"Promoter in failed Bahamas music festival pleads guilty" Associated Press March 07, 2018
NEW YORK — The promoter of the failed Fyre Festival in the Bahamas — once billed as the ‘‘cultural experience of the decade’’ — pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges Tuesday, agreeing to serve up to a decade in prison for lying to investors and sending false documents.
Billy McFarland, 26, entered the plea in Manhattan federal court in a deal with prosecutors that suggested he serve between eight and 10 years in prison.
‘‘I deeply regret my actions, and I apologize to my investors, team, family, and supporters who I let down,’’ a chastened McFarland told US District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan.
He said he planned to organize ‘‘a legitimate festival’’ when he planned the Fyre Festival as an outgrowth of a digital application he launched in May 2016 to help concert promoters and private individuals directly book musicians for concerts.
The festival was promoted as ‘‘the cultural experience of the decade,’’ an ultra-luxurious event on the Bahamian island of Exuma over two weekends last April and May. Customers hoping to see Blink-182 and the hip hop act Migos arrived to learn music acts were canceled. Their luxury accommodations and gourmet food consisted of leaky white tents and cheese sandwiches. Customers lashed out on social media with the hashtag #fyrefraud."
Related:
"A group of investors pulled out of a deal to buy the beleaguered Weinstein Co. on Tuesday after discovering tens of millions of dollars in undisclosed debt, according to people familiar with the negotiations. Maria Contreras-Sweet, who has been leading the group of buyers along with billionaire investor Ron Burkle, said in a statement that ‘‘disappointing information about the viability of completing this transaction’’ had led her to call off the sale. She didn’t offer further details. But two people familiar with the proceedings said the buyers came across documents showing liabilities beyond the $225 million the buyers had been prepared to take on. One of the people said the documents showed $64 million in additional debt. Both people spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss private negotiations publicly."
That's why Bob outed his brother.
"Tony-award winning actress injured; daughter killed in wreck" Associated Press March 07, 2018
NEW YORK — The 4-year-old daughter of a Tony-award winning actress was killed along with a 1-year-old when a driver apparently lost control of her vehicle and slammed into them as they crossed a Brooklyn street.
Ruthie Ann Blumenstein, who goes by the stage name Ruthie Ann Miles, was injured in the accident Monday in the Park Slope neighborhood. Her daughter Abigail was killed. Blumenstein, who is pregnant, was walking with friend Lauren Lew, who had 1-year-old Joshua in a stroller. He died and Lew was injured.
That's why this story gets attention in the jew$paper.
A 46-year-old man was also struck by the car and was expected to survive. He and the two women were hospitalized.
Lew’s father, William Durston, who lives in Hawaii, told the Daily News of New York that he had spoken with her after the accident.
‘‘I’m concerned about her health and her mental well-being,’’ he said.
Related: Doctor-assisted suicide measure advances in Hawaii
Don't be too quick to declare 'em dead.
The driver, a 44-year-old woman from Staten Island, is seen on surveillance footage in a white Volvo stopping at the intersection. But the car slowly starts moving before it speeds up and strikes the people in the crosswalk. Photos of the scene show the stroller mangled and the car wrecked after striking a parked car.
Blumenstein won a Tony in 2015 for her role as Lady Thiang in a revival of the ‘‘King and I.’’
They couldn't find an Asian for the role?
The driver hasn’t been charged; police are looking into her medical history and driving record.....
One wonders if the driver is Jewish given the anonymity.
--more--"
If nothing else, it flogs the idea of Jewish victimhood.
"A father in Virginia who said his son was kicked off the bus for three days for bullying made him run to school instead. In the rain. Bryan Thornhill’s Facebook Live video, recorded while driving behind his son, picked up more than 1.6 million views....."
I would say block it, but isn't that child abuse? Can the kid sue?
I'd blame the school.
Time to go pick up the kid:
"Day-care workers accused of drugging children with melatonin gummy bears before naptime" by Cleve R. Wootson Jr. The Washington Post March 06, 2018
In advertisements, Kiddie Junction billed itself as more of an educational institute than a day-care center. It told parents that its teachers used the latest child development research to instill a lifelong love of learning in its tiny clients.
But staff members at the Des Plaines, Ill., child-care center faced a simpler question: What do you do when you can’t get a 2-year-old to settle down for a nap?
Three employees thought they had an answer, police say. They have been arrested.
The trio are accused of giving toddlers gummy bears dosed with melatonin, an over-the-counter sleep-hormone supplement that induces sleep.
The owner and director of the day-care center called police after finding a nearly empty bottle of melatonin gummy bears, according to Chicago CBS-affiliate WBBM-TV. The owner confronted one of the employees, who allegedly admitted to passing the gummies out to children without parents’ knowledge.
It was unclear how long the alleged drugging had been going on. Only four gummies remained in the 120-count bottle, police told WBBM.
Officers investigated and found that two other staff members had also been handing out the gummies to some of the dozen 2-year-olds in the center’s care.
According to the Chicago Tribune, after police consulted with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, the staff members — Kristen Lauletta, 32, of Niles; Jessica Heyse, 19, of Des Plaines; and Ashley Helfenbein, 25, of Chicago — were each charged with two counts of endangering the life or health of a child and two counts of battery.
The caregivers told police they didn’t think the gummies would be harmful because they were an over-the-counter product, according to ABC News. But the Walgreens-brand gummies say on the label that they are not to be taken by anyone younger than 16.
The three are scheduled to appear in court on April 4. They could not immediately be reached for comment.
It was unclear if they had hired lawyers. A woman who answered the phone at the child-care center told The Washington Post that ‘‘the director is busy at the moment.’’ The director didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.
‘‘This is just a horrible case of bad judgment,’’ Des Plaines police Chief William Kushner told WBBM.
The Tribune said none of the 2-year-olds appeared to be negatively affected, although one parent reported his child was groggy after being picked up at Kiddie Junction.
The Food and Drug Administration regulates dietary supplements like melatonin, according to the National Institutes of Health, but rules are less strict than for prescription or over-the-counter drugs.
The NIH said there have been ‘‘no reports of significant side effects of melatonin in children.’’
Some companies even offer ‘‘sleep support’’ gummies with melatonin for children.
A melatonin overdose isn’t fatal, but it is a hormone and does have an impact on children, according to a HuffPost article on the supplement.
‘‘With children . . . it can affect puberty, disrupt menstrual cycles, and impede normal hormonal development,’’ HuffPost reported.
The Mayo Clinic also deems melatonin ‘‘generally safe’’ but recommends that people take it after consulting with a doctor."
Forget the GMOs, Ritalin, off-label uses of pharmaceuticals, and just like old folks everything comes full circle in life. You start drugged and in diapers and end the same way. And yet the focus nowadays is opioids.
Bill Cosby’s attorneys try to paint his accuser as ‘greedy’
What does she say?
Child marriages decline, led by big fall in South Asia
And right next to that was this:
France wants to set 15 as minimum age for sexual consent
They did want 13, but.....
"Leading French advertisers and the country’s broadcast watchdog launched a nationwide plan Tuesday to fight sexist stereotypes in ads — from half-naked women selling vacuum cleaners to violent video games marketed to boys. France is seeing an upsurge in such moves in favor of women’s rights, notably in the wake of sexual abuse revelations in Hollywood that raised awareness of sexual violence and harassment around the world. Some, however, worry that things are going too far. At Paris Fashion Week, attendees questioned whether the advertising crackdown would infringe on artistic or sexual freedoms held dear by many in France. The head of France’s advertising regulator sought to allay those fears. ‘‘Nudity can be acceptable’’ in advertising for bathtubs and body creams, for example — ‘‘but not to sell a car,’’ Stephane Martin said."
Time to move on.
Massachusetts charter school head fired after arrest on drug charges
Dorchester charter school placed on probation
Harvard professor accused of misconduct to retire
He(?) should be going to prison.
Zuckerberg, Chan donate $30 million to literacy effort
He's fifth on the li$t.
Managing director of Harvard’s endowment is leaving
We tried to ask Charlie Baker a question
It was not about the DOR, either.
We're number..... eight?
Former Marblehead hockey coach charged with molesting a fourth boy
Kevin Spacey Foundation in UK shuts down
‘You took everything from me,’ victim tells child rapist
God help you all.
SEIU leader accused of harassment demoted, but will remain at union
State health officials endorse Beth Israel-Lahey merger
Which corporate conglomerate would you prefer deliver your health care?
