May 17 top stories
Hello, it is May 17. Here are today’s top stories.
Houston storms: At least 4 killed, power cut in nearly 1 million homes and businesses
Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas Thursday for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to nearly 1 million homes and businesses in the Houston area.
Officials urged residents to keep off roads following Thursday’s storms, as many were impassable and traffic lights were out. The storm system moved through swiftly, but flood watches and warnings remained Friday for Houston and areas to the east.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire said four people died during the severe weather. At least two of the deaths were caused by falling trees and another happened when a crane blew over in strong winds.
Whitmire said wind speeds reached 100 mph with some twisters. He continued the power gusts were reminiscent of 2008’s Hurricane Ike, which pounded the city.
Teen died from eating spicy tortilla chip in social media challenge
Harris Wolobah, a 14-year-old 10th-grader of Massachusetts, died from attempting Paqui’s ultra-spicy “One Chip Challenge” in the viral social media trend when he ingested the tortilla chip seasoned with both the Carolina Reaper pepper and the Naga Viper pepper.
An autopsy concluded on Thursday that he died from cardiac arrest hours after eating the spicy tortilla chip on September 1, 2023. The local autopsy office determined that Wolobah had ingested a high amount of chili pepper extract and found he also had an enlarged heart and a congenital heart defect.
His mother, Lois, declined to speak on camera after her son’s cause of death was revealed, but she said that her family is heartbroken and angry and feeling the pain of September 1st all over again.
Chip maker Paqui pulled the product from store shelves days after his death. A Paqui spokesperson said in a statement that the One Chip Challenge has been discontinued.
U.S. military completes Gaza pier construction
The U.S. military said on Thursday it completed construction of a temporary floating pier in Gaza that will allow for the delivery of critical humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
U.S. Central Command said: “Trucks carrying humanitarian assistance are expected to begin moving ashore in the coming days. The United Nations will receive the aid and coordinate its distribution into Gaza.”
However, U.S. officials have said that the increased aid has not been enough to alleviate a risk of famine in northern Gaza.
Officials with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said last month that famine had already started in northern Gaza and could spread south.
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Astronomers discover “super fluffy”, cotton candy-like planet
Scientists said Monday researchers discovered a huge planet 1,200 light years from Earth with a density comparable to that of cotton candy.
According to a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Astronomy, WASP-193b is an exoplanet, which means it is located outside of our solar system. It is 50% larger than Jupiter – the largest planet in our solar system – but seven times less massive because of its extraordinarily low density.
Julien de Wit, MIT professor, said in a news release: “The planet is so light that it is difficult to think of an analogous, solid-state material. The reason why it is close to cotton candy is because both are pretty much air. The planet is basically super fluffy.”
Researchers said the extremely low density makes WASP-193b an anomaly among the more than 5,000 exoplanets scientists have discovered to date. They believe that WASP-193b, which orbits a Sun-like star every 6.25 days, is mostly made of hydrogen and helium. They said it is unknown how a planet is able to inflate so much.
See a story about the arrest of the world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler from Alex. Here you go.
World No. 1 golfer Scheffler arrested outside of golf tournament
Thanks, Callie.
The world’s No. 1 golfer, Scottie Scheffler, was arrested early this morning when he was trying to drive to the Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky for the PGA Championship tournament.
ESPN explained that when Scheffler arrived in the area, traffic on the road leading into the golf course was already stopped and filled with emergency vehicles because there was a man who was struck and killed by a shuttle bus more than an hour earlier.
Scheffler tried to drive around the scene. A police officer told him to stop, but he continued to drive. An officer grabbed onto the side of Scheffler’s car while it was moving. Scheffler eventually stopped the car and when he rolled down his window, the officer grabbed at him, pulled him out of the car, and handcuffed him.
The officer said in a police report that he was “dragged to the ground” and sustained several injuries to his left wrist. He went to a hospital.
Scheffler was taken to jail. He is charged with second-degree assault of a police officer and other related charges. He was released on bail and went back to the golf club. He is playing today and is in the top ten.
Scheffler said in a statement this morning that it was a “big misunderstanding” of what he thought the officer was trying to tell him to do and that he never intended to ignore them.
The traffic fatality was when a man tried to cross a road and was struck in a dedicated lane for buses. He died at the scene.
The PGA of America said they are devastated to learn that the man, who was a worker with one of their vendors, was killed.
Thanks for that story. That’s all the top stories for this week. Have a nice weekend and stay with the light!
Houston storms: At least 4 killed, power cut in over 1 million homes and businesses
https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/thunderstorm-damage-houston-texas
Teen died from eating spicy tortilla chip in social media challenge
https://people.com/teen-harris-wolobah-cause-death-one-chip-challenge-7966864
U.S. military completes Gaza pier construction
https://www.npr.org/2024/05/17/1252013355/aid-gaza-floating-pier
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/aid-starts-flowing-gaza-us-pier-israel-rafah-rcna152714
Astronomers discover “super fluffy”, cotton candy-like planet
https://www.space.com/exoplanet-2nd-lightest-cotton-candy
https://news.mit.edu/2024/astronomers-spot-giant-planet-light-as-cotton-candy-0514
World No. 1 golfer Scheffler arrested outside of golf tournament