Friday, August 12 top stories
It is Friday, August 12. Here are today’s top stories.
California to provide free meals to all schoolchildren
ABC 7 News in California reported that beginning this school year, the state of California will implement the Universal Meals program, which provides free meals to all schoolchildren. This includes both breakfast and lunch.
California is the first state to do this. A public school official said on average, 1 out of every 5 Californians does not know where their next meal will come from, which shows struggles with poverty.
The program was set up after California Gov. Newsom signed a bill last July to fund it. The money comes from both state and federal funds.
Anne Heche not expected to survive crash
Actress Anne Heche’s family representative said she was pronounced brain dead and is not expected to survive from her car crash last Friday. She drove her Mini Cooper at a high rate of speed in a residential area and crashed into a woman’s house, causing the home to burn up in flames.
Heche was pulled out by first responders but later fell into a coma at a hospital. Now her family is keeping her on a ventilator so her organs can be donated before she will be taken off life support.
Police said that Heche’s blood work showed the presence of narcotics (pain killers).
Heche recently finished filming a film called “Girl In Room 13” for Lifetime Networks. That film will premiere in September.
Gunman killed after attacking FBI office
The gunman who tried to break into an FBI office in Cincinnati, Ohio on Thursday morning is dead after a standoff with police officers that lasted several hours. His name was Ricky Shiffer.
According to news reports, he was angry about the FBI search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. He posted multiple times on Trump’s social media platform, TRUTH Social, that he wanted to kill FBI agents and go to war.
On Thursday morning he went to the FBI office wearing body armor and fired a nail gun to try and break into the office. He then fled the office and drove off in his car.
He posted on TRUTH again saying, “Well, I thought I had a way through bullet proof glass, and I didn’t. If you don’t hear from me, it is true I tried attacking the F.B.I., and it’ll mean either I was taken off the internet, the F.B.I. got me, or they sent the regular cops…” That was his last post.
Police officers spotted Shiffer’s car and pursued him. Shiffer had a rifle and shot at police officers. He eventually stopped and there was a standoff. Police said they tried to negotiate with him and take him into custody, but shot and killed him after he raised his gun towards them.
News reports said Shiffer was in Washington, D.C. around the time of the January 6 attack on the Capitol. There are now concerns over extremists who may be motivated to conduct attacks as Trump faces increasing pressure from multiple investigators.
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Report: Classified documents on nuclear weapons sought at Mar-a-Lago
The Washington Post reported according to their sources, FBI agents were looking for classified documents related to nuclear weapons when they conducted a raid of Mar-a-Lago on Monday night.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Thursday afternoon that he personally authorized the decision to obtain a search warrant. He did not explain which laws they suspected Trump broke.
The Department of Justice moved to unseal the warrant so the public can see what FBI agents were looking for.
Donald Trump responded that he wants the search warrant to be made public. He also said the nuclear weapons issue is a hoax. He accused the FBI of planting evidence.
AP News said a federal judge will decide today whether to grant the request to unseal the warrant. The judge’s name is Bruce Reinhart, who is the same judge that approved the FBI search warrant.
This afternoon the Wall Street Journal reported that FBI agents “removed 11 sets of classified documents, including some marked as top secret and meant to be only available in special government facilities.” The article said around 20 boxes of items were removed.
Salman Rushdie attacked
Salman Rushdie, a 75-year-old author who is best known for his book, “The Satanic Verses,” was stabbed when he was on a stage and about to give a lecture in western New York this morning.
Witnesses said a man rushed the stage and began punching and stabbing Rushdie. Others quickly restrained the man and he was detained by police officers.
Bystanders did CPR on Rushdie and lifted up his legs to send more blood to his chest. He was airlifted to a hospital.
AP News explained that Rushdie’s book, “The Satanic Verses,” is considered by many Muslims around the world to be blasphemous. Rushdie has been banned in Iran since 1988. In 1989, a former Iranian leader issued a fatwa — an order — for him to be killed. There was also a $3 million bounty offered for anyone who killed Rushdie.
It is not known who the suspected attacker is. Images on Twitter show a man who looks like he’s in his 20’s or 30’s being escorted to a police cruiser.
Polio detected in New York City wastewater
New York City health officials said they detected poliovirus — the virus that causes paralytic polio — in sewage, which means it is likely that the virus is circulating in the city.
Officials urged people who are unvaccinated against polio to get vaccinated. Officials warn that polio can lead to permanent paralysis of the arms and legs and sometimes death. The virus spreads through droplets from sneezes or coughs or from contact with infected fecal matter.
That is all the top stories for this week. Have a good weekend and stay with the light.
https://abc7.com/california-free-lunches-school-lunch-food-access/12119010/
https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/sn/cauniversalmeals.asp
https://deadline.com/2022/08/anne-heche-brain-dead-injury-taken-off-life-support-1235090375/
https://heavy.com/news/ricky-shiffer/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alleged-fbi-office-breach-cincinnati-ohio-standoff-suspect-dies/
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/12/new-york-city-polio-wastewater-samples
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/polio-discovered-york-city-wastewater-samples/story?id=88296226
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/11/garland-trump-mar-a-lago/
https://apnews.com/article/salman-rushdie-attacked-9eae99aea82cb0d39628851ecd42227a