The Florida Legislature has been stockpiling a number of gun bills that would dramatically increase the presence of firearm visibility and broaden the definition of where guns are allowed. These bills will be decided upon during the upcoming legislative session in January 2016.
One such bill would enable citizens who already possess a concealed weapons permit to open carry in public. The bill is being championed by the Republican father-son team of State Rep. Matt Gaetz, who filed the bill, and State Sen. Don Gaetz, who is sponsoring it.
The bill reads “…that the possession and carrying of weapons and firearms by law-abiding individuals for lawful purposes, including self-defense, enhances public safety,” according to WFTV.
Gaetz’s legislation is just one of many gun bills being mulled over by Florida lawmakers.
Other gun-related bills that will be up for debate in the Florida legislature come January have already sparked controversy, the Sun Sentinel reports.
These bills, if approved, would allow concealed carry permit holders to bring guns on college campuses, allow police and military servicemen (either active or retired) patrol K-12 campuses with a firearm, and further strengthen Stand Your Ground defenses by putting the burden of proof on the State.
University presidents, chiefs of police and student bodies have all been vocally against allowing guns on college campuses.
“What we do in a campus environment is stimulate and sometime(s) provoke the students who are on our campuses in order for them to learn,” Tallahassee Community College President Jim Murdaugh said. “We cause them to challenge what they believe, and sometimes that results in friction between faculty and students.
“The idea of having someone armed in that kind of environment … is not something that leads, in my estimation, likely to good outcomes.”
A survey conducted by the Sun Sentinel shows that every Florida county school superintendent is in favor of allowing guns on K-12 schools.
It hasn’t happened in 33 years, and won’t for another 18 years: Sunday evening, a total lunar eclipse will coincide with a “Supermoon.”
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is between the full moon and the sun. The Earth’s shadow covers the moon, which often has a red color, hence the “blood” moon nickname.
Although it’s completely in the shadow of Earth, a bit of reddish sunlight still reaches the moon.
“That red light shining onto the moon is sunlight that has skimmed and bent through Earth’s atmosphere: that is, from all the sunrises and sunsets that ring the world at any given moment,” according to Alan MacRobert of Sky and Telescope magazine.
The total eclipse will start at 10:11 p.m. EDT (7:11 p.m. PDT) Sunday evening and will last one hour and 12 minutes. It will be visible across North and South America, Europe, Africa, and parts of West Asia and the eastern Pacific, NASA said.
Weather permitting, folks in the eastern half of North America can watch every stage of the eclipse, from beginning to end of the partial phases, with the moon mostly high in the sky, Sky and Telescope reports.
In the West, the first partial stage of the eclipse will already be in progress when the moon rises in the east around sunset.
You don’t need special glasses or gizmos to view it, unlike a solar eclipse, so feel free to stare directly at the moon. Binoculars or a telescope would improve the view.
And what does a Supermoon mean? It just means the moon looks a bit bigger than usual since its a bit closer to the Earth than usual. “Because the orbit of the moon is not a perfect circle, the moon is sometimes closer to the Earth than at other times during its orbit,” NASA scientist Noah Petro said in a statement.
“There’s no physical difference in the moon,” Petro added. “It just appears slightly bigger in the sky. It’s not dramatic, but it does look larger.”
It’s about 14% larger than normal, NASA reports.
What is uncommon is for a total lunar eclipse to coincide with a Supermoon. There have been just five such events since 1900 (in 1910, 1928, 1946, 1964 and 1982), NASA said.
This is the last total lunar eclipse visible anywhere on Earth until 2018, according toSky and Telescope. Americans will actually see a total solar eclipse (in Aug. 2017) before the next total lunar eclipse.
Thousands of fish dead after a California lake ran dry overnight.
WALKER LAKE, Calif.— Thousands of fish are dead after a Northern California reservoir ran dry overnight, reports CBS Sacramento.
Mountain Meadows reservoir also known as Walker Lake is a popular fishing hole just west of Susanville. Now the reservoir is dry and all the fish are dead.
Residents tell CBS Sacramento that people were fishing on the lake just last Saturday. But it drained like a bathtub overnight.
Resident Eddie Bauer has lived near the lake his entire life. He says that this is the first time he has ever seen the lake run dry. He and other residents now want answers as to why and how this could have happened.
CBS Sacramento reports that Pacific Gas & Electric Company own the rights to the water and use it for hydroelectric power.
“It’s the situation we worked hard to avoid but the reality is we’re in a very serious drought, there’s also concerns for the fish downstream,” said spokesman Paul Moreno.
Dead fish at a Northern California reservoir.
CBS SACRAMENTO
Bauer tells CBS Sacramento there should have been at least two weeks of water left. He says that would have been enough time to relocate the fish.
“This makes me feel like they didn’t want to do a fish rescue and that it was easier to open that sucker up Saturday night,” Bauer said.
PG&E officials tell CBS Sacramento that no one opened the dam up. They say thewater just ran out.
“The reservoirs are all continuing to be far below normal,” said Doug Carlson with the Department of Water Resources.
He says there is no question water concerns are still a very serious issue across the state.
“We are reliant upon rainfall to fill those lakes of course and until we get more rain we’re not likely to see any appreciable increase in the reservoir levels,” he said.
The Obama administration has discovered a chain of emails that Hillary Rodham Clinton failed to turn over when she provided what she said was the full record of work-related correspondence as secretary of state, officials said Friday, adding to the growing questions related to the Democratic presidential front-runner’s unusual usage of a private email account and server while in government.
The messages were exchanged with retired Gen. David Petraeus when he headed the military’s U.S. Central Command, responsible for running the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They began before Clinton entered office and continued into her first days at the State Department. They largely pertained to personnel matters and don’t appear to deal with highly classified material, officials said, but their existence challenges Clinton’s claim that she has handed over the entirety of her work emails from the account.
When asked about the emails, Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon referred CBS News to a fact sheet on the campaign’s website. It reads: “Early in her term, Clinton continued using an att.blackberry.net account that she had used during her Senate service. Given her practice from the beginning of emailing State Department officials on their state.gov accounts, her work-related emails during these initial weeks would have been captured and preserved in the State Department’s record-keeping system. She, however, no longer had access to these emails once she transitioned from this account.”
Republicans have raised questions about thousands of emails that she has deleted on grounds that they were private in nature, as well as other messages that have surfaced independently of Clinton and the State Department. Speaking of her emails on CBS’ “Face the Nation” this week, Clinton said: “We provided all of them.”
“I should have used two separate e-mail accounts, one personal, one work-related,” Clinton told “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson that. “What I did was allowed. It was fully above board. People in the government certainly knew that I was using a personal e- mail. But I have tried to be transparent.”
She added that she had released an “unprecedented” 55,000 pages of her emails and that her level of transparency has been “more than anybody else ever been.”
The FBI and several congressional committees are still investigating.
The State Department’s record of Clinton emails begins on March 18, 2009 – almost two months after she entered office. Before then, Clinton has said she used an old AT&T Blackberry email account, the contents of which she no longer can access.
The Petraeus emails, first discovered by the Defense Department and then passed to the State Department’s inspector general, challenge that claim. They start on Jan. 10, 2009, with Clinton using the older email account. But by Jan. 28 – a week after her swearing in – she switched to using the private email address on a homebrew server that she would rely on for the rest of her tenure. There are less than 10 emails back and forth in total, officials said, and the chain ends on Feb. 1.
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Full interview: Hillary Clinton, September 20
The officials weren’t authorized to speak on the matter and demanded anonymity. But State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed that the agency received the emails in the “last several days” and that they “were not previously in the possession of the department.”
Kirby said they would be subject to a Freedom of Information Act review like the rest of Clinton’s emails. She gave the department some 30,000 emails last year that she sent or received while in office, and officials plan to finish releasing all of them by the end of January, after sensitive or classified information is censored. A quarter has been made public so far.
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Email controversy surrounding Clinton campaign
Additionally, Kirby said the agency will incorporate the newly discovered emails into a review of record retention practices that Clinton’s successor, Secretary of State John Kerry, initiated in March. “We have also informed Congress of this matter,” he added.
These steps are unlikely to satisfy Clinton’s Republican critics.
The House Benghazi Committee plans to hold a public hearing with Clinton next month to hear specifically about what the emails might say about the attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Libya that killed four Americans on Sept. 11, 2012. And the Senate Judiciary Committee’s GOP chairman said he wants the Justice Department to tell him if a criminal investigation is underway into Clinton’s use of private email amid reports this week that the FBI recovered deleted emails from her server. The Senate Homeland Security Committee also is looking into the matter.
Clinton has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. “When I did it, it was allowed, it was above board. And now I’m being as transparent as possible, more than anybody else ever has been,” she said earlier this week.
Clinton has been dogged for months by questions about her email practices. She initially described her choice as a matter of convenience, but later took responsibility for making a wrong decision.
Separately Friday, State Department officials said they were providing the Benghazi-focused probe more email exchanges from senior officials pertaining to Libya. The committee broadened its scope after examining tens of thousands of documents more specifically focused on the Benghazi attack.
Like the Energizer Bunny, It just keeps going and going and going
8-year-old suspended for wearing wrong shade of green
An 8-year-old girl received a one-day suspension from her southern New Jersey public elementary school for wearing a shirt that was the wrong shade of green.
The girl’s mother tells WTXF-TV that Winslow Township Elementary School No. 4 sent her daughter home Tuesday for wearing a kelly green polo shirt, which was deemed to be in violation of the Camden County school’s dress code.
The school’s dress code specifies that shirts and blouses may only be white, dark green or navy.
Winslow Township School’s code on dress and grooming says “school attire can influence a pupil’s behavior and potentially impact the academic environment.”
Other parents have reported that their children were suspended for wearing wrong colored shirts as well.
The girl’s mother called the suspension “a little ridiculous.”
Slowly but surely, chip-and-pin technology designed to make debit and credit cards safer is coming to the U.S.
Over the past few months, more and more consumers have been receiving new cards in the mail featuring small gold or silver patches on the front. Stores, meanwhile have been replacing their card terminals to accept the new cards, which are inserted into a small slot, rather than swiped.
So what does the new technology mean for consumers? ABC10 News asked the experts:
1. What’s happening Oct. 1?
On Oct. 1, 2015, the liability shifts in terms of who is responsible in the case of credit card fraud.
“After Oct. 1, either the [credit card company] or the merchant/retailer who has the least secure technology is responsible for fraud,” MasterCard spokesperson Beth Kitchener explained.
Essentially, the Oct. 1 date is being used as an incentive to get more retailers and credit card companies to embrace the new, more secure chip-and-pin technology. Formerly, if a credit card number was used to make a fraudulent purchase at a store, the credit card company was responsible. Now, if the credit card has been updated to a chip-and-pin card, but the store in question did not update its terminal to accept the new card, the store will be held responsible.
2. Will the process change to report fraud?
In a word, no. Kitchener explains that if you spot a fraudulent charge on your account, you’ll still contact your credit card company to report it. What changes will happen behind the scenes, as the credit card company and the retailer figure out which company had the more updated technology – and who will end up paying to resolve the issue.
3. Will the new cards take longer to use?
The chip-and-pin cards may take a millisecond longer than magnetic-strip cards, Kitchener says, but that’s about it. It may feel longer, though, as the chip-and-pin cards are kept in the terminal reader for a few seconds in order to generate a unique security code.
“You and I are very used to going into a store, swiping a card and as the terminal is processing it, we’re putting it back in our bag, not aware of the fact it’s taking time. With the card in the terminal, you don’t have anything to do!” Kitchener said.
4. When will all stores have new terminals?
There’s no official deadline by which all stores need to replace the old terminals with the new ones.
“Depending on the merchant’s existing setup, it varies what it involves to upgrade to the chip technology,” Smart Card Alliance executive director Randy Vanderhoof explained. “A small- or medium-sized merchant that has a standalone payment terminal on the counter — their upgrade is to replace or invest in a new terminal and plug it in and they’re ready to go. For larger merchants, often those payment terminals are connected to more sophisticated backend payment processing and point-of-sale systems, so additional software needs to be programmed beyond the replacement of the terminal.”
Since the chip-and-pin terminals can cost a couple of hundred dollars, smaller mom-and-pop stores may wait a bit to replace them. Of course, this opens up these stores to some risk: If there are fraudulent charges after Oct. 1, they could be held liable.
A convicted felon who accidentally shot himself in the penis was arrested after police say he lied about how the shooting happened.
Donald Anthony Watson was admitted to the Avera McKennan emergency room about 1:30 a.m. Sept. 6 for a gunshot wound to his penis, according to an arrest affidavit.
When questioned by police, the 43-year-old said he was shot by “a black guy (who) tried to rob” him while he was taking out the trash at his apartment.
Officers went to Watson’s apartment in the 1500 block of East Nye Street to look for evidence and witnesses to corroborate Watson’s story. No evidence of a shooting was found near the dumpster. A witness told officers he heard screams of pain coming from Watson’s apartment about 1 a.m.
A search warrant was served on Watson’s house because of the conflicting stories. Officers found what appeared to be bullet fragments on Watson’s bed, court records show. An empty gun case was found. Officers weren’t able to locate the firearm.
Before Watson entered surgery, officers, again, asked him how he was shot. This time, he told the officer he shot himself while looking at a gun he was trying to buy.
Two days after the surgery, Watson was re-interviewed about the shooting. He told officer he was examining the gun, placed it in his pocket and the gun discharged striking him in the penis. He refused to tell officers who was selling the gun and where the gun is now.
Watson was then arrested on charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of firearm by drug offender, false report of a crime to law enforcement and false report of information to law enforcement.
The mayor of Lewiston, Maine, is pushing for a public database of the state’s welfare recipients, stating the public has a “right to know” where taxpayer dollars are going.
In a Thursday column in the Twin City Times, Mayor Robert E. MacDonald, called for a “major overhaul of the many laws and policies dealing with confidentiality … that dictate how federal, state and local government are run.”
He said that while the state maintains a public database of those who receive pensions from the state, “other recipients of state revenues are shielded.”
“Yes, I am referring to those known as welfare recipients. Why are they treated differently than pensioners?” he asked. “The answer: our liberal, progressive legislators and their social-service allies have made them a victimized, protected class. It’s none of your business how much of your money they get and spend. Who are you to question it? Just shut up and pay!”
MacDonald, a local Republican, said he plans on submitting a bill during the next legislative session that will call for the creation of a website with the names, addresses, and length of time on assistance for every welfare recipient in the state.
Because MacDonald isn’t a state lawmaker he is unable to submit a state bill and will need the support of state lawmaker to make the bill a reality, the Portland Press Heraldreported.
MacDonald, who’s running for re-election in November, told the Herald, he’s “not sorry” about writing the column. He said he hopes “this makes people think twice about applying for welfare.”
His democratic opponent called the column a “political stunt,” the Herald reported.
Ellen DeGeneres has spoken about Caitlyn Jenner’s surprising admission that she previously opposed same-sex marriage. Ellen DeGeneres spoke about Jenner’s admission Ellen DeGeneres has spoken about Caitlyn Jenner’s surprising admission that she previously opposed same-sex marriage. The Olympian and reality show star appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show this week – where she admitted that she used to oppose equal marriage, before publicly coming out as transgender.
Explaining that she had changed her mind on the issue, she said: “If the word ‘marriage’ is really, really that important to you, I can go with it.” However, Ellen DeGeneres appears to have been taken aback by the answer – telling SiriusXM host Howard Stern that she was baffled. She said: “Caitlyn Jenner is on the show today, and she really still has a judgement about gay marriage. “I said to her: ‘You’re wanting people to understand and accept you – this is like really confusing to people – but you still have a judgement about gay people and marriage’. “She said ‘if the word marriage is that important’ …and I was like, ‘it is, because that’s the word!’. We want the same thing as everybody.” DeGeneres also questioned the star’s Republican beliefs – despite Republicans actively opposing trans rights. Republican Presidential wannabe Mike Huckabee recently ‘joked’ he wishes he were trans to spy on girls in the shower. The out comic said: “She’s a Republican and conservative – and I think a lot of Republicans are wishing she wasn’t a Republican.” The entertainer also revealed that Jenner refused to dance with her – which most guests including President Obama have done do on the talk show. She said: “No, she didn’t dance. I don’t think she’s a dancer. “Maybe she didn’t want to dance with me cause I’m a lesbian! She was great, it was a great interview. I don’t really know her, and I’m trying to understand it, because I don’t fully understand it either. “I also want everyone to be happy I don’t fully understand all of that, but I want her to be happy. Which is what I want for her, for me.” Ms Jenner, who says she has always felt female, has been married to three women. I have no issues with LBGT issues, as long as they don’t throw it in my face, But Cailyn Jenner is not the hero people make her out to be. Be more selective who you idolize.
