July 3 top stories

Hello, it is July 3. Here are today’s top stories.

Woman accused of trying to drown 3-year-old Muslim child

Inmate records show a woman accused of trying to drown a 3-year-old Muslim and Palestinian child in an apartment complex pool in Texas has been rearrested.

Elizabeth Wolf, 42, who was arrested on May 19 in connection with the accusations, had been charged with attempted capital murder of a person under 10 years old and injury to a child, but was released after posting bail. During a subsequent bond hearing on June 27, her bond for the attempted capital murder charge was increased to $1 million, and she was taken back into custody.

The child’s mother told police Wolf was questioning where she was from and whether the two children playing at the pool were hers. The mother wore a hijab and modest swimwear and the family is Muslim and Palestinian. Wolf also made statements about the mother not being an American and said racist things.

When the mother answered her, Wolf tried to grab her 6-year-old son but he pulled away from her grasp, which caused a scratch on his finger. The mother began helping her son when Wolf grabbed her 3-year-old daughter and forced her underwater. The mother pulled her daughter from the water but she had been yelling for help and was coughing up water.

Police said the incident is being investigated as a hate crime. A court date is set for October 17.

Rep. Victoria Spartz charged with bringing gun to Dulles airport

Multiple sources reported that GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz serving Indiana’s 5th district was charged on Friday with a weapons violation at Washington Dulles International Airport.

Spartz, the first Ukrainian-born member of Congress, was charged with violating a section of Virginia law that prohibits carrying any gun, explosive or stun weapon into an air carrier airport terminal.

The congresswoman’s office said in a statement that on Friday, Spartz accidentally carried an empty handgun in her suitcase with no magazine or bullets, which she did not realize was in the pocket of her suitcase, while going through security at Dulles airport.

She received a citation and a summons to appear in a Virginia court. The violation is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Driver drank 18 beers before fatal nail salon crash on Long Island

According to ABC news, the driver who New York City authorities say plowed his SUV into a Long Island nail salon Friday, killing four people and injuring nine others, told police he had consumed 18 beers the night before the accident.

Steven Schwally, 64, was intoxicated when he drove his SUV at a high rate of speed into Hawaii Nail & Spa. When police arrived on the scene of the accident, first responders described Schwally as smelling of alcohol with his eyes “bloodshot” and his speech “slurred and mumbled”.

One of the four people killed at the nail salon was an off-duty New York City Police Department police officer getting her nails done for a colleague’s wedding that night.

Four of the injured victims were hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Five others, including a 12-year-old girl, were treated at area hospitals for injuries.

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In Mexico, 19 bodies found in truck as cartel violence spreads in southern state

According to Mexico’s attorney general, at least 19 bodies were discovered on Monday in an abandoned truck in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, Mexico’s poorest and southernmost, near the border with Guatemala.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador attributed the deaths to cartel violence and said some of the victims were migrants from Guatemala.

The president promised a thorough investigation into the deaths and said security in Chiapas will be reinforced.

Violence has been on the rise in Chiapas as cartels fight for control of lucrative routes for smuggling migrants and drugs.

The Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel have been engaged in a turf war in the area, with hundreds forced to flee their homes last January.

FDA to ban use of brominated vegetable oil in food, soda

Axios explained that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will no longer allow the use of brominated vegetable oil in food products Tuesday.

According to an FDA statement, brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is vegetable oil modified with the chemical bromine and has been used in small amounts to keep citrus flavoring from floating to the top in beverages.

Dozens of products – mostly sodas – use BVO as an ingredient.

The rule that no longer allows BVO in food will go into effect August 2, but companies will have one year after that date to reformulate and relabel their products as well as deplete their BVO inventory.

Brominated vegetable oil can accumulate in the body and has been linked to health hazards. Those include nervous system damage, headaches, skin and mucous membrane (a thick, slippery lining of some organs and body cavities such as mouth, nose and lungs) irritation, fatigue and loss of muscle coordination and memory.

That’s all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!

Woman accused of trying to drown 3-year-old Muslim child

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/23/us/texas-woman-drown-child.html

https://www.fox4news.com/news/euless-pool-drowning-elizabeth-wolf-hate-crime

Rep. Victoria Spartz charged with bringing gun to Dulles airport

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/07/01/victoria-spartz-weapons-violation-dulles/

In Mexico, 19 bodies found in truck as cartel violence spreads in southern state

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/2/drug-gang-turf-war-dumps-dozens-of-bodies-in-mexico-truck

https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-07-02/sinaloa-cartel-claims-responsibility-for-new-massacre-of-19-people-in-chiapas.html

Driver drank 18 beers before fatal nail salon crash on Long Island

https://abc7ny.com/post/deer-park-nail-salon-crash-man-suspected-driving/15016118/

https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/deer-park-long-island-crash/