Paradise News

Tag: United States

  • Wash. man accused of killing neighbor because he was throwing rocks, making too much noise

    BLAINE, Wash. (TCD) — A 76-year-old man allegedly shot and killed his neighbor amid an ongoing dispute about making too much noise.

    According to a news release, on Wednesday, Oct. 4, at approximately 4 p.m., Whatcom County deputies and Blaine Police Department officers were dispatched to a home off California Trail Road after a 911 caller reported that Wayne Mahar had shot his neighbor.

    A neighbor reportedly heard the gunshots, went outside, and saw Mahar on his porch holding a firearm. The neighbor told officials she saw the victim lying on his driveway and asked Mahar if he shot the man, to which he replied, “Yeah.”

    At the scene, deputies found the victim and performed CPR but were unsuccessful.

    Officials arrested Mahar without incident.

    The Sheriff’s Office learned Mahar had allegedly “threatened to kill the victim because he was throwing rocks at his house and making too much noise.”

    The statement said Mahar “claimed the victim was an ‘a–hole’ who deserved to be dead.”

    Mahar also confessed that he wished to kill his neighbor but failed to provide any alleged threats or other previous types of harassment that the victim allegedly made toward him.

    According to KING-TV, Mahar told officials he consumed one shot of alcohol on the day of the shooting. His blood alcohol level was .189, which is more than two times Washington’s legal limit.

    Mahar was booked into the Whatcom County Jail on a charge of first-degree murder. He remains held on $2 million bond.

    Mahar had previously threatened to kill his neighbor, KING reports. On Nov. 17, 2022, Mahar reportedly made a noise complaint against the victim. Mahar allegedly told officials he wanted to kill the victim, but authorities told him to let the Sheriff’s Office to deal with the issue.

    A day before the victim’s shooting death, Mahar allegedly threatened to kill the victim again.

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  • Fact Check: Behind-the-scenes footage of short film isn’t Hamas propaganda

    A video showing several people standing around camera equipment is being presented as an example of Hamas-produced propaganda following the group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

    “These terrorists are dressing up as JEWISH soldiers to create fake videos about Israeli soldiers!” an Oct. 9 Instagram post sharing the video wrote. “Faking Propaganda!”

    This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

    In reality, this video was shared on TikTok in April 2022 by cinematographer Mohamad Awawdeh. Similar footage shared in June by Awawdeh on Instagram clarified in the caption that this was behind-the-scenes footage of a Palestinian short film about Ahmad Manasra, who has been imprisoned since he was 13 after an attempted murder conviction. 

    The footage has been used in misinformation before. In 2022, Reuters fact-checked a similar claim that it showed Palestinians staging a fake killing by Israeli soldiers. 

    We rate claims the video shows Hamas militants making propaganda False.

     



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  • S.C. man allegedly beat mother with pool stick because she wouldn't pay to remove GPS monitor

    TATUM, S.C. (TCD) — A 39-year-old man is in custody after allegedly assaulting his mother during a dispute about his GPS ankle monitor.

    On Sept. 26, the Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home on Platt Road after a 911 caller reported that her brother was “actively beating their mother.”

    Deputies made contact with the victim and witness at the scene and learned Gordon Love allegedly struck his mother in the head with a pool stick. He also reportedly slammed her head repeatedly into a countertop.

    According to the Sheriff’s Office, Love became upset with his mother “due to him being on GPS ankle monitor and demanding family members pay for it to be removed.”

    Deputies obtained an arrest warrant for Love, who fled the scene prior to their arrival.

    On Monday, Oct. 9, officials located Love at a home in the Bennettsville area and arrested him on charges of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. Love was out on bond for failure to stop for a blue light and malicious damage to property at the time of his arrest.

    According to the Sheriff’s Office, Love appeared for a hearing Oct. 10, and was denied bond.

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  • Fact Check: Old video mischaracterized as showing Hamas attacking Israel in 2023

    Following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack against Israel, video games and old warfare footage are being mischaracterized to claim they show recent violence in the Middle East. 

    Among them is a video shared in an Oct. 9 Instagram post showing what looks like rapid rocket fire at night. 

    “Second night of missiles attacks against Israel,” text over the video says. 

    “Thousands of missiles are being fired by Palestinian Hamas at Israeli civilians from Gaza,” the post said. “Share this with the world — what mainstream media refuses to share.”

    This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

    The video has been online since 2020. 

    On Feb. 28 of that year, a YouTube account shared the video and described it as showing Syria. 

    Other online posts from that year show stills of the video and similarly put the action in Syria. 

    What we know for sure: This isn’t a recent video of Hamas attacking Israel. 

    We rate that claim False.

     



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  • Ga. mom pleads not guilty to killing infant who was found in couch cushion

    SAVANNAH, Ga. (TCD) — A 33-year-old woman pleaded not guilty last week to murder and other charges two months after her young child was found dead in her couch.

    On Aug. 3, Chatham County Police Department officers responded to a home on the 100 block of Quacco Road and located a deceased child. The infant’s mother, Jennifer Cooper, was still on the scene, and she was arrested on charges of murder, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of and use of drug-related objects.

    Court records show Cooper was denied bond.

    WSAV-TV reports she appeared in court Thursday, Oct. 5, and entered the not guilty plea.

    Both Cooper and the child reportedly had meth in their system.

    According to WSAV, a detective testified at Cooper’s hearing and said another detective “observed suspicious injuries to the baby’s neck, back, swelling near the eyes, blood on the baby’s face, and then an indentation on top of the head of the baby.”

    The child was reportedly discovered deceased in the couch cushion. A year ago, another of her children died on the couch from sudden infant death syndrome. WSAV reports Cooper has not faced any charges in connection with that infant’s death.

    Noble reportedly said Cooper “did not recall how any of the injuries occurred to the baby and stated that they must’ve happened when she was laying on top of the child,” according to WJCL-TV.

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  • Fact Check: Are less than 2% of WVU students affected by the elimination of majors?

    Cuts to academic departments pursued by West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee have put him at odds with students and faculty members. Gee has responded by describing the cuts affecting a relatively small fraction of students.

    “Fewer than 2% of students are impacted whatsoever by the decisions we’re making,” Gee said in an interview published Aug. 25 by The Daily Athenaeum, WVU’s student newspaper.

    That’s one way to calculate the impact, but it’s not the only one.

    April Kaull, WVU’s news director, told PolitiFact West Virginia that the “fewer than 2%” figure stemmed from the initial stage of the process that led to the academic cuts. 

    Under the initial proposal, the provost’s office recommended that 33 undergraduate and graduate programs be discontinued. Collectively, those 33 programs had 434 majors in August, when the initial proposal was made.

    Dividing the 434 majors by the total student enrollment of 24,366 produced a figure of 1.7%. That’s a little less than 2%.

    After appeals, the university backed off some of those cuts. So, the current cuts would affect 316 undergraduate and graduate majors, or 1.3% of students.

    However, this is a limited framing of the cuts’ impact, because it excludes double majors, minors, or students of entirely different majors taking courses in the departments on the chopping block.

    “The problem students have had with this statement is reflected in (Gee’s use of the word) ‘whatsoever,’” Frankie Tack, the WVU Faculty Senate chair, told PolitiFact West Virginia. “Many students take courses in other majors and disciplines and will be affected even though their home program will not be discontinued.”

    The university did not provide figures that could be used to make this alternate calculation, but it’s likely not a trivial number, especially because some of the biggest targets in the cuts — the university’s foreign language offerings — are precisely the types of courses that nonmajors might be tempted to take.

    Kaull, the university spokesperson, told PolitiFact West Virginia that only primary majors were counted “because they are the only ones that generate tuition revenue for the university,” which was the aim of the budgeting exercise in question. “Neither double majors nor minors generate tuition revenue,” she said.

    In remarks to the Faculty Senate on Sept. 11, Gee said, “Our university will still offer more than 300 majors, as well as study-abroad trips, cultural events, internships and community service programs that open the world to our students.”

    Our ruling

    Gee said that “fewer than 2% of students are impacted whatsoever by the decisions we are making.”

    This number comes from a credible calculation, but it’s limited and convenient for downplaying the cuts’ reach. 

    Less than 2% of West Virginia University’s students are primary majors whose departments would be affected by the cuts. However, this count excludes double majors, minors, or students taking classes in the affected departments. This is a potentially sizable population that Gee’s sweeping “whatsoever” characterization wouldn’t cover.

    We rate the statement Mostly False



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  • N.C. man allegedly broke into home, beat up family member, kidnapped 4-year-old daughter

    DURHAM, N.C. (TCD) — A 37-year-old father recently turned himself in after allegedly kidnapping his 4-year-old daughter over the weekend.

    According to the Durham Police Department, on Saturday, Oct. 7, Mitchell Grayson allegedly broke into a residence in the 800 block of Angier Avenue and beat up one of his daughter’s family members before abducting the child, Paisley Grayson.

    Police issued an Amber Alert for Paisley, stating that her father had fled the scene in a gray 2000 Chevrolet Astro Van. He reportedly threatened to take the young girl out of state, but police believed he could have traveled to Wilkes County.

    On Monday, Oct. 9, police said Grayson turned himself in and was arrested on charges of aggravated assault, breaking and entering, and injury to personal property.

    According to WRAL-TV, Grayson brought Paisley with him when he surrendered, and she appeared unharmed.

    Grayson told the news source he took his daughter because he was concerned for her safety and said, “They had her locked in an apartment for like three days.”

    He said he was “worried about her,” which is why he took her.

    WRAL reports Grayson argued the place from where she was taken is “not really her home. Her home is with me. She got taken from me.”

    Grayson reportedly brought Paisley to the mountains in the Wilkesboro area, and they tie-dyed shirts and played in a park.

    Grayson’s grandmother reportedly gave him access to the building. A cousin of Paisley’s mother allegedly tried to stop him, so Grayson punched the family member.

    In a phone interview with WRAL, Grayson said he saw the Amber Alert and decided to surrender because investigators told him that was the only way he’d be able to see his daughter again.

    Grayson appeared in court on Tuesday, Oct. 10, and was given a $25,000 bond.

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  • Fact Check: Donald Trump was quoting U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar when he said Israel hypnotized the world

    Former President Donald Trump has condemned Hamas’ recent attack on Israel, but some social media accounts may mislead users to believe otherwise. 

    “Israel has hypnotized the world,” Trump says in a video being shared on Facebook. “May Allah awaken the people and help them to see the evil doings of Israel and the United States.”

    This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

    The clip is authentic. Trump said those words at an October 2019 rally  in Minneapolis. 

    But his remarks are taken out of context here. He was quoting U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who, in 2012, seven years before being elected to Congress, tweeted: “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” 

    She apologized for the tweet in 2019. 

    In his rally speech that year, Trump made clear he was reciting Omar’s words and not making a political statement of his own. 

    “Omar wrote that Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel and the United States. How do you have such a person representing you in Minnesota?”

    Trump isn’t the first lawmaker to have his remarks taken out of context. Quotes attributed to President Joe Biden, in which he appeared to use a racial slur, failed to note that he was quoting a memo. 

    We rate claims that these are Trump’s own words about Israel False.

     



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  • Vela Garrett Walden

    Vela Garrett Walden

    Published 2:45 pm Tuesday, October 10, 2023

    Mrs. Vela Garrett Walden, 92, of Andalusia, passed away Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, at Andalusia Hospital.

    Funeral services will be Thursday, Oct. 12, 10 a.m., from Foreman Funeral Home Chapel with Brother Trent Bailey officiating. The interment will follow in Cedar Grove Cemetery. Visitation will be Wednesday, Oct. 11, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Foreman Funeral Home.

    She is survived by her grandson, Doug Garrett of Andalusia, and several nieces and nephews.

    She is preceded in death by her son, Wade Garrett, and husbands, Richard Garrett, Ferrin Smith, and Howard Walden.

    Those wishing to sign the online registry may do so at www.foremanfuneralhome.com.

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  • Man gets 50 years for killing teen girlfriend who was found wrapped in shower curtain and towel

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (TCD) — A man will spend 50 years behind bars for killing his 18-year-old girlfriend in 2022 and trying to cover her body.

    According to an Oct. 6 news release from the Florida State Attorney’s Office for the Fourth Judicial Circuit, Isaiah Greene was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty last month for the murder of Gabrielle Bolton.

    On Sept. 19, 2022, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded to the 1500 block of West 33rd Street after being contacted by the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department because they found a body. Law enforcement searched the home and found Bolton’s body in a bedroom “wrapped in a shower curtain and towel” with apparent signs of head trauma.

    Greene fled the home when first responders arrived, but police located him elsewhere “a short time later.”

    When speaking with police, Greene’s mother reportedly said her son called her upset and said, “I didn’t mean to do it.”

    Greene’s mother went to her son’s home, and he allegedly made suicidal remarks and told her again he “didn’t mean to do it.”

    According to the Attorney’s Office, Greene told detectives he and Bolton had been in a relationship for approximately a year. He admitted “he had been both physically and mentally abusive toward her.”

    On the day of the incident, Greene and Bolton argued in the bathroom and it became physical. The Attorney’s Office said Greene then struck Bolton with a metal object multiple times and brought her body to the back bedroom, where she was found.

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