The Daily Moth 8-28-19
Hurricane Dorian in Puerto Rico expected to grow to Cat. 3; Scientists fertilize eggs from world’s last two northern white rhinos; Naked man arrested, charged with triple murder; 26 killed in arson attack in Mexico; Update on Grant Whitaker case: cause of death confirmed by autopsy
[Transcript] Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Wednesday, August 28. Ready for news?
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Hurricane Dorian in Puerto Rico expected to grow to Cat. 3
Dorian formed into a Cat. 1 hurricane today and is moving through the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico today with winds up to 90 mph. It is expected to bring heavy rain, strong winds, and high surf. At risk are mountainous areas that could experience landslides and homes that haven’t had their roofs repaired from Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Hurricane Dorian will then move towards the Bahamas and is forecast to turn into a Category 3 hurricane with a path that has a high probability of making landfall in the southeast U.S. on Sunday or Monday.
It may hit Florida, or it might shift northwards towards other Atlantic Coast states, or even move past the southern tip of Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico. People who live in the southeast U.S. should be on alert and start thinking of emergency preparations.
President Trump said FEMA and all others are ready. He then said Puerto Rico is one of the most corrupt places on Earth and that he is the best thing that has ever happened to Puerto Rico because of the billions in dollars of aid approved by Congress (for Hurricane Maria).
Several Puerto Rican lawmakers and local politicians criticized Trump by saying it was inappropriate for Trump to make those comments while they are facing a hurricane.
https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2019-08-28-dorian-hurricane-virgin-islands-puerto-rico-st-thomas-bahamas
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/tropical-storm-dorian-august-28/index.html
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1166723477879087104
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Scientists fertilize eggs from world’s last two northern white rhinos
The New York Times reported that there are only two northern white rhinoceroses left in the world, a mother and a daughter, and that an international team of scientists in Italy have successfully fertilized seven eggs extracted from the two rhinos using sperm from male rhinos before they died.
Scientists said they don’t know if they will have embryos, but they have proved that there is a real chance to have offspring.
The last known male northern white rhino died last year in Kenya. The mother and daughter lives at a conservancy in Kenya. The two are not considered physically capable of carrying a baby to term, so scientists plan to use a southern white rhino act as a surrogate mother.
Northern white rhinos are a subspecies of the southern white rhinoceros and are not endangered.
Scientists say they will wait to see if the fertilized eggs turn into blastocysts. They will then figure out how to successfully transplant it into a surrogate rhino. The gestation period is 16 months or more.
There are more stored rhino cells in different locations, so there will be more chances in the future for a successful pregnancy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/28/science/northern-white-rhino-eggs-fertilized.html
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Naked man arrested, charged with triple murder
There is a viral video of a naked man who was seen chasing a police officer and attacking an elderly man before being detained by multiple police officers with a K9 dog.
The man’s name is Matthew Bernard (18) and he has been charged with murdering his mother, sister, and nephew.
Two of the three victims are the wife and child of a minor league pitcher with the Tampa Bay Rays organization, Blake Bivens. The wife/mother’s name was Emily Bivens and their son, Cullen, was one year old.
Police said there was a 911 call this morning with a report that there was a dead female on a driveway of a house. Police found a woman and a child dead inside of the house.
ABC 13 News said the murder suspect unexpectedly came running towards a media staging area, which is when the video started.
A state police officer was seen chasing and running away from the suspect, spraying mace on him, and using a baton when he attacked the elderly man. He was finally detained by multiple officers when he tried to run into a forested area.
The Virginia State Police said their officers are trained to first attempt to deescalate a situation with an individual who is displaying obvious mental distress and pointed out that the suspect was not in possession of a weapon.
The suspect is in custody with three first-degree murder charges. The motive is unclear.
The father/husband/pitcher, Blake, played for the Montgomery Biscuits, a Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The Tampa Bay Rays tweeted that they were grieving with Blake.
The Biscuits team has cancelled games planned for tonight.
There is a GoFundMe for the Bivens family that has raised over $25,000.
The elderly man who was attacked is a church groundsman. He was not seriously injured.
https://wset.com/news/local/obvious-mental-distress-police-said-trooper-did-what-he-was-trained-to-capture-suspect
https://www.gofundme.com/f/emily-bivens-family-fund
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26 killed in arson attack in Mexico
In southern Mexico, there was a terrible arson attack that killed at least 26 people who were locked in a bar that was set ablaze.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said there were criminals who went in the bar, closed the doors, the emergency exits, and set fire to the place. He said this was the most inhuman thing possible.
There is now a manhunt for the suspects.
The president said there might be corruption and collusion between the criminals and authorities because the alleged attackers were arrested in July but then released.
A businessman told ABC News that it seems like an organized crime attack against the bar because they were not paid in an extortion attempt.
The bar’s name was the “White Horse Bar” and it provided private rooms and female dancers. There were both male and female victims.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/23-killed-attack-bar-southern-mexico-65235057
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Update on Grant Whitaker case: cause of death confirmed by autopsy
[TRANSCRIPT] Here are several updates on the Mavrick Fisher murder case.
The first — the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said they have completed an autopsy of the human remains that is believed to belong to Grant Whitaker. The cause of death has been determined to be blunt force trauma to the head.
This means that Grant died from something that hit his head. This would align with a Moth report on Monday that showed conversations between Mavrick and two individuals in which he said he smashed a rock on Grant’s head. The sheriff’s office did not mention what weapon they suspect was used. They said the investigation in the circumstances related to Grant’s death are continuing.
According to Lake County online records, Mavrick has been booked in the Lake County jail today in the early afternoon. The transfer from San Diego jail has been completed. He is charged with first-degree murder on a probable cause warrant, which means authorities have enough information to suspect him of committing murder.
Mavrick’s next court date is August 30, which is on Friday. It is not clear if he will have a public defender assigned to him.
That’s all for now.
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That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
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