Article:
San Jose serial cat killer gets 16-year sentence

 Thumper was one of up to 16 San Jose cats slain by Robert Farmer, 26. Thumper was one of up to 16 San Jose cats slain by Robert Farmer, 26. Photo: Myriam Martinez / Myriam Martinez Photo: Myriam Martinez / Myriam Martinez Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close San Jose serial cat killer gets 16-year sentence 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

 A serial cat killer in San Jose who pleaded guilty to torturing and dismembering a number of beloved neighborhood felines was sentenced Friday to a maximum term of 16 years in jail.

 Robert Farmer, 26, pleaded guilty in October to 21 felony counts of animal cruelty. Though Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Sharon Chatman imposed the strictest sentence she could on Farmer, she did not require him to register as a sex offender as county prosecutors had requested.

 Prosecutors and owners of the cats alleged that Farmer had sexually abused one of the slain felines, but the judge rejected that argument.

 The owners of the dead cats — police say he killed up to 16 of them, though only four bodies were recovered — say that Farmer terrorized their Cambrian Park neighborhood in south San Jose for months, causing pet owners to keep outdoor cats inside as animal after animal disappeared.

 Gayle Goodson, a self-described cat-lover — who owns three felines — and supporter of those who lost their pets, said the courtroom was packed. There were tears when pet owners spoke about “their beloved cats and what they meant to them,” Goodson said, followed by a “big sigh of relief” when Farmer was sentenced.

 “We are disappointed that the judge did not” require Farmer to register as a sex offender, Goodson said, “but we understand her reasoning, though we may not necessarily agree with it.”

 Dozens of animal rights activists had joined the victims in demanding a stringent sentence for Farmer, spurred on by an online petition that gathered tens of thousands of signatures. The bereaved cat lovers started a campaign to hold Farmer accountable — writing letters to the judge, calling up the district attorney’s office and creating memes demanding justice on a Facebook group called “Justice for our CATZ.”

 Because he does not have to register as a sex offender, Farmer will serve his time — with almost two years in credit for time served — in county jail, not state prison. His attorney, Wesley Schroeder, said his client could be released in as little as 4½ years.

 “He got max sentence 16 YEARS !!!,” a woman wrote on the Facebook group, adding a thumbs-up emoji. The woman wrote that Farmer “was murdering animals in the neighborhood where he grew up, among people who trusted him.”

 Others chimed in, commenting that it was “too bad” that the judge didn’t include the sex offender requirement.

 When Farmer is released, he will have to register for probation until the terms of his entire 16-year sentence are satisfied. Conditions of his probation include staying away from Cambrian Park, not owning or caring for any animal for 10 years and undergoing mandatory psychological treatment.

 Police said they arrested Farmer in October 2015 inside a car, where they found a beaten and bloody corpse of a cat in a garbage bag, along with an assortment of collars.

 Schroeder said the county’s probation officer had recommended a sentence of nine years, which the judge nearly doubled.

 The attorney had argued that Farmer had for years before the cat killings lived with an increasing number of mental health issues, for which he had received no treatment. That, coupled with a methamphetamine addiction, did not excuse Farmer’s “horrific” actions, he said.

 But Schroeder said Farmer’s long-running addiction acted as an “accelerant” to a spiral of problems that resulted in the death of the felines.

 “The underlying problem was that the match had already been lit, but the meth just made it more extensive,” Schroeder said.

 Farmer was stuck in a “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde situation,” Schroeder said, adding that he hoped he would be able to help Farmer obtain counseling and medication while in jail so this does not happen again. ||||| A San Jose man was sentenced to 16 years in jail today for killing 21 cats and sexually abusing a dead one, a bittersweet outcome for those whose pets began disappearing almost two years ago.

 Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Sharon A. Chatman credited Robert Roy Farmer, 26, for twice the 646 days he already has served since his arrest for crimes that shocked the Cambrian Park community where most of the cats were abducted.

 Farmer will not have to register as a sex offender when he is eventually released, a proposed sentencing condition that had become a point of contention between his attorney Wesley Schroeder and Deputy District Attorney Alexandra Ellis.

 Schroeder had argued that a test performed by a San Jose Animal Services and Care veterinarian showed no signs of a cat having been sexually assaulted by Farmer. But the same veterinarian testified during a pre-sentencing hearing in May that the possibility couldn’t be eliminated because other physical exams showed otherwise and “because limited literature in this field says there may be no injuries at all on an animal.”

 Before the sentencing, Schroeder read a letter written by Farmer, in which he said “it feels like another man committed these crimes, but I know it was me.”

 “It’s so hard to grasp I did this,” Farmer wrote, adding that he grew up with cats and horses. “I stole a member of their family. The fact that I was out of my mind was no excuse.”

 Ellis dismissed the letter as “manipulation” that contradicts his previous interviews with police, written by a disturbed individual with no hope for rehabilitation. Because of Farmer’s antisocial personality disorder diagnosis by a court doctor, she urged the judge to consider mental health reports that state he had a “profound lack of empathy and remorse” for his crimes and “significant anger” toward his family. The doctor also considered him a possible danger to the community, with a prognosis for recovery that was “poor, with potential escalation to higher life forms in the future.”

 The bizarre saga unfolded in September 2015 when cats began mysteriously disappearing from the Cambrian Park neighborhood. Stories started to spread among neighbors about a man who had tried luring two cats into a backpack. One cat escaped and was later treated by a veterinarian for a “bite that was not an animal bite, as well as the bleeding head injury,” Cambrian resident David Stine said at the time.

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 Several cats subsequently turned up dead, including two discovered in a dumpster. And Cambrian resident Janice McKimmie’s 15-year-old cat Beardsly was found dead several miles away wrapped in plastic inside a shoebox with his collar missing and rocks placed on the lid. Stine was surprised when McKimmie said her cat went missing the same morning as did his 16-year-old orange tabby cat Chablis, who still has not been seen to this day.

 Video footage from Miriam Petrova’s security camera later that week showed a young man grabbing a 17-year-old orange tabby cat named GoGo from her front porch. Neighbors soon after helped San Jose police identify Farmer as the man in the video, though no trace of GoGo was ever found.

 Farmer, the son of a retired San Jose Police Department captain, was found the morning of Oct. 8, 2015 at a Home Depot parking lot near Hillsdale and Leigh avenues. He was sleeping inside his car with a dead cat curled up in the center console when police officers apprehended him. Chunks of fur and streaks of blood covered the interior of Farmer’s vehicle, where police also found a backpack with a pair of fur-covered gloves and a hunting knife in a sheath.

 Farmer was originally charged with three felony counts of animal cruelty, one count of attempted animal cruelty, and one misdemeanor count each of battery and being under the influence. Subsequent DNA tests on blood, fur and other items found in Farmer’s car eventually shot that number up to 21 charges of felony animal cruelty–one for each of his feline victims.

 Family members and others who knew Farmer told police they were often terrified around him. An elderly woman who let Farmer stay with her and her grandson shortly before his arrest recounted him tying up the back legs of her cat Angel and smacking it against a wall. One time she said Farmer hit her grandson in the face, unprovoked, and on another occasion he shot the same boy in the leg with a pellet gun. Her grandson also told her that Farmer had commented once about “what it would feel like to kill a person.”

 The case took a shocking twist when a necropsy report from Animal Services found signs of sexual abuse on the orange female tabby cat inside the car, including dilated genitals. Crime laboratory reports also stated a match was discovered between Farmer and DNA found under claw clippings. Schroeder contested the prosecution’s argument that the cat was sexually abused.

 The conflicting accounts triggered a debate about whether Farmer should be required to register as a sex offender when someday released from prison. Ellis argued that Farmer’s molestation of the dead cat was sexually motivated but Schroeder proffered other theories.

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 “Doing something to the body in that area doesn’t necessarily indicate sexual motivation,” Schroeder said, adding that Farmer’s methamphetamine use at the time could have contributed to his behavior. Torture was another possibility that Schroeder also mentioned but Ellis said that wasn’t possible.

 “You can’t torture a dead cat,” she said.

 “If there was an animal cruelty registry then Mr. Farmer would be the perfect picture for that,” Chatman said. But the judge declined to require Farmer to register as a sex offender upon release, stating that Ellis’ arguments “did not meet that burden” for such an order.

 “We don’t have experts to form an opinion that similar conduct was sexually motivated,” Chatman told Ellis. “The entire veterinary community doesn’t study it and so it’s not a piece of evidence I can put on your side of the scale.”

 But the judge ordered him to stay away from cats for 10 years after his release and away from the 95124 Cambrian Park ZIP code area.

 Throngs of people crowded outside the courtroom in anticipation of the long-awaited sentencing.

 Many of the owners whose cats fell victim to Farmer read statements in the courtroom expressing their grief and outrage before he was sentenced. Farmer listened with his back turned to the crowd.

 Petrova wept as she told onlookers how “our sweet GoGo” would cuddle in bed with her children and mourned the fact that “we didn’t have the chance to say a proper goodbye.”

 “It’s still painful to come home knowing GoGo isn’t waiting for us,” Petrova said. “Now the only image burned in our minds is GoGo running for his life” on camera as Farmer chased after him.

 “GoGo never hurt anybody,” she added, before addressing Farmer directly: “And for you, Robert Farmer–what have you done to GoGo? Where is he?”

 Although she had hoped Farmer would have to register as a sex offender, Petrova said she’s “relieved” that the ordeal is finally over.

 “When I spoke up to (Farmer), I felt relieved,” she said. “It’ll be not closure completely, but partially.” |||||Summary:

– A grisly and bizarre animal cruelty case has come to a close in San Jose, with a serial cat killer sentenced to 16 years in jail. Police say Robert Farmer killed at least 16 cats after stealing and torturing them in 2015. Prosecutors also alleged that he sexually abused at least one of the cats, but the 26-year-old avoided having to register as a sex offender, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. He had pleaded guilty to 21 counts of animal cruelty prior to sentencing. Pet owners celebrated the maximum sentence, though Farmer's attorney says he could be released in about 4 years. “It’s so hard to grasp I did this,” Farmer wrote in a letter read by his attorney in court, per the Mercury News. "It feels like another man committed these crimes, but I know it was me.” Neighbors in the Cambrian Park community began sharing stories when their cats started disappearing without a trace. Most of the time, the bodies would turn up discarded in dumpsters or elsewhere. Farmer was arrested after being captured on a pet owner's surveillance camera snatching the family's 17-year-old pet from the property.


‘Alarmist’

 A theory that Sandra Bland was already dead in her mugshot received coverage from mainstream outlets this week. But the medical examiner who conducted a family-requested autopsy for Michael Brown calls the idea ‘ridiculous.’

 Two weeks after 28-year-old Sandra Bland was found hanging in her Waller County, Texas cell—where she had been held for three days since being arrested for changing lanes without using a signal—the controversy over her cause of death is intensifying.

 Most recently, following a coroner ruling her death a suicide, some circles in social media have alleged that Bland was already dead in her mugshot.

 Citing everything from the low-resolution photo’s background matching the color of a cell’s floor to the positioning of Bland’s shoulders to the way her hair is set, diagrams of the conspiracy started to pick up mainstream coverage in outlets like Buzzfeed, Complex, and The Independent.

 But according to leading forensic experts, there is no evidence to indicate Bland is dead in her mugshot—with one even calling the claim “ridiculous.”

 “Now, theoretically, you can set up a photo of a dead person to look alive,” said Dr. Michael Baden, who recently conducted a private autopsy at the request of the family of Michael Brown, the 18-year-old black man shot by police in Ferguson, Missouri.

 “But to say that she’s dead from the photo is ridiculous because you can say that about almost any head photo. You have to use evidence.”

 “There’s nothing in the photo to indicate she’s dead,” says Dr. Adel Shaker, a board-certified anatomic and forensic pathologist with almost three decades of experience. “Period.”

 John Hiserodt, a doctor with over 20 years of experience as a forensic pathologist who says he has performed over 4,000 autopsies, says it would be impossible to determine if she’s dead based on the low-resolution picture alone.

 “There’s no way I could tell from that mugshot,” he says. “From just looking at a photo, there are no signs. Unless it is of marked, advanced decomposition—then an elementary student could tell. Not only a forensic pathologist—a layman could tell.”

 Another forensic pathology professor, who asked to remain anonymous, concurred. “To think that you can discern whether she is alive or dead based on this image is ridiculous and alarmist,” he says.

 The legality of Bland’s arrest itself has been called into question in the last week. The Waller County’s Sheriff’s office has faced controversy over contradictions in Bland’s booking documents, dashcam footage that reveals the arresting officer threatening Bland with a stun gun while saying “I will light you up,” and alleging she consumed a large amount of THC while in custody.

 But the media shouldn’t be jumping on a conspiracy bandwagon, according to Baden, who was also the New York State Police’s chief forensic pathologist.

 “The mugshot is taken when she comes in, so the theory is she’s dead when she comes out of the police car, after a police altercation, and they don’t announce her death for three days? I don’t understand it,” says Baden.

 Baden’s laundry list of forensic pathology credentials include a stint as New York City’s chief medical examiner, chairing a federal committee investigating the assassination of John F. Kennedy, authoring more than 80 articles and books, and hosting HBO’s Autopsy.

 “There’s nothing to indicate she’s dead in that photo, and for people to make the assumption that there’s a big conspiracy,” he says, “what’s the purpose of it? It doesn’t make sense. There are too many witnesses.”

 Despite the controversies that still plague the circumstances of Bland’s tragic death, Baden says the mugshot needs to be treated as nothing more than a low-resolution booking photo. ||||| Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE After the Texas Department of Public Safety released the dashcam video of Sandra Bland's arrest, viewers noticed what appeared to be edits. The next day, they released another version without the "glitches." Review part of the videos side-by-side. USA TODAY

 An undated handout image released July 21, 2015, by the Waller County, Texas, Sheriff's Office shows Sandra Bland after her arrest stemming from an altercation during a traffic stop by a Texas Department of Public Safety officer in Hempstead, Texas,on July 10. (Photo: Waller County Sheriff's Office)

 Mystery deepens around the case of Sandra Bland, the Illinois woman who headed south to Texas to start a new job and who was found dead in a jail cell earlier this month.

 Bland's police mugshot is circulating on social media, and debate has erupted over whether Bland might actually be dead in the photo, and whether the potentially fabricated image is part of a cover-up for some harm that came her way. The arguments have pulled in a range of people, including the author known as Zane and reality show personality Judith Camille Jackson.

 "I am big on looking into people's eyes and I don't see any life in hers," Zane posted on Facebook. "I hope they did not do such a despicable thing as is being implied."

 Tweeted Judith Camille Jackson of the Oxygen Network's The Bad Girls Club, "My heart goes out to Sandra Bland if she is in fact already dead in her mugshot. We have a serious problem. RIP."

 “They took a mugshot of a dead woman and tried to pass her off as alive.” From Twitter

 Bland was arrested on July 10 after failing to use a turn signal and becoming combative with a state trooper, Waller County, Texas, authorities said. Video that has surfaced shows a trooper yelling for Bland to get out of her car and demanding that she put her phone away.

 Three days later, Bland was found dead, hanging from a noose made from a plastic bag, in her cell at the Waller County Jail. On Thursday, Warren Diepraam, a Waller County prosecutor, said Bland's cause of death was suicide.

 But after word circulated about the case, questions went viral. Bland's death comes on the heels of a what seems to be a streak of cases in which unarmed black Americans have died or been injured at the hands of the police.

 The Waller County Sheriff's Department could not be reached for comment.

 “There's nothing ... to suggest that she's dead in that shot.” Dr. Michael Baden

 Supporters of the theory that Bland is dead in the photo say she appears to be lying down on a floor, not standing up against a wall. They say that her skin appears blotchy and her eyes, though open, look flat. They also point out that she is wearing orange jail wear for the mugshot, not her street clothes.

 Forensic pathologist Michael Baden, who has consulted in many high profile cases, examined the image for USA TODAY and said he does not see any evidence that would indicate Bland is not alive in the mugshot. While people can die with their eyes open, the lids usually droop, and Bland's eyes look "purposefully open," Baden said.

 He also said it's impossible to tell if someone is recently dead from a photo, and often it is impossible to tell in person because the deceased will simply appear as if they are sleeping, he said.

 "There's nothing in it to suggest that she's dead in that shot," Baden said. "I've seen hundreds and hundreds of mugshots. Most people have a sad expression on their face. … She has an angry look, and I don't blame her for being angry."

 People who have passed away normally appear as if they are sleeping, and there is no way to tell from a photograph that someone is alive or dead unless they have begun to decompose, Baden said.

 "She's in the normal position posture of hundreds of mug shots," Baden said. "It doesn't make sense" he said of the theory.

 But not everyone agrees.

 "This Sandra Bland story hit me really hard," the Twitter account @Ogshayla, a self-described feminist from Florida, posted. "They took a mugshot of a dead woman and tried to pass her off as alive."

 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1MNtXdj ||||| Many people on social media believe the details surrounding Sandra Bland's jail cell death are inconsistent and don't add up — but almost all evidence points to the contrary, especially after prosecutors on July 28 released video of Bland having her mugshot taken.

 Waller County Sheriff officials said they believe Bland died in her cell the morning of July 13, from asphyxiation with a trash bag, three days after she was pulled over for not using her turn signal and then arrested for allegedly assaulting an officer. The Harris County medical examiner ruled her death a suicide. But Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis said the 28-year-old's death would be treated "just as it would be a murder investigation." "There are many questions that are being raised here in Waller County," Mathis said. "It needs to be a thorough and exhaustive review."

 Most of those questions and conspiracy theories were dispelled on July 28, when prosecutors released video of Bland walking through the jail and posing for her mugshot during the booking process: View this post on Facebook Facebook: video.php

 Before the video was released, the strongest evidence was Bland's voicemail to a Texas friend, LeVaughn Mosley, from her cell. In the voicemail posted by WLS-TV, Bland said, "how did switching lanes with no signal turn into all of this?" At the time, that was not enough for some people, who have gone as far to say that the inconsistencies suggest she didn't die inside her jail cell – an idea that was picked up widely on social media:

 The fact that #SandraBland could possibly be dead in her mugshot makes me sick to my stomach.

 A lot of people are saying that there's a possibility that #SandraBland was dead & then the police took her mugshot. I have no words.

 How do you take a mugshot of a dead person and think people won't notice? #SandraBland

 I don't know why #SandraBland being dead in her mugshot bothers me so much. Like i've seen lifeless bodies before but this is just different

 Some of the inconsistencies gaining traction have already been answered, some remain under official investigation, and some have not been answered. On Thursday, the Waller County Sheriff's Department released a two-page statement addressing some of the questions being raised regarding some inconsistencies and some conspiracy theories, including Bland's mug shot, clothing and booking process. Among the questions being asked:

 1. Why do her booking documents appear to have contradicting details about her epilepsy? !!! Why are there inconsistencies in #SandraBland medical info? #WhatHappenedToSandraBland .@OliviaYoungers

 In the 15-page PDF of booking documents released by the Waller County Sheriff's Department Wednesday, there are two different reports surrounding Bland's medical history. On one page, it states that Bland was taking Keppra, a medication for her epilepsy. On a different page, later in the booking documents, it states that Bland wasn't on any medication.

 2. Why do her booking documents appear to have contradicting details about a possible suicide attempt More inconsistencies in #SandraBland jail documents #WhatHappenedToSandraBland

 In the same section that lists her epilepsy medication, it describes a suicide attempt in 2015., though, later on in the document, in a different questionnaire, it states that Bland hadn't ever attempted suicide. Family members have also said that Bland had not been previously diagnosed with depression or other mental health issues and would never have attempted to take her own life.

 Waller County Sheriff officials said inmates booked in their jail are asked suicide, medical and mental health screening questions at two points during their booking process. The first is done in the beginning by jail staff with the arrestee and arresting officer. Those forms are then given to a "main control supervisor" before inmate is accepted in the jail. After the inmate's mug shot is taken, a second screening is done at the booking desk, with jail staff verbally asking the questions to the inmate. "If the answers are different at each time, this indicates the inmate changed their answer," Waller County Sheriff Department officials said in the written statement. If Bland offered differing answers about what medication she was taken, or previous attempts at suicide, the answers could have been different in the documents since they were completed at different times.

 3. Why do her booking documents appear to have different years written down for Bland's suicide attempt? .@leahbink, a @HoustonChron reporter, has noted inconsistencies in the medical health evaluation docs. #SandraBland

 In a handwritten section toward the end of the booking documents, it appears as though whoever filled it out wrote "2015" and then wrote "2014" over it. "I can tell you that we take issue with the notion that she suffered from depression," the Bland family's attorney, Cannon Lambert, told reporters. However, Bland posted a video on her Facebook in March in which she discussed suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Here are the two conflicting sections of the report.

 4. The statement from Justice of the Peace Charles Karisch describing a plastic bag hanging from something. @BreeNewsome Also, see the bizarre statement by the "Justice of the Peace" (src: http://t.co/hGxK2j6zBc ):

 Shortly after 9 a.m., Justice of the Peace Charles Karisch arrived at Bland's jail cell and pronounced her dead. Karisch told reporters that he believed he saw "a plastic bag hanging on something" and a dark mark around her neck. The vagueness of Karisch's quote is being questioned, considering that Karisch arrived not long after jailers found Bland hanging from a privacy partition in her cell, which was, according to a timeline of events given by authorities, at 8:58 a.m.

 5. What did she hang herself from? This was apparently #SandraBland's cell. Do trashcans come in all cells? Where did she supposedly hang herself from?

 Many are asking for more details about where Bland could have hanged herself. Capt. Brian Cantrell of the Waller County Sheriff's Department said Bland was found in a "semi-standing position" and that her feet were on the ground. Bland is six feet tall. There are questions surrounding whether or not a trash bag would be strong enough to be fastened into a noose. The trash bags used in Bland's cell have been removed from the jail. And the particular trash bag reportedly used in her suicide is being examined for fingerprints and DNA and for any signs it was handled by anyone other than Bland. Here's a full shot of Bland's cell. The area where she allegedly hung herself, officials said, is on the gray Y bar blocking the toilet area.

 6. Was an open Bible placed on her bed after she died? .@isiahcareyFOX26, a Houston reporter, has noted that they've now left an open bible in #SandraBland's former cell.

 KRIV TV Reporter Isiah Carey noted on his Instagram that the placement of a bible on Bland's bed had been changed. It does appear as though it was opened up to a particular page in later broadcasts of her cell.

 7. Why wasn't Bland in her mugshot photo wearing the clothes she was arrested in?

 In Bland's mugshot, she's wearing a bright orange jumpsuit. If you look through a gallery of mugshots taken at Waller County Sheriff's Department, you'll notice that it isn't that common.

 Sheriff officials said whether or not inmates are wearing street clothing or an inmate's orange jumpsuit depends on how busy the booking area is at the time. "Depending on how many inmates are being processed at this time, an inmate's photograph may be taken in their original clothing, or the inmate may be dressed out in orange," according to the statement.

 8. Of the Waller County mugshots where inmates are wearing orange, why does Bland's look different? @blogdiva @marymad @TenorioPraxGab I grabbed some mugshots from Waller County Jail FB page 2 compare...

 There have been other mugshot photos taken at the Waller County Sheriff's Department where an inmate has been put in an orange jumpsuit. Three recent mugshots at Waller County where inmates were wearing orange jumpsuits were all for sexual assault.

 9. Where is Bland's second mugshot photo? The only mugshot that was taken. Something is definitely not right here. #SandraBland #WhatHappenedToSandraBland

 Waller County Sheriff's Department did release the second mugshot of Bland from a side angle on Wednesday evening. BuzzFeed News has reached out for a higher-resolution photo of Bland's side mugshot.

 10. What about the other inconsistencies of Bland's current mugshot? her background is the same color as her cell floor... #WhatHappenedToSandraBland

 People have also speculated about the position of Bland's shoulders, the fact that the color of the background matches the floor of the jail's holding cell, and the angle of the photograph in order to make the case that Bland was not alive when the photo was taken. The most popular theory currently being circulated combines all of those details, arguing that Bland's mugshot was taken from above as she was on the floor of the jail's main holding cell. Mugshots of other inmates at Waller County Jail, however, were taken against a similar background. Here is a high-resolution photo of what the jail cell looks like from the front of the building. The cell that Bland's body was in when she was discovered by jailers is along the right corridor.

 Sheriff officials said mug shot pictures are taken on a wall just south of the booking officer's desk. Depending where the inmate stands, however, the shading of the background may be slightly different, officials said. "We should note that if the inmate is not standing directly in the center of the backdrop, a portion of the white wall may appear," the statement read.

 On Tuesday, July 28, prosecutors released video showing Bland walking through the Waller County Jail during her booking process and standing for her mugshot, dispelling many of the rumors that were swirling around social media. View this post on Facebook Facebook: video.php

 Here is the complete security camera footage from the morning of the Bland's death. View this video on YouTube youtube.com |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– One forensic expert tells the Daily Beast the claim is "ridiculous." But being ridiculous never stopped the Internet before: A theory has been making the rounds on social media (and covered by outlets like USA Today and Buzzfeed) that Sandra Bland was actually dead in her mugshot photo. The argument being put forth: the background's photo looks like the cell floor; she's wearing an orange jumpsuit, while most mugshots taken at the jail feature street clothes; her eyes look "flat," as USA Today puts it. But Buzzfeed observes that "mugshots of other inmates at Waller County Jail ... were taken against a similar background." And a two-page statement from the Waller County Sheriff's Department released Thursday explained the jumpsuit. "Depending on how many inmates are being processed at this time, an inmate's photograph may be taken in their original clothing, or the inmate may be dressed out in orange," it read. Forensic pathologist Michael Baden shot down the theory in comments to USA Today. The eyelids of the dead typically droop when open, he says, while her eyes appear "purposefully open." He continues to the Daily Beast, "To say that she’s dead from the photo is ridiculous because you can say that about almost any head photo. You have to use evidence." And another forensic pathologist says a low-resolution photo will never be capable of providing that evidence. "From just looking at a photo, there are no signs."


– Matt Berical noticed that his restless nights always ended with him facing right, while his girlfriend mostly reported nightmares after waking on her left. "Is there, I wondered, a correlation between bad dreams and sleeping position?" writes Berical at Van Winkles. He dug up a 2004 study that asked 45 men and 18 women to sleep on one side or the other and fill out a popular sleep questionnaire called the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (which evaluates sleep using seven factors, including "subjective sleep quality," sleep duration, and use of sleep drugs). The study found that just 14.6% of right-side sleepers reported bad dreams, compared to 40.9% of their lefty counterparts. Right-side sleepers also reported more dreams with feelings of safety or relief, but had worse-quality sleep than left-siders. Berical also found a 2012 study that analyzed the sleep positions and dreams of over 670 students. The study found that face-down sleepers had more positive and vivid dreams, which were more often about "sex," "being unable to move," "being tied up," or "being locked up," Van Winkles reports. The researcher behind that study, Calvin Kai-Ching Yu, concluded that "the brain during sleep is not at all totally detached from the external world," adding that "the unconscious brains of the dreamers try to make sense, and even make use of, the external stimuli." Berical's conclusion? "It can’t hurt to roll your loved one over when you sense a nightmare coming on," he writes. "Assuming you can avoid the flailing arms, that is." (It turns out that humans are incredibly good at sleeping.)

Expand this summary.

“The more one is occupied with the solution of dreams, the more willing one must become to acknowledge that the majority of the dreams of adults treat of sexual material and give expression to erotic wishes," wrote Sigmund Freud in the first line of his famous Sex in Dreams. In other words, dreams and sex are inextricably intertwined.

 According to data collected by the Kinsey Institute, 37 percent of women aged 45 have experienced an orgasm caused by a sex dream; five percent reached orgasm for the first time after having a dream. As for men, 83 percent have experienced a nocturnal emission; whether or not it was prompted by a dream was not specified. Erotic dreams are abundant in the REM worlds of both genders, with 70 percent of women and 100 percent of men having overtly sexual dreams.

 But is there a way to induce an x-rated experience? Not exactly. But you can increase your chances. The journal Dreaming published a study that found those who slept on their stomachs with their arms raised above their heads were more likely to have x-rated nighttime episodes.

 For the study, 670 students were asked to self-report their dreams and sleeping position. Those who frequently slept on their stomachs were more likely to experience dreams relating to “sex,” “being tied up,” “being unable to move” and “being locked up.” The most common theme was “erotomania,” also known as De Clérambault's Syndrome — the belief you have a wealthy, often famous, secret admirer.

 What makes those who lay prone so, well, prone, to such dreams? Researchers believe that the position puts pressure on the genitals and that external stimulus gets remixed into our internal movies.

 "I believe that the brain during sleep is not at all totally detached from the external world, and stimuli, including those stemming from the environment, are probably incorporated into dream content more often than people observe or are aware of," said lead researcher Kai-Ching Yu when the study was first released. "The unconscious brains of the dreamers try to make sense, and even make use of, the external stimuli."

 If you want to increase the chances of nocturnal trysts, however, know that sleeping on your stomach is actually one of the worst ways to conk out, as it compresses the spine leads to lower back pain. Worth it? You decide. ||||| Carolin Schmid, Regina Steil

 Sleep and Hypnosis: A Journal of Clinical Neuroscience and Psychopathology 2019

 DOI: 10.5350/Sleep.Hypn.2019.21.0191 |||||


Summarize this article:

Authorities say a man is under arrest in connection with the homicide of a college student from Long Island.Nicaragua National Police confirm to ABC News that Orlando Tercero was arrested Tuesday afternoon in connection with the killing of 22-year-old Haley Anderson.Tercero is being transferred to the prison in El Chipote, which is about 40 miles southwest of the capitol, Managua.Earlier this week, Binghamton police said they believed Tercero, Anderson's ex-boyfriend, had left on a flight from JFK in New York to Nicaragua last Friday.Anderson's body was found in a Binghamton off-campus home by police around 1 p.m. Friday.Tercero allegedly "fled the United States via international air to Nicaragua prior to the discovery of Haley Anderson's deceased body," according to a statement released by police.Authorities ruled her death a homicide on Saturday.The circumstances of what led to Anderson's death have not been revealed, but police revealed they had an earlier relationship."The victim and male student had a previous domestic/romantic relationship. The investigation determined that the person of interest has left the United States by international air travel flight, prior to the discovery of Haley Anderson's deceased body," police said in a statement over the weekend.Anderson, a nursing student at the State University of New York at Binghamton, was from Westbury, Long Island.The university released a statement on Facebook:Authorities said they found her body during a welfare check.---------- ||||| International authorities have arrested the former boyfriend of 22-year-old Binghamton nursing student Haley Anderson in connection with her murder.

 Orlando Tercero, 22, was arrested in Nicaragua Tuesday afternoon and is being transferred to the prison in El Chipote, about 40 miles southwest of Managua, the country's capital, Nicaragua National Police confirmed to ABC News.

 Further information regarding Tercero's arrest was not immediately available.

 Facebook/Haley.Anderson.9212

 On Friday afternoon, police officers found Anderson's body after they were sent to conduct a wellness check at her home about a mile from the State University of New York, Binghamton, campus, where she was a registered nursing student, authorities said. Her death was ruled a homicide the next day, after an autopsy was performed.

 Anderson was last seen alive around 4 a.m. on Thursday and was with her roommates before she went missing, police said. The circumstances surrounding her death have not been revealed.

 Investigators initially named Anderson's former boyfriend, also a nursing student at SUNY Binghamton, as a person of interest in her murder, although they did not immediately release his identity. Authorities suspected that he left the country by "international air travel," according to a statement by police.

 Police suspected that Tercero chose to fly to Nicaragua because he has family there.

 WABC

 Anderson is originally from Westbury, New York, a town on the western half of Long Island. She lived about a mile away from the SUNY Binghamton campus, officials said, and worked as a barista at a local cafe in Binghamton, according to her LinkedIn profile.

 "Our entire university community extends our deepest condolences to Haley’s family and friends, both here in Binghamton and in her hometown of Westbury," the university said in a statement.

 WABC

 ABC News' Aicha El Hammar, Bill Hutchinson and M.L. Nestel contributed to this report. ||||| WESTBURY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) — A man sought for questioning in the killing of a university nursing student from Long Island has been detained in Nicaragua, authorities in the Central American nation said Tuesday.

 Orlando Tercero, 22, was taken into custody in in Nicaragua after taking a flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport. He was being handed over to judicial authorities, National Police Commissioner Francisco Diaz said.

 “Together, our priority is to bring justice to all involved parties,” said Broome County District Attorney Stephen Cornwell, Jr.

 Police in New York say Tercero is a person of interest in the killing of 22-year-old Haley Anderson of Westbury. A warrant is being prepared, Cornwell said.

 A nursing student and senior at Binghamton University, Anderson’s life was cut short. She was discovered murdered Friday at a home near campus.

 The Westbury native was close to graduation.

 “She was in her senior year. This year, she did an internship at a hospital here on Long Island and she told me about all the operations that she witnessed,” said neighbor John Doran. “Tragic loss.”

 Binghamton police quickly classified the case as a homicide and identified Tercero, a romantic partner and fellow student, as a person of interest.

 As crime scene investigators processed the evidence, detectives say he was on a flight from JFK Airport to Nicaragua. The National Police Force detained him Tuesday.

 Anderson’s death was a tragic blow to her family in Westbury and her former coworkers at Ralphs Italian Ices.

 “She was such a bubbly person, opened up to anyone,” said co-worker Emma Derbin. “She was literally like the greatest person ever. She never didn’t have a smile on her face.”

 Nicaraguan police say Tercero was in possession of a Nicaragua passport when he was arrested. It is believed he has dual citizenship, CBS2’s Magdalena Doris reported.

 All of the evidence in the case will be presented to a grand jury. If Tercero is indicted, the district attorney will push for a speedy extradition.

 A wake and funeral for Anderson will be held for this weekend in her hometown.

 (© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.) |||||

– An ex-boyfriend has been arrested in Nicaragua over the killing of college student Haley Anderson in New York. Anderson, 22, who hails from Long Island, was found dead in an off-campus house at the State University of New York at Binghamton in upstate New York Friday, WABC reports. The exact circumstances of the nursing student's death have not been revealed, but police consider it a homicide. Police said the suspect, Orlando Tercero, fled to Nicaragua before Anderson's body was found. He was arrested Tuesday and, for now, remains in Nicaragua. Tercero, also 22 and a nursing student, is reportedly from Nicaragua and apparently holds dual citizenship, per CBS New York; ABC News reports he still has family there. "The victim and male student had a previous domestic/romantic relationship," police said in a statement prior to his arrest. A friend of Anderson's tells the New York Post Tercero was "obsessive and crazy." "She was such a bubbly person, opened up to anyone," a co-worker says of Anderson, per CBS. "She was literally like the greatest person ever. She never didn't have a smile on her face."


Article:

When your body does not have enough lactase, an enzyme necessary for digestion of the natural sugar found in milk and other dairy products, you are said to be lactose intolerant. Now, a new study comparing pasteurized milk and raw milk, which some people claim can reduce symptoms of the condition, finds that raw milk fails to reduce lactose intolerance symptoms. “These data do not support the widespread claim that raw milk confers benefits in reducing the discomfort of lactose intolerance,” wrote the authors at the conclusion of their research published in Annals of Family Medicine.

 Nearly 30 percent of Americans are considered to have problems digesting milk and milk products, though some groups are more prone than others. In particular, 90 percent of Asian-Americans and 80 percent of African-Americans are said to be lactose intolerant, while far fewer Americans of northern European descent are bothered by this condition. Older adults as well are more likely to be troubled than those who are younger. Anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours after eating dairy products, a lactose intolerant person will develop stomach cramps and diarrhea, the two symptoms that must be present for an official diagnosis. These symptoms result from a buildup of gas caused by undigested lactose, the natural raw sugar found in milk.

 To see whether raw milk can reduce symptoms of lactose intolerance, Stanford researchers enrolled 16 adults with confirmed lactose intolerance and lactose malabsorption. Each participant drank three types of milk for eight days each: organic whole raw milk, organic whole pasteurized milk, and plain soy milk. The raw milk was an organic, grade A whole milk produced by Organic Pastures; the pasteurized milk was an organic, grade A whole milk produced by Horizon Organic; and the soy milk was organic, Soy Dream Original Classic brand produced by the Hain Celestial Group. Each eight-day treatment phase was preceded by a washout phase of one week during which time the participants avoided dairy and lactose-containing products.

 What did the researchers discover? “Raw milk failed to reduce lactose malabsorption or lactose intolerance symptoms compared with pasteurized milk among adults positive for lactose malabsorption,” wrote the authors. “Although other health benefit claims for raw milk are plausible, such claims remain similarly anecdotal and unsubstantiated and should be subjected to appropriately designed controlled trials.” Take-home nugget? Beware the anecdotal claim.

 Source: Mummah S, Oelrich B, Hope J, Vu Q, Gardner C. Effect of Raw Milk on Lactose Intolerance: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study. Annals of Family Medicine. 2014. ||||| It's not a daft fad to be milk intolerant - it's in our genes

 For 3 million lactose intolerant Britons a glass of milk it is not welcome

 But a genetic mutation in the majority means they can enjoy it for years

 By Guy Walters

 |

 When archaeologists investigated two 7,000-year-old corpses unearthed in Spain in 2006, they made two startling discoveries.

 One of the two Mesolithic hunter-gatherers had carried African and European genes, which meant he had dark skin and blue eyes. But there was an even more amazing revelation from the scientists when they announced the results of their research last month.

 The man's genes also showed he was lactose intolerant.

 This is a condition in which the body has difficulty in absorbing the sugar that is commonly found in milk.

 For 3m people in the UK a glass of cow juice is about as welcome as being force-fed cod liver oil

 A problem drinking milk? What sort of hunter-gatherer was this? Surely food intolerances are a bit modern and namby-pamby?

 Well, I can identify strongly with this Mesolithic milk dodger, as I too suffer from lactose intolerance. I'm one of the estimated three million people in the UK for whom a glass of cow juice is about as welcome as being force-fed cod liver oil.

 Much to my regret, I only discovered that I had the condition last year, when I was going on a punitive three-day hike through the Yorkshire Dales with a good friend. At one point, as we were puffing up a particularly strenuous climb, he turned to me and observed, 'You do realise that you burp ALL the time?'

 At first, I was in denial. Surely everybody burps a lot? Maybe I was just bad at hiding it. But by the time we reached the peak, I started to wonder - not least for the sake of my friendship - whether I did have something wrong with me. What happened next was like something out of a film, albeit one that goes straight to video.

 On a distant dale, I saw some cows. There they were, munching away, and the sight of them suddenly made me realise: Of course, it was milk. Wretched milk.

 Until then, I had dismissed people who claim to have intolerances as being vain and self-important. I'm not talking about those with allergies, which are clearly serious, and can be life-threatening. I'm referring to those annoying people who carp on about being intolerant to this and that, when they are in fact just fussy eaters.

 A genetic mutation in the majority of the population means the ability to drink milk can be enjoyed for years

 But it was time to confront my prejudices. I was going to give up milk. No more breakfast cereal, no more milk in my tea and coffee. The idea of giving up my cherished daily bowl of Grape Nuts seemed appalling, but I had to give it a try.

 Within about two days, my belching had almost vanished. There was no more effervescence, my guts no longer painfully bloated with gas.

 There was no doubt that milk was the culprit.

 I had cracked it, although I did curse that I had not kicked the milk churn decades before. All those years of subjecting friends and family to constant burping, all that discomfort needlessly endured, and all because I hadn't tolerated those with intolerances.

 Initially, I kept quiet about the whole business, as I didn't want to be a dietary bore. And then I came across the startling fact that 75 per cent of the world has some degree of lactose intolerance. It was another cow-on-a-distant-dale moment. Hang on, I thought, you people who can drink milk, it's you who are the weird ones! Not me, I'm the normal one.

 As it turns out, the ability to tolerate lactose is really only found in people in northern Europe, North America and in pockets in the Middle East and western and southern Africa. If you go anywhere else, you'll find that everybody is like me and Mesolithic Man.

 Why is this? The answer lies in the enzyme lactase, which breaks down the lactose in milk. Although all of us are born with lactase, after about the age of two, the levels in our small intestines diminish rapidly for most people, which makes it hard for lactose to be broken down, and therefore causes discomfort, which is often manifested by burping.

 But in countries such as the UK, a genetic mutation in the majority of the population means that lactase persists, and therefore the ability to drink milk can be enjoyed for many decades after infancy.

 Last month, British scientists who have studied the residue in cooking pots from archaeological digs estimated that this mutation may have taken place 6,000 years ago.

 Opinion is divided as to why this mutation which allows some of us to drink milk took place. Some suggest that when our ancestors started to consume dairy produce, they built up a tolerance which altered their genes. Others think that the mutation happened before mammalian milk was drunk, and it allowed dairy consumption to take place.

 12g

 The amount of lactose adults with intolerance can cope with in a day. It's equivalent to a glass of milk

 But for people like me, it doesn't really matter what came first. I want to know the health implications. After all, it's drummed into us from an early age that milk is an essential part of our diet, chiefly because all that calcium is good for our bones.

 'There are no serious health consequences of being lactose intolerant,' says Professor John Mayberry, a gastroenterologist at the University Hospitals of Leicester, 'and you should remember that for much of the world it's quite normal. There's no increased risk of any diseases.'

 You should also remember milk does not have a monopoly on calcium, which is found in broccoli, cabbage, soya beans and nuts. And just because you are lactose intolerant, it does not mean you have to give up cheese, as the fermentation process significantly reduces lactose levels.

 Although Professor Mayberry confirms that my self-diagnosis is perfectly valid and safe, there are more medically rigorous tests you can take should you suspect lactose intolerance.

 'Potentially, you can submit to a whole series of investigations,' says Professor Mayberry. 'But the most simple and least invasive is the hydrogen breath test, in which the level of hydrogen in your breath is measured after you have drunk some lactose solution.'

 The test is done at a hospital and you need a GP referral.

 Hydrogen is one of the gases so charmingly emitted by the likes of me after drinking milk - bacteria in the gut produce hydrogen in reaction to unabsorbed food, and if your levels of hydrogen are 20 parts per million higher after drinking the lactose solution, then you're lactose intolerant.

 In my experience, that figure seems low. At times, I could have sworn I was expelling pure hydrogen.

 Another common test is to measure the levels of glucose in your blood after drinking lactose. The lactase enzyme breaks down lactose into glucose - so if your glucose either rises slowly, or not at all after drinking lactose, it's a sign of lactose intolerance.

 Guy has enough lactase in his small intestine to be able to cope with milk in tea

 Again, this hospital test needs a referral from your GP.

 Although Professor Mayberry's words are reassuring, for some, a lactose intolerance can actually be a symptom of something more serious.

 A deficiency of lactase can be caused by inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, but as these also present other more serious symptoms such as weight loss, bleeding and mucus, a diagnosis of lactose intolerance alone is no reason to be alarmed.

 But those who smugly think they can consume lactose for the rest of their lives should also think again. 'Lactase starts to diminish in a lot of people in their 60s and 70s,' says Professor Mayberry, 'which is why older people find they cannot eat certain food any more.

 'Lactose isn't just present in milk, but it's used in all sorts of foods, such as whitener in loaves of bread.'

 I've now started to reintroduce milk in a small way. I now take it in tea and coffee, and like many with lactose intolerance, I have just enough lactase in my small intestine to be able to cope with these amounts.

 For the time being, I appear not to have passed on my intolerance to my children, who are both nearly in double figures, and seem able to drink milk with impunity.

  ||||| A pilot study failed to show something many people believe – that drinking raw milk reduces the symptoms of lactose intolerance or malabsorption.

 The condition is common worldwide, and can lead to bloating, abdominal pain and diarrhea. But the specific prevalence of lactose intolerance is not known, the researchers from Stanford University said.

 Current coping strategies include not drinking milk, drinking lactose-free dairy products, taking lactase enzyme tablets and other behaviors, but none of those eliminate the symptoms, the researchers wrote.

 “Recently, unpasteurized raw milk consumption has increased in popularity and emerged into a nationwide movement despite the acknowledgment of risks associated" with pathogens, the researchers wrote this week in the Annals of Family Medicine.

 Late last year the American Academy of Pediatrics warned pregnant women and children not to drink raw milk and said it supports a nationwide ban on its sale because of the danger of bacterial illnesses. Still, raw milk sales are legal in many places, including California and 29 other states.

 Advocates say raw milk is delicious and provides health benefits, including protection against asthma and lactose intolerance. And when the animals are raised properly and the milk is treated carefully, they say, raw milk poses little danger to human health.

 But the pilot study, conducted in 2010 with 16 people who identified themselves as lactose intolerant and suffering symptoms that were moderate to severe, did not show a benefit from raw milk. The participants, recruited from around Stanford, drank raw whole milk, pasteurized whole milk, and soy milk – all vanilla flavored to prevent them from detecting which was which. They drank specified amounts over eight days and were tested at many points for lactose malabsorption.

 The trial “provided no evidence that raw milk is better tolerated by adults positive for lactose malabsorption, either objectively or subjectively,” the researchers wrote.

 Previous studies have shown that unpasteurized yogurt can help sufferers. That could be, the researchers said, because of yogurt’s greater viscosity – which means it takes longer to digest. That gives the the good bacteria in yogurt more time to act on the lactose in the small intestine, they speculated.

 It’s also conceivable that people need to adjust to raw milk and eight days was not enough, they said. Additional work should be done to test that idea, they wrote.

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 Mary.MacVean@latimes.com

 Twitter: @mmacvean ||||| TIME Health For more, visit TIME Health

 Only a small population of people drink unpasteurized milk, also known as “raw” milk, but its increasing popularity has some medical groups concerned. Some raw milk advocates argue that it’s healthier for us since raw milk contains no antibiotics or hormones, while others say it’s better for people with lactose allergies. For its part, the FDA advises against drinking raw milk, which can contain bacteria from fecal matter and sometimes be fatal, and has long stated that it doesn’t help with lactose intolerance.

 But a new study published in the Annals of Family Medicine is definitively poking holes in the allergy theory, by reporting that lactose-intolerant people have the same symptoms from raw and pasteurized milk.

 Advocates for raw milk claim that it contains good bacteria that can help with lactose absorption. “When I heard that claim it didn’t make sense to me because, regardless of the bacteria, raw milk and pasteurized milk have the same amount of lactose in them,” said study author Christopher Gardner, a professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center in a statement. “But I liked the idea of taking this on since it seemed like a relatively straightforward and answerable question because the symptoms of lactose-intolerance are immediate.”

 The study was small, with only 16 lactose-intolerant participants. All 16 tried three different types of milk–raw, pasteurized, and soy–over multiple eight-day periods.

 For eight days, the participants were randomly assigned to one of the three milks, and they drank an increasing amount of that milk as the study period went on. They then reported their allergy symptoms, which were usually gas, diarrhea, and cramping, and rated them on a scale of 0 to 10. Their breaths were also measured for hydrogen, which can indicate undigested lactose in the colon and intolerance.

 After the first eight days of drinking one type of milk, the participants took a week off where they drank no milk, and then started up again with another eight days of a different type of milk. To mask which type of milk participants were drinking, researchers randomized the order and added sugar-free vanilla syrup. Soy, which doesn’t contain lactose, acted as the control.

 Researchers found no differences in the hydrogen breath tests between consuming pasteurized or unpasteurized milk. Participants also rated their symptom severity the same, regardless of the type of milk they drank.

 Although the study is small, it brings into question the benefits of raw milk for people with lactose intolerance. “It’s not that there was a trend toward a benefit from raw milk and our study wasn’t big enough to capture it; it’s that there was no hint of any benefit,” said Gardner in a statement. |||||
What is a summary?

– Among lactose-intolerant people—who make up some 30% of Americans, according to Medical Daily—raw milk has become a popular alternative to the pasteurized stuff. The FDA says it's no better for them, and it warns that raw milk can actually be fatal, Time reports. Are raw-milk advocates right? A new study says no. Researchers had 16 self-identified lactose-intolerant subjects drink three kinds of milk: raw, pasteurized, and soy. All were vanilla-flavored so participants couldn't identify them, the Los Angeles Times reports. Over an eight-day period of consuming the milk varieties, subjects were tested for malabsorption; they also reported their allergy symptoms, Time notes. After a weeklong break, they tried another type of milk for eight days. In the end, there was "no evidence that raw milk is better tolerated by adults positive for lactose malabsorption, either objectively or subjectively," researchers say. They acknowledge, however, that more than eight days might be necessary to account for adjustment to raw milk. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail points to the genetics behind lactose intolerance, noting that it was found in a 7,000-year-old man.


Here is a news article: Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Evacuees fill Germain Arena, which is being used as a fallout shelter, in advance of Hurricane Irma, in Estero, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves) (Associated Press)

 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on Hurricane Irma (all times local):

 8:20 a.m.

 Florida authorities have issued another stern warning about Hurricane Irma: Shooting bullets into the storm won't help keep you safe.

 The Pasco County Sheriff's Office tweeted late Saturday: "DO NOT shoot weapons @ (hashtag) Irma. You won't make it turn around (and) it will have very dangerous side effects."

 The sheriff's office, which is in the Tampa Bay-area, was responding to a Facebook event page created two Florida men inviting people to shoot at Irma.

 The page reads: "YO SO THIS GOOFY ... LETS SHOW IRMA THAT WE SHOOT FIRST ..."

 The invitation presumably was a joke, but 80,000 people indicated they were "going" or "interested" in the event.

 In a tweet early Sunday, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office asked the thousands of people who had shared the page to also share their request for volunteers needed at hurricane shelters.

 ___

 8 a.m.

 Forecasters say Hurricane Irma's center is poised to blow across the Florida Keys.

 The northern eyewall of the storm reached the island chain early Sunday.

 The U.S. National Hurricane Center said in a public advisory that the center of the storm remained offshore but was going to make landfall soon. The storm was centered about 20 miles east (30 km) of Key West, and it was moving north-northwest at 8 mph (13 kph)

 The storm had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215) kph. The National Weather Service reported wind gusts of 90 mph (145 kph) near its Key West office.

 After hitting the Florida Keys, Irma was forecast to move up the state's Gulf Coast later Sunday.

 ___

 7:55 a.m.

 The National Weather Service in Miami has issued tornado warnings for a wide swath of Monroe, Miami-Dade and Broward counties in South Florida.

 Officials say the band of rain and tornado producing cells is moving quickly.

 There have been no reports of tornadoes touching down.

 ___

 7:50 a.m.

 Authorities are urging people who chose to ride out Hurricane Irma in the Florida Keys to remain indoors until the storm passes.

 The storm's eyewall reached the chain of islands Sunday morning. The National Weather Service reported wind gusts of 90 mph (145 kph) near its Key West office.

 In a Facebook post early Sunday, Key West Police urged people who stayed for the hurricane to remain where they took shelter until the storm had passed completely. They also urged people not to go outside when the eye of the storm is over there area, a time period when conditions can seem deceptively calm.

 John Huston, who is riding out the storm from his home in Key Largo in the upper Keys, says the wind gusts are strong in his area.

 "Water level is higher today," he said via text message Sunday morning. "Incredible wind that won't stop."

 ___

 7:05 a.m.

 Hurricane Irma's eyewall has reached the Florida Keys.

 The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says the storm's northern eyewall reached the lower Florida Keys Sunday morning. The eyewall is a band of clouds surrounding the center of the storm that has intense winds and strong rain.

 The hurricane center says Key West International Airport has measured sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kph).

 ___

 7:00 a.m.

 Hundreds of thousands of people are without power in Florida as Hurricane Irma's winds and rain lash the state.

 Irma's center was over water off Key West early Sunday, but places including Miami were being hit with strong winds and rain.

 Florida Power & Light Company said that about 430,000 customers were without power Sunday morning. Miami-Dade County had the most outages with about 250,000. Broward County had 130,000 outages. Palm Beach County had more than 40,000 outages.

 The utility said that it has mobilized crews and is working to restore power as it can.

 ___

 6:30 a.m.

 With Hurricane Irma closing in on Florida, the storm's winds are already lashing parts of the state.

 In Key West, Carol Walterson Stroud and her family are huddled in a third floor apartment at a senior center.

 Stroud said early Sunday that the wind was blowing hard, but her family was OK. In a text message to a reporter, she said: "We are good so far."

 As of 6 a.m. EDT, forecasters say the Category 4 storm is centered about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of the island.

 The 60-year-old is with her husband and granddaughter and their dog. Stroud says she plans to step outside once the "eye" of the hurricane passes over later Sunday.

 Meanwhile, to the north, access to all of Pinellas County's barrier islands, including the popular spring break destination of Clearwater Beach, has been shut off.

 ___

 6:10 a.m.

 The eye of Hurricane Irma is very close to the lower Florida Keys.

 As of 6 a.m. EDT, the U.S. National Hurricane Center says the Category 4 storm is centered about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south-southeast of Key West, Florida, and is moving northwest at 8 mph (13 kph).

 Irma's maximum sustained winds are near 130 mph (215 kph). The hurricane center says weakening is forecast but Irma is expected to remain a powerful hurricane as it moves through the Florida Keys and near Florida's west coast.

 ___

 6:10 a.m.

 France and the Netherlands say their islands in the Caribbean were spared major damage from Hurricane Jose, which passed farther away from the islands than expected.

 The Sunday announcements — coming from France's national weather service and the Dutch navy — were good news for islands that had already been devastated by Hurricane Irma last week.

 Meteo-France said Jose's center passed overnight about 75 miles (125 kilometers) from St. Martin and 80 miles (135 kilometers) from St. Barts, though it still produced gales of up to 48 mph (80 kph) around the islands.

 In a tweet Sunday, the Netherlands' navy says the situation after Jose passed north of the islands overnight is "better than expected." Scores of marines and troops will resume their efforts to restore vital infrastructure and distribute food and water on St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius.

 In a separate tweet, the navy said the security situation on St. Maarten, which saw widespread looting and robberies after Hurricane Irma, has improved thanks to patrols by marines and police flown to the island to help overwhelmed local law enforcement.

 ___

 5:10 a.m.

 Hurricane Irma has sped up slightly and its eye is about to move across the lower Florida Keys early Sunday.

 The hurricane is centered about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south-southeast of Key West, Florida, and is moving north-northwest near 8 mph (13 kph).

 Irma is a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 130 mph (215 kph). The U.S. National Hurricane Center says weakening is forecast but Irma is expected to remain a powerful hurricane as it moves through the Florida Keys and near Florida's west coast.

 Tens of thousands in Florida are huddled in shelters as the hurricane threatens to make a catastrophic hit on the state.

 ___

 5:10 a.m.

 Dutch King Willem-Alexander is flying to the Caribbean to meet survivors of Hurricane Irma who were evacuated there from the hard-hit island of St. Maarten.

 Meanwhile, Dutch tourists stranded for days on St. Maarten are hoping to finally get flights home.

 Willem-Alexander was to fly Sunday to the island of Curacao to visit a hospital where more than 60 patients from St. Maarten who require kidney dialysis were flown for treatment over the last two days by the Dutch military.

 If the weather is good enough, the monarch will later fly onward to St. Maarten and two other smaller islands hit by Irma on Wednesday to offer his support to the thousands of residents and Dutch marines helping to clear the island, where some 70 percent of homes were badly damaged or destroyed by the Category 5 storm.

 The Dutch navy tweeted Sunday that it plans to evacuate tourists from the island's shattered resorts.

 ___

 4:10 a.m.

 The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Irma is bearing down on the lower Florida Keys early Sunday.

 A National Ocean Service station on a coral reef near the Keys has recorded sustained winds of 66 mph (105 kph) with a gust up to 85 mph (137 kph). Key West International Airport has measured sustained winds of 43 mph (69 kph) with a gust up to 73 mph (117 kph).

 Irma is centered about 55 miles (90 kilometers) south-southeast of Key West, Florida, and is moving northwest near 6 mph (9 kph).

 ___

 3:15 a.m.

 A re-strengthened Hurricane Irma is continuing to move toward the western Florida Keys early Sunday.

 The hurricane has regained Category 4 status with maximum sustained winds near 130 mph (210 kph) and is centered about 65 miles (105 kilometers) southeast of Key West, Florida.

 The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the Miami Executive Airport has measured a sustained wind speed of 46 mph (74 kph) with a gust of up to 61 mph (98 kph).

 Tens of thousands in Florida are huddled in shelters as the hurricane threatens to make a catastrophic hit on the state.

 ___

 2:10 a.m.

 Hurricane Irma has regained Category 4 strength as it moves toward Florida, where it's feared to make a devastating hit.

 Irma's maximum sustained winds increased early Sunday to near 130 mph (210 kph) and it's expected to gain a little more strength as it moves through the Straits of Florida and remain a powerful hurricane as it approaches Florida.

 Irma is centered about 70 miles (115 kilometers) south-southeast of Key West, Florida, and is moving northwest near 6 mph (9 kph).

 ___

 1:40 a.m.

 Hurricane Irma is closing in on the Florida Keys with top winds of 120 mph (190 kph) early Sunday as forecasters monitored a crucial shift in its trajectory that could keep its ferocious eye off the southwest Florida coast and over warm gulf water.

 Tens of thousands of people huddling in shelters watched for updates as the storm swung to the west, now potentially sparing Tampa as well Miami the catastrophic head-on blow forecasters had been warning about.

 But those few miles meant St. Petersburg could get a direct hit, rather than its more populous twin across Tampa Bay.

 The leading edge of the immense storm bent palm trees and spit rain across South Florida, knocking out power to more than 170,000 homes and businesses, as the eye approached Key West. |||||
A summary of this is?

– If you're worried about the people in the path of Hurricane Irma, perhaps you should also worry about the segment of them that thinks shooting at the storm will make it go away. As the AP reports, the following is an actual tweet from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office: "DO NOT shoot weapons @ (hashtag) Irma. You won't make it turn around (and) it will have very dangerous side effects." The sheriff's office, which is in the Tampa Bay area, was responding to a Facebook event page created by two Florida men inviting people to shoot at Irma. The page reads: "YO SO THIS GOOFY ... LETS SHOW IRMA THAT WE SHOOT FIRST ..." The invitation presumably was a joke, but 80,000 people indicated they were "going" or "interested" in the event. In another tweet, the Sheriff's Office also had another suggestion for the thousands who shared the page. Irma hit Key West early Sunday.


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Huge and unexplained bloom has fishers racing to save their nets, and scientists hurrying to study the rare animal

 A rare, tiny marine creature known as the “unicorn of the sea” has swarmed in its millions on the west coast of America, ruining fishermen’s nets and baffling scientists who are scrambling to find out more about them.

 Fishers along the west coast have told researchers that in some places they are unable to catch anything because the pyrosome clusters are so dense and tightly packed. Their hooks, when pulled from the ocean, wriggle with the odd-looking creatures, which are sometimes referred to as “sea pickles” or “fire bodies”.

 The distinctive animals – which are only a few millimetres long but gather in huge colonies – have washed up on popular beaches, bemusing local residents.

 Olivia Blondheim, a graduate student at the University of Oregon who is part of a new research team set up to study the bloom, said: “Right now we are scrambling to learn as much as possible while we have the opportunity.

 “If we continue to see this many, what impact will it have on the ecosystems here, and what economic impact on the fisheries? There are so many unknowns at this point, it really is a remarkable bloom.”

 Ocean Networks 🇨🇦 (@Ocean_Networks) Typically found in the tropics, we're seeing huge numbers of #pyrosomes in the eastern Pacific. Read more https://t.co/pZ8aQHhc2A #ONCabyss pic.twitter.com/18RnlIJWmW

 Pyrosomes are tubular, gelatinous creatures that are actually moving colonies of tiny organisms. Asexual creatures which reproduce by cloning themselves, they have long fascinated seafarers, who have been pictured swimming through the middle of pyrosomes up to 30 metres long.

 Blondheim said no one knows how much surface area the pyrosome bloom covers, except that they have gathered right along the west coast in mammoth clusters. She said every time she or fisherman had seen them the swarm stretched “as far as the eye can see”.

 Voyage to the sea floor: expedition returns with fascinating finds Read more

 Usually found in warm, tropical seas far from the coastline, researchers have been astounded by the unexpected influx of pyrosomes along the west coast of America. It began in Oregon and gradually swept north up the coast, with reports of pyrosomes spotted as far north as Sitca, Alaska.

 “There were reports of some pyrosomoes in 2014, and a few more in 2015 but this year there has been an unprecedented, insane amount,” says Blondheim.

 This summer was the first time she saw a real-life pyrosome in her many years of marine study. Her mentor, Rick Brodeur, a research biologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s north-west fisheries science center in Oregon, saw his first pyrosome only a couple of years ago, after a 30-year career in marine science.

 “On one of our cruises we saw 60,000 in five minutes and they were ripping apart our nets,” said Blondheim. “They were glowing and floating on the surface, completely covering the sea”

 Few marine scientists have seen pyrosomes in the flesh because during the day they stay in the depths, sometimes up to 700 metres under the surface and usually in the open sea.

 Dr Lisa-ann Gershwin, a marine biology expert, said “gargantuan” blooms of traditionally tropical pyrosomes had occurred in unlikely places before, including in the sub-Antarctic.

 “Because they aren’t wanted, and people really aren’t used to seeing them – they really do impact fisheries and catch a lot of attention,” she said. “In the case of these pyrosomes, I don’t think anyone is quite sure what has led to this bloom ... it is unusual. There is every possibility it is a natural phenomenon, but an abundance this gobsmackingly big also suggests there may be something behind it that is not natural in origin.”

 Gershwin and Blondheim agreed it was worth exploring if the pyrosomes were expanding more quickly due to warming sea temperatures caused by climate change, but other options for the bloom included the animals’ diet changing or unusual sea currents.

 “One of the things we are figuring out is have these guys been off the coast and we haven’t seen them? Are they moving inshore for a different reason?” said Blondheim.

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 This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. ||||| Hilarie Sorensen/University of Oregon

 Millions of tubular sea creatures called pyrosomes have taken over the Pacific Ocean in an unprecedented bloom that has scientists baffled.

 These bumpy, translucent organisms look like sea cucumbers that range in size from six inches to more than two feet long. But they’re actually made up of hundreds of tiny animals knit together with tissue into a filter-feeding cylinder.

 Hilarie Sorensen/University of Oregon

 And they’re everywhere, filling the waters off the West Coast all the way up to Alaska, and washing up on beaches.

 One research boat caught 60,000 of them in five minutes. They’re so thick in Alaska that fishermen gave up on fishing because their hooks were coming up full of pyrosomes instead of salmon.

 Jennifer Fisher, a research assistant with Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, makes regular research trips to monitor ocean conditions. She started seeing pyrosomes in her research net in February, and a GoPro camera on the net revealed an eerie underwater habitat filled with the pickle-shaped creatures.

 “Basically as far as the eye can see: pyrosomes,” she said. “We were dumbfounded.”

 Pyrosomes are common in the tropics, where they can reach a length of 30 feet and often glow in the dark. That likely explains their name, which in Greek translates to “fire body.” According to Fisher, they do show up in the ocean off the Northwest from time to time – but never in these numbers.

 “Why they’re here now is unknown at this point,” Fisher said. “We’ve had warm ocean conditions over the past couple years, and something has brought them here. They’re just flourishing. It’s just very unusual to find them so close to shore, so evenly distributed, and so abundant.”

 It’s strange, researchers say, because the warm ocean water that has been hanging out off the West Coast since 2014 has dissipated this year. And the Pacific has had plenty of warm water events in the past without seeing massive blooms of pyrosomes.

 No one knows what the effects of the bloom will be, but scientists worry that if all the creatures die off at once they could sink to the seafloor and suck up all the oxygen as they’re decomposing, creating a dead zone for marine life.

 Courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

 Richard Brodeur, a research biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is leading an effort to collect live pyrosomes to study in his lab in Newport, Oregon.

 “We’re trying to learn as much as we can about these guys,” he said. “I’ve been working for a long time, and I’ve never seen one until now. So, we’re kind of catching up. … It’s really a mystery to us why this is happening.”

 He wants to look at how they feed, how they orient themselves vertically in the water, and their swimming speed.

 “They’re usually in the tropics farther off-shore,” he said. “People haven’t done anything experimentally with these guys.”

 Brodeur said the pyrosomes might be a lingering effect of the warm water “blob” that in 2015-16 brought in unusual marine life including a tropical sea snake and red crabs. Though water temperatures have dropped from previous years, he said, “they’re still way above normal, and we’re still getting unusual things going on.”

 Fisher will continue to monitor for the pyrosomes, and she’s interested to see how long they stick around.

 “They often bloom in large numbers and then conditions become unfavorable for them and they go away,” she said. “I think that’s when we might learn more about why they’re here is when they leave looking at what conditions caused them to go.” |||||

– They are called "unicorns of the sea" and they are infesting the Pacific Coast, destroying fishing nets and puzzling scientists, the Guardian reports. The tiny blob-like creatures are infesting some stretches of the West Coast as far north as Alaska so badly that fishermen can't catch anything. The translucent tubular invaders are pyrosomes, and while they generally range in size from a few inches to 2 feet, they band together in huge colonies. (See video.) They rip nets and clog hooks, and wash up on beaches to the consternation of the locals. One researcher began spotting the "sea pickles" in nets in February and since then, the numbers have exploded, per Oregon Public Broadcasting. One research boat captured 60,000 within minutes. "They were glowing and floating on the surface, completely covering the sea," says University of Oregon researcher Hilarie Sorensen. The creatures—their Greek name means "fire bodies"—prefer the tropics, but even there, they haven't been seen in the "insane" numbers of this year's bloom, says Sorensen. The impact of the little cucumbers is unknown, but there is concern their massive presence could foul ecosystems. While the bloom could be a natural phenomenon, Dr. Lisa-ann Gershwin says "an abundance this gobsmackingly big" indicates something fishy may be going on. Warming seas could be a possible explainer, or perhaps changes in the marine food supply or shifting currents. (Killer whales are also tormenting Alaskan fishermen.)


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Police officers walk towards to the main entrance of Moscow Regional Court is seen in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2017. Five defendants at the Moscow courthouse attacked their guards in a bungled... (Associated Press)

 MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on the shooting at a courthouse in a Moscow suburb (all times local):

 3:50 p.m.

 Russian officials say three people have been killed and four injured in a shootout at a courthouse in a Moscow suburb.

 Russia's Investigative Committee, the country's chief investigative body, said in a statement on Tuesday the incident took place when five handcuffed defendants tried to escape as they were escorted by two guards at the Moscow Regional Court. The body said one of the defendants tried to strangle one of the guards, and the defendants managed to escape and seized the guards' weapons.

 A shootout with the court's guards ensued, and three of the defendants were killed. Two guards were injured.

 Authorities said the incident took place before a hearing in a case of a gang of nine people who are suspected of killing more than a dozen of motorists.

 Russia media dubbed the accused "the Grand Theft Auto gang" after the violent video game. The men on trial are accused of terrorizing Moscow motorists for months in 2014. Prosecutors said the gang members were placing spikes on roads, forcing the motorists out of their vehicles and shooting them dead.

 The nine men, all from Central Asia, are charged with 17 murders and two attempted murders.

 ___

 3:30 p.m.

 Russian news agencies are reporting that two people have been injured in a shooting inside a courthouse in a Moscow suburb.

 The agencies on Tuesday quoted a lawyer who was at the courthouse and saw a guard and a court official injured.

 According to the Tass agency, Nataly Osipova, spokeswoman for the Moscow Regional Court, said the incident took place at a hearing in a case of a gang of nine people who have terrorized Moscow roads, killing more than a dozen of motorists.

 No other details were immediately available. ||||| MOSCOW (Reuters) - Three people being taken to trial in a Moscow court for robbery and murder were shot dead after they grabbed side-arms from court security officers in an attempt to escape, Russian law enforcement officials said on Tuesday.

 Five defendants were in a lift in the Moscow regional court building when they seized the weapons from the two officers escorting them, the Investigative Committee, the state body which handles serious crimes, said in a statement.

 When the lift stopped on the third floor of the building and the doors opened, three of the defendants tried to escape but were shot dead by Russian national guard officers. The two others defendants were seriously wounded, the statement said.

 Three law enforcement officers were hurt, one of them with a gunshot wound. Two of the three were taken to hospital.

 The defendants are accused of being members of a group, dubbed in Russian media the Grand Theft Auto Gang after the computer game. Prosecutors allege the group was responsible for a series of vehicle thefts that in several cases involved killing the cars’ owners.

 The group, made up of people originally from ex-Soviet Central Asia, is accused of committing 17 murders, banditry and other grave crimes, the Investigative Committee said.

 One of the group had fought for Islamic State in Syria before coming to Russia, official TV channel Rossiya 24 said on Tuesday, citing a source in law-enforcement bodies. |||||

– It was a dramatic stunt straight out of a movie, but it ended disastrously for members of Russia's notorious Grand Theft Auto Gang. Three of them are dead and two others wounded after a failed escape attempt from a courthouse in Moscow, reports Reuters. In addition to the gang members, one law-enforcement officer was shot and two others suffered lesser injuries, though the details were still firming up. The drama began when the five handcuffed men were being escorted to their courtroom in an elevator by two guards. They managed to overpower the guards and take their weapons, but all five were subsequently shot as they attempted to escape the building. The men were among nine being held on robbery and murder charges over a spate of fatal carjackings in 2014. Authorities say they would place spikes on roads, then kill drivers who got out of their cars to investigate. More than a dozen motorists were killed in that fashion, and Russian media dubbed the assailants the Grand Theft Auto Gang after the video game, reports the AP.


Here is a news article: Courtney Stodden is pregnant with her first child, she confirmed to FOX411 after a video circulated to media outlets showing the 21-year-old with a positive pregnancy test.

 A source claiming to be a friend of the reality star sent FOX411 the video of Stodden.

 Stodden's husband Doug Hutchison, 55, appears to be filming his wife in their bathroom.

 "Alright, here's the first [line]," Stodden says as shakes the pregnancy test.

 "Come on, here we go honey," Hutchison says in the background.

 The video cuts to Stodden sitting on a toilet with the positive test in her hand.

 Her husband asks, "Honey? Honey, how you feeling?"

 She responds, "A little overwhelmed" and the video ends.

 The reality star, who is 4 weeks along according to Us Weekly, told FOX411 the video was an "an invasion of...privacy."

 The source claims the video was sent to "[Stodden's] closest friends and family."

 Stodden's estranged mother and former manager Krista Keller spoke to FOX411.

 "If it wasn't for media I would not get to know the news about my daughter's pregnancy," she told FOX411.

 You can find Sasha Savitsky on Twitter @SashaFB. ||||| If you thought the love affair between 55-year-old Doug Hutchison and 21-year-old Courtney Stodden couldn't get any stranger, you would be startlingly wrong.

 Stodden's mom, Krista Keller, revealed on Tuesday's episode of The Mother/Daughter Experiment: Celebrity Edition that she's also in love with her daughter's husband. So, that's awkward.

 The surprising, cringe-worthy confession can be seen in this clip, where Keller explains to her daughter, "I told your husband that I loved him."

 Keller confronted her daughter about having feelings for Hutchison and raised the troubling question, "Why don't you ask your husband what his fantasy was!"

 Although it's not immediately apparent what Hutchison's alleged "fantasy" actually entails, there isn't anything that isn’t upsetting about this entire situation.

 WATCH: Inside the O.R. for Former 'Teen Bride' Courtney Stodden's Nose Job

 Stodden, who maintained that her mom's confession was "the first time I've heard her say that," tied the knot with the Green Mile actor, who is 34 years her senior, in 2011 when she was only 16 years old. Keller consented to the legal union.

 While the couple split for several months in 2013, they reconciled and renewed their vows the following year.

 From the looks of it, Stodden and Keller's tumultuous relationship is more strained that ever. The dynamic also seems to be endlessly fascinating for their reality show co-star, The Hills' Heidi Pratt.

 PHOTOS: Celebrity Feuds That Just Won't Die

 "I don’t know whether to be concerned or entertained," Pratt whispered as she drank a large glass of wine and eavesdropped on the awkward verbal altercation. "I think I'm more entertained, and that's the problem."

 The Mother/Daughter Experiment: Celebrity Edition airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Lifetime. ||||| Teen bride turned mom-to-be! Courtney Stodden is pregnant and expecting her first child with husband Doug Hutchison, the reality star confirms exclusively to Us Weekly.

 "It's a bittersweet time for me right now. I'm dealing with a lot of stress and emotions surrounding life and its ups and downs,” Stodden, 21, tells Us. “Doug and I weren't planning on going public with this so soon. I’m only four weeks along in my pregnancy. But some things are out of your control."

 Joe Scarnici/WireImage

 The happy news comes as an early anniversary present for the couple, who tied the knot on May 20, 2011, when Stodden was just 16 years old. Hutchison is 34 years her senior. The couple, who appeared on Couples Therapy in 2012, briefly split in November 2013 before reuniting in August 2014.

 "Doug is wonderful,” Stodden, who most recently appeared alongside her estranged mother, Krista Keller, on Lifetime’s The Mother/Daughter Experiment: Celebrity Edition, told Us of her hubby in 2011. "He picks up my coffee beans that I spill on the floor. He picks up my foundation. He picks up my feathers from my big robe that I wear. My high heels are all over. I have a wonderful life, a wonderful husband.”

 Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics, and more delivered straight to your inbox! ||||| There are some things that moms and their daughters probably shouldn't do together! Allegations began to fly on The Mother Daughter Experiment: Celebrity Edition's Friday, March 28, episode, as Courtney Stodden and mom Krista Keller exchanged heated words in the twin bed–filled mansion.

 The Therapist Has Had Enough of Courtney and Krista

 The episode started off with a bizarre group therapy session where Krista gave a weird, dazed recap of why she and her daughter’s working relationship ended. When nothing she said was making any sense, the rest of the cast chimed in.

 Natalie Nunn said, “I feel like Krista is not really here. What planet do you live on?” And Shar Jackson added, “We’re on our way to the penthouse — Krista’s still on the first floor.” Even therapist Dr. Debbie couldn’t make heads or tails of this damaged duo, saying, “You guys talk so much and say absolutely nothing.”

 Sorry, Mom! Heidi Montag Likes Spencer More

 When it came time for Heidi Montag and her mom, Darlene Egelhoff, to hash it out in group therapy, Darlene admitted to wanting to repair her relationship with her son-in-law, Spencer Pratt.

 Heidi eventually agreed to talk to Spencer about it but said in a confessional, “If I was in a position to choose, I would absolutely choose Spencer over my mom.” Talk about a vintage Heidi move!

 Krista Tries Her Best to Rationalize Her Extremely Questionable Parenting Choice

 Shar, along with the rest of the world (we assume), was dying to get to the bottom of the whole train wreck that is Courtney, 21, and Krista’s relationship. Shar asked Krista, “How was it to have your 16-year-old daughter marry a grown man?” referring to Krista approving of Courtney's 2011 marriage to Doug Hutchison, now 55.

 Krista replied, “It just felt like he was the right person for her.” Uh, OK. Krista, an adult woman and mother, said, “To me, if she was with an older guy, he would be more responsible.” Nothing screams responsibility more than a 50-year-old wanting to be with underage girls! Right? Right?! And if that wasn’t mind-boggling enough, Krista dropped this bomb: “He did ask me out first.… I said, ‘You’re a cute little guy, but I am married.'” So logically, the next step would be to set him up with her child.

 Krista Admits Telling Doug 'I Love You'

 Krista then went on to admit that Doug came over to her place and cried on her shoulder during his tough moments with Courtney. “He’d reach over and hold my hand. He goes, ‘I really love you,’ and I said, ‘I love you too,’” Krista said.

 Shar was not having it with Krista and pointed out, “As her mom, that was not your place to do that.”

 Did Courtney Hook Up With Other Guys While Married to Doug? 'Of Course!'

 After a brief therapy exercise involving everyone putting together knockoff Ikea furniture, it was time to get back into the juicy stuff. Heidi and Natalie sat down with the 21-year-old vixen, who confessed that she was “half a virgin” when she met her husband, Doug.

 Karolina Wojtasik

 “That’s why we separated when I was 19. Because I was too young at the time. I was going out — I was partying …” Natalie chimed in, “Hooking up with other men?” To which Courtney replied without hesitation, “Of course!” Courtney then went on to detail how her mom would try to romantically hold Doug’s hand when Courtney was watching in the other room. Courtney said about her mom’s feelings for Doug, “She’d say ‘My garden isn’t being watered by my husband, and I just love you.’ And it was f‑‑king heartbreaking.” Yeesh.

 Most people would probably agree with Heidi, who said to the camera, “Courtney’s nice, and Krista’s nice, but this situation is hard to swallow.”

 Doug Wanted to Do What With His Wife and Mother-in-Law?!

 Everything exploded when it came time for Krista and Courtney to meet face to face for their interview. After threatening to remove herself from the show, Krista yelled to her daughter, “Why don’t you ask your husband what his fantasy was about you and me!” In a clip of what we’ll see next week, she described the alleged incest fantasy as, “Me and Courtney in bed with him and have me teach Courtney how to please him.” God bless America: a country where this real-life insanity gets its own TV show! (As it should.)

 Tell Us: Should Courtney cut her ties from Doug and her mom to start her own life independent from all this Jerry Springer–esque foolishness? Or can she and her mom work things out?

 The Mother/Daughter Experiment: Celebrity Edition airs on Lifetime on Fridays at 11 p.m. ET.

 Can't get enough of Us? Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter packed with the latest celeb news, hot pics and more!

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– Courtney Stodden, former child bride, announced Monday that she is four weeks pregnant. If it seems a bit early for such an announcement to be made, let Stodden explain: "It's a bittersweet time for me right now. I'm dealing with a lot of stress and emotions surrounding life and its ups and downs," she tells Us. "Doug and I weren't planning on going public with this so soon. ... But some things are out of your control." (As Fox News notes, a source had been circulating video husband Doug Hutchison apparently shot showing Stodden with a positive pregnancy test.) Stodden, now 21, was 16 when she married Hutchison, who is 34 years older than she is. Stodden, whose Twitter account is totally terrific, went on Couples Therapy with her husband in 2012, the year after they wed; they separated in 2013 and got back together in 2014. This year, Stodden went on Lifetime's The Mother/Daughter Experiment: Celebrity Edition with her mother, where it was revealed that, among other things, Stodden had cheated on Hutchison before their separation—and that Stodden's mom was also in love with Hutchison. Apparently things still aren't going well between Stodden and her mom, because her mother told Fox that "if it wasn't for the media I would not get to know the news about my daughter's pregnancy." (Anderson Cooper's impression of Stodden will definitely make you feel better.)