who claimed to have seen Proctor in the area and no video footage from surveillance cameras at nearby businesses showed Proctor or his car at the time in question. Furthermore, a shoe print found at the scene didn’t match any of Proctor’s shoes.

Acquittal

With all of that in mind, the judge in the case agreed with Cooke that Terrence Proctor should be acquitted. Some, like Nicole’s godmother Wendy, believed that despite the holes in the evidence, Proctor was still responsible for the woman’s death, though she didn’t blame prosecutors or police. “I do believe the state did what they could,” she said. Regardless Proctor would go free and Nicole’s death would be officially unsolved.

Interior Designer’s Double Life Revealed After Dangerous Lifestyle Catches Up wIth Her is an article from: LifeDaily

Parents trust that the person they entrust with the task of watching their child will not only entertain them but also protect them as if they were their own child.

On March 28, a California couple called their long-time nanny to watch their 2-year-old son. They knew she cared a lot for their little boy, but they had no idea just how much until they heard what she did to save their family from tragedy…

A Last-Minute Request

On March 28, 2017, Courtney Davis and Bill Wolkoff desperately needed someone to watch their 2-year-old son, Fox. Even though it was the last minute, they reached out to Caroline Maurer, who had watched Fox for them since he was just 4 months old.

The Nanny

Courtney had worked for the couple for a long time but stepped back from nannying full-time so that she could focus on her studies. Yet when she got the call from Courtney and Bill and heard that they needed someone to watch Fox for the day, she was happy to help them out…

Enjoying The Spring Weather

So, on that Tuesday morning, Caroline made her way over to the couple’s home in Atwater Village, a residential neighborhood in Los Angeles. Shortly after she arrived, Caroline decided to get Fox out of the house by taking him for a walk around the neighborhood.

Heading Home

While on the walk, Caroline and Fox were enjoying their time outside in the warm spring weather. At around 10 a.m., however, Caroline had walked around most of the neighborhood and started making her way back to the family’s home…

The 4-Way Intersection

About a block away from Courtney and Bill’s home, Caroline stopped at a 4-way intersection, looked in every direction to make sure there were no vehicles coming, and then started walking and pushing Fox’s stroller out into the empty crosswalk.

A Careless Driver

Caroline made sure it was safe to cross the road, however, after stepping a few feet out into the street, a car came out of nowhere, blew a stop sign, and made a left turn towards Caroline and Fox. Caroline tried to scream at the driver to get him to stop, but it didn’t work…

A Chilling Realization

“It was going to be him hit since he was kind of more in front of me,” Caroline said about the terrifying moment she realized the driver was about to hit Fox in his stroller since it was further out in the intersection. “So, as the car turned in – I was screaming, ‘Stop! Stop!’”

The Split-Second Decision

When the car failed to slow down, Caroline’s instincts kicked in and she made the split-second decision to sacrifice herself to save Fox. As the car shot around the corner, Caroline pushed the stroller as hard as she could and lunged forward to get Fox out of the car’s path…

An Incredible Sacrifice

Just as the car was about to hit them, Caroline stuck her arms out and flung her body in between the car and the stroller in a last-ditch effort to keep Fox from being harmed. As Caroline had hoped, her selfless act kept Fox from being directly hit, but she wasn’t so lucky.

Crushing Contact

The car hit Caroline, crushed her bones, and finally sent her flying through the air. “The car came and crushed my hands, the front bumper – and I was thrown a few feet, I don’t know,” said Caroline, who thankfully survived the accident but was badly injured in the process…

The Traumatic Damage

Caroline’s arms, wrists, and hands were completely crushed by the car, yet all she cared about was trying to comfort Fox, who was in shock. “Fox was strapped in and I couldn’t get him out because my hands were crushed and I was on the ground,” the traumatized nanny explained.

Help Finally Arrives

“He was screaming, ‘Nanny Caroline, I love you,’ which was breaking my heart because I couldn’t hold him,” Caroline said. A few minutes later, paramedics arrived at the scene and realized what Caroline did for Fox when they saw that he miraculously only had a few superficial scrapes and bruises…

A True Hero

“One of the paramedics on the scene told me that Caroline had saved Fox’s life,” said Bill and Courtney, who couldn’t believe what Caroline did for their family. “Caroline is a true hero, and we are forever grateful to her for saving our son’s life.”

The Injuries

Caroline was rushed to the hospital where doctors were able to determine that she had multiple fractures throughout her hands, wrists, and arms. A team of doctors performed multiple surgeries during her 2.5-week hospital stay, but warned her that she may never make a full recovery…

Life On Hold

Because Caroline’s hands, wrists, and arms were so weak, she wasn’t even allowed to start physical therapy until 3 months after the accident, which meant her entire life, including her job and her studies, were put completely on hold.

Supporting Their Hero

After Bill and Courtney heard about what Caroline was going through, they decided to raise money to help her pay for her medical bills and living expenses. According to the couple, it was the least they could do for the hero that saved their son’s life…

The Fundraiser

“We want to help her however we can, and we hope that this fundraiser can help with her medical and living expenses as she continues her recovery,” the couple explained on their YouCaring page, which had raised just over $48,000 for Caroline so far.

A Part Of The Family

“As a mom, you give your kid to somebody else… your hope and your dream is that they’re going to treat your kid like their own. I’m just so grateful to her,” Courtney said. “I think my first reaction was: She’s family for the rest of our lives,” Bill added. “Because of Caroline, the worst didn’t happen. She saved his life…”

The Healing Process

For Caroline, the recovery process has been extremely challenging, especially since she might be left with permanent damage in her arms and hands. “I struggled because of hospitals, physical limitations, pain, lack of energy, and the weird inability to trust my body will stand up, or my brain won’t have me cry at an intersection … The healing process has felt embarrassingly slow, amorphous, lonely, and unpredictable – so I just kept swimming,” Courtney explained in a progress update. However, Caroline was touched when she heard what Courtney and Bill were doing for her.

No Regrets

Despite all the pain the car accident has caused Caroline, she would do it all over again to save Fox. “Since the accident, it has been a struggle to see the joy, humor, and sunlight. Saving Fox is the best possible outcome to a terrible situation and I would do it again in a heartbeat — he has my heart.”

Nanny’s Noble Act Spares 2-Year-Old From Driving Disaster is an article from: LifeDaily

Fossils give us a unique insight into how things were on Earth before there were humans around. Some fossils literally millions of years old, offer clues as to how mammals lived when they roamed the earth freely.

When a team of researchers over at UC Berkeley got their curious hands on some 15-million-year-old fossils, they had no idea what a profound discovery they had in their grasp, nor the secrets they were about to reveal t0 the world…

Calavera Dam

The Calavera Dam, located in the Calavera Reservoir, is a huge body of water located just south of Fremont, California. The dam is located in an area of diverse wildlife, including deer, coyotes, squirrels, and turkey vultures, among many other species who live there.

To The Museum

A fossil the size of a human head raised a lot of eyebrows, after it was discovered deep inside the dam. It was soon exhumed and shipped over to the UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology. Researchers there agreed to take the fossil, clean and catalog it, to see if it was a momentous find, as they suspected, or one just like all the others…

Construction Work

It has been a long, five-year project, since contractors started building a new 220-foot-high dam in the remote canyons, just east of Milpitas. However, soon after ground was broken and the work started, a seemingly never ending treasure trove of potentially valuable, one-of-a-kind fossils were discovered.

Just Shells

It started with just a few random shells when construction workers began digging. However, as they dug deeper, they were shocked to discover the things they dug up. So shocked, that at the time they halted construction work as there was just too much risk of damaging these ancient treasures…

Years Ago

Crisitina Robins, a paleontologist at UC Berkeley, spoke about one particular find. A find that could change everything we know about how mammals lived millions of years ago. For starters, explained Cristina, the area would have been much hotter than it is today, “It was warmer in the Bay Area then. We had large palm trees. It would have been like San Diego or L.A., but without the smog.” she said.

1,500 Fossils

No one was expecting it, but the new dam construction has seen holes as deep as 500 feet. And when workers dug that far down into the ground, they discovered not one or two ancient fossils, but 1,500! And they are still reportedly finding new fossils daily, leaving the researchers over at Berkeley with a lot of work to do, but extremely excited…

Funding Needed

As one would expect, with more than a thousand fossils being uncovered, the operation turned from just construction to an archaeological discovery site, and that costs money, serious money. Fortunately, the owners of the reservoir, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, agreed to provide $500,000 in funding to the UC Museum of Paleontology for a new lab to study all the fossils that have been uncovered.

Educating People

Obviously, the museum wants to share the fossil discoveries with the general public, and to educate them about the past. Education and outreach director Lisa White form Berkeley plans to use the fossils to educate children via their website, and in classrooms across the Bay Area over the next few years…

Amazing Discoveries

With over 1,500 fossils to sift through, it stands to reason that some very interesting animal bones and remains were found in the Calavera Dam. Among other amazing discoveries workers found six teeth from a megalodon, an extinct species of shark which was up to 50 feet long. Teeth from other creatures like a Desmostylus, which looked like a hippo with tusks, were also discovered.

Larger Finds

The team also found larger fossils, ones which potentially revealed a 15-million-year-old secret. Among other massive fossils found were 20 whale skulls, as well as baleen whale fossils and even fossils from giant dolphins who lived under the sea many millennia ago…

Ship Worms

Meanwhile, the UC Berkeley Palaeontologist produced a large rock which she keeps near her desk. The rock has hundreds of tiny lines in it, as Robbins explained, these lines from saltwater mollusks are known as the “termites of the sea,” thought to be responsible for more than a few shipwrecks.

Other Finds

The Bay Area has seen numerous other very special fossil finds, which need to be mentioned. Back in 2012, during construction works on the Caldecott Tunnel many fossils were uncovered, but not as many as were found at the Bell Quarry in Irvington years ago. Diggers there found bones dating back to the Ice Age, including fossils from creatures like mammoths, bears, dire wolves, saber-tooth tigers, and even horses…

Usually A Rock

Jim Walker, who has much experience working with fossils, spoke about how he trained construction workers to know what they are looking for when digging. Nevertheless, as Walker explained, many of the things found are nothing more than worthless rocks. “You spend a lot of your day being wrong,” he said. “You say, ‘Hey, that looks like something!’ But 97 percent of the time, it’s a rock. What you are looking for is something different.”

Mark The Spot

In order to keep proper track of the fossils discovered, graduate students and undergrads from the lab photograph the fossils and then mark where they were found with GPS, tracking each fossil from underground to lab. All fossils are then entered into an online database and kept there forever…

Hundreds Of Hours

The whale skull fossils are so huge and complex that it takes hundreds of hours to clean and prepare them properly. To the untrained eye, they look like big rocks but there’s much more to them. Lab technicians use electric chisels, metal picks, saws, grinders and even toothbrushes to prepare the skulls. and it often takes many weeks just to get the fossil inside.

Millions Of Years

According to Robins, lab workers painstakingly chip away at the rocks, trying not to damage the valuable relics contained inside. The fossils inside have often been there for millions of years and are fragile and brittle. For example, as Robins said, “That whale skull started as a 600-pound block. It now weighs about 150 pounds.”

Shiny Black Tooth

Robins also pointed out a shiny black took, lodged firmly inside a rock. “This was probably similar to a mako shark. Maybe about a 10-footer.” Pointing to another much larger rock she said, “This was a gigantic palm tree. Look, it has barnacles on it.” she said.

Stunning Discoveries

Dan Wade, who is the SFPUS Director of Water Infrastructure Capital Projects and Programs spoke about how shocked he was to unveil all of those remarkable fossils. “We had expected to find some fossils during construction, but we had no idea the team would find this many,” adding, “It was extremely important to us to keep the collection together, to keep them in the Bay Area, and to be able to make them available for scientific research…”

Finger-Breaking Work

Robins said that she has more than a little sympathy for her lab workers, who sift through all the ancient fossils, trying to carefully extract them from the rocks which preserved them for all these years. “They’ve been in their sediment for 15 million years, and they’re pretty content to stay there,” Robins said. “It has been a fight to get them out.”

New Species

While the project at the Calavera dam are expected to continue until the summer of 2019, the discoveries already made have had researchers and Palaeontologists very excited, especially as new ancient species have already been unveiled. “We are really just beginning to understand the scientific significance of the finds,” Robins said. “This collection adds significantly to our knowledge of the paleontology of California from the Miocene — about 15-20 million years ago. The quantity and quality of the fossils is extremely impressive, and that comes down to both luck and the skill and care of the mitigation paleontologists and the construction workers who often found the fossils.”

Ancient Fossils Discovered In Dam Reveal 15-Million-Year-Old Secrets is an article from: LifeDaily

Probably the last thing anyone expects to see when they go out to eat some waffles for breakfast is a naked man at the waffle house. But when that naked man posed as a threat to people’s safety, it was time to take action.

It was a quiet Sunday morning in rural Nashville, just before the time when locals enjoy their usual lazy Sunday mornings. However, This Sunday was different from all others, and not for good reasons…

Illinois Boy

Travis was born in Morton, Illinois in 1989. Travis had some issues growing up, and that much was clear to his parents almost from the get go. The boy was erratic, moody and sometimes violent for no reason at all. His parents had a challenge on their hands, but they still loved their son.

Baby Face

Travis always had boyish good looks, and looked very young for his age even in adulthood. His deep brown eyes always warm and smiling when he smiled, which he did a lot as a child. His dorky bowl haircut was his trademark for many years, and he kept that same hairstyle even into as he got older. He also developed an uncanny and rather exceptional fascination with guns…

Good Parents

Jeffrey and his wife Judy were your average middle-American couple. When they had Travis, they were as excited and proud to be new parents as anyone would be. But they had no idea what trouble their little boy was going to get himself into in the fullness of time. They knew something was brewing in Travis, they just didn’t know what.

Hard Workers

Before Travis was born, and even afterwards, Jeff and Judy were hard workers. Jeff was a fairly successful business owner, helped every step of the way by his loving wife and partner, Judy. To this day Jeff and Judy own a large crane rental service in Tremont, and until Travis did what he did, they had a solid reputation in the local community, as well as further afield…

Problems Begin

Travis only got worse with the passage of time, and even his doctors couldn’t do much to help him. He would rant and rave randomly about bizarre things, and was clearly heading in only one direction; Mental illness. For whatever reason, in May 2016, Jeff and Judy were forced to call the police from Tazewell County on their son Travis.

Taylor Swift

It was an unusually hot springtime day, and the family were at a drugstore stocking up on medication for their son. When the police arrived, Travis was out in the large parking lot claiming that his phone had been hacked and that he was being stalked by Taylor Swift of all people!

Hostile Behavior

This was no joke, Travis was not only delusional, he was hostile with the officers when they showed up. The police report from that day noted, “Travis is hostile toward police and does not recognize police authority. Travis also possesses several firearms.” Take note of that last sentence, as “firearms” is very much the operative word here.

Issues Getting Worse

By 2017, Travis was finding it hard to hold down a job due to his mental issues and anger. He was living at that time in an apartment above his father’s crane business when issues started again. In June, one of Jeff Reinking’s workers called him to say that Travis had come downstairs carrying a rifle while wearing a pink dress and driven off in his car. Yes, very bizarre. But thankfully nothing came of it and life went on as normal…

The White House

Fast forward just a little and it was a surprise to no one that Travis was the guy plastered all over the news as the man who tried to breach White House security because he wanted to “speak to the President.” On that hot summer’s day, Travis was screaming about being a “sovereign citizen” and having rights. He neatly got himself put on just about every red flag list in the country, but even that didn’t stop the tragedy that was about to happen.

Guns Seized

With all that Secret Service and FBI scrutiny, it’s no wonder that by August 2017 authorities had a close eye on Travis. They raided his house as a precaution as they knew he possessed firearms, seizing Travis’s weapons and giving them to his father Jeff to hold onto, but more importantly to keep away from Travis who was now deemed to be dangerous…

Waffle House

As we return to the waffle house in Nashville, it was the early hours when Travis, wearing only a skimpy green jacket and nothing else, entered the restaurant. He approached the otherwise quiet eatery shooting at least one weapon, and continued to shoot as he entered the premises.

Wreaking Havoc

Travis looked like a crazed animal as he entered the waffle house, gun blazing. He shattered the massive panes of glass at the restaurant with bullets then paused to reload. By that point four people were tragically dead and two others wounded and those two women were in a serious condition. They were only 24 and 21 years old.

Hero Arrives

Silence reined once again as Travis reloaded his weapon. It was at that point that a customer at the store, James Shaw Jr. lunged at Travis and wrestled the gun away from him. With that, the shooter, still virtually naked, took off and headed over to a wooded area a mile away from the waffle house.

Police Hunt

Multiple agencies put the whole area on lockdown while they searched for the suspect who, as far as they knew, was armed and very dangerous. It was a stroke of luck, but local police fortunately found Travis in the woods in that area, before he could do anything to hurt anyone else or himself…

Suspect Detained

The police were nervous and ready for a gunfight. They didn’t think for a minute that the shooter would surrender easily but they were wrong. As soon as officers approached him, Travis lay flat on the ground with his hands on his head and let the police arrest him.

Those Red Flags

Following The White House incident from the previous summer, authorities sure had their eyes on Travis, but that didn’t stop the mass shooting from happening. Even though Travis signed his guns over to his father on August 24 that wasn’t enough as Jeff gave him back the gun he used in the shooting. As Matthew E. Espenshade, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Memphis division, said, “every federal resource was brought to bear,” adding, “We were able to effectively neutralize what we felt was the threat at the time by ensuring that he did not have the ability to purchase or own weapons and that those weapons were taken. He was not able to possess or own those weapons…”

Refusing to Talk

Following his arrest Travis went quiet, very quiet. That is to say he refused to communicate with authorities about anything in any way. He requested a lawyer whom he did speak with, and his bond was set at $2 million — $500,000 for each homicide count.

Daddy Trouble

For his part, Jeff cannot be forgiven for giving his son back a firearm after the police took them away and entrusted them into his care. Jeff himself is now in serious hot water with the police and is due to be charged for the illegal transfer of the weapon to his son. While the lives of Travis and his family have been torn apart due to his actions, there are other families who are suffering even more…

Broken Families

Like Abede Dasilva, who was in the Waffle House with his brother, Akilah Dasilva, at the time of the shooting. Akilah was one of the four people killed bu Travis. His bereaved bother spoke to reporters after the shooting, addressing Travis’s father, “That is your child,” Abede said. “If something is mentally wrong with him, then you have to know that. How did they think it was okay to give him his guns back?”

Lessons Learned

While mass shooting are relatively rare, this particular incident proves that people do make it through the cracks, despite the best efforts of intelligence agencies. The quirk in this case is that for their part, for once, the police actually did their job properly and took the appropriate steps to have all firearms removed from a man they knew was potentially a danger to society. It was Travis’s father Jeff who bears the ultimate responsibility for the shooting, as he was the one who stupidly gave the gun to his son. If nothing else, it’s encouraging to know that the police did their job, and if it weren’t for the actions of Jeff, it may never have happened.

Naked Waffle House Suspect Thought Taylor Swift Was Stalking Him is an article from: LifeDaily

Sometimes it’s the littlest voices that project the biggest sound. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how much money you have, everyone’s voice deserves to be heard.

This was the case in the following story where a young girl from Utah stood up for what she believed in. She made her voice heard to people three and four times her age and the outcome was incredible…

A Little Girl With A Big Voice

“Would you like to sign to save the Carbon County Bookmobile?” That question greeted shoppers who walked into Smith’s Food and Drug in East Carbon, Utah, on Saturday afternoon. Not many people cared enough about the library to sign the petition, but October Hamilton certainly did.

The Mobile Library Was So Important To Her

She couldn’t afford to have the local library close for reasons unbeknownst to many at the time. October feared that her community would suffer the loss of a free reading system without their Bookmobile, the only source for books in the area…

Informed Young Girl

This ambitious 10-year-old started the petition to save the Bookmobile because “There’s no library in East Carbon and the Bookmobile will help kids to read during the summer.” When she heard the funding for the town’s little mobile library had been cut, she wanted to do something immediately.

Voted Against Renewing

The Carbon County Commission voted against renewing the contract with the Utah State Library Division and the county’s contribution that helps fund the local bookmobile on June 7. It was a unanimous vote. That next Thursday, October got to work…

Little League Game

She started the effort at her Little League game after learning of the decision when watching the Commission meeting on YouTube. October and her little brother, Tuxin Allen, and her mother, Sarandon Hamilton, spent a few hours on Saturday collecting signatures.

The Reasoning

Commissioner Jae Potter explained his rationale in making the motion that Bookmobile’s contract would not be renewed. “Because of the number of stops they do make, it’s a very expensive program with limited books, limited exposure, especially where every school has a library…We have a public library, we are able to download and read online.” But, Potter was missing the point…

Insufficient Funding

Commission Chairman Jake Mellor stepped down to second the motion saying, “Hopefully at a future date we can enter into more conversations with those other benefiting parties in the county and hopefully bring that back. But at the current time, I don’t believe we have the funding and revenue sufficient to justify its use.”

She Wasn’t Taking No For An Answer

But October wasn’t buying it. Her case was stronger and she knew it. Despite being only 10-years-old, October had a fire in her belly, and that fire came from helping her 6-year-old brother Tuxin…

Her Little Brother Has ADHD

Tuxin has ADHD which makes it hard for him to sit still. However, if you hand him a book, he’ll sit down and read the whole thing. October emphasized how big of a deal the mobile library was to everyone in the community, especially in East Carbon. “We don’t want to lose the program,” she said.

Determined And Motivated

So, that following Saturday, June 10, October stood outside the Smith’s Food and Drug in her neighborhood to ask customers if they’d like to sign to save to Bookmobile. Again, October gathered signatures with her younger brother and mother, although she did not stop there…

A Job Well Done By A Young Girl

By the next Carbon County Commission meeting on Wednesday, June 21, October had gathered hundreds of signatures. In the end, she presented about 1,000 to the board at their meeting, which received a round of applause from the crowd.

Her Big Chance To Be Heard

As October nervously approached the microphone, she shared with the members of the commission how much the Bookmobile meant to her and others and why it needed to be saved. When the board members asked her if there was anything else she would like to share, that’s when October opened up about her brother…

Reading Is Important To October’s Brother

“[My brother Tuxin has ADHD] and he can’t sit still for two seconds.” Most of the room was not only in tears but in awe of this inspiring young girl who literally was fighting for her right to read. Utah Library Division Director and State Librarian Donna Jones Morris spoke after October.

The Loss Of The Bookmobile Would Affect Many

She said that the Bookmobile is funded by the state and the counties, but the loss of county funding would result in the complete elimination of the bookmobile service. She said this would also mean a loss of jobs…

Help With Job Applications

Morris also noted that the Bookmobile is crucial for providing outer areas with wireless internet service at its stops. Some of the users must fill out job applications online and they require the Bookmobile to provide that service. That’s how important it is to the community.

It’s Necessary For The Community

In the past 11 months, around 32,000 items have been checked out from the Bookmobile by 2,900 card holders in Carbon County. Also, the cost of operating the Bookmobile is a lot less than having a brick and mortar library at all the locations that it serves…

The Bookmobile Is Very Important

In addition to the thousands of books on board, the bookmobile has access to 32,000 books, audio books, DVD movies, iPads and laptop computers. Morris emphasized that because of her position with the state, she could only provide information and can’t advocate.

Out Of Her Hands?

She told the Board, “I know your Carbon County Commissioners are doing the best they can with the dollars they have. But if there’s a way of reducing the cost of the service and yet maintaining the integrity, we’re willing to work with the county on whatever model is possible.” So, what did this mean for the livelihood of the Bookmobile? Was October able to save it?

A Little Girl Making A Big Difference

Ultimately, county leaders decided to fund the Bookmobile on a reduced schedule while asking schools and businesses to help pay for long-term funding. Thanks to October using her voice to stand up for the Bookmobile, she was able to make a huge difference.

The Power Of One Person

Carbon County Commission chair Jake Mellor praised October’s involvement saying that she made a real change in her community through her actions. “What [October] has done in the community with her petition has done more to raise attention for literacy than anything any local politician could have done.” This is proof that a 10-year-old can make a difference.

10-Year-Old Girl Takes Action After Learning Her Local Library Would Be Shut Down is an article from: LifeDaily