The Daily Moth 5-13-2019
Update on Maleah Davis, missing 4 year old girl; Man arrested in deadly machete attack on the Appalachian trail; Dog disease can be passed to humans, Iowa confirms; Political News Briefs: China raises tariffs on $60B of U.S. goods; Supreme Court rules against Apple in antitrust lawsuit; Doris Day passes away at 97; Deaf Kansas City man’s body found at basement in murder mystery; Guest #deafbing: Deaf in Car
Hello, welcome to the Daily Moth! It is Thursday, May 9. Ready for news?
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Update on Maleah Davis, missing 4 year old girl
Last Friday, we shared that a 4 year old girl, Maleah Davis, has been missing for a week. The stepfather, Derion Vence (26) shared what happened, but it seems the story did not match up.
Last Saturday, Vence was arrested for suspicion of tampering with a corpse. It is not yet confirmed if Maleah is dead, but Houston police said Vence's story was false. Vence reported that he, Maleah, and his 1 year old son were abducted from his Nissan Altima car. However, a surveillance video showed his car was used to drop off Vence at a hospital.
Another surveillance video also showed Vence carrying out a blue laundry basket with a black trash bag inside the laundry basket. That same laundry basket was found in the trunk of the car with a gas can.
Court documents say that the police dogs alerted the police for “scent of decomposition” from the trunk of Vence’s car.
In addition to evidence, in Vence’s apartment, the police found blood in the hallway that led up to the bathroom. The blood matched Maleah’s DNA that was found on her toothbrush. The police found more blood when they used a “chemical reagent” - a chemical that finds hidden blood after a person tries to clean it up.
Vence was engaged to Maleah's mother and used to live with her, but the mother broke off the engagement.
Vence’s bail is set to $999,999. Court documents say that it is likely he will be charged with murder. He is scheduled to appear in court today.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/12/us/houston-maleah-davis-investigation-sunday/index.html
https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2019/05/11/stepfather-missing-houston-girl-meleah-davis-arrested-tampering-with-evidence/
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Man arrested in deadly machete attack on the Appalachian trail
In Virginia, a man from Massachusetts, James Jordan (30), faces a federal murder charge after he allegedly attacked two hikers on the Appalachian trail. There were two hikers, one man and one woman. Jordan stabbed the hikers with a machete, the woman was seriously injured and the man died. Authorities did not identify the two hikers yet.
Authorities were able to find the male hiker using GPS technology because he sent an emergency notification. The phone company called the authorities. The authorities got the call about the stabbing between 3:30am to 4am. The female hiker was found later, six miles away as she hiked while bleeding. She found other hikers and asked for help. Jordan, the suspect, surrendered himself.
In April, Jordan previously threatened other hikers with an ax on the Appalachian trail in Tennessee. He pleaded guilty and was put on probation.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/12/appalachian-trail-machete-attack-leaves-one-hiker-dead/1184619001/
https://www.foxnews.com/us/appalachian-trail-virginia-deadly-machete-attack-arrest
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/12/us/appalachian-trail-machete-attack/index.html
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Dog disease can be passed to humans, Iowa confirms
Des Moines, Iowa officials are warning residents that there is a bacterial disease in dogs that can be passed on to humans. This bacterial disease is called “canine Brucellosis.” This came from a small breeding facility in Marion County, Iowa. Canine Brucellosis is mainly passed through reproductive fluids.
The threat is not high for pet owners, but those who (i.e. veterinarians) regularly come in contact with their blood, tissues, and fluids may be at a higher risk. This disease is common in kennels and breeding facilities.
Iowa Department of Agriculture encouraged people to have a good habit of washing hands after handling animals.
A De Soto adoption agency encouraged people to adopt, not shop.
https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-officials-confirm-cases-of-bacterial-disease-in-dogs/27442584
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/12/zoonotic-bacterial-disease-dog-transmitted-humans/1183830001/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-newstopstories
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Political News Briefs: China raises tariffs on $60B of U.S. goods; Supreme Court rules against Apple in antitrust lawsuit
Here are two political news briefs.
The first — China announced they would raise tariffs (trade taxes) on $60 billion of U.S. goods from 10% to 25%. This was in response to Trump’s announcement on Friday of the U.S. raising tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
So, we are in a trade war. This had an impact on the U.S. stock market, as the DOW Jones closed down over 600 points today.
President Trump plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping next month along with Russian President Putin.
The second news — the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to allow iPhone users to continue in their antitrust lawsuit against Apple’s App Store.
iPhone users said it was not fair that Apple earns a 30% commission on App Store sales, because the users are the ones who pay for the apps — and said that Apple has a monopoly over the App Store and overcharges prices.
Apple said only app developers should be able to sue for this reason, not iPhone users. But the Supreme Court’s four liberal justices and Justice Kavanaugh sided with the users and said they could proceed with the lawsuit.
Analysts from CNBC said if Apple eventually loses the federal case, they could face hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties and that this case could have an impact on how other tech companies structure their businesses.
https://www.axios.com/us-china-trade-war-retaliatory-tariffs-beijing-f5a41aa2-d540-4f55-8192-d9862ba9d32d.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/13/supreme-court-rules-against-apple-in-app-store-antitrust-case.html
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Doris Day passes away at 97
Doris Day, who was a very famous movie star and singer in the 1950’s to 1960’s, has passed away at 97. She is also known for being an animal rights activist.
Two of her most well-known movie roles were in “Calamity Jane” and Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much.” She was in many movies with leading male actors in that time era.
She is considered the top female box office performer in the 1960’s. She later starred in a CBS sitcom, “The Doris Day Show.”
She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004 from George W. Bush.
She was married four times and had one son who passed away from cancer in 2004.
Day died from pneumonia at her home in Carmel Valley, California.
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/doris-day-dead-at-97
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Day
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Deaf Kansas City man’s body found at basement in murder mystery
A Deaf man’s body was found dead in the basement of a home in Kansas City, Missouri on May 5. His name was Matthew Calkins (35) and he graduated from the Kansas School for the Deaf in 2002.
Police said he was murdered. The exact cause of Calkins’ death is unknown and is still a mystery. The story is a bit complicated.
Local news reports say his body was found in the basement of a home after there was a fire there.
I reached out to a long-time friend of Calkins, Chad Nystrom, to share what he knows.
CHAD NYSTROM: What happened was, how he died, I don’t know yet. They’re investigating, but right now they’ve identified the body as Matt’s. They extracted DNA from the body which had been burned beyond recognition. They had to test the DNA and that’s how they identified Matt. They’ve started their investigation.
Alex: Local news reports explain that before the fire, there were reports of gunfire. When police arrived, they found the fire, and called in firefighters, who put out the fire and discovered the body of Calkins.
Police arrested a suspect who lived at the house, Colton Stock, who is hearing, and charged him with assault for attacking another man, Floyd Wood, who is hearing.
Wood told KCTV 5 News that he went to Stock’s house because he asked him to move some furniture.
[Clarification: Wood went to the basement with another man, but he left shortly afterwards. Wood said he was alone with stock.]
Down there, Stock asked Wood if he would like to look at a motorcycle. Wood said when he took out his phone to take a picture, Stock started freaking out and tried to choke him and break his neck. The two fought and Wood was able to escape out of the house. Wood said when he escaped, Stock shot at him when he was running across the lawn. He wasn’t hit.
[Video from KCTV 5: WOOD: “I got halfway across the lawn and he took a shot at me with his gun. Reporter “You think he was trying to kill you?” WOOD: I know he was. Why?”
Alex: The gunfire is what prompted neighbors to report the gunshots. Apparently the fire started after this. It is not known the cause of the fire.
Wood said he thought Stock wanted to kill him because he was a witness.
NYSTROM: Stock started to act up and took his phone. They started fighting. I guess (Stock) thought he saw Matt’s body and took a picture of it. I’m not sure of the specifics. The story is suspect. He changed his story from the first time to the second time, then changed it again. So I’m not sure. We don’t know the full story. We have no idea.
[Video from KCTV 5: Reporter: Fast forward to the day before this attack happened. Wood says he was home with a friend when Stock came over to his home, just around the corner. Wood says Stock came to get his friend claiming he stole his gun.
WOOD: “I said well what are you going to do? He said, we’re just going to have a little talk.”
Reporter: Wood’s security camera captured images of this change on his front porch. Stock is the one looking towards the camera. Wood’s fine is on the right.
WOOD: “And I pointed at him and said don’t you (beep) hurt him. And they took off and that’s the last I’ve seen him.”
Alex: Local news report haven’t said if Stock or anyone else was charged with murder in connection with Calkins’ death. So this is still being investigated.
Calkins’ mother, Diane Calkins-Scroggins, posted on Facebook that a funeral is scheduled on Saturday, May 25. I asked Nystrom to share a memory of him.
NYSTROM: There are so many. He was more of a class clown, a practical joker. There’s a lot of real good memories. Yeah, a lot of them and I’ll need some time to be able to share those. Maybe after the funeral because right now, there’s so much going on in my mind.
So far, I’m doing okay. It’s still on/off, on/off. I’ll feel some pain, anxiety and have some flashbacks, but you got to move forward. Life goes on.
Alex: Thank you for sharing.
https://www.kctv5.com/news/man-found-dead-after-northland-house-fire-identified/article_f401c974-7368-11e9-b768-6f4315050e90.html
https://www.kctv5.com/news/local_news/northland-attack-victim-concerned-body-found-may-be-his-missing/article_1b637a0a-71e6-11e9-920c-ef3845e44cb4.html
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article230281704.html
https://www.kctv5.com/news/local_news/northland-attack-victim-concerned-body-found-may-be-his-missing/article_1b637a0a-71e6-11e9-920c-ef3845e44cb4.html
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Guest #deafbing: Deaf in Car
Alex: Here are two guest Deaf Bing about the benefits of being Deaf in a car.
MJ K: Have you noticed that deaf people tend to make vlogs sharing their thoughts and feelings in their car.
The nice thing about doing in the car is that it’s like a studio without the interruptions.
I have the time and space to film a vlog.
Deaf Bing!
Alex: True. I should move “The Daily Moth” studio to my car. Hmm. The next one is from Cher.
CHER H: Hey, I love you!
PASSENGERS IN ANOTHER CAR:
Love you!
CHER: This is a cool way of how the deaf can communicate. People in two cars can sign and communicate. That’s how deaf people can benefit from ASL!
Alex: Nice benefit. If I do move “The Daily Moth” studio in a car, I could do interviews from out the window. Hmm.
Thank you two for sending the videos!
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That is all for today! See you tomorrow and stay with the light!